WILDCLIFF FIRST TRUSTEE MEETING 12 AUGUST 2007

AUGUST 2007.
Ian and Jenny arrived on 1st August. They stayed over for two nights. They had a number of things to do including receiving the Toyota Hilux that they had bought over the internet from a dealer in Cape Town. They visited Roger Gush’s son Andrew and collected a whole lot of Roger’s stuff that was being stored in Andrew’s garage for Wildcliff. That evening we were blessed with good weather and had a braai with Michael and his family. Julia had met the nephew of Charles and Ingrid (Dirk) and had been out with him a few times.

Ian and Jenny left for Wildcliff and Nicci arrived on Friday morning from Cape Town. Stefan was in London on business and Nicci’s maid, Patricia came with her. That evening we joined Charles and Ingrid, Nicci and Julia and two of Charles’ friends Anthony and wife for supper and a Music Trivia evening at the church just behind Greenacres. It had been a bit of a drawn out evening and we left before the end as we were all so tired.

Ally had a Hockey Derby against Union on Saturday morning. Ally’s team lost to the Graaf Reinett side. That afternoon Ally had her Birthday party at Bushwackers in Thesecombe. The weather was miserable, cold and wet. A number of the parents phoned to ask if the party would continue and we decided to go out there and to assess the situation.

Most of the invited children arrived and were soon running around in the rain and mud. I was really impressed by their resilience as they all joined in the activities (an obstacle course race) including running through a muddy pond and getting completely drenched and sliding down a soapy wet slide. Some of the children had brought warm clothes to change into and after they received their party packs they continued playing a kind of Froose Ball game where they were tied to a rope and had to score goals.

The names of the children I can remember were: Ally, Amber, Lara S, Lara O, Samantha, Kayla, Kayleigh, Matthew Mc Gillivray, James Van Eck (Mother Adele and Daughter Ashley), Meghan. Also there were the family: Julia, Jessica, Joshua, Daniel, Christian, Aaron and Zara with Lene and Nicci.

That evening was the Achilles Annual Dinner but we had decided to skip it this time. The next morning at church I met up with John and Cheryl Kotze who told me that it had been a boring evening with poor food and a video playing which distracted from the conversation which would have been the best part of the evening. It had been held at Thatchwoods at Homeliegh farms.
After Church we went to Kirkwood to the citrus farm of our friend Charles and Bianca Wooley. Bianca had made some delicious lemon muffins. I will attempt to make these one day as she gave us the recipe. Charles took out his bakkie and we all piled in. It was Barbara and Digby, Nicci, Patricia, Julia, Jessica, Ally, Christian, Aaron and Zara in the back with Charles & I in front together with his dog Bella.

Bianca had mentioned that she could hear the cry of the Fish Eagles that are often seen along the banks of the Sundays river. As we left the farm house we saw the most amazing sight: a pair of Fish Eagles had locked talons and were spiralling down towards the orange trees. They disappeared behind the trees and then flew up into the sky. A third Fish Eagle joined them and a kind of dog-fight ensued.

Finally two of the eagles again locked talons and started spiralling down towards the ground. This was an incredible sight to see as it only took a few seconds as they plummeted down in a kind of helicopter motion and a split second before hitting the ground just in front of us they flew up. We later read that this is part of a mating ritual that all eagles seem to engage in. The pair then flew off and we did not see them again.

Then began the Orange Picking. Charles had brought a pair of clippers and all of the children were shown how to snip the oranges off the trees. He spoke to the children and explained the way to snip the oranges and what to look for. They had an absolute ball as they ran around looking for suitable fruit and proudly bringing each one for the bag. We also collected some Lemons and huge Grapefruit.

As we drove home that afternoon we stopped to look at some male spring buck that were sitting in a territorial area waiting for the does to walk past. They moved off when we stopped. The drive home was long and I was really quite sleepy. Julia had bought Ally a popular DVD which she watched and I had some University Marking to do. Later I made some yummies for supper. Nicci dropped Julia off with some of the friends she had met. Julia seems to have enjoyed her stay with us and it has been a pleasure having her here as she is relaxed and fits in.

Monday evening was Ally’s soccer practice. Barbara had been shopping with both Ally and Nicci and spoiled both of them. Nicci had a new outfit to go to the Arkensaw Restaurant next to the golf course. She joined Neville and Cathy there. Julia was also there but received an invitation to visit Betina, one of the people she had met. She asked me to drive her there and it turned out that Betina and Carmen (I think) were neighbours of Herman and Tracey at Number 91, Bernard Road, Lovemore Heights. Strangely it was here that Ian and Jenny had spent a New Years evening celebration about three years ago when Herman turned 40 on 31st of December.

7th August 2007. This was our 31st Wedding Anniversary and Ally’s 10th Birthday. She had already received her gifts in the form of clothing in her shopping spree the previous day. But I had bought her a Cell Phone. She was not supposed to have a cell phone until later years but it seemed like a handy thing to have.

An email from Dawn. It was our 31st wedding anniversary and Ally’s tenth Birthday:
Happy birthday to Ally who is getting far too big (difficult to maintain my age at 39 with nieces and nephews growing older all around me) Hope you had a fabulous birthday party with Aaron last Saturday and that today was really special. Also happy anniversary Barbara and Peter - which one is it? I've lost track! Certainly deserves a celebration though.
Lotsaluv,
D.

Thursday 9TH August 2007 was women’s day. This allowed us to take a long weekend and on Thursday morning early we left for Wildcliff. Julia had been to an all night party at Betina’s house in Lovemore heights. It was a reluctant teenager who was woken at 04.00am to get into the car. I think that she had been asleep for only an hour or so at this stage.

After a number of stops: Plett (Julia to visit Ena), Harkerville (attempt to buy a burger but received a women’s day gift instead), Knysna (petrol), Sedgefield (toasted sandwiches and coffee), Albertina (biltong and sweet chilli sauce) and Heidelberg (for petrol and a quick visit to the Spar) we finally got to Wildcliff 8 hours later.

We installed ourselves in the Casita (new log house or Weavers nest). Ian wanted to continue some exploring that he and Jenny had started. We drove up a little way and then walked along a ridge to see if we could find the east border of Wildcliff. We had to bundu bash our way down through some fynbos and then through the wattle forest.

There may have been some old paths or jeep tracks but these were overgrown and at some sections there was simply no way through. The wattles fall across each other creating an impenetrable barrier. We came across the carcass of a baboon which Ian photographed. Eventually we made it to the Plattekloof River which forms the East boundary to Wildcliff. The section we found was flat and easy to walk.

We treated ourselves to a naartjie before setting off down stream in a southerly direction. There is clearly plenty of wildlife using this as a watering hole as we saw a variety of spoor. We also saw the force that the river comes down in flood as huge trees and debris had been washed aside by the force of the flooding river. The river emerged on the neighbouring cattle farm of Kallie Englebrecht.

We wandered through the pasture trying to find a way back to Wildcliff. The pastures had an electric fence and Ian was unlucky enough to shock himself as we clambered under one of the fences. We were now on the Southern boundary of Wildcliff. We found where we thought the stream from Wildcliff must converge with the Plattekloof river but were not able to penetrate the thick forest.

I saw what I later identified as either a Mountain Reedbuck or a Rhebok. They seem quite similar in looks and habits. We backtracked to where we had seen a clearing that had been done by the Eskom people. We wound our way along the clearing to where we eventually came across the path that Jenny and Ian had walked. From here it was an easy walk back to the Toyota.

Just a reminder to anyone wanting to take a short walk with Ian: there is no such thing. Take a backpack with the essentials: a head lamp, windbreaker, knife, eats and water etc.

As we drove down to the house I saw the green roof Casita and was reminded of the sensation of ending a days hike. I had myself a wonderful shower. Ian and Jenny walked down to the Oak Pasture. Nicci and her family had just arrived and decided to make use of Talari rather than the Casita as the stairs would be a worry with Zara. Jenny treated us to a delicious roast leg of lamb and vegetables.

Friday morning: Jacques, Pieter and Johannes from Homecare construction in Knysna paid us a visit. Homecare was the organisation which had erected and assembled the Casita. Ian showed Jacques the changes that he wanted and explained the outcome that he hoped to achieve.

We all piled into the Toyota and Ian drove us a little way up the hill and we walked from there. Ian and Julia went ahead. Nicci had Patricia to assist her with Zara. She and Barbara looked after Christian and Aaron while Ally walked quite strongly. We reached a point where we could see across the valley but not quite up to the first waterfall (now called Ena’s Falls).

Nicci and I walked on and the others made a slow descent back to the Toyota. We met Ian and Julia on their way down and stopped at the point where we could overlook Ena’s falls. Quite Spectacular! Julia proudly showed us what is now known as Mount Julia. We did not linger and soon were heading back down.

We climbed back into the bakkie and drove back to Talari in time for a delicious lunch that Jenny had prepared. Barbara pointed out later that the back of the bakkie is most uncomfortable when driving on very rough tracks like the one up to the falls walk. Cushions and blankets are essential.

After lunch it was a bit of a rush to get Julia into Heidelberg in time for her bus that was due to leave at 14.30 for Cape Town. As we left Bob Brown’s section of the top of the farm we saw a herd of 7 Rhebok. One ram and 6 ewes. We saw them a few times after that in the same area. Christian, Aaron and Ally came for the drive and say goodbye to Julia. Lucky them: they were able to fall asleep as we drove down. We did a bit of shopping and headed back to Wildcliff.

I assembled the Cadac braai that Ena had purchased in George. We were expecting Roger Gray, Gael and Diana and so were not surprised when a bakkie arrived full of people. It turned out that they were a group looking for the Gysmans hoek pass. I was happy to be able to show them the way having driven through the pass the last time were here. When Roger, Gael and Diana arrived at about 18.00 I had started the braai and after a beer we were able to enjoy getting to know each other in the traditional South African way.

Saturday morning saw Nicci leave for Cape Town and we were quite sad to see them go as they had been with us for a week. I think that they had had a good time during their stay with us. The boys certainly seemed to enjoy the reserve. They had been down to the “Oak Meadow” and the stream below where Christian in particular had done some serious mountaineering. Zara seems quite comfortable with me as long as Nicci and Patricia are not in sight.

Ian, Jenny, Gael, Diana & Roger went up the mountain. Their mission was to collect some floral samples for later identification. Barbara, Ally and I remained at home where we were just our family. We walked down to the Hill House which was in the process of being renovated. A huge amount of progress was visible and the labours of Ann, Ena and their crew was evident.

We also tried to find the spring that Gordon had shown Stefan & I when we were there a few months earlier. But we became lost a few times and finally gave up as we kept losing each other in the dense wattle forest. I had brought some stuff to make a Pizza and so was able to have this ready for the gatherers when they returned from their foraging expedition.

WILD CAPE NATURE TRUST
Minutes of the first meeting of Trustees:

Saturday 11 August 2007.
The first meeting of the trust was due to be held on Saturday 11 August 2007 evening on the stoep of the Talari house on the Wildcliff Reserve.

The meeting was postponed due to Ian and Peter going to the stream to look for the “Broken Dam” and the water source for the house: the spring. We first walked up past the Drum next to the Syringa Tree which we confirmed was empty and then past the Mud dam.

After a bit of a search through the wattles we found the stream. We then decided to walk up stream to try to first find the spring and then we carried on to the Broken Dam. The dam is located in what Ian refers to as an Amphitheatre. It is probably about 4m wide on top and 10 to 12m wide at the base. However a heavy rain has washed the east side away and only a small amount of water is now stored in the form of a pond.

The water source seems to be a black pipe that originates at Ena’s Falls and gurgles an overflow, the black pipe continues down to Talari. Ian then decided that we should try to find the lever that cuts off this water to see if the dam and stream would then dry up or if the spring just above the dam was independent of the black pipe.

Ian took a couple of pictures while I pressed on following the pipe uphill. When Ian followed me he took a route slightly off the pipe line and became entangled in the thick vegetation. To such an extent that when I tried to find him he was only two meters away and we could not see each other.

Once we had managed to clear our way through this lot the going was a lot easier and we were soon hiking along the pipe and could see where the jeep track would be just to the east of the Protea Field. Along this path were clear indications of recent foraging by baboons. Stone were overturned and Protea flowers were shredded. Barbara later commented that this may be the baboon looking for the small insects that eat the nectar of the flower.

We found ourselves going through the gate which would have led to the Heather field and along the Jeep Track that leads up to the top of the reserve. I was fortunate that I had been shown by Gordon Hewland where the Pipes joined. And we were able to find this spot. I had my Leatherman which helped us cut through fences and we then decided to turn the water pipe that would lead to the Broken Dam off and see the result.

We had cell phone reception and had told the people below that we would be late but we did not think to ask if there was any water flow in the house. We then hiked back to Talari in the dusk of the early evening. Fortunately for us the wind had dropped and it was the most magnificent winter evening Imaginable. As we arrived Jenny announced that we had no water. Oops! Ian, Peter, All & Barbara jumped into the Toyota and drove back up the hill to find the Luggage tag we had left to mark the spot where we had turned off the water supply.

Eventually we got back to the house and with a huge amount of flowers and plants to photograph and catalogue Ian postponed the meeting until after breakfast the next morning. Linda had made the most delicious chicken curry which was consumed with ravenous relish.


Sunday 12 August 2007. 10.30am
Finally after we were well rested and fed we were able to initiate the first meeting of the Trustees of the Wild Cape Nature Trust. The meeting was held at Talari on Wildcliff Nature Reserve in the Heidelberg district of the Western Cape in South Africa.

Present were:
Observers and invited participants: Barbara Giddy, Diana Hurter (card shark and great cook) and Ally Giddy (Alien plant remover, Card shark, house decorator and enthusiastic researcher of the adventures of Mary-Kate and Ashley.)
Digby was asked to maintain a degree of watchfulness and security.
Ian Giddy was chairman and had an agenda and format for the meeting; Roger and Gael Gray are recognised floral experts. Jenny Giddy has extensive experience in the reserve at Costa Rica. Peter was there as an enthusiast but admitted to having no experience, nor knowledge of this kind of stuff.
An apology was recorded by Roger Gush:
Hi everyone,

So sorry that we can't be with you today, but I hope that you have a wonderful time.

Do lots of exploring - take lots of photos - and do good work.

I look forward to reading the minutes of our first Trustee's meeting.

All the best,
Roger

Goals of the trust are in the trust deed:
• Conservation;
• Restoration;
• Research
• Education.

Conservation
To protect the natural Flora and Fauna.
Plan to restore the disturbed areas that have been overgrown by Alien species. (Ally had already contributed to this goal the previous day as we must have managed to clear up to fifty wattle saplings as we walked around the hill house and the upper stream.)
The alien species were identified in order of urgency as: Black Wattle, Pine trees, a few Prickly pear, Kikuyu grass land and a manageable number of Eucalyptus trees.

Wattle Trees:
It appears that the Duivenhoks Working for Water project (a project of Cape Nature) is funded by government and will assist with the initial clearing of the wattle providing the land owner continues with the ongoing maintenance of the area cleared. Ian will contact Davie in Heidelberg to try to set the wheels in motion for Wildcliff.

Pine Trees:
The previous owner had an agreement with a neighbouring logging firm that in exchange for improving a section of the farm road he could have the Pine Trees. Ian will contact this person who is known to Bob Brown a neighbour of the Wildcliff Reserve. It seems that there is a commercial use for the Wattle in the manufacture of Charcoal and for fencing.

Restoration
The Cattle Grazing has already been stopped.
The removal of rubbish, scrap metal and farm implements has been taken on by neighbour; Bob Brown who will dispose of this stuff for his own benefit.

Stop the harvesting of the fynbos
We need to contact a neighbour of Wildcliff (Taljaard) and explain to him that we do not want any further harvesting of the fynbos. It appears that he harvests the Honey Bush for the manufacture of a tea. We may also have to set up a signpost to demarcate where the Wildcliff property begins and where harvesting is not permitted.

Firebreak
A neighbour to Wildcliff is the Groot Vader’s Bosch nature reserve. We need to contact Rhett Hiseman to establish how best to initiate and control firebreaks on Wildcliff.

Spread of Kikuyu.
We should make use of existing research on the spread and control of Kikuyu.

Researchers:
Three volunteer researchers have been accepted and start their work in September 2007. They will be paid a small stipend to encourage the research work. This may not continue to future researchers.
1. Kelly Sloan will be making an inventory of the Vertebrates.
2. Kate Luckett will be doing a study of the baboon’s behaviour and foraging. Roger mentioned that he knows of someone who has studied baboons and will contact this person to see if they can add to Kate’s study.
3. Ross Manson is a South African and will start as a Part time manager.

Ross has three identified responsibilities:
Firstly A Bio monitoring study on seven identified sites. He will be monitoring the recovery of the sites. He will use a method that has proven successful in Costa Rica: Fix stands at the identified locations; then make a photographic record of the area by taking photographs at regular intervals of the four points of the compass.
Another method is to physically inspect the area just around the fixed post and record the flora in the immediate surround of the post.
This provides a record of both active and passive restoration.
Secondly Ross will be doing vegetation Mapping using a GPS and walking the boundaries of the various vegetation areas. This is made easier and more accurate if he has access to an aerial photograph which Kate Sneddon may be able to provide.
Thirdly Ross will monitor and record: high and low temperature, moisture and rainfall as well as wind speed and direction.

Education
All intellectual property belongs to the trust and will be disseminated on the website using photographs and text.

Information
Wildcliff will have a computer and internet on site. The researchers will be encouraged to bring their own computers (lap tops). All information will be double backed up on the Wildcliff computer as well as on the server of an associate of Ian and Jenny in America.

Invitations.
Invitations will be extended to local researchers, botanical societies, the National Botanical Institute (at the George Branch is Johan Vlok located at Gouritz) and other interested people.

Accommodation at Wildcliff.
Visitors should work through Peter, who will try to ensure that there is some kind of accommodation on the Reserve at the time of their arrival and that they are expected and welcomed.

The Hill House (researcher’s laboratory) will have two bedrooms (4 beds), Kitchen and bathroom. Renovations to the Hill house is presently being managed by Ena Giddy and her friend Ann Thomas and should be completed by September 2007.

The Casita (Wood house or Weavers Nest) has two bedrooms (sleeps 4) kitchen and bathroom.
These two houses will share a telephone line.

The main house is Talari and is planned for three bedrooms, three bathrooms and a kitchen/ lounge area. Talari will be the location of the main office and computer room. While Ian is still waiting for an estimate from HomeCare construction in Knysna (Jacques) Renovations on Talari should commence this year and be completed early in 2008.

Hiking Trails
The idea is to establish and construct hiking trails. Ian and Peter were able to find the Plattekloof river on the eastern boundary and have the beginnings of an idea of where a trail could be built in the future.

Wetland Dam
A well built and environmentally sound wetland dam is planned as this should attract bird and other wildlife.

Points not discussed but I thought that I would include these points anyway:
Vehicle. Wildcliff has a Toyota Hilux. Ross will have access to the vehicle for the first three months.
Telephone and electricity.
Visitors should contribute for usage.
Housekeeping
Initially Visitors will have to remove own garbage, provide own food and cleaning material and own bedding.

Next Trustee Meeting
The next trustee meeting will be held on or around the weekend of Saturday 10th or Sunday 11th of November at Wildcliff as some of the trustees will be doing the Whale Trail in the De Hoop nature reserve the following week.

Roger will be talking to Nick Helm as a Fynbos authority.

The meeting was closed at 11.30am. Peter, Barbara, Digby & Ally had a long drive back to PE. Gael had been out early collecting more plants to photograph and catalogue so had to make an immediate start to this task. The group would be having lunch with Bob and Wilma Brown and then Ian and Jenny headed off for George and then Johannesburg while Roger would take his gang back to Cape Town.

Then I received this welcome comment from Roger Gush:
Peter,

the best set of minutes I have ever read !

Roger
Hi Peter,

Thank you. I enjoyed reading the Minutes.

I have a couple of corrections to note for the next meeting:

"Linda" is actually Diana.

"Callie" Sloan is spelt Kelly.

Also, I'm not sure if we have proof that Taljaard's flower pickers are on our side of the boundary. We should ascertain the exact boundary with a gps before we take this any further.

Jenny
Hi y'all, Thanks for an exceptional weekend. Sorry I was such a snotkop (nice Afrikaans word that I think actually means a brat!) and hope I didn't pass it on to anyone else. The minutes look great but I wouldn't call myself a fynbos expert by any stretch of the imagination! Just reading one page of That Botany Book makes me realize how little I know.
Pity about Ross Manson. All I can propose is phoning a few people and putting a notice on some noticeboards, real and on the net? I wrote this description/proposal but perhaps you have more to add or improve. A Wildcape letterhead might come in handy? Anyway ...


4 month post to suit keen (male??) botanist / undergrad / postgrad to help establish some research / baseline studies on 1000ha Reserve adjoining Boosmansbos Widerness area in Langeberg near Heidelberg. Apart from minor managerial duties the successful applicant will be expected to;
- maintain biomonitoring sites
- create a database of species with photos
- undertake vegetation mapping using GPS
- etc?
Funding limited to R2500 per month - accommodation (and transport ??) provided.
Post open on 1 Sept.
For more info on the reserve see www.wildcape.org
Replies with CV's can be emailed to ian@wildcape.org

Alternative suggestions welcome.
See you in November.
Roger Gray