Bloubergstrand, Cape Town - Conference Venues Bloubergstrand Cape Town

Bloubergstrand - Cape Town Suburb

Cape Town Conferences > Cape Town > Bloubergstrand

Conference Venues in Bloubergstrand
Blouberg Manor Boutique Hotel
Blue Peter Hotel
Rochester Guest House

Bloubergstrand is in the locality of Cape Town along the shores of Table Bay, about 25 km to the north of Cape Town city centre. Its name Bloubergstrand in Afrikaans literally means "blue mountain beach" derived from Blaauwberg, a nearby mountain. Bloubergstrand is mainly residential and attracts a large numbers of visitors. The beach at Bloubergstrand is a popular location for a classic view of Table Mountain across the bay.

The Bloubergstrand area falls within a Marine Nature Reserve and diving for delicacies such as Jasus lalandii (also called the Cape rock lobster or West Coast rock lobster) and "perlemoen" or abalone are not allowed. To catch previously well-known local varieties of Galjoen and Hottentot, the hopeful angler has to be in possession of a license. Seafood is popular including the local white mussels. In season Southern Right Whales, occasionally Killer Whales, Humpback Dolphins, Haviside's Dolphin and Cape Fur Seals are commonly seen in the bay.

Bloubergstrand has a long white sand beach on the Atlantic ocean, with a few rocky outcrops where black mussels are found. The water is cold due to the cold Benguela current but the beach is popular with surfers. The bay on the west side of Bloubergstrand, known as 'Big Bay' has become a very popular kitesurfing spot due to the constant trade winds bringing a 1-3m surf for a majority of the year. Big Bay Beach is also well known for the ease with which White Mussels ( as species of the family Donax) can be extracted from the sand by a process locally known as 'jiving'.

History of Bloubergstrand
A local hero, “Harry die Strandloper”, or Hadah, was the leader of the Goringhaikonas, who were the first people documented to live in Bloubergstrand. Hadah, his original name Autshumao, was taken to Java in 1629 by the Captain of the ship 'London' to be taught English. Because of his entrusted duties to deliver letters to the British seafaring community, he became the first “Postmaster” in South Africa.

In 1806, the first casualties of the Battle of Blaauwberg drowned when their boat was driven by the large surf into the rocky point at the end of Stadler road and it capsized. The invading British forces went on to defeat the defending Dutch forces and subsequently occupied the whole of the Cape Colony.This was a initial step in the major colonisation that then took place throughout the southern African continent. Now a famous national monument, "Ons Huisie" (literally translated to Our Small Home) has a long and colourful history in the development of Bloubergstrand. The first dwelling of Frederick Louis Stadler. (Hence Stadler Road is the original street). Shortly after the Battle of Blouberg in 1806, he became owner of almost all the farm property that is now known as Bloubergstrand. The exact building date is not known, but a Thomas Bowler made a beautiful pencil drawing of the house in 1853. Hendrik Louis Stadler, the sixth son of Frederick Louis, was the owner of "Ons Huisie" at that time. His sons, Frikkie, Rozier and Johannes, were the some of the original founders of Bloubergstrand (the building is now a restaurant of some reputation)

From the 1940s a well-known writer of illustrated Afrikaans children's books, Helena 'Mollie' Lochner, who lived at the end of Stadler Road in "Die Groot Withuis" or the Lochner House, on the southernmost tip of the promontory. Her ashes are buried under the front step of the house. When she died "Mollie Lochner Huis" was bequeathed to the South African Teachers Union as a holiday home for female teachers but because of the high maintenance cost they had to dispose of it. Over the years it was changed beyond recognition, ultimately demolished in 2004 and a contemporary Westcoast styled guesthouse developed. The large wooden cross out on the promontory rocks was erected in memory of the Bam family who lived in the same house before Mollie and drowned off the point in 1911.

Cape Town Suburbs
Bantry Bay, Bellville, Bloubergrant, Bloubergstrand, Brackenfell, Camps Bay, Cape Town Central/City Bowl, Claremont, Constantia, Durbanville, Fish Hoek, Fresnaye, Gordon's Bay, Green Point, Hout Bay, Kenilworth, Lakeside, Melkbosstrand, Milnerton, Muizenberg, Newlands, Noordhoek, Observatory, Parow, Pinelands, Rondebosch, Sea Point, Simon's Town, Sir Lowry's Pass, Somerset West, Strand, Table View, Tokai, Tygerberg.

Map of Bloubergstrand

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