Peter Giddy Guided Tours
July 2018.
Contact Peter at
peter.giddy@gmail.com
Here Peter points out the interesting facts of the South African Landscape.
- Addo Elephant Park Safari
- Kragga Kamma and other wildlife reserves
- City; Cultural; Historical; Township and Grahamstown tours
- Day or multiple Day tours of the Garden Route; Plettenberg Bay adventures; Tsitsikamma Tours
- Storms River Mouth; Whale watching; Beach and other walks
- Morning hikes around Port Elizabeth -- Forest; Beach; Social hikes of 2-3 hours.
- Transfers -- Airport; Wildlife Reserves; Hotels and other venues
Zara flies to Pretoria to take part in the Nationals of the Rock Climbing Competition.
Jacqui's three children -- Tom; Anabelle and Emily
Barbara takes the book shelves and empties them into a huge pile to be kept and another even greater pile to be donated to the Newton Park Library.
Sunday afternoon. I go for a short run with Andrea and her three children. Abigail 5; Charlotte; 8 and Lucy 10. At Clarendon Park primary.
Abigail gives Charlotte some encouragement on the slide
Ally decides to make Curries for supper.
A bit of this and a bit of that and we have a really top class Curry dinner.
Tuesday 3rd: Andrea and I cycle Grassroof (Yellow Lines) this morning. Earlier I had run 7k with the morning group. Neil; Mike who is now back from the Cayman Islands & Jenna -- also training for Knysna 21
Barbara and I find some bedside Pedestals at a second hand shop.
Wednesday -- Return some unused stuff to CTM; Buy a new lock from Houdini for the kitchen security Gate; Swimming at Newton Park; Fetch boys from Holiday club; Finishing off of the tiling and painting; Wardrobes begin to be fitted; Bathroom now almost complete.
I finish reading two books. Harlan Coben and Daniel Silva.
Herd of buffalo on the Harveys Loop
Elephant up close. Notice the dry grasslands in the background due to prolonged drought
Maria (Swiss) enjoys the Safari -- Elephant and Buffalo in the background. Earlier on we saw lions right next to the road.
Thursday -- Running with Chris; Lindi and Mike. Addo Safari with Maria.
The wardrobes have been completed and I try to repack my stuff. It is going to be a process as I have a huge pile of stuff to dump.
The start of the Knysna Forest Marathon on a Cold Winters morning.
Friday -- I leave with Kevin and Viv for Knysna. I stay over with Lesley and Julian. Saturday morning I run the 21k Forest Trail run.
Sunday -- Easy day at home recovering.
Monday -- Dole stuff; Swim 1500m at Newton Park. Collect head boards; Beds are delivered; Electrician tries to finish off.
Our Dressing Room with the new cupboards
Bathroom with shower and pebbly floor
Hand Basin and cupboard fittings
Bedroom complete with Mom and coffee with dogs
I have just completed reading this Daniel Silva Book
Wednesday 11th. Dole Stuff; Cycle Kings Beach to the Lighthouse with Andrea; Swimming in Newton Park Pool 2000m; New Huawei Phone; Visit to Garth Slatem; Towels and Mugs for Cape Town;
Thursday. Hiking at Blue Horizon Bay with Ally; Shopping for Linen with Barbara and continued work trying to make our house acceptable.
Meanwhile sport across the globe; Kyle Blignaut throws the shotput to Gold; Kevin Anderson beats Federer to move to the Semi Finals at Wimbledon; France will play Croatia in the Finals of the FIFA world cup in Russia and SA opening day vs Sri Lanka in a test.
Hartebees on Vukani Plains
My group for today is Alex and Lucy. Margot and Floro.
Barbara's Bakkie taillight smashed
My Combi Taillight Smashed.
Friday 13th. Had a Four People tour of Addo with Lucy; Alex from UK and Margot and Floro from France. BUT the day ended on a real Friday the 13th when I backed my Combi into Barbara's bakkie and smashed both tail lights. Rain in Addo overnight made the roads a muddy quagmire. Hope that this will put some green onto the plains.
On the road to CT the Canola fields look great. Canola fromCanadian Oil
And as we approach the Hottentots Holland Mountain range we see snow capped mountain tops.
Saturday morning 14th. Barbara and I drive to Cape Town 9 hours from 6am to 3pm with just two stops at Storms river Mouth and Heidelberg where we buy our Milo and a snack. At Nicky's house we are greeted by Jacqui and her children; Emily; Annabelle and Tom. As well as Mia and Chris. Zara and Aaron are in the mountains doing rock climbing. Jacqui makes us a delicious supper of Cottage Pie.
Jacqui's bedroom all smartened up.
Nicky goes out and buys a new dress.
Anabelle at the Heads Lookout
And Emily -- about to be 13 with the Indian Ocean in the background
Nicky adds a bit of colour to her front stoep.
Family at the Knysna Heads. With Emily; Jacqui; Tom; Barbara and Anabelle.
Sunday morning. Up early again. Load the family into the Combi and head back to PE. Stop five times on the road making this a 10.5 hour drive.
Today we saw a number of Elephants including bulls like this one and families with babies
The highlight for me was a family of Meerkat below Zuurkop
Foraging for insects
Nayla and Louise -- Nayla had volunteered at a reserve Samra near to Graaff Reinet and Louise had just spent 4 days in KNP
Monday 16th. Run 4k with Chris around Grey. Addo with Nayla staying at the Edward Hotel and Louise from Lungile. They are both students in France..
Finish off another Harlan Coben book
Bianca. Friend of Isabelle who was on tour of SA in January and who requested Addo and KK tours.
Mother and daughter. Luciana and Anna Carolina at Kragga Kamma
Bianca's mother is Valerie. Brazillians on tour of SA
Kragga Kamma Monkey walk with Luciana; Carolina; Valerie and Selfie Bianca
Friends and Cousins. Anna Carolina and Bianca. Rhino in background
Also Cousins and mothers... Luciana and Valerie.
Tuesday -- Run with Mike; Liesl and Steff. Swim 1500m. Afternoon KKamma Tour with Bianca; Valerie (mother); Anna Carolina and Luciana (mother) -- From Brazil and friends of Isabelle who was here in January 2018. This family is totally spontaneous -- all bookings done at the last minute.
Buffalo on Harveys
Picnic lunch at Jacks. Valerie had a lucky break when she left her phone in the bathroom area and it was handed to Edward who is Jack's caretaker.
Cape Weaver with African Elephant in the background at Domkrag.
Wednesday 18th.
Addo Tour with the Mother and daughters from Brazil. Today we have incredible Elephant sightings in the Domkrag area.
Jacqui takes it easy after lighting the fire for marshmellows
Tom; Annabelle and Emily on board the Stampede next to St Croix Island
Barbara and Jacqui enjoying the Island Cruise
Rod shows everyone how to climb on board.
Emily and Annabelle settling in for the ride
They all congregate on the Trampoline in front.
And off they go for the Ocean Safari adventure
Taegan van Zyl at the world Synchro champs representing South Africa.
Taegan on the podium. This ends a grueling training program which she considers to be complete. Next year in Grade 12 Taegan says she will be concentrating on studies.
Thursday 19th. Start the morning with a 7km run with Jenna & Mike.
Jacqui; Barbara; Ally; Emily; Annabelle and Tom do the Stampede Cruise today. Rod takes them out to the Islands and then to Cape Recife. They see all kinds of sea life including whales; Dolphins; Penguins and Seals. The whole trip is nearly 6 hours at sea.
Meanwhile I swim 2k at Newton Park.
Annabelle is first on the Swing which now has a seat.
Tom just wants to go "Higher please Grandad"
He has a certain flair in his style of swinging.
And the Girls look on, happy to be here.
Jacqui decides that she too wants to try out the swing which has been a hit for so many years.
Emily has a new stylish top which she bought today.
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| Nicky is at home in Cape Town; The Nissan is not running with lights staying on permanently. So she manages to get the car started on her own. Well done Nicky! |
In this picture at Cappelini Coffee shop is Bob Norris; Tammy; Adrienne; Elmarie and Pat.
Tammy insists on a Selfie.
In the group -- Chris; Peter and Gerald.
Friday. 1km swim with Megan who has been missing for some time. This evening Ally goes off to a farm near to Graaff Reinet for a party. Our geyser breaks down so we again have workmen in the house for most of the day. Walking around Grey we pass the park and the now famous swing. I attend a function for Parkrunners.
| Wells Estate parkrun results for event #1. Your time was 00:28:03. |
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| Congratulations on completing your 62nd parkrun and your 1st at Wells Estate parkrun today. You finished in 27th place and were the 23rd male out of a field of 152 parkrunners and you came 1st in your age category VM65- |
Odette and Pat at the start
Tammy and her team do the announcements
152 parkrunners line up at the start. A handful of first timers join the estimated 850 000 South Africans registered to run parkrun nationally. Each Saturday there will be probably in excess of 35 000 parkrunners taking part in an event.
The route is a simple out and back. This morning it is fairly low tide so there is plenty of hard running surface. It will be tougher at high tide. The route back is a promenade from Blue Water Bay to Wells Estate. I know the path well from cycling Tour de Addo.
At the finish with Adrienne in attendance.
Gill Fordyce runs with her Camera and phone. Gill has run something like 280 parkruns.
Pat finishing strongly. Certainly first in her Gender Age Category.
We are at Grey to support Joshua who is playing Framesby this morning.
Daniel with Tom at the rugby field.
Joshua had a great game with his tacking and running with the ball. Here is is binding at left Flank
So this morning I skip the beach front run and go to Wells Estate to support their first Parkrun. It is an out and back -- start with soft sand and then, at low tide, there should be hard sand to run on. Run in an Easterly direction to Bluewater Bay parking lot and then back along the promenade.
Have a 1km swim at Newton Park pool and then Back to Grey to watch Rugby. Joshua plays both 8th man and flank. He wins the best tackling award by far. His team is not able to score in the first half and Framesby are all over them. But in the second half his team scores three tries to their one. A great comeback from Grey.
Saturday afternoon ; Jacqui and her family join Lene; Barbara and I at Rugby. Grey are playing Framesby. I watch game after game where Grey outplays Framesby even the first team match -- Grey lose their Lock -- Dumisani -- to a Red Card and yet continue to score three tries with just 14 players to win the game 39-13.
Josh in Grey Uniform fooling around with Tom
This is the game that really took our attention. By the way there was also a Grey vs Framesby on the main field. In all the matches that were played on Philip (main field) -- Grey won. Not all easily but certainly convincingly
Ally is going to Kelsey Vaughn Birthday party as "Ally G" ... A rapper.
Ally and her friends at the party which is being held at the Angling Club next to the old Yacht Club.
On tour with Bill; Robin from Ohio. Bill is a computer specialist for testing of GoodYear Tyres. Robin has a Hair Salon. Madelaine is doing an internship with a tourism company as part of her studies in Germany.
Lions at Mbala . Gibson showing interest in Josie. Received this information from the Group which is really helpful in locating the various wildlife.
Sunday. I was to run the 21k helpers but received a late night call for a couple who ended up on Addo with me. Also a last minute from Leigh for Madelaine.
Wessel and Elina at Jacks for lunch
Elina and Wessel at the Zuurkop lookout.
Braai Time when I get home with Jacqui and her children playing soccer.
Monday 23rd. Addo Safari with Wessel and Elina from Netherlands doing internship on Animal Management and now taking a break before returning back home to study.
Tom drives as we view animals in Kragga Kamma Wildlife Reserve
Anabelle uses binoculars to see the Giraffe.
We find Cheetah right next to the car
There is a group of Retirees on the deck at Kragga Kamma
I relax while the group enjoys the activities.
Anabelle; Emily and Tom watching the Cheetah being fed
On the Swing Bridge as we explore the Monkey Walk.
This area gives us a bit of a break from sitting in the car and an adventure for the children.
Tuesday morning -- Running with Chris; Liesl; Mike and Adrienne. Then I take Jacqui and her family for a Kragga Kamma wildlife reserve tour.
Finish reading another Daniel Silva book
Andrea and I cycle to Cape Recife
Rock pools at low tide are the best.
This is where you find all kinds of interesting stuff.
Tom has found something -- An anemone looks like
Unfortunately the tide was turning so we did not have long on the beach.
Anabelle explores every possible rock and creature
Robin on the Light House Lookout Ledge.
Wednesday morning. Running with Chris; Mike; Liesl; Neil. Then cycling with Andrea to Cape Recife. Take Jacqui and her family to the Rock Pools and for an Icecream with a flake. I take Robin for a flying City Tour of the Campenile; City Center and Donkin.
Robin simply loved the Zip Lines. It was her first time to try this activity.
Robin found this distressed butterfly near to the Storms River Bridge.
Kevin helped us identify this butterfly as a Common Dotted Border butterfly (Mylothris Aganthina Aganthina)
Looking in a Westerly direction; towards the two suspension bridges and the main camp at Storms River Mouth
We walk across the main suspension bridge to the beach on the other side where Robin has fun in the water.
Blood Moon or total eclipse of the moon.
Thursday. Running with Chris; Mike and John. We do a slightly longer run this morning of just over 8km. I have a Garden Route / Tsitsikamma tour with Robin this morning.
We walk across to Grey and the Farmers Market.
Friday 27th. Swimming with Megan. I swim 1500m while Megan goes on to 2000m. I have a day at home; only interrupted by a walk to the Grey Farmers Market and then finish reading another Daniel Silva Book. Chinese for supper and an eclipse of the moon this evening.
Josh plays Grey Bloem on the Pollock Field.
First Teams -- Grey vs Grey Bloem. Looks like they are expecting a lot of injuries with four backboards on standby.
Joshua; Daniel; Jessica; Anabelle; Tom and Emily -- Six cousins -- Celebrating Jess' Matric Farewell.
Saturday 28th. Running 8km with Chris; Lindi; Adrienne and Viv. Rugby at Grey with Jacqui and Lene and families. Josh plays 8th man but is hurt and spends time on the side. He later returns to the game which Grey Bloem win by 70-0. Later I watch the more senior games and the results are the same with the first team losing 63-8. Still a good afternoon of schoolboy rugby. This evening I put on a Braai. We go to Alex to see Jessica arriving for her Matric Farewell Dance. A bit of chaos as the cars jam up trying to get to the front of the school and there is a lot of excitement and fooling around with the cars.
Sunday ... City Tour with Lebohang Nkosi. Radisson Hotel. NMBT Pass.
Barbara at Robin's Horse Zoo farm ... A horse that was destined to be put down. Barbara is in the process of rescuing the horse and then try to find a home for it.
Monday. Take the Combi in for repairs to the Tail Light that I damaged.
Lene Birthday. 40. Pizza for supper with the whole family.
Tuesday 31st. Running 8km with Chris; Mike; Adrienne; Kelly and Andrea. And meet up with Kate and Brendan. Swim 1500m.
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