Saturday, April 30, 2011

White Clay and the trip to Port St Johns

White Clay is a private lodge with some chalets and a small campsite midway between Coffee Bay and Hole in the Wall. The name  comes from the fact that the white clay used for “sunblock” and for initiation is found there, amongst other places, I am sure. The whole concern sits on the hill side with the sea about  vertically below it on a beautiful bay with waves of about 100 metres long breaking right there all the time. It is a magnificent setting. Both mornings we saw a huge pod of dolphins surfing in the waves.
On our full day there we walked towards Hole in the Wall all along the footpaths that criss cross the hills. All of this is part of the Wild coast hiking trail and lots of people walk along the hills all the time. We walked as  far as the waterfall, which is about half way to Hole in the Wall and then back to our spot. It must have been 6 km in total. The walking is easy and it is just that, walking. All along the way there are little beaches all covered in big pebble like stones that are dark grey or black and if there is sand, it is dark brown. I find it really different, however the waves are also something different. They are hundreds of metres long and they just roll onto the beach endlessly.
We rewarded ourselves with lunch at the White Clay restaurant and had the best Hake and Chips that we have ever tasted. A few places in Cape Town can come and take a few lessons. The restaurant is open to the general public and clearly is very popular with the passing trade, especially at lunch time. The campsite is pretty small, I think there are only 6 sites and they are precariously perched on the “hanging slopes” of Clay lodge. We made a few adjustments to our normal camping set up to fit in. (On the attached photo it is the vacant site directly below the reddish coloured chalet and above the site where the guy is walking and the wife is standing at the trailer.)
When we left there we followed the slow route all along the smiley route to Port St Johns. Again up and down, crossing rivers, checking the GPS coordinates and not getting lost this time. At one point we had to turn back as the bridge that had been washed away in 2006, was still washed away. We were stopped by a friendly, well spoken in English, guy who informed  us of this and pointed us in the right direction. Another time we stopped to consider our options, road wise and again a young woman came to us and asked where we were going and if she could assist. Well spoken and friendly and she in fact gave us good advice in terms of which road to take.
One thing that was noticeable on this day was the distinct change in vegetation. It was far more foresty, the house/huts were more simplistic and no more corrugated roofs, now all thatching grass. We also noticed far more young men walking along the road and many more children.  Clearly the cell phone companies have not infiltrated this part of the country either as we saw very few cell phone users and  once we got to little towns or villages we observed some of these cell phone use shops where you pay 90c per minute to use the facility. I suppose this is the modern “pay phone”. No more “tickey box”.
Now we are in Port St Johns, another place that neither of us has ever been to. The camp site is on the banks of the Umzimvubu river, one if the many huge rivers  in this part of the world. We must have crossed a dozen or more in the last day or so and all are wide and muddy and magnificent.  Yesterday the weather was great and obviously it was washing day all along and when we crossed one of the rivers on the road we were advised to take due to the bridge wash away, where the bridge was also washed away, but the river was passable, there were 2 ladies doing washing.  All the bedding was draped over the remaining bits of bridge. What a lovely picture that was and they were so cheerful as well.
Port St Johns is a real African town. We arrived on Friday afternoon and set off to do some replenishment shopping at the local Super Spar.  It was a choice between Super Spar, Boxers and U Save, so we chose Spar! It was a bit of a struggle as we are buying small quantities and bulk shopping is clearly the order of the day. The informal market outside the shops offered all of that, but we made do with what was available inside the shop.  This Spar does not have a Tops, the booze store, and we had to stop off at one of the many bottle stores in the town to get some wine.  All the booze is behind the counter and there is no browsing. When the guy saw me looking at the wine he said that I could go behind the counter to make my selection. Well the choices were Chateau Libertas, 4 Cousins Semi sweet and Tassies. One heck of a choice!!!
When you move out of the shopping area of the town you get into the alternative part, which clearly is where those who got out of the rat race and made a life choice to stay on the fringe have settled. We had breakfast at Jester’s Coffee shop. Great coffee and evidently the place where the local “fringies” go. Heather, the owner, looks like somebody that you will find in a upmarket coffee shop in Cavendish. Thin, well dressed, efficient and professional.  Amy, who has been living here for 20 years runs  the little shop and says she would not swop this for anything or anywhere. From the guests that arrived while we were there, I am sure there is many a story.  Maybe next time!
Tomorrow we are off to our next and last destination on the Wild Coast.



Friday, April 29, 2011

Our time at Dwesa

What a wonderful time we had at Dwesa. It is a lovely bush camp situated in the most beautiful part of the country. As we arrived in the dark, I had no idea of where we were and what the area looked like, in fact, when we stopped at the gate, I asked Dick what the noise was that sounded like earthmoving machinery and he said it was the sea. At that stage I did not even know that we were close to the sea, so wonderful was the surprise the next morning when we went for a walk and we were in fact a hill away from the sea. Awesomely awesome it was. The sea is so different from Cape sea and the sand is brown and there are rocks right into the sea and the hills run into the sea as well. 
The first morning we walked along the beach and on towards the mouth of one of the many rivers in the Transkei. We took a little backpack and water bottle with 2 G&T’s in and picked up some oysters on the beach and then had a “chill moment” on the beach where we enjoyed this. These are the moments in life that adds the real quality.  When we got to the mouth of the river we were met by a herd of cattle, lying on the beach and on the rocks, chewing the cud. What a life that must be for a cow. It is really difficult to describe to anybody what this coast is like, especially if you are talking from a Cape coast perspective. It actually just has to be experienced to appreciate it.
The following morning we went for a walk through the forest. As it is a Nature reserve the forest is protected and there is quite a bit of it. There are lovely old trees and several Yellowwoods amongst it with lots of bird life and apparently wild animals as well. We were unaware of this, but we were stopped by the local guide who told us that we are not allowed to walk alone in the forest, due to the fact that there are dangerous animals. The most dangerous that we saw was a little green snake. We also found out that we were only allowed to walk to the Khobolo river on our own. We never observed a sign indicating to the wild animals that they were not allowed to attack anybody before that, but then again, maybe they knew that already all by themselves.  Obedient as we are, we walked back along the beach.  We stopped on the way to have a rest and just to enjoy the wonder and beauty of the environment, when we spotted movement on the beach. It was a big ghost crab trying to open a mussel, about the same size as it. It was fascinating to watch. Dick slowly tried to make his way closer to take some photos, however this is quite difficult as the crabs have really good eyesight and detect any movement and within a flash they are into their “ghost crab hole”. Anyway Dick waited him out and was lucky enough to get some really good action shots of the crab eating out of the mussel shell. What an experience that was and I would think quite rare, as these crabs are extremely fast moving and whenever you see them they are disappearing into their holes. And as Dick always says: “Another day of hell in Africa”.
We left Dwesa  with sad hearts and wished that we could have stayed for longer, but on Wednesday morning we were off and on our way to White Clay lodge where we were booked to camp for 2 nights.  Again the road was typical Transkei with little, if any difference between major and minor roads.  There is not a great deal of local traffic on the road, however what there is, it is mostly Toyota bakkies and if anybody ever wondered about what had ever happened to all the Toyota Ventures, let me tell you, they are gracing the Transkei roads proudly .The scenery is picture book pretty, with undulating hills with brightly coloured huts that are scattered all along each and every hill. Cattle and goats and wondering, cell phone carrying people everywhere, however each and every hut and patch that we saw were well kept, clean and obviously proudly owned.  Never saw a man doing any work, but many a woman working the fields and carrying things and generally being productive. I suppose the men are all in the major cities, like Cape Town to earn money to build the houses here in the Transkei.
We stopped off at a rural shop to purchase a loaf of bread and were greeted with such hospitality and very friendly people. The fact that we could not understand a word of each other’s language was irrelevant.  We also stopped at the famous “hole in the wall” for some photos. It is another of the peculiarities of creation, with this huge “rock” that has this big hole in it where you can either see the horizon on the other side or huge waves breaking through the hole. It is really spectacular. A short few kilometers later we were at White Clay lodge, home for the next few days.


The road to Dwesa.

Our next destination was Dwesa, a Nature reserve on the Wild Coast. When we left East London on Sunday morning we headed out on N2, shortly after that to turn off to Morgan Bay and then Kei Mouth.  The reason for this was to cross the Kei river by Ferry and then to follow the “smiley” route to Dwesa. We had now moved off normal maps and were on the Slingsby map for the Wild Coast. Wonderful maps these are as there is so much detail on them. This particular one indicates scenic routes with a “smiley” and difficult routes with a “jeep”. These are serious 4x4 routes, not to be tackled in your own, or so we were advised. After some of the scenic routes, I am very grateful that we did not.
Anyway, we stopped in Kei mouth for a quick lunch at the Green Lantern. Best Burger on the way so far and fantastic value for money. Then the ferry, which still looks like a design from the late fifties but still working very well. It is now powered by a Suzuki outboard engine and the trip takes all of 5 minutes. R60 a trip and free for pedestrians, of which there were a few. There were even onboard curious for sale!!Not sure if it was duty free or not. On the other side of the Kei river we were in the Old Transkei. What a beautiful part of the country this is. It is GREEN and hilly, with all these traditional houses scattered all over the hill sides. Mind you a traditional house is no longer as it used to be. It is now a brick and mortar building and mainly painted in bright colours.  The roads are rough and even more so when wet. We were happily travelling along with our Slingby map and I was quite chuffed that we were following it and that we were on the correct route. I have to add that there are ZERO indications along the road to tell you where you are. It is you and the map and then of course my interpretation of the map. I had just said to Dick that I cannot think that one could travel in this part of the country without a map, unless you were a local and knew where you were. Well “murphies law” struck at that very moment. Dick remarked that we were travel south and that we were supposed to be going north. This caused some heated discussion and e release of some unvented frustrations!  Well back to the GPS and the coordinates and half an hour later we were back on track. We are still not sure where we went wrong and we have buried the issue now.
The roads are mostly rough and it is shared with animals, people, dogs and other cars, so travelling is slow in daylight and we were rapidly running out of that commodity.  So the last hour of the scenic route was done in half light and later in no light. Conversation was cancelled and prayer engaged. We made it to the gate of the camp site just before 6.30. Now it was check in and all that goes with it and it is all slow. Arriving at a camp site in the dark is difficult, but to find the correct place to camp is nearly impossible, especially if there is no light at all. We had no idea of where there was an ablution block or anything, but we saw a long drop and a vacant place and we parked right there.  Luckily the guy next to us came along and informed us on some basic’s, like where to find water, etc. In no time we had sorted our place out, had a glass of wine in the hand , some left over Warthog fillet from the night before and the spirits were back to where they should be. Amazing how quickly one can do an “about turn”.

Nahoon Caravan Park and East London

On our way to East London we stopped off at Bathurst for a cup of coffee to wake us up after the previous night of little, if any sleep, thanks to our young neighbors after their night on the town.  Bathurst holds many memories for us as we had spend many a great time there with our friends Carl and Toti as Carl’s folks used to live just outside the town. Carls dad, the Brig, was quite a character and well known in the Bathurst area. He bought and restored many houses and also the one where we stopped to have coffee, called Bleak house, now owned by a lady called Sue. She was ready to share the history of her life and that of the house, however, luckily for us, she was interrupted by some friends arriving. What made both of us giggle when we left, was the fact that she told us that in the late eighties or early nineties, the house was bought by “ Brigadier Nauhaus, who made a real botched job of it”. We did not let on that we knew him and we did not enquiry about the botchiness of the job either!
Well Good Friday in East London meant no or little traffic and with the assistance of the GPS we got to the camp site in the roundabout way that a GPS has the ability to take you. I am convinced that our GPS is a true blond. The camp site is situated at Nahoon beach, which is one of the most famous surfing beaches in the country. It is indeed a beautiful beach. The campsite clearly got stuck somewhere in the late eighties. Communication at the gate was a challenge, however we got through that one. Not sure if the lady could not understand why we were there, or how come we had booked to be there. We could choose our own site, which is cool, but the warning lights should have gone off when we spotted 2 sites on either end of the camp with quite extensive camp setups, plus a marquee tent on each.   Well the reason for this was extremely clear on Saturday night. The one group was celebrating the 40th birthday of twin brothers and the other group was celebrating the birthday of somebody on the Sunday.
The twins’ celebration started early in the afternoon and the braai fires were on and the chops were on the fire by late afternoon and then the guests started arriving and many there were. A bit of a new experience for us in a camp site. Well they had eaten early and by 8 they were washing dishes already and we thought that it was all over. Big mistake, as the party was clearly only in its infancy.  Our friend with the Sunday birthday was only warming up at about 5 when the sheep was going onto the spit. This party had not even started at 8. Not to worry, the guests arrived fast and furiously. The gates were left wide open and people arrived and left at random. A the evening progressed the music got louder  and it was “doef-doef” until the early hours of the morning. At midnight mr Sunday birthday was sung into his new year of life, in various levels of “out of tune”. No problem, a few more cheers and off they were for more celebration. The music was turned down slightly after 1 am and then an amateur guitar player took over and it was a tossup as to which was the preferred music!!
By 2 am the last guests left and the camp was quiet.  I eventually fell asleep next to Dick who had slept through all of the noise. He assessed the scene early in the evening and took a sleeping tablet. Very wise that was.  Anyway we survived again and maybe next time we will think twice when we see marquee tents  in a campsite or maybe I will also succumb to the sleeping tablet. Camping in Municipal sites clearly has disadvantages, however we chose this one specifically as we wanted to be within walking distance of the city. That was actually also a bit of a miscalculation as the city was about 6 km away, but we walked along the beach and it was fun. Amazing how differently we experienced East London and Port Elizabeth and they are so close together. The whole vibe of the 2 places are completely different.
What was great though,  is that we met another couple who live in Hoheizen, barely 2 km from us and we shared many a moment about our experiences in the camp site

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Grahamstown

There is no real Gravel travel opportunity between Port Elizabeth and Grahamstown, so it was up on the N2 , with the only stop and at Nanaga, where there is an absolutely out of this world “farm stall” that sells fantastic home made pies and Roosterkoek, warm off the fire. From Nanaga the scenery changes dramatically and you are surrounded by those typical Eastern Cape rolling hills and many game farms and lodges all along the way.
We were in Grahamstown about lunch time and took a stroll around the city which has a huge number of churches and a beautiful Anglican Cathedral and in fact the city is known as the “City of Spires” . They are all from the mid 18 hundreds. It really is a beautiful city. We also walked around the streets where some of the old houses are and luckily many are restored and  lived in. That was one of the sad things about P.E.  A lot of the old historical buildings in and close to the city centre are so badly run down, even the Step houses, which used to be such a land mark.
We were a little apprehensive about the campsite before hand, as Dick had some difficulty with the booking and it is a Municipal campsite on top of it, but what a lovely and pleasant surprise that was. Beautifully kept, lovely sites and each camp site have its own little ablution block with a big shower, a separate loo and a basin and general area. Outside there were a sink and a work area and a braai place, all under cover.  It was great and definitely another site to stay on the list.  There are some lovely walks in the area and as it is sort of on the edge of the city you are close to several of the walks, of different distances and all very well indicated. There are also nice looking chalets and the whole area is very well maintained.
Anyway, enough of the commercial. We set up camp, went for a walk and lit our braai. Before we had finished eating a group of guys arrived and pitched 3 tents on the site next to ours. Student  type guys it looked like, all well spoken and decent looking. They went off to what we assume was to have something to eat and were back an hour or so later and went to bed.  The rest or some of them went off in their Corsa bakkie to where they were staying, or so we thought.  We were off to bed and fast asleep when we were woken up by a sound from heaven knows where. It sounded like something had crashed into the building, us or who knows what. We both sat bold upright and “bleek geskrik”. It was 1.30 am. Then we heard the cause of the commotion. 3 guys had returned from a “night out drinking” we have boys and we know the music!! I am sure the people in the furthest away chalet could hear them and they were maybe 20 metres away from us. Not to mention the language and the descriptions of the evening and the “ one Black label, one Hansa and one Castle light” and the laughter that accompanied that.  Dick took slightly longer than me to take action, or maybe he was just thinking about what he was going to say, but I leant forward, opened the tent and shouted to them:  “Hi, you guys, can you SHUT UP, please”, nogals please. They went quiet and immediately said “Sorry” and then continued to whisper loudly! The 3 then walked away, no doubt with another Black label, Hansa and a Castle light to return some time later and then to be “shut up” by the  other guys that were also trying to sleep.
That was the night done for us. The sleep fairy had disappeared. Luckily I was planning to get  up early to go to the Good Friday service at the Cathedral at 8.00, so I was up and on the go and walking to the Cathedral at 7.30. There were only a handful of people and it was so special. I even had an opportunity to do a reading. The Priest asked for volunteers to do a reading and nobody volunteered, so I did. Probably the only time I will ever have the opportunity to read from scripture in a Cathedral.
When I got back to the camp, Dick had packed up everything and we were off to East London.

Friday, April 22, 2011

P.E., indeed the friendly city

From Addo , on Monday morning,  it was a quick ride through the Park and then into P.E. I must say that is now an easy city to get around in. It is a long city with one major hub at Greenacres and then many shops all around major roads. On day 2 we wer like we had been  living there for years. We knew where to get food, shoes, electrical connections, CD writers, where to get the Terracan washed and where to get good coffee and where to get money.We were so cool, it was painful/ We enjoyed the time there tremendously.
We were only scheduled to spend Monday and Tuesday night there, but on arrival it was very quickly clear that you don't spend such a short time with people as you then hardly had time to "warm up" to the unique brand of hospitality in P.E. When we arrived at our friends' home, we were informed that the hostess was in fact in hospital where she had had an operation on the Saturday, but not to worry she will be out on Tuesday and all will be well, regardless of the fact that it was a rather significant operation, . Most people that I know that has had this op was out of action for at least 10 days and then still on sub performance for another 4 weeks. Not our hostess. She was out on Tuesday, making food, doing washing and looking like she had gone in for rejuvenating surgery.
The first night we "kuiered" around Kevins pub and we had a braai later. What a lovely evening it was. We all went to bed many bottles of wine later and with a firm commitment to stay for another day as we just had to attend the weekly  meeting of their 4X4 club on the Wednesday evening. Dick was requested to put a few slided together ad to do a short talk on our trip. Well, the slides happened and the talk sort of became personal chats, as the club has such a wonderful vibe and there was so much socializing that the evening was over before we got to a formal talk. I have to say that we were a little apprehensive about the club, as it is known as theAlgoa Toyota 4X4club and there we were arriving with a Terracan, but we overcame that one by travelling with Lorinda in her Merc!!!
It was with heavy heart and a sense of loss that we left the Slabberts on Thursday morning. We had had such a wonderful time, the hospitality was unsurpassed and we enjoyed our time, both with them and in P.E. Dick even took me on a historical walk through the city.
We were off to Grahamstown after a hearty breakfast on Thursday.

Sunday, April 17, 2011

R335

We booked into Somerset Lodge last night and what a gem that turned out to be. A lovely room, a hot shower and a very comfortable bed and a super hosts in Deon and Celeste du Plessis. Passionate about there town, know there surroundings and keen to share there passion and  knowledge and wants you to experience this as well. Not to mention the very affordable rate this came at. We will definitely be back there when next in Somerset East. Camping at Bestershoek is fresh off the menu!!!We went for a superb pizza at Somerset on Main. This is an old house converted into a restaurant and it is beautiful. Both of us thought that it reminded us of  Bacardi's in Kloof street. It was not as busy and bussling, but it had the same sort of atmosphere.
Today we travelled the R 335 from Somerset East to Addo, which was not on the travel plan, however with Besterhoek not materializing, we decided to take a chance and see if we could not get a camp site for the night at Addo and , by the Grace of God, we got the last site for the night.
Well again we travelled off  he beaten track. It was the road less travelled and thus the beauty of it was excessive. It is like the less people do the route, the more beauty there is for you to experience. We travelled up the passes and down the passes and wished that it was not all ' in the cloud" travelling, but as we gpt over the top of the Suurberg mountains the mist lifted and we could see the never ending rolling hills of the Eastern Cape. The Suurberg Pass is one to put on your "bucket list " if this is your sort of thing. As we got closer to Addo  a few commercial operations showed up. The one was the Elephant Backed Safaris and the other was a rather new looking lodge with Ice cream coloured chalets, largely visited by hired Corollas and the odd Spark.
We arrived in Addo at about 2pm and immediately went to "stake our claim"  and then went off to do a trip through the park. The park is GREEN and LUSH and totally different to the last 3 times we were here. Not an elephant in sight, but hundred of birds, herons in large numbers, Blue Cranes and Korhaan and lots of Kudu and plenty of Warthog. Hopefully we will see some Elephants when we travel through the Park on out way to PE where we are going to spent 2 nights with family/friends.
It remains to me a special  treat to travel through Addo and experience the difference every time. (sound a bit lke a Woolies ad) It just is such an humbling experience to know that nature is just always there and doing what is right at the right time, while we all stress and strain about stuff we can do nothing about.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

The journey to Somerset East

Early early we were ready to go this morning. All packed up and off to Cradock first for a bit of essential shopping and then we hit the road out of Cradock, firstly to go and look for the Egg rock. Even at 40 mt high and made of Dolorite, we could not find it, only to find out later that it is on a well disguised road, with little , if any indication. We bank that one as a "non compliant". After this we get on the go to Somerset East, but no normal road again, this time it is the road via Mortimer to Somerset East. Obviously this is now all on gravel and mainly the D-roads. It is also beginning to rain very lightly, but the Randalls are not phased by this at all. We reached Mortimer all right and then we took another road on the map going past Bloemfontein. We thought this interesting and headed off on the D2503. We travelled on through mud and gravel and I opened many gates and went through and old pass, with beautiful hand packed road bases. Clearly in years gone by this was a frequently used pass, however with the new tar roads most of these roads are only used by local farmers, I would assume. We went past Bloemfontein, a Cattle and Hunting farm. It was like a picture from days gone by. It is a huge set up with an old homestead and beautiful surroundings, all in white and green.
And so we continued for the rest of the day over gravel pass, after gravel pass, amidst, yet again the most unbelievable scenery. The roads was a challenge in many places and there was mud and gates and hills and I expected a leopard to appear any moment from the mountains, but only sheep and cows and one black-backed jackal.
After we had been on this D road for an hour and a half, I saw a farm on the left and was sure that it was Glen Avon, which was sort of towards the end of the road, however there it was only Glen Craig, which was like a position I thought we had passed a long time ago, In my defense, I have to say that the map was last updated in 1999 and I am sure thing must have changed since then. It was a bit of a surprise and we quickly had to "regroup" and have something to eat and get out of the car an.d take a pic or two and settle back into the journey. The road had been rough and Dick was concentrating hard and breakfast a long time back.
Luckily the cloud had  started to lift and the rain was gone and in patches the sun was coming through. We arrived in Somerset East at about 4pm and went to the campsite where we had booked for 2 nights. We had sort of a feeling and Dick had said that this was the one place he was not sure about and low and behold, that was the case. The security guard on duty came to us and said that the ablutions were not of a desirable state and offered to get somebody to make them desirable,but once I had seen it, I just knew that now matter how much effort went into it, there was no way it was going to be desirable to me tonight. We called it off and booked into a Self catering place and are now warmly settled into Somerset Lodge and we are having a good bottle of wine and we are going to have a PIZZA tonight.
All in all a great day, travelling through this wonderful country of ours and seeing placed that the Politicians don't even know about, so surely low on the list of places to be screwed up. So stay off the high ways and enjoy the by ways!!



Friday, April 15, 2011

The Mountain Zebra National Park.

We left Graaff-Reinet and headed off to Cradock along some real back roads, needless to say all on gravel. It was evident from the road that we travelled on that there has been lots of rain in the area and indeed we had some rain on the way to Cradock. The scenery was and is still absolutely awesome. We have taken many pictures and I am really going to make a serious attempt to add some going forward.
As it was cold and rainy and we were in search of  more airtime for the laptops, we decided to head into Cradock first for a cup of coffee. Well we then got the data bundle and then we decided that we need something to warm the inner us, so we stopped off for a bottle of that and then we were off to Mountain Zebra. It was sort of misty rain and cold, but we set up and made a fire and got going. We are getting really good at that. Lovely campsite and beautiful surroundings, with mountains every where.
The first day here we decided not to ride anywhere, so we walked up the "koppie" behind the campsite to see what we could see. Well, the "koppie" was quite high and we could see a lot and far across the mountains and valleys.The walk is about an hour and a half, including all the stops to look at birds, look them up in the Sasol bird book, agree on what we saw and then to tick it off as positively identified. One also has to look at all the Golden Orb web spider nests and this and that and take the odd picture. All these things take a lot of time. We just chilled for the rest of the day and watched the new crowd arrive late afternoon and how they set up camp and all the interesting/strange things that people bring along. I am sure others look at us and think the same.
Yesterday we headed off into the park to do some dedicated game viewing . It was a beautiful day with clear skies and this scenery that just goes on and on and on. The park is very varied in terrain and it is literally up the mountain and down into the valley. On the plains we saw big herds of Springbok and Red Hartebeest and strangely enough, lots of Mountain Zebra!
 Also lots of baby Springbokkies. They are still light coloured and nearly sort of grey/beige. Real "Ag, shame" moments. We got a fright when a little bokkie ran out of the veld right towards the car and then off on the road. Shame, man, where was his mommy? Down the passes and into the valley there are dams and we saw terrapins at 2 dams and at one dam 2big ones each with a small one, like a baby. We spent at least 10 minutes watching a group of Ground squirrels and their antics. They are so busy and on the go all the time and so alert. Would have given a lot to have some of  those working for me! Rare characteristics in many humans these days, say no more!!
Anyway after having done several "loops" we headed back into Cradock for another IT related issue. All this goes way past me, so I just go for the ride and enjoy the scenery. While Dick went to sort the data issue out, I popped into the Dept of Labour to check on my UIF application. Interesting experience. Register with your ID and wait. Luckily only 4 people ahead of me on the waiting room. Interesting observation in the waiting room is the photo of our current President, with the Photo of a previous one behind him, but the only thing visible of the previous President is the hair.  Well now I know what Mr Zuma will look like with hair. Within an hour I am into the only operating "cubicle". The person in the other one has a notice up on the swingdoor to say that "busy with back up administrative duties". I heard a bit of casual conversation going on, but who am I to say what "back up and  admin" means in this world. Needless to say the application is still  drifting in cyber space, regardless of the fact that the last words to me in the Bellville office was:' The application is correct and I can check at any office in SA, etc, etc. Well back to Gin and  Tonic and a Burger for lunch in the local, very old Victoria Manor Hotel.The hotel owns a whole street of restores houses which is part of their accommodation offer. They call it "Tuishuise", ever so "oulik".
The park has several game viewing "loops", amongst other three 4x4 only loops. Well we did them all and let me tell you they are true to their word when they say 4x4 only. These routes mainly take you up a mountain, which does not look all that formidable from the bottom, but once you are on it and you are heading up, you know that this is not the N1 between Bellville and Cape Town. Once you are on the top you sort of get lulled into a false sense of security. You are surrounded by these grassland, covered in purple Karoo Irisses, herds of Zebra, Springbok and who ever chose to be there at the time. We stop and look at birds and follow that identifying process again and we look for the elusive Cheetah and the  we generally forget that what goes up must go down and then suddenly you are no longer on the level. Oh, boy and then we are heading down. All I can say, is every time I was so glad my mother was not in the car. Luckily the Terracan is true to its name. It can cover the earth. Exciting times. It is to me amazing that you can do these proper 4x4 routes in the parks, at no cost and on your own, what a joy.
Our two specials for today was the Rock Monitor Lizard which we saw on the way up one of these roads. He was just doing what he does best and that was lying in the middle of the road. He reluctantly moved of, flicking tongue and all when we approached and the Black Rhino we saw on the way back to the camp.
What can I say, I mean how terrible can life be. You pitch your camp, you make your food, you sleep in your tent, you get up and you pack up and you see the amazing country that we live in and then you find home again for the night. I love it. We stop and shop in new places, we chat to new people in the campsites and you hear different stories all the time.
Tomorrow we  are off to Somerset East, another place where I have never been.

Monday, April 11, 2011

We journey forth

When we left the Karoo Nat. Park we headed for Graaff-Reinet, via Murraysburg and Nieu-Bethesda and what a lovely journey that turned out to be.The scenery was just unbelievable. These Karoo "koppies" are so breathtakingly beautiful. I loosely refer to them as "koppies" but they are actually high, as in 1750, 1530 and such like. Obviously if you were to climb them that is not the high that you would do, but this is only something that needs clarification to the "blond" fraternity. The rest understands this automatically!!!
As you get closer to Murraysburg there are some huge Merino farms, of great historical value, with names like Kruidbosch, Kareebosch and Kraaifontein, All are close to the road and it feels as if you are driving right through their front gardens. Kareebosch is the farm where they H.F.Verwoerd launched the first land based oil well for Soekor in the sixties. Thank God it was unsuccesful!! So hopefully will the "Fracking" also be. There is a huge outcry at the moment in the Karoo against that initiative from Shell and the people from the Karoo need all the support they can get. So stuff the politicians and vote for the survival of our heritage.
From Murraysberg we detoured to Nieu-Bethesda. We stopped at the local pub for a G+T, where SupeRugby was on the TV, with 2 locals watching. The one with his own German type beermug and the other clearly local 'outjie" who has no TV at home. No words were spoken other than the odd bit of encouragement for the favoured team. Neither were SA teams,so I suppose it meant the preference of the day. While we were sitting outside a guy arrived that went into the pub and he was greeted by the guys inside as "Boetiegoed". Now you have to be at least 60 to remember anybody being called that. We went to visit the Owl house, which is strange experience at its best. Helen Maartens who was the "owl lady" clearly had some different ideas. Next to the Owl house there is a "fossil experience" which we also did. Now that is  a reminder of how insignificant humans are in the greater scale of things. There was just so much happening in creation before we even joined the world. Quite humbling.The young local guide, sans front teeth and very Afrikaans, was keen to share her knowledge about the fossils. Our tour was shared with a British couple with fancy state of the art Canon cameras, clicking away in continuous shoot mode at the fossils. I was not sure why, as I did'nt think that the fossils would go anywhere in a hurry after 150 million years!!
We arrived in Graaff-Reinet sort of late afternoon at the local caravan/camping site. Seems like it has seen better days, but the bathrooms are clean and the water is HOT. A few different sort of people around though. In 2 of the Rondavels there are some guys from Elsiesriver who are doing the "townships" buying gold for re sell. They go from town to town on the 'Platteland" to do this and then they resell the gold to goldsmiths. Strange life, I'd say.
Yesterday we went to spend the day in the Camdeboo National Park, which include the Valley of Desolation. It is another of those places where you just stop and reflect and again realise that there was a lot more in God's world before he created man. I am sure he sometimes regrets that. We also did the 4x4 trial in the park. Nogals a bit hairy at places, but we took lots of photos and Dick can write about that on his blog. I just hang tight, pray and get out to take photos.
Today we did the tourist thing in the town. What a historical place it is. It is the 4th oldest town in SA, after Cape Town, Stellenbosch and Swellendam. Hugely influenced by the Murray's, of religious background. Andrew Murray came here in the 18 hundreds, married a 16 year old girl and had 16 children. 11 made it to adulthood. 5 boys became religious ministers and 4 of the girls married religious ministers. Holy family!!!
We visited 3 museums, which is quite a lot for me, however it was so interesting. At Reinet house, which was the home of the Murrays for more than 80 years we were welcomed by Oscar(surname forgotten) who is clearly a character. He knows a great deal about local history and is also an author who writes a variety of books and enthusiastically told us about his  writings. We walked and photographed and had lunch and visited several old churches and ended up at the old "moederkerk" in the middle of town. It must be one of the most impressive churches on the SA platteland. It is huge. It can seat 1500 people and is in pristine condition. Clearly the community cares about it and looks after it. On the way out there was a guy, I was about to say elderly, but then remembered where we are in life, who was obviously involved with the church. I stopped to ask him if the church was still well supported, etc. He immediately informed us that he was not from Graaff- Reinet but from Aberdeen, a nearby town with a church with a very high steeple and that he was here to fix the church clock, which is perpetually in 3pm.
That one question from my side lead to a whole different load of information. Not only did the church in Aberdeen have this high steeple, it was also in need of painting and restoration and when the new "dominee" arrived 4 years ago, this guy was called to assist. The quote for the scaffolding was over R 80000 and he was tasked to come up with an affordable solution. Well, he did. He designed and built a contraption with 8 "legs" with pulleys and baskets and hydrolic lifts and they called it a Terrantula. They can now paint the steeple any time and when not in use retract the legs and hide it away. This guy is also a Springbok Bisley shottist, now shooting in the "Veteran Protea" team. He has been to 4 world championships. This guy, mr Van Rensburg, must be well into his sixties, is as lean as a machine, wears no glasses and is an "old Protea shottist". I mean, how good is that. The world is full of wonderful people, if only you were to stop and listen .
Tonight we and the "gold collectors" and one other lone traveller from Cape Town share the campsite and tomorrow we head off to Cradock and the Mountain Zebra Park.

Friday, April 8, 2011

Karoo National Park

Wow, what a place to visit. It is beautiful and like ancient creation. It is true Karoo in all its beauty.
We spent 2 nights in the camp site, which is about 800 meters from the reception, but you cannot go there on foot since they have introduced lions to the park in November 2010. It means that you are stuck in the camp, especially if you are travelling with a roof top tent, like we are, however that is not a problem as they offer stunning walks in the park with a guide. We took the 10.30 option and was fetched at the camp by the field guide. You cannot walk on your own, even before the lions. Our guide took the 2 of us on a 2 hour hike in the veld just around the camp. It was fantastic. He shared field knowledge and just exerted his passion for the Karoo. We learnt about "kruisbessiebos" and wild rosemary and "karoo anker" and jewel beetles and toktokkies and lots more and all from the local area. It was such a full filling experience and we really enjoyed it.
The second day we headed off into the park to explore and to get to over night accommodation at iBesweni at the far end of the park. This was a special treat, as it was the first night in a house with a proper bed and a fresh fluffy duvet, hot shower and a fully equipped kitchen and a loo under the same roof as you. What a pleasure that was. The scenery from there was fantastic. These Karoo koppies and the vlaktes that go with it is just different and it changes all the time. There are also animals here, but the park is vast and the animals are scattered around. We saw a few big herds of Gemsbok and Red Hartebeest and some Springbok and Zebra, both the Burchell's and the Cape Mountain. We also saw lots of running Ostriches. Must have been national running day for them.
The road to the cottage is only accessable to 4x4 vehicles and that was quite clear why. It was not rough and inaccessable, but it was decidedly an advantage to have a capable vehicle to do the trip there and back. It was slow gravel travel at its best, with some challenges.We are spending the last night here in the camp again tonight and tomorrow we head off to Graaff -Reinett for the next few days. The nice thing is that most of the campers here tonight are heading home as school starts on Monday and we are not part of that crowd. We are just heading on into the next chapter of our trip.Life sucks, does it not!!!

P.E. to Beaufort West

We left Fish early on Sunday morning. Carl and his troop back to Pretoria and we back to our original holiday plan. This meant that we had to back track to P.E. and then get to Beaufort West where we were booked into the Karoo National Park from the 5th of April.  As the others had to leave so early, we packed up the last bits at “Lo Shack” and then headed off to Port Alfred for breakfast at the restaurant at the mouth of the Cowie river. We clearly caught them a touch early and by the looks after a heavy night . The waitress was decidedly “moeg” and we had to assist with the putting up of our umbrella, but we had a good breakfast. It is a wonderful position where the restaurant is and well worth a stop off.
We dropped Emlin off at P.E. airport, ventured into P.E. to get some essentials and set off to Patensie where we were going to spend the night at Gonjah bushcamp. It is lovely there, but there are also no frills. It is a true bushcamp, with a donkey for hot water. This is not the transport type of donkey, it is the making fire under the hot water type. There is a bush loo and a bush shower. We love it. During the night you hear owls and frogs and all sorts of night sounds.
We left from there to travel through the Baviaanskloof, with the plan to spend the night at Willowmore, but Baviaanskloof is not a road to travel on in any sort of a hurry , so we spent the night at the wonderful camp at Doringkloof. It is one of the best campsites we have ever stayed at. We have been there before, so no surprises. The journey through the Baviaanskloof is really special. It is just the most amazing scenery all the time. You go over 3 mountain passes, obviously all gravel. The first one is Combrinck pass. It is an UP pass when you come from Patensie. The road has been improved and the bad patches are much better. The next pass is Holgat pass and that is a DOWN pass from our direction. There has been some road improvements, but clearly the money oer the contractor the bribe ran out on this one and towards the end the road is pretty rough. The next is Grasnek pass. A long and beautiful road and also not included in the “upgrade plan” Lovely to travel, though. We stopped off at the Padstal before Doringkloof for a cup of tea. This padstal is only open on high days and holidays and we were lucky as it was the first day of school holidays. So we stayed at Doringkloof, which is also called a “bush camp”, but the luxury variety. It is really in the middle of the Baviaanskloof  and if one were to spend time in the kloof to explore, really a conveniently situated place.
The next day we set of for the last stretch to Beaufort West. We stopped et the Baviaanskloof Craft shop. This is an initiative of the locals to get the community involved in producing crafts and then to have a central point to sell it all from. There was not a lot, but all in all a good idea, wiich I am sure will grow as time goes. We stopped for lunch in Willowmore a Sophie’s Choice . What a find. It is situated on the main street not far from the info centre. It is an antique shop, but not the heavy sort of antiques, more like “nice old stuff”, but boy does she have a lovely restaurant. Real Mediterranean style food. Dick had the quiche of the day , which was bacon and mushroom. Well the word “home made”  has new meaning now. It was packed with jummy bacon and mushrooms in a pastry “bakkie”. It smelt devine, it tasted like out of this world. I had a toast veggie and couscous salad and it was equally good. The attention to detail and the personal service was refreshing to experience, to say the least.
We arrived safely in Beaufort after all that lunch, all washed down with some Rooiberg wine. We are on holiday after all.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

The Ashes Challenge

To get to the beach where the Ashes were to be scattered we were faced with several obstacles. Firstly we had to cross the Great Fish River mouth. Not too much of a challenge there as Clive and Melanie, friends from Pretoria had a rubber duck which could be used for this. Once on the other side there was the 2mt cliff that we had to get up on to get to the footpath leading across the dunes. Not a problem,, we took a step ladder on the rubber duck. So in various trips all 7 of us  got across with all our "stuff". This included a skottel braai and a gas bottle, a cooler box with ice, a cooler box with champagne, 2 tables, an umbrella, various mats to sit on, my camera and the food and Toti's ashes in a gift bag and the 2 Poodles and a Yorkie.
 The priest who was doing the ceremony and a family member from Joberg was still to arrive, but nevermind this did not deter us from getting the celebration on the way. We settled on the beach, which is probably one of the most stunning beaches on the coast and swam and had some champagne and put Toti's ashes on a towel for the last bit of sun. This was her favourite place on all the earth and she was always laying in the sun, so we thought it appropriate to do this.
Well the priest arrived by plane from Joberg and him and Emlin, the nephew, was fetched from PE airport by Melanie and arrived at about 12.30. So another boat trip to get them across. The priest arrived in shorts but with proper priest regalia from the waist up. Again the 300 odd metres across the dunes to "Old Woman's" for the ceremony.  First some MOET champagne and then the ceremony!!
We all gathered around the ashes, Anglican prayer books and all and sang Guide thee O my Great Redeemer, Toti's favourite hymn and then did the service. When we were done some of the ashes were buried right there in the sand and the rest was scattered in the sea. It was so what she wanted and then again so different and even if you imagined it, you could not believe that you were not watching a movie. Fellini at his best!!When all was finished we made fish and chips on the beach, as this was the way it was always done.
Later in the afternoon the whole process by boat was reversed. The Indian fishermen who watched us in the  morning were still on the beach and we dared not speculate what they had thought about this strange goings on.
At the end of the day we were all of one mind that Toti has been laid to rest properly and appropriately.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

One week gone!!

I cannot believe that we are already been gone for a week and this is the first time that we are in a spot where we can connect to the Internet.
Well last Wednesday morning we left home at 4.30 and off we went to meet our friends at the Great Fish River mouth, just 30 km north of Port Alfred  It was a steady day's travel with a definite purpose and that was to get there before dark. Well with roadworks and stop and goes along the way and the odd stop for fuel, food and loos we were there at 5 pm and the party started.
"Fish" as the "cottage" is known to all of us, is a place with soul but without luxury. There is no electric lights, there is mostly no cell phone reception, unless you stand on the table outside when the wind is in the right direction and in the good old days we were not even allowed to wear a watch at Fish. There are also very specific rules and one of them is that you must have champagne first  thing in the morning on the dunes outside the house. Well this normally sets the tone for the day. In all the years that I have known "Fish"it has never been different and as we were all there to do Toti's ashes, we did not dare deviate from the rules. We also eat a great deal of really good food in between, mostly fish  in one way or the other.
 On our arrival there was "Fish paella" on the make, with all the required ingredients, from fresh mussels taken from the sea that morning, as well as Arikroks which Carl harvested that morning. All this after a 8 km walk. The prawns were from the local fish shop in Port Alfred. A  bit much expected to have gone fishing for them.
The next day was the "Ashes"  day. Well for some people it might sound simple to "throw my ashes in the sea", however Toti's request was a little more complicated than that. On the other side of the Fish River Mouth there is a set of dunes and then another beach, called "Old Woman's". At the time that she expressed her wish for her ashes to be scattered there the beach was accesses-able by 4x4, but those privileges were taken away many years ago. This left Carl with a bit of a dilemma, but being the chap that he is, he made a plan, a crazy plan,but none the less, a plan.
Fire is ready now for the braai. I carry on tomorrow.