WILDCLIFF SEPTEMBER 2007.

WILDCLIFF SEPTEMBER 2007.

22 September 2007.
Heritage Day Long Weekend



Monday the 24th would be a holiday so we decided to take a long weekend trip to Wildcliff. We asked Nicci, Cathy and Michael to join us but Mike was not able. Cath & Saul would be there on Saturday afternoon. Stefan had a Wedding assignment on the Saturday night and so could only be there on Sunday morning. They had another assignment in Oudtshoorn the following Saturday and would stay the week in between with us in PE.

Driving to Wildcliff.
We left PE just after 05.00am on Saturday morning. Our first stop was Storms River where we bought something to eat for Ally & Jessica. When we arrived at Sedgefield we found a Farmers Market in progress. We had planned to stop at Sedgefield where we had found some good sandwiches the last time we did this trip. The Market is a really worthwhile place to stop. There were all kinds of goods on sale including artwork, sweet Chili Sauce, Fresh Vegetables and meats and breakfast. Unfortunately we did not know about this Market and had already stocked up for the weekend. Also we had did not have any cash with us. Otherwise we would have used this place to buy our provisions. The meat and vegetables looked really appetising. Barbara & I bought a small snack and we pressed on for Heidelberg.

At Heidelberg we stopped for petrol, a brief hello to Anneke at Pam Golding Estates and the Spar Supermarket. We bought some last minute provisions including some bean and carrot seed that I wanted to try out, and headed up to Wildcliff. The trip had taken us about 7 hours.

Wildcliff on Saturday.
After unpacking, the first thing that we did was to walk down to the newly built dam (pond) just below the house. Throughout the farm there are pipes carrying water for irrigation. One of the pipes that had led down to the Oak Meadow had been torn apart by the Bulldozer when they built the pond. The pond was now complete but had no water. I unravelled the pipes that had become kinked and was able to start the flow of water into the dam. We met Kate who was there to research baboons.

World Cup Rugby.
By now it was time to go and watch the Springbok Ruby team at the world cup in France who were playing Tonga in their third Qualifier. They had already played Samoa and England and had done well. We phoned Bob and arranged to watch at his house. Here Jessica and Ally took some drawing materials and made little bookmarks for all of us. We met Wilma and their son Toerien and his girlfriend Michelle. The game was not a particularly good one. The Springbok team was not the best possible team and only in the second half did Jake White send in the Top Six players who assisted our team to a narrow victory of 30-25.

Wilma
Wilma allowed Jessica and Ally to feed her lambs with bottled milk. Some of the Ewes reject the lamb and these have to be hand reared. Bob & Wilma had at one stage been trying to sell their farm but had changed their mind once they looked at prices of equivalent homes in Cape Town. They were now at Heidelberg to stay. After the game we went back to Wildcliff to wait for Cathy and Saul. Wilma had given us a tub of cream. I did not know about this and unfortunately spilt a little of this on one of the new beds. Hopefully we cleaned it so that it will not smell.

The Garden Hose.
I wanted to have a garden hose that could be used anywhere in the garden and so looked for some spare hose pipe. I found what I though would be suitable leading from one of the hoses above Talari. It had a sprinkler and removing it had no effect as there was no water flowing through it. I then took it to the garden hose and spiced it onto the hose to make a nice long hose that would be able to be used virtually anywhere in the garden.

Pressure or a bad fitting had caused water to seep onto the lawn leading to the garage area. The lawn was now a Quagmire of mud and water. Barbara & I tried to lay some loose logs to make walkway and recover the lawn to make it look acceptable. That evening we had a cottage pie for supper. It was not long before we all passed out. Cathy & Saul took the North East Bedroom while Barbara, Jessie, Ally & I shared the North West bedroom.

Filling the dam.
When I looked out in the morning at the dam I was glad to see that the water was beginning to cover the bottom of the dam. The problem was that we now did not have enough pressure for hot water and so I had to turn off the tap of the pipe leading to the dam. I realised that I would only be able to fill the dam at night.

Checking out the water supply at the Amphitheatre Dam.
That morning Stefan & Nicci arrived. Alex Dowding is the resident manager of the farm as well as being a researcher. He told me that he has studied fairly extensively in the south of England and in Wales. Saul, Stefan, Alex & I walked up to the Amphitheatre dam by way of the stream. We followed the pipe line above Talari and up to the stream. Then by continuing up the stream we came to the spring where the pipe had been laid to supply the house with fresh water. This seemed all in place.

We then continued up the stream to the amphitheatre dam where I was surprised to see that there was no water flowing from the black pipe leading from the north side. The Bulldozer had pushed a road from the main Ena’s Falls road to the Amphitheatre. We tried straightening the pipe but only a trickle of water flowed through the pipe. So we decided to follow the pipe up the hill as Ian & I had done a month ago. This is not an easy stroll but we pressed on and up the hill until we reached the west side of the protea field.

The Convolution of Pipes.
Here we saw how it was that there was an apparent spring leading to the Amphitheatre dam. Water was flowing in the sloot along side the pipe. There was a loose join that we tried to repair but were not able to do much more than shove the pipes together in a makeshift manner. It was only when we got to the “convolution of the pipes” that we saw what the real problem was. The convolution of pipes is where the main pipe that leads off from Ena’s Falls is split into four smaller pipes. These pipes had been either disconnected or shut off.

We realised that Bob Brown must have done this as this is right next to the road leading up to Ena’s Falls. Some of the fencing had been removed and the road had had a bulldozer up it as well as the compacter to improve this road. At this stage we had “completed our mission” which was to establish the state of the water supply. I was now able to see that the large pipes that would have led to the lower fields and irrigation pipes were closed or disconnected. The only supply of water would now be the pipe leading from the spring to Talari.

Walking up to Ena’s Falls.
We decided that neither Alex not Saul had been up to Ena’s Falls nor the top of the Langeberg so we pressed on up the road and along the way repaired some of the larger holes in the road by filling them with rocks and sticks. Finally we were able to point out the Falls and where the source of all the water to the houses would come from. Here we shared a few apples and had a drink of water before walking on to the top where we could overlook the Klein Karoo. The wind had picked up and the rain started to fall so we turned back home.

We had seen a number of plant species that Alex was able to identify. It is really fun to be with someone who knows all of these species and can discuss them.

As we descended we found a number of the Strawberry Daisies that had been uprooted and damaged by the bulldozer. I tried to repair some of them but Alex was doubtful that they would survive as the tap roots are very sensitive.

We saw a furry looking parasite on the protea plants. Alex was going to try to look this up. Alex picked up a Scarab Beetle. A stunning looking little creature that is quite happy to walk on your hand. He is completely black with a hard exterior skeleton for protection and barbed legs. We saw evidence of where the Baboons had eaten the pine cones and the protea flowers.

Cleaning the Kitchen.
When we got home that afternoon we were surprised to see how Barbara, Nicci and Ally had scrubbed and cleaned the Kitchen. The doors had been yellow and were now white. They had set up the trestle table, scrubbed and cleaned the dishes, tables and floors. The spider webs were gone and the wood stove had been given a Twice over. Fortunately I had gathered some flowers and was able to add colour to the kitchen.

Inspecting the Heron
Barbara, Nicci, the children & I walked down to the Heron to inspect the work there. We found that there had been a reasonable amount of progress. The house had been completely plastered outside. Two Perspex sections had been put in to the roof that made the east rooms quite bright. The steel frame windows had been replaced with wooden windows. The electrical points had been fitted. Some of the ceilings were complete. Other renovations still to be completed were: the tiling of the floors, the painting of the walls, the small south east room was half done and there was no plumbing nor shelf or cupboard fittings. It had started raining so we made our way back up to Talari.

Water supply to Casita and Heron?
Alex had told me that one of the 50 000L water tanks had been blown down the hill and we went to have a look to see what would be involved in getting it back up. It was well and truly wedged in the wattles below. It would take a chain saw and tractor to retrieve it. As we walked back up to the Casita I had a think about the water supply. Did this house have flowing water? And if so where did it come from? Alex & I had a look a the pipes and saw there was no water in them. We then had a look at the green tank under the Casita and found it to be almost empty.

We followed the pipe up the hill before abandoning our search as the only thing could be that it was one of the pipes running from the “convolution of pipes” that we had seen earlier that day and we now knew that there was no water flowing down any of them. Realising that the Casita would soon be out of water we found some loose pipe near to the top of the pond and sliced this onto some pipe that was running from the garden of Talari, Dug a hole under to road and ran the pipe to the Casita’s small water tank. Problem solved! But what about the Heron? There would be no water there. Time was running out and it was dark so decided to leave that till the morning.

That evening we had ourselves a braai and chatted in the lounge before making an early evening as we were all pretty exhausted.

Monday morning – Heritage day.
Monday morning we had a number of things to do today before we left for home. Our first priority was to find the Plattekloof River and walk upstream. But first Stefan & I fitted the new filter for the Talari Water supply. And we took the tumble dryer from the back of the garage where the floor was wet.

Plattekloof River.
The last time that Ian & I had been along the Plattekloof river we had walked downstream to see where the river emerged to the neighbour’s farm pastures and farmlands. Today it would be Stefan, Saul and I. We walked up the hill to the first turn to the right and into the wattles. As soon as there was a bit of a clearing we headed off in an Easterly direction down the hill. We had to cross a bit of a Sloot and here I almost hurt myself as my right leg fell down into a deep hole while my left knee stayed up near my face. I was shocked that I could do this without tearing a muscle or a ligament!

Once I had extricated myself we continued down to the wattle forest at the bottom. This time we headed straight for the river. Once in the river bed we headed upstream in a northerly direction. We had hoped to emerge around the northeast boundary point but did not reach it. What we did was: after walking for about an hour or less we stopped for an apple and coffee from Stefan’s flask. Not knowing the time and being a bit concerned that Cathy would be waiting for Saul, we headed uphill.

This is a particularly nice field to walk as it was not too tough. We saw a lot of evidence of baboons foraging and some stunning fynbos flowers. It turned out that we had now done a circle as we emerged at the road where we had gone into the wattle trees. We continued uphill to see how far we still should have walked up the Plattekloof River. Over the North East side of the ridge we walked down and saw where the falls are at the top of the Plattekloof River.

The next time we walk this section we decided that we would rather start on the top and walk down to where the falls start. On the East Ridge there is a clearing in the trees that is mainly Kikuyu and grasses. It was now time to get back to the house. Cathy was busy packing their car and Nicci and Barbara had packed and cleaned the house for Ann and Ena who would be returning soon.

The confusion of the water supply
I had decided to wait for them as I needed to talk about the water situation. But then I walked around the back of the house and found that there was a ditch of water at the back of the house. I knew that I must have caused this somehow but had no idea what we had done to cause this seepage. I also wanted to plant some of the Bean and Carrot Seed.

We looked at the pipes and the Filter that Stefan & I had replaced earlier that morning but could find no real leak. It was only after I had walked around a bit that I realised that the grass was slushy above the house and that the water was running out to the pipe where I had removed the garden hose the previous day. Nicci & Stefan were eager to get going as Zara would sleep if they left then.

Barbara and I then were able to Kink the small section of hose and wire it up to stop this unwanted flow of water. My problem was that I did not understand how the water was flowing now but had not been flowing when I had removed the hose. Then I realised that if the tap for the Pond hose was in the off position then the water would back up the pipe behind Talari and would overflow causing a trench of water next to the garage.

I walked up the hill to the Eucalyptus trees. What I saw there would be a revelation later on. The pipe that led from the house connected to a wider pipe in a T Junction fitting. The other thing I discovered was how to cut the trees. If we are going to cut trees we will have to lay branches etc in a horizontal manner that helps to stop the soil erosion that will be caused by the lack of roots. Hammering stakes into the ground and laying branches across will create a kind of barrier to flooding water.

Ena & Ann arrived shortly thereafter and I quickly showed them how the water situation would now work. There was a network of pipes and taps that had to be manipulated to cause a flow to any one point. It seemed complicated at first but I think that Ann and the builder Patrick soon got the idea of what had to be done. I still had to visit Bob Brown and then drive home so was eager to leave.

Mom gave me a couple of bottles of Marmalade that she had been making while at Wildcliff. Barbara & I had found some mint and Parsley in the garden that we had potted and took some home. I had also found some young Aloe and dug out two of these to grow at home. We packed the last of these and drove down to Bob.

Bob Brown.
We discussed the following with Bob:
1. We would be paying him R3 000 for the work that he has overseen and undertaken at Wildcliff thus far.
2. The Water situation needed to be sorted out. The convolution of pipes had to be reconnected to allow water to flow back to the Casita and Heron. Bob was not aware of how the water had followed the pipe line to the Amphitheatre dam. His reason for disconnecting the pipe was to dry up the Amphitheatre dam to allow the excavation machine to repair the dam. He would now have to rethink his strategy.
3. The Brown water tank that had rolled down to the wattles in the valley would have to be retrieved.
4. The road at the top was not really finished and still needed to be graded. Bob said that he knew someone who had a scraper that he could drag with a tractor and make the road a bit more even. He was confident that any 4X4 would be able to make it to the top.
5. Then there was the situation regarding the renovations of Talari. We discussed the option that he be an overseer of a contractor. Bob agreed to perform this function. He would discuss the job with a local man who he knows and says is competent. I explained the need for internet and email for communications. He suggested that this man could use Pam Golding Estates if he does not have email himself. We did not discuss any remuneration for this job.
6. One of the first jobs Bob pointed out would be to manually dig a trench at the back of Talari and fill this with stone to create a drain in the event of heavy rains. He pointed out that after a heavy rain in the past; the rain had run right through the house from the back door to the stoep on the west side of the house. I realised that this might also be a potential threat at Heron where the house is built on a slope and a heavy rain may work its way through the house.
7. Bob did ask that the house would need to be vacated during renovations and that it would not be necessary for Ena and Ann to be there. The men would make their own meals and sort out their own accommodation. He suggested that labourers could stay in the White house if necessary.
8. Another thing Bob pointed out was the Kikuyu in the front of Talari. If it was removed, it would cause donga’s as the root system of the Kikuyu was what was holding the soil together.

The drive home.
That completed we headed off home. We left at about 15.30. Stopped at a filling station, just after George, for sandwiches. The restaurant adjoined to the filling station was Maxi’s. I ordered 4 toasted cheese and tomato, one cheese burger and two hot chocolates. I was surprised to see that the restaurant was empty despite there being a lot of traffic. Today was Heritage day and people would be going home after a long weekend. We bought some cold drinks in the shop. The wait for the food was not too long but then the waitress said that she had not heard me asking for the hot drinks.

That upset me as she had clearly indicated to me that she had heard me. I took the sandwiches to the car and as we were all quite hungry immediately started on one. They were disgusting. Half filled with miserable cheese and a tiny slice of tomato. I took one to show the person who had been hanging around and looking like the owner. He was reading his paper and told me he was not the owned but the manager. I showed him these excuses for a cheese sandwich. He had nothing to say. I just told him I would never return.

We left the restaurant in a bit of a bad mood and while the chips were okay the sandwiches were of such poor quality that, despite us being hungry, they were leftover when we got home. Of course we told Nicci and Stefan who were already there. They could not believe it when we showed them these horrible attempts of a sandwich. I had slept for the last hour of the drive as Barbara took over. We got home by about 21.00. It was about a 5 & ½ hour drive home. That was because we had hardly stopped along the way. The traffic going towards Cape Town was quite heavy but we had a relatively easy drive.

More news on the water supply.
As we were driving home it hit me why we had all that trouble over the water supply. When Ann and Ena arrived they told me that they had had none of this trouble. What I had done is to open the water down to the Pond. This had changed the whole dynamic of the water supply. Then I had removed the hose above Talari.

These two things had resulted in a major upsets: The pipe above Talari led to another thick pipe that would have started at the convolution of pipes. This pipe also led to the Casita and then to the Heron. When the pipe to the pond was closed the pressure backed up so that water flowed upwards from Talari and reached the thick pipe and would then run down to the Casita and Heron. By opening the Pond Pipe there was no longer the pressure that would be required to push water up to the large pipe. This was why there was no longer a supply to the other two houses.

I was able to phone Ann from the car and explain all of this to her. I phoned her again the following morning and I think that she understood what I was talking about. The only time we could open the tap to fill the Pond would be at night after everyone had showered and hot water was not needed. A priority would be to fill the 50 000L tanks and to have these supplying the various houses.

Tuesday morning 25.09.2007.
There was quite a strong Easterly blowing. I was too stiff and tired to run this morning. We all went to the beach where the children were given Goodyear Blimps. They rode around on scooter bikes with the blimps behind them. The wind put us off and after a McDonald’s ice-cream we went home again.