KNYSNA HALF MARATHON - PART OF THE KNYSNA OYSTER FESTIVAL AND THE FOREST MARATHON
10 JULY 2010
PETER GIDDY
BEN CARVER
SUZANNE GENDALL
SJANI & RAY HUMAN
To be eligible to run this race you have to enter on-line very soon after race entries open. It is a very popular event in particular with athletes and casual runners from the Western Cape. The race is run during the Knysna Oyster Festival which, despite the name of the festival, is really a sporting 10days. Events in Knysna over this time include a road cycle and an off road cycle event. There are downhill cycle time trials as well as off road orienteering running events which can be run during the day or the evenings. From the number of canoes that we saw I imagine that there must be paddling events as well. I know that there are also sailing and golfing competitions.
Our event is a 21kay, mainly off road, run while at the same time there is also a full 42kay event also run in the forests of Knysna. A number of people from the MPRG had entered the race: Benita Barton & Tim Hewet Coleman had entered the full marathon while Louis and Elodine; Suzanne Gendall, Ben Carver, Sjani Human, Andrew Barton, Nicci Roote and I had entered the 21kay. I am not sure about the rest of the group, but I was not doing any specific distance training for this event. I had been trying to “tick over” since the 2 Oceans 21kay.
I have been particularly lazy for running in recent months. I kind of find the slowest runner in our group and use this as an excuse to run short or even slower than I had intended. I would often fall behind the group and then, feeling sorry for myself, would turn around earlier than the planned run and so cut short the training distance. Not a good plan for training for a tough 21kay like the Knysna.
The day before we were due to leave for Knysna I took Barbara's Corsa Bakkie in for new tyres. Here I met up with Tony Button. He told me that he had a neck injury after a motor accident. But from what he then told me, this has not stopped this super athlete. He ran an excellent time at the Uitenhage half marathon the previous weekend doing 4.5minutes a kay and he would be running the Knysna full marathon for the 26th time this weekend.
I have completed a number of the 42kay events and have, in recent years, since giving up running of 42kays distances, run one or two of the 21kay events. I am not that keen to drive through to Knysna on my own so after the Surfers marathon in EL earlier this year, persuaded Tommy Satchwell to join me. I had also talked to Ben Carver about the event and he seemed keen to start running events again after a long lay off from distance running. Tommy developed an injury and so was out of running. Ben and I agreed to travel together. Suzanne, after a lot of deliberation, decided to join us. Sjani and Ray Human would also stay over in Plett with Ena.
Sjani has only recently joined the MPRG and this would be her first 21kay ever. At a function for Gavin Cameron at Adrienne Wilson's home I arranged that Ben and I would drive through to Knysna on Friday afternoon. The following Saturday, during the run, Suzanne decided to join us. A few days later she opted to travel on her own. Then a day before we were due to leave she again changed her mind and asked if she could join us. Tim's mother, Anne, lives at the Formosa Village in Plett and she would stay with Anne.
We left PE at around 2.30pm on Friday afternoon. Barbara was still in Calgary with Gail visiting Dawn. From the emails that I received it seems that they were having a real special time. Doing all kinds of interesting things and traveling all around the district. I think that they were part of the Stampede which is this huge and popular cowboy festival in Calgary. I had arranged for Ally to stay over with Michael. Jessica and Ally were at our home that morning. I collected them as Ally wanted to do some shopping for jeans and school shoes. I under estimated how long it takes to make such purchases and in the end we abandoned the shopping after we had bought a gift for Ally's friend, Carli Swanepoel, Lara S's sister. Ally was also preparing for her market Week at school and we bought some beads and chains for her to make bracelets.
One of the shops we visited to search for jeans for Ally was Mr Price in Walmer Park. We entered the shop which was, at this time, not particularly busy. We walked around until Ally found the department selling jeans. She then saw a pair that appealed to her. And wanted to try them on. I asked an employee for the change rooms and she, with a look of annoyance for disrupting her busy schedule of coat hanger packing, pointed to the cash tills and said: “There”.
After Ally had tried on the jeans and realised that she would require a size smaller she made her way back to the jeans display. I, meanwhile found another employee who was busy hanging clothing on a rack. I asked this employee if she was able to assist me. She said yes and I then inquired about the same jeans in a smaller size. Her response: “All the sizes are on the shelf”.
I was just so shocked and amazed at this second indication of total lack of interest that I left the sample jeans next to her. I then see that she follows me with the jeans and I say to her: Why, when I asked if you could assist me, did you not reply: “No, I am not interested” as this would have been closer to the truth. Her response was that she had said that she would be with me in a minute. I walked away in disgust.
Meanwhile Ally had found a second choice and was trying on some more pairs of Jeans. In the end she abandoned her search and queued up to pay for the necklace that she wanted. I stood one side waiting for her to complete the transaction. During that time I saw two customers abandoning their intended purchases, in the same fashion as I had done with the jeans, in total frustration. When I told Suzanne and Ben of this experience they, in unison, told me that Mr. Price was notorious for their appalling customer service.
We stopped at the Storms River Bridge for a toilet break and then straight on to Knysna. As we arrived in Knysna we realised that the Registration Area was no longer at the Loerie Park field. We followed some signs, found parking and walked to the registration. I was truly impressed with the efficiency that the organisers of this event have achieved. The field was busy with people and stalls. We went straight in to the main tent where we established our numbers and within a minute we had our registration cards, our race numbers and our Goodie Bags. A T-Shirt was included in the pack.
At registration we saw a number of familiar faces. Achilleans; Peter Pholman, Michael Botha, Mike Palframan, Mike Bosch, Paulette Mc Ewan, Nicci Roote, Graham Nel & Theresa Lillis. Lea and Catherine Chandler were there. We purchased ourselves a beer and sat under an umbrella, soaking up the atmosphere. Sjani and Ray Human joined us as did Tim & Hlubi Coleman with little Mandisa at Dad's side. Tim was quite upset as he had withdrawn from the 42kay due to toothache which was a result of the old car accident. He had been looking forward to the run and had trained accordingly but was now not in a condition to run. In addition to this, his father was suffering from illness.
As we sat there Hanlie Bakkes (ex nippers mom) greeted us. A friend of hers started speaking to me using terminology that completely confused me. It turned out that she had me confused with Mike Dean and was talking in Medical Terms. I am not sure who should be flattered: Mike or myself for this identity mix up? I also saw Cathy Gard and Neville. Cathy would run the 21kay and Neville the 5kay.
We left Knysna to drop Suzanne off at Anne's home in Formosa. Ray and Sjani followed and we met up at Ena's flat in Plett. We had a drink and supper of home made pasta and a salad before settling down for the night. We had arranged to collect Suzanne at 05.45. Our timing was perfect the next morning. We left Plett at around 06.00am and had an easy drive to Knysna where we found a good parking spot next to Loerie park. Here we joined the queue for the bus to the start of the event.
Here I saw Adrian Smith waiting his turn in the queue. Sjani and Suzanne also greeted some of their friends from PE. The queue moved reasonably fast and we soon were loading onto the slowest bus in the entire fleet. But we arrived safely at the start where we walked quite a little distance to where all of the 21kay athletes were waiting to start the race. I tried to use the bushes but felt that I was betraying a kind of unwritten trust, as ladies came my way to use the bushes, that I abandoned my efforts.
Our timing was perfect for a group of runners who had no intention of winning the race. Only a few minutes after we stepped into the main group and the gun went off for the start of the event. Ben and I were amazed at the number of good quality clothing items that were being thrown away. A delighted group of local inhabitants must have foreseen this windfall and were on the side of the road waiting to scoop up these treasures. At the start I was surprised to be greeted by Paddy and Tinky Hodgson. Tinky finished in 2.59, I was not able to find Paddy's time.
I am a real Scrooge and just before the start I tied my old scraggly top around my waist where it stayed until I reached the end of the mornings run. Ironman Tim is at the start with his wife. It took us around 8 minutes to cross the start banner. We start the run with a two kay uphill on the tar road passing the saw mill. Then we turned to the right along a narrow dirt road. There were reported to be 6000 athletes taking part in the 21kay. It was now that I was really aware of the size of the field. I love to see the sea of people in their colourful outfits. Suzanne was clearly the fastest and fittest of our little group. She charged off over the horizon. Ben and Sjani were just ahead of me and when I saw that I had a loose shoe lace I used this as an excuse to let them move on rather than being under pressure to try and stay with them.
The Soccer world cup had brought a new dimension to the day as there were runners who carried Spanish and Dutch flags and who wore the colours of these two Finalist Teams. They even wore colourful wigs and painted faces. For myself, I am not able to wear more than the bare minimum when running. I become quite aware of any additional piece of clothing. I do not need any form of encumbrance to upset my day.
The narrow road was muddy, rocky and uneven. There was no way that we would achieve a “good Time” with having to dodge athletes along the route and then to my surprise I realised that the route was not the same as previous years. What we heard was that the French Soccer team, who had long been eliminated from the Soccer tournament, had booked up the Loerie Park field. This meant that we would finish the event a few kays before the “old” finish. And as a result the organisers had found a new route for us to run.
Today's route was, as far as my memory serves me, far tougher than previous years. The route included three mega hills plus an unrecorded number of smaller undulations. I was aware of the forest and the valleys but was not really able to appreciate where we were as I battled to stay moving forward. But in our favour was the weather. At no time was it so cold that we needed any additional layers but by the same token it was not too hot at all. There was a light cloud cover and no wind. This was, what runners would refer to as; Perfect running conditions.
On a few occasions I was able to see either far ahead of us or to turn around and look behind where we were in the pecking order. It is quite a sight to see long lines of runners as they have either still do complete the section that we have just done or who have already run up the hill that we have to attempt. The contrast between the brown of the road and surroundings and the colourful picture of the runners makes this a postcard picture.
As we ran I saw only a few Achilles Runners. Rodney Maggot, Mike Meyer who passed me and I passed him on a couple of occasions. Then there was one other young man whose name I do not know, who passed me.
I met up with Niel Calder. I was so impressed to see him running. Niel has had running injuries and I have only seen him on the bike for a number of years. But here he was today, ahead of me. And when we reached the last hill of the new route I walked and he ran on ahead. I see Garron from our church ducking into the bush. I also ran with Paddy Carolin and his son Simon Carolin. Paddy is another person who I have not seen doing any run training but he tells me that he has done a little training on the golf course. Simon is living in Cape Town and a SAP software consultant who will soon be moving to Australia where he tells me that he has a “Can't refuse” job offer.
We ran together off and on for most of the rest of the race. I also met a young man, Richard who is studying law at UCT. And Megan from Sedgefield who is presently studying at UPE. We ran down the steep hills to Knysna Lagoon together. We had passed the Elephant Dung which must have been dropped by the same Elephant who has been dropping on this section of the road for the past umpteen years.
As we ran the final 5kays I hear: “Hello Mr Giddy”. Now that means that it is either an employee or it is one of my children's friends. As it turned out it was Cathy;s friend Angie Shamley. She told me that she had been with Cathy, Ally and Nicci in Cape Town the previous weekend for Cathy's birthday. Angie now lives in Blouberg Strand. I tried to get Richard and Megan to stay with me at the end but they don't have the experience to be able to run hard over the final few kays.
We ran past the final watering station, under the bridge under the N2 where there was a serious congestion which would have upset the fast 42kay marathon runners who were coming past us. Up a few stairs and then we were on the final stretch. Here I decided to pick up the pace. I still had energy. It was not that I had saved anything. It was merely that I had been a little lazy earlier on. I passed Paddy and Simon. And ran as hard as I could into the finish area. The two hours 20 minutes that it had taken me to run this race had gone by quickly.
This is the official description of the course:
21km: point to point. The course is tough, hilly and beautiful. The race starts in the forest with a challenging 3km climb then levels out with the rest of the route being fairly undulating. The infamous Simola downhill is testing on the legs to say the least and makes the last 4kms, which are essentially flat, feel like an uphill.
This is not at all an accurate description as this omits the huge uphills as well as the uneven surface, muddy roads with rocky terrain to make falling, tripping and stumbling easy and fast running more difficult.
Having completed the run I now looked for the Achilles Tent where I had agreed to meet the rest of the group. Paulette, Samantha, Anche and Digby were there. I put out some chairs intending to sit down but I started getting cold and decided I had better find something dry to wear or else I would end up with Flu. By now the weather was cooler and we were all wet. Rob Elfick walked past looking quite chirpy. Suzanne, Ben and I decided to walk back to the car. It was about a 2kay walk. Sjani had separated herself from Ben as they finished the run. But we knew that Ray was there and he would have been waiting for her.
As we walked we came across a traffic cop car. We asked them for a lift but they were having their lunch as they surveyed the beautiful houses on the land which used to be the Thesens Wood factory. The walk took us a half hour and then we were back at the car and able to take off our wet clothing. The sun was shining and it was turning out to be a stunning morning. Suzanne discovered that she had chafed legs so I suggested that she use the cream that I use each morning to stop chafing. At Two Oceans we had received a Goody Bag which contained amoungst other stuff shampoo and this cream.
I had used the shampoo in the shower and kept this tube of cream next to my bed to use each morning before our training runs. I need glasses for any kind of small print and had not bothered to read the “instructions” on this tube. But Suzanne has no such malady and was able to establish that this was not in fact cream but was Hair Conditioner. Quite amusing for us at the time. I think that I will still continue to use this as an anti chafe cream as it seems to have worked for me thus far.
With the car being so far from the finish area we decided to press on home. We first went to Anne Gendall's home where Suzanne collected her stuff. Anne made us some tea and cookies. Ben and I tried to fix the shower door that Suzanne had destroyed the previous evening. She denies it of course but we all know better. Then Sjani phoned to say that she had left some stuff in the boot and we agreed to leave it at Ena's house in Plett. After dropping off her stuff there we pressed on home.
Ben had bought us a snack and so we drove straight through to PE. The only incident that we had on the way was when Suzanne offered to pay for the Toll Fee but had short changed the cashier. The cashier set off a siren and we had to reverse to pay in the difference. The conversation on the way home was really exciting as Ben and Suzanne somehow managed to find the topic of how to eat a Smartie - Which colour and whether it is better to chew, suck or gobble. They then progressed to Nutty / Biscuit Chocolates and with sucking till almost to the final bit of chocolate remains, winning the debate. I had to drink a "power play" to stay awake.
At some point we find out that the NZ team has beaten the Springbok Rugby team. 32;12 with Bakkies Botha being sent off and then suspended for 9weeks after some foul play where he head butted an All Black player. The game was played at Eden park in Auckland which is on the North Island and is the largest city of the country with a Population of 1.4million residents. There is always a Tri Nations match to watch when we are in Knysna over this weekend. I remember a nail biter in 2008 when Ron and I watched the Springboks beat the All Blacks in Dunedin South Island, with Ricky January being the play-maker and Francois Steyn, Percy Montgommery and Butch James all contributing with goal kicks.
Back home I dropped them off at home and collected Ally from Michael's house where she had spent the night. We both unpacked and then went off to Mc Donalds where Ally bought a Burger for supper. This evening Peter Nolan, his son and a friend would sleep over. The two youngsters would be going to watch the play off for Third Spot in the World cup Soccer tournament. The Game was played in PE. Now here is a story: Peter's wife Carey was staying with a friend in Knysna. They went to visit someone in Plett who in turn knows Ena. Carey then decided to visit Ena. Small World!
Peter and co arrived this evening after driving from East London and taking a wrong turn to Stutterheim instead of carrying on straight through King Williams Town to Grahamstown. So their drive took them a little longer than they had expected. The two boys went off to the soccer without jackets despite my urgings but hopefully did not get too wet. It rained for most of the match. Germany took third spot beating Uruguay 3;2.
Sunday morning: 11.07.2010
Today is the very last day of the World Cup Soccer tournament. Netherlands play Spain in the final. In the lead up to the final Netherlands have not been beaten:
Denmark: 2:0
Japan 1;0
Cameroon 2;1
Slovakia 2;1
Brazil 2;1
Uruguay 3;2
While Spain were beaten only in their opening match against Switzerland.
Switzerland 0;1
Honduras 2;0
Chile 2;1
Portugal 1;0
Paraguay 1;0
Germany 1;0
Netherlands has scored 12 goals for and had Five against
Spain had 7 goals in their favour and only two scored against them.
It might appear that Netherlands could be the stronger team but Spain played an inspired and attacking game against Germany to push them into the finals.
I collected Mark from the Bus station and then took Ally shopping for some school stationery and jeans while Mark went to visit some friends. I now realise how Mr. Price gets away with having such a poor attitude when it comes to service. The people manning the shops we visited paid equally little attention to Ally's (and my own) attempts to spend money in their shops. Some even worse than the previous experience at Mr. Price. Peter took Michael and Matthew off for the day. They did a bit of exploring before finally finding the beach front museum area.
This afternoon Peter & I watched a bit of the Tour de France. The tour took riders up some of the highest climbs imaginable. But what was interesting for us was firstly to see Lance Armstrong battling against “luck” as the commentators called it. But we can remember when Lance has had real bad luck and yet was still able to win the stage or the race. While we agreed that he did have some setbacks, in previous years, when he was at the top of his game, he was strong enough to fight back.
The other interesting bit of trivia was to see Andy Schleck battling it out with Alberto Contador for the stage win. The two of them were neck & neck up to the finish when Schleck took first place. What made it unusual was that Schleck is Dutch and Contador is Spanish and the Soccer World cup final is between a Dutch and a Spanish team. Cadel Evans took overall first place.
Some of the 2010 21kay results
Chris Darke 1.28 (70th)
Mike Bosch 1.30
Glen Hendricks 1.31
Mike Palframan 1.32
Peter Marriot 1.34
Rose Buchannan 1.46
Mark Raubenheimer 1.48
Georgina Thomas 1.50
Nicky Roote 1.53
Chet Sainsbury (68) 1.55
Gary Scott 2.04
Michael Botha 2.08
Megan Knipe 2.09
Fred Allibone 2.10
Rob Elfick 2.10
Ron Field 2.10
Suzanne Gendall 2.11
Adri Du Plessis 2.12
Sally Haysom 2.14
Robin Dowling 2.16
Dave Coffee 2.17
Niel Calder 2.18
Ben Carver 2.18
Sjani Human 2.19
Liezl Saunders 2.19
Paddy and Simon Carolin 2.20
Peter Giddy 2.21
Angie Shamley 2.23
Mike Webb 2.24
Megan Kenney 2.25
Richard from UCT 2.25
Adrian Smith 2.33
Rodney Maggot 2.38
Trevor Hawkins 3.16
This year about 4600 finishers while last year there were around 5300 in the half. It is not easy to pick out names as the majority of runners are Temp.
some of the 2009 RESULTS
Mike Palframan 1.26
Garreth Jacobson 1.32
Glen Hendricks 1.34
John Parry 1.47
Lea Chandler 1.49
Robin Dowling 1.56
Youart Tose 2.04
Adrian Jansen 2.08
Adrian Smith 2.13
Megan & Martin Knipe 2.17
Viv Bullock 2.18
Niel Calder 2.18
Rodney Maggot 2.31
Gaynor and Roy Laurie 2.38
Trevor Hawkins and Rob Elfick 3;19
This time last year I was hiking the Mountain Zebra Hiking trail in Cradock. The last time that I did the 21kay was in 2008 with Ron Pask. I missed him this year and when we spoke on the phone he promised to join us in 2011. Ben tells me that Ron is back into training.
Some of the 42kay results
Neil de Meillon 3.13
Darryl North 3.15
Benita Barton 3.38
Alec Riddle 3.40
Bruce Mc Ewan 3.47
Hans Beuche 3.49
Chris Gedye 3.53
Jannie Papenhuizen 4.05
Tony Button 4.05
Peter Pohlman 4.25 Look at the official site for Knysna forest Marathon and you will see a clip of Peter running down to the Gouna Pump Station.
Lesley Maggot 4.29
Geoff Roberts 4.37
Allan Schulz 4.38
Graham Nell 4.55
Around 660 42kay finishers.
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Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Thursday, July 1, 2010
JULY 2010
JULY 2010
JULIA AND LAURA IN PE STAYING WITH US
BARBARA IS IN CANADA WITH GAIL VISITING DAWN
ALLY FLIES TO CAPE TOWN FOR CATHY'S BIRTHDAY
FIFA WORLD CUP SOCCER TOURNAMENT CONTINUES
FINAL RUGBY GAME AT THE OLD BOET ERASMUS (PERFU) STADIUM.
GAVIN CAMERON RETURNS HOME TO CANADA
ALLY PREPARES FOR MARKET WEEK.
KNYSNA HALF MARATHON
BARBARA AND GAIL RETURN FROM CANADA
NIPPERS COMMITTEE MEETING
INGRID DU TOIT HAS A HEART ATTACK SCARE.
ALLY & HOCKEY
Julia and Laura have been staying with us from 24th June. It has been a lot of fun as they have renewed aquaintances with Debbie and Catherine Dean who invited them for supper and took them to the Lion park. J & L have been to one of the soccer games as well as to the fan park on a number of occasions. They also met up with Betina and her friends who were also very kind and accommdating.
Thursday 3rd July Ally flew on her own to Cape Town for Cathy's birthday this weekend. Ally was a bit nervous. I was happy to meet up with Avril Smith who was also flying to CT and who I know would assist Ally if she needed it. Cathy met Ally at the CT airport and all went well. They seemed to have a great time including a party for Cathy's birthday.
Christian phoned me to say that he had broken his toe. Nicky was not sure how it happened but took him to the clinic where they strapped it up and gave him crutches.
Julia, Laura, Ally and I went for drinks with the Wilsons as a kind of farewell for Gavin. It was a really pleasant evening where we met our opposite door neighbours; Ray and Dee. Really nice people very busy with the B & B.
I had to do some business in Grahamstown and as it was the Arts Festival I took J & L with me. They wandered around the town doing a bit of shopping while I did some work in one of the shops. After that I dropped them at home and they walked to the Fan Fest where they met up with Betina and Mandy. They watched the game and then the four of them came home for some supper before going back to watch the next game at the Fan Fest in St Georges park.
Saturday morning 3rd July. The MPRG did a Sunridge Park Run. There were none of the real slowies so I ran most of the way on my own. I turned when I saw them coming and was able to stay with the group on the way back to MP. I was at work this morning. Then after lunch I took J & L to the last game that would be held at the old Boet Erasmus Stadium. This stadium is looking really shoddy when compared to the new stadium where the EP Rugby will now be based.
The game was reasonably full considering that there was a major Soccer game on at the same time: Germany beat Argentina 4:0. Our game was quite good. We had Barry De Wet captaining our side with Gary Botha captaining the Blue Bulls. It was not a full strength Blue Bulls team. Our side gave a reasonable account for themselves and were ahead at two stages in the game. We opened with a 3point penalty and scored a try and in both cases were slightly ahead of the Blue Bulls. But in the end they were too strong for EP and won with two last minute tries.
After the game we went to Michael where he was having a Braai with some of his friends. J & L stayed overnight with Mike. He brought them to our house on Sunday morning, they packed and we all left to collect the old Merc from Debbie Gordon (Shimone) on Draaifontein Road. From there J & L and I left for Plett. It had been Ena's 94th birthday on Tuesday and she had a little party (15people for bridge) at her home. We met Anne Thomas for lunch at a beach restaurant. This is a boat club that serves sea foods and sandwiches. We had a most pleasant lunch watching the men playing touch rugby on the beach and the boats coming in from whale watching. I saw a seal not far off the breakers.
After lunch I came home, collected Ally and Jessica. I took the rubbish to the tip. That evening Ally & Jessica hired a DVD to watch while I made Pizza's for supper for them. It had not been that busy a day but I was really tired and could not keep my eyes open. Monday morning I did a short run around the golf course. This morning J & L will leave for WC by bus where they will meet up with the former manager of Costa Rica (Cloudbridge) before carrying on to CT where they want to watch the finals of the Soccer at a fan park on Sunday.
Monday evening was our cell group meeting at Cronje and Claudine van Zyl. I really enjoy these meetings and am sorry every time I have to miss them due to travel. Tuesday morning: short run and Art Of Service training at the Pine Lodge Inn with Steve Lang. I collect Ally from her friend Alexa. They are in their planning stage of the Market week at school.
TUESDAY 6TH JULY This evening I take Ally to the Fan Fest. She meets up with a group of her friends there. (Lara S)We drive down expecting a huge crowd but it is not full at all and we are able to find easy parking. I sit with Marius and Franelie Swanepoel and Lisa who is the mother of Ally's friend Wade and Richard. It has been a freezing day with a cold westerly blowing. We stay to half time. Dutch 1; Uruguay 1. By the time I switch on the TV at home it is 3;1 to the Dutch and ends on 3;2 with the Dutch into the finals and the Uruguay going to play on Saturday in PE in the final 4 play off.
It is Tour de France on now and I love watching this sport. Commentary with Paul Sherwin and Phil Ligget is excellent even if repetitive.
Wednesday 7th July: Ally goes to swim training. I am off to AOS. It is the Funeral for Gawie Rossouw today. I stand up and say a few words on behalf of JDG. Ally has been with Lara S the whole day. Then they all go to Movies and I collect them to go to the Fan Fest again. The Fan Fest is a big screen event at St Georges Park where mainly youngsters and teenagers go to socialise and to watch the soccer games. Entry is free and security is at a high level.
They have concerts and mini soccer games as well. Greg Kotze and Wade were there this evening. They played soccer the whole evening and I dont think that they watched the main event at all. Spain beat Germany 1;0 and will now play in the final against Holland. Spain were deserved winners and played an aggressive attacking game. John, Cheryl and Michael Kotze were going to join me but John had an operation to his eye and can not see distances so they had to move to the front where they sat on a Blanket. I am no good at sitting on the grass. I need a backrest to sit for any length of time so stayed where I was on the stadium.
Barbara is still in Canada with Gail where they are visiting Dawn & Richard. From all accounts they are having a blast with Dawn treating them to a really good holiday. They fly back home this weekend and will be in the air during the WC soccer final.
Thursday 8.07.2010. this is my third day of the Art Of Service training at the Pine Lodge in Summerstrand. Steve Lang, who I have known for many years since the Morkels days, is the senior trainer. He has entered the 1/2 Ironman in EL for next year. He and Ricardo ran each morning to the Lighthouse along the beach.
After the training on Thursday I took Barbara's Bakkie to Supa Quick in Walmer where I had two front tyres fitted. Tony Button was there and told me of an injury that he sustained in a car accident. He tells me that it has set his training back but from what he describes his running as it seems to me that he is still as fast and fit as I have ever known him. He too will be doing the Knysna 42kay this weekend. This will be his 26th running of this tough event.
I collected Ally from Amber and then Jessica from Michaels home. Jessica is always good company for Ally. They two of them watched a DVD and then crawled into my bed. Good thing we have the two beds pushed together. Both of them like to stretch out, kick and leave me little space on the edge of the bed.
Friday 9th July morning
I am at work early and intend to leave early as well. I make the best of what I can at work then Ally calls me to take her to her friend Alexa as the two of them are in preparation for the Market Week. Ally has bought some material as well as some chains and beads. The two of them spend the day manufacturing these bracelets but realise that the number of bracelets is not in sinc with the price that they have paid in costs as well as the selling price that they intend to set for them. I take Ally to the Bead Shop where the young lady shows me that they have made the bracelets too long. That evening Ally re-does a set of bracelets and instead of 17 she comes out with 29 bracelets. The bead shop lady also added a meter and a half of chain to asssit Ally.
This afternoon I collect Ben and Suzanne and the three of us head off to Knysna. I am not at all in a hurry so we stop at Storms River then on to Knysna where we register and enjoy a beer together. As we sit there we encounter a whole lot of PE people. See separate blog post for Knysna Half Marathon.
The following day we run the race and then head home. ON the way we pass the toll gate and Ben hands me the full amount for the toll R33.00. But I think that I must have dropped a Rand. I move forward but am brought back by the sound of a siren. The lady at the cash office tells us that we short changed her and only after paying the extra R1.00 does she allow us through.
The temperature drops and it is a cold Saturday evening. Sunday 11th July: Ally and I are busy with a number of shopping and other bits and pieces before we settle in for the night. Mark comes home after a month in Pretoria with Samantha and Christal.
This evening we have been invited to Charles and Ingrid for supper and Soccer final. Peter Nolan and son: michael & friend Matthew are here from Australia. We drop the two boys off at Barneys where they will spend the evening and the morning before coming home at around 3am.
Peter, Ally and I watch the soccer at Charles' but when the Spanish and Dutch teams are drawn by half time we decide to call it a night. Mark and his friends were at the Fan Fest but had walked home to some semblence of warmth. I barely stay awake to see the Spanish win the Soccer World Cup in South Africa before falling into a deep sleep that prevented me from running in the morning. I was also feeling quite stiff and sore after the 31kay of Saturday.
Monday 12th July morning:
Ally continues to work on the Market day. I head off to work. Barbara and Gail arrive back from Canada and have a whole day wait in Jhb airport. I arrange a little welcome home party but the plane is delayed and we end up coming home after our friends are already there.
Tuesday. Now that the soccer is over it is back to school. Ally and Mark go to school early as usual. This evening we have a bit of a scare as Charles phones to say that Ingrid had a Heart Attack and he is in the ambulance with her on the way to Greenacres hospital. We visit a little later and find that Ingrid is looking quite well even if she is exhausted.
Ingrid spends that night, Wednesday and Thursday at the hospital. The doctor is Jacques Du Toit who is married to Riana Green. I have run with Jacques. He told me of the time when he attended to Angus Buchan when Angus had a scare during the 2009 MMC.
Wednesday I go to Grahamstown and return via Port Alfred. I stop on my way home at the shop of Isabel Mc Donald. Isabel remembers Ingrid and asks me to pass on her best wishes. I obtain the names of the tree seeds that she gave us the last time we were there when Charles purchased the house at Bushmans.
Thursday: Ally is not well. Mark has a cold / Flu. I go running in the morning for the first time since the 21kay of the weekend. Ingrid DuToit is still in hospital having a Stent (Spring) procedure to open arteries. Jacques Du Toit is the doctor attending to her. Charles is a bit easier now that things are progressing. He was quite worried at one time.
Friday: Ingrid goes home and Charles phones me with the phrase: "The eagle has landed". Ally has Pulse. Saturday morning I run the Newton Park route with Adrienne. Slow, but a good run. This morning the All Blacks play the Springboks in Wellington which is a city on the southern tip of the North Island. Wellington is the home of the Hurricanes Rugby team. last week the Springboks lost to NZ when they played at Eden Park, Aukland which is also on the North Island but much further north. That game was marred by the foul play of Bakkies Botha who was then suspended for 9 weeks. The Wellington game was as disappointing for the South African touring side who lost for the second time in a row today.
Sunday 18th Hockey at Clarendon. A really good session with a fair number of players: Sean, Brice and Kyla; Hanna OBrie; Amber and Hannes; Kristin; MC and Emelio for some of the time; Daniel; Jarred; Jessica Giddy; and plenty more. Ally has to prepare for her Market week project. She makes a whole lot of Bracelets and some eats but later in the week what really sells well is the curry and rice that Barbara buys.
Monday morning: I run a slow run. Knee is hurting recently more than before. Monday evening it is cell group at Cronje van Zyl. We are going through the book: Purpose driven life.
Tuesday morning I drive to King and then Mthatha. Wednesday in Mthatha and sleep over at Komga. I arrive in Komga (about 70kays on the other side of King) at 6pm and decide to go to the local Country Club for a drink before supper. I meet some of the locals and get to chatting. One of the men finds out my name and it turns out that we stayed in the caravan at his house in about 1985 in Kirkwood during a Round Table Area conference. He remembered me. It was amazing; Chris Russell. One of our children had measles and his wife was worried as she was pregnant at the time.
Thursday I was in King and Grahamstown before returning home for a Nippers meeting. Decided upon a AGM date and a prize giving date and planned for both.
Friday 23rd: Ally has a party. Most weekends she seems to go to Parties. Spends time with her friends dressing up for the evening and then having a great time with all of her friends. She will miss Pulse which she really enjoys but can only do so much.
Week starting Monday 19th.
Wednesday I flew into Johannesburg on Tuesday afternoon and took the Gautrain to Santon. This was my first ride on this train. It makes a huge difference to travel into the town. Suzanne met me 15 minutes later. We collected Edmund from School and waited for Keith to come home. Julia had a Water Polo match. Keith, Suzanne, Edmund and I had a drink at a local pub with their friend Peter Hey's wife.
Then we all watched Julia play in an all men's match. She plays well and it was a pleasure to watch her. Meeting in Johannesburg the next day.
Friday 30th: Ally has a Hockey Match against Cambridge from East London. Ally's school team won 2-0.
Saturday 31st Morning I was able to fit in a run and then Barbara, Julia, Ally and Jessica & I all leave for Graaff Reinet where Ally plays against Union. It was a tough match but Union were just too strong and too skilled for the Clarendon team. Ally's team lost 2-0.
But not a wasted trip at all. Both the children and adults alike have all had a wonderful morning cheering on the various teams. We meet up with a number of partents: Zeelies, Derry's Combrinks, Bret O'Brie and teachers and coaches from Clarendon: Mr Allan Lones, Carol Scheepers & Kim. Next to Ally's match VP High school played Union high first team. Emma Gendall was in the match and VP beat Union by 1-0. It was a powerful game and Emma played exceptionally well.
On the way to Graaff Reinet we had stopped near to Steyterlerville at a farm shop for a toilet break. We bought some pies (which were not that good), some biltong, Droe Wors and dried mango. The lady who runs the shop declared that her pies were famous all around the district. I am not convinced.
JULIA AND LAURA IN PE STAYING WITH US
BARBARA IS IN CANADA WITH GAIL VISITING DAWN
ALLY FLIES TO CAPE TOWN FOR CATHY'S BIRTHDAY
FIFA WORLD CUP SOCCER TOURNAMENT CONTINUES
FINAL RUGBY GAME AT THE OLD BOET ERASMUS (PERFU) STADIUM.
GAVIN CAMERON RETURNS HOME TO CANADA
ALLY PREPARES FOR MARKET WEEK.
KNYSNA HALF MARATHON
BARBARA AND GAIL RETURN FROM CANADA
NIPPERS COMMITTEE MEETING
INGRID DU TOIT HAS A HEART ATTACK SCARE.
ALLY & HOCKEY
Julia and Laura have been staying with us from 24th June. It has been a lot of fun as they have renewed aquaintances with Debbie and Catherine Dean who invited them for supper and took them to the Lion park. J & L have been to one of the soccer games as well as to the fan park on a number of occasions. They also met up with Betina and her friends who were also very kind and accommdating.
Thursday 3rd July Ally flew on her own to Cape Town for Cathy's birthday this weekend. Ally was a bit nervous. I was happy to meet up with Avril Smith who was also flying to CT and who I know would assist Ally if she needed it. Cathy met Ally at the CT airport and all went well. They seemed to have a great time including a party for Cathy's birthday.
Christian phoned me to say that he had broken his toe. Nicky was not sure how it happened but took him to the clinic where they strapped it up and gave him crutches.
Julia, Laura, Ally and I went for drinks with the Wilsons as a kind of farewell for Gavin. It was a really pleasant evening where we met our opposite door neighbours; Ray and Dee. Really nice people very busy with the B & B.
I had to do some business in Grahamstown and as it was the Arts Festival I took J & L with me. They wandered around the town doing a bit of shopping while I did some work in one of the shops. After that I dropped them at home and they walked to the Fan Fest where they met up with Betina and Mandy. They watched the game and then the four of them came home for some supper before going back to watch the next game at the Fan Fest in St Georges park.
Saturday morning 3rd July. The MPRG did a Sunridge Park Run. There were none of the real slowies so I ran most of the way on my own. I turned when I saw them coming and was able to stay with the group on the way back to MP. I was at work this morning. Then after lunch I took J & L to the last game that would be held at the old Boet Erasmus Stadium. This stadium is looking really shoddy when compared to the new stadium where the EP Rugby will now be based.
The game was reasonably full considering that there was a major Soccer game on at the same time: Germany beat Argentina 4:0. Our game was quite good. We had Barry De Wet captaining our side with Gary Botha captaining the Blue Bulls. It was not a full strength Blue Bulls team. Our side gave a reasonable account for themselves and were ahead at two stages in the game. We opened with a 3point penalty and scored a try and in both cases were slightly ahead of the Blue Bulls. But in the end they were too strong for EP and won with two last minute tries.
After the game we went to Michael where he was having a Braai with some of his friends. J & L stayed overnight with Mike. He brought them to our house on Sunday morning, they packed and we all left to collect the old Merc from Debbie Gordon (Shimone) on Draaifontein Road. From there J & L and I left for Plett. It had been Ena's 94th birthday on Tuesday and she had a little party (15people for bridge) at her home. We met Anne Thomas for lunch at a beach restaurant. This is a boat club that serves sea foods and sandwiches. We had a most pleasant lunch watching the men playing touch rugby on the beach and the boats coming in from whale watching. I saw a seal not far off the breakers.
After lunch I came home, collected Ally and Jessica. I took the rubbish to the tip. That evening Ally & Jessica hired a DVD to watch while I made Pizza's for supper for them. It had not been that busy a day but I was really tired and could not keep my eyes open. Monday morning I did a short run around the golf course. This morning J & L will leave for WC by bus where they will meet up with the former manager of Costa Rica (Cloudbridge) before carrying on to CT where they want to watch the finals of the Soccer at a fan park on Sunday.
Monday evening was our cell group meeting at Cronje and Claudine van Zyl. I really enjoy these meetings and am sorry every time I have to miss them due to travel. Tuesday morning: short run and Art Of Service training at the Pine Lodge Inn with Steve Lang. I collect Ally from her friend Alexa. They are in their planning stage of the Market week at school.
TUESDAY 6TH JULY This evening I take Ally to the Fan Fest. She meets up with a group of her friends there. (Lara S)We drive down expecting a huge crowd but it is not full at all and we are able to find easy parking. I sit with Marius and Franelie Swanepoel and Lisa who is the mother of Ally's friend Wade and Richard. It has been a freezing day with a cold westerly blowing. We stay to half time. Dutch 1; Uruguay 1. By the time I switch on the TV at home it is 3;1 to the Dutch and ends on 3;2 with the Dutch into the finals and the Uruguay going to play on Saturday in PE in the final 4 play off.
It is Tour de France on now and I love watching this sport. Commentary with Paul Sherwin and Phil Ligget is excellent even if repetitive.
Wednesday 7th July: Ally goes to swim training. I am off to AOS. It is the Funeral for Gawie Rossouw today. I stand up and say a few words on behalf of JDG. Ally has been with Lara S the whole day. Then they all go to Movies and I collect them to go to the Fan Fest again. The Fan Fest is a big screen event at St Georges Park where mainly youngsters and teenagers go to socialise and to watch the soccer games. Entry is free and security is at a high level.
They have concerts and mini soccer games as well. Greg Kotze and Wade were there this evening. They played soccer the whole evening and I dont think that they watched the main event at all. Spain beat Germany 1;0 and will now play in the final against Holland. Spain were deserved winners and played an aggressive attacking game. John, Cheryl and Michael Kotze were going to join me but John had an operation to his eye and can not see distances so they had to move to the front where they sat on a Blanket. I am no good at sitting on the grass. I need a backrest to sit for any length of time so stayed where I was on the stadium.
Barbara is still in Canada with Gail where they are visiting Dawn & Richard. From all accounts they are having a blast with Dawn treating them to a really good holiday. They fly back home this weekend and will be in the air during the WC soccer final.
Thursday 8.07.2010. this is my third day of the Art Of Service training at the Pine Lodge in Summerstrand. Steve Lang, who I have known for many years since the Morkels days, is the senior trainer. He has entered the 1/2 Ironman in EL for next year. He and Ricardo ran each morning to the Lighthouse along the beach.
After the training on Thursday I took Barbara's Bakkie to Supa Quick in Walmer where I had two front tyres fitted. Tony Button was there and told me of an injury that he sustained in a car accident. He tells me that it has set his training back but from what he describes his running as it seems to me that he is still as fast and fit as I have ever known him. He too will be doing the Knysna 42kay this weekend. This will be his 26th running of this tough event.
I collected Ally from Amber and then Jessica from Michaels home. Jessica is always good company for Ally. They two of them watched a DVD and then crawled into my bed. Good thing we have the two beds pushed together. Both of them like to stretch out, kick and leave me little space on the edge of the bed.
Friday 9th July morning
I am at work early and intend to leave early as well. I make the best of what I can at work then Ally calls me to take her to her friend Alexa as the two of them are in preparation for the Market Week. Ally has bought some material as well as some chains and beads. The two of them spend the day manufacturing these bracelets but realise that the number of bracelets is not in sinc with the price that they have paid in costs as well as the selling price that they intend to set for them. I take Ally to the Bead Shop where the young lady shows me that they have made the bracelets too long. That evening Ally re-does a set of bracelets and instead of 17 she comes out with 29 bracelets. The bead shop lady also added a meter and a half of chain to asssit Ally.
This afternoon I collect Ben and Suzanne and the three of us head off to Knysna. I am not at all in a hurry so we stop at Storms River then on to Knysna where we register and enjoy a beer together. As we sit there we encounter a whole lot of PE people. See separate blog post for Knysna Half Marathon.
The following day we run the race and then head home. ON the way we pass the toll gate and Ben hands me the full amount for the toll R33.00. But I think that I must have dropped a Rand. I move forward but am brought back by the sound of a siren. The lady at the cash office tells us that we short changed her and only after paying the extra R1.00 does she allow us through.
The temperature drops and it is a cold Saturday evening. Sunday 11th July: Ally and I are busy with a number of shopping and other bits and pieces before we settle in for the night. Mark comes home after a month in Pretoria with Samantha and Christal.
This evening we have been invited to Charles and Ingrid for supper and Soccer final. Peter Nolan and son: michael & friend Matthew are here from Australia. We drop the two boys off at Barneys where they will spend the evening and the morning before coming home at around 3am.
Peter, Ally and I watch the soccer at Charles' but when the Spanish and Dutch teams are drawn by half time we decide to call it a night. Mark and his friends were at the Fan Fest but had walked home to some semblence of warmth. I barely stay awake to see the Spanish win the Soccer World Cup in South Africa before falling into a deep sleep that prevented me from running in the morning. I was also feeling quite stiff and sore after the 31kay of Saturday.
Monday 12th July morning:
Ally continues to work on the Market day. I head off to work. Barbara and Gail arrive back from Canada and have a whole day wait in Jhb airport. I arrange a little welcome home party but the plane is delayed and we end up coming home after our friends are already there.
Tuesday. Now that the soccer is over it is back to school. Ally and Mark go to school early as usual. This evening we have a bit of a scare as Charles phones to say that Ingrid had a Heart Attack and he is in the ambulance with her on the way to Greenacres hospital. We visit a little later and find that Ingrid is looking quite well even if she is exhausted.
Ingrid spends that night, Wednesday and Thursday at the hospital. The doctor is Jacques Du Toit who is married to Riana Green. I have run with Jacques. He told me of the time when he attended to Angus Buchan when Angus had a scare during the 2009 MMC.
Wednesday I go to Grahamstown and return via Port Alfred. I stop on my way home at the shop of Isabel Mc Donald. Isabel remembers Ingrid and asks me to pass on her best wishes. I obtain the names of the tree seeds that she gave us the last time we were there when Charles purchased the house at Bushmans.
Thursday: Ally is not well. Mark has a cold / Flu. I go running in the morning for the first time since the 21kay of the weekend. Ingrid DuToit is still in hospital having a Stent (Spring) procedure to open arteries. Jacques Du Toit is the doctor attending to her. Charles is a bit easier now that things are progressing. He was quite worried at one time.
Friday: Ingrid goes home and Charles phones me with the phrase: "The eagle has landed". Ally has Pulse. Saturday morning I run the Newton Park route with Adrienne. Slow, but a good run. This morning the All Blacks play the Springboks in Wellington which is a city on the southern tip of the North Island. Wellington is the home of the Hurricanes Rugby team. last week the Springboks lost to NZ when they played at Eden Park, Aukland which is also on the North Island but much further north. That game was marred by the foul play of Bakkies Botha who was then suspended for 9 weeks. The Wellington game was as disappointing for the South African touring side who lost for the second time in a row today.
Sunday 18th Hockey at Clarendon. A really good session with a fair number of players: Sean, Brice and Kyla; Hanna OBrie; Amber and Hannes; Kristin; MC and Emelio for some of the time; Daniel; Jarred; Jessica Giddy; and plenty more. Ally has to prepare for her Market week project. She makes a whole lot of Bracelets and some eats but later in the week what really sells well is the curry and rice that Barbara buys.
Monday morning: I run a slow run. Knee is hurting recently more than before. Monday evening it is cell group at Cronje van Zyl. We are going through the book: Purpose driven life.
Tuesday morning I drive to King and then Mthatha. Wednesday in Mthatha and sleep over at Komga. I arrive in Komga (about 70kays on the other side of King) at 6pm and decide to go to the local Country Club for a drink before supper. I meet some of the locals and get to chatting. One of the men finds out my name and it turns out that we stayed in the caravan at his house in about 1985 in Kirkwood during a Round Table Area conference. He remembered me. It was amazing; Chris Russell. One of our children had measles and his wife was worried as she was pregnant at the time.
Thursday I was in King and Grahamstown before returning home for a Nippers meeting. Decided upon a AGM date and a prize giving date and planned for both.
Friday 23rd: Ally has a party. Most weekends she seems to go to Parties. Spends time with her friends dressing up for the evening and then having a great time with all of her friends. She will miss Pulse which she really enjoys but can only do so much.
Week starting Monday 19th.
Wednesday I flew into Johannesburg on Tuesday afternoon and took the Gautrain to Santon. This was my first ride on this train. It makes a huge difference to travel into the town. Suzanne met me 15 minutes later. We collected Edmund from School and waited for Keith to come home. Julia had a Water Polo match. Keith, Suzanne, Edmund and I had a drink at a local pub with their friend Peter Hey's wife.
Then we all watched Julia play in an all men's match. She plays well and it was a pleasure to watch her. Meeting in Johannesburg the next day.
Friday 30th: Ally has a Hockey Match against Cambridge from East London. Ally's school team won 2-0.
Saturday 31st Morning I was able to fit in a run and then Barbara, Julia, Ally and Jessica & I all leave for Graaff Reinet where Ally plays against Union. It was a tough match but Union were just too strong and too skilled for the Clarendon team. Ally's team lost 2-0.
But not a wasted trip at all. Both the children and adults alike have all had a wonderful morning cheering on the various teams. We meet up with a number of partents: Zeelies, Derry's Combrinks, Bret O'Brie and teachers and coaches from Clarendon: Mr Allan Lones, Carol Scheepers & Kim. Next to Ally's match VP High school played Union high first team. Emma Gendall was in the match and VP beat Union by 1-0. It was a powerful game and Emma played exceptionally well.
On the way to Graaff Reinet we had stopped near to Steyterlerville at a farm shop for a toilet break. We bought some pies (which were not that good), some biltong, Droe Wors and dried mango. The lady who runs the shop declared that her pies were famous all around the district. I am not convinced.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
OTTER TRAIL TSITSIKAMMA STORMS RIVER MOUTH
OTTER TRAIL 22 JUNE 2010
Peter & Ally Giddy
Gavin Cameron & Matthew Wilson
Hannes, Jacqui, Calvin, Jordan and Amber Zeelie
Anthony Adler
Fred Kohler
Matthew Derry
I had booked this trail about a year ago. Originally Deryck Le Roux, Graham Richards and Maryna Baard were due to be on the trail with us. But due to commitments and injury they were not able to come along. Graham and Baubie have a busy Guest House that they are running and it is the World Cup Soccer with plenty of guests. Deryck had an Injury and Maryna was on crutches the week before with an injury and then became ill while spending time with her sister on the farm in Cradock.
Gavin and Matthew were late entries. Gavin is Adrienne Wilson's brother. He lives in Canada on the Victoria Island on the West Coast. He had come to PE to visit Adrienne and to watch World Cup Soccer matches. Going on the trail meant that he missed a crucial match between England & ? Not that it mattered much as England were knocked out by Germany later in the week.
Babara left for Canada with Gail the day before we started the hike. They would fly to Jozies and then London where they would Transit before flying on to Calgary. They would be visiting Sister Dawn (and Richard) for three weeks. Dawn and Richard live in a small village called Priddis just north of Calgary in a flat below the house of Tracy and Mark. This is a house on a “Small Holding” farm like area. It would be their summer but as Barbara and I have experienced before that summer in Calgary could mean cold and snow. It would be Gail's first trip overseas.
We planned to leave for the trail on Tuesday 22nd at 08.00 from our house. The Zeelies were running a little late and so we met up at the petrol station and left from there probably a little after 8am. We drove directly to Storms River mouth. I made a slight miscalculation thinking that the entrance to the Tsitsikamma village was the turn off. We rendezvoused at the entrance to the National Park. Here we were allowed past the gate and then had to register for the hike.
I had inquired about the entry fee and had been told that we would have to pay an additional amount to gain entry. We were prepared for this but not for the total inefficiency of the staff in this office. The whole procedure of paying R112 per person took over an hour. Matthew D had his parents Wild Card while Hannes bought a family WC. Still the staff of three people could not process our entry accurately and called us back to prove that we had all paid. Finally they discovered that they had failed to acknowledge one of the payments and allowed us to carry on.
In the registration area there were three Californians who we chatted to for a while. Gavin gave them some good tips of wine estates to visit. Gavin had just spent a week in CT with Adrienne touring the wine farms. Gavin is an expert in the wine industry and knows the difference between cultivars and tastes.
After we were allowed to start the hike we realised that the hike no longer starts on the west end of the rest camp. The trail now starts at the Gate Entrance to the reserve. We off loaded the trailer which I had borrowed from Gerald and Hannes' Combi. Hannes and I then drove through to the Toll Gate and, as the Natures Valley off ramp was closed we continued to the Kurland Brick entrance to the Groot Rivier Pass. We had already been held up by two road construction sites and now had to wait for the cars to come up the pass as there was construction on this section of road as well. It has been a long time since I have driven this Wormy Road (as our children used to call it). There was construction on the whole west side of the pass. We waited our turn and then headed down to Natures Valley.
At the rest camp we parked Hannes' Combi. He disconnected the battery to ensure that we did not have starting problems when we finished the trail. This had happened to us before both with my Combi and with Rory's combi. I unhitched Gerald's trailer and fastened it with the cable that he had given me. Hannes and I drove back to the Storm's River reserve where the rest of the group were waiting for us.
We finally started the hike at around 12.45. The hike now starts with a long downhill to the old cave. We encountered a number of people climbing up the pathway. Some of them were clearly tourists who were here to see the soccer game in PE the following day. I had a heavy pack and would pay the price during the days as I could not keep up with the main group. Going down the steps made me quite tired and my legs felt a little wobbly at the bottom.
The rest of the group had waited for us and I pressed on up the rocks. But still I was last to arrive at the waterfall. I found everyone else on the East side of the waterfall. It has been our habit to picnic on the far side of the pool so I continued across the rocks and prepared to offload and have a snack. But to my disappointment the group followed me but continued up the rocks and on to the overnight hut.
Today may be a short day but it should not be underestimated. Your pack is at it's very heaviest and the terrain is tough with a certain amount of rock climbing and difficult pathways. The total walking time, bearing in mind that I had hardly paused for a break was for me around two hours. The Zeelie's claimed Hut One as they would for the rest of the hike.
The huts on day one are situated a little off the shore line and about 50meters apart. Unfortunately the toilet was not working and there was a foul smell coming from the toilet which is situated above the central boma area. It appeared to us that the toilet must have been out of commission for more than just a few days. Fred tried to see if there was any chance of repairing the system but it was totally blocked and would take some special attention to get it back into usable condition.
Not having a workable toilet made life interesting as we had to give some rules and instructions regarding toilet use to the younger members of the group. Today, and throughout the trail, the worst pollutant was toilet paper that had been carelessly discarded and not covered. The shower is a totally open affair hidden in the bushes but with no cover while you attempt to clean yourself under freezing water. Hannes calls this the Honesty System when it comes to the ladies showering.
This was a very unusual mix of genders for our hikes. I am not sure how it has worked out in the past however we normally have an equal number of males and females or sometimes more ladies than men. This time we had 9 males and only the three girls.
Ally and I had decided that we would braai every evening. This evening, with the toilet smell on the east side of the camp, we ended up braaing at Hut Two. This is not how we would normally had done the evening meal as the braai place at hut one is more sheltered. We had our resident pyrotechnic, Matthew Wilson, to make the fires in the evenings. Each evening we would start the fire at around 4pm as this gave us enough time to settle the coals, enjoy a bit of fellowship and then grill our meat. This evening the grill would be the fullest as everyone had planned for a meaty evening. Ally and I had our Chicken Sosaties and spicy rolls.
I had been up from around 4am, packing and making ready for the hike. I was tired and sleepy by 7pm. I had a book that I had brought along to read but I find that after just a few pages I am starting to close my eyes. So by 8pm I was fast asleep. There would be a full moon the whole week of the hike and this sparked quite an interesting discussion between Gavin and others as to what time we could expect the moon to set and exactly where it would set. In fact, if I am not mistaken, there were beers won and lost as bets were placed. Fortunately no one was asked to pay their debts during the hike as the price of a beer on a hike doubles a number of times.
And so ended the first day. Gavin has a i-phone where he jiggles his finger on the screen and receives a weather forecast for a week or more. Today the weather had been very kind to us as it was neither too hot nor very cold. Even sitting around the fire we were chilly but not uncomfortably cold. The nights were very long. I slept for a few hours but then would toss and turn for most of the rest of the night. The moon lit up the cabin. The mattresses are not bad but certainly not as comfortable as home. I never zipped up my sleeping bag as I find that doing so is quite restrictive.
Day two.
This morning we started walking at around 9am. I had decided to follow Fred's example and brought some oats porridge. This adds a little energy for the day. I also had the packet Cappuccino Coffee. Ally would have a Naartjie, hot chocolate and little else for breakfast.
The day's hike starts, as every day does, with a long steep climb. Today was a 2kay climb to the lookout point where the obligatory photo session took place. Ally had some knee trouble for the first few days. I found the uphills quite exhausting and was breathless by the time I reached the top. The next point of interest is the Skilderkrans lookout point. Hannes translated for Gavin as being an Artists cliff. Or a place which is “Picture Perfect” perhaps? We traditionally make this little detour and from here we look out for the Blou Baai which will be our next stop.
We could see across to the Robberg. I had, earlier this morning, told the story of how Cronje van Zyl had been hiking the Robberg point with a friend. They had been doing some exploring when he had slipped and fallen completely out of his rucksack and tumbled down in to the ocean below. His hiking partner had then rushed off to the car park and from there hiked back into town where he had been able to locate the NSRI. They had launched a rescue craft. Meanwhile Cronje had been perched on a rock, bleeding across his chest, for around 8 hours. Finally the NSRI was able to find where he was. By now it was dark and he was fortunate to have survived the ordeal. Cronje tells us that that was the last time that he had done any hiking.
From the Skilderkrans the trail leads to the Kleinbos River Crossing. There are a number of up and down hills, some of which are quite technical. Crossing the Kleinbos river can be done with your backpack and boots on but I was not steady enough and my pack was too heavy for me to take the risk. So I removed my boots and waded across. Unfortunately I left my Kilimanjaro (10year old) hat on the river side and only realised after climbing up the next hill which was long and steep. Again Ally complains of Knee trouble and talks about taking the emergency exit. However she presses on and we make it to the top of the second long hill of the day. Gavin refers to this climb as the “stairway to heaven”.
From the top we walk for around 2kays of switchbacks and contours before reaching the 6kay mark where the Blou Baai descent begins. Most of us shuck our packs and carry a small bag of goodies down to the beach. Ally takes a bit of a nasty fall as she slips on some rocks that we have to negotiate on the way down. Blou Baai is mostly in shade and we walk to the far point to enjoy the little sunshine that we can find. I attempt a swim but the waves are huge and strong so end up rolling around on the beach in the surf. Hannes swims at every possible opportunity. We hear a cry from above and see Calvin waving to us from a point above us that looks impossibly high.
From Blou Baai there is the third mega climb of the day. Jacqui remarks that she is coping well with these Mega Hills and puts this down partly to her jogging training that she has been doing. Jacqui is now part of the MPRG (Mill Park Running Group) who train 4 to 5 times a week from the corner of Salisbury and Wares Road for an hour from 05.15am. She was invited to join the Jonti group of runners who do the Guinea Fowl Trail but they are just too strong for her.
Gavin is kind to me and stays with me at the back of the group. Ally and I take the hill slowly with regular stops and we all finally make it to the view point at the top of the hill where we had earlier seen Calvin. As we had been climbing, Gavin had explained a theory that he has about professional soccer players in the World Cup.
From time to time Soccer players clash in some way or another. Their legs (with shin pads) catch each other or they take a tumble. Most of us had, by now, scratches and bruises from thorn trees or from stumbling over roots or rocks. But none of us had writhed in agony as these professionally trained athletes are seen to be doing on the soccer field. So Gavin's theory is that: “Proof of the fact that the soccer player is acting up, when he takes a fall, is in the expression of agony and the histrionics that we see on the field”.
A professional soccer player is expecting clashes and should be able to take a few knock and bumps much more that we “working stiffs” are able. Yet none of us had rolled around in agony with looks of total surprise and agony when taking a fall. In fact, on the last day, as we are hitching up the trailer, I knock my shin against the hitch of the trailer. It is a really eina experience. I shed some skin and the shin bone swells a few centimeters within a minute. No one in the group was even aware of this either from a groan of pain nor from any facial expression from myself. Not that I am any kind of hero but again this strengthens Gavin's theory.
Once up at the lookout point, Matthew W and Ally pressed on while Anthony, Gavin and I remained chatting. To our surprise and delight we were treated to a display of “Whale activity”. We saw a couple of whales breaching and slapping tails on the sea. A number of times the whales leap completely out of the water. It was at quite a distance yet we could clearly see these huge Souther Right Whales as they were totally visible out of their natural environment. I am sure that if we were
a bit closer we would have been able to hear the tremendous noise that the slash would have made.
The Southern Right Whale (Eubalaena australis) is a baleen whale, one of three species classified as right whales belonging to the genus Eubalaena. Like other right whales, the Southern Right Whale is readily distinguished from others by the callosities on its head, a broad back without a dorsal fin, and a long arching mouth that begins above the eye. Its skin is very dark grey or black, occasionally with some white patches on the belly
The total population is estimated to be around 12,000. Since hunting ceased, stocks are estimated to have grown by 7% a year.
As it became clear that stocks were nearly depleted, right whaling was banned in 1937. The ban was largely successful, although some illegal whaling continued for several decades. Madeira took its last two right whales in 1968. Illegal whaling continued off the coast of Brazil for many years and the Imbituba station processed right whales until 1973. The Soviet Union admitted illegally taking over 3,300 during the 1950s and '60s,[20] although it only reported taking 4.[21]
The Southern Right Whale have made Hermanus, South Africa one of the world centers for whale watching. During the winter months (June to November), Southern Right Whales come so close to the shoreline that visitors can watch them from strategically-placed hotels. Hermanus also has two boat–based whale watching operators. The town employs a "whale crier" (cf. town crier) to walk through the town announcing where whales have been seen.
Finally we continued our way down, catching up with Ally, to the second overnight huts. Geelhoutsbos River mouth. This evening the huts are fairly close to each other and right on the beach or the river's edge. Gavin and Matthew headed off for a swim / bath in the stream. The toilets were in good condition as was the shower. Both have a stunning view of the ocean. I headed off for a shower.
We had done some of the most hectic climbing of the whole hike today. There are three huge hills that go from the seaside right up to the highest point on the cliff face. We had not rushed but still I was weary and needed a refreshing shower. Hannes went for his compulsory swim. This evening Ally and I had steak to braai together with cheese rolls which looked more like pancakes but when toasted on the fire were quite okay. We only had half of our rations and kept the remainder for lunch the following day.
Every time we were in a valley we would feel the cold breeze coming from the valley. I am not sure why this happens but as soon as we left the valley or found some shelter we would warm up again. Apart from this phenomenon we were warm for most of the hike. We were incredibly fortunate to have 5 days of sunny or slightly overcast weather. Only once or twice over the five days did we long for a bit more sun to warm us up.
The second highlight for me this evening, after our entertaining whale watching, was to spot a Gennet (as spelled in the huts). This little creature was in a tree just close to the hut. As I rounded the hut to wash my dishes I had the head lamp on Red Light and caught the animals eyes in the light. It was not so dark that I could not see his full shape. I was able to call Fred who also caught a glimpse of the creature before he slunk back into the trees. Later when Ally and I went to the toilet we spotted the Gennet below us next to the boma. Again it was the red head lamp that caught the eyes reflection. Matthew and Gavin stayed up chatting at the fire that evening and they too saw the Genet as he came looking for scraps.
It could be that the spelling of Gennet in the huts is incorrect and should be Genet.
Similar in appearance to the Common Genet (G. genetta), the Cape Genet has yellowish-grey fur with rust-coloured and black rosettes, with a black and white tail. Individuals from drier areas of South Africa tend to have lighter colours and less stark patterns, while the opposite is the case in moister areas. Melanistic individuals are known.
Its diet is varied, and includes rodents, birds, reptiles, fruit, and invertebrates. Like all viverrids, it has strong scent glands which it uses to mark its territory.
Although catlike in appearance and habit, the genet is not a cat but a member of the family Viverridae, which also includes civets and mongooses.
This evening I try to read but by now I am totally exhausted and fall asleep within minutes. Only to wake up later with a sore hip and stiff limbs. My muscles in my calves tense and cramp and I have an uncomfortable sleep. But to lie in bed for something like 10 hours is more than enough and I wake up in the morning feeling completely rested.
Day three.
Our third day on the trail starts off very much the same as the previous morning. Breakfast of instant oats, foamy coffee, naartjie and rusk. Packing up to go does take time. I cant find my stuff bag for the sleeping bag. I constantly lose things and scratch around for a spoon or a cup. I lose the matches or can't remember where I have stowed lunch for the day.
I find it extremely difficult to remain organised on a hike. I see others who have their stuff looking so “in place” with see through plastic bags and days rations clearly indicated. I am nowhere like that. I have shopping bags containing shopping bags with various stuff in them. And when I start to pack in the morning I put potential useful stuff at the top and the rest is shoved in as best possible.
We set off at 09.00am. We cross the river and walk into the canopy. And for a short while I am enjoying this. But this is short lived. The first Mega Hill of the day starts. I am determined to walk it out slowly. Gavin keeps me company again. Ally and I walk a little. Stop a lot. But finally we make it to the top. But within meters the decent to the Elandsbos River Mouth begins. And we go down to the beachy river mouth. We have to take our shoes off to cross the river that is flowing quite strongly.
Gavin thinks that I am crazy to carry so heavy. But my point is that I still make it to the huts each evening. I may be a little slower than other hikers but I enjoy the snacks, drinks and evening meals and am prepared to suffer a bit for the enjoyment of the evenings.
The river water is always much colder than the Ocean water. So after one minute of being in the river our feet are frozen. We walk across the beach to the point where the boys are waiting. It is only two kays from the start of the day but still everyone hauls out some kind of snack. Hannes and Gavin go for a swim in the sea. Hannes has his costume. Gavin walks a decent distance from the group and then in the distance we see him “drop his rods” and into the water he goes with Hannes. And after a quick frollick they are back on the beach. Jacqui tries to capture this on film for “Playgirl” but her telephoto lens does not stretch that far and the ladies of the world have lost out big time.
After the Elandsbos River there is a section of contouring around the cliffs before we begin the second Mega Climb of the day. Gavin is concerned about my huffing and puffing but I know that we have plenty of time and am in no rush to kill myself. We descend back to a rocky beach passing some beautiful flowering aloes. Hannes, Jacqui and Amber are just ahead of Ally and myself. I see this balancing rock ahead and immediately recognise it as a view point that we have to pass by. It seems impossibly high up. But we start the third Mega Climb of the day and bit by bit we work our way to the top. As we pass the balancing rock, Ally somehow “loses it” a bit and decides to run up before realising that this will not last for long.
Finally we summit this last climb of the day. The rest of the group have their cell phones out and are checking scores. We find out that Bafana Bafana beat France 2-1. The SA team still misses out on round 2 of the tournament but have redeemed themselves somewhat. Gavin and Hannes start calculating which teams have moved on to the next round. A small field mouse watches as people eat their snacks and drop tasty crumbs. He clearly knows that there is a daily feast for the picking. He darts across the pathway. Finds some breadcrumbs and after eating this he scurries around my boots looking for anything else to eat. He reminds me of the opportunistic Gennet and the Crows which have been known to open the Zips of backpacks. I see a whale in the distance. There have been a number of sightings of whales throughout the trail.
The mouse we encountered is a Striped Mouse or Rhabdomys is common in this area and is both a nocturnal and a day time feeder.
From the top of the Balancing Rock hill it is only a short walk to the point from where you look down to the huts on the Lottering River. We see Jordan, Calvin and the two Matthews on the rocks on the other side of the river. They have already reached the huts, unpacked and are doing some exploring of the gullies.
We make our way down to the river and now I remember why a pair of slops or crocs are ESSENTIAL on a hike. I take off my shoes, put on my bathing costume and try to carry my backpack across a short three meters of jagged rocks. I simply cannot do it. My feet are too soft for this type of exercise. Thankfully Matthew W returns to guide us across. He tells us that when they crossed the river was knee deep. But now we will have to make some kind of plan to get everything across the river that is flowing strongly and that has the tidal waves pushing in the opposite direction as well. Matthew carries Ally's bag across. Fred comes to assist me and carries mine across. Hannes floats his bag in a splash cover and this works like a dream. Walking on rocks with no crocs is no fun at all.
We are all able to cross safely and then I see a couple of the chaps going for a swim. I am now just keen to get to the huts and to off load. The walk to the hut is not long but certainly not short enough to walk barefoot. The last bit is downhill to the huts and I am tired. Unfortunately we miss any sun that there might have been today. The sun sets so early and is soon behind the cliff side. Some of the chaps hand stuff out to dry on the rocks in the sun. But shortly the sun goes and they have to collect their stuff.
Now begins the debate about the moon's trajectory and the time that the moon will be out of site in the morning. Fred, Anthony and I are used to seeing the full moon setting in the west at around 05.30am. For me this is as I run towards Linkside and as we are going down hill. So I am pretty confident that we will have some Moon Shine (Not Tennessee whisky) in the morning. This evening Ally and I braai our last steak and toast the last of the cheese rolls. It makes a delicious meal. I am totally exhausted and slink into bed as soon as we have eaten.
Day Four
We have agreed to rise at 04.50 as we want to leave for the Blaukrans Crossing at 05.30. I sleep really well. The aches and pains that I had the first two nights are no longer troubling me. I don't have a sore hip nor do I have the cramps that I experienced the previous two nights. Fred wakes us up at exactly 04.50am. There is a cool breeze blowing down the valley.
I am happy to get up. Well rested. I brush my teeth and thanks to Fred putting plenty of water on to boil we all enjoy coffee and rusks. Ally has her Breakfast (naartjie and hot chocolate) in bed. It has been tough for her being the only girl in the cabin. She has to dress in her sleeping bag while the rest of us kind of “make do” with the deck or any moment when we have no girls around. Anthony shaves in cold water in the dark. He has his standards and shaving is one of them.
We pack up our sleeping bags, use the toilet, and generally hustle ourselves ready by 05.25. The Zeelie camp is still busy. And by 05.45 we all set off. Headlights on. We start the climb up the rocky pathway. Reminds me of the Kilimanjaro Ascent. The first part is steep and I soon fall behind the main group. I simply cannot walk either up or down as fast as the rest of the group are able. Gavin is again a good companion to me as he stays at the back. We walk by torch light for around an hour to 90 minutes. This to me is a real adventure. When we did this hike about 6 years ago with the Gendalls we did the same early start.
We have a 10kay hike ahead of us. Low tide is at 09.19. Gavin has pointed out that the graph of the low tide works like this: during the first hour after low tide there is no perceptible change. In the second hour there is change but this is not significant. But in the third and fourth hours the rate of change spikes. So the trick is to make it to the Blaukrans before about 11.00am.
There are marker boards for each km for the first 4kays. Gavin times each kay and we start off in the dark doing around 23min/kay. Then there is a section between 4 and 7kays where there is a lot of rock climbing and the pathway is more technical. I am a bit concerned about Ally as she is now in the Zeelie group and they have tended to walk faster than she and I have. But not much I can do about it. I know that she is in good care.
At one stage Gavin points out that I have missed a pathway. I am DOFF. I continue until I realise that we are truly off the beaten track. And instead of retracing our steps I suggest that we climb up some rocks to the trail. I go ahead and struggle up a rocky section, into thorn bush and finally scrabble onto a safe ledge. Gavin sensibly backtracks and within a minute he meets me as I crawl on to the trail.
Ahead is the first Mega Climb of the day. I puff and pant my way to the top. Again I think of Ally and half expect her to be waiting for me sitting on a step somewhere. Gavin and I finally make it to the top of this climb and now begins the contour pathway which is mainly a leaf covered path. There are a few undulations but nothing major. We see the 7kay mark and Gavin computes our pace. We have slowed down to an average of around 26min/kay. But now we are able to gather speed and the next few kays we walk at 19 minutes a kay and the average drops to around 23min/kay.
I later hear that Fred jogged the last few kays to catch up with the boys. Anthony had stayed with Gavin and I earlier this morning but he became impatient and had also charged on to catch the rest of the group.
We reach the top of the Blaukrans River mouth. We can see the abandoned orange plastic bags which were used by hikers to cross the river. I glance up to the right and see the endless climb of the Escape Route to the Bungy Jumping Bridge that we had to do the last time we hiked this trail. I am very glad we are not doing that this time around.
We begin the steep descent and pass the 10kay mark. As we descend we reccee the river and the rocks on the other side and make a tentative decision as to where we will cross. We see a kind of raggedy bunch of hikers on the other side. Jordan, Calvin and Matthew D are hanging onto a rockface. We see Matthew W jump into the surf. Then to the right we can see Fred and Anthony climbing up a rope on a sheer cliff.
Gavin and I walk towards the area which we consider to be the best option. Jordan shouts at us but we cant hear what he is saying. The noise of the surf cuts off his voice. But he gestures and we understand that he is telling us to cross to where they are waiting for us. We take off our boots and our shorts and cross with the packs on our backs. We have to time it that we cross just as the swell begins to recede. We stride across. A glance to the left and we see the beginnings of a wave coming at us. Our pace picks up and we reach the rocks safely.
Meanwhile I hear a cry of “Daddy!” And see that Amber and Ally have scampered up the rope and are now at the top of the really difficult climb. I am truly proud of these two young girls. Maybe they themselves don't realise what they have just accomplished but it is awesome that they climbed up this sheer rockface using just their own strength and the rope that dangles down as an aid. Jordan, Calvin and Matthew D have waited for us and they now move on to the climb themselves. Gavin and I put our shoes back on and we too climb around the rocks to the rope climb.
I am not at all good with climbing nor with heights. Matthew D shows me that there is an alternative route around the rocks but he suggests that I follow the rest of the group. I grab the rope with cold hands and start the climb. Gavin is behind me giving instructions and assisting me. I jam my toe into a ledge and grab rock and heave myself up. I do this a number of times using the rope to steady myself.
The rope is strong and is firmly secured to the rock face so we have that as a source of comfort. But for me this takes strength. For a moment I doubt my ability. I don't look down and press on upwards. Finally I make it to the ledge. I have left the rope in an awkward position for Gavin but he is much stronger than I am and is up the rocks in a flash. We climb up and over to the stairway that leads down to where the group has gathered.
As we reach the point where there is a little sunshine to warm us up, the rest of the group leave for the huts. I need a bit of time to recover and so sit down to a midday snack. We had left the Lotter River Huts just before 06.00am and it is now about 11.30. Ant, Fred, Gavin, Ally and I have a bit of a break before starting the final 4kays to the huts.
But Ally is anxious to move on so we load up and start the rock climb that takes us onto the pathway. This section takes the hiker up and down to the beach about 4 times before starting a last Mega Climb of the day. Ally is much better shape today and manages these hills as well as the Mega Climb with relative ease. I have to push myself to keep up to her pace. When we reach the 12kay mark we are almost at the top. The last 2kays seems long as it often does at the end of a day's walk but finally we reach the top where we gather some wood for the evening fire.
The huts are quite a way apart and separated by the shower and the Boma. It is now only lunch time so we are able to sun ourselves and dry out any wet clothing. I love this afternoon's shower. The shower faces onto the ocean and while it is a freezing cold shower I enjoy it. I kind of wash one part at a time and then shower the soap off. It is just too cold to stand under the shower for more than a minute at a time.
Cell phone reception is good at this camp. It is the first camp where I see anyone talking on a cell phone. I think that the reception must come straight from Plett. Fred talks to people about a job that is being done in PE and establishes that all is well. Anthony phones home and various other people. Work I imagine. But after he has assured himself that the business is going on okay without him he pours himself an early Jack and finds a sunny spot on the rocks and there he chats and suns himself for the next hour or two.
Later that evening Gavin scolds Ant for drinking Jack D and asks why he does not rather drink a real whisky such as a single Malt. Ant is like me and has absolutely no clue what a single malt is. Gavin explains that this is a special whisky that is made in a certain area in Scotland. This appears to be where the best whisky is made. I am not sure that it would make any difference on a hike. I think that the only reason that Ant takes JD is that he cannot carry a wine as it would be simply too heavy. Maybe I should follow suite and carry less weight when it comes to alcohol?
As evening approaches we are invited to the Zeelie Camp for a “Bring and Braai”. We put our final evening provisions together and walk across to their hut. They start a good looking fire from the ample supply of wood that is available. This evening Hannes and Jacqui celebrate 22years of marriage. It is the second time that they have celebrated a wedding anniversary at this venue. Jacqui tells us that they celebrated a previous anniversary with Jonti and Pierre some years ago.
Ally and I have our wors and rolls for supper. Ally finishes the last of her Sweet Chili sauce that she has carried for the past 4 days. Jacqui has made a pasta dish that she shares with us as a supplement to our meal. The last of the beers, whisky, wine etc is polished off. Us hikers love to talk about hiking around the camp fire. This evening is no exception as we recall our various hikes and plan for future hikes.
Ant invites us to join him on a Cockscomb hike. But there are discussions about the Kili Hike, the Base Camp Hike, the tough ones and the easy ones. Someone reminds us that Jonti has done the Otter Trail as a one day run. If you talk about it then it does not sound so tough. But when you are on the trail, climbing a Mega Hill or crossing a river or climbing a rock face or trying to stay on your feet during a steep descent, then you realise what a huge task it would be to run this trail in a day.
Finally we head back to the hut for the last nights sleep. The evening is warm with the glow of the moon shining on the ocean and the lights of Plett clearly visible across the bay. I try to read but the book is like a sleeping tablet for me and I am soon fast asleep.
I wake a few times in the night and see that Anthony is in his familiar position on the top bunk facing the wall and reading in the light of his head lamp. I do the same for a short while but again this puts me to sleep.
We had agreed to leave at 07.00am as there is soccer to watch in PE. Gavin and Matthew W will be going to the Game. We are awake at 06.00 and, unusually, Ally and I are ready ahead of schedule. We leave first as I know that we will be the slowest. Matthew W joins us and we cross the stream and head immediately up the very last Mega Hill of the hike. It is a long slog for Ally and I but Matthew almost runs up. We are halfway when we hear his whistle. He is on the lookout point far above us. We press on and make it to the top. At the top there is a cold breeze and we have to carry on to maintain body temperature.
Ally and I look down and can see Calvin leading the group from the hut. Now we have a reasonable head start and should be able to maintain our position. Or so I thought!. Within minutes Calvin comes rushing past us and catches Matthew. The two of them set up a fast pace which we have no intention of trying to match. The walk today is mainly along the cliff face with a few undulating sections as we head inland to walk the ravines. But having climbed the final Mega Hill there is no major climb after that. Fred and Anthony come past. As we reach the final descent to the Natures Valley beach we see them below. Calvin and Matthew are long gone.
Ally and I walk down to the beach and there we wait for Jordan, Amber and Matthew D to catch us. They reach the beach and, without a pause, they press on. So Ally and I follow suite. Jordan points to where there are Dolphins surfing the waves. Jacqui has separated herself from Hannes and Gavin who are again having a discussion about the trajectory of the moon. Obsession?
We wait for Jacqui, and the 6 of us walk into camp together. There we find Ant, Fred, Matthew and Calvin have already showered. We open the trailer and take out our clean clothes and walk to the shower block were we have a really good soaking hot shower. What a pleasure!
We loaded up and all 12 of us piled into Hannes' combi. He took us back to the Storms River reserve where we collected my car and after a stop at the Bridge for a burger we headed home. Ant insisted he wanted to be dropped off at the Humansdorp turnoff. We tried to persuade him to wait with us. But the last thing we saw of Anthony was this Hobo looking figure walking down the Humansdorp Road just like you would see Kurt Russell or Sylvester Stalone at the end of some action movie. I kind of missed the “Good the bad and the ugly” music in the background. I am sure that he was fine but it did not feel right to leave a fellow traveler on the road like that.
As we drove past the Ladies Slipper hills Fred told me about the cycle that he had recently completed on his own. He had ridden his mountain bike along the rail track to the foot of the Ladies Slipper and then along the dirt road that leads to the north side of the mountain. He then lifted his bike over a gate and cycled up the tar access road to the tower that we could see from the N2. This ride had taken Fred 6 hours. Now I suddenly did not feel bad about him carrying my backpack across the Lottering River any more.
We dropped Fred and then Gavin off and off loaded this huge pile of washing. Gavin, Matthew, our nieces: Julia and Laura all went to the Soccer that afternoon. As much as we had had this incredibly good weather. As soon as we arrived home we had cool wet weather for the Saturday afternoon soccer. Julia and Laura went to the Fan Fest at St Georges park later. Fortunately they bundled up and were not too cold. They come from NY and Michigan and are used to cold evenings.
Ally and I made ourselves a warm supper of Butternut soup and Curry Rice and were in bed early that evening. It had been a real adventure but we are so lucky to be able to come home to warm duvets, hot water and a solid home.
Lessons learned from this hike:
There is never any reason to rush the days except perhaps for day four depending on the tide table. It is nice to be in camp by about 3pm and on this trail time is the least of your worries.
The sun does not always reach the overnight huts after around 3 or 4pm.
Crocs or sandals are essential for this, and probably most hikes. Slip slops or slippers just do not do it.
We were able to have fresh rolls every evening. They are a little bulky as you have to pack them in a special container or else carry them outside of the pack. This is probably only really a possibility during winter.
Ally and I were able to Braai every evening. Sosaties; Steak and Boerewors in that order. Probably the same rule applies for Winter Hiking.
One Braai Tongs for the group and one packet of Fire Lighter for the group is essential.
Candles in the evening make the cabin much cosier than just using the head lamp torches.
Head lamp torches are essential.
A small kettle boils a lot quicker and therefore uses a lot less gas than a dixie.
Pre-book and pre-pay the entry fee to the reserve if possible. The service we received at the office was shocking.
A water-proof bag for cellphones and cameras would have been a great comfort.
This hike is not an easy hike nor is it to be taken lightly. The hills, rock climbing, terrain, river crossings etc make it a hike to be respected.
A splash cover for a Back Pack works like a charm when you have to float a bag across a river.
In summer a One Liter bottle of water would not have been enough. There are days when there is no drinkable water on the trail and you would be well advised to have an additional 500ml bottle in your backpack. Fred had a two liter bladder that he used.
Adrienne has asked me for a checklist for the trail. Please let me know if there are any essentials that I have left off.
Your bag should not weight more than around 8 to 10 kays for the children and if possible keep it to under 20kg for the adults. There are some seriously long hills on this trail.
Backpack and splash cover if you have.
Sleeping Bag (in plastic to avoid a wet night in the event of rain)
Hike shoes or tackies. The Otter is a trail and tackies are fine. Boots are best though.
I will place all my clothing into a "two oceans type" bag.
3 X Socks and U/pants or speedo
I X shorts & hat / cap
slops or crocs
2 X t shirts (if you have the "sweat proof" that is best)
I X tracksuite (best to wear shorts in the day but evenings will be chilly)
1 X light water proof anorak
Beanie and gloves
Small towel Or a Shammy towel that can be bought at a Hike Shop.
soap and toothbrush (Shaver?)
Plate, cup, spoon and knife. (Paper plates make dishwashing easier)
scourer
Dixie and small cooker. Kettles are better for boiling water.
candle and matches; one or two packets of blitz should be okay for all of us.
Toilet paper
Head lamp
I take a "camp master" small pillow but some people will use their sleeping bag cover and stuff clothing into it for a pillow.
sling water bottle.
Camera; cell phone optional as reception is limited.
Food:
sandwiches for day one. And maybe day two.
Braai meat for two or three nights. Vacume packed.
Two minute noodles
Tuna or other tins but remember tins are heavy.
Rice / noodles
packet soup; cup a soup
bread or bread rolls, marg, pnbutter.
Vegetables & fruit
coffee, tea, hot chocolate.
Snacks, roll of sweets,
Alcohol; I think that Hannes might take a full 8 beers while others may take whisky, sherry, wine etc. The Otter trail is not long but is quite hilly.
Crackers, provita, cheese wedges, rusks, biscuits, oats so easy, energy bar, powder cold drink mix (game or tang), marshmellows,
The ideal menu is to end on Saturday morning eating your last breakfast with just one packet of sweets left. You do not need extra in case of emergency
Think about how much you might eat on a normal day. you will not need more than that.
I am sure that you can make up more interesting innovative meals than this.
Peter
14.06.2010
Peter & Ally Giddy
Gavin Cameron & Matthew Wilson
Hannes, Jacqui, Calvin, Jordan and Amber Zeelie
Anthony Adler
Fred Kohler
Matthew Derry
I had booked this trail about a year ago. Originally Deryck Le Roux, Graham Richards and Maryna Baard were due to be on the trail with us. But due to commitments and injury they were not able to come along. Graham and Baubie have a busy Guest House that they are running and it is the World Cup Soccer with plenty of guests. Deryck had an Injury and Maryna was on crutches the week before with an injury and then became ill while spending time with her sister on the farm in Cradock.
Gavin and Matthew were late entries. Gavin is Adrienne Wilson's brother. He lives in Canada on the Victoria Island on the West Coast. He had come to PE to visit Adrienne and to watch World Cup Soccer matches. Going on the trail meant that he missed a crucial match between England & ? Not that it mattered much as England were knocked out by Germany later in the week.
Babara left for Canada with Gail the day before we started the hike. They would fly to Jozies and then London where they would Transit before flying on to Calgary. They would be visiting Sister Dawn (and Richard) for three weeks. Dawn and Richard live in a small village called Priddis just north of Calgary in a flat below the house of Tracy and Mark. This is a house on a “Small Holding” farm like area. It would be their summer but as Barbara and I have experienced before that summer in Calgary could mean cold and snow. It would be Gail's first trip overseas.
We planned to leave for the trail on Tuesday 22nd at 08.00 from our house. The Zeelies were running a little late and so we met up at the petrol station and left from there probably a little after 8am. We drove directly to Storms River mouth. I made a slight miscalculation thinking that the entrance to the Tsitsikamma village was the turn off. We rendezvoused at the entrance to the National Park. Here we were allowed past the gate and then had to register for the hike.
I had inquired about the entry fee and had been told that we would have to pay an additional amount to gain entry. We were prepared for this but not for the total inefficiency of the staff in this office. The whole procedure of paying R112 per person took over an hour. Matthew D had his parents Wild Card while Hannes bought a family WC. Still the staff of three people could not process our entry accurately and called us back to prove that we had all paid. Finally they discovered that they had failed to acknowledge one of the payments and allowed us to carry on.
In the registration area there were three Californians who we chatted to for a while. Gavin gave them some good tips of wine estates to visit. Gavin had just spent a week in CT with Adrienne touring the wine farms. Gavin is an expert in the wine industry and knows the difference between cultivars and tastes.
After we were allowed to start the hike we realised that the hike no longer starts on the west end of the rest camp. The trail now starts at the Gate Entrance to the reserve. We off loaded the trailer which I had borrowed from Gerald and Hannes' Combi. Hannes and I then drove through to the Toll Gate and, as the Natures Valley off ramp was closed we continued to the Kurland Brick entrance to the Groot Rivier Pass. We had already been held up by two road construction sites and now had to wait for the cars to come up the pass as there was construction on this section of road as well. It has been a long time since I have driven this Wormy Road (as our children used to call it). There was construction on the whole west side of the pass. We waited our turn and then headed down to Natures Valley.
At the rest camp we parked Hannes' Combi. He disconnected the battery to ensure that we did not have starting problems when we finished the trail. This had happened to us before both with my Combi and with Rory's combi. I unhitched Gerald's trailer and fastened it with the cable that he had given me. Hannes and I drove back to the Storm's River reserve where the rest of the group were waiting for us.
We finally started the hike at around 12.45. The hike now starts with a long downhill to the old cave. We encountered a number of people climbing up the pathway. Some of them were clearly tourists who were here to see the soccer game in PE the following day. I had a heavy pack and would pay the price during the days as I could not keep up with the main group. Going down the steps made me quite tired and my legs felt a little wobbly at the bottom.
The rest of the group had waited for us and I pressed on up the rocks. But still I was last to arrive at the waterfall. I found everyone else on the East side of the waterfall. It has been our habit to picnic on the far side of the pool so I continued across the rocks and prepared to offload and have a snack. But to my disappointment the group followed me but continued up the rocks and on to the overnight hut.
Today may be a short day but it should not be underestimated. Your pack is at it's very heaviest and the terrain is tough with a certain amount of rock climbing and difficult pathways. The total walking time, bearing in mind that I had hardly paused for a break was for me around two hours. The Zeelie's claimed Hut One as they would for the rest of the hike.
The huts on day one are situated a little off the shore line and about 50meters apart. Unfortunately the toilet was not working and there was a foul smell coming from the toilet which is situated above the central boma area. It appeared to us that the toilet must have been out of commission for more than just a few days. Fred tried to see if there was any chance of repairing the system but it was totally blocked and would take some special attention to get it back into usable condition.
Not having a workable toilet made life interesting as we had to give some rules and instructions regarding toilet use to the younger members of the group. Today, and throughout the trail, the worst pollutant was toilet paper that had been carelessly discarded and not covered. The shower is a totally open affair hidden in the bushes but with no cover while you attempt to clean yourself under freezing water. Hannes calls this the Honesty System when it comes to the ladies showering.
This was a very unusual mix of genders for our hikes. I am not sure how it has worked out in the past however we normally have an equal number of males and females or sometimes more ladies than men. This time we had 9 males and only the three girls.
Ally and I had decided that we would braai every evening. This evening, with the toilet smell on the east side of the camp, we ended up braaing at Hut Two. This is not how we would normally had done the evening meal as the braai place at hut one is more sheltered. We had our resident pyrotechnic, Matthew Wilson, to make the fires in the evenings. Each evening we would start the fire at around 4pm as this gave us enough time to settle the coals, enjoy a bit of fellowship and then grill our meat. This evening the grill would be the fullest as everyone had planned for a meaty evening. Ally and I had our Chicken Sosaties and spicy rolls.
I had been up from around 4am, packing and making ready for the hike. I was tired and sleepy by 7pm. I had a book that I had brought along to read but I find that after just a few pages I am starting to close my eyes. So by 8pm I was fast asleep. There would be a full moon the whole week of the hike and this sparked quite an interesting discussion between Gavin and others as to what time we could expect the moon to set and exactly where it would set. In fact, if I am not mistaken, there were beers won and lost as bets were placed. Fortunately no one was asked to pay their debts during the hike as the price of a beer on a hike doubles a number of times.
And so ended the first day. Gavin has a i-phone where he jiggles his finger on the screen and receives a weather forecast for a week or more. Today the weather had been very kind to us as it was neither too hot nor very cold. Even sitting around the fire we were chilly but not uncomfortably cold. The nights were very long. I slept for a few hours but then would toss and turn for most of the rest of the night. The moon lit up the cabin. The mattresses are not bad but certainly not as comfortable as home. I never zipped up my sleeping bag as I find that doing so is quite restrictive.
Day two.
This morning we started walking at around 9am. I had decided to follow Fred's example and brought some oats porridge. This adds a little energy for the day. I also had the packet Cappuccino Coffee. Ally would have a Naartjie, hot chocolate and little else for breakfast.
The day's hike starts, as every day does, with a long steep climb. Today was a 2kay climb to the lookout point where the obligatory photo session took place. Ally had some knee trouble for the first few days. I found the uphills quite exhausting and was breathless by the time I reached the top. The next point of interest is the Skilderkrans lookout point. Hannes translated for Gavin as being an Artists cliff. Or a place which is “Picture Perfect” perhaps? We traditionally make this little detour and from here we look out for the Blou Baai which will be our next stop.
We could see across to the Robberg. I had, earlier this morning, told the story of how Cronje van Zyl had been hiking the Robberg point with a friend. They had been doing some exploring when he had slipped and fallen completely out of his rucksack and tumbled down in to the ocean below. His hiking partner had then rushed off to the car park and from there hiked back into town where he had been able to locate the NSRI. They had launched a rescue craft. Meanwhile Cronje had been perched on a rock, bleeding across his chest, for around 8 hours. Finally the NSRI was able to find where he was. By now it was dark and he was fortunate to have survived the ordeal. Cronje tells us that that was the last time that he had done any hiking.
From the Skilderkrans the trail leads to the Kleinbos River Crossing. There are a number of up and down hills, some of which are quite technical. Crossing the Kleinbos river can be done with your backpack and boots on but I was not steady enough and my pack was too heavy for me to take the risk. So I removed my boots and waded across. Unfortunately I left my Kilimanjaro (10year old) hat on the river side and only realised after climbing up the next hill which was long and steep. Again Ally complains of Knee trouble and talks about taking the emergency exit. However she presses on and we make it to the top of the second long hill of the day. Gavin refers to this climb as the “stairway to heaven”.
From the top we walk for around 2kays of switchbacks and contours before reaching the 6kay mark where the Blou Baai descent begins. Most of us shuck our packs and carry a small bag of goodies down to the beach. Ally takes a bit of a nasty fall as she slips on some rocks that we have to negotiate on the way down. Blou Baai is mostly in shade and we walk to the far point to enjoy the little sunshine that we can find. I attempt a swim but the waves are huge and strong so end up rolling around on the beach in the surf. Hannes swims at every possible opportunity. We hear a cry from above and see Calvin waving to us from a point above us that looks impossibly high.
From Blou Baai there is the third mega climb of the day. Jacqui remarks that she is coping well with these Mega Hills and puts this down partly to her jogging training that she has been doing. Jacqui is now part of the MPRG (Mill Park Running Group) who train 4 to 5 times a week from the corner of Salisbury and Wares Road for an hour from 05.15am. She was invited to join the Jonti group of runners who do the Guinea Fowl Trail but they are just too strong for her.
Gavin is kind to me and stays with me at the back of the group. Ally and I take the hill slowly with regular stops and we all finally make it to the view point at the top of the hill where we had earlier seen Calvin. As we had been climbing, Gavin had explained a theory that he has about professional soccer players in the World Cup.
From time to time Soccer players clash in some way or another. Their legs (with shin pads) catch each other or they take a tumble. Most of us had, by now, scratches and bruises from thorn trees or from stumbling over roots or rocks. But none of us had writhed in agony as these professionally trained athletes are seen to be doing on the soccer field. So Gavin's theory is that: “Proof of the fact that the soccer player is acting up, when he takes a fall, is in the expression of agony and the histrionics that we see on the field”.
A professional soccer player is expecting clashes and should be able to take a few knock and bumps much more that we “working stiffs” are able. Yet none of us had rolled around in agony with looks of total surprise and agony when taking a fall. In fact, on the last day, as we are hitching up the trailer, I knock my shin against the hitch of the trailer. It is a really eina experience. I shed some skin and the shin bone swells a few centimeters within a minute. No one in the group was even aware of this either from a groan of pain nor from any facial expression from myself. Not that I am any kind of hero but again this strengthens Gavin's theory.
Once up at the lookout point, Matthew W and Ally pressed on while Anthony, Gavin and I remained chatting. To our surprise and delight we were treated to a display of “Whale activity”. We saw a couple of whales breaching and slapping tails on the sea. A number of times the whales leap completely out of the water. It was at quite a distance yet we could clearly see these huge Souther Right Whales as they were totally visible out of their natural environment. I am sure that if we were
a bit closer we would have been able to hear the tremendous noise that the slash would have made.
The Southern Right Whale (Eubalaena australis) is a baleen whale, one of three species classified as right whales belonging to the genus Eubalaena. Like other right whales, the Southern Right Whale is readily distinguished from others by the callosities on its head, a broad back without a dorsal fin, and a long arching mouth that begins above the eye. Its skin is very dark grey or black, occasionally with some white patches on the belly
The total population is estimated to be around 12,000. Since hunting ceased, stocks are estimated to have grown by 7% a year.
As it became clear that stocks were nearly depleted, right whaling was banned in 1937. The ban was largely successful, although some illegal whaling continued for several decades. Madeira took its last two right whales in 1968. Illegal whaling continued off the coast of Brazil for many years and the Imbituba station processed right whales until 1973. The Soviet Union admitted illegally taking over 3,300 during the 1950s and '60s,[20] although it only reported taking 4.[21]
The Southern Right Whale have made Hermanus, South Africa one of the world centers for whale watching. During the winter months (June to November), Southern Right Whales come so close to the shoreline that visitors can watch them from strategically-placed hotels. Hermanus also has two boat–based whale watching operators. The town employs a "whale crier" (cf. town crier) to walk through the town announcing where whales have been seen.
Finally we continued our way down, catching up with Ally, to the second overnight huts. Geelhoutsbos River mouth. This evening the huts are fairly close to each other and right on the beach or the river's edge. Gavin and Matthew headed off for a swim / bath in the stream. The toilets were in good condition as was the shower. Both have a stunning view of the ocean. I headed off for a shower.
We had done some of the most hectic climbing of the whole hike today. There are three huge hills that go from the seaside right up to the highest point on the cliff face. We had not rushed but still I was weary and needed a refreshing shower. Hannes went for his compulsory swim. This evening Ally and I had steak to braai together with cheese rolls which looked more like pancakes but when toasted on the fire were quite okay. We only had half of our rations and kept the remainder for lunch the following day.
Every time we were in a valley we would feel the cold breeze coming from the valley. I am not sure why this happens but as soon as we left the valley or found some shelter we would warm up again. Apart from this phenomenon we were warm for most of the hike. We were incredibly fortunate to have 5 days of sunny or slightly overcast weather. Only once or twice over the five days did we long for a bit more sun to warm us up.
The second highlight for me this evening, after our entertaining whale watching, was to spot a Gennet (as spelled in the huts). This little creature was in a tree just close to the hut. As I rounded the hut to wash my dishes I had the head lamp on Red Light and caught the animals eyes in the light. It was not so dark that I could not see his full shape. I was able to call Fred who also caught a glimpse of the creature before he slunk back into the trees. Later when Ally and I went to the toilet we spotted the Gennet below us next to the boma. Again it was the red head lamp that caught the eyes reflection. Matthew and Gavin stayed up chatting at the fire that evening and they too saw the Genet as he came looking for scraps.
It could be that the spelling of Gennet in the huts is incorrect and should be Genet.
Similar in appearance to the Common Genet (G. genetta), the Cape Genet has yellowish-grey fur with rust-coloured and black rosettes, with a black and white tail. Individuals from drier areas of South Africa tend to have lighter colours and less stark patterns, while the opposite is the case in moister areas. Melanistic individuals are known.
Its diet is varied, and includes rodents, birds, reptiles, fruit, and invertebrates. Like all viverrids, it has strong scent glands which it uses to mark its territory.
Although catlike in appearance and habit, the genet is not a cat but a member of the family Viverridae, which also includes civets and mongooses.
This evening I try to read but by now I am totally exhausted and fall asleep within minutes. Only to wake up later with a sore hip and stiff limbs. My muscles in my calves tense and cramp and I have an uncomfortable sleep. But to lie in bed for something like 10 hours is more than enough and I wake up in the morning feeling completely rested.
Day three.
Our third day on the trail starts off very much the same as the previous morning. Breakfast of instant oats, foamy coffee, naartjie and rusk. Packing up to go does take time. I cant find my stuff bag for the sleeping bag. I constantly lose things and scratch around for a spoon or a cup. I lose the matches or can't remember where I have stowed lunch for the day.
I find it extremely difficult to remain organised on a hike. I see others who have their stuff looking so “in place” with see through plastic bags and days rations clearly indicated. I am nowhere like that. I have shopping bags containing shopping bags with various stuff in them. And when I start to pack in the morning I put potential useful stuff at the top and the rest is shoved in as best possible.
We set off at 09.00am. We cross the river and walk into the canopy. And for a short while I am enjoying this. But this is short lived. The first Mega Hill of the day starts. I am determined to walk it out slowly. Gavin keeps me company again. Ally and I walk a little. Stop a lot. But finally we make it to the top. But within meters the decent to the Elandsbos River Mouth begins. And we go down to the beachy river mouth. We have to take our shoes off to cross the river that is flowing quite strongly.
Gavin thinks that I am crazy to carry so heavy. But my point is that I still make it to the huts each evening. I may be a little slower than other hikers but I enjoy the snacks, drinks and evening meals and am prepared to suffer a bit for the enjoyment of the evenings.
The river water is always much colder than the Ocean water. So after one minute of being in the river our feet are frozen. We walk across the beach to the point where the boys are waiting. It is only two kays from the start of the day but still everyone hauls out some kind of snack. Hannes and Gavin go for a swim in the sea. Hannes has his costume. Gavin walks a decent distance from the group and then in the distance we see him “drop his rods” and into the water he goes with Hannes. And after a quick frollick they are back on the beach. Jacqui tries to capture this on film for “Playgirl” but her telephoto lens does not stretch that far and the ladies of the world have lost out big time.
After the Elandsbos River there is a section of contouring around the cliffs before we begin the second Mega Climb of the day. Gavin is concerned about my huffing and puffing but I know that we have plenty of time and am in no rush to kill myself. We descend back to a rocky beach passing some beautiful flowering aloes. Hannes, Jacqui and Amber are just ahead of Ally and myself. I see this balancing rock ahead and immediately recognise it as a view point that we have to pass by. It seems impossibly high up. But we start the third Mega Climb of the day and bit by bit we work our way to the top. As we pass the balancing rock, Ally somehow “loses it” a bit and decides to run up before realising that this will not last for long.
Finally we summit this last climb of the day. The rest of the group have their cell phones out and are checking scores. We find out that Bafana Bafana beat France 2-1. The SA team still misses out on round 2 of the tournament but have redeemed themselves somewhat. Gavin and Hannes start calculating which teams have moved on to the next round. A small field mouse watches as people eat their snacks and drop tasty crumbs. He clearly knows that there is a daily feast for the picking. He darts across the pathway. Finds some breadcrumbs and after eating this he scurries around my boots looking for anything else to eat. He reminds me of the opportunistic Gennet and the Crows which have been known to open the Zips of backpacks. I see a whale in the distance. There have been a number of sightings of whales throughout the trail.
The mouse we encountered is a Striped Mouse or Rhabdomys is common in this area and is both a nocturnal and a day time feeder.
From the top of the Balancing Rock hill it is only a short walk to the point from where you look down to the huts on the Lottering River. We see Jordan, Calvin and the two Matthews on the rocks on the other side of the river. They have already reached the huts, unpacked and are doing some exploring of the gullies.
We make our way down to the river and now I remember why a pair of slops or crocs are ESSENTIAL on a hike. I take off my shoes, put on my bathing costume and try to carry my backpack across a short three meters of jagged rocks. I simply cannot do it. My feet are too soft for this type of exercise. Thankfully Matthew W returns to guide us across. He tells us that when they crossed the river was knee deep. But now we will have to make some kind of plan to get everything across the river that is flowing strongly and that has the tidal waves pushing in the opposite direction as well. Matthew carries Ally's bag across. Fred comes to assist me and carries mine across. Hannes floats his bag in a splash cover and this works like a dream. Walking on rocks with no crocs is no fun at all.
We are all able to cross safely and then I see a couple of the chaps going for a swim. I am now just keen to get to the huts and to off load. The walk to the hut is not long but certainly not short enough to walk barefoot. The last bit is downhill to the huts and I am tired. Unfortunately we miss any sun that there might have been today. The sun sets so early and is soon behind the cliff side. Some of the chaps hand stuff out to dry on the rocks in the sun. But shortly the sun goes and they have to collect their stuff.
Now begins the debate about the moon's trajectory and the time that the moon will be out of site in the morning. Fred, Anthony and I are used to seeing the full moon setting in the west at around 05.30am. For me this is as I run towards Linkside and as we are going down hill. So I am pretty confident that we will have some Moon Shine (Not Tennessee whisky) in the morning. This evening Ally and I braai our last steak and toast the last of the cheese rolls. It makes a delicious meal. I am totally exhausted and slink into bed as soon as we have eaten.
Day Four
We have agreed to rise at 04.50 as we want to leave for the Blaukrans Crossing at 05.30. I sleep really well. The aches and pains that I had the first two nights are no longer troubling me. I don't have a sore hip nor do I have the cramps that I experienced the previous two nights. Fred wakes us up at exactly 04.50am. There is a cool breeze blowing down the valley.
I am happy to get up. Well rested. I brush my teeth and thanks to Fred putting plenty of water on to boil we all enjoy coffee and rusks. Ally has her Breakfast (naartjie and hot chocolate) in bed. It has been tough for her being the only girl in the cabin. She has to dress in her sleeping bag while the rest of us kind of “make do” with the deck or any moment when we have no girls around. Anthony shaves in cold water in the dark. He has his standards and shaving is one of them.
We pack up our sleeping bags, use the toilet, and generally hustle ourselves ready by 05.25. The Zeelie camp is still busy. And by 05.45 we all set off. Headlights on. We start the climb up the rocky pathway. Reminds me of the Kilimanjaro Ascent. The first part is steep and I soon fall behind the main group. I simply cannot walk either up or down as fast as the rest of the group are able. Gavin is again a good companion to me as he stays at the back. We walk by torch light for around an hour to 90 minutes. This to me is a real adventure. When we did this hike about 6 years ago with the Gendalls we did the same early start.
We have a 10kay hike ahead of us. Low tide is at 09.19. Gavin has pointed out that the graph of the low tide works like this: during the first hour after low tide there is no perceptible change. In the second hour there is change but this is not significant. But in the third and fourth hours the rate of change spikes. So the trick is to make it to the Blaukrans before about 11.00am.
There are marker boards for each km for the first 4kays. Gavin times each kay and we start off in the dark doing around 23min/kay. Then there is a section between 4 and 7kays where there is a lot of rock climbing and the pathway is more technical. I am a bit concerned about Ally as she is now in the Zeelie group and they have tended to walk faster than she and I have. But not much I can do about it. I know that she is in good care.
At one stage Gavin points out that I have missed a pathway. I am DOFF. I continue until I realise that we are truly off the beaten track. And instead of retracing our steps I suggest that we climb up some rocks to the trail. I go ahead and struggle up a rocky section, into thorn bush and finally scrabble onto a safe ledge. Gavin sensibly backtracks and within a minute he meets me as I crawl on to the trail.
Ahead is the first Mega Climb of the day. I puff and pant my way to the top. Again I think of Ally and half expect her to be waiting for me sitting on a step somewhere. Gavin and I finally make it to the top of this climb and now begins the contour pathway which is mainly a leaf covered path. There are a few undulations but nothing major. We see the 7kay mark and Gavin computes our pace. We have slowed down to an average of around 26min/kay. But now we are able to gather speed and the next few kays we walk at 19 minutes a kay and the average drops to around 23min/kay.
I later hear that Fred jogged the last few kays to catch up with the boys. Anthony had stayed with Gavin and I earlier this morning but he became impatient and had also charged on to catch the rest of the group.
We reach the top of the Blaukrans River mouth. We can see the abandoned orange plastic bags which were used by hikers to cross the river. I glance up to the right and see the endless climb of the Escape Route to the Bungy Jumping Bridge that we had to do the last time we hiked this trail. I am very glad we are not doing that this time around.
We begin the steep descent and pass the 10kay mark. As we descend we reccee the river and the rocks on the other side and make a tentative decision as to where we will cross. We see a kind of raggedy bunch of hikers on the other side. Jordan, Calvin and Matthew D are hanging onto a rockface. We see Matthew W jump into the surf. Then to the right we can see Fred and Anthony climbing up a rope on a sheer cliff.
Gavin and I walk towards the area which we consider to be the best option. Jordan shouts at us but we cant hear what he is saying. The noise of the surf cuts off his voice. But he gestures and we understand that he is telling us to cross to where they are waiting for us. We take off our boots and our shorts and cross with the packs on our backs. We have to time it that we cross just as the swell begins to recede. We stride across. A glance to the left and we see the beginnings of a wave coming at us. Our pace picks up and we reach the rocks safely.
Meanwhile I hear a cry of “Daddy!” And see that Amber and Ally have scampered up the rope and are now at the top of the really difficult climb. I am truly proud of these two young girls. Maybe they themselves don't realise what they have just accomplished but it is awesome that they climbed up this sheer rockface using just their own strength and the rope that dangles down as an aid. Jordan, Calvin and Matthew D have waited for us and they now move on to the climb themselves. Gavin and I put our shoes back on and we too climb around the rocks to the rope climb.
I am not at all good with climbing nor with heights. Matthew D shows me that there is an alternative route around the rocks but he suggests that I follow the rest of the group. I grab the rope with cold hands and start the climb. Gavin is behind me giving instructions and assisting me. I jam my toe into a ledge and grab rock and heave myself up. I do this a number of times using the rope to steady myself.
The rope is strong and is firmly secured to the rock face so we have that as a source of comfort. But for me this takes strength. For a moment I doubt my ability. I don't look down and press on upwards. Finally I make it to the ledge. I have left the rope in an awkward position for Gavin but he is much stronger than I am and is up the rocks in a flash. We climb up and over to the stairway that leads down to where the group has gathered.
As we reach the point where there is a little sunshine to warm us up, the rest of the group leave for the huts. I need a bit of time to recover and so sit down to a midday snack. We had left the Lotter River Huts just before 06.00am and it is now about 11.30. Ant, Fred, Gavin, Ally and I have a bit of a break before starting the final 4kays to the huts.
But Ally is anxious to move on so we load up and start the rock climb that takes us onto the pathway. This section takes the hiker up and down to the beach about 4 times before starting a last Mega Climb of the day. Ally is much better shape today and manages these hills as well as the Mega Climb with relative ease. I have to push myself to keep up to her pace. When we reach the 12kay mark we are almost at the top. The last 2kays seems long as it often does at the end of a day's walk but finally we reach the top where we gather some wood for the evening fire.
The huts are quite a way apart and separated by the shower and the Boma. It is now only lunch time so we are able to sun ourselves and dry out any wet clothing. I love this afternoon's shower. The shower faces onto the ocean and while it is a freezing cold shower I enjoy it. I kind of wash one part at a time and then shower the soap off. It is just too cold to stand under the shower for more than a minute at a time.
Cell phone reception is good at this camp. It is the first camp where I see anyone talking on a cell phone. I think that the reception must come straight from Plett. Fred talks to people about a job that is being done in PE and establishes that all is well. Anthony phones home and various other people. Work I imagine. But after he has assured himself that the business is going on okay without him he pours himself an early Jack and finds a sunny spot on the rocks and there he chats and suns himself for the next hour or two.
Later that evening Gavin scolds Ant for drinking Jack D and asks why he does not rather drink a real whisky such as a single Malt. Ant is like me and has absolutely no clue what a single malt is. Gavin explains that this is a special whisky that is made in a certain area in Scotland. This appears to be where the best whisky is made. I am not sure that it would make any difference on a hike. I think that the only reason that Ant takes JD is that he cannot carry a wine as it would be simply too heavy. Maybe I should follow suite and carry less weight when it comes to alcohol?
As evening approaches we are invited to the Zeelie Camp for a “Bring and Braai”. We put our final evening provisions together and walk across to their hut. They start a good looking fire from the ample supply of wood that is available. This evening Hannes and Jacqui celebrate 22years of marriage. It is the second time that they have celebrated a wedding anniversary at this venue. Jacqui tells us that they celebrated a previous anniversary with Jonti and Pierre some years ago.
Ally and I have our wors and rolls for supper. Ally finishes the last of her Sweet Chili sauce that she has carried for the past 4 days. Jacqui has made a pasta dish that she shares with us as a supplement to our meal. The last of the beers, whisky, wine etc is polished off. Us hikers love to talk about hiking around the camp fire. This evening is no exception as we recall our various hikes and plan for future hikes.
Ant invites us to join him on a Cockscomb hike. But there are discussions about the Kili Hike, the Base Camp Hike, the tough ones and the easy ones. Someone reminds us that Jonti has done the Otter Trail as a one day run. If you talk about it then it does not sound so tough. But when you are on the trail, climbing a Mega Hill or crossing a river or climbing a rock face or trying to stay on your feet during a steep descent, then you realise what a huge task it would be to run this trail in a day.
Finally we head back to the hut for the last nights sleep. The evening is warm with the glow of the moon shining on the ocean and the lights of Plett clearly visible across the bay. I try to read but the book is like a sleeping tablet for me and I am soon fast asleep.
I wake a few times in the night and see that Anthony is in his familiar position on the top bunk facing the wall and reading in the light of his head lamp. I do the same for a short while but again this puts me to sleep.
We had agreed to leave at 07.00am as there is soccer to watch in PE. Gavin and Matthew W will be going to the Game. We are awake at 06.00 and, unusually, Ally and I are ready ahead of schedule. We leave first as I know that we will be the slowest. Matthew W joins us and we cross the stream and head immediately up the very last Mega Hill of the hike. It is a long slog for Ally and I but Matthew almost runs up. We are halfway when we hear his whistle. He is on the lookout point far above us. We press on and make it to the top. At the top there is a cold breeze and we have to carry on to maintain body temperature.
Ally and I look down and can see Calvin leading the group from the hut. Now we have a reasonable head start and should be able to maintain our position. Or so I thought!. Within minutes Calvin comes rushing past us and catches Matthew. The two of them set up a fast pace which we have no intention of trying to match. The walk today is mainly along the cliff face with a few undulating sections as we head inland to walk the ravines. But having climbed the final Mega Hill there is no major climb after that. Fred and Anthony come past. As we reach the final descent to the Natures Valley beach we see them below. Calvin and Matthew are long gone.
Ally and I walk down to the beach and there we wait for Jordan, Amber and Matthew D to catch us. They reach the beach and, without a pause, they press on. So Ally and I follow suite. Jordan points to where there are Dolphins surfing the waves. Jacqui has separated herself from Hannes and Gavin who are again having a discussion about the trajectory of the moon. Obsession?
We wait for Jacqui, and the 6 of us walk into camp together. There we find Ant, Fred, Matthew and Calvin have already showered. We open the trailer and take out our clean clothes and walk to the shower block were we have a really good soaking hot shower. What a pleasure!
We loaded up and all 12 of us piled into Hannes' combi. He took us back to the Storms River reserve where we collected my car and after a stop at the Bridge for a burger we headed home. Ant insisted he wanted to be dropped off at the Humansdorp turnoff. We tried to persuade him to wait with us. But the last thing we saw of Anthony was this Hobo looking figure walking down the Humansdorp Road just like you would see Kurt Russell or Sylvester Stalone at the end of some action movie. I kind of missed the “Good the bad and the ugly” music in the background. I am sure that he was fine but it did not feel right to leave a fellow traveler on the road like that.
As we drove past the Ladies Slipper hills Fred told me about the cycle that he had recently completed on his own. He had ridden his mountain bike along the rail track to the foot of the Ladies Slipper and then along the dirt road that leads to the north side of the mountain. He then lifted his bike over a gate and cycled up the tar access road to the tower that we could see from the N2. This ride had taken Fred 6 hours. Now I suddenly did not feel bad about him carrying my backpack across the Lottering River any more.
We dropped Fred and then Gavin off and off loaded this huge pile of washing. Gavin, Matthew, our nieces: Julia and Laura all went to the Soccer that afternoon. As much as we had had this incredibly good weather. As soon as we arrived home we had cool wet weather for the Saturday afternoon soccer. Julia and Laura went to the Fan Fest at St Georges park later. Fortunately they bundled up and were not too cold. They come from NY and Michigan and are used to cold evenings.
Ally and I made ourselves a warm supper of Butternut soup and Curry Rice and were in bed early that evening. It had been a real adventure but we are so lucky to be able to come home to warm duvets, hot water and a solid home.
Lessons learned from this hike:
There is never any reason to rush the days except perhaps for day four depending on the tide table. It is nice to be in camp by about 3pm and on this trail time is the least of your worries.
The sun does not always reach the overnight huts after around 3 or 4pm.
Crocs or sandals are essential for this, and probably most hikes. Slip slops or slippers just do not do it.
We were able to have fresh rolls every evening. They are a little bulky as you have to pack them in a special container or else carry them outside of the pack. This is probably only really a possibility during winter.
Ally and I were able to Braai every evening. Sosaties; Steak and Boerewors in that order. Probably the same rule applies for Winter Hiking.
One Braai Tongs for the group and one packet of Fire Lighter for the group is essential.
Candles in the evening make the cabin much cosier than just using the head lamp torches.
Head lamp torches are essential.
A small kettle boils a lot quicker and therefore uses a lot less gas than a dixie.
Pre-book and pre-pay the entry fee to the reserve if possible. The service we received at the office was shocking.
A water-proof bag for cellphones and cameras would have been a great comfort.
This hike is not an easy hike nor is it to be taken lightly. The hills, rock climbing, terrain, river crossings etc make it a hike to be respected.
A splash cover for a Back Pack works like a charm when you have to float a bag across a river.
In summer a One Liter bottle of water would not have been enough. There are days when there is no drinkable water on the trail and you would be well advised to have an additional 500ml bottle in your backpack. Fred had a two liter bladder that he used.
Adrienne has asked me for a checklist for the trail. Please let me know if there are any essentials that I have left off.
Your bag should not weight more than around 8 to 10 kays for the children and if possible keep it to under 20kg for the adults. There are some seriously long hills on this trail.
Backpack and splash cover if you have.
Sleeping Bag (in plastic to avoid a wet night in the event of rain)
Hike shoes or tackies. The Otter is a trail and tackies are fine. Boots are best though.
I will place all my clothing into a "two oceans type" bag.
3 X Socks and U/pants or speedo
I X shorts & hat / cap
slops or crocs
2 X t shirts (if you have the "sweat proof" that is best)
I X tracksuite (best to wear shorts in the day but evenings will be chilly)
1 X light water proof anorak
Beanie and gloves
Small towel Or a Shammy towel that can be bought at a Hike Shop.
soap and toothbrush (Shaver?)
Plate, cup, spoon and knife. (Paper plates make dishwashing easier)
scourer
Dixie and small cooker. Kettles are better for boiling water.
candle and matches; one or two packets of blitz should be okay for all of us.
Toilet paper
Head lamp
I take a "camp master" small pillow but some people will use their sleeping bag cover and stuff clothing into it for a pillow.
sling water bottle.
Camera; cell phone optional as reception is limited.
Food:
sandwiches for day one. And maybe day two.
Braai meat for two or three nights. Vacume packed.
Two minute noodles
Tuna or other tins but remember tins are heavy.
Rice / noodles
packet soup; cup a soup
bread or bread rolls, marg, pnbutter.
Vegetables & fruit
coffee, tea, hot chocolate.
Snacks, roll of sweets,
Alcohol; I think that Hannes might take a full 8 beers while others may take whisky, sherry, wine etc. The Otter trail is not long but is quite hilly.
Crackers, provita, cheese wedges, rusks, biscuits, oats so easy, energy bar, powder cold drink mix (game or tang), marshmellows,
The ideal menu is to end on Saturday morning eating your last breakfast with just one packet of sweets left. You do not need extra in case of emergency
Think about how much you might eat on a normal day. you will not need more than that.
I am sure that you can make up more interesting innovative meals than this.
Peter
14.06.2010
Saturday, June 26, 2010
JUNE 2010
JUNE 2010
ALLY IS CHOSEN FOR THE PRIMARY SCHOOLS EP HOCKEY TEAM TO PLAY IN OUDSTHOORN IN AUGUST
ALLY IS CHOSEN AS THE CLARENDON PARK HOCKEY TEAM CAPTAIN
NICCI, STEFAN AND FAMILY HOLIDAY IN NAMIBIA
START OF THE FIFA WORLD CUP SOCCER TOURNAMENT
BAFANA BAFANA DRAW THE FIRST MATCH AGAINST MEXICO. THEY LOSE TO URUGUAY AND WIN 2;1 AGAINST FRANCE AND ARE ELIMINATED AFTER ROUND ONE.
PATRICK AND MARIANNE GO TO VENICE AND BULGARIA
CHARLES & INGRID PURCHASE A HOLIDAY HOME IN BUSHMANS
WE DRIVE THE KAREL LANDMAN, AMAKHALA AND ADDO ROUTE
BARBARA AND I WATCH THE GERMANY VS SERBIA GAME IN STYLE
BARBARA LEAVES FOR CALGARY, CANADA WITH GAIL
ALLY AND I WALK THE OTTER TRAIL
JULIA AND LAURA ARRIVE FROM NY
I was in East London this week for work. Travel means that I miss out on the run training which I enjoy so much. I returned home on Wednesday evening. Thursday evening Barbara and I had a meeting at the Gelvandale Astro for the EP Hockey sides to travel to Oudtshoorn in August. We first thought the meeting was at Westering School but later found out it was at Gelvandale so arrived a little late.
Michael moved to a new house in 7th Avenue Walmer. Lene's Mother will also stay here in the Granny Flat.
Wednesday 2nd June is Rachel's Birthday.
Friday 4th June is Isabella's Birthday.
Saturday 5th June.
Ran to the Pier and back with Gerald and Alf Zemkhe. There was a reasonably big group but they are just too fast for myself and Gerald. This afternoon I had my second DBA group meeting in the Hospital at Kirkwood where Nelis works. Barbara came for the drive. I thought that she might want to walk around the Festival that they have here but she chose to stay in the car and read. It is a mental hospital and some of the patients disturbed her.
Friday and Saturday: as part of the build up to the World Cup, Clarendon Park had a soccer derby weekend. Ally and Jessica played in the various teams and made it to the finals before they were finally beaten. They both had a lot of fun. Ally stayed with Michael who later dropped her off at WMC where David Glover was getting married. Ally went to the reception with the Mitchleys who dropped her off close to midnight.
Tis week Ally was chosen to be the captain of Clarendon Park First Team hockey. It is the players who chose their own captain.
Barbara and I visited Michael in the new house in 7th Avenue. We played a bit of bridge and had supper with them.
Sunday 6.06.2010: Only five days to the Fifa World Cup Soccer kick off. During the past week I had been told that we had won a pair of tickets to a game in PE. So Barbara and I will go to the match between Germany and Serbia. In PE the vibe for the soccer had heated up. All over the city people are displaying flags on car windows and rear view mirrors. Shops have flags as to the street lamp posts.
Hockey at Clarendon this afternoon. A good turnout and some good hockey being played.
Monday 7th June: I left for Mthatha early this morning. Then on Tuesday morning left for Mount Frere and Bizana (now called Mbizana). After work I (and work colleague, Julia) drove to Port Edward rather than stay in Bizana. This is a Terrible road at night and I will not do this again. It adds around 60kays to the day's driving. From Mthatha it is about 250kays to Bizana. Wednesday morning was Flagstaff and Lusikisiki and then back to Mthatha. Thursday morning I drove through to Idutywa (Now Dutywa) and then back home for an Otter trail meeting with Hannes, Maryna and Fred. Maryna looks like she will not be able to hike as she has a foot injury and came to the meeting on crutches.
Friday morning: All abuz with the prospect of the Kick Off of the FIFA world cup this afternoon. I left work early and Barbara, Ally and I spent the afternoon at Charles' where we had a Braai and watched the first of 64 games of soccer that would be played in RSA. At the Braai: Barbara & I (& Ally), Charles & Ingrid (& Jamie), Ant & Lana (Plus two children and boy friend), Gordon & Megan (Plus two boys), Brenda, Jaco Viljoen, Sean & Diane, The opening game was between Bafana Bafana and Mexico. We scored the first goal and then Mexico returned with an equaliser. The game ended as a draw. Later that evening we heard that Cathy was in the Fan Park in CT and she went to the France vs Uraguay game. She seemed to really enjoy her evening.
Saturday morning: I was up early for a run and then off to work. We heard from Nicci who is in Namibia on a holiday with Stefan's sister Lynette and a friend (three cars). They seem to be having an adventure of a lifetime. Lots of struggles and car problems etc. But still seeing the real wilderness. This afternoon there is a Soccer match in PE: Greece play North Korea at the NMM stadium (NK2, Greece 0). And then later this afternoon Argentina play Nigeria. Also Rugby today as France Play Springboks at Newlands. Sprinboks played a strong game and beat the French 42 - 20.
This evening we drove out to Draaifontein road where we loaned the old Mercedes to Debbie Gordon (mother of Shimone). They are having car problems. And as we arrived at their nieghbours it seems that the Merc developed a petrol leak. We drove back to the petrol station where we bought a can of petrol but the car again gave trouble.
Sunday morning we went to church where Ally played on the drums in the music group. Barbara and I went to Builders Warehouse where we purchased the Curtain Rails for the Main Lounge. Lene had some spare curtains that she gave us to use. We spent the afternoon mounting the racks after taking down the old holders. Then it was time for hockey at Clarendon. The afternoon was cold and windy with some drizzle so only three girls turned up. We had a good work out.
Then it was time to drop Mark off at the Greyhound Bus where he would leave for Pretoria for a three week break to stay with Crystal and Samantha.
NEWS FROM PATRICK AND MARIANNE FROM VENICE AND BULGARIA
This makes very interesting reading but you will need a map of Europe to understand where they are traveling.
Well here we are ensconced at the embassador's residence, Embassy of the Republic of South Africa, Sofia, Bulgaria, which comes along with a driver for Sheila who resembles a weight lifter (very nice guy), chef Ivo, and KGB look-alike Vinnie who is the housekeeper.
Drove the long route from north Italy through Slovakia, Croatia, Serbia, the road getting increasingly bumpy and narrow as one went further east, dilapidated houses alongside, to arrive here in a city which is pretty poor but they are trying - one can see the money has gone into nuclear plants or the pockets of ministers, but the history is really interesting and the people, although never smiling, rather pleasant.
Met a Cape Townian last night who met and then married a Bulgarian at the conference on racism at Durban, and who edits the english weekly here. The function was a South Africa day at the library and our flown in rep a certain Mr Tsebe gave the most depressing address on the role of the national library in South Africa! His own original contribution was his prediction of the final score of the World Cup final. Which was his kind of joke. He accompanied us today to Rila Monastery, and I found out we knew people in common, university people.
Sheila of course is perfect for the job, i'm sure Pretoria has no idea of what she's achieving in a difficult country.
Venice was fantastic, such a pity St John wasn't with us. And the conference a lot of fun too. They had given me a room to share with a black cassocked Russian orthodox prienst Dmitri with a long black beard, so I quickly took the decision to join Marianne at her flat, rather.
Spoke to St John this evening on skype phone and he's excited about getting to the US, the first weekend they're taking the train to NY, I suppose to stay with Rachel, for four days, he says. It appears increasingly likely he'll be a day scholar from next year in Durban, quite a change for us all, I'm very much looking forward to it, although he had a romance about Michaelhouse - it's just too difficult to get into it, perhaps if his marks had been a lot higher. So there it is.
We're skipping the function at the Italian embassy tonight, tomorrow night it's a dinner party here, I'm glad the C.T./bulgarian couple are coming, she's very interesting. And we're off to the Black Sea some time and then also visiting Thessalonika next week, so we're busy enough.
Bulgaria on the Black Sea is very different to Sofia, much more like tourist cities, smart, lots of restaurants, masses of beach umbrellas already pitched on the beaches, with cafes on boardwalks; hotels for families; and of course all the ancient orthodox churches ready for tourists, some of them built sunken because of the law during the 500 years of Turkish (Ottoman) moslem rule which stipulated no churches could be seen above root-tops.
We stayed in a holiday hotel in Sozopol the first night (near the city of Burgos), swam in the sea early morning (Sozopol used to be Polis Appolonia when it was a Greek city, the ancient Greek philosopher Anaximander came from there; renamed the "polis of the saved" around 800 when Bulgaria became Christian). (Sozopol was sacked by the Romans when they took over from the Greeks, but Nesobar nearby where we had lunch) capitulated first. Of course no real waves.
Then we drove up the coast to Varna, the other very big city on the coast, biggest harbour of the country, nothing like Durban of course, but a history of trading by ship since ancient times. There we stayed at Eukixonagrad - which means (grad = city) nice sea city/town which is a most peculiar institution, the hotel next to the president's palace, in the same grounds, but restricted to diplomats and their families now; used to be the king's palace and then was for the communist bosses, and since the fall of communism has been in limbo, really, now it's falling apart! terrible beds, flaky paint, no one staying there, about 70 tables laid on the beautiful terrace and we were the only ones eating!
For each item (blob of butter, slice of bread) there is a price, and you have to order each separately, very much communist accounting I think; and for the privilege of being allowed to stay there you get shouted at by various officials at the pool telling you to shower before coming in, stuff like that; large private beach but I was the only one who swam in the sea (it's a bit colder than further south at Sozopol), no waves, it is a bit black looking.
These coastal towns are the holiday destinations for Russians and for Romanians and others.
On the way there we stopped off at Kazalak for the annual rose festival ceremony, quite amazing, I really enjoyed it, the president was there getting garlands of roses thrown around him (around us too), then the girls in traditional dresses served us rose brandy, and everyone danced on large circles while hundreds of people in the rose fields plucked the petals and collected them.
Big parade through the town after that, with children and grandparents and sports people parading their trophies.
Nice drive back through the mountains, the road a bit better than the one we took to get to the coast, more like we're used to, although as soon as you leave the main road you'll find dirt tracks, so development has a long way to go; the villages are cute but the roofs caving in of the houses and the population growth rate is negative so lots of old people in the villages doing nothing.
Keep you up to date later, got to do marking, Marianne has a meeting in town so a driver is coming out here to pick her up for lunch.
Wednesday 16 June 2010
Today is a public holiday in South Africa. We remember the day as Soweto Day or Youth Day. On 16 June 1976 the black pupils of South African Schools in Soweto protested for improved education. And they protested against the compulsory language requirement of being taught Afrikaans by teachers who themselves could not speak Afrikaans. The result of this protest is that SA police used teargas and live bullets to stop the protest.
This morning I started the day off with a run. It was a cold and windy morning. It had been raining the previous day when the NM stadium was host to the World Cup Soccer match between Portugal and --- which ended in a goaless draw. Then we collected Charles and Ingrid from their home and we drove through to Bushmans River where they met an Estate Agent to make an offer on a house that they had seen there. The Price that they offered was R770 000.
This is a five bedroom house with two kitchens and two bathrooms. There is a permanent tenant in the house at present. The house is not in wonderful condition but is certainly livable. We picked up a few problems such as the design of the bathrooms, the stoep, the middle kitchen, the septic tank, the unusual front door etc. But the house has a huge potential for making it into a comfortable home. The house stands on 800SqM and is located at the entrance to Bushmans in a cul de sac.
From here we drove to a new coffee shop that has been established on the main road between Alexandria and Nanaga. We had a coffee and pancake and chatted to the owner, Isabelle Mc Donald. She gave us a bit of the background of the shop and their life on the farm. Her husband makes furniture and farms (Cattle I think).
Isabelle told us of her project to plant 1000 indigenous trees. This has been thwarted to some extent by vandals and nasty neighbours but she now plans to continue the project at the stall. Isabelle gave us some Tree Seeds which Charles & I will try to plant.
Isabelle then told us of an interesting monument nearby. We had the day to spare and so decided to take the detour to the monument. Probably about 9kays (West) of their stall or about 20kays East of Nanaga is a turn off the the Karel Landman monument. We have driven past this many times. But today we turned up the, reasonable quality, dirt road. As we reached the top of the hill and a sort of T junction, Barbara spotted the monument. It is a Globe or World about 3meters diameter and is a tribute to Karel Landman who was a local farmer and headed up a Trek of local farmers to Natal.
"In 1837/8, people of Dutch decent, referred to as the Boers, decided to move away from British rule and trek northwards. In doing this they founded the old Transvaal and the Free State as part of the Great Trek. This monument was erected in 1938 (during the centenary celebrations of the Great Trek) honouring Karel Landman who farmed in this area until 1837. He became a leader in the Great Trek and took a party of about 180 trekkers and their servants on a trek of 885 kilometres into Natal. Landman became prominent in several battles with the Zulus and was the second in command of the Boer forces at the pivotal battle of Blood River."
The following placques are on all four sides of the Globe or Monument.
Monument onthul deur Ds. W.A.Landman. 16 December 1939
Feesterrein Geskenk deur Mnr J. A. Scheepers, J. C. Seun.
Opgerig deur inwooners van Olifansthoek (Alexandria Distrik) met Dankbaarheid Teenoor sy stoere Voortrekkers
Argitek G. Moerdyk. Boumeeters Lupini Broers
ENGLISH TRANSLATION:
Monument unveiled by Dominee (Pastor) W.A. Landman. 16 December 1939
Showgrounds or arena donated by Mr. J.A. Scheepers, J.C Seun.
Erected by the inhabitants of Olifansthoek out of gratitude to the staunch Voortrekkers , or committed forefathers.
Architect: G Moerdyk. Materbuilder Lupini Brothers.
Charles pointed out that this was the time when the nationalist party was trying to establish itself. Hendrik Verwoed erected a series of monuments to the Voortrekkers to establish an Afrikaaner Nationalism while the English were in Europe fighting the war. The Nationalist Party wanted to overthrow the United Party that was predominanty English speaking with an Afrikaaner political party.
This road continues into the Amakhala Game Reserve. (Amakhala is named after the Xhosa word meaning Aloes) (7500ha reserve)(Resident African wildlife includes the Big Five animals, Lion, Leopard, Elephant, Rhino and Buffalo). However as it is part of a throughway there is no entry fee. As we drove through the road we came across large herds of Red Hartebees and a large group of Wildebees; and Charles spotted a group of Four Rhinoserous. We had an interesting time as we drove slowly through the reserve enjoying the game spotting but feeling a little guilty for taking advantage of this freebee. Amakhala Game Reserve visitors can explore the many wonders of the bush on Big Five safaris, river cruises. We had experienced the River Cruise from the small river boat that Charles has at Bushmans river mouth. We has seen both Rhino and Cheetah at close range on that occasion.
The Red Hartebeest is a large, reddish-fawn antelope with sloping back and long narrow face. Both sexes have heavily ringed horns. Of the 12 subspecies described in Africa, the Red Hartebeest is the only one which occurs in South Africa. Due to its re-introduction onto game farms and nature reserves, it has a wider distribution today. Adult bulls weigh 150 kg and measure 1.3 m at the shoulders, while cows only weigh 120 kg.
Territorial bulls often present themselves on prominent mounds and mark their territories with dung piles. The Red Hartebeest is swift on foot and gregarious, occurring in herds of up to 30.
The Amakhala Game Reserve began in 1999 as a joint conservation venture. Today, six independently owned lodges of The Heritage Collection, are all TGCSA Star Lodge accredited. The lodges are owner managed by the descendants of the original families who arrived here with the British settlers of 1820. The lodges offer various styles of accommodation, which include two gracious colonial homesteads, two classic bush lodges, an historic inn and a Settler farmhouse.
Amakhala Game Reserve is a unique conservation initiative that allows animals to be re-introduced to the area where they once roamed freely and so making a contribution to the conservation of our natural heritage. The land was used to ranch sheep and cattle up to the turn of the century. The challenge has been to re-establish the original flora and fauna species to the area and to return the land to nature.
We exitted the reserve about 60kays from PE on the N2 and soon afterwards came to a turn off to the Shamwari Game reserve and Patterson. Normally we rush past this turn but as Isabelle had given us directions we turned right and drove past the very famous Shamwari. Here we did not see any game but soon arrived at Patterson from a completely different direction to that which we know.
We stopped at the crossing that would take us to the Olifants Pass if we turned right and PE if we turned left. Here we bought some organges before crossing and driving on to the Addo Park area. And to our delight we saw herd of Elephant and Zebra to our right. This had been a real treat and all thanks to a really friendly lady at the padstalletjie. This road leads to the Addo main entrance. By now my passengers (Charles and Ingrid) had become quite sleepy and we soon heard the low breathing of sleeping beauties.
Back home that afternoon we dropped Charles and Ingrid off. Ally had spent the day with Michael and then Lara O. The temperature remained low and we fired up the gas heater. I paid a short visit to Adrienne Wilson to meet Gavin Cameron who is Adrienne's brother visiting from West Canada (Vancouver). This evening, Bafana soccer team virtually put paid to their World Cup round two aspirations as they lost dismally to Uruguay 3-0. The Soccer tournament enters it's second week as the last of the first round games were played today and the first of the second sessions begin.
Friday 18th June:
I had won an inter-company competition and the prize was two tickets to the World Cup Soccer Match. I won two tickets to the Germany vs Serbia match. I took the day off today and while Barbara was running her Holiday School I lit a braai and grilled sausages on the braai for the little children. This was a huge hit with them as they loved the Wors Rolls and kept coming back for more.
Then I dropped Ally off at Hockey Practice with Dean Gower at Clarendon and Michael took Barbara and I to a point close to the stadium. We were given special "Hospitality Suite" tickets. It was awesome. We walked to the stadium and soon found our way to the Suite. We were ushered around the suites area like royalty and each of us had a pre-numbered chair that resembled an airplane seat. Ours was in the back row of the suite area which allowed us to move around as we wished. Here we found that each patron was given a packet which contained a free blanket and a souvenier booklet.
Drinks were free. Barbara and I had a Budwieser. There was more than enough to eat with a full meal on offer as well as abundant snacks. Security was excellent as was the service in this area. I was surprised to find Jaco and Abe were in the same suite area. I had thought that they were going to be in the "cheap seats".
The game itself was a lot of fun. Unfortunately a lot of yellow cards and one red card issued. The Serbs won the game 1;0 much to the dissapointment of the many Germans in the stadium. 48 000 people watched the game. Barbara and I were really impressed with the organisation. Security and service was world class.
After the game Michael collected us in Mount Road. I then had to collect my car from service at Maritime. I also had to go to the office briefly and on the way up Russell Road we gave a lift to 5 German Students who had been at the game and were on their way to the Fan Park at St Georges Park.
We collected Ally after a really worthwhile day. On our way home Charles phoned to say that their offer for the Bushmans House had been accepted. This is a very exciting time for them.
Now it was time for us to prepare for our Otter Trail and for Barbara to pack up for her Canada Trip.
Monday morning 21.06.2010
I dropped Barbara off at the airport. I collected Geralds Trailer that we would take with us on the trip. Ally and I did our last bit of shopping for the trail. We were in bed early and the next morning I was up and packing by about 5.00am.
OTTER TRAIL STORY
See separate post for the Otter Trail story.
After we returned from the Otter Trail Ally and I had a late sleep in on the Sunday morning. I think that it was partly the influence of the American Cousins as well as the fact that I was now finally able to finish my book.
This afternoon Ally's Sunday Hockey attracts only a few takers. It is a bit cool and windy.
Monday morning it is back to work for me. Ally visits a friend to work on their Entrepreneurs Day at school next term. Barbara phones from Canada. All seems to be well and they appear to be having a good and busy time. They saw a couple of bears; Black Bear, Silver Bear and a Grisly Bear.
Ally goes to the Fan Fest with the Zeelies. Julia and Laura are having a blast, Debby Dean is showing them around including a trip to the Lion Park where they are able to pick up cubs. They go to the Fan Fest a couple of times. And they meet up with their friend Betina who takes them out. The Manager of the Costa Rica reserve is in PE for the Soccer. he no longer works on the Reserve. They all plan to be in Wildcliff sometime early in July. Then off to CT where they hope to stay with Nicci before Laura flies back to NY.
29th June 2010
It is Ena's Birthday today. 94. She has 16 people for lunch and bridge but cannot play herself as she simply cannot see the cards. It is also Marianne's Birthday (Plus twin sister).
30TH June
The weather is cooler than it has been recently. I run in the morning. Not far and not fast but at least I am out there. Adrienne Wilson has a Drinks evening for Gavin. Julia and Laura are also invited. As is Ally. At this little get together are Gavin, Peter & Adrienne, Jean is a work friend of Adrienne, Val is an old friend from Diving I think, Wayne is Adrienne's god child who is now living in West Canada, they knew him from Zim Days, Suzanne Gendall, Paula and boyfriend, Sean, Danielle, Matthew, Dee and Ray Kemp who run the B & B the Lemon Tree Lane opposite us. They make really delicious eats and snacks. L & J love the evening. Peter W makes a fuss of them. An enjoyable evening all round.
ALLY IS CHOSEN FOR THE PRIMARY SCHOOLS EP HOCKEY TEAM TO PLAY IN OUDSTHOORN IN AUGUST
ALLY IS CHOSEN AS THE CLARENDON PARK HOCKEY TEAM CAPTAIN
NICCI, STEFAN AND FAMILY HOLIDAY IN NAMIBIA
START OF THE FIFA WORLD CUP SOCCER TOURNAMENT
BAFANA BAFANA DRAW THE FIRST MATCH AGAINST MEXICO. THEY LOSE TO URUGUAY AND WIN 2;1 AGAINST FRANCE AND ARE ELIMINATED AFTER ROUND ONE.
PATRICK AND MARIANNE GO TO VENICE AND BULGARIA
CHARLES & INGRID PURCHASE A HOLIDAY HOME IN BUSHMANS
WE DRIVE THE KAREL LANDMAN, AMAKHALA AND ADDO ROUTE
BARBARA AND I WATCH THE GERMANY VS SERBIA GAME IN STYLE
BARBARA LEAVES FOR CALGARY, CANADA WITH GAIL
ALLY AND I WALK THE OTTER TRAIL
JULIA AND LAURA ARRIVE FROM NY
I was in East London this week for work. Travel means that I miss out on the run training which I enjoy so much. I returned home on Wednesday evening. Thursday evening Barbara and I had a meeting at the Gelvandale Astro for the EP Hockey sides to travel to Oudtshoorn in August. We first thought the meeting was at Westering School but later found out it was at Gelvandale so arrived a little late.
Michael moved to a new house in 7th Avenue Walmer. Lene's Mother will also stay here in the Granny Flat.
Wednesday 2nd June is Rachel's Birthday.
Friday 4th June is Isabella's Birthday.
Saturday 5th June.
Ran to the Pier and back with Gerald and Alf Zemkhe. There was a reasonably big group but they are just too fast for myself and Gerald. This afternoon I had my second DBA group meeting in the Hospital at Kirkwood where Nelis works. Barbara came for the drive. I thought that she might want to walk around the Festival that they have here but she chose to stay in the car and read. It is a mental hospital and some of the patients disturbed her.
Friday and Saturday: as part of the build up to the World Cup, Clarendon Park had a soccer derby weekend. Ally and Jessica played in the various teams and made it to the finals before they were finally beaten. They both had a lot of fun. Ally stayed with Michael who later dropped her off at WMC where David Glover was getting married. Ally went to the reception with the Mitchleys who dropped her off close to midnight.
Tis week Ally was chosen to be the captain of Clarendon Park First Team hockey. It is the players who chose their own captain.
Barbara and I visited Michael in the new house in 7th Avenue. We played a bit of bridge and had supper with them.
Sunday 6.06.2010: Only five days to the Fifa World Cup Soccer kick off. During the past week I had been told that we had won a pair of tickets to a game in PE. So Barbara and I will go to the match between Germany and Serbia. In PE the vibe for the soccer had heated up. All over the city people are displaying flags on car windows and rear view mirrors. Shops have flags as to the street lamp posts.
Hockey at Clarendon this afternoon. A good turnout and some good hockey being played.
Monday 7th June: I left for Mthatha early this morning. Then on Tuesday morning left for Mount Frere and Bizana (now called Mbizana). After work I (and work colleague, Julia) drove to Port Edward rather than stay in Bizana. This is a Terrible road at night and I will not do this again. It adds around 60kays to the day's driving. From Mthatha it is about 250kays to Bizana. Wednesday morning was Flagstaff and Lusikisiki and then back to Mthatha. Thursday morning I drove through to Idutywa (Now Dutywa) and then back home for an Otter trail meeting with Hannes, Maryna and Fred. Maryna looks like she will not be able to hike as she has a foot injury and came to the meeting on crutches.
Friday morning: All abuz with the prospect of the Kick Off of the FIFA world cup this afternoon. I left work early and Barbara, Ally and I spent the afternoon at Charles' where we had a Braai and watched the first of 64 games of soccer that would be played in RSA. At the Braai: Barbara & I (& Ally), Charles & Ingrid (& Jamie), Ant & Lana (Plus two children and boy friend), Gordon & Megan (Plus two boys), Brenda, Jaco Viljoen, Sean & Diane, The opening game was between Bafana Bafana and Mexico. We scored the first goal and then Mexico returned with an equaliser. The game ended as a draw. Later that evening we heard that Cathy was in the Fan Park in CT and she went to the France vs Uraguay game. She seemed to really enjoy her evening.
Saturday morning: I was up early for a run and then off to work. We heard from Nicci who is in Namibia on a holiday with Stefan's sister Lynette and a friend (three cars). They seem to be having an adventure of a lifetime. Lots of struggles and car problems etc. But still seeing the real wilderness. This afternoon there is a Soccer match in PE: Greece play North Korea at the NMM stadium (NK2, Greece 0). And then later this afternoon Argentina play Nigeria. Also Rugby today as France Play Springboks at Newlands. Sprinboks played a strong game and beat the French 42 - 20.
This evening we drove out to Draaifontein road where we loaned the old Mercedes to Debbie Gordon (mother of Shimone). They are having car problems. And as we arrived at their nieghbours it seems that the Merc developed a petrol leak. We drove back to the petrol station where we bought a can of petrol but the car again gave trouble.
Sunday morning we went to church where Ally played on the drums in the music group. Barbara and I went to Builders Warehouse where we purchased the Curtain Rails for the Main Lounge. Lene had some spare curtains that she gave us to use. We spent the afternoon mounting the racks after taking down the old holders. Then it was time for hockey at Clarendon. The afternoon was cold and windy with some drizzle so only three girls turned up. We had a good work out.
Then it was time to drop Mark off at the Greyhound Bus where he would leave for Pretoria for a three week break to stay with Crystal and Samantha.
NEWS FROM PATRICK AND MARIANNE FROM VENICE AND BULGARIA
This makes very interesting reading but you will need a map of Europe to understand where they are traveling.
Well here we are ensconced at the embassador's residence, Embassy of the Republic of South Africa, Sofia, Bulgaria, which comes along with a driver for Sheila who resembles a weight lifter (very nice guy), chef Ivo, and KGB look-alike Vinnie who is the housekeeper.
Drove the long route from north Italy through Slovakia, Croatia, Serbia, the road getting increasingly bumpy and narrow as one went further east, dilapidated houses alongside, to arrive here in a city which is pretty poor but they are trying - one can see the money has gone into nuclear plants or the pockets of ministers, but the history is really interesting and the people, although never smiling, rather pleasant.
Met a Cape Townian last night who met and then married a Bulgarian at the conference on racism at Durban, and who edits the english weekly here. The function was a South Africa day at the library and our flown in rep a certain Mr Tsebe gave the most depressing address on the role of the national library in South Africa! His own original contribution was his prediction of the final score of the World Cup final. Which was his kind of joke. He accompanied us today to Rila Monastery, and I found out we knew people in common, university people.
Sheila of course is perfect for the job, i'm sure Pretoria has no idea of what she's achieving in a difficult country.
Venice was fantastic, such a pity St John wasn't with us. And the conference a lot of fun too. They had given me a room to share with a black cassocked Russian orthodox prienst Dmitri with a long black beard, so I quickly took the decision to join Marianne at her flat, rather.
Spoke to St John this evening on skype phone and he's excited about getting to the US, the first weekend they're taking the train to NY, I suppose to stay with Rachel, for four days, he says. It appears increasingly likely he'll be a day scholar from next year in Durban, quite a change for us all, I'm very much looking forward to it, although he had a romance about Michaelhouse - it's just too difficult to get into it, perhaps if his marks had been a lot higher. So there it is.
We're skipping the function at the Italian embassy tonight, tomorrow night it's a dinner party here, I'm glad the C.T./bulgarian couple are coming, she's very interesting. And we're off to the Black Sea some time and then also visiting Thessalonika next week, so we're busy enough.
Bulgaria on the Black Sea is very different to Sofia, much more like tourist cities, smart, lots of restaurants, masses of beach umbrellas already pitched on the beaches, with cafes on boardwalks; hotels for families; and of course all the ancient orthodox churches ready for tourists, some of them built sunken because of the law during the 500 years of Turkish (Ottoman) moslem rule which stipulated no churches could be seen above root-tops.
We stayed in a holiday hotel in Sozopol the first night (near the city of Burgos), swam in the sea early morning (Sozopol used to be Polis Appolonia when it was a Greek city, the ancient Greek philosopher Anaximander came from there; renamed the "polis of the saved" around 800 when Bulgaria became Christian). (Sozopol was sacked by the Romans when they took over from the Greeks, but Nesobar nearby where we had lunch) capitulated first. Of course no real waves.
Then we drove up the coast to Varna, the other very big city on the coast, biggest harbour of the country, nothing like Durban of course, but a history of trading by ship since ancient times. There we stayed at Eukixonagrad - which means (grad = city) nice sea city/town which is a most peculiar institution, the hotel next to the president's palace, in the same grounds, but restricted to diplomats and their families now; used to be the king's palace and then was for the communist bosses, and since the fall of communism has been in limbo, really, now it's falling apart! terrible beds, flaky paint, no one staying there, about 70 tables laid on the beautiful terrace and we were the only ones eating!
For each item (blob of butter, slice of bread) there is a price, and you have to order each separately, very much communist accounting I think; and for the privilege of being allowed to stay there you get shouted at by various officials at the pool telling you to shower before coming in, stuff like that; large private beach but I was the only one who swam in the sea (it's a bit colder than further south at Sozopol), no waves, it is a bit black looking.
These coastal towns are the holiday destinations for Russians and for Romanians and others.
On the way there we stopped off at Kazalak for the annual rose festival ceremony, quite amazing, I really enjoyed it, the president was there getting garlands of roses thrown around him (around us too), then the girls in traditional dresses served us rose brandy, and everyone danced on large circles while hundreds of people in the rose fields plucked the petals and collected them.
Big parade through the town after that, with children and grandparents and sports people parading their trophies.
Nice drive back through the mountains, the road a bit better than the one we took to get to the coast, more like we're used to, although as soon as you leave the main road you'll find dirt tracks, so development has a long way to go; the villages are cute but the roofs caving in of the houses and the population growth rate is negative so lots of old people in the villages doing nothing.
Keep you up to date later, got to do marking, Marianne has a meeting in town so a driver is coming out here to pick her up for lunch.
Wednesday 16 June 2010
Today is a public holiday in South Africa. We remember the day as Soweto Day or Youth Day. On 16 June 1976 the black pupils of South African Schools in Soweto protested for improved education. And they protested against the compulsory language requirement of being taught Afrikaans by teachers who themselves could not speak Afrikaans. The result of this protest is that SA police used teargas and live bullets to stop the protest.
This morning I started the day off with a run. It was a cold and windy morning. It had been raining the previous day when the NM stadium was host to the World Cup Soccer match between Portugal and --- which ended in a goaless draw. Then we collected Charles and Ingrid from their home and we drove through to Bushmans River where they met an Estate Agent to make an offer on a house that they had seen there. The Price that they offered was R770 000.
This is a five bedroom house with two kitchens and two bathrooms. There is a permanent tenant in the house at present. The house is not in wonderful condition but is certainly livable. We picked up a few problems such as the design of the bathrooms, the stoep, the middle kitchen, the septic tank, the unusual front door etc. But the house has a huge potential for making it into a comfortable home. The house stands on 800SqM and is located at the entrance to Bushmans in a cul de sac.
From here we drove to a new coffee shop that has been established on the main road between Alexandria and Nanaga. We had a coffee and pancake and chatted to the owner, Isabelle Mc Donald. She gave us a bit of the background of the shop and their life on the farm. Her husband makes furniture and farms (Cattle I think).
Isabelle told us of her project to plant 1000 indigenous trees. This has been thwarted to some extent by vandals and nasty neighbours but she now plans to continue the project at the stall. Isabelle gave us some Tree Seeds which Charles & I will try to plant.
Isabelle then told us of an interesting monument nearby. We had the day to spare and so decided to take the detour to the monument. Probably about 9kays (West) of their stall or about 20kays East of Nanaga is a turn off the the Karel Landman monument. We have driven past this many times. But today we turned up the, reasonable quality, dirt road. As we reached the top of the hill and a sort of T junction, Barbara spotted the monument. It is a Globe or World about 3meters diameter and is a tribute to Karel Landman who was a local farmer and headed up a Trek of local farmers to Natal.
"In 1837/8, people of Dutch decent, referred to as the Boers, decided to move away from British rule and trek northwards. In doing this they founded the old Transvaal and the Free State as part of the Great Trek. This monument was erected in 1938 (during the centenary celebrations of the Great Trek) honouring Karel Landman who farmed in this area until 1837. He became a leader in the Great Trek and took a party of about 180 trekkers and their servants on a trek of 885 kilometres into Natal. Landman became prominent in several battles with the Zulus and was the second in command of the Boer forces at the pivotal battle of Blood River."
The following placques are on all four sides of the Globe or Monument.
Monument onthul deur Ds. W.A.Landman. 16 December 1939
Feesterrein Geskenk deur Mnr J. A. Scheepers, J. C. Seun.
Opgerig deur inwooners van Olifansthoek (Alexandria Distrik) met Dankbaarheid Teenoor sy stoere Voortrekkers
Argitek G. Moerdyk. Boumeeters Lupini Broers
ENGLISH TRANSLATION:
Monument unveiled by Dominee (Pastor) W.A. Landman. 16 December 1939
Showgrounds or arena donated by Mr. J.A. Scheepers, J.C Seun.
Erected by the inhabitants of Olifansthoek out of gratitude to the staunch Voortrekkers , or committed forefathers.
Architect: G Moerdyk. Materbuilder Lupini Brothers.
Charles pointed out that this was the time when the nationalist party was trying to establish itself. Hendrik Verwoed erected a series of monuments to the Voortrekkers to establish an Afrikaaner Nationalism while the English were in Europe fighting the war. The Nationalist Party wanted to overthrow the United Party that was predominanty English speaking with an Afrikaaner political party.
This road continues into the Amakhala Game Reserve. (Amakhala is named after the Xhosa word meaning Aloes) (7500ha reserve)(Resident African wildlife includes the Big Five animals, Lion, Leopard, Elephant, Rhino and Buffalo). However as it is part of a throughway there is no entry fee. As we drove through the road we came across large herds of Red Hartebees and a large group of Wildebees; and Charles spotted a group of Four Rhinoserous. We had an interesting time as we drove slowly through the reserve enjoying the game spotting but feeling a little guilty for taking advantage of this freebee. Amakhala Game Reserve visitors can explore the many wonders of the bush on Big Five safaris, river cruises. We had experienced the River Cruise from the small river boat that Charles has at Bushmans river mouth. We has seen both Rhino and Cheetah at close range on that occasion.
The Red Hartebeest is a large, reddish-fawn antelope with sloping back and long narrow face. Both sexes have heavily ringed horns. Of the 12 subspecies described in Africa, the Red Hartebeest is the only one which occurs in South Africa. Due to its re-introduction onto game farms and nature reserves, it has a wider distribution today. Adult bulls weigh 150 kg and measure 1.3 m at the shoulders, while cows only weigh 120 kg.
Territorial bulls often present themselves on prominent mounds and mark their territories with dung piles. The Red Hartebeest is swift on foot and gregarious, occurring in herds of up to 30.
The Amakhala Game Reserve began in 1999 as a joint conservation venture. Today, six independently owned lodges of The Heritage Collection, are all TGCSA Star Lodge accredited. The lodges are owner managed by the descendants of the original families who arrived here with the British settlers of 1820. The lodges offer various styles of accommodation, which include two gracious colonial homesteads, two classic bush lodges, an historic inn and a Settler farmhouse.
Amakhala Game Reserve is a unique conservation initiative that allows animals to be re-introduced to the area where they once roamed freely and so making a contribution to the conservation of our natural heritage. The land was used to ranch sheep and cattle up to the turn of the century. The challenge has been to re-establish the original flora and fauna species to the area and to return the land to nature.
We exitted the reserve about 60kays from PE on the N2 and soon afterwards came to a turn off to the Shamwari Game reserve and Patterson. Normally we rush past this turn but as Isabelle had given us directions we turned right and drove past the very famous Shamwari. Here we did not see any game but soon arrived at Patterson from a completely different direction to that which we know.
We stopped at the crossing that would take us to the Olifants Pass if we turned right and PE if we turned left. Here we bought some organges before crossing and driving on to the Addo Park area. And to our delight we saw herd of Elephant and Zebra to our right. This had been a real treat and all thanks to a really friendly lady at the padstalletjie. This road leads to the Addo main entrance. By now my passengers (Charles and Ingrid) had become quite sleepy and we soon heard the low breathing of sleeping beauties.
Back home that afternoon we dropped Charles and Ingrid off. Ally had spent the day with Michael and then Lara O. The temperature remained low and we fired up the gas heater. I paid a short visit to Adrienne Wilson to meet Gavin Cameron who is Adrienne's brother visiting from West Canada (Vancouver). This evening, Bafana soccer team virtually put paid to their World Cup round two aspirations as they lost dismally to Uruguay 3-0. The Soccer tournament enters it's second week as the last of the first round games were played today and the first of the second sessions begin.
Friday 18th June:
I had won an inter-company competition and the prize was two tickets to the World Cup Soccer Match. I won two tickets to the Germany vs Serbia match. I took the day off today and while Barbara was running her Holiday School I lit a braai and grilled sausages on the braai for the little children. This was a huge hit with them as they loved the Wors Rolls and kept coming back for more.
Then I dropped Ally off at Hockey Practice with Dean Gower at Clarendon and Michael took Barbara and I to a point close to the stadium. We were given special "Hospitality Suite" tickets. It was awesome. We walked to the stadium and soon found our way to the Suite. We were ushered around the suites area like royalty and each of us had a pre-numbered chair that resembled an airplane seat. Ours was in the back row of the suite area which allowed us to move around as we wished. Here we found that each patron was given a packet which contained a free blanket and a souvenier booklet.
Drinks were free. Barbara and I had a Budwieser. There was more than enough to eat with a full meal on offer as well as abundant snacks. Security was excellent as was the service in this area. I was surprised to find Jaco and Abe were in the same suite area. I had thought that they were going to be in the "cheap seats".
The game itself was a lot of fun. Unfortunately a lot of yellow cards and one red card issued. The Serbs won the game 1;0 much to the dissapointment of the many Germans in the stadium. 48 000 people watched the game. Barbara and I were really impressed with the organisation. Security and service was world class.
After the game Michael collected us in Mount Road. I then had to collect my car from service at Maritime. I also had to go to the office briefly and on the way up Russell Road we gave a lift to 5 German Students who had been at the game and were on their way to the Fan Park at St Georges Park.
We collected Ally after a really worthwhile day. On our way home Charles phoned to say that their offer for the Bushmans House had been accepted. This is a very exciting time for them.
Now it was time for us to prepare for our Otter Trail and for Barbara to pack up for her Canada Trip.
Monday morning 21.06.2010
I dropped Barbara off at the airport. I collected Geralds Trailer that we would take with us on the trip. Ally and I did our last bit of shopping for the trail. We were in bed early and the next morning I was up and packing by about 5.00am.
OTTER TRAIL STORY
See separate post for the Otter Trail story.
After we returned from the Otter Trail Ally and I had a late sleep in on the Sunday morning. I think that it was partly the influence of the American Cousins as well as the fact that I was now finally able to finish my book.
This afternoon Ally's Sunday Hockey attracts only a few takers. It is a bit cool and windy.
Monday morning it is back to work for me. Ally visits a friend to work on their Entrepreneurs Day at school next term. Barbara phones from Canada. All seems to be well and they appear to be having a good and busy time. They saw a couple of bears; Black Bear, Silver Bear and a Grisly Bear.
Ally goes to the Fan Fest with the Zeelies. Julia and Laura are having a blast, Debby Dean is showing them around including a trip to the Lion Park where they are able to pick up cubs. They go to the Fan Fest a couple of times. And they meet up with their friend Betina who takes them out. The Manager of the Costa Rica reserve is in PE for the Soccer. he no longer works on the Reserve. They all plan to be in Wildcliff sometime early in July. Then off to CT where they hope to stay with Nicci before Laura flies back to NY.
29th June 2010
It is Ena's Birthday today. 94. She has 16 people for lunch and bridge but cannot play herself as she simply cannot see the cards. It is also Marianne's Birthday (Plus twin sister).
30TH June
The weather is cooler than it has been recently. I run in the morning. Not far and not fast but at least I am out there. Adrienne Wilson has a Drinks evening for Gavin. Julia and Laura are also invited. As is Ally. At this little get together are Gavin, Peter & Adrienne, Jean is a work friend of Adrienne, Val is an old friend from Diving I think, Wayne is Adrienne's god child who is now living in West Canada, they knew him from Zim Days, Suzanne Gendall, Paula and boyfriend, Sean, Danielle, Matthew, Dee and Ray Kemp who run the B & B the Lemon Tree Lane opposite us. They make really delicious eats and snacks. L & J love the evening. Peter W makes a fuss of them. An enjoyable evening all round.
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