The Terracan is packed, the hair is cut, the wine is nearly finished and just a quick sleep and off we go. Well if this morning was anything to go by, We will be gone by 3am. That is the time I woke up with the , O, I forgot about telling the house sitter about the post box key, etc, etc and then I was wide awake. By 5 the washing was on the line and Dick was forced to have a cup of tea and sort of get up and move. By the time we went to have our to last for 3 months hair cut, all the boxes were ready and we were not talking to each other. Not enough sleep, I think!!!Anyway lunch with Ma and a bottle of wine and the last bit of peaceful packing we are back to being on speaking terms and really looking forward to the trip.
I have to say that other than the snuck in swimming towel to wrap the Magnum of champagne in to celebrate Toti's life, I have not managed to pack anything in the "maybe" category!!!The bloody boxes are just not big enough!
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Sunday, March 27, 2011
3 sleeps to the 100 day holiday!!!
Well it is 3 sleeps away and then the long awaited holiday starts. We are organised and the Terracan is ready and we are just about packed, not that you can pack a hellava lot in a Amo box, which is my new " suit case". At least it has partitions for clothes, whatever and other. I am a notorious "what if "packer, but this time there is no space for " what if". It is now a case of "make do". It has taken me about 60 years to take that step and I am not even sure if I am not going to pack that one item for "maybe". We head off to Port Alfred for 4 days as a start and then we backtrack to Beaufort West via Baviaanskloof to get to the programme again! The detour is in honour of a very close and dear friend who died in Feb and we are joining her husband to "do the ashes". I am sure it is going to be a festive event with lots of Champagne and joyful tears. She was a true Christian and I am sure she is happy in Heaven. RIP Toti. We love you and will never forget all the magic times we have had together.
I am hoping to get the photos sorted out this time. Managed to put a few on facebook of our last trip, but all this is proving more challenging than I thought.
Please comment or register as a follower then I at least know you are with me.
I am hoping to get the photos sorted out this time. Managed to put a few on facebook of our last trip, but all this is proving more challenging than I thought.
Please comment or register as a follower then I at least know you are with me.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Reflections on our latest tourgroup
Now that we are back home and the tour is moving from"to do" to "completed" and the house and the things to do take preference again, little things about the people on the tour start popping up in the mind.
There was master firemaker, as in Pyromaniac, Ed. That is now a man who could seriously make fire. Night after night the fire would be burning, with or without the need for braaiing. We were sure that we would have wood left over at the end of the trip, but no fear when Ed was near! The last day our Battle field guide had to stop at a wood selling shop for more wood for that night's fire,despite the fact that it was only Dick and I that braaied. His wife felt the cold very easily, so I wonder if that is the reason for him being such a keen fire maker.He also drove a Terracan, like us and their anniversary was on the same date as ours. They had a son called Richard and a daughter-in-law who shared a birthday with me. Uncanny, I say.
David and Irene who so keenly embraced the well priced wines on offer in the Winelands and then ending up giving most of it away as David was so sick with Gastro for much of the trip .
The other two couples loved the country and the beauty of it and embraced the diversity. They ate venison and wors and ostrich and kudu. They tried out all the strange foods, drank Rooibos tea and walked when they could and took many pics.
Everybody brought something to the group in their own and unique manner. John fixed and planned and it was not difficult to spot the engineer and most useful to have him around. Luckily we got a can of oil, that sort of Q20 type of oil, on day one from the technician that came to fix something. Well John put that oil to good use. His philosophy:"If it moves, oil it" and so it was, clutch pedals, the vents on the roof of the vans, locks, keys, anything.
Sure many a thing will come to mind over the next few weeks. We loved the group. They were fun and gelled so well, mainly as a result of them all doing a similar trip through New Zealand the year before. I think this trip was very different and somewhat of an adjustment for them. Difficult to compare New Zealand and South Africa. Purely from a size point of view it is so different, not to mention the people and the climate and the vegetation. Then again that is why we travel, to experience different countries,different people,different food and to meet different people.
Hope they all enjoyed it as much as we did.
There was master firemaker, as in Pyromaniac, Ed. That is now a man who could seriously make fire. Night after night the fire would be burning, with or without the need for braaiing. We were sure that we would have wood left over at the end of the trip, but no fear when Ed was near! The last day our Battle field guide had to stop at a wood selling shop for more wood for that night's fire,despite the fact that it was only Dick and I that braaied. His wife felt the cold very easily, so I wonder if that is the reason for him being such a keen fire maker.He also drove a Terracan, like us and their anniversary was on the same date as ours. They had a son called Richard and a daughter-in-law who shared a birthday with me. Uncanny, I say.
David and Irene who so keenly embraced the well priced wines on offer in the Winelands and then ending up giving most of it away as David was so sick with Gastro for much of the trip .
The other two couples loved the country and the beauty of it and embraced the diversity. They ate venison and wors and ostrich and kudu. They tried out all the strange foods, drank Rooibos tea and walked when they could and took many pics.
Everybody brought something to the group in their own and unique manner. John fixed and planned and it was not difficult to spot the engineer and most useful to have him around. Luckily we got a can of oil, that sort of Q20 type of oil, on day one from the technician that came to fix something. Well John put that oil to good use. His philosophy:"If it moves, oil it" and so it was, clutch pedals, the vents on the roof of the vans, locks, keys, anything.
Sure many a thing will come to mind over the next few weeks. We loved the group. They were fun and gelled so well, mainly as a result of them all doing a similar trip through New Zealand the year before. I think this trip was very different and somewhat of an adjustment for them. Difficult to compare New Zealand and South Africa. Purely from a size point of view it is so different, not to mention the people and the climate and the vegetation. Then again that is why we travel, to experience different countries,different people,different food and to meet different people.
Hope they all enjoyed it as much as we did.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
The Battlefields to Culture.
We spent the day with our very competent guide, Brian, who took us to the 2 best known Battlefields from a British perspective, being Isandlwana and Rourke's Drift. The latter being the one made famous by the movie, Zulu Dawn, I think. The guide made us understand the the movie version and the real event were rather different.One fact is for sure and that is that there were some really brave British who fought in that battle and it is nearly impossible to think that a hand full of soldiers defended their hospital against hundreds of thousands of Zulu warriors. It must have been a more than scary.
On the last night we were the only people to braai, as everybody had all sorts of other left over bits to eat. Made for very interesting menu options, potatoes and cheese, with olives, a bit of coleslaw here and a bit of bacon and egg there. Everybody luckily had something to drink, thanks to the generous donation made by David and Irene. She does not do more than a glass of wine and he could not drink anything due to his persistent gastro.All had sympathy for him, but nobody declined the free bees and we all felt obliged to enjoy it on his behalf.
We left at 8 the next morning for the long drive back to Johannesburg and to our Cultural experience. The domestic assistant at Kwa Rie must have thought it was Christmas when she got to work on Thursday mornig because all the left overs were left for her and there were boxes full of stuff, from Woolies cereals to cleaning materials to bread and butter and rice and pasta, jams and I am sure, even the left over Mrs Balls.
We were all a bit bushed when we got to Lesedi at about 15.30 and we had to be ready for the cultural experience at 16.30. I am not big on "cultural experiences" but this was good. There are 4 tribes represented in the area and the guide takes you to each "village" and shares a bit about their culture. I now know how many cows a bride in each of those 4 cultures are worth! This was followed by about 30 minutes of tribal dancing, which was excellent and entertaining. All in all a good experience and not too much and not boring.
Dinner was also a culinary experience, with crocodile, ostrich, lamb and chicken and pork for the non adventuresome, but all in all a pleasant last evening, with all the good byes and a pre celebration of Brian's birthday with a chocolate cake of varied quality, but we felt that it was the thought that counted.
One thing was for sure, it was good to sleep in a proper bed, with your own bathroom and loo. The motorhome is a wonderful holiday vehicle, but few things beat a good night's sleep in your own bed and that is what we had last night back at home. The rest of the group drove up to Kapama in the Kruger area for their next Wild life experience. Sure they will enjoy it.
The best is: No back to work on Monday for me!!!!!
On the last night we were the only people to braai, as everybody had all sorts of other left over bits to eat. Made for very interesting menu options, potatoes and cheese, with olives, a bit of coleslaw here and a bit of bacon and egg there. Everybody luckily had something to drink, thanks to the generous donation made by David and Irene. She does not do more than a glass of wine and he could not drink anything due to his persistent gastro.All had sympathy for him, but nobody declined the free bees and we all felt obliged to enjoy it on his behalf.
We left at 8 the next morning for the long drive back to Johannesburg and to our Cultural experience. The domestic assistant at Kwa Rie must have thought it was Christmas when she got to work on Thursday mornig because all the left overs were left for her and there were boxes full of stuff, from Woolies cereals to cleaning materials to bread and butter and rice and pasta, jams and I am sure, even the left over Mrs Balls.
We were all a bit bushed when we got to Lesedi at about 15.30 and we had to be ready for the cultural experience at 16.30. I am not big on "cultural experiences" but this was good. There are 4 tribes represented in the area and the guide takes you to each "village" and shares a bit about their culture. I now know how many cows a bride in each of those 4 cultures are worth! This was followed by about 30 minutes of tribal dancing, which was excellent and entertaining. All in all a good experience and not too much and not boring.
Dinner was also a culinary experience, with crocodile, ostrich, lamb and chicken and pork for the non adventuresome, but all in all a pleasant last evening, with all the good byes and a pre celebration of Brian's birthday with a chocolate cake of varied quality, but we felt that it was the thought that counted.
One thing was for sure, it was good to sleep in a proper bed, with your own bathroom and loo. The motorhome is a wonderful holiday vehicle, but few things beat a good night's sleep in your own bed and that is what we had last night back at home. The rest of the group drove up to Kapama in the Kruger area for their next Wild life experience. Sure they will enjoy it.
The best is: No back to work on Monday for me!!!!!
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Another day..............................
After that journey of the day before, driving anywhere was a no-no the next day, well that was until we discovered that a few of us was out of wine for the night. We drove off to Bergville, which was an experience in itself. It was Monday, it was the 28th of Feb and it was the end f the month and what looked like a payday of sorts to the local folk. Where ever you looked there were people queuing at ATM's. FNB looked like the preferred bank. Clearly their marketing strategy was the best. We only wanted a few bottles of wine and the odd 6 pack of beers, but we were immediately confused,as there were many booze buying options. We first looked into the one outlet and then moved to the other to compare prices, but the high pitched voice of the Indian lady forced us back to the first option of local African buying . There was even a little kitten on the bottle store to welcome you. Works for me, as I love cats. Anyway we got good wine at excellent prices. Amazes me that you can get wine in remote areas at good prices and you never see that same wine in Cape Town. For a short moment we considered a walk through he town, but cancelled that and headed back to the Drakensberg camp where we were so comfortably situated.
The day was leisurely, to say the least. Reading in the shade, lolling in the pool, drinking tea and later beer and still later filling up the vans with water, all very team based exercises and then just relaxing into making a fire and settling down to braai. Then the thunder started and the odd bit of lightning and then the rain. The meat was cooked in the rain and all fled into their own vans and then the rain stopped. Well versed in thunder storms, we waited it out and then did out meat with no rain. Before we went to bed the soft rain started and that was the music of the night.
This morning we left before 9 and went to Spioenskop on our way. That might be a very historical sight, but oh boy, was the road a challenge. It was well washed out from the summer rains and it was quite a challenge for the motorhomes, but we all got up the "kop" and down again in one piece. Not normal driving for our British guests.
We arrived in Dundee, via Ladysmith where we stopped for shopping if needed, a much needed good cup of coffee, a bottle of 2 of wine and a proposed visit to the Siege museum. The town was bussling and there were people everywhere in queues for food in Shoprite, at the ATM for cash and all other need. We settled for the coffee and that was the end of Ladysmith for this trip. We are now comfortably camping in Kwa Rie in Dundee. This is decidedly one of our favourite campsite ever visited. It is like camping in a private place with a lovely dam and ducks and a dog and cats and resident Blesbok.
And so to another night of fire, friendship, wine and good food. It does not get much better than this.Tomorrow morning we are off to do the Battlefields and then it is our last night of the tour, which we spend in Dundee and the next day off to Johannesburg and a night at the Cultural village of Lesebi and then off to Kapama for out guests and back to Cape Town for us.
The day was leisurely, to say the least. Reading in the shade, lolling in the pool, drinking tea and later beer and still later filling up the vans with water, all very team based exercises and then just relaxing into making a fire and settling down to braai. Then the thunder started and the odd bit of lightning and then the rain. The meat was cooked in the rain and all fled into their own vans and then the rain stopped. Well versed in thunder storms, we waited it out and then did out meat with no rain. Before we went to bed the soft rain started and that was the music of the night.
This morning we left before 9 and went to Spioenskop on our way. That might be a very historical sight, but oh boy, was the road a challenge. It was well washed out from the summer rains and it was quite a challenge for the motorhomes, but we all got up the "kop" and down again in one piece. Not normal driving for our British guests.
We arrived in Dundee, via Ladysmith where we stopped for shopping if needed, a much needed good cup of coffee, a bottle of 2 of wine and a proposed visit to the Siege museum. The town was bussling and there were people everywhere in queues for food in Shoprite, at the ATM for cash and all other need. We settled for the coffee and that was the end of Ladysmith for this trip. We are now comfortably camping in Kwa Rie in Dundee. This is decidedly one of our favourite campsite ever visited. It is like camping in a private place with a lovely dam and ducks and a dog and cats and resident Blesbok.
And so to another night of fire, friendship, wine and good food. It does not get much better than this.Tomorrow morning we are off to do the Battlefields and then it is our last night of the tour, which we spend in Dundee and the next day off to Johannesburg and a night at the Cultural village of Lesebi and then off to Kapama for out guests and back to Cape Town for us.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)