July 2021. Garden Route tours; Hikes and walks; Peter Giddy Guided Tours trying to keep active and alive.
Thursday 1st July 2021. I am with Michelle and Brittany from New York for a three day Garden Route Tour. Today we tour from Plettenbergbay, Knysna, Sedgefield, Wilderness, George and over the Outeniqua Pass to Oudtshoorn where we spend the night at Oue Werf.
Friday 2nd July 2021. Leaving Oue Werf (Anneline Spies and Marianne) for Safari Ostrich Farm (Lipshitz Family). Meiringspoort, De Rust, Uniondale, Langkloof, Joubertina and back to Port Elizabeth.
Saturday 3rd July. Hiking the Cairn Loop at Crossways farm Village.
I forgot to wear a hat so ended up with my Buff.
Cath and Lene (a three hour drive from her house to Cathy) with friends for Cathy's 40th Birthday party
Kolkols?on the Crossways hiking trail. Gumleaf Cone Bush.
Heath on the Crossways hiking trail -- Sparrow Wort -- Erica.
Monday 5th July. Walk 5km with BR; Run 7k with MH and Cameron. Barbara and I receive our second Covid 19 Vaccination at St Georges Hospital. No immediate side effects. Pick up new driving Glasses; Purchase a Snackwich toaster; Vehicle Licencing;
Tuesday 6th. Walk 5k with BR. Run 10k with Mike Burger. Coffee at Indulge with Alec Riddle and Katharine Holmes; Licencing stuff; Walk / run 5k with Aletheia, Carin, Sally, Sally and Hayley. Spanish omlette for supper.
Tom; Emily; Ally circa 2016
Cape Recife. Container ship. No photoshop etc.
Pier of the rising sun
ME. Harbour wall run on Tuesday 6th July 2021
Harbour wall. Low tide. Ship loading in the harbour.
Evening walking / running at Grassroof. Then Spanish Omlette at home. Barbara has an eye op and then straight to Rhino duty? Mmmmm?
Wednesday 7th July. Walking with the Wednesday walkers. Blue Horizon bay hiking trail with about 35 people.
A lovely winters day
Oh yes. This is what it looks like in reality and what you see on Facebook
At Van Stadens River Mouth for our snack break
Boys on the trail with us during school holidays
Wednesday evening braai
Thursday walking with BR5k. Lots of Admin and a doctors visit for the PDP Medical Certificate.
Nicky is with her Running group in Cape Town
Chokka Boats on the horizon
Friday 9th. Walk 5k with BR. Ally and I go to Uitenhage to pick up her Drivers Licence which she had applied for after hers was stolen. I have an Evaluation to do. And later a couple more. Meanwhile I also have a nearly 3 hour Teams Meeting online for some surveys I will be doing this month. Almost as much time on the meeting as it will take me to do all the surveys.
Saturday 10th July. Bergrivier and Bergvenster hiking trails.
Bergrivier We take a reasonably tough route over the mountain to the Waterfall..
The views from the Bergvenster climb are worth the effort
Sunday 11th July. A relaxed morning; Reading; Some Admin and Evaluations.
Monday 12th. Walk 5k with BR. First Aid course at St Johns.
Tuesday. First Aid course at St Johns. Course presenter is Hetta Jacobus.
Wednesday 13th. Wednesday walkers. Lower Guinea fowl trail from Settlers Park to Dodds farm. A cold morning and wet after Tuesday's rain. Baakens river is flowing strongly so everyone has wet feet.
Forest Gardenia
Strongly flowing Baakens River crossings
Lower Guineafowl Trail
From Settlers Park to Dodds Farm
On the trail today: Robin; Eugene; Ian; Steve; David; Peter and Jenny; Unathi and CK: Debbie and Neil; Jim and Mike; Fiona and Louise; Ann Marie and myself - 17.
Forest Gardenia
Thursday 15th. Run 5k with Megan. Admin day.
Friday 16th. Luba and I drive to Alexandria to renew our PDP. And then the machine is not working. We continue on to Port Alfred and they are off line. So at 10.30am we finally decide to return home empty handed.
Saturday 17th -- Lady Slipper Hike from Falcon Rock.
On the hike today: Scott and Myles helping from the back; Sally K and Debbie M; Liz H; Unathi, Ceekay and Simphiwe; Ayanda, Sethu, Lilly; Gabriella and Misa who had to turn back early: Aletheia; Johan and Carin; Glynette, Pieter and Jeanne; Cheryl; Luba; Ritva; Brenda and Katharine; Robert; Eva; Could be 26 people.
The start of the hike. Today I met Leon who owns the farm next door. He now has his own trail starting from his farm coming up from the left hand side of the mountain.
Sally and Aletheia
Luba asks us to cheer on for the Kaiser Chiefs playing soccer tonight
Luba; Katharine and Simphiwe
Talking about the hike with Eva and Ceekay
Wonderful views from the top of the Slipper
This is a tough hike. Medium fitness required.
The Labyrinth is a must when we get to the end of the trail
We go up the Green route and return on the Red Route
Simphiwe
Myles is training for a 6 day hiking trail at the Amatola and a hike in the Dolomites next year. Scott and Myles helped my with assisting at the back today.
CK or Ceekay. A seasoned hiker joined the group with Unathi for the first time today
Ayanda with her son Sethu and Daughter Lilly. with friend Gabriella.
Next to me is Wendy Rossouw who is a teacher at Pearson and remembers Ally from the time she was a student there.
Sunday 18th July. Today I restart the contract to transport Nursing Staff for St Georges Hospital
Pick up at the Bus Station and take to Crows Nest Self Catering flats in Humewood. I will again be transporting these staff members to the Hospital and back each day.
Monday 19th. Walk with BR 5k. Pick up Hospital staff for their training / induction. Katharine Holmes and I drive to Alexandria to renew Drivers Licence. I have to renew my PDP. It is a slow process day. Fortunately for us there are not too many people doing applications today and we finally get through the process and are able to get home by about 14.00. Ally and I investigate and purchase a phone for Barbara. And I end the day dropping off the staff back at their lodge.
Tuesday 20th. I drop Ally off at the PE Airport. She is going to CT to do a TB test which is required for her UK Visa Application. Run 10k on the beach front. Twice on Kings Beach to the Harbour Wall. The distance from Mc Arthur Baths to the Harbour wall is just over 1km. I have a couple of Vehicle Licences to do and admin for the Flower Tours. This afternoon the wind picks up and clouds threaten rain. Still Aletheia; Wessel; Carin and I do the Grassroof 5k. We beat the rain by minutes.
Running to the Harbour Wall and back. From Mc Arthur baths to the wall and back is a little over 2km. Super Low tide makes for firm sand to run on. Barbara is on the other side of this wall. She is with Raggy Charters on an Island Trip. Dolphins and a Southern Right whale with Calf. Rough seas and spray.
Wednesday 21st. Back into the routine of transporting the Agency Hospital Staff. Heritage Trail with Robin; Di; Jimmy; Mike; Ann Marie and Alida; Debbie; Pat and Margie; Chris; David T; Errol & Mo; Jurgen; Fiona; Peter; Ian; Val; Alida; Cheryl; Martie; Peter.
Start of the Heritage Trail
22 of us walkers today. A chilly west wind -- and dressed for the Arctic.
We end our walk on Reth's Trail
Anyone staying for Tea?
As I am walking, I want to put my phone in my back pocket. But there is a hole in my shorts. My shorts are all getting so thin from wear and washing that I am continually having to get them repaired. Anyway, after the hike I stop at the dry cleaners who also do the stitching and repairs. I take off my shorts, wrap a towel around my waist, and hand the shorts in for repairs. Nobody raises an eyebrow. That is the beauty of being a bit older than others -- you get away with everything.
Barbara does Rhino Duty in the cold and rain. Gale force winds knock the Bay sideways. Ships and boats come in close to shore.
Thursday 22nd. Heavy rains. And yet our dams are almost empty. Somehow the rains that have fallen in PE this year have not reached our dams. Our gardens are not looking barren as we have experienced in previous years where there have been water shortages. Driving to Alexandria earlier this week -- the fields are brown and not healthy at all.
A cold day of rain and wind. Ally flies back from a few days in CT where she did a Health Test as part of her UK Visa Application. I have a Vehicle Licence to do. A fairly good admin day as I sort out some filing and sorting. Meanwhile Jacqui and family are at Mizpe Ramon where we visited when we were last there 2019 / 2020. A desert area.
Friday 23. Another cold day .. Miss my run due to rain. Stay at home day.
Saturday 24th. Van Stadens Wildflower Reserve hiking trails. We do the River / Boulder and Forest walks. A wonderful sunny winters day. Perfect hiking conditions. The Oleander Leaf Protea are blooming. The Aloes are coming to an end.
This evening Bobby and I visit Peter J to watch Rugby. In Cape Town. SA vs British and Irish Lions. We lose the game which, in our opinion is a pretty poor display of rugby with our scrum half kicking possession away as the main fault in the game plan. Meanwhile the SA Proteas are playing cricket in Wales and we win the third T20 game in a row after losing the ODI series.
Sunday 25th.
Monday 26th July 2021. Running with MH 6.5km. Vehicle Licences. Started writing my Guide to Hikes in PE. Back to Cell Group at Cronje and Claudine
Winter Sunrise at the beachfront
Winter sunset from our home.
Tuesday 27th. Run 12k on the beach front. Breakfast with Ron and meet up with Jackie. Licences to be done. Grassroof. Walk Run with Aletheia; Carin; Sally K; Cheryl. Meet Rachel Giddy Due in November with her husband Wes who is a Helicopter Pilot at Port Alfred and part time hunter.
Wednesday 28th. Walking with the Wednesday walkers. Hopewell Nature reserve.
Hopewell sign. On the R102. Turn right if heading west. Short section of tar -- Past the FAW sign. Then 3km of dirt road to the entrance. Pre booking is essential.
Our group today. Myles; Faye; Brenda; Robin; Jenni Gault first time; Andre; Richie; Jan; Jim; Alida; Alida; Peter; Teresa; Liz; Debbie; Aletheia; Pat and Margie; Ian; David and Heather; David and Naomi; Alwyn; Kholeka; Peter;
Thursday 29th July 2021 After dropping my Hospital staff I run from Hobie to the Golf course; back along Summerstrand Beach and then past Hobie beach to Kings beach and finish with a run along the Pier. 10k .... 1.11H Just under 7 minutes a kay. Includes stops to chat to friends along the way. I have a licence to purchase as well as three Total Audits to do. My first time to do these audits. Hopelessly under paid. I wont do that again.
Friday 30th. Run 6k with MH. Vehicle Licences.
Saturday 31st. Hiking at Groendal Fernkloof with about 30 people. Rugby at Peter J with Bobby. We win the game 27 to 9. Best result against a British Lions team in many years.
Follow this sign from the Parking Area. Not an easy trail. Not well marked. Lots of river crossings and we all have wet and muddy feet. 8km or nearly 4 hours.
Peter Giddy's hiking and tours group..... To enjoy the outdoors and to discover and explore places you have never seen or experienced. Meet people and make new friends. I understand that not everyone is at the same level of fitness and ability. So I accommodate everyone by providing hikes to suite the individual. No one is left behind.
SA Guided Tours and Peter Giddy Guided Tours -- Shore Excursions -- Addo Elephant and other Wildlife Reserves -- Garden Route. Flowers of Namaqualand --
0027 (0) 82 55 03 714 Whatsup
peter.giddy@gmail.com
Addo Elephant Park Day Visit and Night drive.
- Kragga Kamma Wildlife Reserve
- Daniel Cheetah Project
- Pumba; Shamwari; Amakhala; Kariega -- Day trips Private Reserves.
- Three day tour of Mountain Zebra Park. Graaff Reinet, Nieu Bethesda and Addo.
- City Historical and Cultural Tours,
- Horse riding for both experienced and inexperienced riders
- Hikes and Walks around Port Elizabeth (2 hour Nature and Coastal walks)
- Garden Route Adventure Tours (Zip Lines; Segway in the Forest; Adventure Quad Biking; Bridge Walks; Bungy Jump; Knysna Elephant Park; Monkey Land and Birds of Eden; Big Cats Sanctuary; Oudtshoorn Cango Caves and Ostrich farms)
- Shore Excursions from Passengers ships
- Transfers. Airport; Hotel and Wildlife Reserve.
- Flowers of Namaqualand. Seven days of adventure and exploring places and sights you never even knew existed. History and natural beauty of the South West of South Africa
- Karoo to Garden Route. Six days of fun and activities. Prince Albert; Swartberg Pass; Die Hell; Oudtshoorn; Prince Alfred pass; Plett and Tsitsikamma.
Website -- petergiddyguidedtours.wordpress.com
For tours and bookings.. email me at. peter.giddy@gmail.com
Contact me on Whatsup.... 0027 82 550 3174
Cathy has a 40th Birthday party at her home in Aukland NZ
Cathy and friends
Margaret Panades in Tarragona East Spain. Evening walks on the beach.
Annabell creates her own clothng
Each one is made on her own sewing machine
Busy with a new idea
And then she puts it together
Each item is unique to her
And a new top is made
Probably need a friend to help tie it up
Probably about 2017. Joshua; Emily; Daniel; Annabell and Tom
Werner is in Cape Town with Christian and Aaron
Tom learns to sail.
Annabell created this dress.
