NOVEMBER 2009.
THIS MONTH
ALLY GALA IN OUDTSHOORN
NIPPERS PLETT CARNIVAL
INCOME TAX GETS DONE
WILLOWS 10KAY MARSHALLING
TRIP TO JOHANNESBURG TO FETCH THE MERCEDES
BAFANA BAFANA PLAY JAPAN IN PE STADIUM
BRENDA GOES FLY FISHING IN CANADA: AIRPORT EXPERIENCE AND RESPONSE.
JACQUI ZIVOR ABOUT TO MOVE TO ISRAEL AFTER A HOLIDAY IN RSA.
MICHAEL GOES TO HOLLAND TO COLLECT IAN'S BICYCLE.
WILDCLIFF TRIP WITH FRED KOHLER.
CATHY FIXES UP THE MONTREUX FLAT AND PUTS A TENANT IN.
BARBARA HAS A MISS PIGGY STAYING WITH US
ALLY AND PETER DO THE ENERGADE TRIATHLON.
PAULA REPORT ON WILDCLIFF
The month started off with the Plett Nippers Carnival. And Ally had a Gala in Oudtshoorn. Her team won a Gold and SIlver medals for two events. One she swam freestyle and another she swam Butterfly.
I had a full week travelling through the Transkei to Lusikisiki, Flagstaff, Bizana and Mount Frere. It may not sound like much but these are such interesting places and the staff too are interesting. While I dislike being away from home, I try to make the most of these trips.
The following weekend the poor weather that we were to experience over the next two weeks, began. THis was not my excuse but on SUnday morning I realised that I had just one week left to submit my income tax forms. SO I sat down and got stuck into doing the neccessary efiling. I also tried to do Barbara's income tax but did not succeed and finally had to use a consultant Leon Gerber who did her tax last year. I have never met him and neither paid him.
Saturday morning: I met up with Adrienne and a small group at 05.30 at Hobie beach and we did the 10kay circuit. From there I drove to WIllows where I assisted with Marshalling at the WIldside 10kay. THis afternoon I went to watch Bafana Bafana SA soccer team playing against Japan at our new NM stadium. This was my second visit to the stadium but my first experience to watch the National Soccer team that has been playing so badly recently. THe game was slow and defensive in the first half but in the second half Bafana became more agressive and tried to score a goal. Japan were all over the place and very aggressive. Unfortunately neither team scored a goal and it ended up a draw. I had gone with three men from work. Elby, Mumbulelo and Vukile. A good experience.
Monday morning I flew to Jhb for a meeting. After the meeting I took the Mercedes Benz which had 166 000kays and drove back home to PE. I left at around 3pm. It was a long afternoon and I managed to drive for 650kays to Colesberg at 21.30. Crossing the Vaal RIver driving right through the Free State and across the Orange RIver.
Here I found a B & B (La Provence) which Barbara had prebooked for me. The next morning, after I realised that there was not water in the taps,I brushed my teeth with a dry brush and pressed on at about 04.30am. My next stop was Cradock where I was able to buy coffee and use the bathroom. i had driven the 1090kays from Jhb in around 10.30 hours. I arrived in PE at about 08.30am, had a shower and spent a busy day at work as we had a FSAM meeting in East London the following day. I was fortunate to have the Tom Tom GPRS to assist me with directions. Especially leaving Jhb.
Thursday morning I finally had a bit of normality as I met the MPRG for a run to Walmer and back. Good to be home.
Hi Barbara
I have been on line to get the new price list for various wines. The "effe soet" Colombard - slightly sweet is the one Dawn and I drank.... I suppose this is what they call semi-sweet. Any way this is R270 a case and then there is a transportation charge which last year was R60 per case. at the present time this is the unknown cost.
I would have liked to buy the Cabernet Sauvignon.... I know Peter has had some of this .... and it was very good. Ask him if he would like to share a case with me.
I shall send the wine list in a separate e-mail.
BRENDA GOES FLY FISHING IN CANADA:
NASTY AND NEGATIVE AIRPORT SECURITY.
here is the account of my travails at the hands of the security personnel in Canada. The last paragraph was suplied by Dawn and just as well as I would have been total negative and nasty.
Brenda
I am a retired 67 year old woman with white hair and a passion for fly fishing. I have spent a glorious three weeks with friends fishing, touring and viewing the wonderful natural beauty of areas relatively close to Calgary, such as fishing the Bow, Oldman's River and Livingstone Falls.
Last night when I was supposed to fly out of Calgary the gilt was taken off the ginger bread.
I was one of the first people through the boarding gate. Initially the security people after going through my hand luggage said it was illegal for me to carry fishing flies in my hand luggage and thus on to the plane. What followed can only be described as a comedy of errors:
First I was told that I could retrace my steps and go and submit the small packet of flies to Air Canada for shipping separately... which I did only to find all the counters closed and no-one there.... in fact the International side of the airport was closed; so I went back to the security area and then I was told that I could mail them to myself if I filled in a postage form.
This I started to do only to find that I could not pay for the postage with cash and anyway the postage counter was now closed. At this point I was seriously concerned about missing my plane and two connections back to my home in South Africa, so I abandoned the flies to the devices of the security crew, and tried to move through to catch my flight, but no this was not to be.
My luggage was again subjected to a second screening and physical search by a young man named Leon who then turned his back on me for several minutes. Eventually he turned back and said "Oh, you can go". This person has serious issues with megalomania.
By this time I was almost running down the passage to get to my plane - when, guess what, I was called back and my luggage was again subjected to an open case search by Leon apparently on instructions from "upstairs", whereupon he found some more flies!
Why didn't he make a good job of it the first time around? I was repeatedly told that I should have consulted the on-line regulations, which I have since done without gaining any clarity. I was then subjected to a second full body search in front of the ten or so security personnel who had collected for the show..... by that time my plane was on the runway and about to depart.
At this point several Air Canada personnel appeared to find out what was going on, and I learned I had been given the run-around for forty-five minutes. In fact my first words to the senior Air Canada official were "I have been harassed". Once he took over some semblance of normalcy returned and he and a magician named Wade were able to book me on a flight the following day (today) which would connect through to my home area.
This unpleasant incident has left me with two questions:
Firstly, with the large number of anglers arriving in Calgary every year to fish the Bow River, shouldn't there be some clear indication that trout flies (most of which measure 2 to 3 mm across the gape, and are covered with feathers, beads etc.) are not permissible in hand luggage, and,
secondly, would it not be possible to provide security staff with some training in public relations.
ND HERE IS THE RESPONSE FROM CANADIAN FLY FISHERMEN
The most incredible thing has happened. On Tuesday I had a cancellation of a school visit (teacher sick), and I was at home attending to all sorts of odds and ends, when the post office van arrived with a parcel for me.
I read on the parcel that it had come all the way from a shop caled Fish Tales in Calgary that we had patronised for flyfishing equipment, and to find and hire a guide.
Anyway I opened it there were six boxes of fishing flies with a minimum of 50 flies in each box, and a message to say they had heard about my"situation" at the airport and the flies had been collected with the hope that "this gesture helps ease the harsh memories you might have about our airport".
When I went on line to thank them this is the response that I got.
That collection of flies is from many different people from the fly fishing community from Alberta and British Columbia. Someone had seen an article on the internet about your experience and posted onto the forum and it went from there. We offered to do the collecting and shipping since you were in the shop several times and had fished with Terry.
I would like to be able to post a note from you on the local internet form that organized this. So if you could send me something that I could put on that site that would be great. Let us know which flies work.
Incredible isn't it!
Brenda
19.11.2009.
JACQUI IS IN HER LAST TWO MONTHS OF LONDON BEFORE A RSA VISIT AND A MOVE TO ISRAEL.
Hi Everyone,
The weekend is on its way!!! Yippi! Michael is off to Amsterdam this
weekend to fetch Ian's bike. Funny story really. Michael's friend is
coming from Israel and then they are flying to Germany to meet up with
another friend. They are then all driving to Amsterdam to fetch the
bike of my dearly departed uncle...not really knowing what they are
going to find, may be a gem, but probably a clapped out junk of
wheels?? :) Doesn't really matter, people of done stranger things for
stranger reasons. Anyway, so I will be home with my girls, finishing
up some final shopping, packing, saying some goodbyes. The count down
really begins, 2 weeks. Can't wait to get moving, very itchy itchy
feet.
Hope you all have a good weekend.
have a look at my blog if you want some more of my babbling on.....and
on......and on......
www.zivor.wordpress.com
lots of love
Jacs
Jacqui and Ally are on Skype and type out this message:
Jacqui askes Ally:
hmmm, sorry, typing with annabell on me...what i was trying to say is: any news for me?
Ally Responds:
haha ammmmmm we got a pig, josh has lost 2 teeth, daniel is just daniel, jessica likes 3 boys, i am full of joy and awesomness, mom is nervous for the Christmas play, michael went for an entaview, lene is at work and ya dad is giddy
Jacqui replies:
hehehehehe you are hilarious
This week Cathy has been trying to get the Cape Town Montreux flat sorted out: The previous tenant left a number of months ago and we have not been able to put a new tenant into the flat until some work was done on painting and fixing the bathroom. Cathy has been hard at work only to discover that there is no electricity in the flat. Stefan had to go to the Civic Centre where he spent an hour before finally completing all of the forms.
Later in the day the electricity man phned me to say that there was no one there to open for him. It turns out that the lady with the key only works to midday. The following day she was also not there as it was a Muslin Holiday. Cathy had workmen who were not able to compelete the work with no electricity and only on Saturday did she finally get the power switched on. Cathy is so busy at work. She has recently received a promotion and can hardly afford this kind of worry. Added to this Cathy and Saul have bought a house which they are trying to finalise and get all of the paper work and expenses sorted out.
Friday 20th November 2009.
We had a Wildcliff trip planned for this weekend. Ally had decided to stay at home. On the Friday evening she had a Guild Function with her friends and stayed over with Amber. I wanted to take the Toyota to Cape Town for Jacqui to use when they arrive next month. Fred Kohler would drive it down. We left PE at a leisurely pace at around 2.30pm with Fred following in the Toyota a little while later. We drove straight through and arrived in Heidelberg at about 20.30. Nicci and their friends Marius, Melanie and two children were already settled in. They had a fire going and had a braai for supper.
Saturday morning 21st. Fred, Stefan and I left at about 6 for a run. We ran to the main Wildcliff gate and then turned left. We jogged down to the bridge and up the other side. This is Kallie Engelbrecht's farm. He farms cattle and we saw some cows being moved around. Just then Kallie drove past and I was able to meet him for the first time. He complained about the Working for Water people and how they worked. While it is still quite dry in this area there has been some rain and the streams were flowing. We jogged up to where the T junction of the start of the Gysmanshoek pass is and then turned back. We tried a turn off that looked like it would lead us back to WC but had to turn around. When we got back to Kallies farm we cut across his fields and up along the Eskom line back to the Fynbos road of WC. we then went on a little to the Rain Frog dam where we had a cooling off swim before heading home again.
I was expecting a visit from the Overberg Water people who represent WFW in Heidelberg. Zanay and a colleague came to visit and it turned out that Zanay is a school friend of Stefan's. Keith, Zanay and I had a long conversation regarding the effectiveness of the work that has been done. Zanay tried to explain the way that they were supposed to operate with certain sections of land having been cleared three times before they finally hand over to the land owner. While I was not satisfied with their answers it appears that they are a whole lot more effective than the previous people who were there (Davie and his successor who only lasted a short while).
These two ladies say that they walk the area's before they start and before they sign an area off. The meeting ended up with us signing off a section of the reserve that they will work to finally clear. We will have to see how effective the work is and the results. One of the things that is really of concern is the fire hazzard but Zanay says that we cannot consider burning until winter - June or July. We will have to clear a fire break, buldoze a section and then get professional fire fighters to come and do the work.
Later this morning the whole gang of us went up to rain frog dam where Fred, Stefan and I tried out the Tree Poppers that we had bought. There were a number of stumps and saplings that had not been cleared and it is a really satisfying activity to clear these invasives out. Pullling a whole stump or sapling roots and all! Its a tiring activity and a swim later was quite welcome.
This evening Paula and Keith joined us for one of Stefan's famous potjie suppers. We ate quite late and flopped into bed with everyone quite exhausted. Sunday morning I woke up stiff and sore from the previous day's run and excersize. Fred seemed to be fit and headed up the Fynbos Road for a run. He ran all the way up to Barafu in 30 minutes and back down in 25 minutes.
After a slwo start to the day we took the Bushpig and drove up to Barafu. THe ride at the back of the vehicle is very bumpy. THe children do not seem to mind but it is quite uncomfortable for an adult. We walked around the area for a short while and then headed back with Stefan jogging behind us.
Back home we packed up and left at about Midday. Barbara had her Miss Piggy with us and she likes to stop for regular breaks. We bought ourselves a Sweet potato muffin at the Tsitsikamma shop where the mother and daughter owners were quite taken with our Yorkie and Porkie. Throughout our drive to WC and back, whenever we stopped the Piggy would draw attention as people would wonder if this animal on a leash was a dog or a pig? We made good time and were home by about 17.00.
Monday morning I was still too stiff to go jogging with the MPRG but the rest of the week I ran each morning. Saturday morning I collected Pat and Adrienne and we drove down to Hobie beach where we met Annie, Adrian, Suzanne, Susan, Jacqui, Mike dean and his daughter Debbie who is back from CT University where she has completed her Honours in Property Management and has now signed up for a three year Law Degree doing the first two years in one year.
We did the 10 kay circuit up Walmer Boulevard, Strandfontein Road and second ave. Adrienne and Pat did the full route down Admiralty. I wanted to swim as this would be my second swim in training for the Energade Triathlon on Sunday. The water was cold to get in but the body adapts quite quickly and I had a good, if leisurely, swim. Jonti and Jessica Daniels had Paddle Ski's and did a paddle around the Bird Rock. Looks so good to see a Father and Daughter doing this together.
After our run and swim I spent the morning at Work and then in the afternoon Ally and I cycled down to Summerstrand to register for the Triathlon. Unfortunately the SMS that we had received to say that registration would be at 14.00 was incorrect and registration was only at 16.00. Barbara had driven down and we loaded the bikes into the bakkie and drove home. I took the old bakkie to the tip to clear out some of the rubble and bushes that Barbara and her gardener, Kevin had cut. Michael was having a Braai with some of his friends: David, Chris Wilkie, Alta and Brian James.
The Springboks were playing rugby at Dublin in Ireland. It must have been freezing cold there with a mist covering the field. We did not play well despite an early try by Bryan Habana we lost the game mainly due to an inability to convert penalties while the Irish had an excellent young kicker who converted almost everything that he was given. This has been a most unsatisfactory tour by the springboks with losses to two league teams, the French and the Irish and a consolation win over the Italians who are coached by Nick Mallet.
Later Ally, Barbara and I registered for the Triathlon. It was not a pleasant afternoon as Ally was concerned that she would not be competing in the age group allowed to her. There are some age group events but Barbara likened them to Iron Kids at the Ironman event. Short events that would not do justice to Ally's ability.
ENERGADE TRIATHLON
Sunday morning: I think that both Ally and I were nervous for this event. It is a long time since I last did a Triathlon and it would be Ally's first attempt. We loaded up into Barbara's Opel Corsa Bakkie. Triathlon is a fussy sport and you have to remember a host of things. Helmets, gloves, water bottle, bathing Cap Running shoes, Goggles and of course the Bikes must have tyres pumped and be serviced to go.
I must have been really nervous as I ws feeling quite car sick by the time we arrived at Summerstrand. Gerald, Pat and Ronel were there. Hannes, Jacqui and Calvin were doing a team event as was Jonti's children Ashleigh and Jessie together with Jamie Engelke and Amber Zeelie. Ally and I had our numbers kokied onto our legs and then registered our bikes into transition.
The Kiddies triathlon was in progress. I am so glad that Ally was not part of this as it would have been "childs Play" for her. We did not see the swim but we heard that the children had not really had a swim at all. They had basically run through the water.
I asked around and Rob Ermes had a spare pair of Goggles which he was prepared to lend to me. I was really grateful as the sea looked quite rough with the East Wind blowing. The Girls event started 10 Minutes before the men. Ally had a good start. Nippers has certainly built a huge amount of confidence for her in the sea. As we stood waiting for the mens start we could clearly see Ally with a bright green cap.
As our race started I could see Ally was in the front group of the girls and she was just finishing the sea swim as I was starting. The surf was reasonably large. There was a rip pulling from East to West and the first buoy had moved considerably off course for the girls and had to be pulled back for the mens event. I felt really sorry for the back markers of the girls as they would have had to swim an extra 50 meters or so and would have been fighting to catch a moving buoy.
I had decided to take it easy. I am not a strong swimmer but was confident that I could do the swim if I did it in my own time. I thought that I was last but heard later that there were one or two men behind me. (I am not so sure about that) The team event had started 5 minutes behind us and before I rounded the first Buoy I was already overtaken by most of the team swimmers.
I am not good at my directions when I swim and found my self heading out to sea a couple of times. Finally I rounded the second buoy and the last section was quite easy with big swells pushing us in. Strangely enough the one of the toughest parts of the swim was exitting the water. There was a strong current that prevented us from running out and there were rocks in the sea that had been exposed after days of East Winds.
Into transition and finding my bike was one of the very few left. Snapped on my helmet, fitted the gloves and put the running shoes on that I would use on the mountain bike as well as for the run. You have to push the bike out of transition and then off I cycled. If I am bad at swimming, I think that I am even worse at cycling and I had hardly climbed on the bike when the first cyclist passed me. I saw Jonti walking back. Jessie had had a puncture and he had given her his bike to finish the event. I passed Ashleigh and Jessie Daniels and only one other person. The people who had been in the water with me passed me despite my best efforts to stay ahead.
I saw Ally heading in the opposite direction. I shouted that I would catch her but in fact doubted that I would be able to catch her on the Bike as I was already Bum Sore and tired. We turned and headed back into an East head wind. This lasted all the way to the University back entrance. Finally the last three kays was with the wind and I could pick up some speed. Still the few remaining people in the event seemed to pass me. I saw the runners all on their way home while I still had to complete the cycle and then start the run.
Just as I was about to finish I saw this man who I has seen all along on the swim and then who had passed me on the bike section have an accident with a car just as he was about to enter the transition area. I was not able to see the extent of his injury but it did not look good. This high lites that this event deserves ROAD Closure for the cycle section. Motorists did not behave well. I saw a number of motorists speeding and misbehaving generally.
Barbara was standing at the entrance and shouted that Ally had a fall and cut her leg. She was out of the run section and had cycled the back ten kay with a sore leg and a broken brake. I racked the bike and headed off to do the final leg of the triathlon: the five kay run. My legs felt all wobbly. I could not seem to get going. Jacqui passed me as she was finishing, Ronel was also finished her event. Rob Ermes finishing stronly. And I still had to do the full five kays with wobbly legs. But as I reached the two kay mark I started to establish a rythm and was able to pass a few chaps on the last few kays. Keith Reading, an ex Achillean was battling with the run and I was able to beat him in the dying stages. The Daniel and Zeelie teams were just behind me and finished strongly.
Ally had pulled out of the run but I am still proud of her attempts and the fact that her swim was so strong and that she had completed her first ever 20kay cycle. Jacqui Zeelie collected a prize for her team. Ally was happily sitting with her friends and I walked down to Nippers. Varrin had the U14's doing sprints and flags. I joined him for a short while. Ally and Barbara bought burgers and we loaded the bikes back into the bakkie. They went home and I stayed to help with Nippers clean up. Rob Mitchley gave me a lift home.
PAULA PEBSWORTH REPORT FROM WILDCLIFF
Hello All,
It was a short week for us as Thursday and Friday were spent in Mossel Bay for Keith's shoulder surgery. I think he filled you in, but just in case you didn't hear his news. He tore his rotator cuff some years ago and finally had to do something about it. The surgeon reattached the muscle with anchors to the bone. It will take about a month for it to heal. For some time, however, he'll have to be careful about lifting anything.
Additionally, a female juvenile from the big troop was electrocuted on the high voltage wires outside Talari (near the eucalyptus trees) on Monday morning. She died instantly, but was stuck in the wires. We called Eskom right away to come and take her down - it is considered a fire hazard. They didn't come on Monday. We called again on Tuesday - still no one by 2pm so I asked Peter to place a call for us. They were out by 4pm and after blowing the fuse, finally had her down by 5pm. Thanks again Peter - you are my hero! Needless to say, it was a sad time for me and the kids. We buried her below Xairu under the oak trees. I plan to wrap some barbed wire around the pole - perhaps this will prevent it from happening again.
The baboons were over near Nick's yesterday and have been a bit difficult to follow. It has also been quite warm this week and they have been swimming and hanging out at the kaoline mine and the Plattekloof. While I was at the KM I photographed a lovely female bushbuck, who seemed naive to humans. She was gorgeous and stood staring at me for the longest time.
The collaring project is on target. The baboons are readily coming into the trap for corn, raisins & an energy block. The challenge is getting the males out and females in. My mom is hand carrying the collar from the states and will arrive on December 3rd. I hope to have a female collared in December, but have a lot of people's schedules to work around as well as the holidays.
We celebrated Thanksgiving yesterday and were happy to introduce Marlei to a coveted American tradition. We have much to be thankful for - thanks again for the opportunity to live on Wildcliff & conduct research here! Attached are my favorite photos for the week.
Much love,
Paula
Showing posts with label wildcliff. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wildcliff. Show all posts
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
SEPTEMBER 2009
September 2009 in the Giddy Family.
THIS MONTH
BARBARA'S THOUGHTS
PETER WHATLEY (AN ACHILLES RUNNING FRIEND) IN DOHA
START OF NIPPERS SEASON
MIKE DE KONING (MICHAEL AND JACQUI ZIVOR'S FRIEND) DIES.
SUE MAXTON (BARBARA'S COUSIN) DIES IN DURBAN
ALLY GRADE SIX WEEK IN THE OUTDOORS
MPRG STARTS THE BEACH, WALMER BOULEVARD, STRANDFONTEIN RUN
ALLY SCHOOL (CLARENDON PARK) SPRING WALK
SPRINGBOKS ARE NOW TRI-NATIONS AND WORLD CHAMPIONS
VISIT TO KEITH BRAATVEDT IN JHB AND SWIM WITH KEITH
THE MAZDA BAKKIE IS BACK AT OUR HOUSE AND IN RUNNING ORDER
NICCI VISITS US IN PE AND WE ALL GO TO ALICE IN WONDERLAND WHERE ALLY IS THE WHITE RABBIT.
ALLY FIRST TEAM HOCKEY, YEAR END BRAAI AT SUMMERSTRAND
ROGER GUSH IS VERY ILL WITH CANCER AND DIES AT THE END OF SEPTEMBER.
TRIP TO WILDCLIFF WITH CHARLES, INGRID AND NICCI'S FAMILY FROM CT.
WATERBLOMMETJIES IN THE POTJIE AT WILDCLIFF
BARBARA AND ALLY HAVE AN UNSUCCESSFUL TRIP TO CAPE TOWN FOR A GALA.
BARBARA WAS REMINISCING ABOUT THE TIMES WE HAVE HAD TOGETHER AS A FAMILY.
Barbara wrote this as a memory lane walk:
I can remember daddy and I being blown away with our four children. Not being wealthy but definitely rich as a family. We hardly went anywhere on our own, rather choosing entertainment that included all of us. (Except maybe for Round Table, but even then you kids were dragged along many times). I can remember visiting Aunty Gail and all you children putting on shows for us.
I can remember laughing a lot. I can remember all our Christmases. I can remember travelling all squashed up in the little car to various places...the farm in Durban, Barclay East, East London, Cape Town etc etc.
I can also remember getting hot bothered and frustrated in the car and daddy and I blowing a fuse and you kids getting noisy and irritable. But I can also remember daddy entertaining you for kilometers on end telling you the story of how salt was made. Singing Ag Pleez Daddy, A Frog Went a Courting (how rude you kids thought) and lots of other songs.
I can remember Sunday morning when daddy still used to have to mow the lawn and you kids in the pool and on the jumpoline and then collecting twigs for a braai for lunch. I can remember watching TV in winter and eating chips and thin sausages. I can remember your horse riding camps and scraping together some money so that you kids could have your own horses.
I can remember daddy and I really trying to provide you with what you wanted. I can remember going to granny and grandad and the four of you sitting on a blanket in the kitchen and having your supper. Or a braai and swim in the back yard. (Gran had a thing about keeping old margarine tubs and using them for plates, very weird but effective).
I can remember how your bedroom used to have wool and string stretched between the beds for some obstacle course you were building and not wanting to break it and spoil your game, so having to creep under it.
I can remember singing you children to sleep every single night and then tucking each of you in individually. You Jax always wanted me to lie on top of you when I said goodnight. Liked the weight. Michael loved Soldier Boy and Sailor (he now sings them to his boys). I can remember so so much more. Happy days, sad days, angry days.....normal family days.
Love you
HERE IS A LETTER FROM PETER WHATLEY IN DOHA. VERY INTERESTING FOR ME TO READ.
Doha Diaries 8 September 2009
It seems just yesterday that I was sitting down an jotting down thoughts in the Doha Diaries. It’s been nearly a month. and a fair bit has happened during this time.
The most noticeable event is that both Justin and Nicole are now at school, leaving Lise to be a lady of leisure in the mornings. She sleeps until 9h00. At this stage she has to get up because 3 days a week the apartment gets cleaned and she wouldn’t feel too comfortable in her sleeping attire when the 3 you Filipino’s come to clean. You never know the gender of the cleaning team, but of late it has been predominantly male.
The school day starts very much the way it started in SA with me getting up at 5h30 to wake Justin and Nicole. Nicole needs to be ready by 6h40 and Justin by 7h10 as their transport arrives at these times. Nicole travels to school in a mini bus taxi ( I thought that I had got away from them). The vehicle is air conditioned and each of the occupants is insured. This is a door to door service so it is rather convenient, albeit a bit on the expensive side (costs QR1100 per month). Justin has a slightly later pick up as he has a personal driver that is shared with two school friends. This at a far lower cost of QR500 pm. These pick up times will all change in about 3 weeks time once Ramadan and Eid are over as schools will be opening at their normal times of 7h00 (Justin) and 7h15 (Nicole)
They each seem to have settled in at school. Nicole spent last Friday with a friend from Singapore and Justin has befriended a number of Canadians and they all went out on Thursday evening. Justin was due to catch a taxi back to our apartment but it was so busy that there was a 1 ½ hour wait so he decided to walk home (at midnight). It’s only a 10 minute walk and is quite safe. Even Nicole could do this an come to no harm. I believe that Lise stayed up until he got home. The difference is that I have been here for 4 months and know that it’s safe whilst she is still coming to terms with the lifestyle change.
Justin’s whole school has fewer children than Grade 11 at Grey and his whole grade comprises of 20 students. Class sizes are 10-12. Nicole’s school is a little bigger and her grade has 41 students split into two classes with no further admissions unless someone is leaving. The focus over here is on small class sizes.
Nicole came home from school and asked if she could go on a school organized skiing trip to Switzerland. I don’t know anything further as I am awaiting some information from the organizing teacher. I would Imagine that it would be towards the end of December when she is on holiday.
We are quite spoilt in SA when it comes to buying school uniforms, although, by comparison, we pay too much in SA. The only outlet in Doha that supplies uniforms is a place call Zaks Outfitters and it is fast becoming the most hated place in Doha for the Whatley’s. I eventually resorted to having Justin’s uniform made by a tailor. Zaks is located on the busiest street in Doha and phoning ahead to find out whether or not they have the stock is a waste of time as they never answer the phone. To date I have to make 4 separate trips and do still not have everything as they are the only suppliers of lab coats for Justin and Nicole’s schools.
In some areas our children are ahead but in others they are behind, particularly in Mathematics. Justin spent nearly a month tutoring Nicole to bring her up to speed as she had not covered about 2/3 rds of what she was expected to have done. Some of this would have been done during the 3rd and 4th terms in SA. They both have to study a foreign language and are doing French. Justin will have to do 3 years in 2 so this will be a tough ask. On the other hand, his ICT and IT is well in advance of his peers
When a foreign child goes to strange shores, they are always taught the choice words first. An Egyptian at Justin’s school recently returned from an athletics training camp in SA and was choice Afrikaans comments at his classmates. Thinking that Justin was from the UK, he let off a barrage, only to be politely told “ek sal jou bliksem”. Needless to say, the language was not repeated.
We are in the middle of Ramadan at the moment and it is quite an experience over here. We have a 5 hour work day( 8h30-13h30), but most of the expats tend to get in earlier and leave later. Maybe it’s a work ethic thing. During the day it is relatively quiet but once the sun sets, you don’t really want to be on the road. The local appear and is seems as if the evening degenerate into one big food fest that carries on until the early hours. A short sleep, some more food, a bit more sleep and then off to work. Back from work and sleep until sunset. The body clocks must be completely broken by now.
I decided to try the fast for a day and I must say, I did not find it particularly hard. Not eating is quite easy, but you do tend to get thirsty. I went to an Iftar dinner last week at an Iranian restaurant. The food was superb.
This weekend I will be venturing into the desert for the first time. I will be travelling with some colleagues to the Inland Sea so I will be able to test the off road ability of my car. I believe it takes about an hour to cover the 26km to the Inland Sea once you leave the tarred roads. One colleague is known as GPS, another is SOS (he is always towing people out of the sand) so I suppose I will be called NoviS. It will only be short trip as it is still quite hot out there. Thankfully the temperatures are dropping with day time temperatures hovering at around 40 and at night they are dropping to the high 20’s. A month ago they were in the mid 40’s dropping to the low 30’s. Humidity is still extremely high and if you step outside wearing glasses, they instantly mist up. We have about another 3 weeks of the really hot and humid weather and then things moderate significantly.
If you are a person that really likes performance or luxury vehicles, this is the place to be. In SA you might see a few in JHB or Cape Town and us plebs in PE may see the occasional Porsche or Mercedes AMG. During the past week, between Justin and me, we have seen the following vehicles:
Bugatti Veyron x2(R13 mill)
Ferrari
Lambourghini Galardo
Maserati
Bentley x 3
Rools Royce
Ford GT
Nissan XR
Porsche GT3
Mitsibishi EVO
Viper
Aston Martin DB9
I have not bothered with the Mercedes, BMW,Jaguar, Porsche Cayman, or Porsche Cayenne as these are common place. It is really unbelievable to see how much is spent on cars over here.
On that note with me thinking of my dream car (Aston Martin DB9), it’s time to say good bye for now.
Peter Whatley from Doha.
Today is Sunday 13th and I am halfway into September and this is the first Blog of the month. Not like me!
Saturday 5th:
This morning we did a Moffat Run. THere was a nice big group of us. Susan, Jacqui and Brenda met us half way up River Road and they turned back at Walmer Park with Mike Dean. A little later this morning we watched our Springbok Rugby team being beaten by the Aussies in Brisbane.
Last Sunday was our first Nippers of the season. Deon had a whole lot of media coverage and we had a good turnout. We offered free hot dogs and ice creams. Deon started the morning with a talk to the Nippers and Parents.
Here is my report email:
For those who were at Summerstrand this weekend: we had the most awesome morning. There were about 80 Nippers on the beach on Sunday. We had a whole bunch of first timers and to each one of you we are really happy to have you join Summerstrand Nippers.
Conditions
The wind was blowing from the West and this helped to make the waves perfect for swimming and boarding; even if they came through in huge sets.
Clothing and uniform: We apologise if you wanted to purchase new clothing but we are just now in the process of setting up a sponsorship agreement and want to have all the clothing branded before we hand out or sell any outfits.
New parents: Deon started the morning with a talk to both parents and Nippers alike. We tried to give new parents an idea of what Nippers is about and how they can be part of this great family activity.
Activities:
We began with some games and then Flags and Water activities. We were all pleasantly surprised at how warm the water was. I heard one Nipper decline the offer of a wetsuite as he would be too hot.
The U10's had a great time learning to enjoy the surf. THe U12's did some good swimming and body board exersizes and the U14's took malibu boards out and the really brave ones enjoyed the power of the waves and surf.
Juniors:
We had a good contingent of Juniors assisting. These are last year's U14's who have now moved up. They assisted with both the coaching and with the hot dogs. Thanks to all of you.
Coaches: we had Deon, Hannes, Lyn, Varrin, Andrew, Bruce, Shareen, Donald, John and some others all providing coaching to the Nippers. We encourage all Mom's and Dad's to become part of Nippers in some way. We are all volunteers and no one is an expert.
Level Tests: please remember that we need a copy of the Nippers ID book or Birth Certificate if you are a first timer. And if you are a first timer or you are moving up to a new age group then we need a letter from your swim coach or other suitable person to confirm that you have swum the following times:
Under 10’s have to swim 300 meters in 8 minutes
Under 12’s have to swim 400 Meters in 10 Minutes and
Under 14’s have to swim 400 Meters in 9 minutes.
Peter
7.09.2009.
082 550 3174
I traveled this week to Queenstown, Aliwal North and Sterkspruit. Stayed over the first night in Umtali in Aliwal and the second was at a Farm B & B 60kays other side of Queenstown. Interesting but neither night was what I was hoping for.
Ally was on her outdoor adventure camp this week. She left on Wednesday morning for Kirkwood where they had all kinds of adventure activities including Foofie Sliding into the river, building a canon?, Mud baths, making their own Pootjie Kos pot. They also visited the Cheeta Breeding program that we had visited last Sunday. Ally was quite pleased that she had been there and could be a "Guide". As I arrived back in PE I drove straight to her school where I collected her. As though she had not had enough she went to Jive this evening.
Saturday morning 12th September:
There had been a number of calls and SMS's about this morning's run. I had decided to run down to Hobie beach where I would meet Adrienne and run for an hour. The MPRG decided to run up to Walmer Park and back down Villiers Road before turning back home. When I got down to the beach I met up with Dion Mc Connel who was going for a Marine Drive Cycle. Susan, Adrienne, Brenda and Caroline were in our group. Brenda is a friend of Jacqui Zeelie who also ran with us last weekend and Caroline I met this morning. She was waiting for Nicky and Robyn but they were not there and she decided to run with us.
We had a stunning run up Walmer Boulevard, along Strandfontein and back down 2nd ave. Some of the group went on to run Admiralty but Susan, Caroline and I had to be back for Ally's Spring walk.
The Spring Walk was a really festive event. There were hundreds of parents and children. We all had a nice easy stroll down Church Road, bottle neck over the foot bridge over 6th ave. Then along 5th ave and down Villiers Road to the top of Settlers park. There is a watering and sweets table for refreshments and then a really nice walk in the park.
Another Bottleneck as we cross the stream. Barbara and I took our shoes off and made our way up back to the top and back to the school grounds. The Springboks were playing the All Blacks on the North Island and this was a bit of a distraction but the main event was still in play and the children were having a great time running around the field.
The school had arranged for Ice Creams donated by Bushy Park Diaries, pop corn and juice. Then there is the traditional handing out of chocolates. What happens is that the children are asked to bring a chocolate to school and then their tickets are placed into a box and there is a lucky Dip for the chocolates. I estimate that over a 100 chocolates are given out. Ally received one as well but later gave it to Jessica as she had not been a lucky child. Barbara and I had walked together while Ally Sprinted ahead and as far as I can make out was 3rd or 4th girl home.
I went to work to try and clear some of the mountain of emails that I receive when I am away from the office. I try to leave emails alone when I am in the field and to concentrate on the shop where I am currently working. The SA Springbok team beat the All Blacks in Hamilton NZ. It was a fight to the last minute and we only just won. The All Blacks have this amazing ability to fight on to the final whistle. This win means that SA are now Tri Nations and World Champions.
Ally had rehersals at St Saviours and we visited Charles and Ingrid to find out if they were going to be coming to WC next week. They phoned later to say that they would come and make a plan about their home and Jamie. I had to do a few Tip Runs. The old Bakkie was now at our house. I had taken it to Five Ways which is now down in North End. Now the vehicle was back in running order I would use it for rubbish etc. I carted a pile to the tip and then loaded a second pile at Michaels house. It is amazing how quickly we accumulate rubbish at our house. We should be reducing it to a manageable amount soon.
Jessica had stayed with us and we went to the DVD shops at the Bridge to see if we could buy the next Shield Series but they had sold out of both this and the 7th series of 24. After collecting Ally from Drama we stopped off at the Chinese and bought our supper there.
Weekend 19.09.2009.
This week we had our Business Financial Year End. Michael recently resigned from Russells and moved to Ellerines. He is not entirely satisfied where he is and is now looking to re-apply at Russells.
Monday we started off with Cell Group at Owen and Patti Biggs in the Greenacres housing complex. They have a really smart house there.
Tuesday evening we stopped off at Michael and Lene where we spent the evening playing bridge while Ally was at rehearsals.
Wednesday I flew to Jhb. Suzanne Braatvedt collected me from the hotel where the rest of the group was staying. Mecure Hotel. Corner of Malibongwe and Republic Road.
Keith arrived at his house just as I arrived there. After a quick drink Suzanne and I left to collect Julia at her Water Polo that she plays at the school swimming complex.
I was pretty tired and after supper said my good nights. Keith and I were up early and drove back to the swimming pool where he and I did over an hour of swim training. He swam 1.2kays and I must have done about 800 to 1000 meters. I really enjoyed it. I need a few laps to warm up. But my last ten laps of freestyle I was able to keep up with Keith. This had been a bit of an eye opener for me. While I am able to swim I do not have any confidence in my ability as I tend to swim short distances and only very occasionally. Also I hardly ever swim in a pool. I should really start this kind of training and get myself fit for both Nippers and Triathlon.
He dropped me off at work in Randburg where I spent the day before flying home for PE. At the airport I met up with Paul Leonard and a coleague of his: Craig from Durban. We spoke about the success that Alec Riddle has made of his life: he became a Christian in the last number of years and has basically never looked back.
Nicci had driven from CT on Wednesday and there is an interesting story she tells: Some time ago the word Adoption came into discussion between herself and Christian. She explained to Chris (5 years old) what adoption was and then asked if he knew of anyone who was "adopted". He thought for a while and then answered that he could not think of anyone. Nicci went on to quiz him on family and specifically Granny's family. No! He could not think of anyone.
On Wednesday evening Nicci dropped Ally off at Drama Rehersals at the Opera House in Russell Road. After dropping Ally they left and on the way home Christian (6 years old) asked his mother: "Is Ally really Granny's child?" Taking into consideration the previous discussion that had happened about a year ago, Nicci was expecting some kind of refering back to the adoption discussion. ANd here is the Punchline: When Nicci asked why he asked this question his response was: Is Granny not too old to have a child? It still did not occur to him that Ally was adopted. Wonderful how children's minds work!
Friday morning was Jessica's Athletics day. We went down to Clarendon to support her. Lene and Daniel were there. Jessica did very well winning her class heat and coming third in the Sack Race.
Saturday morning 19th I left before 5am and ran with Gerald to Hobie Beach where we met up with Adrienne, Maryna, Susan, Suzanne, Mike, Pat and Ronelle. We again ran the Walmer Boulevard, Strandfontien and Admiralty Way route. This morning Gerald and I did over 20kays and felt it. There was a strong West Wind and this made certain sections tough while other parts of the run were relatively easy. I was really tired after the run but it had been an excellent morning & I was happy to have had the exersize.
A while later I took Ally to Summerstrand lifesaving Club where she had been invited to a Braai with the children who had played in the First Team Hockey. Ally had only made the team a few times but this was sufficient. It was a pleasant affair and I ended up staying a little longer than I had intended. Ally went home with her friend Roz Crankshaw (Dad = Stewart), Ken was there, Grant and Ingrid, parents of Brittany and Chelsea were there, Clint and Claire came to open the bar, I think it is Estelle from the Radison Hotel was there.
This afternoon I took the old bakkie to the tip with a load of rubbish that had accumulated over the week. Barbara has this lamb that she is taking care of. It looks like and acts like a dog. Sleeps on the couch with the dogs, messes in the house like the dogs and runs to the gate to greet people arriving like the dogs do. With the big dog and lots of little dogs there seems to be an ongoing mess in the garden. Nicci's children elected to come with me on the back of the bakkie. It was cold and dirty and uncomforatble on the back of the bakkie but this did not seem to worry them. When we arrived home their skin was freezing to touch.
Ally had her last production of ALice this evening. It was Nicci's family, Micheal's family and ourselves there. A very good play with lots of children having a ball acting in front of an appreciative audience. The show had no real meaning or story line. Just a mish mash of music and song with a vague reference to the original Alice. Ally had the part of the White Rabbit. She was very good in this role, acting her part out and singing wonderfully. She seems to love the action of this kind of show.
Dawn Wrote:
Hi there,
You are living a busy life! We were down at the Bow River with the boys yesterday afternoon after picking them up at school. It is lovely in Fish Creek Park at the moment, with the trees all changing from green to gold and the boys had a good time playing in the water. On Thursday I went hiking in the mountains - the Headwall Trail. Again, beautiful scenery, although we hiked in the rain on the way to our lunch stop. Reminds me a little of Tsitsikamma, but higher mountains. The group I hiked with snow shoe in winter and since I have decided that this will be my winter sport I am glad to have found them. We are missing Brenda and the rather hectic lifestyle we lived in the 3 weeks she was here but have slipped back into routine again - I will be going back to karate next week after the summer break (everything stops here in summer as everybody makes the most of the long summer days).
Enjoy the rest of your day,
Take care,
Dawn
Nicci and her family left for home on Monday morning. I was at Cell Group this evening. It was held at Bobby Stevenson's home. He has a beautiful home. Chatting to him about politics I discovered that he knows Patrick's Mother in Law -- Sheila Camerer who is presently the ambassador for Poland. Rina Nel -- FSAM for the PE area, resigned finally this week. It has been really tough for her as she has battled with a decision to continue to live in PE or to move to East London where her husband has a business. Roger Gush has been undergoing some really tough surgery (Leg and hip amputated) to try to cure the cancer that he discovered that he has. However it now appears that the surgery has not been able to get rid of the cancer and it is now terminal.
His wife Tory has kept us up to date through an internet connection called Caringbridge. Meanwhile his sister, Jenny, has moved to Canada. She had tried to obtain US citizenship but so far her efforts have been to no avail since Ian died.
Wednesday this week was the start of a week of holiday for me. I took Barbara's car to the panel beater (Dean from our church) in First Ave Walmer. I had scraped the passenger side bumper and wanted to maintain the good looks of the bakkie. He quoted me R400 and had the job done before 4pm that afternoon. I also did a lot of running around and shopping for our Wildcliff trip.
The church (Megan) had arranged a Talent Show with the children. It was well supported with Ally and Jessica singing "amazing Grace" and Amber winning the competition with a piano recital and a song.
Thursday morning we were up early. Charles and Ingrid met us just after 5am and we left for WC. We had three stops: Storms (Where Barbara and I ordered a delicious egg pita and Ally had her normal Cheese Burger), Sedgefield and Albertina. We filled up in Heidelberg and arrived at WC at about 12.15 (7hours). After a cup of tea, Charles, Ingrid and I walked up the Wilderkrans trail.
We had plenty of time and had a nice easy walk with a stop for a biscuit and apple at a rock which I have now decided to call 15 minute Rock. I suggested that we walk on to the Waterfall. Ingrid was a little cautious until I told her that it was only 15 minutes to the waterfall. We carried on and it turned out that it was almost exactly 15 minutes. The level of the stream was lower than I have ever seen it. We walked on rocks that should be covered with water.
We all enjoyed the walk and by the time we had walked back up to Talari we were nice and tired. Nicci had taken part in a Show Jumping competition in Cape Town on Jinx, the horse that Barbara had given her. And had had a clear round which qulaified her for the finals which she won. We were so proud to hear of this first attempt to take part in competition for so many years.
Nicci also took part in the next event but was eliminated. They arrived at WC late afternooon. This evening we enjoyed a braai. We also lit a fire indoors but had too much wood, too wet, doors open etc etc and ended up with smoke in the house which made the house stink of smoke.
I had a number of attempts to get the Sattelite Dish working but everything failed. I will have to get a technician to have a look. We also plan to buy a DVD player for those cold wet days. Today was Bryce's Birthday and he had a few friends over to play and to enjoy a cake for celebration.
Friday morning we had a relaxed start to the day. Barbara and Ally left for a Gala in Cape Town at about 11.00am. We set the Tom Tom to find the pool in Belville. Once they had left the rest of us climbed into the Bushpig and headed up the Fynbos Road to Ena's Falls.
Here we had a look at the Barafu Hut and the falls which again looked very sparse with hardly any water falling. Barafu Hut is a very basic overnight sleeping place as well as serving as a shelter for someone who is up there. It is a bit of a worry that there is not toilet anywhere up there. Toilet paper and the resultant littering can be quite disgusting as we experienced on the Kilimanjaro Hike.
At Ena's Pools we stopped for a bit of a Picnic. Abigail had come with us and was taking care of Christian and Aaron. The three of them decided to start the walk home. Charles and I inspected the water pipe. It appeared that the water was still at a level that there would not be an interruption of the water flow to Rain Frog Dam however it may be neccesary to build a weir of sandbags if the drought persisits.
Nicci, Zara, Ingrid and I drove back. Abigail had walked on with Christian and Aaron. Charles and Stefan walked back. We met Abigail on their way down and they told us that they had seen a snake. Abigail had the presence of mind to halter Star who may have been bitten if he had worried the snake. She cautioned the two children and even had the courage to photograph the snake. It was later identified as a Berg Adder which is a particularly agressive snake and has a very toxic venom.
We picked a few Protea and then headed back to Talari for tea. We heard from Barbara that she had a bit of a disasterous trip. It seems that she had the wrong swimming pool. They, unknowingly, waited at this wrong pool in Belville industrial area until someone pointed out that there was not going to be a Gala there today. They then phoned David Glover (coach) and ultimately decided to not do any swimming as they were already so late.
Instead they drove to Cathy's new flat where they spent the night playing Pictionary and cards. They drove back to WC the following morning. Stefan had bought some Water Blommetjies on the road and he added this to his Potjie. I have included dome in formation about the Waterblommetjie at the end of the Blog as well as a recipe for a Potjie. The taste is quite distinct as is the texture of the vegetable.
Stefan also added a special Potjie Spice that he had found. The result was a really delicious supper even though we could not see what we were eating as we sat outside that evening.
An early night and we were up late the next morning. Charles and Ingrid left for home. Charles is busy with his proposal for his doctorate and only has a few months to submit it. While he has all the information that he requires, he has to put it into a format that will be acceptable to the University of Johannesburg where he is studying. Unfortunately he forgot his computer and had to turn back to WC to collect it.
Barbara was still driving and we decided to take the bushpig up the hill to collect some firewood. We went to the meadow in the pine forest area that we had discovered previously. The wood cutters have made a mess of the area and there are logs and trees lying all over the place. We had soon loaded as much as the bakkie can take. Some of the group walked back while we drove home and off loaded. Stefan fetched a saw and made some firewood more suitable for the indoor fireplace.
Barbara arrived quite tired having had a headache and struggling in heavy traffic. She also forgot to fill up at Heideldberg and the warning light of the petrol guage was lit. Stefan and I drove up to the Clay / Kaolin Dam where Paula has her camera's set to record Baboon activity. (Kaolin is used as the active substance in liquid anti-diarrhea medicines) Paula has calculated that the Baboons lick the Kaolin to assist their digestion process as the Wattle seed that they eat probably gives them diarrhea.
Kaolin is also used in ceramics, medicine, coated paper, as a food additive, in toothpaste, as a light diffusing material in white incandescent light bulbs, and in cosmetics. It is generally the main component in porcelain.
It is also used in paint to extend titanium dioxide (TiO2) and modify gloss levels; in rubber for semi-reinforcing properties and in adhesives to modify rheology.[6]
The largest use is in the production of paper, including ensuring the gloss on some grades of paper. Commercial grades of kaolin are supplied and transported as dry powder, semi-dry noodle or as liquid slurry.
It was quite dissapointing for us to see how poorly the wood cutters employed by Working for Water had Ringbarked the Wattles. It was so ineffective that the wattles were flowering and looking as healthy as if nothing had been done at all. Stefan and I attacked some of the offending Wattle Sapplings.
The day's activity ended with us on Oak tree meadown swining across the stream with children and adults taking part. Christian cannot get enough of this activity. I tried to pull some of the offending Wattle sapplings out but the bigger ones need mechanincal assistance or a saw and poison.
Supper this evening was a non event as everyone was really too tired or had been snacking through the afternoon. Freek and friend Martin had been to see us today. He has a number of proposals for WC including repairs to the road which could be important as the rainy season starts. He will fax his proposals to me and I will discuss them with the trustees. He told me that we still owed him R300 from the time of Mike (the builder). R
ather than dig into the past I agreed to pay him. Mike had been the builder who had done a huge number of jobs at WC including renovation of both Talari and Xairu. When his bother was in an accident last year we lost touch with him and he stopped coming to WC. Freek had been dependant on him for transfer of funds that we owed. It seems that there was an amount of R300 that Mike had never paid over to him.
This evening the rain started to fall. And it rained throughout the night. By morning we were concerned that we would not be able to drive out if the rain continued. My solution was to stay in bed and finish the book that I was reading. The author was Dave Morrell. It had started out a good story line with some Christian history of the Spanish Inquisition woven into the plot. But towards the end of the book the plot became impossible and the final impact was not that good. However I did what I rarely do and stayed in bed till after 08.00am reading.
Meanwhile the rain had let up and the weather forcast was for a more or less clear day. The Talari Dam had filled a good few millimeters and was looking a whole lot healthier. We can only hope that there is sufficient rain in the mountians to restart the falls and the streams of WC.
We decided to take advantage of the couple of hours of no rain and once I had arranged with Keith to go ahead with the Bushpig in case we battled to clear the steep part of the road and needed a tow, we packed up to leave. Cleaning the house always takes quite a while. Stefan had cleaned out the pantry and the fridge of old (past sell by date) food and we had quite a few black bags of old stuff to dispose of. I loaded this into the bakkie and asked Keith to take this to the tip later in the week.
Just as we were about to leave it began to rain again and we then "rushed" to complete our packing. Once we were all loaded up, I rode ahead with Keith and Stefan and Barbara drove behind. It was really not nearly as bad as we had expected and they cleared the slippery area on the west side of the weir (entrance to WC) with ease.
We filled up in Heidelberg and started a long trip home. We had left WC at about 14.30 and arrived home at 20.30. The traffic was particularly heavy on the N2 with every one heading home after a long weekend. It was overcast with intermittent rain for most of the drive. We stopped off at Plett where Ena had made some soup for us. She also gave us some more rusks.
Ally had slept for this first half of the trip. Ally does not like this type of meal and so asked us to stop at the Steers at Storms River for a Cheese Burger. It had started to rain heavily shortly after Storms River and the last part of the trip was increasingly tough. We made it home without incident. Nicci and Stefan had arrived home (Cape Town) about an hour before us.
Here is a piece of writing found in a restaurant that Barbara copied onto a serviette:
My comfort zone.
I used to have a comfort zone where I knew that I would not fail. The same four walls and busy work were more like a jail.
I longed so much to do the things that I had never done before, but stayed inside my comfort zone and paced the same old floor.
I said it does not matter that I was not doing much. I said I did not care for things like commission cheques and such.
I claimed to be so busy with things inside my zone, but deep inside I longed for something special of my own.
I could not watch my life go by just watching others win. I held my breath, stepped outside and let the change begin.
I took a step and with new strength I had never felt better before. I kissed the comfort zone goodbye. I closed and locked the door.
If you are in a comfort zone, afraid to venture out, remember that all winners were at a time filled with doubt.
A step or two and words of praise can make your dreams come true. Reach for your future with a smile. Success is then for you.
On my return from Heidleberg I was able to phone Derek Malan 021 950 7100 and he put me on to Zanne Olivier at Duivenhoks projects (working for water overberg) in Heidelberg 083 354 4746 / 028 722 8014. Zanne has taken over the management of the project of wattle clearing at WC from Davie Adendorf and his successor. Zanne is well aware of the problems regarding the quality of work at Wildcliff (they refer to it as Palmeira) and is working on the problem and promises me that she will be presenting a solution to Keith. Zanne tells me that they have discussions, in this regard, planned for this week.
Another identified problem at WC is the Fire Hazzard. With the volume of dry wood lying around it is a possibility that we could have a fire there which may become uncontrollable. Paula will talk to a neighbour about assisting with building a fire break and clearing a section. Possibly starting above the Heron House. The fallen branches also means that we are not able to access the area to clear out saplings. Burning is dependant on us being able to Bulldoze the fallen branches into a central area and then working with the weather, wind and a team of people to contain the fire.
29.09.2009.
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week. The last three days of September. I had three more days of leave. This is what is known in our company as Priveleged Leave. It is a long service perk to have a fourth week in the year as leave. If you dont take the leave you lose it so what ever you do you make sure that you take this extra week of leave.
I had a number of things to do: I work on a list and was able to do most of them. I had wanted to visit ADT as they were the sponsors of our clothing for the season ahead. I had to collect the old Merc from Michaels house and to wash it. It leaks and I had to clean out the back seat.
My own car was filthy from the WC trip. I seemed to have gathered more dust inside the car than ever before. I got the printer working at a cost of R90. I sorted out the stuff that Charles had brought back from WC for us. I was able to licence the Bakkie. Cathy's Daewoo is due soon but I will have to do this vehicle next month.
Ally had her social engagements with her friend Hanna Obrie. They have a market day at school next week and were hard at work making bracelets and sign boards. She is back to swim training. One evening they all met for movies at Walmer Park. A really nice group of young people that David Glover has sowed a deep sense of team spirit.
WATERBLOMMETJIE
The name comes from the Afrikaans language and literally means 'small water flower stew'. Known in English as Cape Pondweed, Cape Hawthorn or Cape Asparagus and scientifically as Aponogeton distachyos) found in the dams and marshes of the Western Cape (South Africa). The buds (waterblommetjies) are usually ready to be picked in the months of July and August (South African winter).
The taste can be described as much like stewed green beans with a hint of pumpkin.
Some believe that the early Dutch settlers (circa Jan van Riebeek’s time) used waterblommetjies as a vegetable (and hence a source of vitamin C) in desperation, since their early farming initiatives had been somewhat less than successful. The alternative tale is that the Voortrekkers harvested them as a food source, since while on trek, they were unable to grow anything. Whichever is the truth, waterblommetjie bredie is a well known and much respected local delicacy, popular with foreign tourists.
Waterblommetjie Potjie
Potjiekos is a fireside method of slow cooking in a traditional three
legged cast iron potjie pot
500g breast of shin of mutton
15ml cooking oil
3 onions, sliced
5 ml salt
freshly ground pepper to taste
125ml dry white wine
3 potatoes, peeled & sliced
1 kg fresh waterblommetjies
or 2 x 410g cans waterblommetjies
2 tomatoes, peeled & chopped
Cut the meat into portions. Heat the oil in the potjie and brown the
meat over moderate coals. Add the onion and fry gently until
translucent. Season with salt and pepper. Heat the wine in a small pan, pour it over the meat, cover and simmer over low coals for about 2.5 hours, until the meat is tender. Layer the potato, waterblommetjies and tomato in the meat, cover and simmer for another 30 minutes or until the vegetables are cooked. Serves 6
Peter
30.09.2009.
THIS MONTH
BARBARA'S THOUGHTS
PETER WHATLEY (AN ACHILLES RUNNING FRIEND) IN DOHA
START OF NIPPERS SEASON
MIKE DE KONING (MICHAEL AND JACQUI ZIVOR'S FRIEND) DIES.
SUE MAXTON (BARBARA'S COUSIN) DIES IN DURBAN
ALLY GRADE SIX WEEK IN THE OUTDOORS
MPRG STARTS THE BEACH, WALMER BOULEVARD, STRANDFONTEIN RUN
ALLY SCHOOL (CLARENDON PARK) SPRING WALK
SPRINGBOKS ARE NOW TRI-NATIONS AND WORLD CHAMPIONS
VISIT TO KEITH BRAATVEDT IN JHB AND SWIM WITH KEITH
THE MAZDA BAKKIE IS BACK AT OUR HOUSE AND IN RUNNING ORDER
NICCI VISITS US IN PE AND WE ALL GO TO ALICE IN WONDERLAND WHERE ALLY IS THE WHITE RABBIT.
ALLY FIRST TEAM HOCKEY, YEAR END BRAAI AT SUMMERSTRAND
ROGER GUSH IS VERY ILL WITH CANCER AND DIES AT THE END OF SEPTEMBER.
TRIP TO WILDCLIFF WITH CHARLES, INGRID AND NICCI'S FAMILY FROM CT.
WATERBLOMMETJIES IN THE POTJIE AT WILDCLIFF
BARBARA AND ALLY HAVE AN UNSUCCESSFUL TRIP TO CAPE TOWN FOR A GALA.
BARBARA WAS REMINISCING ABOUT THE TIMES WE HAVE HAD TOGETHER AS A FAMILY.
Barbara wrote this as a memory lane walk:
I can remember daddy and I being blown away with our four children. Not being wealthy but definitely rich as a family. We hardly went anywhere on our own, rather choosing entertainment that included all of us. (Except maybe for Round Table, but even then you kids were dragged along many times). I can remember visiting Aunty Gail and all you children putting on shows for us.
I can remember laughing a lot. I can remember all our Christmases. I can remember travelling all squashed up in the little car to various places...the farm in Durban, Barclay East, East London, Cape Town etc etc.
I can also remember getting hot bothered and frustrated in the car and daddy and I blowing a fuse and you kids getting noisy and irritable. But I can also remember daddy entertaining you for kilometers on end telling you the story of how salt was made. Singing Ag Pleez Daddy, A Frog Went a Courting (how rude you kids thought) and lots of other songs.
I can remember Sunday morning when daddy still used to have to mow the lawn and you kids in the pool and on the jumpoline and then collecting twigs for a braai for lunch. I can remember watching TV in winter and eating chips and thin sausages. I can remember your horse riding camps and scraping together some money so that you kids could have your own horses.
I can remember daddy and I really trying to provide you with what you wanted. I can remember going to granny and grandad and the four of you sitting on a blanket in the kitchen and having your supper. Or a braai and swim in the back yard. (Gran had a thing about keeping old margarine tubs and using them for plates, very weird but effective).
I can remember how your bedroom used to have wool and string stretched between the beds for some obstacle course you were building and not wanting to break it and spoil your game, so having to creep under it.
I can remember singing you children to sleep every single night and then tucking each of you in individually. You Jax always wanted me to lie on top of you when I said goodnight. Liked the weight. Michael loved Soldier Boy and Sailor (he now sings them to his boys). I can remember so so much more. Happy days, sad days, angry days.....normal family days.
Love you
HERE IS A LETTER FROM PETER WHATLEY IN DOHA. VERY INTERESTING FOR ME TO READ.
Doha Diaries 8 September 2009
It seems just yesterday that I was sitting down an jotting down thoughts in the Doha Diaries. It’s been nearly a month. and a fair bit has happened during this time.
The most noticeable event is that both Justin and Nicole are now at school, leaving Lise to be a lady of leisure in the mornings. She sleeps until 9h00. At this stage she has to get up because 3 days a week the apartment gets cleaned and she wouldn’t feel too comfortable in her sleeping attire when the 3 you Filipino’s come to clean. You never know the gender of the cleaning team, but of late it has been predominantly male.
The school day starts very much the way it started in SA with me getting up at 5h30 to wake Justin and Nicole. Nicole needs to be ready by 6h40 and Justin by 7h10 as their transport arrives at these times. Nicole travels to school in a mini bus taxi ( I thought that I had got away from them). The vehicle is air conditioned and each of the occupants is insured. This is a door to door service so it is rather convenient, albeit a bit on the expensive side (costs QR1100 per month). Justin has a slightly later pick up as he has a personal driver that is shared with two school friends. This at a far lower cost of QR500 pm. These pick up times will all change in about 3 weeks time once Ramadan and Eid are over as schools will be opening at their normal times of 7h00 (Justin) and 7h15 (Nicole)
They each seem to have settled in at school. Nicole spent last Friday with a friend from Singapore and Justin has befriended a number of Canadians and they all went out on Thursday evening. Justin was due to catch a taxi back to our apartment but it was so busy that there was a 1 ½ hour wait so he decided to walk home (at midnight). It’s only a 10 minute walk and is quite safe. Even Nicole could do this an come to no harm. I believe that Lise stayed up until he got home. The difference is that I have been here for 4 months and know that it’s safe whilst she is still coming to terms with the lifestyle change.
Justin’s whole school has fewer children than Grade 11 at Grey and his whole grade comprises of 20 students. Class sizes are 10-12. Nicole’s school is a little bigger and her grade has 41 students split into two classes with no further admissions unless someone is leaving. The focus over here is on small class sizes.
Nicole came home from school and asked if she could go on a school organized skiing trip to Switzerland. I don’t know anything further as I am awaiting some information from the organizing teacher. I would Imagine that it would be towards the end of December when she is on holiday.
We are quite spoilt in SA when it comes to buying school uniforms, although, by comparison, we pay too much in SA. The only outlet in Doha that supplies uniforms is a place call Zaks Outfitters and it is fast becoming the most hated place in Doha for the Whatley’s. I eventually resorted to having Justin’s uniform made by a tailor. Zaks is located on the busiest street in Doha and phoning ahead to find out whether or not they have the stock is a waste of time as they never answer the phone. To date I have to make 4 separate trips and do still not have everything as they are the only suppliers of lab coats for Justin and Nicole’s schools.
In some areas our children are ahead but in others they are behind, particularly in Mathematics. Justin spent nearly a month tutoring Nicole to bring her up to speed as she had not covered about 2/3 rds of what she was expected to have done. Some of this would have been done during the 3rd and 4th terms in SA. They both have to study a foreign language and are doing French. Justin will have to do 3 years in 2 so this will be a tough ask. On the other hand, his ICT and IT is well in advance of his peers
When a foreign child goes to strange shores, they are always taught the choice words first. An Egyptian at Justin’s school recently returned from an athletics training camp in SA and was choice Afrikaans comments at his classmates. Thinking that Justin was from the UK, he let off a barrage, only to be politely told “ek sal jou bliksem”. Needless to say, the language was not repeated.
We are in the middle of Ramadan at the moment and it is quite an experience over here. We have a 5 hour work day( 8h30-13h30), but most of the expats tend to get in earlier and leave later. Maybe it’s a work ethic thing. During the day it is relatively quiet but once the sun sets, you don’t really want to be on the road. The local appear and is seems as if the evening degenerate into one big food fest that carries on until the early hours. A short sleep, some more food, a bit more sleep and then off to work. Back from work and sleep until sunset. The body clocks must be completely broken by now.
I decided to try the fast for a day and I must say, I did not find it particularly hard. Not eating is quite easy, but you do tend to get thirsty. I went to an Iftar dinner last week at an Iranian restaurant. The food was superb.
This weekend I will be venturing into the desert for the first time. I will be travelling with some colleagues to the Inland Sea so I will be able to test the off road ability of my car. I believe it takes about an hour to cover the 26km to the Inland Sea once you leave the tarred roads. One colleague is known as GPS, another is SOS (he is always towing people out of the sand) so I suppose I will be called NoviS. It will only be short trip as it is still quite hot out there. Thankfully the temperatures are dropping with day time temperatures hovering at around 40 and at night they are dropping to the high 20’s. A month ago they were in the mid 40’s dropping to the low 30’s. Humidity is still extremely high and if you step outside wearing glasses, they instantly mist up. We have about another 3 weeks of the really hot and humid weather and then things moderate significantly.
If you are a person that really likes performance or luxury vehicles, this is the place to be. In SA you might see a few in JHB or Cape Town and us plebs in PE may see the occasional Porsche or Mercedes AMG. During the past week, between Justin and me, we have seen the following vehicles:
Bugatti Veyron x2(R13 mill)
Ferrari
Lambourghini Galardo
Maserati
Bentley x 3
Rools Royce
Ford GT
Nissan XR
Porsche GT3
Mitsibishi EVO
Viper
Aston Martin DB9
I have not bothered with the Mercedes, BMW,Jaguar, Porsche Cayman, or Porsche Cayenne as these are common place. It is really unbelievable to see how much is spent on cars over here.
On that note with me thinking of my dream car (Aston Martin DB9), it’s time to say good bye for now.
Peter Whatley from Doha.
Today is Sunday 13th and I am halfway into September and this is the first Blog of the month. Not like me!
Saturday 5th:
This morning we did a Moffat Run. THere was a nice big group of us. Susan, Jacqui and Brenda met us half way up River Road and they turned back at Walmer Park with Mike Dean. A little later this morning we watched our Springbok Rugby team being beaten by the Aussies in Brisbane.
Last Sunday was our first Nippers of the season. Deon had a whole lot of media coverage and we had a good turnout. We offered free hot dogs and ice creams. Deon started the morning with a talk to the Nippers and Parents.
Here is my report email:
For those who were at Summerstrand this weekend: we had the most awesome morning. There were about 80 Nippers on the beach on Sunday. We had a whole bunch of first timers and to each one of you we are really happy to have you join Summerstrand Nippers.
Conditions
The wind was blowing from the West and this helped to make the waves perfect for swimming and boarding; even if they came through in huge sets.
Clothing and uniform: We apologise if you wanted to purchase new clothing but we are just now in the process of setting up a sponsorship agreement and want to have all the clothing branded before we hand out or sell any outfits.
New parents: Deon started the morning with a talk to both parents and Nippers alike. We tried to give new parents an idea of what Nippers is about and how they can be part of this great family activity.
Activities:
We began with some games and then Flags and Water activities. We were all pleasantly surprised at how warm the water was. I heard one Nipper decline the offer of a wetsuite as he would be too hot.
The U10's had a great time learning to enjoy the surf. THe U12's did some good swimming and body board exersizes and the U14's took malibu boards out and the really brave ones enjoyed the power of the waves and surf.
Juniors:
We had a good contingent of Juniors assisting. These are last year's U14's who have now moved up. They assisted with both the coaching and with the hot dogs. Thanks to all of you.
Coaches: we had Deon, Hannes, Lyn, Varrin, Andrew, Bruce, Shareen, Donald, John and some others all providing coaching to the Nippers. We encourage all Mom's and Dad's to become part of Nippers in some way. We are all volunteers and no one is an expert.
Level Tests: please remember that we need a copy of the Nippers ID book or Birth Certificate if you are a first timer. And if you are a first timer or you are moving up to a new age group then we need a letter from your swim coach or other suitable person to confirm that you have swum the following times:
Under 10’s have to swim 300 meters in 8 minutes
Under 12’s have to swim 400 Meters in 10 Minutes and
Under 14’s have to swim 400 Meters in 9 minutes.
Peter
7.09.2009.
082 550 3174
I traveled this week to Queenstown, Aliwal North and Sterkspruit. Stayed over the first night in Umtali in Aliwal and the second was at a Farm B & B 60kays other side of Queenstown. Interesting but neither night was what I was hoping for.
Ally was on her outdoor adventure camp this week. She left on Wednesday morning for Kirkwood where they had all kinds of adventure activities including Foofie Sliding into the river, building a canon?, Mud baths, making their own Pootjie Kos pot. They also visited the Cheeta Breeding program that we had visited last Sunday. Ally was quite pleased that she had been there and could be a "Guide". As I arrived back in PE I drove straight to her school where I collected her. As though she had not had enough she went to Jive this evening.
Saturday morning 12th September:
There had been a number of calls and SMS's about this morning's run. I had decided to run down to Hobie beach where I would meet Adrienne and run for an hour. The MPRG decided to run up to Walmer Park and back down Villiers Road before turning back home. When I got down to the beach I met up with Dion Mc Connel who was going for a Marine Drive Cycle. Susan, Adrienne, Brenda and Caroline were in our group. Brenda is a friend of Jacqui Zeelie who also ran with us last weekend and Caroline I met this morning. She was waiting for Nicky and Robyn but they were not there and she decided to run with us.
We had a stunning run up Walmer Boulevard, along Strandfontein and back down 2nd ave. Some of the group went on to run Admiralty but Susan, Caroline and I had to be back for Ally's Spring walk.
The Spring Walk was a really festive event. There were hundreds of parents and children. We all had a nice easy stroll down Church Road, bottle neck over the foot bridge over 6th ave. Then along 5th ave and down Villiers Road to the top of Settlers park. There is a watering and sweets table for refreshments and then a really nice walk in the park.
Another Bottleneck as we cross the stream. Barbara and I took our shoes off and made our way up back to the top and back to the school grounds. The Springboks were playing the All Blacks on the North Island and this was a bit of a distraction but the main event was still in play and the children were having a great time running around the field.
The school had arranged for Ice Creams donated by Bushy Park Diaries, pop corn and juice. Then there is the traditional handing out of chocolates. What happens is that the children are asked to bring a chocolate to school and then their tickets are placed into a box and there is a lucky Dip for the chocolates. I estimate that over a 100 chocolates are given out. Ally received one as well but later gave it to Jessica as she had not been a lucky child. Barbara and I had walked together while Ally Sprinted ahead and as far as I can make out was 3rd or 4th girl home.
I went to work to try and clear some of the mountain of emails that I receive when I am away from the office. I try to leave emails alone when I am in the field and to concentrate on the shop where I am currently working. The SA Springbok team beat the All Blacks in Hamilton NZ. It was a fight to the last minute and we only just won. The All Blacks have this amazing ability to fight on to the final whistle. This win means that SA are now Tri Nations and World Champions.
Ally had rehersals at St Saviours and we visited Charles and Ingrid to find out if they were going to be coming to WC next week. They phoned later to say that they would come and make a plan about their home and Jamie. I had to do a few Tip Runs. The old Bakkie was now at our house. I had taken it to Five Ways which is now down in North End. Now the vehicle was back in running order I would use it for rubbish etc. I carted a pile to the tip and then loaded a second pile at Michaels house. It is amazing how quickly we accumulate rubbish at our house. We should be reducing it to a manageable amount soon.
Jessica had stayed with us and we went to the DVD shops at the Bridge to see if we could buy the next Shield Series but they had sold out of both this and the 7th series of 24. After collecting Ally from Drama we stopped off at the Chinese and bought our supper there.
Weekend 19.09.2009.
This week we had our Business Financial Year End. Michael recently resigned from Russells and moved to Ellerines. He is not entirely satisfied where he is and is now looking to re-apply at Russells.
Monday we started off with Cell Group at Owen and Patti Biggs in the Greenacres housing complex. They have a really smart house there.
Tuesday evening we stopped off at Michael and Lene where we spent the evening playing bridge while Ally was at rehearsals.
Wednesday I flew to Jhb. Suzanne Braatvedt collected me from the hotel where the rest of the group was staying. Mecure Hotel. Corner of Malibongwe and Republic Road.
Keith arrived at his house just as I arrived there. After a quick drink Suzanne and I left to collect Julia at her Water Polo that she plays at the school swimming complex.
I was pretty tired and after supper said my good nights. Keith and I were up early and drove back to the swimming pool where he and I did over an hour of swim training. He swam 1.2kays and I must have done about 800 to 1000 meters. I really enjoyed it. I need a few laps to warm up. But my last ten laps of freestyle I was able to keep up with Keith. This had been a bit of an eye opener for me. While I am able to swim I do not have any confidence in my ability as I tend to swim short distances and only very occasionally. Also I hardly ever swim in a pool. I should really start this kind of training and get myself fit for both Nippers and Triathlon.
He dropped me off at work in Randburg where I spent the day before flying home for PE. At the airport I met up with Paul Leonard and a coleague of his: Craig from Durban. We spoke about the success that Alec Riddle has made of his life: he became a Christian in the last number of years and has basically never looked back.
Nicci had driven from CT on Wednesday and there is an interesting story she tells: Some time ago the word Adoption came into discussion between herself and Christian. She explained to Chris (5 years old) what adoption was and then asked if he knew of anyone who was "adopted". He thought for a while and then answered that he could not think of anyone. Nicci went on to quiz him on family and specifically Granny's family. No! He could not think of anyone.
On Wednesday evening Nicci dropped Ally off at Drama Rehersals at the Opera House in Russell Road. After dropping Ally they left and on the way home Christian (6 years old) asked his mother: "Is Ally really Granny's child?" Taking into consideration the previous discussion that had happened about a year ago, Nicci was expecting some kind of refering back to the adoption discussion. ANd here is the Punchline: When Nicci asked why he asked this question his response was: Is Granny not too old to have a child? It still did not occur to him that Ally was adopted. Wonderful how children's minds work!
Friday morning was Jessica's Athletics day. We went down to Clarendon to support her. Lene and Daniel were there. Jessica did very well winning her class heat and coming third in the Sack Race.
Saturday morning 19th I left before 5am and ran with Gerald to Hobie Beach where we met up with Adrienne, Maryna, Susan, Suzanne, Mike, Pat and Ronelle. We again ran the Walmer Boulevard, Strandfontien and Admiralty Way route. This morning Gerald and I did over 20kays and felt it. There was a strong West Wind and this made certain sections tough while other parts of the run were relatively easy. I was really tired after the run but it had been an excellent morning & I was happy to have had the exersize.
A while later I took Ally to Summerstrand lifesaving Club where she had been invited to a Braai with the children who had played in the First Team Hockey. Ally had only made the team a few times but this was sufficient. It was a pleasant affair and I ended up staying a little longer than I had intended. Ally went home with her friend Roz Crankshaw (Dad = Stewart), Ken was there, Grant and Ingrid, parents of Brittany and Chelsea were there, Clint and Claire came to open the bar, I think it is Estelle from the Radison Hotel was there.
This afternoon I took the old bakkie to the tip with a load of rubbish that had accumulated over the week. Barbara has this lamb that she is taking care of. It looks like and acts like a dog. Sleeps on the couch with the dogs, messes in the house like the dogs and runs to the gate to greet people arriving like the dogs do. With the big dog and lots of little dogs there seems to be an ongoing mess in the garden. Nicci's children elected to come with me on the back of the bakkie. It was cold and dirty and uncomforatble on the back of the bakkie but this did not seem to worry them. When we arrived home their skin was freezing to touch.
Ally had her last production of ALice this evening. It was Nicci's family, Micheal's family and ourselves there. A very good play with lots of children having a ball acting in front of an appreciative audience. The show had no real meaning or story line. Just a mish mash of music and song with a vague reference to the original Alice. Ally had the part of the White Rabbit. She was very good in this role, acting her part out and singing wonderfully. She seems to love the action of this kind of show.
Dawn Wrote:
Hi there,
You are living a busy life! We were down at the Bow River with the boys yesterday afternoon after picking them up at school. It is lovely in Fish Creek Park at the moment, with the trees all changing from green to gold and the boys had a good time playing in the water. On Thursday I went hiking in the mountains - the Headwall Trail. Again, beautiful scenery, although we hiked in the rain on the way to our lunch stop. Reminds me a little of Tsitsikamma, but higher mountains. The group I hiked with snow shoe in winter and since I have decided that this will be my winter sport I am glad to have found them. We are missing Brenda and the rather hectic lifestyle we lived in the 3 weeks she was here but have slipped back into routine again - I will be going back to karate next week after the summer break (everything stops here in summer as everybody makes the most of the long summer days).
Enjoy the rest of your day,
Take care,
Dawn
Nicci and her family left for home on Monday morning. I was at Cell Group this evening. It was held at Bobby Stevenson's home. He has a beautiful home. Chatting to him about politics I discovered that he knows Patrick's Mother in Law -- Sheila Camerer who is presently the ambassador for Poland. Rina Nel -- FSAM for the PE area, resigned finally this week. It has been really tough for her as she has battled with a decision to continue to live in PE or to move to East London where her husband has a business. Roger Gush has been undergoing some really tough surgery (Leg and hip amputated) to try to cure the cancer that he discovered that he has. However it now appears that the surgery has not been able to get rid of the cancer and it is now terminal.
His wife Tory has kept us up to date through an internet connection called Caringbridge. Meanwhile his sister, Jenny, has moved to Canada. She had tried to obtain US citizenship but so far her efforts have been to no avail since Ian died.
Wednesday this week was the start of a week of holiday for me. I took Barbara's car to the panel beater (Dean from our church) in First Ave Walmer. I had scraped the passenger side bumper and wanted to maintain the good looks of the bakkie. He quoted me R400 and had the job done before 4pm that afternoon. I also did a lot of running around and shopping for our Wildcliff trip.
The church (Megan) had arranged a Talent Show with the children. It was well supported with Ally and Jessica singing "amazing Grace" and Amber winning the competition with a piano recital and a song.
Thursday morning we were up early. Charles and Ingrid met us just after 5am and we left for WC. We had three stops: Storms (Where Barbara and I ordered a delicious egg pita and Ally had her normal Cheese Burger), Sedgefield and Albertina. We filled up in Heidelberg and arrived at WC at about 12.15 (7hours). After a cup of tea, Charles, Ingrid and I walked up the Wilderkrans trail.
We had plenty of time and had a nice easy walk with a stop for a biscuit and apple at a rock which I have now decided to call 15 minute Rock. I suggested that we walk on to the Waterfall. Ingrid was a little cautious until I told her that it was only 15 minutes to the waterfall. We carried on and it turned out that it was almost exactly 15 minutes. The level of the stream was lower than I have ever seen it. We walked on rocks that should be covered with water.
We all enjoyed the walk and by the time we had walked back up to Talari we were nice and tired. Nicci had taken part in a Show Jumping competition in Cape Town on Jinx, the horse that Barbara had given her. And had had a clear round which qulaified her for the finals which she won. We were so proud to hear of this first attempt to take part in competition for so many years.
Nicci also took part in the next event but was eliminated. They arrived at WC late afternooon. This evening we enjoyed a braai. We also lit a fire indoors but had too much wood, too wet, doors open etc etc and ended up with smoke in the house which made the house stink of smoke.
I had a number of attempts to get the Sattelite Dish working but everything failed. I will have to get a technician to have a look. We also plan to buy a DVD player for those cold wet days. Today was Bryce's Birthday and he had a few friends over to play and to enjoy a cake for celebration.
Friday morning we had a relaxed start to the day. Barbara and Ally left for a Gala in Cape Town at about 11.00am. We set the Tom Tom to find the pool in Belville. Once they had left the rest of us climbed into the Bushpig and headed up the Fynbos Road to Ena's Falls.
Here we had a look at the Barafu Hut and the falls which again looked very sparse with hardly any water falling. Barafu Hut is a very basic overnight sleeping place as well as serving as a shelter for someone who is up there. It is a bit of a worry that there is not toilet anywhere up there. Toilet paper and the resultant littering can be quite disgusting as we experienced on the Kilimanjaro Hike.
At Ena's Pools we stopped for a bit of a Picnic. Abigail had come with us and was taking care of Christian and Aaron. The three of them decided to start the walk home. Charles and I inspected the water pipe. It appeared that the water was still at a level that there would not be an interruption of the water flow to Rain Frog Dam however it may be neccesary to build a weir of sandbags if the drought persisits.
Nicci, Zara, Ingrid and I drove back. Abigail had walked on with Christian and Aaron. Charles and Stefan walked back. We met Abigail on their way down and they told us that they had seen a snake. Abigail had the presence of mind to halter Star who may have been bitten if he had worried the snake. She cautioned the two children and even had the courage to photograph the snake. It was later identified as a Berg Adder which is a particularly agressive snake and has a very toxic venom.
We picked a few Protea and then headed back to Talari for tea. We heard from Barbara that she had a bit of a disasterous trip. It seems that she had the wrong swimming pool. They, unknowingly, waited at this wrong pool in Belville industrial area until someone pointed out that there was not going to be a Gala there today. They then phoned David Glover (coach) and ultimately decided to not do any swimming as they were already so late.
Instead they drove to Cathy's new flat where they spent the night playing Pictionary and cards. They drove back to WC the following morning. Stefan had bought some Water Blommetjies on the road and he added this to his Potjie. I have included dome in formation about the Waterblommetjie at the end of the Blog as well as a recipe for a Potjie. The taste is quite distinct as is the texture of the vegetable.
Stefan also added a special Potjie Spice that he had found. The result was a really delicious supper even though we could not see what we were eating as we sat outside that evening.
An early night and we were up late the next morning. Charles and Ingrid left for home. Charles is busy with his proposal for his doctorate and only has a few months to submit it. While he has all the information that he requires, he has to put it into a format that will be acceptable to the University of Johannesburg where he is studying. Unfortunately he forgot his computer and had to turn back to WC to collect it.
Barbara was still driving and we decided to take the bushpig up the hill to collect some firewood. We went to the meadow in the pine forest area that we had discovered previously. The wood cutters have made a mess of the area and there are logs and trees lying all over the place. We had soon loaded as much as the bakkie can take. Some of the group walked back while we drove home and off loaded. Stefan fetched a saw and made some firewood more suitable for the indoor fireplace.
Barbara arrived quite tired having had a headache and struggling in heavy traffic. She also forgot to fill up at Heideldberg and the warning light of the petrol guage was lit. Stefan and I drove up to the Clay / Kaolin Dam where Paula has her camera's set to record Baboon activity. (Kaolin is used as the active substance in liquid anti-diarrhea medicines) Paula has calculated that the Baboons lick the Kaolin to assist their digestion process as the Wattle seed that they eat probably gives them diarrhea.
Kaolin is also used in ceramics, medicine, coated paper, as a food additive, in toothpaste, as a light diffusing material in white incandescent light bulbs, and in cosmetics. It is generally the main component in porcelain.
It is also used in paint to extend titanium dioxide (TiO2) and modify gloss levels; in rubber for semi-reinforcing properties and in adhesives to modify rheology.[6]
The largest use is in the production of paper, including ensuring the gloss on some grades of paper. Commercial grades of kaolin are supplied and transported as dry powder, semi-dry noodle or as liquid slurry.
It was quite dissapointing for us to see how poorly the wood cutters employed by Working for Water had Ringbarked the Wattles. It was so ineffective that the wattles were flowering and looking as healthy as if nothing had been done at all. Stefan and I attacked some of the offending Wattle Sapplings.
The day's activity ended with us on Oak tree meadown swining across the stream with children and adults taking part. Christian cannot get enough of this activity. I tried to pull some of the offending Wattle sapplings out but the bigger ones need mechanincal assistance or a saw and poison.
Supper this evening was a non event as everyone was really too tired or had been snacking through the afternoon. Freek and friend Martin had been to see us today. He has a number of proposals for WC including repairs to the road which could be important as the rainy season starts. He will fax his proposals to me and I will discuss them with the trustees. He told me that we still owed him R300 from the time of Mike (the builder). R
ather than dig into the past I agreed to pay him. Mike had been the builder who had done a huge number of jobs at WC including renovation of both Talari and Xairu. When his bother was in an accident last year we lost touch with him and he stopped coming to WC. Freek had been dependant on him for transfer of funds that we owed. It seems that there was an amount of R300 that Mike had never paid over to him.
This evening the rain started to fall. And it rained throughout the night. By morning we were concerned that we would not be able to drive out if the rain continued. My solution was to stay in bed and finish the book that I was reading. The author was Dave Morrell. It had started out a good story line with some Christian history of the Spanish Inquisition woven into the plot. But towards the end of the book the plot became impossible and the final impact was not that good. However I did what I rarely do and stayed in bed till after 08.00am reading.
Meanwhile the rain had let up and the weather forcast was for a more or less clear day. The Talari Dam had filled a good few millimeters and was looking a whole lot healthier. We can only hope that there is sufficient rain in the mountians to restart the falls and the streams of WC.
We decided to take advantage of the couple of hours of no rain and once I had arranged with Keith to go ahead with the Bushpig in case we battled to clear the steep part of the road and needed a tow, we packed up to leave. Cleaning the house always takes quite a while. Stefan had cleaned out the pantry and the fridge of old (past sell by date) food and we had quite a few black bags of old stuff to dispose of. I loaded this into the bakkie and asked Keith to take this to the tip later in the week.
Just as we were about to leave it began to rain again and we then "rushed" to complete our packing. Once we were all loaded up, I rode ahead with Keith and Stefan and Barbara drove behind. It was really not nearly as bad as we had expected and they cleared the slippery area on the west side of the weir (entrance to WC) with ease.
We filled up in Heidelberg and started a long trip home. We had left WC at about 14.30 and arrived home at 20.30. The traffic was particularly heavy on the N2 with every one heading home after a long weekend. It was overcast with intermittent rain for most of the drive. We stopped off at Plett where Ena had made some soup for us. She also gave us some more rusks.
Ally had slept for this first half of the trip. Ally does not like this type of meal and so asked us to stop at the Steers at Storms River for a Cheese Burger. It had started to rain heavily shortly after Storms River and the last part of the trip was increasingly tough. We made it home without incident. Nicci and Stefan had arrived home (Cape Town) about an hour before us.
Here is a piece of writing found in a restaurant that Barbara copied onto a serviette:
My comfort zone.
I used to have a comfort zone where I knew that I would not fail. The same four walls and busy work were more like a jail.
I longed so much to do the things that I had never done before, but stayed inside my comfort zone and paced the same old floor.
I said it does not matter that I was not doing much. I said I did not care for things like commission cheques and such.
I claimed to be so busy with things inside my zone, but deep inside I longed for something special of my own.
I could not watch my life go by just watching others win. I held my breath, stepped outside and let the change begin.
I took a step and with new strength I had never felt better before. I kissed the comfort zone goodbye. I closed and locked the door.
If you are in a comfort zone, afraid to venture out, remember that all winners were at a time filled with doubt.
A step or two and words of praise can make your dreams come true. Reach for your future with a smile. Success is then for you.
On my return from Heidleberg I was able to phone Derek Malan 021 950 7100 and he put me on to Zanne Olivier at Duivenhoks projects (working for water overberg) in Heidelberg 083 354 4746 / 028 722 8014. Zanne has taken over the management of the project of wattle clearing at WC from Davie Adendorf and his successor. Zanne is well aware of the problems regarding the quality of work at Wildcliff (they refer to it as Palmeira) and is working on the problem and promises me that she will be presenting a solution to Keith. Zanne tells me that they have discussions, in this regard, planned for this week.
Another identified problem at WC is the Fire Hazzard. With the volume of dry wood lying around it is a possibility that we could have a fire there which may become uncontrollable. Paula will talk to a neighbour about assisting with building a fire break and clearing a section. Possibly starting above the Heron House. The fallen branches also means that we are not able to access the area to clear out saplings. Burning is dependant on us being able to Bulldoze the fallen branches into a central area and then working with the weather, wind and a team of people to contain the fire.
29.09.2009.
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week. The last three days of September. I had three more days of leave. This is what is known in our company as Priveleged Leave. It is a long service perk to have a fourth week in the year as leave. If you dont take the leave you lose it so what ever you do you make sure that you take this extra week of leave.
I had a number of things to do: I work on a list and was able to do most of them. I had wanted to visit ADT as they were the sponsors of our clothing for the season ahead. I had to collect the old Merc from Michaels house and to wash it. It leaks and I had to clean out the back seat.
My own car was filthy from the WC trip. I seemed to have gathered more dust inside the car than ever before. I got the printer working at a cost of R90. I sorted out the stuff that Charles had brought back from WC for us. I was able to licence the Bakkie. Cathy's Daewoo is due soon but I will have to do this vehicle next month.
Ally had her social engagements with her friend Hanna Obrie. They have a market day at school next week and were hard at work making bracelets and sign boards. She is back to swim training. One evening they all met for movies at Walmer Park. A really nice group of young people that David Glover has sowed a deep sense of team spirit.
WATERBLOMMETJIE
The name comes from the Afrikaans language and literally means 'small water flower stew'. Known in English as Cape Pondweed, Cape Hawthorn or Cape Asparagus and scientifically as Aponogeton distachyos) found in the dams and marshes of the Western Cape (South Africa). The buds (waterblommetjies) are usually ready to be picked in the months of July and August (South African winter).
The taste can be described as much like stewed green beans with a hint of pumpkin.
Some believe that the early Dutch settlers (circa Jan van Riebeek’s time) used waterblommetjies as a vegetable (and hence a source of vitamin C) in desperation, since their early farming initiatives had been somewhat less than successful. The alternative tale is that the Voortrekkers harvested them as a food source, since while on trek, they were unable to grow anything. Whichever is the truth, waterblommetjie bredie is a well known and much respected local delicacy, popular with foreign tourists.
Waterblommetjie Potjie
Potjiekos is a fireside method of slow cooking in a traditional three
legged cast iron potjie pot
500g breast of shin of mutton
15ml cooking oil
3 onions, sliced
5 ml salt
freshly ground pepper to taste
125ml dry white wine
3 potatoes, peeled & sliced
1 kg fresh waterblommetjies
or 2 x 410g cans waterblommetjies
2 tomatoes, peeled & chopped
Cut the meat into portions. Heat the oil in the potjie and brown the
meat over moderate coals. Add the onion and fry gently until
translucent. Season with salt and pepper. Heat the wine in a small pan, pour it over the meat, cover and simmer over low coals for about 2.5 hours, until the meat is tender. Layer the potato, waterblommetjies and tomato in the meat, cover and simmer for another 30 minutes or until the vegetables are cooked. Serves 6
Peter
30.09.2009.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
WILDCLIFF PETER, RON, STEFAN, IAN & JENNY 13 TO 18 JANUARY 2009.
Wildcliff trip Ron, Stefan, Ian, Jenny & Peter.
Tuesday 14th to Sunday 18th January 2009
Stefan had said how keen he was for another Wildcliff trip and this is how we came to arrange this outing. Jacqui and her two children; Emily and Annabell were staying PE for two months and would be travelling to Cathy’s wedding on the 8th February. Ally had a week of intensive swim training and this is how I came to invite Ron to accompany me. I had planned to leave on Wednesday afternoon but Morkels head office called me to an urgent meeting regarding retrenchments in Johannesburg on the Friday 16th.
Ron & I managed to leave the office early on Tuesday afternoon and we were on the road to WC by about 15.00pm. We stopped off in Plett at Ena’s flat for tea and to collect some of Ena’s Rusks as well as her recipe for the Rusks. It was a brief stop and we headed off for Heidelberg where we filled up with Petrol. We reached WC by about 20.00pm.
Ian was not there as he was working in Johannesburg with Rand Merchant Bank and Standard Bank. Ian tells me that he works with Structured Finance, Mergers and Acquisitions. Jenny had made us some Spinach Pies but we had had a toasted sandwich in Heidelberg and were too tired to eat anything more.
Keith, Paula, Abigail and Bryce are the managing family for the next two years. Keith is ex US Air Force and has spent the past twenty years travelling all over the world including Texas, Afghanistan and Iraq. He is a practical person and runs the operations of WC. Paula is a researcher herself and spends time in the field. The two children are aged about 10 and 8 and Paula is home schooling them. Right now they are staying in the Weavers Nest but plan to move to the White House as soon as the cabinets have been built and the water solar heater is installed. The new name for the White house is Xairu. See the bottom of this story for an explanation of the word Xairu.
Wednesday morning Ron & I woke up early and packed some snacks in to the backpack. Peanut butter sandwiches, apples, bananas and crunchies. I like to be able to boost my sugar and energy level at fairly frequent intervals or else I find I become tired quickly. It looked like it would be cool and overcast today. We walked south along the South Ridge road with the Heron house on the right. We found the first tortoise that I have seen on WC. I phoned Jenny to find out if they had seen any Tortoises and she confirmed that they had found one and released it near to the Talari house. This tortoise must have walked all the way up the hill as, when I described the tortoise, she said that it sounded just like the one they had released.
Ron & I continued along the ridge road until we were almost at “Kallie’s” dairy farm. We then turned left following what looked like the spoor of two spooked buck. We entered Plattekloof at the end of the stream and then took a leisurely walk up the kloof. We stopped for a snack and continued up stream. I explained to Ron that we would be looking for a kloof coming into Plattekloof from the left.
After about 3 hours Ron spotted the inlet from what I believed to be the Peterkloof. I marked the entrance with bright orange tape. This section was very overgrown; however Ron used his machete to clear the entrance to the kloof. The Peterkloof starts off fairly narrow with lots of overgrowth but is easy to negotiate. We reached the waterfall where the kloof veers to the right. We had left a strapping here before and this made it easy for Ron & I climb up and above the falls.
A huge tree has fallen down and blocked off the stream. This fallen tree has taken a number of other trees and branches with it in its fall and this made climbing upstream quite tricky. As we reached the next waterfall I discovered a Baboon skeleton. I took out a plastic packet and gathered up as many of the bones that I could find. Bryce is in charge of the Bone collection and I thought that he could make use of this to add to his display.
Ron and I decided that the next waterfall was too tough to try to climb and headed off to the left. We rounded the boulders and hiked over and above the stream. At the top we were able to see into the kloof but not down to the top of the falls as the growth was too dense. We continued up until we came to a fence. At this stage we were now quite clear as to the source of the Peterkloof and decided to walk back to the Fynbos Road.
The Protea growth was thick and tall and we had difficulty in pushing our way through the brush and it was only by looking ahead to the Hammerkop that we were able to find our direction. However as we emerged from the really thick stuff we realised we had been looking at the wrong peak and had to head off to the west of the way that we had been heading. From here the route was not as difficult and we finally reached the Fynbos road.
Both of us were exhausted and the thought of a cup of tea and a sit down was quite inviting. Back at Talari we relaxed for an hour and then realised that the afternoon had plenty of daylight left so decided to walk up the Wilderkranz Kloof. This afternoon we met the team of Builders; Jackson and his son. They were busy in the house working in the chimney as well as building a trench for the flow of water at the back of Talari. There were a number of Baboons running around the Oak Tree Meadow but we walked past them and they carried on with their business and did not disturb us at all.
We walked along the old aquaduct and then past the pipe that crosses Wilderkranz stream and down into the Kloof. The water level was particularly low and it was relatively easy to stay on the left hand side. It seemed like a long walk up to the first little falls but when we reached the pool Ron spotted the webbing that Stefan & I had tied to the top of the falls some time ago. What Stefan had done was to tie the strapping to a log that was wedged into the rocks but a heavy rainfall must have dislodged the log and the webbing was still tied to the log.
We untied the webbing and I swam across the pool with it so that I could try to tie it to aid hikers in climbing to the top of this waterfall. I climbed up quite easily and forced the webbing under a rock and was able to secure it. Unfortunately the webbing was too short to reach the pool at the bottom. Ron had also swum across and was using the webbing that was still fastened to the left hand side of the falls to help him up. The webbing must have frayed and snapped as he was hauling himself up and he splashed backwards into the pool. Fortunately he was not hurt.
This gave me the opportunity to use this section of webbing for lengthening the strapping that I had just secured. When we were finished the webbing lay in the middle of the water flow. I am sure that this will not last as this nylon webbing is not strong enough to survive the constant battering of water. On our way back we filled the water bladder that I carry in my backpack from the spring that flows into the Wilderkranz stream. This water is, in my opinion, probably the best drinking water that you can find anywhere on WC.
This afternoon we had enjoyed two stunning walks and were really exhausted. Jenny made us a supper of turkey and vegetables. I added some sausage that I planned to use as fillers for the next days sandwiches. Jenny went out for supper (to Keith & Paula).
Thursday morning, after a really good night’s rest, we were a little more relaxed and left the house at about 08.00am. We walked straight up the Fynbos road and up to Ena’s Falls.
Keith and his team of Freek and Aubrey passed us as they were in the process of making repairs to the Fynbos Road where the road is a thin type of soil that does not bind and as soon as there is a rain the whole road just washes away. We suggested humps in place of troughs and Ron advocated the use of logs which are in abundance below where the pine forest has been cut. Aubrey has recently moved to Heidelberg to be with his family. He has been working in Cape Town where he was a Code 14 Heavy Duty driver doing both long and short distances. He had been introduced to Wildcliff by Jackson.
At the top of Ena’s falls we walked down to the pools and there had a swim. It was interesting to see all the little creatures in the pools. A researcher, Zolt, had given us a talk on the smallest of small creatures that live in the rivers. Today we had remembered to charge phones and were able to take a few pictures. I tried to send to Barbara but did not seem to have too much success. I need reading glasses to see small stuff and am not much good with a phone except for phoning. Having a phone is an advantage in some respects but Ron found himself being interrupted a number of times by calls from business partners. After this most refreshing swim (it was going to be a hot day) we carried on up onto Ackers farm and over to the Karoo Lookout ridge. It was becoming really hot and there was little or no breeze. Ferns seem to have overgrown on this jeep track and this is to me a clear indication that this area is no longer being harvested as it was two years ago when I first walked this road.
From the Karoo Lookout we could see for many kilometres to the north of the Langkloof both East and West and across to the mountain range in the north. After a short snack and some photography, we retraced our steps back to the neck at Ena’s Falls. As soon as we crested this neck we could feel the cool breeze coming from the West. I had a plan to map a trail from the sign leading to Ena’s Falls Viewpoint to the pools below the falls. I had orange tape and led a pathway down to the pools where I again had a swim.
This is not a difficult path but it will be made a little safer by adding some strapping to the section where the hiker has to clamber down some rocks. From here we had the task of finding a trail down to the Klipspringer Pools (Bumslide Pools) below where the water pipe had burst. We were tired and not keen for more rock climbing so avoided the rock face of the broken pipe and headed downwards in an easterly direction.
It was here that we found the “field of King Protea”. This field is West Facing, has lots of water in a sloot. At this time of year (January) it seems that the King Protea are in full bloom. As we descended into the kloof we came across a number of Pine Trees which we either cut down using a lopper or the Machete or else, if the tree was too strong, we Ring Barked the tree. The foliage is thick and it became difficult to see where we were going with rocks and vines impeding our progress.
Down in the kloof we wallowed in the cool stream, enjoying the refreshing break before our ascent back to the Fynbos road. We had one of our toughest climbs of the day out of the kloof. We did not hike up at an angle but rather straight up and I think that this was just too much for us. We walked down the Fynbos road to where there is a pathway down to Rain Frog dam. We walked this track to the end of the pipe where Ron filled his water bottle. We tried to find the trail leading down to Rain Frog dam but, while we did not have success in finding the actual trail, we kind of bundu bashed and made our way to the dam.
As we walked, I wondered to myself if the sloot to the right of us would have any water as an alternative source for Rain Frog dam. When we finally reached home that afternoon at about 16.00 we were both ready for our tea and a couch. Jenny suggested watering the chestnut trees and other plants on the dam wall. I was able to persuade her that we should do this when the sun had settled a bit more. By time the watering of the trees and garden had to be done we had had time to recover and the sun was not as fierce as it had been earlier.
We found the trees that had to watered and then decided, as the level of the pond had dropped quite considerably, to fill the pond with the garden hose. We left the hose running all Thursday night and by Friday evening it had filled to its optimum level. At the Weavers Nest we found Abigail and reminded her of her duty to water the Keurboom and Yellow Wood trees. The hose was just long enough to water the saplings around the house but the Gladioli that are now planted in the newly painted water trough need to be watered by bucket.
Jenny made us a supper of Roast Chicken and vegetables this was finished off with a desert of Christmas Pudding and Ice Cream. Simply delicious! Hanna (a GIS Mapping researcher) joined us for supper. Hanna is a Texan who will be at WC for another 6 months and then will be marrying her fiancé who is in the US army. I could not last out for much longer and excused myself for a good night’s rest.
Ron did not sleep well as he was suffering from a bit of heat exhaustion and dehydration. Stefan was on his way from Cape Town that afternoon and had agreed to pick up two volunteers; Diego from the Basque region of Spain and Elodie from France. http://wildcliff.org/research They had left CT airport at about 19.30 and only arrived at WC after 23.00. I was long fast asleep and did not hear Stefan come in.
Jenny & I had decided to leave for George at about 07.00am. I had to catch a flight to Johannesburg for the meeting regarding retrenchment of staff. We passed Albertina where I made my compulsory stop for Gekervde Biltong. Jenny dropped me off at the airport where I obtained my ticket and sat down for a meal at Dulce’s. I ordered a coffee and a Chicken Curry Tremezinne. This is a meal in a pita bread and quite delicious. Ally often orders this but always brings half of the meal home for a second helping later in the day. I was unable to finish my meal but did not have place for a take away box.
The flying time from George to Johannesburg is 1hour 40minutes. Dawn had given me a book voucher for my birthday and I had one of the books that I had bought with me. It was a book of short thriller stories and by the end of the flight I had slept and read the time away.
John Baatjies (also 25 years service with Morkels) collected me at the airport and we took a route through the city centre. I have not been through Johannesburg city for many years and could still recognise many places and street names from the time when we lived in Johannesburg and I worked in the family business at Gaynors which was a division of Giddy’s.
I was not a good student and when I failed my final year (B.Com) at Wits University, I started a part time job at Gaynors with the intention to study part time. I only completed my degree many years later. I first of all worked in Doornfontein where the warehousing and administration took place. Then later, as the Johannesburg branch of the business was shut down, I worked as a manager of the only remaining shop in Bree street.
This was a busy time of life as I would sell an appliance, load it up in the El Camino truck and whisk it off to the customer’s home. We also sold a variety of appliance spares. It was quite a good business but not what I saw as my future and so when the opportunity arose I accepted a position as accountant in Port Elizabeth where the head office of Giddy’s was located. Eventually; Gaynors, Bree Street, was sold to Richard Beukes who was the group accountant of Giddy’s in Port Elizabeth.
Shortly after moving to PE I was fortunate enough to meet Barbara. I and a few friends were living in a Communal house and Barbara needed a room. From this our romance blossomed and when I was called up to National Service for three months at the Namibian Border we decided to marry before I was killed in action. Barbara stayed at home with her parents until I returned.
We lived in a flat in Kabega for the first while, Nicci and then Jacqui came along and we decided to move to the beach where we found a flat in Cathcart road (Cathcart Gardens). We bought this two bedroom flat for R15 000. I had bought a motor Bike and used this to commute. Michael was born and when the opportunity came to move into the family home in Mill Park Road, we snapped it up. At about this time I left the family business of Giddy’s. I had spent the last number of years as a salesman in the Newton Park shop and was ready for something new.
My parents; Ena and Allan moved from their flat in Killarney, Johannesburg, to a home that they built next to the Anglican Church in Plettenberg Bay. My father continued with his interest in Giddy’s which was at that time being run by his partner and army buddy, Rocky Ridgeway. In the Mid ‘80’s the business was sold to Rusfurn and then later Rusfurn was taken over by the JD Group.
Barbara left SA Eagle insurance where she had been a secretary and found a new job as a PA at Blasting and Excavating where she worked for Basil Bartlet until she resigned in the late 1990’s. We have now lived in Mill Park for over 25 years. After leaving Giddy’s I spent a year as a “travelling salesman selling chemical products and then spent another year as a Regional Credit manager at Lewis Furnishers.
I had put an application in with Morkels and when they called me for a second interview I was delighted and accepted their offer without hesitation. I managed the Main Street shop for three years, the North End shop for a further three years and then moved to a regional position. I have now worked in a variety of regional positions at Morkels for 25 years.
Morkels has been through a management buy out from Federale Volksbeleggings, a take over by Profurn and then a take over by JDG. Right now I am in the process of moving from the Morkels brand to the JDG Financial services division and if all works out I will receive my first promotion in nearly 20 years. Barbara and I had decided to stay in PE rather than accept transfers and promotions.
Back to my meeting in Johannesburg: John drove me out to Hillfox in the West Rand, where the JDG training and meetings facilities are housed. We were handed the retrenchment letters that we had to take back with us on Monday and then Sue Lewis (HR Executive) explained how we were to handle the communication. After the meeting John drove me back to OR Tambo airport where I met up with Ian and we were able to sit together for the return flight home.
This kind of trip is exhausting to me and I had a bit of a dull headache. Jenny met us at the airport and we drove back to WC together. Jenny had spent a good day shopping in the George Mall where she had purchased a number of research books and some of the essentials for WC. Jenny had also bought us a supper of Sushi for the road. I think that Jenny enjoys spoiling “her men” with delights like this.
Stefan and Ron had made us a delicious Pootjie on the braai. It was late and while we had supper Stefan and Ron related their day’s activities. Ron had started off the day not been feeling that good but by about 09.00 had recovered enough to walk up the fynbos road.
Stefan wanted to explore the ridge which he and I had seen from the West side of the Wilderkranz Kloof. They walked up the Fynbos road and then down and along the ridge towards the Doghead Rock. They tell me that they marked the trail well and that Stefan had made liberal use of the Loppers. They finally reached the Wilderkranz stream and walked and swam down the valley until they reached what is now called Bryce Canyon. Here they walked up the hill and back to Fynbos road. I make this sound quick and easy but the day’s activity took them to 19.00pm. I think that this hiking trail should be called Stefan’s Loop. This had been a 10hour hike for them. Nevertheless they had waited up until we arrived back from our travels.
Saturday Morning. This would be our last day of the short holiday. We warmed up some of the Pootjie for our breakfast. I wanted to get going as soon as possible but Ian wanted to set out a planned route. We decided to find out if there was any water in the sloot that lies to the West of Rain Frog Dam. Ian then wanted to see the Wilderkranz Kloof at about the area where the first Little Falls were located from above on the East side of the kloof. Finally Ian wanted to find the water pipe on Fynbos Road where Freek and Aubrey were repairing a section of the road.
We set off at about 8 or 9am and walked up through the wattles to Rain Frog dam and over the dam wall to where we found these two sloots that would lead down to the Oak Tree Meadow. Both of them were dry and therefore this would not be an alternate source of water for the houses of WC. We then headed uphill through where Tom Ambrose’ teams had cut the pines and wattle and then over to the East of the Wilderkranz valley. As we walked this route we found a trap which we assumed to be a Leopard trap.
We continued down until we found what we thought to be a lookout point. From here we could see the top of Sunshine Falls. This is the second falls after the Little Falls as you work your way up from Oak Tree meadow. We could not see into the kloof itself as it is simply too dense with trees and foliage. We carried on up and found another lookout point. From this vantage point it appears that with some assistance from webbing we may be able to climb down into the kloof. Ian spotted a few Wattles below us. Ron immediately headed down into this valley and begun chopping the first of three trees down. I took an easy little tree and Stefan, being the youngest of us, was given the task of the biggest tree. Ron slung some of the webbing around a stump and this aided Stefan in his trip down and back up again. We should carry some Garlon poison with us to make these efforts of ours a permanent solution.
From here we walked up to the Fynbos road, found the pipe on the road and settled down to a snack. While we relaxed on the road we saw Diego and Elodie walking up towards us. We all greeted and introduced ourselves and then walked up to Ena’s Falls. At Ena’s Falls we made our way down to the Burst Pipe rocks and then down through this kloof to the bottom Klipspringer pools. Ian, Stefan & I had a swim. The weather was not that warm and the water quite brisk. Still a lovely swim.
Ron & Stefan had looped a section of webbing for the climb up. This certainly made this climb a lot easier and the researchers will have no trouble reaching these otherwise tough sections of the valley. By putting the webbing in place we also are able to save the grasses as we tend to pull on grasses to help us up the steep hills. Shortly after this Stefan and Ron headed down the fynbos road to Talari, following Diego and Elodie.
Hennie, the water pipe man from the Heidelberg coop arrived with Keith and surveyed the pipes to see how best the broken pipe could be mended. I also showed Hennie where there were other sections of broken and leaking pipes up above Ena’s falls. We located the source of the water where the pipe starts as well as the valve where the water can be turned off altogether. It is not advisable to turn the valve off completely as this could result in the PVC pipe collapsing and being destroyed in the process. The low water level means that only 1/3rd of the inlet pipe is being fed. Perhaps we should consider building a small weir here,
There was a brisk wind coming up the valley from the south west and Ian was able to find a sheltered spot behind a couple of huge boulders. He plans to ask one of the contractors if they will be able to build a small stone hut for overnight hikers. This will be a two man hut with the very minimum basics. It will have to survive storms, wind, fire and baboons. Hennie’s team fitted a new escape valve just above the broken pipe and he also fitted a tap just below where Ian is considering the stone hut.
Ian was due to give a presentation on Biodiversity and his guests were already there and waiting. The next day was Ian’s birthday and he had invited Bob & Wilma plus all the volunteers for a braai. Ian and I walked down at a brisk pace. We reached Talari at about 17.30 and after a shower and a cup of tea I was beginning to feel human again. This had been a long day’s hiking of 8 or 9 hours.
Jenny had set up a presentation area in the lounge which I almost destroyed when I walked past carrying my backpack in front of me and did not take enough care when walking over the wires. I tripped, the projector crashed down but fortunately did not break. Ian then gave us a very interesting presentation on the subject of Biodiversity and why it is of importance to study the biodiversity at both Cloudbridge and at Wildcliff and to monitor the changes.
Bob and I did the Braaiing while Jenny prepared vegetables. Paula had made a most delicious bread. I would have been happy to have this alone but all the food was so inviting that I could not resist sampling a bit of everything. We had a desert of mixed Melk Tert and Christmas pudding. While my birthday had been a few weeks earlier I was spoilt with gifts from both Jenny (a rechargeable torch) and from Paula a (home made braai sauce).
This was my 5th night away from home and I was looking forward to getting back to my family. There was such a festive and active conversation going on that after two attempts to interrupt and bid everyone a good night I finally went off to bed. I set the alarm for 04.00am and awoke just before that on Sunday Morning. Ron also woke up and we decided to pack and go. We were on the road at about 04.30 and made our first stop in Plett at the Shell garage where we bought a coffee and toasted sandwich. The road was relatively empty and we were back home before 10.00am. This is probably the quickest time that I have driven between WC and PE.
18TH January is Ian Giddy (079 538 2444) and Ian Spence (044 5333 1657) Birthday. I spoke to Patrick who was at the Hogsback for a three day conference. He told me of how he driven from Durban and taken the road from Kokstad to Matatielle to Queenstown and that this was a really easy tar road with no traffic and this avoided the congestion of places like Mthatha and Butterworth. I will probably take this route when we go to Durban for Nippers Nationals in April.
I phoned Ian Spence to wish him a happy 93rd birthday. While he had suffered a bit of a health setback recently, on his birthday he had a “drinks party” and was able to swim in the pool. Ian Giddy had also had recent health problems. He had discovered a cancer while being examined for a Kidney stone. Doctors have been able to remove the cancer and Ian is presently going for blood tests which should have been forwarded to his doctor in NY but this process seems to have been less then successful. However Ian seems to be very strong. He is back working as hard as ever at the operations of the two reserves, the consulting work that he does and was hugely active as we walked and climbed and swam in some difficult trails at WC this weekend.
Stefan had left WC at about 05.30. He travelled the on the N2 to about 10kays before Swellendam where he took a left turn to Barrydale. This may have been a bit of a mistake as the route was about 40kays longer then going through Swellendam and Ashton. Stefan reports it to be a stunning pass with deep cliffs and ridges. This road is tarred all the way to the N1. He saw little or no traffic and the drive took him about 30 minutes longer than normal.
It was good to be home. As soon as I had unpacked, I dressed for Nippers. Barbara, Ally & I drove down to Summerstrand. A strong west wind was blowing and there were some ultra huge swells that ended up crashing onto the shallows of the beach. The sand had begun to build up and there were not as many rocks as we have experienced over the past number of weeks.
After a short warm up run we took the U10’s through their paces in the water. First a swim and I was pleasantly surprised to see how many of the u10’s made it through the dumpers and swam out to where the coaches were waiting. We then put them on Body Boards and again a number of these youngsters braved the waves and paddled out to the coaches.
I have started to find a sense of team spirit developing in the U10’s. We now have more than a team of just one u10 girl. At the Plett carnival Marion was the only girl in the U10 Nippers team. And the boys are becoming more confident as they become used to the ocean. What really helps, at this level, is the increased number of parents who stay and contribute both in the water, on the beach and in other ways. We are very fortunate to have such a dedicated group.
The U10’s should be pleasantly surprised when they are at Kings Beach next week for the Carnival. The swell is not nearly as big and the waves are easier to negotiate. We ran though sprints and baton changing for team selection purposes. Lynne and I went through the criteria for the Nippers doing their first Level tests. We have a small group of u10’s going for a level test on Saturday and we should have over 20 X U10’s competing in the carnival next Sunday.
Xairu:
Dear Peter,
Thank you for visiting www.openafrica.org and posting your comment/request.
The information on the route, and thus the name can be found within the
route background information at the following link:
http://www.openafrica.org/route/xairu-blue-crane-route
But to answer your question directly I have copied the information, see
below:
"Xairu" (pronounced with the 'x' as a click sound made by flattening the
tongue on the roof of the mouth and then removing it) means "paradise" in
the old language of the San people who used to inhabit the area.
Please feel free to post any requests or comments on our site again. Thank
yoU!
Kind Regards
Jolene du Plessis
Open Africa
Tel: +27 21 683 9639
Fax: +27 21 683 8013
Cell: +27 72 015 9978
Email: jolene@openafrica.org
Website: www.openafrica.org
Tuesday 14th to Sunday 18th January 2009
Stefan had said how keen he was for another Wildcliff trip and this is how we came to arrange this outing. Jacqui and her two children; Emily and Annabell were staying PE for two months and would be travelling to Cathy’s wedding on the 8th February. Ally had a week of intensive swim training and this is how I came to invite Ron to accompany me. I had planned to leave on Wednesday afternoon but Morkels head office called me to an urgent meeting regarding retrenchments in Johannesburg on the Friday 16th.
Ron & I managed to leave the office early on Tuesday afternoon and we were on the road to WC by about 15.00pm. We stopped off in Plett at Ena’s flat for tea and to collect some of Ena’s Rusks as well as her recipe for the Rusks. It was a brief stop and we headed off for Heidelberg where we filled up with Petrol. We reached WC by about 20.00pm.
Ian was not there as he was working in Johannesburg with Rand Merchant Bank and Standard Bank. Ian tells me that he works with Structured Finance, Mergers and Acquisitions. Jenny had made us some Spinach Pies but we had had a toasted sandwich in Heidelberg and were too tired to eat anything more.
Keith, Paula, Abigail and Bryce are the managing family for the next two years. Keith is ex US Air Force and has spent the past twenty years travelling all over the world including Texas, Afghanistan and Iraq. He is a practical person and runs the operations of WC. Paula is a researcher herself and spends time in the field. The two children are aged about 10 and 8 and Paula is home schooling them. Right now they are staying in the Weavers Nest but plan to move to the White House as soon as the cabinets have been built and the water solar heater is installed. The new name for the White house is Xairu. See the bottom of this story for an explanation of the word Xairu.
Wednesday morning Ron & I woke up early and packed some snacks in to the backpack. Peanut butter sandwiches, apples, bananas and crunchies. I like to be able to boost my sugar and energy level at fairly frequent intervals or else I find I become tired quickly. It looked like it would be cool and overcast today. We walked south along the South Ridge road with the Heron house on the right. We found the first tortoise that I have seen on WC. I phoned Jenny to find out if they had seen any Tortoises and she confirmed that they had found one and released it near to the Talari house. This tortoise must have walked all the way up the hill as, when I described the tortoise, she said that it sounded just like the one they had released.
Ron & I continued along the ridge road until we were almost at “Kallie’s” dairy farm. We then turned left following what looked like the spoor of two spooked buck. We entered Plattekloof at the end of the stream and then took a leisurely walk up the kloof. We stopped for a snack and continued up stream. I explained to Ron that we would be looking for a kloof coming into Plattekloof from the left.
After about 3 hours Ron spotted the inlet from what I believed to be the Peterkloof. I marked the entrance with bright orange tape. This section was very overgrown; however Ron used his machete to clear the entrance to the kloof. The Peterkloof starts off fairly narrow with lots of overgrowth but is easy to negotiate. We reached the waterfall where the kloof veers to the right. We had left a strapping here before and this made it easy for Ron & I climb up and above the falls.
A huge tree has fallen down and blocked off the stream. This fallen tree has taken a number of other trees and branches with it in its fall and this made climbing upstream quite tricky. As we reached the next waterfall I discovered a Baboon skeleton. I took out a plastic packet and gathered up as many of the bones that I could find. Bryce is in charge of the Bone collection and I thought that he could make use of this to add to his display.
Ron and I decided that the next waterfall was too tough to try to climb and headed off to the left. We rounded the boulders and hiked over and above the stream. At the top we were able to see into the kloof but not down to the top of the falls as the growth was too dense. We continued up until we came to a fence. At this stage we were now quite clear as to the source of the Peterkloof and decided to walk back to the Fynbos Road.
The Protea growth was thick and tall and we had difficulty in pushing our way through the brush and it was only by looking ahead to the Hammerkop that we were able to find our direction. However as we emerged from the really thick stuff we realised we had been looking at the wrong peak and had to head off to the west of the way that we had been heading. From here the route was not as difficult and we finally reached the Fynbos road.
Both of us were exhausted and the thought of a cup of tea and a sit down was quite inviting. Back at Talari we relaxed for an hour and then realised that the afternoon had plenty of daylight left so decided to walk up the Wilderkranz Kloof. This afternoon we met the team of Builders; Jackson and his son. They were busy in the house working in the chimney as well as building a trench for the flow of water at the back of Talari. There were a number of Baboons running around the Oak Tree Meadow but we walked past them and they carried on with their business and did not disturb us at all.
We walked along the old aquaduct and then past the pipe that crosses Wilderkranz stream and down into the Kloof. The water level was particularly low and it was relatively easy to stay on the left hand side. It seemed like a long walk up to the first little falls but when we reached the pool Ron spotted the webbing that Stefan & I had tied to the top of the falls some time ago. What Stefan had done was to tie the strapping to a log that was wedged into the rocks but a heavy rainfall must have dislodged the log and the webbing was still tied to the log.
We untied the webbing and I swam across the pool with it so that I could try to tie it to aid hikers in climbing to the top of this waterfall. I climbed up quite easily and forced the webbing under a rock and was able to secure it. Unfortunately the webbing was too short to reach the pool at the bottom. Ron had also swum across and was using the webbing that was still fastened to the left hand side of the falls to help him up. The webbing must have frayed and snapped as he was hauling himself up and he splashed backwards into the pool. Fortunately he was not hurt.
This gave me the opportunity to use this section of webbing for lengthening the strapping that I had just secured. When we were finished the webbing lay in the middle of the water flow. I am sure that this will not last as this nylon webbing is not strong enough to survive the constant battering of water. On our way back we filled the water bladder that I carry in my backpack from the spring that flows into the Wilderkranz stream. This water is, in my opinion, probably the best drinking water that you can find anywhere on WC.
This afternoon we had enjoyed two stunning walks and were really exhausted. Jenny made us a supper of turkey and vegetables. I added some sausage that I planned to use as fillers for the next days sandwiches. Jenny went out for supper (to Keith & Paula).
Thursday morning, after a really good night’s rest, we were a little more relaxed and left the house at about 08.00am. We walked straight up the Fynbos road and up to Ena’s Falls.
Keith and his team of Freek and Aubrey passed us as they were in the process of making repairs to the Fynbos Road where the road is a thin type of soil that does not bind and as soon as there is a rain the whole road just washes away. We suggested humps in place of troughs and Ron advocated the use of logs which are in abundance below where the pine forest has been cut. Aubrey has recently moved to Heidelberg to be with his family. He has been working in Cape Town where he was a Code 14 Heavy Duty driver doing both long and short distances. He had been introduced to Wildcliff by Jackson.
At the top of Ena’s falls we walked down to the pools and there had a swim. It was interesting to see all the little creatures in the pools. A researcher, Zolt, had given us a talk on the smallest of small creatures that live in the rivers. Today we had remembered to charge phones and were able to take a few pictures. I tried to send to Barbara but did not seem to have too much success. I need reading glasses to see small stuff and am not much good with a phone except for phoning. Having a phone is an advantage in some respects but Ron found himself being interrupted a number of times by calls from business partners. After this most refreshing swim (it was going to be a hot day) we carried on up onto Ackers farm and over to the Karoo Lookout ridge. It was becoming really hot and there was little or no breeze. Ferns seem to have overgrown on this jeep track and this is to me a clear indication that this area is no longer being harvested as it was two years ago when I first walked this road.
From the Karoo Lookout we could see for many kilometres to the north of the Langkloof both East and West and across to the mountain range in the north. After a short snack and some photography, we retraced our steps back to the neck at Ena’s Falls. As soon as we crested this neck we could feel the cool breeze coming from the West. I had a plan to map a trail from the sign leading to Ena’s Falls Viewpoint to the pools below the falls. I had orange tape and led a pathway down to the pools where I again had a swim.
This is not a difficult path but it will be made a little safer by adding some strapping to the section where the hiker has to clamber down some rocks. From here we had the task of finding a trail down to the Klipspringer Pools (Bumslide Pools) below where the water pipe had burst. We were tired and not keen for more rock climbing so avoided the rock face of the broken pipe and headed downwards in an easterly direction.
It was here that we found the “field of King Protea”. This field is West Facing, has lots of water in a sloot. At this time of year (January) it seems that the King Protea are in full bloom. As we descended into the kloof we came across a number of Pine Trees which we either cut down using a lopper or the Machete or else, if the tree was too strong, we Ring Barked the tree. The foliage is thick and it became difficult to see where we were going with rocks and vines impeding our progress.
Down in the kloof we wallowed in the cool stream, enjoying the refreshing break before our ascent back to the Fynbos road. We had one of our toughest climbs of the day out of the kloof. We did not hike up at an angle but rather straight up and I think that this was just too much for us. We walked down the Fynbos road to where there is a pathway down to Rain Frog dam. We walked this track to the end of the pipe where Ron filled his water bottle. We tried to find the trail leading down to Rain Frog dam but, while we did not have success in finding the actual trail, we kind of bundu bashed and made our way to the dam.
As we walked, I wondered to myself if the sloot to the right of us would have any water as an alternative source for Rain Frog dam. When we finally reached home that afternoon at about 16.00 we were both ready for our tea and a couch. Jenny suggested watering the chestnut trees and other plants on the dam wall. I was able to persuade her that we should do this when the sun had settled a bit more. By time the watering of the trees and garden had to be done we had had time to recover and the sun was not as fierce as it had been earlier.
We found the trees that had to watered and then decided, as the level of the pond had dropped quite considerably, to fill the pond with the garden hose. We left the hose running all Thursday night and by Friday evening it had filled to its optimum level. At the Weavers Nest we found Abigail and reminded her of her duty to water the Keurboom and Yellow Wood trees. The hose was just long enough to water the saplings around the house but the Gladioli that are now planted in the newly painted water trough need to be watered by bucket.
Jenny made us a supper of Roast Chicken and vegetables this was finished off with a desert of Christmas Pudding and Ice Cream. Simply delicious! Hanna (a GIS Mapping researcher) joined us for supper. Hanna is a Texan who will be at WC for another 6 months and then will be marrying her fiancé who is in the US army. I could not last out for much longer and excused myself for a good night’s rest.
Ron did not sleep well as he was suffering from a bit of heat exhaustion and dehydration. Stefan was on his way from Cape Town that afternoon and had agreed to pick up two volunteers; Diego from the Basque region of Spain and Elodie from France. http://wildcliff.org/research They had left CT airport at about 19.30 and only arrived at WC after 23.00. I was long fast asleep and did not hear Stefan come in.
Jenny & I had decided to leave for George at about 07.00am. I had to catch a flight to Johannesburg for the meeting regarding retrenchment of staff. We passed Albertina where I made my compulsory stop for Gekervde Biltong. Jenny dropped me off at the airport where I obtained my ticket and sat down for a meal at Dulce’s. I ordered a coffee and a Chicken Curry Tremezinne. This is a meal in a pita bread and quite delicious. Ally often orders this but always brings half of the meal home for a second helping later in the day. I was unable to finish my meal but did not have place for a take away box.
The flying time from George to Johannesburg is 1hour 40minutes. Dawn had given me a book voucher for my birthday and I had one of the books that I had bought with me. It was a book of short thriller stories and by the end of the flight I had slept and read the time away.
John Baatjies (also 25 years service with Morkels) collected me at the airport and we took a route through the city centre. I have not been through Johannesburg city for many years and could still recognise many places and street names from the time when we lived in Johannesburg and I worked in the family business at Gaynors which was a division of Giddy’s.
I was not a good student and when I failed my final year (B.Com) at Wits University, I started a part time job at Gaynors with the intention to study part time. I only completed my degree many years later. I first of all worked in Doornfontein where the warehousing and administration took place. Then later, as the Johannesburg branch of the business was shut down, I worked as a manager of the only remaining shop in Bree street.
This was a busy time of life as I would sell an appliance, load it up in the El Camino truck and whisk it off to the customer’s home. We also sold a variety of appliance spares. It was quite a good business but not what I saw as my future and so when the opportunity arose I accepted a position as accountant in Port Elizabeth where the head office of Giddy’s was located. Eventually; Gaynors, Bree Street, was sold to Richard Beukes who was the group accountant of Giddy’s in Port Elizabeth.
Shortly after moving to PE I was fortunate enough to meet Barbara. I and a few friends were living in a Communal house and Barbara needed a room. From this our romance blossomed and when I was called up to National Service for three months at the Namibian Border we decided to marry before I was killed in action. Barbara stayed at home with her parents until I returned.
We lived in a flat in Kabega for the first while, Nicci and then Jacqui came along and we decided to move to the beach where we found a flat in Cathcart road (Cathcart Gardens). We bought this two bedroom flat for R15 000. I had bought a motor Bike and used this to commute. Michael was born and when the opportunity came to move into the family home in Mill Park Road, we snapped it up. At about this time I left the family business of Giddy’s. I had spent the last number of years as a salesman in the Newton Park shop and was ready for something new.
My parents; Ena and Allan moved from their flat in Killarney, Johannesburg, to a home that they built next to the Anglican Church in Plettenberg Bay. My father continued with his interest in Giddy’s which was at that time being run by his partner and army buddy, Rocky Ridgeway. In the Mid ‘80’s the business was sold to Rusfurn and then later Rusfurn was taken over by the JD Group.
Barbara left SA Eagle insurance where she had been a secretary and found a new job as a PA at Blasting and Excavating where she worked for Basil Bartlet until she resigned in the late 1990’s. We have now lived in Mill Park for over 25 years. After leaving Giddy’s I spent a year as a “travelling salesman selling chemical products and then spent another year as a Regional Credit manager at Lewis Furnishers.
I had put an application in with Morkels and when they called me for a second interview I was delighted and accepted their offer without hesitation. I managed the Main Street shop for three years, the North End shop for a further three years and then moved to a regional position. I have now worked in a variety of regional positions at Morkels for 25 years.
Morkels has been through a management buy out from Federale Volksbeleggings, a take over by Profurn and then a take over by JDG. Right now I am in the process of moving from the Morkels brand to the JDG Financial services division and if all works out I will receive my first promotion in nearly 20 years. Barbara and I had decided to stay in PE rather than accept transfers and promotions.
Back to my meeting in Johannesburg: John drove me out to Hillfox in the West Rand, where the JDG training and meetings facilities are housed. We were handed the retrenchment letters that we had to take back with us on Monday and then Sue Lewis (HR Executive) explained how we were to handle the communication. After the meeting John drove me back to OR Tambo airport where I met up with Ian and we were able to sit together for the return flight home.
This kind of trip is exhausting to me and I had a bit of a dull headache. Jenny met us at the airport and we drove back to WC together. Jenny had spent a good day shopping in the George Mall where she had purchased a number of research books and some of the essentials for WC. Jenny had also bought us a supper of Sushi for the road. I think that Jenny enjoys spoiling “her men” with delights like this.
Stefan and Ron had made us a delicious Pootjie on the braai. It was late and while we had supper Stefan and Ron related their day’s activities. Ron had started off the day not been feeling that good but by about 09.00 had recovered enough to walk up the fynbos road.
Stefan wanted to explore the ridge which he and I had seen from the West side of the Wilderkranz Kloof. They walked up the Fynbos road and then down and along the ridge towards the Doghead Rock. They tell me that they marked the trail well and that Stefan had made liberal use of the Loppers. They finally reached the Wilderkranz stream and walked and swam down the valley until they reached what is now called Bryce Canyon. Here they walked up the hill and back to Fynbos road. I make this sound quick and easy but the day’s activity took them to 19.00pm. I think that this hiking trail should be called Stefan’s Loop. This had been a 10hour hike for them. Nevertheless they had waited up until we arrived back from our travels.
Saturday Morning. This would be our last day of the short holiday. We warmed up some of the Pootjie for our breakfast. I wanted to get going as soon as possible but Ian wanted to set out a planned route. We decided to find out if there was any water in the sloot that lies to the West of Rain Frog Dam. Ian then wanted to see the Wilderkranz Kloof at about the area where the first Little Falls were located from above on the East side of the kloof. Finally Ian wanted to find the water pipe on Fynbos Road where Freek and Aubrey were repairing a section of the road.
We set off at about 8 or 9am and walked up through the wattles to Rain Frog dam and over the dam wall to where we found these two sloots that would lead down to the Oak Tree Meadow. Both of them were dry and therefore this would not be an alternate source of water for the houses of WC. We then headed uphill through where Tom Ambrose’ teams had cut the pines and wattle and then over to the East of the Wilderkranz valley. As we walked this route we found a trap which we assumed to be a Leopard trap.
We continued down until we found what we thought to be a lookout point. From here we could see the top of Sunshine Falls. This is the second falls after the Little Falls as you work your way up from Oak Tree meadow. We could not see into the kloof itself as it is simply too dense with trees and foliage. We carried on up and found another lookout point. From this vantage point it appears that with some assistance from webbing we may be able to climb down into the kloof. Ian spotted a few Wattles below us. Ron immediately headed down into this valley and begun chopping the first of three trees down. I took an easy little tree and Stefan, being the youngest of us, was given the task of the biggest tree. Ron slung some of the webbing around a stump and this aided Stefan in his trip down and back up again. We should carry some Garlon poison with us to make these efforts of ours a permanent solution.
From here we walked up to the Fynbos road, found the pipe on the road and settled down to a snack. While we relaxed on the road we saw Diego and Elodie walking up towards us. We all greeted and introduced ourselves and then walked up to Ena’s Falls. At Ena’s Falls we made our way down to the Burst Pipe rocks and then down through this kloof to the bottom Klipspringer pools. Ian, Stefan & I had a swim. The weather was not that warm and the water quite brisk. Still a lovely swim.
Ron & Stefan had looped a section of webbing for the climb up. This certainly made this climb a lot easier and the researchers will have no trouble reaching these otherwise tough sections of the valley. By putting the webbing in place we also are able to save the grasses as we tend to pull on grasses to help us up the steep hills. Shortly after this Stefan and Ron headed down the fynbos road to Talari, following Diego and Elodie.
Hennie, the water pipe man from the Heidelberg coop arrived with Keith and surveyed the pipes to see how best the broken pipe could be mended. I also showed Hennie where there were other sections of broken and leaking pipes up above Ena’s falls. We located the source of the water where the pipe starts as well as the valve where the water can be turned off altogether. It is not advisable to turn the valve off completely as this could result in the PVC pipe collapsing and being destroyed in the process. The low water level means that only 1/3rd of the inlet pipe is being fed. Perhaps we should consider building a small weir here,
There was a brisk wind coming up the valley from the south west and Ian was able to find a sheltered spot behind a couple of huge boulders. He plans to ask one of the contractors if they will be able to build a small stone hut for overnight hikers. This will be a two man hut with the very minimum basics. It will have to survive storms, wind, fire and baboons. Hennie’s team fitted a new escape valve just above the broken pipe and he also fitted a tap just below where Ian is considering the stone hut.
Ian was due to give a presentation on Biodiversity and his guests were already there and waiting. The next day was Ian’s birthday and he had invited Bob & Wilma plus all the volunteers for a braai. Ian and I walked down at a brisk pace. We reached Talari at about 17.30 and after a shower and a cup of tea I was beginning to feel human again. This had been a long day’s hiking of 8 or 9 hours.
Jenny had set up a presentation area in the lounge which I almost destroyed when I walked past carrying my backpack in front of me and did not take enough care when walking over the wires. I tripped, the projector crashed down but fortunately did not break. Ian then gave us a very interesting presentation on the subject of Biodiversity and why it is of importance to study the biodiversity at both Cloudbridge and at Wildcliff and to monitor the changes.
Bob and I did the Braaiing while Jenny prepared vegetables. Paula had made a most delicious bread. I would have been happy to have this alone but all the food was so inviting that I could not resist sampling a bit of everything. We had a desert of mixed Melk Tert and Christmas pudding. While my birthday had been a few weeks earlier I was spoilt with gifts from both Jenny (a rechargeable torch) and from Paula a (home made braai sauce).
This was my 5th night away from home and I was looking forward to getting back to my family. There was such a festive and active conversation going on that after two attempts to interrupt and bid everyone a good night I finally went off to bed. I set the alarm for 04.00am and awoke just before that on Sunday Morning. Ron also woke up and we decided to pack and go. We were on the road at about 04.30 and made our first stop in Plett at the Shell garage where we bought a coffee and toasted sandwich. The road was relatively empty and we were back home before 10.00am. This is probably the quickest time that I have driven between WC and PE.
18TH January is Ian Giddy (079 538 2444) and Ian Spence (044 5333 1657) Birthday. I spoke to Patrick who was at the Hogsback for a three day conference. He told me of how he driven from Durban and taken the road from Kokstad to Matatielle to Queenstown and that this was a really easy tar road with no traffic and this avoided the congestion of places like Mthatha and Butterworth. I will probably take this route when we go to Durban for Nippers Nationals in April.
I phoned Ian Spence to wish him a happy 93rd birthday. While he had suffered a bit of a health setback recently, on his birthday he had a “drinks party” and was able to swim in the pool. Ian Giddy had also had recent health problems. He had discovered a cancer while being examined for a Kidney stone. Doctors have been able to remove the cancer and Ian is presently going for blood tests which should have been forwarded to his doctor in NY but this process seems to have been less then successful. However Ian seems to be very strong. He is back working as hard as ever at the operations of the two reserves, the consulting work that he does and was hugely active as we walked and climbed and swam in some difficult trails at WC this weekend.
Stefan had left WC at about 05.30. He travelled the on the N2 to about 10kays before Swellendam where he took a left turn to Barrydale. This may have been a bit of a mistake as the route was about 40kays longer then going through Swellendam and Ashton. Stefan reports it to be a stunning pass with deep cliffs and ridges. This road is tarred all the way to the N1. He saw little or no traffic and the drive took him about 30 minutes longer than normal.
It was good to be home. As soon as I had unpacked, I dressed for Nippers. Barbara, Ally & I drove down to Summerstrand. A strong west wind was blowing and there were some ultra huge swells that ended up crashing onto the shallows of the beach. The sand had begun to build up and there were not as many rocks as we have experienced over the past number of weeks.
After a short warm up run we took the U10’s through their paces in the water. First a swim and I was pleasantly surprised to see how many of the u10’s made it through the dumpers and swam out to where the coaches were waiting. We then put them on Body Boards and again a number of these youngsters braved the waves and paddled out to the coaches.
I have started to find a sense of team spirit developing in the U10’s. We now have more than a team of just one u10 girl. At the Plett carnival Marion was the only girl in the U10 Nippers team. And the boys are becoming more confident as they become used to the ocean. What really helps, at this level, is the increased number of parents who stay and contribute both in the water, on the beach and in other ways. We are very fortunate to have such a dedicated group.
The U10’s should be pleasantly surprised when they are at Kings Beach next week for the Carnival. The swell is not nearly as big and the waves are easier to negotiate. We ran though sprints and baton changing for team selection purposes. Lynne and I went through the criteria for the Nippers doing their first Level tests. We have a small group of u10’s going for a level test on Saturday and we should have over 20 X U10’s competing in the carnival next Sunday.
Xairu:
Dear Peter,
Thank you for visiting www.openafrica.org and posting your comment/request.
The information on the route, and thus the name can be found within the
route background information at the following link:
http://www.openafrica.org/route/xairu-blue-crane-route
But to answer your question directly I have copied the information, see
below:
"Xairu" (pronounced with the 'x' as a click sound made by flattening the
tongue on the roof of the mouth and then removing it) means "paradise" in
the old language of the San people who used to inhabit the area.
Please feel free to post any requests or comments on our site again. Thank
yoU!
Kind Regards
Jolene du Plessis
Open Africa
Tel: +27 21 683 9639
Fax: +27 21 683 8013
Cell: +27 72 015 9978
Email: jolene@openafrica.org
Website: www.openafrica.org
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