NIPPERS NATIONALS DURBAN APRIL 2009 AND MOOI RIVER

NIPPERS NATIONALS 2009.
ADDINGTON BEACH FRIDAY 3RD TO SUNDAY 5TH APRIL 2009.

Nippers nationals was due to be held in PE at Kings Beach this year. However as Ironman was going to be held on the same weekend. And the rest of lifesaving SA competitions are held over the previous weekend, it was decided to move both competitions to Durban.

Nippers season starts in September or October each year. We had a good start to the season in 2008 with a number of new Nippers joining us. The U12 group had as a base the Nippers U10 who had won Nationals in PE in 2007. The U14 group retained a number of Nippers with 6 years experience. The U10 group would be the weak link as we had failed to attract swimmers and had not developed those that we had into a really competent team.

Clint arranged a sponsored combi that Charles, Terry and Karin H drove. David Coffey took his combi, Shareen, some of the U10’s and the trailer carrying the boards. Hannes took his combi with Debbie and families. Patrick and Dion left a day earlier than the rest of those driving. Barbara, Ally and I left at just before 4am on Thursday morning.

We were well into the Transkei when Debbie phoned to say that they had damaged rims and two flat tyres. Debbie asked if I knew anyone who could assist them. I tried my business contacts but no one pitched up. However Clint was able to arrange people that he knows to drive out to them and after four hours on the side of the road just before King Williams Town they finally were able to do a temporary repair. In King they found a tyre dealer who sold Hannes two new tyres at a reasonable price. By the time that they finally restarted their trip, over five hours had passed.

Donald also had some bad luck. The previous day a stone had hit a side window of his combi and he had to spend the whole morning getting this fixed. Their family left PE at about 14.00 Thursday afternoon and reached Durban at Midnight.

When we reached Mthatha we turned right to Port St Johns. I do this route for business and thought that Barbara & Ally would like to see some of SA that many people miss. Barbara & I last did this as a fishing trip in our first year of marriage when we drove up to St Lucia stopping along the route at various places. We had stopped at a Mission Station where a school friend of mine, Keith Finnemore, had taken refuge after marrying a black woman. He studied Agriculture and played a part in educating local people in farm management. Keith subsequently moved to Addo where he is currently farming organic citrus much to the dismay of local farmers who think that Organic is crazy. They maintain that the use of insecticides is the only way to produce any commercial results.

At Port St Johns we stopped at a B & B that I had used many years ago called Outspan. Christine was running the place at that time and when I enquired about her, her brother in Law, John told me that she was now living in the UK, taking care of frail people. We drove though Lusikisiki, Flagstaff and Bizana. We then took the road down to Port Edward. This is really a hilly part of SA. There are huge numbers of Xhosa people who live subsistence existences in these deep valleys far from what we understand to be comfortable living. However there are also many ‘normal’ houses with smart vehicles parked in front of the house.

The villages we visited are hives of activity. People have stalls in the streets, bakkies and taxis are everywhere, people push barrows and trolleys with wares and goods, food is for sale. The main street is busy and maintenance is non existent. People are in high spirits. Generally people may not have a great deal of wealth but they appear to be active economically. It must have been pension payout as we saw people in the fields lined up in front of vehicles and at these places we also saw what we would call farmers markets.

I remembered driving the Port Edward road as a young student with Keith Braatvedt in about 1980. Keith is now a lawyer in Jhb. It was dark and raining, the road was muddy and I think that we had had a couple of beers and were driving recklessly and too fast. We took a corner, skidded in the mud and ended up broadside in the middle of the road. Now we were stuck in the middle of the Transkei, at night and in the rain.

We tried pushing but could not free ourselves and ended up covered in mud and drenched. As set of lights approached us we were quite apprehensive. A bakkie load of men stopped just before they rode into us. They all clambered out, speaking Xhosa and gesturing at these two mud caked students. They correctly decided we were a pair of idiots and pushed us back on track and we were able to continue on to Port Edward. Wiser and sober.

Back to 2009; the road from Bizana to Port Edward is now tarred and we had a wonderful trip through some of the most colourful and interesting parts of SA. We crossed the River at the casino and drove along the coast road to Port Shepstone where we found the same restaurant that we had visited two years ago when we did SA Biathle in Durban. Here we had a late lunch before competing the last hour of the drive.

During the drive we had remained in contact with Andrew who had started their trip about an hour after us, Donald, David, Charles and Hannes. Charles and David had a smooth drive but ended up taking a slightly longer route through Pietermaritzburg. In Durban we found the Parade hotel where we were staying. After booking in we went for a walk along the pier in front of the hotel.

The pier was quite an eye opener for us. There was a congestion of fisher men all casting and fishing in close proximity. I am not sure how they operate without entangling their lines. There were people sleeping on the pier and generally there appeared to be a community of people who used this as their base. Durban has made the mistake of allowing development on the beach side of the main beach road. This developed area requires constant maintenance and repairs as it decays and looks shoddy far quicker than the PE beach front which is grassed.

Back on the promenade we met up with Mike and Vanessa, Deon and Gail, Alex and Lynne, Charles, Warren and Lee and finally David and Shareen with the trailer. We off loaded the trailer at the beach. We all met at the Mac Rib where we had a refreshing drink and our supper. It was a warm evening in Durban and we were happy to be in our bedroom early.


Friday morning we had breakfast at the hotel and made our way, in Charles’ combi, to the beach. We located our tent at the end of the row of tents. And at 08.00am attended a briefing of managers. There was to be no swimming during events and only accredited managers would be allowed in to the arenas. Clint had organised long sleeved T shirts and matching caps. The East Cape Nipper team looked stunning.

We started the morning off with the Inter Provincial team events. This is for the U14 and U12 Nippers and consists of a selected team. There are no preliminary events, only finals. The Nippers go though a series of really tough events and it is non stop, relentless swimming boarding and running. The wind was from the East and while it was not a strong wind it was enough to create a chop in the water. Our East Cape team came third out of four. Western Cape, Natal South and Central Natal were the other three teams. The East Cape team acquitted themselves well and we were proud of their efforts.

After lunch it was time for the “March Past”. Our team wore their Yellow Shirts, Tara led the team in a cheerleaders outfit with the Summies flag. We looked exceptionally good as a team. Clair had organised fleecy, hooded tops and the U14’s received shorts as well. Our children were quite spoilt with all the kit and outfits that they had. Then it was time for the events to start.

The sea had become increasingly wild and Nippers were battling to get past the waves. Friday afternoon started off with team events heats and then finals. It was dark by the time we packed the boards away. We stayed for the awards and were pleased to learn that the U12 summer strand team was first overall. The U10’s had accumulated just two points while the U14’s were in the top five. We went off as a group to the Pannarotti’s at Ushaka for a supper.

The hotel we were staying in (the Parade) was not the best on the beach front. It was probably a top hotel in it’s day but now the lift was slow, the rooms small with basins in the room but adequate for us. This hotel would have had shared bathrooms in years gone by and had been converted to individual bathrooms at a later stage. And for just R15 we were supplied with a healthy breakfast of cereal, eggs and all the trimmings.

Saturday morning the wind was still coming from the East and the size of the waves was bigger if anything. As the day progressed we had ongoing cases of blue bottle stings and feet being cut on broken glass. The beach front of Durban is home to hundreds of men who are either lazing on the grass or car guards. They wash them selves and their clothing in the storm water drains and we saw a car pull up in the parking lot with huge vats of a curry rice supper. The men line up with paper plates for a welcome meal.

The beach had been raked by the Municipality but this did little to clean up the broken beer bottles that were just under the surface of the sand. Barbara found bottles that appeared to have been deliberately placed with the sharp edges upwards in the sprint arena. There was a team of first aid people who were kept busy with patching cuts and treating stings.

The sea events were taking their toll and groups of Nippers were unable to power their way through the pounding waves. I went for a swim and realised that I was unable to see where the buoys were located until I was well past the last of the white water. At times the waves were breaking past the Buoys making conditions even more difficult for the swimmers and boarders.

Nippers Nationals was testing not only the skill of the Nippers but also their mental capability to handle extreme surf. Running into the sea was made even more difficult as the beach was uneven and the Nippers were continually tripping and falling as they entered the water or as they tried to run out of the surf. At one time I decided to give one of the U10’s a bit of encouragement by swimming next to him in his event. This did not earn me popularity with the officials and I was severely reprimanded.

At the end of the second day the U10’s had a gold medal as Jonathan Coffey had won the flags and I think that we had somehow managed to scratch together some more points. We were no longer last. The U12s maintained their position as leaders in their age category while the U14’s were also doing well with a solid team effort.

That evening Barbara, Ally & I went to visit my brother Patrick (Marianne & baby Thomas) for supper. Patrick’s son, St John, joined us later. Patrick had remarried and moved to a new home since I was last in Durban. We entered his address into the GPS but ended up at a garage way out of any suburb. I had spelt the name of his street as Nicholson instead of Nicolson. Second time around we got it right and the GPS took us to his front door. My mother had baked biscuits for them and I had to deliver them.

We were in time to watch the second half of the Sharks playing the Hurricanes. Charles and Ian had left Nippers early to be able to be at the “Shark Tank” for the game. After the rugby and drinks we had a most pleasant braai and then left early. We were down at the beach front when Barbara reminded me about the biscuits. So rather than face my mother’s disappointment we drove back up to his home and handed over the bounty of rusks and ginger biscuits.

Sunday morning we packed the car and booked out of the hotel. The car guards pestered us for payment. The U10 group would have a short day as we had completed our Taplin relay and do not do the Iron Nipper event. The U12 and U14’s had a really tough day as they had to do heats and finals of the Iron Nipper. There were large numbers of Nippers taking part in each event and just making the cut was difficult.

The surf was at it’s roughest today. The waves were huge and relentless. Fortunately no Blue Bottles today. Boards were being tossed around both as the Nippers tried to paddle out to the buoys as well as when they were attempting to surf back in. Even youngsters who I consider to be adept at Malibu boards such as Matthew, Ian and Christian, struggled to master the waves. The ocean, sun, wind and activity had exhausted parents and Nippers. As the day drew to a close a group of Dads (Deon, Roger, Hannes, Charles) went for a swim. Charles remarked how impossible the waves were. He pointed out that Nippers was one of the toughest, character building activities that he knew of. Way tougher than rugby! Just taking part in an Iron Nipper event was a test of the courage and skill of any person.

Iron Nipper consists of a swim, body board and then the Malibu / Hurricane board around buoys anchored 100 to 120m out to sea in the huge surf. One of these disciplines alone is totally exhausting, while completing all three defies my understanding. Normally one such event would be all that is required of a child. Today the Nippers had to do this once to qualify for finals, again in the finals and also do a variety of other events such as swim, body board and Malibu board individual.

The day ended with a long run with most of the Nippers taking part. We packed away and tied down the boards. Donald and Alex had whisked a group of Nippers off to the U Shaka wave and water slides playground. Hannes managed to magic out a couple of cold beers and we waited for the prize giving. As usual the children were in high spirits and there was a great deal of singing and cheering going on. We learned that our cricket team had performed well in beating the Australians at the second of the limited over’s matches to even the tally.

We had not come to Durban with expectations of winning and were delighted to hear that Summerstrand were third overall with Kings Beach coming fourth and Plett just behind them at fifth place. Durban surf had won the competition and last year’s winners, Fish Hoek were at second place. The U12’s had won their age category. Lauren Billson was Girl “Competitor of the Competition” for the U14’s. She had earned this award with some extraordinary effort on the day but talking to Patrick (her dad) it is clear to me that Lauren is a disciplined and dedicated athlete.

More cheering and photo’s and we were able to leave for Mooi River. I have cousins; Lloyd and Judy who farm on the Hlatinkulu road about 25kays from Mooi River. Lloyd had once explained to me that Hlatinkulu means ‘huge forest’. However as one drives up to Giants Castle all the huge indigenous trees have been cut and there is no longer any huge forest along this road. One is greeted by vast plains rather than forest. My father’s (Allan; 1920-1995) sister, Puck (and Martin who died after battling with arthritis) lived and farmed there for many years at “the Meadows”.

Puck had two children: Tim who is a vice principal at a school for cerebral palsy children in Durban and Judy who still farms in Mooi River. Judy married Lloyd and they established a farm (Little Falls) nearby. Judy and Lloyd have three children. Shaughna married Trevor and is a GP in Cape Town. Colin married Catherine and they live in Johannesburg where Colin heads up a shipping company. Colin also has a house on Little Falls next to the dam. Colin is also a cattle rancher on the farm with Judy running this operation. Their third child is Megan who lives in Pietermaritzburg with her husband and children. Megan is a Comrades and Two Oceans runner. Megan’s husband works for Colin and is battling to sell Tractors in a depressed market.

The road between Durban and Mooi River is really busy with trucks and cars driving at high speeds. Nicci phoned from the Johannesburg airport. She had been there to negotiate advertising for the Gauteng issue of the Little Pink Book. This is a diary for people who are planning a wedding. It provides information and contact details for service providers in the wedding industry. During this trip she managed to sell a one third of the Gauteng business to a Johannesburg based photographer.

We arrived at Little Falls at about 8pm and chatted to Lloyd and Judy over a drink and late supper. Monday morning after coffee Judy & I went to the neighbours farm where Judy tapped milk from a huge tank. A little later Lloyd took me down to the house that he had built for Colin. We drove down on the two quad bikes that Lloyd bought for getting around the farm. It appears that all the local farmers have quad bikes. Judy works for Colin and tends to the magnificent bulls that they are feeding up and breeding for show purposes. Lloyd showed me what to look for in a really prize bull. They hope to be able to show their animals at various shows around the coast.

Colin’s house has four bedrooms with bathrooms and a huge main sitting / dining room in the centre that overlooks the dam. The dam is stocked with trout. Colin is a keen fisherman. Monday morning Lloyd took us for a drive to see the Game Farm (Zulu Falls) that he had established over the past 18 years. The farm is located about 40kays along the Greytown road. This farm has been Lloyds project and he has about 1000 head of game including Wildebeest, Eland, Kudu, Giraffe, Zebra, Impala, Reebok, Springbok.

He would have a variety of international visitors wanting to hunt. They would stay at the lodges that he built on the farm at a site overlooking an amphitheatre of the most spectacular waterfall imaginable. Lloyd and Judy built themselves a little cottage away from the main buildings for their own use when they had visitors. The cottage is absolutely basic with an outside toilet and a shower nozzle offering little or no concealment from passing game. From the cottage you are able to walk a short distance to a viewpoint overlooking the waterfalls and amphitheatre.

Today there was a film crew there setting up the filming of a Jeep Advertisement. They hoped to show a Jeep crossing the river just above the falls. They were planning and organising the safety aspects. If their project is successful it will be a most spectacular scene with the waterfall cascading into a pool below. I would have loved to be able to swim in the pool at the bottom of the falls and into the caves behind the falls but there was simply not enough time.

While we driving through the farm we saw buck, Zebra and Giraffe. We met up with a group of professional game capture men who Lloyd had contracted to trap as many of the animals possible. They would set up Hessian netting in a large V shape leading to a more solid boma where they would load the game into trucks for shipping and sale to other reserves. They use a helicopter to herd the animals.

I heard the word Impofu or Mpofu being said a few times and thought of the Mountain Zebra park trail that we would be doing in June. I assumed that Mpofu meant Zebra but later established that Mpofu means Eland or Taurotragus Oryx. The reason that the Zebra Trail is named Mpofu is that there are bushman paintings in caves and these are paintings of Eland. The Zulu word for Zebra is Idube. The Little Mooi River used to be the migratory trail for Eland and is also known as Mpofana which means just that.

The reason that Lloyd was selling the game is that the Department of Land Affairs has bought the farm as part of a one third land acquisition that the ANC government has embarked upon. It does not appear that they will operate the game farm as a going concern. The Department of Land Affairs has no clear plans for the farm. They offered Lloyd to lease the farm back or to operate as a kind of partner but Lloyd does not see his way clear to work under these conditions. It is unfortunate as 8 people will become unemployed at the end of April and a source of foreign revenue is being lost.

Back at Little Falls I took Ally for a ride on the Quad Bikes. After a short while she became familiar with the bike and was able to operate it on her own. These bikes don’t have a clutch and the accelerator is operated by a thumb lever on the right handle. We did some dirt road biking before riding into the bushes and on some really rough terrain. Barbara joined us and we had a great time with Ally on her own on the bike.

Colin’s wife, Catherine arrived from Jhb with her two children, Amy and Reece. This was the first time that I had met this family. Barbara and I had last been at Little Falls when I attempted my first Down Comrades about 18 years ago. That time we had driven up to Giants Castle and had done some walking and exploring the caves. I had not completed that run as I had a bit of a cold and developed severe cramps about 10 or 15kays from the finish. Maybe one Brandy & Coke too many the previous evening?

Tuesday morning we had breakfast and packed the car. I must have left something on as the battery was flat. Catherine pulled me with her Pajero and we soon had the car running again. We left Little Falls at 08.30. First on the N3 toll road past Howick and then right at Merrivale we drove along the road past Boston where Megan has a farm, Bulwer and Underberg to Kokstad. This route is just south of the Southern Drakensberg and has plenty of resorts and guest houses to visit. A right turn takes you to the Drakensberg Gardens.

My Tom Tom shows this route as 958 kays to Mooi River as opposed to 922 via PMB. However it was really interesting to drive a road I have never travelled before. We filled up in Kokstad and drove the 330kays through the Transkei. We then took the road past Komga and headed for home. Our last stop was King where we bought more toasted sandwiches. We seemed to have eaten more fast (junk) food over the past few days than in the previous 6 months. Hamburgers, chips and take away coffee was what we were living on. We arrived in PE at about 19.30 just in time for Survivor only to find out that the program has been moved to Monday nights.