Up, up and away in a Hot air balloon!

That is why travelling is such fun, because there are so many facets to it.
Hot air ballooning was only ever on the "wish list" of things to do when I get older, have the time, before I die, etc, or as it is now more popularly known, on my "bucket list". I suppose retirement falls into that category.
Well on Saturday the 18th December this dream became a reality, but , boy was there a lot of behind the scenes activity going on beforehand, which I only heard about after the event.It was supposed to be a surprise, which it was, however unlike booking a trip to the Kruger or to see the Big Five near Worcester, hot air balloons don't care about any of your own plans, it only cares about the weather and then  only about perfect weather for flying. That means no fog, winds not too strong , not too late, not too wet and EARLY IN THE MORNING. So a challenge for a surprise outing!!Well Dick pulled it off, with many secretive phone calls,SMS's and some late night and very early morning calls from a mysterious person.
On the perfect morning we were up at 3-30 and off in the direction of Paarl where we had to meet our transport at 4.45 at the Grande Roche. Well the Combi with a big trailer behind it put the idea that it might be white river rafting to bed and I could relax on that one. The hosts for the outing was a bubbly German lady, Carmen and her husband Udo, whom we later found out was an experienced "balloon pilot". Off we went towards Malmesbury with another couple who had been on the list for months and one other lady who received the flight as a 70th birthday gift in March already. She had once before arrived for her flight, all the way from The Strand, however too much fog on that morning . On this day she struck it right.
Going on a Balloon flight is not a "sit back and wait" event. No ways, you are involved with off loading , laying the balloon down for inflating, unpacking and holding and once the balloon is fully inflated, to hold the basket down, else it might take off without the passengers. We received careful instructions on how what where and when, however before long we were in the balloon armed with cameras and ready to take off, just as the sun appeared over the mountains to say "good morning" and then we were in the air, just like magic!!No sound at all, just drifting like you were on a cloud. What a sensation!!!
Up and down and across you drift and you can take in the scenery at your leisure and Udo is a great guide who knows the landmarks from 1000m off the ground. Kasteelberg, Paarl Mountain, Perdeberg, Groot Winterberg, the Limietberg and all the mountains from Du Toitskloof as far back as the Hexriver and beyond appears systematically as you go higher or in a different direction. None of the stretching and straining of the neck to see something like when your are flying over in an aeroplane. There are also tit bits of information being passed on. The biggest Plum farm in the Southern Hemisphere is below us, Perdeberg has the best value wines, this farm is in the market and all the time we are taking pictures and wishing that this experience will continue forever. It is so carefree, silent and different. I think one could easily become addicted to this type of "escapism".
All too soon the flight is over. It was well more than an hour and suddenly we are on the ground on a freshly harvested wheatfield and we have to do some more work, because as we all know, what goes up must come down and what is inflated, has to be deflated and packed away and this all happens with happy banter and a sense of new found freedom. No cares left on this Saturday morning.
No job is done until the paperwork is completed, so we are all issued with a certificate to certify us all as "having defied the laws of gravity................" and then it was off to Grand Roche for a breakfast with some champagne of the region.This is a non negotiable.  If you were to go on this outing you will hear the story from Udo!!
.....and we got the T-shirt!!!

The journey takes a turn...

This time it is the Life Journey that is taking a turn. On November 30 I completed a 28 yr 11 month journey with Woolies. This obviously came as no surprise, as it is company policy to retire at the end of the month in which you turn 60, however the reality of walking out on the last day is slightly different. I really felt a bit weepy and sort of a person without purpose. Nobody really made a fuss either, so I think I was feeling a bit sorry for myself. Never to be beaten, I then invited  myself to lunch, had a lovely salad and a glass of wine and then packed up, said good bye and left.
The next day was spent on doing "me" things, but only after a lovely breakfast made by Dick and then I went for a facial. Nothing like spending money on yourself and feeling good about it. The very next day, Thursday, I got a call from one of my now ex-bosses with an invite to coffee the next morning to discuss a possible proposition. Well, before I had formally been "said good bye to", I was made an offer to work on a contract for another 2 months and thus the life journey took an unexpected, but welcome turn. I now work in the store in Worcester, which is about an hours drive every morning and a little more at night. I see the most spectacular scenery every day ,  I meet new people and I get paid at the end of the month. What a pleasure!!!!

Two weeks later.....

Our trip back to Johannesburg was slow with many a "stop/go" and several km spent behind a monster of an abnormal load truck, not to mention a breakdown of our camper van. This happened somewhere near Heidelberg and about a km from where we joined the N3.  We all stopped and contemplated our options, peered into the engine and just knew that this was not a quick fix job because the area covered in leaking diesel rapidly increased as we were checking things out. Several phone calls later we decided to leave Dick and one of the guys behind and the 4 other vans left for Johannesburg and the Maui depot. They had agreed to send somebody out to fetch Dick and the van. He was eventually towed in. I drove the one Camper in thorough the traffic and all went well, only to  run out of diesel about 2 km from the depot.The reason for this is that one has to hand the camper back to Maui with as little as possible diesel. Beats me, but then again stranger things happen. Anyway by about 16.00 the guys were taken their hotel and Dick and I transferred all out stuff into another camper for our trip back to Cape Town. We met with our group at the hotel for a last farewell drink and then we were off to have supper with our kids and to spend the night in the Krugersdorp Game park. A lovely time with the kids and a late arrival in the park, however we saw a lot of game the next morning. The facilities in the park does look a bit tired, but there was hot water for the shower.The next morning we took a trip to Pretoria to go and visit our friend Toti who is terminally ill. We chatted a bit and had a glass of champagne with her and then hit the road to Cape Town. We were hoping to get to Upington, but with all the road works and the late departure we only made it to Delareyville. The campsite was non existant but we stayed nonetheless. The next night we stayed in Calvinia and then we arrived in Cape Town by lunch time on the Thursday. Lovely to be back home and back to work on the Friday for me. Luckily it was only for 8 working days and as I am writing now, I am in my first day of official retirement and that is going to be a different journey all of its own.

The Battlefields

I must say, I have never had a very keen interest in the Battlefields. The only knowledge that I have, or had, is from the history lessons in school, which in any case is a lifetime ago. We also never had any forefathers fighting in any of these Boer wars or Zulu wars and I have just always been detached from all of it, however like anything, if you are at the place and you hear the passion of the guide taking you through the actual "battles" and you see the vastness of the area where these battles were fought, you get sort of engrossed and it is as if you also become part of the history.
Our first stop was at Spionkop. It is a hair raising trip up to the "kop", especially with a campervan but once there, in the cold howling wind, you begin to understand some of the hard ships that those soldiers must have been faced with. Very glad not to have been involved with that war. Many people died, as most of them were totally unprepared for the conditions, the duration of the battle and the fact that they ran out of food and the shear fastness of the area to be defended.
We arrived in Dundee late afternoon and moved into the campsite, called Kwa-Rie for the next 3 nights. What a lovely place. Small, pleasant and with great people. It was really like a family camp. There was a heard of 6 Blesbok that lived on the property, which is quite big, as well as lots of birds, a huge Boerbull, some ducks and geese and rabbits and cats. A bit like a family farm. Beautiful sunrises as well. Good braais and lekker kuier place.
We did several battlefields over the next 2 days. One day on our own to the Blood river site, where there is a laager built in exactly the way it was in the original battle. Very impressive. That is the whole Piet Retief story where they Boers made the Covenant to keep 16 December as a Sunday, if God granted them the victory over the Zulus. It is a powerful bit of history of South Africa and many present day Afrikaners had people fighting in those wars. We also visited the Zulu memorial site where we were mr. Tsabalala, who gave us some input on the Zulu side of the story.
The following day was spent in the company of a well versed military historian and Battlefied expert, Johan Hamman, who took us to Isandilwhani and Rorke's drift. The first where many British soldiers were killed by the Zulu Impis through a whole series of miscommunication and the second where the Brits fought a brave war with 35 men against hundreds of Zulus and drove them off. It is indeed a story of great bravery and many British soldiers were awarded the VC for their contribution in this particular battle.
I think we were all a bit "Battlefield weary" after this day. Nothing that a few glasses of wine and a Chicken potjie could not rectify. We had a lovely last evening together, with all the "thanks" and "good Byes" etc.
Now only the journey back to Johannesberg!!!

Royal Natal National Park

We woke up om the first morning in the Drakensberg with SNOW on the mountains!!No wonder it was so cold the night before. OK, it was not snow down  to the road, but snow none the less. The day was clear and it looked like the Reception lady was right about the weather for the day. After breakfast we set off to the Royal Natal National park to go and do the hike to the Tugela gorge.It was not a strenuous walk, however we spent the best part of the day walking, chatting, taking photos and generally admiring the beauty of the area that we were in.
At one of the spots where we stopped to have a short rest, we heard a huge commotion in the trees. It was clearly a bird couple making all the noise. Well the next moment a boomslang fell to the ground about half a metre from where one of our guys were standing. Well, needless to say, the moment was not captured on camera, as the snake was away in a flash and so was Martin.
We did not make it to the very end of the Gorge and stand under the Tugela falls. It was just too far and it was pretty  hot as well, however we all felt happy that we had gone as far as we had. When I work out how to attach pics, I will add on.
The original plan was to drive from the Drakensberg to Ballito and then to Dundee the next day. Well by general consensus of the group and much to our delight they decided to cut out Ballito and several hundreds of kilometers and on the next day we headed off to Dundee and the Battlefields.

in the Drakensberg

Again, I have to say that we live in an amazingly beautiful country. Over the last few days we have spent time in the Addo, travelled to Gariep Dam and then to the Drakensberg. What variety, what beauty and what a priviledge to have been able to do it. My Dad always used to say that should explore your own country first before you venture out to travel the rest of the world. Needless to say I did not always agree and needless to say, now that I am getting older and hopefully wiser, I have to agree. Last year Dick and I travelled through Ethiopia, which was a wonderful experience, however today, as we travelled through the Golden Gate and into the Drakensberg, I just said to Dick that this is so like some parts of Ethiopia and we have it right here in our own country and more accessable and really just as astounding.
We spent a lovelly day in Addo. We went on an early morning drive and just enjoyed the park and the animals. The best for me was the time we spent  just sitting at a waterhole watching the elephants doing elephant things, like playing, schooling the young ones, disciplining the  unruly ones and generally being a family. I must say that after having read the book, The Elephant Whisperer, elephants make a lot more sense to me. Well worth the read. The evening we went on a game drive  with one of the local guides in the open vehicles. It was freezing cold,,however we saw a Caracal (rooi kat) within touching distance from us, walking like only a cat can and then just to show who actually owns the park, walked across the road right in front of the  truck.The guide assured us that it is a very rare sighting, so we really appreciated the effort that the caracal had put in. The night before we were sitting around the braai fire, after having eaten and through the fench a Small Spotted Genet appeared. It just set  there and looked at us and was very happy to be photographed by those who were fortunate anough to have their camaras with them. It was a truelly "Ahah" moment for me.
When we left Addo we travelled through too Cradock and then to Gariep. All of this also beautiful country. You go through hills and valleys and the Eastern Cape is so different that it is well worth travelling the road to just experience it. Gariep dam is obviously not full this time of year and neither was the campsite, other than a group of Indian/Pakistani men on a safari through South Africa. They have been travelling for between 2 and 4 months, depending on who you spoke to. They are spending about 2 nights in at a time in any given place. I am not sure what their mission is, but then agian, each amn to his own. The stretch of road on the N1 to Bloemfontein is hardl  top of my "marketing list".Luckily once we had turned off the N1 and we were heading for Bethlehem and Senekal and Clarens things changed. The towns were pristine and Bethlehem is a town expanding as if it was on steriods.
The journey through the Golden Gate to Drakensville is the Drakensberg is just a trip that should go on any serious travellers' itenary. It is a must do . We arrived in Drakensville late afternoon with clouds on the mountains, but with the assurance from the "receptions lady" that tomrrow will be a clear day. We hope and trust that she is more reliable than SA Weather, as we want to go and explre Royal Natal National Park tomorrow.

From 60 to Addo

So the 60th birthday arrived on Friday and the transition to retirement was made very swiftly. I learned on day 1 that it is actually ok to forget things, that you can legally do silly things and that you are entitled to pensioners' discount. Had my dad been alive, he would have been so proud of me.
Well it was a free "do what you like day" with  the group, so Dick and I was off into Oudtshoorn early for a breakfast with the required champagne. The best of a birthday for me are the phone calls. Always my Ma first and normally by 6 in the morning and this morning was no exceptiom. I received many calls and messages and it was great to be remembered by so many people on my special day. Not many pressies as I was not at home and I did'nt have a party!!!Will have to address that when we get home. We went to the ostrich farm as I had threatened to ride an ostrich on my 60th birthday, but I chickened out and only sat on  the ostrich. The only volunteers to ride the ostrich was at least 50 years younger than me and I thought that even if it is allowed to do childlike stuff when you get to 60, I was not quite ready for this.
The rest of the day was spent sipping champagne and in the evening we all had a braai together and i got little gifts and things from the group, as well a birthday cake and they sang Happy Birthday to me. Not just any old singers either. Two members of the group were choir members of the BBC choir in England until very recently!!!
On Saturday we left Oudtshoorn and travelled to Storms Rivier via Knysna and Plettenberg Bay. It is just to incredibly beautiful and it was a stunning day. We got to Storms River at about 5, after a visit to Monkeylend and Birds of Eden. The birds were well worh the visit. On arrival at Storms river all went for walks. The sea was like a mirror and we were parked nearly in the sea. It was great. We didnt spend the evening with the group as Elma and Eugene Steyn, our friends from Plet came to spend the evening in the park as well, specially for my birthday. We had a lekker evening, drinking champagne and excellent red wine, provided  Eugene. Needless to say the braai was equally good. We left them older wiser and very happy.
Sunday we went for an early walk and tackled the road to Addo where we booked in at about lunch  and by 4 we were off to see Elephants and more elephants and Kudus and just to generally enjoy the park.
Tomorrow off to Gariep dam.