Paul du Toit’s perfect Sunday

Paul du Toit, Actor

We’re lucky to live in a beach town, so Sundays are perfect to make to the most of our beautiful surroundings. I check the wind, swell and tides the night before and hit the water with my two boys for an early morning surf. We then join my wife for coffee and breakfast at Milkwood cafe in Onrus on the beach.

That’s the perfect scenario anyway. In reality, our Sundays probably start with the boys waking us up, arguing over whose turn it is on the Xbox. This is followed by the realisation that we’ve run out of coffee, the South Easter howling and finally taking the cabin-fevered dogs for a walk only to have gumboot-lady’s Ridgeback put a hole in Lucky’s shoulder, right before Joshua realises he has a “water project” due tomorrow.

The rest of the day would probably involve takeaways and after-hours rates at the vet. I believe they call it “living the dream”.

In the afternoon, I usually have a matinee so it would be putting on make-up time and getting into character to play Hedwig and

the Angry Inch.

When not performing, you’ll find me horizontally on my bed. Whether I end up sipping a sundowner on the beach or waiting in a casualty unit (canine or human) is usually a good indicator of how my Sunday went...

We have a pack of dogs to walk, which we do in the evening with kids in tow on their skateboards, followed by a chilled bottle of something as the sun sets (on the beach if the Cape wind plays along!).

Sundays are a time for family. And as my wife and kids will probably tell you, I have two. Two kids. Not two wives. There’s the wife and kids and then there’s the theatre family — and the latter can be very demanding, especially on weekends.

I love to cook lunch. I make a killer curry, accompanied by a lekker Beaumont red. One of my favourite walks is to the top of Hangklip mountain. It has the most spectacular 360-degree views over False Bay and the Kogelberg biosphere. You can find massive Koi-San fish traps on the shoreline and, if you’re lucky, signs of the elusive local leopard.

If I’m not up to cooking, we treat ourselves to chef Warwick’s duck spring rolls at Source in Hermanus. His ciabatta makes all my low-carb discipline fly out the window. The area is peaceful and quiet and offers an escape from the madness of the city and my hectic schedule.

On a perfect Sunday, listening to Xavier Rudds keeps things nice and calm.