Whether you’ve already stocked your pantry to hide out until Monday, or you’re getting your walking shoes and water bottle ready to head down to Gearing’s Point, there's no denying it: it's just a few days until Whale Festival weekend gets underway.

It's the time of year when the vibe of our town undergoes a massive change. Parking lots give way to market stalls and live music, the call of the Whale Crier is heard often, and yes, we are faced with the inevitable challenge of finding a parking spot anywhere near Marine Drive, or in town at all.

It’s a weekend that always brings a familiar mix of feelings for those of us who live here year-round. On one hand, the traffic and crowds can test the patience of even the most seasoned local. On the other hand, we get the privilege of showing off our home to visitors.

This time of year is a celebration of Walker Bay and the magnificent southern right whales that choose our waters. If one takes away personal opinions about the festival, the fanfare is simply a great reminder of just how special our corner of the world really is. 

However you plan to spend the weekend, hibernating or adventuring, we hope you have a great one.

Happy reading,

Taylum 

In a town that has changed considerably over the past few decades, there are still a handful of places that feel unmistakably, wonderfully Hermanus. Funky Vibes is one of them.

Colourful, eclectic, creative, and almost impossible to categorise, the shop has long been a treasure trove of music, locally inspired clothing, handmade goods, quirky gifts, art, jewellery, ceramics, and the unexpected. Behind it all are David Lowe and Colleen Thonissen, who are every bit as unconventional as the shop they have built together.

Colleen met David at Greenmarket Square in Cape Town in 1988 and remembers thinking he was “weird and wonderful”.

She moved to Hermanus in 1993, opening a shop with her mom in the Godfrey Cottages at Hermanus Waterfront called Unik Afrik. David made his way to Hermanus in 1994 and began working for a CD shop in Harbour Road, where Frances @ Auberge is now.

In those early years, Colleen and David were involved in everything from jewellery and printing to painting and tie-dyeing, and they sold their wares at the Old Harbour Market. For years, the market formed part of their working life, and their business evolved as they experimented, created, and responded to what people enjoyed.

When the CD shop David was working for closed its doors, he and Colleen bought the stock, and in September 2002, they opened Funky Vibes upstairs at the Hermanus Waterfront. The shop was only about 12sqm, but David and Colleen made full use of the space. They brought together David's music expertise and Colleen's artistry in a way that reflected their own interests rather than following a conventional retail formula. It is perhaps the secret to Funky Vibes’ enduring appeal.

Rather than filling the shelves with whatever happens to be fashionable or mass-produced, David and Colleen have always searched for things with personality.

Many items in Funky Vibes have been made by younger artists and independent designers, giving shoppers the chance to discover something they are unlikely to find in other stores. Colleen and David have also made many of the products themselves over the years. Their creative output has included printed T-shirts, painted canvases and magnets, stickers, and more.

For music lovers, Funky Vibes offers another increasingly rare pleasure: browsing through CDs and LPs which sit alongside the art, clothing, and curios. David also buys LPs that are in good condition, giving well-looked-after records a new home and helping to keep the shop’s vinyl selection fresh and varied.

Funky Vibes has moved and grown over the years, relocating from the Hermanus Waterfront to the shop next to Hermanus Pharmacy in 2012. In 2018, Funky Vibes settled into its current home in Royal Centre on Main Road.

David and Colleen continue to source quality handmade items, supporting small creative businesses in South Africa and beyond, and keeping Funky Vibes a shop that looks and feels like nowhere else. They are also the owners of Funky Cottage, a self-catering accommodation option in Westcliff that reflects the same colourful, individual character they have brought to Funky Vibes.

Looking back over the past 24 years, David and Colleen sum up their journey with characteristic humour: “We started off with nothing and still have most of it left!”

Funky Vibes is located behind KFC on Main Road, Hermanus. Follow them on Instagram (@funkyvibesafrica) or contact 028 312 1446 for more information.

Most mobile games start with a software budget, a team of developers, and a tight launch deadline, but ‘Array’ took a far more unconventional path. Behind the sleek digital board is a four-decade story about Array creator Quentin Green, a scrap of paper, and a family collaboration.

It all started back in 1984 when Quentin created a 3D game while studying at the Ruth Prowse Art School. Nine years later, in 1993, after getting engaged to his wife, Gail, creating a game got its first official write-up on a bucket list they made for their future together.

Fast forward to 2018, and Quentin was sitting in his friend Nicola’s health shop, Natural Earth, playing word games over lunch. He found himself wondering, what if a game could move in every direction across the board, building interesting visual patterns as you played?

Grabbing a pair of scissors and a scrap piece of paper, he cut out a handful of makeshift tiles, laid them out on cardboard, and ‘Yantra’ – the early prototype for Array – was born. ​Array is a clever numerical board game adapted for online play, where the highest score wins by taking turns playing tiles to create runs and melds according to colour codes until all tiles are used. Over the next year, Quentin quietly tweaked and refined the game.

In 2019, Quentin ran the concept past a friend with a Master’s degree in game design, who gave it a big thumbs up. Quentin was ready to go all-in on bringing Array to life, but there was one huge hitch: hiring a programmer to build the app would cost R120 000.

Not one to give up, Quentin figured if he could get the artwork done first, handing things off to a developer later would be much easier. After trying out three different local artists, he teamed up with Carla Nel, who rendered the game's visual style by 2023.

Around the same time, Quentin passed an early build of the concept to his daughter, Tegan, who was learning to code. Tegan, who had previously studied art at the Michaelis School of Fine Art, brought her creative eye and technical curiosity to the project. In 2025, she handed Quentin a surprise – a working version of the game running on his phone.

The last piece of the puzzle came in 2026. Quentin and his friend Doug Taylor got together to talk about wormeries and composting (a subject Quentin happens to be an expert in), but the conversation eventually turned to their kids. It turned out that Doug’s daughter, Amy, was studying at Michaelis, and Doug himself was a software engineer. Quentin told Doug about Tegan’s background in AI safety and coding, and mentioned the game she had set up for him.

Doug was intrigued and asked to check it out. A week later, he called Quentin up: "This is a cool game, can I help you set it up?" Within seven days, Doug had Array fully running on Quentin’s phone.

Realising they had something special, Quentin and Doug officially joined forces to bring Array to players around the world. Eight years in the making, the game is officially ready to take off.

Keep an eye on www.arraygame.com to find out when the game will become available for download.

Three young local gymnasts recently had the opportunity to represent South Africa at the Acrobatic Gymnastics Youth World Championships in Pesaro, Italy, from 17 to 20 September. The championships take place every two years, with 46 teams competing this year.

Piper Davis (16), Stella Meintjes (16), and Karmi Oosthuyse (12) from Hermanus have trained together as a trio for the past three years at Grip Gymnastics under coach Isabelle Carr. During that time, they have earned multiple national accolades while representing their club and province. 

Apart from the competition itself, being able to stand on the mat alongside the world’s best young gymnasts has meant a great deal to the trio.

Hermanus can be proud of its three young ambassadors and their coach, Isabelle, who helped nurture their talent and prepare them for the world stage.

A self-described modern nomad, Dutch artist Monique van Doorn has spent much of her adult life living and travelling around the world with her husband. They first took the leap into life abroad in 1986, when they left the Netherlands for Curaçao. 

At the time, Monique was a kindergarten teacher and her husband worked in the financial sector. Today, the ability to work remotely makes their lifestyle easier. Monique’s husband can work wherever there is a reliable internet connection, while she needs little more than inspiration, space, and materials. “For us, travelling has never really been about ticking countries off a list. My studio is wherever I put down my suitcase,” says Monique.

They have travelled extensively, but South Africa is the country they have returned to most often in recent years. Hermanus, in particular, has become somewhere very special. They first discovered the town in 2013 and have been finding their way back ever since. “Every time we return to Hermanus, it feels a little like coming home, but with something new to discover, experience, or create,” she says. Some of her work has already found local homes.

For her, Hermanus and the greater Overberg offer many of the things she loves most: open spaces, the ocean, wildlife, white sandy beaches, friendly people, good food, excellent wine, and, perhaps most importantly for an artist, extraordinary light. 

It all began in 2009 after Monique was diagnosed with breast cancer. Art became a form of therapy during what was a major turning point in her life. Naturally optimistic, Monique speaks often about making the most of life, embracing second chances, and having the courage to take opportunities when they appear.

She did not attend art school, although she has taken various courses over the years. Her instinct, however, remains her greatest guide. “I mostly follow my heart,” she says. “I don’t really like rules about what I should or shouldn’t create.”

There is no single medium or subject that defines her work. She draws, paints, photographs, and creates with mixed and found materials. One day she might be immersed in a finely detailed pencil drawing, and the next she could be painting on an enormous piece of cardboard.

During her current stay in Hermanus, for example, a large discarded television box became the starting point for an artwork. A rough wooden board, still marked by old cement, found a second life as another piece. “Not everything that’s used is used up,” she says.

The same freedom applies to her subject matter. African wildlife frequently appears in her work, particularly animals with horns such as springbok, but she is just as happy creating a butterfly, an abstract composition, a circle, a photograph, or something completely unexpected. One feature, however, seems to find its way into much of her work – a touch of gold.

Gold was not always part of Monique’s artistic language. When she began working with charcoal in 2009, she was fascinated by the relationship between shadow and light. Over time, gold became another way of exploring that same idea. 

For Monique, gold is about light. Its changing nature fascinates her. As daylight shifts, or as the viewer moves past a piece, the gold catches and reflects light differently. An artwork such as her Golden Butterfly can appear transformed simply because of the time of day or the angle from which it is viewed.

“Look again, there is always light,” says Monique. “‘Look again’ has become a thread through both my art and the way I look at life, seeing possibilities, second chances, and sometimes something new in what others might simply pass by.”

For now, Monique and her husband are enjoying the peace and space of Maremmana Country Estate near Bot River while continuing their familiar rhythm of travel and return. And although their suitcases will inevitably be packed again, Hermanus remains one of those places that continually inspires them to come back.

Monique does not have a physical gallery, so she uses social media to share her new work, travels, and everyday moments. “I love that freedom. I can create something in Hermanus today, and someone on the other side of the world can discover it tomorrow.” 

To see more of Monique's art, follow her on Instagram (@monique.littlesecret.art) and Facebook (Little Secret by Monique). Email monique.littlesecret@icloud.com with any queries.

On 21 September, Hasher Family Wines welcomed members of the wine trade to its Upper Hemel-en-Aarde Valley estate to celebrate five years since the Haspeslagh family took the helm, while also sharing a taste of what lies ahead.

Rather than a conventional tasting room line-up, the day began in the vineyards. Guests walked the rows to see how the estate's regenerative approach has reshaped the farm since 2021, with ducks and Dexter cattle at work among the vines. The new releases were poured right there, in the vineyards that produced them.

Those releases were the 2024 vintages of the estate's two flagship wines, the Ernest Pinot Noir and the Marimist Chardonnay. Both arrive with considerable momentum. The estate has recently been shortlisted for Red Wine Producer of the Year at the IWSC, adding to a growing list of international recognition.

The day also brought a first. Guests were the first to taste the Hasher Family Wines Chardonnay and Pinot Noir 2026, made from the estate's younger vineyards, which are now coming into production. The wines offer an early look at the next chapter of the farm and at the plantings that will shape it.

Lunch in the tasting room previewed a new farm-to-fork menu, due to launch officially at the beginning of October. It is designed as a relaxed graze rather than a full meal. It features scotch eggs made with the farm's own eggs, baked local camembert, arancini, and pork rillette with local pickles, alongside cheese and charcuterie selections to pair with the wines.

"People often ask what has changed most in five years," said co-founder Céline Haspeslagh. "The vines, the soils and the animals, certainly, but above all the people. We have built a team that believes in this place as much as we do, and that is what gives us such confidence in the next five years."

The world of law enforcement demands a tough exterior, and seems a world away from the art of choral singing. Yet, for Leonardo "Leo" Dippenaar, a lifelong love for music proved that life as a policeman can share the stage with song. 

Leo was born in Rosebank, Cape Town, and began his primary education at Bellville North Primary School. In Grade 5, he moved to Tiervlei Primary School (now Pinedene Primary School) where his father worked as a teacher. Leo went on to attend JJ du Preez High School in Parow until Grade 10, before finishing his secondary education at Tygerberg High School. Leo says that his favourite mentors were his father and his high school German teacher.

Although Leo had performed in school eisteddfods, his interest in singing really took off after he graduated. He came from a musical family, but inherited his love for vocal performance from his uncle.

​Leo's professional life began in provincial administration for the government, working in Adderley Street, Cape Town, for 12 years. Thereafter, transitioning away from government work, he took a position at a bank on Adderley Street before relocating to Durban to work for a railway company. Stationed there for about four years, he traveled extensively around KwaZulu-Natal and lent his voice to the Methodist Church choir.

​Eventually, Leo found his true calling within the police force, dedicating 32 years of his life to law enforcement. Leo joined the Western Cape Police Choir, who maintained a distinct wardrobe, utilising a black uniform for performances and a blue one for non-performing duties, alongside their standard police uniforms.

The choir competed in national events and achieved a major milestone by touring Israel from late 1987 to early 1988. 

Among Leo's many performances with the group, he says a standout memory includes singing inside the Cango Caves in Oudtshoorn.

The choir's strong vocals were a great fit for the venue, matching the natural delays and powerful echoes bouncing off the limestone walls. Musical events inside the caves were stopped in 1996 to protect the ancient crystal formations.

Throughout his life, Leo was playfully dubbed a "Bachelor Boy" by his father. As the eldest sibling, he maintains close family ties, having lived with his sister in Pearly Beach for a time after his retirement at age 65, while his brother resides in De Kelders.

Today, at 80 years old, Leo is a resident at Huis Lettie where he occasionally sings, and so, keeps his musical spirit alive. It's no surprise that his favourite song to sing is Frank Sinatra's "My Way."

The Cape Whale Coast has turned local markets into a weekend staple. Whether you're hunting down handmade gifts, looking for vintage treasures, grabbing fresh oysters, or just soaking up the sunshine with a craft beer or coffee, our local markets are at the heart of the weekend's rhythm. It’s an easy, relaxed way to spend a few hours supporting small local businesses and picking up items you won't find in standard stores. Keep an eye out for our November 2026 edition where we will feature more markets to explore.

Lemm’s Corner Market

Corner Harbour & Main Roads | Saturdays 09:00 to 15:00 (weather dependent)

Up until the early 1980s, Lemm’s Corner was occupied by Lemm’s Stores, a historic Victorian-era building owned by the Lemonsky family. The building was demolished, paving the way for the area to be transformed into an open public space.

In 1983, the trustees of the Old Harbour Trust stepped in to acquire the property and preserve it as a heritage site. This permanently secured Lemm’s Corner as a public meeting place for local crafters, artists, and browsers. It eventually became known as the Fisherman’s Village Craft Market. 

In the years since, the site has been used for various purposes including displaying sculptures and even hosting the official switching on of the town’s Christmas lights. It later became home to the Lemm’s Corner Market (LCM) we know today.

LCM has experienced significant growth over the past few months. In mid-April 2026, the market was taken over by new management and has grown from 5 vendors to over 30. The market offers décor, clothing, handmade crafts and more. It is also a prime hunting ground for vintage items. Tables are filled with vintage glassware, antique brassware, old books, and knick-knacks, giving it a proper flea-market charm. Food is also available, but browsing remains the main event!

LCM will be open during the Whale Festival from Friday 2 October to Sunday 4 October. Visit their Facebook page for trading hours.

Hermanus Country Market

Corner Jose Burman Drive & Fairways Avenue | Saturdays 09:00 to 14:00

Hermanus Country Market (HCM) was founded in 2007 as a small gathering of local traders operating in Fernkloof before moving to its current site at the Hermanus Sports Club in 2010. HCM focuses strictly on local producers and creators, giving traders a place to share what they grow, make, and create. More than 66% of the stalls are owned and managed by women.

In 2021, HCM claimed the top spot for Best Market in the inaugural KFM Best of the Cape Awards. It returned as a finalist in 2022 and 2024, before receiving the silver in 2025 and again in 2026.

The market is pet-friendly and family-focused – everyone brings their dogs on leashes, kids gather near the jungle gym, and half the fun is bumping into friends and neighbours, and enjoying breakfast, brunch or lunch over a catch-up chat. An on-site bar serves local craft beer and wine.

The setup encourages you to take your time. Live music and plenty of seating gives the market a laid-back atmosphere that makes it great for both relaxing and shopping. For out-of-town visitors, it offers a look into the local community beyond the usual tourist spots. 

During December and January, HCM also holds their annual Night Markets so you can enjoy food, drinks, and night-time browsing. Dates for these are posted on their social media pages.

The Rotary Club of Hermanus welcomed 126 people to the United Church on 16 September for GG Alcock’s presentation, “Building Bridges Between Hermanus’s Formal and Township Economies”. The Rotary Club of Hermanus organised the event in support of young adult skills development and to encourage practical conversations about entrepreneurship and inclusive economic growth in the Overstrand.

The audience included 72 paying delegates as well as young entrepreneurs from Zwelihle, Mount Pleasant, and Hawston whose tickets were sponsored by members of the community and local businesses. Representatives from Overstrand and Cape Town organisations were also in attendance.

Drawing on the themes of his book KasiNomics Unleashed, Alcock challenged the traditional description of township business as merely informal, underdeveloped, or survivalist. He presented it instead as a large, diverse, and highly active economy, driven by entrepreneurs who understand their markets and respond quickly to changing needs. Alcock’s central message was that stronger links between established businesses and township entrepreneurs can unlock growth, employment, and investment. The presentation offered a fresh perspective on the scale of economic activity in townships and informal settlements.

The enthusiastic response reflected a shared appetite for a more connected local economy, one in which established businesses, government, community organisations and township entrepreneurs work together more deliberately.