Saturday, March 31, 2018

March 2018. Peter Giddy Guided Tours. Port Elizabeth; Addo ELephant Park; City, historical and cultural Tours; Township Tours; Adventure Tours; Garden Route Tours.



March 2018.   Peter Giddy Guided Tours.
Port Elizabeth;

  • Addo Elephant Park; 
  • City, historical and cultural Tours; 
  • Township Tours; 
  • Adventure Tours; -- Canoe trails; Walking and Hiking; Horse Riding; Sandboarding; Quad biking; Surfing; Zip Lines; 
  • Garden Route Tours.  Monkey Land; Birds of Eden; Big Cats; Ocean Safari; Beach Walks. 
  • Kragga Kamma Wildlife Reserve
  • Wildlife Reserves
  • Transfers -- Airport; Wildlife and Hotel 
  • Uitenhage educational and Historical tour. 
  • Horse Riding... Including a Beach Ride. 
  • Two Oceans Marathon.. I run the Half. 
Don't you just love the contrast? From the softest and daintiest of creatures to the largest land animal in Africa  -- An African Monarch Butterfly with the African Elephant in the background (No Photoshop).  This is the kind of special moment that I love to find in Addo Elephant (and Butterfly) Park.

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Thursday 1st March. 
I am now in Training for the Two Oceans 21k as well as the Spanish Camino planned for April. 
I also want to keep up with the Swimming as this appears to be keeping me injury free at present.
In addition I don't want to stop cycling when I am able as I love my hour of riding on the Grassroof Route. 


 Michelle; Darren; Kim; Ayanda and Evis.  All from Boston visiting SA.
Michelle; Evis; Nathaniel and his friend with Kim. 
This morning I run the Target Kloof Route -- Probably around 8km.  With Mike; Chris; Andrea and end up with Adrienne. 
Later today I have a Township tour with Kim.  Kim is an Ex PE girl having been schooled at Collegiate and NMU and has done voluntary work in some of the PE Townships.  We visit Ayanda's Pottery; Nathaniel and Sam's Spaza; Henry Nginza School; Airport Valley Creche and Ntombekaya home. 

Friday morning swimming 1200m with Megan and Chantalay. 
It is raining this morning so not much gets done. Ally arrives from CT for a 21st Birthday party of Megan Derry this weekend. 
Werner and Line at Algoa Lookout
Saturday morning.  Raining again. 
I pick up Werner and Line from Ocean bay.  We enter in the North and soon are in the middle of a variety of animals which continues for the day.  Overall a successful Safari which we all enjoyed. 
Ally goes to Megan's 21st birthday party as Mama Mia. 
 Nicky with Zara; Barbara; Jackie with Emily year 2006
 Emily today -- 12 years old with her birthday dress and cake
 Emily Birthday cake

Zara wins her event of rock wall climbing despite an horrific fall that she had.
Ally is home to attend Megan Derry's 21st birthday party at the Bowling club in Walmer.  Here she is dressed in a Mama Mia Outfit. 
Sunday 4th.  Not feeling well.  I start the morning with a 7k walk with the full backpack but that is the end of my day as I spend the rest of the day in bed.  Ally leaves for Cape Town while Barbara helps Delene moving to their new place. 
With me in Addo Today... Annalize from Calais, France;  Maria from Germany and Martin & Maggie from the UK. 
Monday. Still feeling a bit groggy. No swim or run. 
Addo tour for four people takes up most of the day.   Later -- Cell group with Cronje and Claudine. 
Barbara helping Matthew and Delene with their move from Hebron to across the road where they are building a home for themselves.
Amrit and Saima.  Financial people (Barclays I think) from the UK. On Addo Safari with me today. 
Tuesday 6th.  Running with the Group.  Adrienne; Chris; Liesl; Steff; Mike; Gaye; Anne and Ronel.  I am trying to fit in some extra to strengthen up for Oceans 21k.  
I have an Addo while Barbara continues to help Delene with her moving from Hebron. 
The Provost -- Military Prison in Grahamstown with Maureen.  It is now a Coffee Shop with the cells as coffee rooms and the parade area as an open air dining. The tower affords guards a view of two of the cells each. 
Wednesday 7th.  I swim with Megan 1200m. 
I then have a Grahamstown Settler Tour for Mosaic with Maureen who is Australian and here to watch Australia play the Proteas at St Georges Park starting later this week.  



Zebra -- All white legs.  Unusual but not unique as I realise  later. 
Thursday -- Running with Mike and Chris.  
Addo Tour with Gail from New York and from Panama. 
I learn of the death of Bridget Goldsmith.  She was in a motor accident and after a number of tests and an operation, developed an infection and died.  So sad for her family and husband Mike and her mother Hermine. 

Friday... Swim 1500m with Megan; Chantalay and Faye. 
Overcast and dizzling -- I do a couple of chores and Dole stuff.  


 At the start of the race.  Graham; Eden; Jarred; Bob; Samantha and Aiden.
 Peter and Kenny lining up.
 Percy and Anche ready to "give it a wind"
Samantha; Graham; Bob; Percy and Liz Prins. 
Running into the finish area at Sportsmans Warehouse. 
Results of some of the Achilleans 
 1111 GRAHAM CHANNON ACH M 68 Time 1.19 
 912 PETER POHLMANN CHARLO M 54 Time 1.19.
 1097 MATI JACK ACH M 66 Time  1.25.08 
 1196 SAMANTHA DOUGLAS ACH F 30 Time.30.15 
1200 KYLE STEVENS ACH M 30 Time 30.16 
1092 EDEN GRUNDLINGH ACH Time 1.30.18
1114 GAIL KLICHOWICZ ACH F 51 Time 1.30.57
1116 PETER GIDDY ACH M 67  Time  1.31.15
1147 LIZ PRINS ACH F 48 Time 1.31.21 
1157 GEOFF ROBERTS ACH M 65 Time 1.32.08
1144 KEN BARWOOD ACH M 62 Time  1.32.10
1165 LESLEY MAGGOTT ACH F 50 Time 1.32.24
1090 SUSANN CHAPMAN ACH F 42 Time1.34.47

Last year I ran 1.25.24.  And Gail was also just a minute ahead of me. 
Saturday.  Up early and drive to Sportsman Warehouse in William Moffet.  Register for the race.  I run a short warm up with Kenny and then with Tom.  
The race starts at 6.30am with a bit of useless chatter from the Microphone.  Threatening runners "take their numbers" when they stand slightly to the side of the start.
A small group of Achilleans gather together at the start.  
The route is down William Moffet and then up to Cape Road. We then turn into Sunridge Park with a number of slow tough climbs.  Then on to the rugby fields ... we run around this road and then back into Sunridge.  Again more hills.  I was running behind Eden; Jarred and Samantha and hard as I may try, I cannot catch them. 
The run takes us up and down a hilly course.  As tough if not tougher than the Bluewaterbay Course of earlier this year.  For me this is a good test of my ability to stay the distance at Oceans in Three Weeks time. 
I am able to run the full distance.  Slow on the ups but I maintain a steady pace.  Towards the end Gail and I run side by side but in the final km she goes ahead and I finish with Rob Button.. 
I dont stay for coffee as I am only drinking water and am not that sociable.  Also I want to relax before my tour later. Rob says we finished in 90 minutes. 
In Kragga Kamma we meet up with this juvenile Male Bushbuck.  Home -- Shower and have some toast and Avo. 
Barbara takes in some abandoned chickens.  Some die and she passes the others on to a farming friend.  She has a rat which is a pet and this animal gets sick and also dies. Upsetting.
I pick up Gail Epstein from Windemere and we drive the Marine Drive stopping at Sacramento.  Then on to Kragga Kamma where we take a slow drive around the reserve before stopping for a toasted sandwich for lunch.  Later I drop Gail off at the airport.  She is flying to CT to meet her sister and then on to Botswana and the Victoria Falls. 
Tim;  Roxanne and David in Addo today. 
Sunday morning 11th.  I start the day with a 7km walk around Linkside with my loaded backpack.  This is my attempt to train for the Camino. 
I then pick up David; Roxanne (Australians visiting to watch some cricket and to enjoy a holliday in SA) and Tim (working for Schwafer automotive suppliers -- Audi for catalitic converters).
We have a successful day with plenty Elephant; Buffalo and Lions -- and all the other animals as well. 
As soon as I get home I load my backpack again and to the 7km walk with my distance and timer on my phone.  The distance is almost exactly 7km and I take just under 1.30hours walking between 11 to 12 minutes a km. 

Monday morning.  Swimming with Megan 1000m 
Barbara and I visit Matthew and Delene at their makeshift home on Lady's Slipper. 
This afternoon I walk my 7kay route around Linkside.  I now know where each km marker is and the route takes me 1h20m or about 12 minutes a kay. 
This evening late -- after cell group -- and after I have fallen asleep -- I fetch Natalie from the airport to Radisson Blu.  Her flight had been delayed. 
 Claire from California,  Visited some family in Cape Town and now in PE to visit Addo.;  Natalie from Vancouver Island who is in SA for a health Conference in Cape Town and Howard from London who was in PE to watch Cricket.
Today the temperature rises to a maximum of 45 Degrees. 
Tuesday... Running the 7km route with Adrienne; Liesl; Jenna; Ronel, Mike and Annie. 
When I get back from Addo I meet with Ron to see if there is a possibility of him working with us on the Export Documentation job. 
Barbara and I walk 7km around Grey and Linkside. 
African Monarch Butterfly at Domkrag with an Elephant passing by below.
Danny and Michelle with Kata -- staying at Conifer.  Addo Tour ..  Wednesday 14th.  Swim 1200m with Megan.  
Addo Tour with Danny and Michelle from Canada and Kata from Germany.
8km walk with my backpack.  3km of the walk done with Barbara. Meet Dedire and Brenda walking their dogs and Mike Perks on his way home. 
Thursday 15.  Running target kloof with Chris; Mike; Elmarie; Ronel; Adrienne; Steff and Liesl.  Suzanne is back and runs with the group but I dont see her as she is in the fast group and we split at 8th ave. 
 The larger group gathers at Something Good for a walk.
 I know very few people in this group
 Walking the Long Hike of 8km are 16 people -- The Boardwalk is becoming quite lopsided.
Short break at 4km for a snack. 
Walking with the Thursday Retired group.  I am with my backpack.  As we are leaving a slight drizzle starts to fall and puts a few people off.  Split into two groups -- the long and the short walking distances.  The short walkers head towards Hobie beach while we go on the boardwalk towards Cape Recife.  The boardwalk is slippery and some of the walk feels more like a trampoline So we have to be careful to not fall.
Once we get to Flat Rocks we take to the beach and have great walk along the beach -- It is low tide and specifically selected for a beach walk at this time. Plenty of sea weed on the beach.  We stop on the rocks for a short break -- banana and water.  

After our break we walk up the stairs to the SACCOB penguin rescue place and back to Something Good on the road.  The rain starts to fall and we walk the last two kays (of eight) in the rain. 
 We have a supper and wine before the show starts.
Gino keeps us entertained for a couple of hours. 
Thursday evening Barbara and I meet Brenda for an evening of fun with Gino Fabbri.  
Nora and her husband are in PE for Business. He is working at the Coega Harbour in the Container business while Nora is a Judge for lesser criminal cases in Germany.  They have been coming to SA for many years (since 1994) and Nora tells me how much she loves SA.  Friday morning.  I fetch Megan for swimming.  I swim 1200m while Megan is around 2km.  By the time we leave the pool it is pouring with rain.  
I take Nora for a tour of Addo Elephant Park.  We start off in the rain but the rest of the day is successful. 
 Male lions feeding at Addo on Saturday morning.
 My group of four having breakfast.
The group with Headman at breakfast at Jacks. 
Saturday 17th.  I had received a request from Brighton of Zuurberg Mountain Inn to guide for them this morning. It meant that I had to leave home at 4.30am.  The drive takes a good hour and a half on a terrible road to Addo and then the 16km from the tar road to Zuurberg is a nightmare all on its own. Especially in the dark! And this morning I come across a Kudu Bull as well as a fleeting glimpse of a Genet scuttling into the bush.  
Once at Zuurberg I help Brighton to load the cooler boxes into the vehicle I will be driving.  I am getting used to the fact that I wont have any windscreen wipers.  I never found out if the lights worked as it was light by the time we leave at 6.30am.  I have 9 people in the Landrover. Once we get to Addo Reception 5 of them transfer to an Addo Vehicle driven by Headman. 
I have four Belgium guests.  We have fun -- starting the day with a sighting of two male lions.  Once is eating the warthog that he caught. We hear the crunching of the bones.  This is probably one of the most graphic Lion Sightings you will ever experience. 
The rest of the day is successful with a picnic breakfast and plenty of close up Elephant sightings. 

Sunday 18.  Walk around Linkside and Grey twice for just short of 14km.  This takes me over 2.5hours.  Later Barbara and I walk on the beach front 6.5km.  So a total of 20km walking for the day.   The rest of the day is just that -- "Rest"
The Spanish Bayonet has spiky leaves and beautiful tubular white flowers. 
Monday 19.  Start the morning with a 1500m swim with Megan.  Then I put my backpack on and do an 11km walk around Linkside and Mill Park.  I take bags and do some garbage clean up while walking.
Kelsey gives instructions to the group.
 Carolina on horseback
 Kelsey sets the stirrups up for Nina
 Emma now ready to set off
 The group of Danish Girls -- Carolina; Nina and Emma on their way to a beach ride. 
I have an afternoon Horse Riding tour with three from Jikeleza at Heavenly stables. They are experienced riders and opt for the Beach Ride. 
A bit of a blast from the past -- It was Megan's 21st this year.  Here the group of friends as young Nippers... Amber; Megan; Lara and Ally.
This pic (Probably 2015 or 2016) is taken by Elmarie as her daughter, Sasha, finishes Two Oceans 21 and by chance I am also in the pic. 
Tuesday.  I run about 10km ..  This morning on the run with us -- Octavia and her friend Rose join for the first time.  Sjani is back after a long break from the group.  Steff; Chris and Liesl walk.  I run with Octavia and Rose.  Adrienne, Mike and Anne are just behind us. 


 Jackal on Gorah Loop -- S Bend in Addo
Iuan Souza -- From Brazil.  Works BASF Chemical Company near to Sau Paulo Brazil.  On Holiday in South Africa.  Iuan is a Chemical Engineer and recently started in HR in his organisation. 
Once I am home I walk 10kay with my Backpack. I take some plastic packets and just around Grey I pick up two full packets of rubbish including 38 plastic bottles; 18 tins and 19 cigarette packets. 
Wednesday walking at Hopewell with Robin and Iuan and a group of 34 hikers.  A tough hike of 12km -- rugged terrain with plenty ups and downs.  I hike with the backpack as part of my training for the Camino next month. 
Probably about 20 or 30 Dung Beetles here.
Michael and Nicole from Germany. He is with Audi and she is a Pharmacist Assistant.  Guus (Gus) is from the Netherlands and is now living in London.  An IT consultant.  Here they are on an Addo Safari at Domkrag Dam lookout.  Thursday 22.... Run Target Kloof with Mike.  We cut short.  Start running home but meet up with Chris; Steff and Sjani who I run back to the cars with.  Decide to run around Grey as I am early to go home.  Meet with Kate and run a few kays with her before turning home.  Great to have friends to run with in the early morning. 
 Nomakwezi gives a bit of a talk and explanation regarding their Garden where they have spinach; tomato and onions growing.

 Shosholoza as sung by this group of school children.
 The group of 14 Grade 11 German students with Furke the teacher and Matais the dad.  Matais was in PE a couple of years ago to assist with Soccer training in the townships. He is a Semi Professional player and employed at VW in Germany. .
 This Freezer was bought for the school by a group of Dutch Tourists which Frank arranged.  Unfortunately it is empty and not switched on.

We stop to look at the Street Butchersy where beef innards (offal) are being cooked as a stew. The owner lady tells me she will sell 30 - 50 bowls of food at R40 a day.  Not in picture are a couple of beef heads which will be added to the stew. Looking on -- Lena; Johanna and Kim.   

Friday 23rd.  Swimming in the morning 1200m with Megan. 
Township Tour for 6 people on NMBT pass.  Frank, Alan and I meet at VP High School where we meet the two adults in the group -- Furke the teacher and Matias the dad.  
I have Matias and Furke with me as well as the Grade 11 girls from Germany -- Lena; Ellen; Kim and Johanna.  
We start the tour at the South End Museum and then move across to Missionvale and Henry Nginza Primary School.  
Nomakwesi takes over and takes the group to the Garden and then to the Classrooms ... One of the Classes does a sing song and dance for the group. Shosholoza is always a hit. 
From here we continue on to the Red Location Museum where we stop at a Street Butchery before I drop them off at the Segway tours. 
Tammy; Octavia and Kat at the start of the 10kay this morning.  Kat is going to attempt her first Oceans 56 next Saturday..  Today Kat runs us all to the ground  with a 53 minute time.
 Kobus is Bennie's son.  Bennie and Graham who also had a great run finishing in 55 minutes despite the tough second half which was uphill and into the wind.
Bob and Tremaine at the start this morning. 
Saturday 24th.  10kay run at St Albans. 
I get to the race nice and early.  It is held at the church just past St Albans Prisons. A short warm up run gets me into the mood and I am ready to run.  There is a fresh West wind that will push us out for the first half of the run this morning.  
We start off in an Easterly direction and I can see that the pace is going to be fast.  Kenny started in the front of the field and charged off.  Graham runs past me and I never had a chance to catch him after that. Gail runs past  and I do my best to keep her in sight. Achilles has some good runners and I am able to greet them as we pass each other -- me on the way out and they are on the way back. 
It is a straight out and back course. Along the "Old Cape Road" .... we turn around at 5km and then have a bit of an uphill and into the wind as we do our best to maintain the pace we set for ourselves in the first half. 

I see Lesley and Gail just ahead of me and so this is my target.  Graham is a bit in front of them and I know that he is pushing hard to as he is inclined to do. But then I see that the girls have caught up with Kenny so now this is my challenge... Catch and pass Kenny!  It is hard work but I pick up my pace and soon start to chase them down.  Finally with just one kay to go I am able to give Kenny the Bruce Fordyce pat on the back and then run the next hundred meters as hard as I can.  Gail holds my pace and for a short while goes ahead of me.  I pick up my pace just a notch and am able to hold this to the finish line.  Gail and I finish within seconds of each other just as we did at Sportsmans 15kay two weeks ago. 
Kat; Peter; Lesley; Gail and Kenny at the finish of the ten kay this morning. 
Finishing the St Albans 10k road race .... An event where I had a huge amount of fun. 

At the finish line after a short chat and socializing --- I realise that we are close to the Lady's Slipper parkrun so I jump into the car and drive there as quickly as I can.  I am just in time with not a second to spare.  Barbara and Delene are walking their first one here.  This parkrun has had to change venue from Falcon Rock to Slipperfields.  This course turns out to be a toughy. Narrow and windy pathways with plenty of hills and sloped trails.  Chantal and Ronald are the main organisers and it is Chantal who is the Sweeper for today and she keeps us company to the 3kay mark.  Barbara and Delene walk to the finish and I run the last two kays to finish in one hour and ten minutes. 
 Barbara; Chantal and Delene at the Lady's Slipper Parkrun.
Delene and Barbara relaxing after the parkrun. 
Finishing the Lady's Slipper Parkrun 
Lady Slipper parkrun results for event #52. Your time was 01:10:20.
Congratulations on completing your 59th parkrun and your 2nd at Lady Slipper parkrun today. You finished in 95th place and were the 62nd male out of a field of 104 parkrunners and you came 5th in your age category VM65-69. Take a look at this week's full set of results on our website. Your PB at Lady Slipper parkrun remains 00:35:25. Congratulations on your fastest time this year
South Africa (Proteas) is playing Australia at Newlands at present.  Morne Morkel takes three wickets to reach a total of 300 test wickets.  Only Shaun Pollock; Makhaya Ntini, Dale Steyn and Alan Donald have reached this South African status.  
Meanwhile.  Patrick discovered blood in his urine and had a growth taken from his bladder.  He is waiting for a biopsy result. 


 Michael; Jacqui and Tom -- its his 6th birthday
 Eats for Tom's Birthday Party.   Looks so yummy.  So sad that we are not there to share these special days.
 Here is Aaron in Action -- playing for the School Team.
1990 -- Kenny Barwood sent me this pic this morning.  As he and I finish this 21kay in 87 minutes.  We have, off and on, being running this friendly rivalry, neck and neck, since then.   Kenny continues with the longer distances while I am now running up to 21kay. 
Some of the results from Saturday's Race --- 
50 280 1191 ALAN TAYLOR ACH M 60 60-64M 0.41.55 5
115 360 1156 BRUCE MCEWAN ACH M 64 60-64M 0.46.46 4
146 374 1148 PERCY DALTON ACH M 69 65-69M 0.49.07 3
233 456 745 KATHLEEN FLANAGAN CRUSADE F 32 SF 0.53.09 1 0
262 656 1111 GRAHAM CHANNON ACH M 68 65-69M 0.55.05 2
286 95 1116 PETER GIDDY ACH M 67 65-69M 0.55.45 2
290 581 1114 GAIL KLICHOWICZ ACH F 51 50-54F 0.55.50 2
298 335 1144 KEN BARWOOD ACH M 62 60-64M 0.56.17 1
299 121 1165 LESLEY MAGGOTT ACH F 50 50-54F 0.56.18 1
352 486 1119 TREMAINE WESSON ACH M 57 55-59M 0.58.59 1
361 372 705 OCTAVIA BOSHOFF CRUSADE F 48 45-49F 0.59.46 1
390 352 1126 TOM D'ARCY ACH M 72 70+M 1.01.27 1
400 1135 1135 MOF BOTHA ACH M 62 60-64M 1.02.19 1
508 2365 1122 BOB STEDMAN ACH M 68 65-69M 1.09.52 1
525 6135 6135 TAMARIN ELLIS TEMP F 31 SF 1.11.31 0





Donkin Memorial -- with 
Sunday... I have a Township / Kragga Kamma tour -- First with Guus from Netherlands and then with .... Auditors from India who are with me for a Kragga Kamma tour only. 
SA continues to play against Australia at Newlands.  There has been a bit of upset when one of the Australian players, a new boy called Bancroft, tampered with the ball and this was caught on camera. Unfortunately this incident became blown out of all proportion just as the incident with our bowler, Rabada, and caused the Ausies to lose focus.  So the game ended with Australia batting just 90 runs for the loss of all 10 wickets and SA are now 2-1 in the series with just one match left. 
 At the VW pavilion the Students have some fun in the simulated driving experiences.
 The Science Expo has interactive and fun activities to keep the students busy.
 Uitenhage Concentration Camp where 1800 people were housed during the Anglo Boer war.  Frank outlines the background and reason for this Concentration camp. 
 9 people died.  Three adults and 6 children.

 Frank; Alan and Peter.... SA Guided Tours team on this tour.
Grade 11 German students on an exchange program with VP High.  Spending money on Souvenirs.
Monday 26th.  Swimming 1200m with Megan.  The pool is full of swimmers even though we get there at 4.55am.  
I have a second session with the German Students from Victoria Park High School -- Contact is Angelique. We drive through to Uitenhage where we start off at the VW Pavilion. Then we visit the Science Expo and lastly the site of the British Concentration camp on the far side of the Golf Course. 
Back in PE we allow some time for souvenir shopping. 
Barbara and Pat as we wait for the proceedings to start.
Bobby leads the meeting with Athol Trollip; Bhanga and Andrew Whitfield of the DA leadership. 
This evening Barbara and I attend a DA Political Meeting at the Newton Park Library.  

Thursday 27th.  Running with Adrienne; Liesl; Steff and Chris.  My last run before Oceans on Saturday.  
There is a ship in town and I spend about two hours waiting for business.  When there is clearly none to be had I leave and so that is the end of my working month.  
Friday -- Swimming with Liesl and Megan.  1300m.  
Meet with Ron to explain the procedure for shipping documents. 


 A couple of speakers regarding the subject of the removal of Athol Trollip (our mayor) from the city.
 Not sure how many people attended this meeting but here the Market Square is clearly full of DA Supporters.
Athol on the podium.  He has a lot of support from a wide spectrum of Citizens. 
John and Karen (it is her birthday on 29th (tomorrow) at the DA Rally. 
When I arrived at the City Market Square I met up with Gerald Bowers; Flo and Linda from Hiking and Karen & John.  I ended up with Karen dancing and singing with the rest of the support group. 
Musi Mayamani and Bobby at the Council Meeting the following day.  Thursday Barbara and I leave PE At 5.30am.  Crossing the Van Stadens Bridge we come across a Road Accident that almost blocks the bridge.  Shortly after that we learn that there is Protest Action as people have blocked the N2 at Thornhill.  So we fortunately just made it through.  Meet up with Kelly and Brett; Philip and Gareth Jacobson at Storms River.  We all just made it through.  The road was only cleared at about 11am.  It rains all the way through the Garden Route to Sir Lowrys Pass where there is heavy mist and extremely dangerous driving conditions.
The lady at the computer is Kirsten.  Most helpful and even let me register for Stefany so I was able to collect her T Shirt as she is injured. 

Registration went quite smoothly and we were soon at Nicky where Werner makes us the most delicious Potato and Leek Soup. 


 Pics that I find on Karen's Facebook from an album of Julia.  Here is Ian; Patrick and myself at Plett.
An old pic of Ally on the swings in the garden
Michael (Mof) Botha and I at the start of the Oceans 21kay.  Michael made the cut off comfortably.  

Saturday 31st.  Two Oceans Marathon. Ally and I stay at Patrick's house.  I walk to the start. Meet Michael Botha and we wait for the Start together.   

I have a solid run.  Running from start to finish.  Not as quick as I would ideally have liked but a finish is a finish.  It is my tenth so I now have a Blue number for the full (1044) and also for the Half (1267).  
Easter Lunch table set with lots of chocs and bunnies.  However we end up eating outside. 

This afternoon we have a Smash Burger Braai with Nicky and Werner. Also here this afternoon.  Ally makes herself a Burger with Sweet Potato as the Roll.  Four Children -- Christian; Aaron; Zara and Mia.  Chris and Estelle.  And Werner's friend -- Andre.  A lovely afternoon eating and chatting with the fire going. 

Meanwhile -- Cricket drama continues at the Wanderers.  
Last week three of the Australian team (Smith the captain; Warner the vice and Bancroft a recent addition to the batting team) were sent home due to ball tampering.  The game was won by SA making the series -- Australia winning in Durban;  SA wins in PE and also in CT after the ball tampering debacle. 
So this weekend they start the fourth test at the Wanderers where our team score 487 in the first innings.  Australia take over batting on Saturday 31st afternoon and by stumps they are 110 for the loss of 6 wickets. The three replacements score just 12 runs between them. 







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