TWO OCEANS HALF MARATHON APRIL 2011

TWO OCEANS HALF MARATHON 2011
CATHY SILBERSTEIN
NICCI STEENKAMP
STEFAN STEENKAMP
All complete the Two Oceans Half Marathon 2011 within the cut off time.

I had to travel to JHB this week so dropped my car off for service on Monday afternoon and collected it on Wednesday. Tuesday Dawn arrived from her walk in the Hymalayans. Thursday morning Ally had to be at school so we left for Cape Town at around 11.00am. This was to be an eventful trip. We had borrowed Gerald's trailer and loaded it with a pile of Michael's stuff.

We also loaded Barbara's Bakkie. And put two mattresses on the back seat of my car: So we had the trailer behind my car with Ally in front seat and Jessica, Joshua and Daniel on the back seat perched on top of the mattresses. I did not bother to check the trailer lights as the Nippers Trailer had been fine a few weeks earlier. Just over an hour after leaving Barbara phoned to say that she had a flat tyre. I did a U-turn and by the time we arrived at the Bakkie a car had stopped and three men were changing the wheel. This was the first time that I had changed this tyre and learned that you had to undo a bolt inside the back of the bakkie to release the wheel that is under the bakkie. That went smoothly as the Tyre was a good one, the spanner and jack were behind the seat.

We passed three police road blocks on the road and the police at one of them showed me that the trailer lights were not working. Also Barbara and I had swapped vehicles at Storms River and my Drivers Licence was in my car and hers was in the bakkie; So we had a long lecture telling us that this was not allowed. Finally we arrived in Plett. I went in the bakkie to have the tyre fixed. The tyre had been run flat and was not in a condition to be repaired.

So I had the expense of a new tyre @ R540. Then went to the Auto Electrician in Plett where I had the electrics of the car sorted out @R170. There was a loose connnection which the electrician repaired. Now we are able to leave for CT again. After a while I ask (on the phone) barbara to turn on her lights. And I see the the one light is not working. So we pull over in Riversdale and I am able to fix a loose connection and dont have to replace the globe.

Off we go again. It is now dark and there is construction on the roads meaning that there are no lines which makes night driving very risky. The volume of cars coming from the CT side is huge. We right turn at Swellendam and get into Ashton where Ally rejects the garage food shop as being "Miff". Next town is Robertson where we find a Brazzillian Coffee shop and Steers. Here we buy burgers and coffee before heading off on our last leg of the trip.

On the N1; Under DuToits Kloof Hugenot tunnel and past Paarl to Nicci's house. It is now around 22.15. We drop off children, trailer and bakkie and head off to Cathy's house. It has been a 12 hour epic journey. Crash! that is what we all do within minutes of arriving at Cathy.

Good Friday 23rd: after breakfast and much organising we go off to register for the run. Stefan and the two boys came to collect Cathy, Ally Saul and myself. We had an easy registration and a relaxed afternoon with Nicci and then with Cathy. Stefan buys Nicci a new running outfit. A neat light blue top with tight running shorts. Cathy also buys a new top.

They leave me to take care of the two boys. Ally and I sit down to Ice Cream & Cold Drinks in the Food Area. Cathy has the new Aisics that I bought her at Brina Bands on 24th December when they have their annual sale. Paulette called me to ask about a lift to Cape Town but of course we were already here. It seems that they had some bad luck: on their way to Cape Town this morning the drivers side window was struck by a stone and shattered the window. They were not able to have it repaired and so retired from the race. Geoff Roberts, who was with them caught a flight to Cape Town.

Julia Giddy was at a festival in the Underberg south eastern Drakensberg. She had left with some friends on Thursday morning and after a burst tyre had stayed over in Kokstad before going on to the festival. She SMS's: "Hey! We made it past Queenstown. Got a late start but doing well" We were able to talk a few times on the phone and it appears that the trip and the camping at the festival went well. They would continue on to Patrick and Marianne in Durban before heading home at the end of the following week. Julia Sms's me: "We had a little bump along the road (Well a big one that blew out a tyre) but were in Kokstad now spending the night at a hotel. Will check in tomorrow.

Saturday morning. Easter Saturday. It has been nearly 25 times that I have done this. Wake up early and make my way to the start of Two Oceans. We have stayed at so many different places. Holiday Inns; Near to the start at self catering and B&B's; Fish Hoek where I have hitch hiked to the start and now in more recent years with Stefan and Nicky in Stellenberg. We have stayed with Patrick and Patti when they lived in Woodstock. We stayed with Cathy and Saul when they lived in Woodstock. In that year Saul ran the 21kay with a friend of his. Last year Stefan's friend Antoinette ran the 21kay. Stefan tells me that since then she is now running the 56kay as well as Comrades.




This year we were staying with Cathy & Saul in Milnerton. Ally was with us but stayed over at Nicci's house in Bloemandal Road. Dawn was on a mattress in Cathy's Study. Barbara had not been feeling well the previous day and we had all been asleep early. This morning I awoke at 03.30 and was soon ready. Cathy heard me washing and also woke up so we were ready when Stefan and Saul collected us at around 04.30. We drove to UCT and I fell asleep in the car.

Stefan took the Rhodes Memorial Exit, turned right under the main road and back towards UCT parking where we again found a really good parking spot. We walked down to the start area; Nicci and Cathy were in E seeding; Saul was in D as he had used his Sub 2hour time of Meiringspoort as a qualifier. I was in C seeding due to being Blue Number. Nicci and Cathy walked in from the back not too worried about seeding but were not too far from the front as we were relatively early. Stefan and I walked in at C and then ducked under the tape to D. We were now reasonably close to the start of the race. Michelle Stewart has said that she would look out for us there but we never saw her.




The commentator carried on and on about the most beautiful race and statistics etc before finally handing over to the Mayor of Cape Town who also made some unimporant speech and welcomed athletes for the umpteenth time. Then came the National Anthem which few white South Africans can sing but had some of the athletes putting their right hand on their heart and mouthing the words. I was surprised to hear that about half of the field were female. Running used, many years ago, to me a male dominated sport to the extent that Achilles was a strictly male only running club when I first joined.

Off went the gun and the athletes. It took us just a few seconds to cross the start line, no bunching and we had a more or less clear path ahead where we could run at our own pace. Stefan set the pace. We ran at around 6 minutes a kay after the first kay which was probably about 7 minutes. We ran together down Main Road and then turned right up into some suburb. I have no idea where we are as it is still very dark and a number of street lights are not working. The first three or so kays are slight uphill. We descend to the first switchback.

Stefan makes a pit stop and catches up with me soon afterwards. We have now run to around 6kays and Stefan goes ahead. We run under a main Road and then up the first of the hills to the second switchback. This is a fairly long hill and I determine to not walk at all today. We run for a long way along this switchback people running with determination in both directions. I am not used to running without knowing any of the athletes around me.




I did not see or greet any fellow PE runners on the route at all. At the end of this switch back we start the climb up Southern Cross Drive. It starts off fairly gently but becomes progressively steeper. I plod on. My real problem is that I have been working very hard the last number of weeks and combined with Ally's sport I have hardly been running at all. Probably around four sessions of training in the past four weeks. So I have no confidence and no stamina. But I do not walk.

Southern Cross drive hill is around 3 kays long and people continually yell at us: "Not far to the top now". At 13 kays we reach the top of the hill and work our way along the Real Two Oceans route which I have run on 21 previous occasions. 19 on the marathon route and two on the half marathon route. Stefan reminded me that I had once bailed this run. I now remember that I was in Hout Bay when coming down Chapmans Peak. I was so sore and exhausted that I bailed, climbed onto a bus and arrived back to the field on Wheels and not my feet.

Now doing the 21kay I feel that I am part of the whole hype without the pain and without needing the training that is required for running a really tough 56 kay event. And I am with my family. Talking to Geoff later that day I was proud to say that I had family running with me. The section that takes the runners to the highest point on the 21kay is not easy. BUT we have only a few kays to go from here.

Down we run. I am not a good downhill runner and maybe a little over cautious as I dont want to injure myself. I am counting down the Kays. We pass the 18kay marker. And then start the sharp climb from the Traffic Light. Last year there were announcers on this hill. This year it is relatively quiet. We reach the two kay to go marker. I have not walked once today. I run as hard as I can which is not very fast at all. I ask a fellow veteran runner about the time. He says that it is 1hour 59. I realise that a sub 2 hour is out of the question. But if we work hard we will finish within 2.10.

So when we reach the final sharp climb up to the finish area I do the very best that I can to jog at a slightly faster pace. Finally we reach the field. I run as hard as I am able around the field. I am not fooled by the false finish banner and look ahead to the real finish banner. I see a fellow 60 year old runner ahead of me. I have seen him a number of times on the road and now decide that is must finish ahead of him as this will give me just one place ahead of the 60+ age category. I finish in 2.09.




I look around for Stefan. Last year we did not see each other until long after the race had ended. This year Stefan saw me come in and was waiting for me at the exit. He had done 1.53 which is his best for Two Oceans 21 as well as a personal best for a half marathon. This particular route is not easy and to do a PB today was excellent for him. He was delighted. We made our way to barrier where the runners enter the field from the road. Last year Nicci and Cathy had arrived long after the cut off and I was expecting the same today.




Both of them had done no training. Both of them seemed ambivilant about starting until only the day before the race. So when there was just a few minutes to go we were shocked to see Cathy coming in looking amazingly fresh. She laughed and waved to us. We later heard that Saul also saw come in and was able to greet her as well. Then we waited for Nicci. Cathy had kind of indicated that Nicci was behind but we had no idea how far behind. But with just a minute or two to spare; Nicci came running onto the field. She too looked exceptionally chirpy after the experience of last year when she had so much pain. We see Selwyn Solomon from PE finishing well.

We hurried over the to where the runners exit and found Nicci as she came out. Cathy had walked over to where she had seen us and we found her and Saul a few minutes later. I had taken my phone on this run. I had wrapped it in some toilet paper and then in a plastic bag. This allowed me to take a few pics and to let people know that Cathy and Nicci had completed the run within the cut off. It was a really emotional and happy time for us. With no training but with a huge amount of heart and determination these two sisters had done what none of us really expected them to do.




Nicci had dosed herself with anti inflamatory and was feeling very ill afterwards. I think that it was part exhaustion, part emotion and part the pills on an empty tummy. She did not have a good ride home but after a sleep looked a lot better. Never again would these two Girls have to run as Novices. They were part of around 7000 novices this year. Although this was their second attempt it is not acknowleged unless you complete within the time cut off of three hours.




I received an SMS from Michelle Stewart: She was in the C Seeding. We had not seen her but she was there. Michelle did a 1.48. Geoff had done his 13th 56kay in 5.23. Graham Channon did his 31st in just under 6 hours and when I speak to him on the phone he tells me that he had an awesome run with little trouble on the road. Kenny Barwood managed just under 7 hours. Andy Bolton and Benita Barton ran together doing around 5.15. This is Andy's 29th consecutive run.

We dropped Cathy off at her home and Stefan and I had a relaxed afternoon at his house. Michael made a fire: Barbara and Dawn had been to visit friends. Later that evening Aunty Mary, Joan, Roy and daughter Tracey came over for a Braai. Stoney and Magdalena plus Bapsie all were there to celebrate Easter. Magdalena and Bapsie had made beautiful gifts for each of the children. Each gift came with a message which the chilren read out and answered a biblical question. There were around 17 adults and 7 children all having a great time over supper. We watched some unsatisfying Super 14 Rugby. I should not watch as I really dont have too much interest in this competition and cannot follow the league table.

Geoff collected Barbara's Bakkie and we left to stay over at Cathy's house. It had been a long and tiring day. Nicci was still not feeling her best. Cathy looked well but a little stiff.

Sunday 24th morning we left at around 08.00 for home and took the N2 route. We were fortunate to have left today as we heard that there were heavy rains in Cape Town on Sunday and it would have not been a day for the outdoors. Our stops were: Riviersonderend for coffee and sandwich, Heidelberg for petrol; Albertinia for Biltong and Ginger beer; Storms River for Toilet break and then home. The drive took us a little over 8 hours. We were four in the car and an empty trailer. What a difference! This evening Dawn showed us her Nepal Pics. It looks like a really stunning holiday and an experience that we would love to do one day.

PRINCE ALBERT OLIVE FESTIVAL AND HALF MARATHON APRIL 2011

PRINCE ALBERT OLIVE FESTIVAL
PRINCE ALBERT SWARTBERG PASS HALF MARATHON 2011
OOM SCHALK LOURENS; LEOPARDS, LOVE POTIONS AND TALES FROM MARICO
GHOST WALK WITH AILSA TUDHOPE
NATURE WALK WITH SUE DEAN (RENU KAROO)


Friday 29th April.
We leave to Drop Ally off at her friend, Kerry whose family is moving this weekend from near to Buliders Warehouse to Parsons Hill close to Collegiate. We collect Dawn and Brenda and then start our trip to Prince Albert. Our first stop is Storms River and then Plett. Ena serves us tea and Muffins. We head off to Knysna where Brenda off loads her dog, Ginger, at her sisters home. Now we are headed for George and Oudtshoorn.




From Oudtshoorn we drive to De Rust and then Meiringspoort and finally (7 hours later) we arrive in Prince Albert.







In the Meiringspoort we stop to check out the Herrie Carving by CJ Langeveld which is a National Heritage site. And we make a brief stopover at the information center where the history of the poort is documented.





I check in at the Lazy Lizzard for the 21kay the next morning. We find a place to have supper and make a booking. Then we go to the Publicity office where I purchase the tickets to the Herman Charles Bosman show as well as the Ghost Walk.

We drive to the farm where we have booked for the night. It is Oudekloof run by Deon Gouws. We will stay in a farm house with multiple rooms and for the first night we have to share with another two couples. They are absolutely Livid that they are sharing with us. The whole booking was for Five people on their side and five on ours. The house has an en-suite toilet and only one bath room with one shower and bath. And a shared kitchen.




Back in the village someone points out that we have a flat tyre. I quickly find a repair place as it is approaching 5pm. They change the tyre and I tell them that I will collect the repaired tyre in the morning. I am surprised to see how worn the tyre is. It is almost completely smooth and I had not noticed it. The other rear tyre is not as smooth but will also need replacing soon.





We leave for town for our Ghost Walk. We meet up with Ailsa Tudhope who is our guide. She regales us with a number of stories from the time the village was first started by the DeBeer farmers to when it was given its name after the German Prince Albert in 1762. We are taken to the unusual grave yard which has piles of stones to mark each grave. It must have had wooden head pieces as they no longer exist.




Then we move on to Charlie the Stoep Ghost who looks after the home where the owner leaves furniture and books outside on the stoep and these items are never disturbed. Then move down to a variety of different homes where we are given both a history lesson as well as entertained with stories of ghosts from the Spook Eye to the lady in the loft and even stories the lead to a Churchill connection. Various people who have listened to Ailsa's stories have improved and validated them with factual books, writings and pictures from their own family history.

The village has a De Beer reunion from time to time and a famous Zach De Beer has also attended this reunion. Zach De Beer had a long political carreer in South Africa. He was a member of the United Party before moving on to the Progressive party with Helen Suzman. The Progressive party became the Progressive Federal Party and eventually the Democratic party and is now known as the Democratic Alliance. In fact these names have always signified the opposition party to the ruling party which was originally the Nationalist Party and is now the African National Congress. Zach De Beer was trained as a Medical Doctor and part of the De Beer family who were the first to settle in this area. Zach died in May 1999, just a few months after visiting Prince Albert for the family reunion.

Ailsa tells us of another famous connection to Prince Albert is the Nobel Literature prize winner J M Coetzee. I am not sure exactly how he is connected to Prince Albert but Coetzee won a nobel prize in 2003 and now lives in Australia.\\

Ailsa has been doing this for around 10 years having lived in the village for 13 years. She is a school teacher at the local school which has around 35 pupils. She joined us for a drink later at the restaurant we had booked for supper. We had a delicious supper for around R100pp including two bottles of local white wine. We were all pretty clapped when we arrived back at the farm house. I readied myself for the morning run and set my alarm. The beds were not particularly comfortable but we slept okay.

Saturday morning 30th April in Prince Albert. After dressing I left for the village. I parked close to the finish of the race and walked to the Lazy Lizzard where we would be collected by a cattle truck. I chatted to a couple of chaps; Tommy from Pretoria, Gavin (Walker) and Christopher from Tygerberg. Christopher is a retired teacher/principal (70+)who still assists with the teaching of maths and science.

After a while and a cup of tea we loaded ourselves into the truck. It was fairly cold at 7am but once the vehicle started moving the wind factor made it really chilly. I was surprised to see a familiar face: Alf Zhemke and his lady friend. I took shelter behind them but still had to keep moving to try to generate some warmth. Finally we arrived at the start. It is around 10kays out of town towards De Rust. Here it was warm and sunny. We walked up to the start where we had a short pep talk and then started the run. There were probably a few more than 50 runners and walkers doing the 21 kay and a similar number doing the 10kay.




The first few kays was a gentle uphill and I was breathing heavily. I battle to start off on any run but particularly when it is up hill. I am puffing and panting early on in this race. Finally after around two kays we headed downhill towards the Swartberg Pass turn off. This true Karoo veld. It is short scrub with stones and sand. No grass to be seen. Left into the gravel road of the pass.




Now I remembered the time when we had driven here in the Combi with Trevor Jennings' group on our way to Die Hell and then to the Orange River Canoe Trail. As you enter this pass it looks like you are driving straight into the mountains. I had met up with Ferdie. He lives in Oudtshoorn with his family. However working as a Trainer in the Army he is presently based in the Central African Republic where they have recently had elections. The SA army was part of the training and security and he will return soon for another stint there.

We jogged up the pass until I could no longer keep up. He pressed on and I fell behind around 50 meters. Runners were now heding downhill towards us. Some of them "flying" down on this gravel and uneven road surface. We pass a few land marks: Eerste Water and Tweede Water river crossings; Malva Draai. Later on, talking to Kobus, I tried to decide if this referred to Malva which is the Afrikaans name for a particular Flower or if it referred to Malvalekker (Marshmellow) where Softies would turn around and head back the way they had come. We enjoy the tall rock face on either side of the pass. This provides a magnificent backdrop for a run but is of course difficult to enjoy as you force yourself to jog up and up watching your footing all the time.

We had to press on and upwards. It is tough going up this hill. Switchbacks, uneven surface and steep inclines makes continuous jogging difficult. I am glad that we did not drive this way. The road is narrow and rough. It is beautiful but not for a low slung car like mine. I walked a couple of times. We passed the last watering station on the way up. The two men were playing old Eric Clapton Guitar music. Sounded stunning in the Kloof with music echoing on the sandstone cliff sides.

The morning sun was now hitting the rocks and cliffs. We were deep into the pass and mountains and loving being there. It is always a huge priveledge to be able to do stuff like this. Enjoying the ability to run and being in the deep caverns of natures most wonderfull pass. Last weekend the announcer was telling us that the Two Oceans half marathon was: "the most beautiful half marathon in the world" well either he is not a runner or he has been programmed to say that. The Two Oceans is a Suburban run. While the Constantia road is okay it hardly compares to Meiringspoort or the Swarbergpass runs.

One of the chaps that I met tells me about the Danger Point run in Gans Baai on 31st December each year. This sounds like something that we could do as we plan to be at Wildcliff at the end of this year. He tells me that the route takes the runners along the ocean side for most of the course and provides a wonderful journey on the last day of the year. Finally we reach the top where a policeman is the marshall at the turning point. We have run around 4 or 5 kays of uphill. Descending I now catch up with Ferdie and a number of other runners. Ferdie takes a picture of me in the pass.




We meet up with Kobus; Bernard; Pieter and form a little group. Kobus points out the rock formation of a "Cross" with the words Jesus Saves painted below. Bernard announces that I am third in my age category (60+). So when Pieter van Heerden starts running ahead I determine to keep up with him. Pieter is from Pretoria. He was also at the Two Oceans half last weekend and is making his way home. He is a veteran Comrades runner with 25 under his belt and still going strong.

He and I run hard down the last sections of the pass gravel road. We turn to the left when Marshalls indicate and then are on a dirt track where you have to continually watch your footing. It is not even a Jeep Track. On our right is the Water Sloot that takes water from the Springs in the Mountains to the village below. There are Aquaducts or water troughs all along the sides of the streets where villagers have a pre-allocated date and time that they are allowed to block the sloot and flood their gardens. The support along the road is more than adequate. Coke every three kays with Sachet of water as much as you need.

This section of the run is between the 14 kay to the 18kay markers. The markers are painted stones on the side of the road and easy to miss. At this stage the ground is soft sand and uneven. We have to dodge thorn bushes. We reach the tar road again. Pieter's wife has been waiting for him on the road. We move on and now with three kays to go we are both tired but detirmined to work hard together.


AS YOU RUN INTO PRINCE ALBERT YOU SEE THE ROCK FACE

At the outskirts of the village there is a slight up on the road. No! Pieter points out, the water is running with us and simply cannot run up hill. It must be downhill. MMMM? Into the main street and other runners are showing off as they have changed and having tea on the side of the road. Each of htese final few kays seem like they are "long" kays. We run as hard as we can in the final kay with the FINISH banner in sight. We finish in around 2;15. I am quite happy that we have run together and pushed each other to the finish. It has been tough but fun.

I try to find a suppler of tyres who can help us but there is no one in Oudtshoorn and so I collect the old repaired tyre and put this in the boot. I drive back to the farm where I collect Barbara, Dawn and Brenda. We go back to the village where the prize giving is taking place. Unfortunately there is no third prize in the Grandmasters categorie and I am not even sure that Bernard was right when he told me that I was in third spot.

We do a bit of wandering around the village find some curio shops and second hand goods shops where Brenda buys a variety of books. One is a book on Bridge and another is Places in SA which you most probably have never seen. In this book is a picture of Kelvin Grove the farm which belongs to the Giddy Family of Barkley East. We used to visit Neville and Ronnie when they lived there. Jessie Gush also lives in the district.

We find a Breakfast shop and enjoy a full English Breakfast of Eggs on Toast and Bacon with lots of coffee. Delicious especially for me as all I have had to eat this morning is two sample olives. We sit and relax here for some time. Barbara goes off to try to find a dinner venue but eventually we decide that the place we had supper last evening is the best option. I purchase tickets for the Nature Walk in the morning.

After some debate and Olive tasting we purchase Wine, Olives and Olive Chutney. The Olives we buy from the daughter of Jan Olyf Bothma of the Swart River Olive farm. Next time we are here we will have to take the tractor tour of the farm which the daughter tells us about. Dawn buys some sweet Dessert wine. It is all a lot of fun as we taste and talk about everything we buy. The afternoon is spent back at the farm. We try to do a bit of exploring and while we see some Bontebok and lots of Springbok the Mercedes is not designed for these roads and has no clearance.




We relax at the farm house Barbara reads while lying in the hammock. Dawn and Brenda sit on the couch and we have afternoon coffee. Soon the sun is setting and shadows growing longer. Brenda brings out a bottle of NUY that she had in the fridge. Barbara, Dawn and Brenda enjoy sundowners as the sun sets and the cool of the evening make us bring out the jerseys and jackets.

Deon Gouws is the owner of this farm and he has his two daughters and their friends from University staying on the farm for the weekend. Deon spends some time chatting about the history of the farm and the dam at the end of the property. The farm originally stretched from the top of the Swartberg Pass but is now only a small fruit farm as the property was cut up and sold by his family. Also staying on the farm is Martin who lives in a cottage and drives a combi into town for a bit of social company.





We drive back into town for the Herman Charles Bosman show: Leopards, love potions and other Marico tales". Oom Scalk Louwrens tells us of the Spotted Leopard who lay under the trees with him as he searched for lost cattle and of the love potion that is extracted from the red berries found in the kloofs of the Marico mountain valley. He explains how the local farmers interact and how each one tells their own version of the most unlikely or improbable situation. The stories are told by Eric Nobbs who grooms himself to look like an Oom Schlak and who acknowledges Patrick Mynhard as an original Oom Schalk.

The show is held in a small theatre (in De Beer Street) which was the original Dorp Huis of the Gouws family. We come across a number of local people and even the man who set up the Eric Clapton refreshment station up in the pass this morning. The show is entertaining and the stories provide laughter as well as an insight to the Afrikaner farmer of the early years of the Transvaal.

We again has supper at the restaurant attached to the Swartberg hotel. However, while the service the previous evening had been excellent, this evening we wait over an hour for our dinner. And Brenda and I, unknowingly are handed each others dinner. But in the end we are all well fed including the family of cats back at the farm who benefit from uneaten left overs.

The cooks acknowledge that they are overwhelmed and apologise. Driving back and forth to the village in the dusk we have seen Springbok each time and it is a pleasant experience to drive slowly along the farm road while watching out for the sillowetted animals and seeing them bouncing across the road.

Nature Walk with Sue & Richard Dean of RenuKaroo Veld Restoration cc / Natuur-Uitstappie saam met Sue en Richard Dean van RenuKaroo - Booking limited to 15 people. R50 per person. Meet at Tourism Office for a walk at Wolwekraal. Learn how plants have adapted to their arid environment, the way that they defend against and are exploited by animals, their uses by people and livestock. Discover patterns in the vegetation, find cryptic and strange plants, learn the origins of curious and highly descriptive common names and together discover a fascinating and often overlooked world in the dull brown veld

We sign up for this walk on Sunday morning before leaving for home. We meet Sue Dean who is a retired (UCT) botanist. They own a small piece of veld on the outskirts of Prince Albert and have had this recognised by Cape Nature as a reserve. It is an incredibly interesting two hours of Sue explaining about both the rocks and sand and the variety of plant life that exist in this harsh environment.

Once you are able to see with open eyes it is amazing how much is going on at your feet. From tiny little succulent Veigies to grasses and Arcacia trees. Sue explained how the water shortage in the village is drying up the streams and affecting the life. She spoke knowledgeably about the Fraking that has been proposed by the Oil Company Shell.

The village had 3500 inhabitants and has now 10 000 and this puts a huge pressure on the water supply that comes from the Swartberg mountains through the sloot that we ran past the previous day. On this walk are Albert and Marita; Peter and Edna (also ran) and a couple of other people making up the 10 visitors. Sue and her husband have started a Nursery and a consulting business after officially retiring from UCT. They have lived and done experiments on this property for many years.

Sue showed us a little section where it appears that there is erosion. Then she took us to a nearby piece where it seems that the Koisan or similar people must have camped many years ago. There is evidence in the form of Stone Knives, Pottery, Ostrich Shells etc which show that there was an extended period of camping.

Sue explained about the Arcacia Tree which has this Missletoe as a parasite on the tree and how the birds eat the seeds of the parasite and then regurgitate the left over seed which forms a sticky goo and the seeds germinate on the branches where new parasites begin. The strange thing that we saw was how another spieces of Missletoe was not able to latch onto the Arcacia but lives on the first Missletoe.

Even the fencing separating the farms has a story of how the SA government of 1912 decided to divide farms and that the original strands of wire are the base of the fence and the fence posts are trees which have lasted 100 years and show no signs that they will not last another 100 years.

Sue showed us where the Fluit Rot (WHisting Rat) lives in burrows. One needs to be careful as Cobra's also live around this area as they feed on the rats. The rats eat the vegitation and leave a litte at the entrance to the burrow for a second helping later. They will stay withing a short distance of the various burrows and if they should spot danger (Goshawk) they will whistle to signal that it is time to scurry back into the burrow.



SUE DEAN EXPLAINS ABOUT THE NATURE WALK

Even the termites have a story as they are not Ants as many of us think but are rather part of the cockroach family. The amazing thing is that termites tidy up their homes and brush their droppings out of the nest to form a loose sandy looking pile outside of the nest.

At around 10am we left Prince Albert and returned home the same way we had come. Meirings poort, Ousdthoorn, George and Knysna. In Knysna we were invited for lunch by Leslie (Brenda's Sister) and Julian. They fed us a delicious chicken, Salad, Potatoe lunch which was just what we needed at that time of the day. We had left without having any breakfast and the last time that we had spent a day of driving and had missed the midday meal Brenda had not been a Happy Chappy. After a stunning meal we drove the last leg home where we dropped off Dawn and Brenda and collected Ally from her friend Kerry.

It had been a stunning weekend and one to put on the calendar for future years.

Peter & Barbara Giddy
Dawn Kumm
Brenda Hayward
April 2011

SUMMERSTRAND NIPPERS NATIONALS STRAND AND ROB TAYLOR HOCKEY EAST LONDON APRIL 2010

APRIL 2010



HOCKEY TOUR WITH COLLEGIATE U14 TEAM TO EAST LONDON
LOAD UP NIPPERS TRAILER
DRIVE TO CAPE TOWN FOR NIPPERS NATIONALS
NIPPERS NATIONALS IN STRAND - SOMMERSET WEST
NIPPERS NATIONALS RESULTS
TRIP TO MTHATHA
ALLY PLAYS HOCKEY FOR A GIRLS TEAM AT OLD GREY
TWO OCEANS HALF MARATHON
PRINCE ALBERT HALF MARATHON

MY CELLPHONE NO LONGER TAKES GOOD PHOTOGRAPHS




Friday 1st April: Ally goes to East London with the School Bus. They stay over at Clarendon Hostel.
Saturday morning First I am able to go for a training run from the beach. Barbara & I drive to EL. We collect the keys for their home from Mike Burger where they have offered to allow us to stay for the weekend. Then it is Hockey the rest of the weekend. Ally is playing for the U14 first team at Collegiate. We also see Anke Spies, Maryka Maritz and Lara Swanepoel who are all playing for the Pearson first team.






The Collegiate team plays five games: they draw two and win three with no losses. Unfortunately Ally is injured twisting an ankle and does not play in the final game against Woodridge. I miss this game as I have not taken a day off and have to go to the East London Office. They are all tough games with lots of action and fun. Pearson is the other PE team that we are supporting with Marius and Frannelie coming to join the parent support group. They too play five games and only lose their final game.



Results as we recorded them:
Hudson Park vs Pearson; 1-0
KHS vs Pearson Boys; 0-3
Collegiate vs combridge 3-0
Pearson vs Cambridge boys 0-1
Hudson Park vs Collegiate 0-0
Pearson vs Cambridge 3-0
Pearson vs Stirling Boys 1-0
Pearson vs Hudson Park 1-0
Claendon vs Collegiate 0-0
Dale vs Pearons boys 1-1
Collegiate vs Stirling 3-0
Pearson vs QGHS 4-0
Collegiate vs Woodridge 5-0
Selbourne vs Pearson boys 1-1
Clarendon vs Pearson I think that Pearson girls lost this match but forgot to write down the results in our hurry to leave for home.


The following Wednesday 6th April morning we leave early for Cape Town. We have the fully loaded Nippers Trailer behind us. The drive is slow although we are fortunate to have the 2lit Mercedes which pulls the trailer okay. However petrol consumption soars from a normal average of 8l/100km to 16l/100km. We reach Mossel Bay and the red light for low fuel warning comes on.

The Trevor Vaughn family is there. We press on and at Swellendam we take the pass to the R62 and complete the journey along the N1. It is exactly 740km from our house to Nicky's house along this route and the drive including stops has taken us 10 hours. There were a couple of road work stops along the N2 after Riversdale. Today is Charles DuToit's 50th Birthday. He is having a family gathering tonight and later in the week. We are not able to be with them for either of the functions.

We off load Michaels stuff at Nicky's house and then drive through to Cathy. Here we have to off load the boards and leave the trailer locked to their gate over night. We leave early Thursday 7th morning for Strand and are able to find parking. We off load the trailer, find our tent that Tracey has booked for us and set up camp for our small team.





The morning starts off with the Inter Regional competition. This is where the Summerstrand has in the East Cape team: Ally, Tristan and Anke. It is individual events and really has no significance except that the Nippers get to represent their "province". the problem with this is that it totally exhausts the Regional Competitors for later events.

The weather was against us and the Nippers. There was a Gale Force wind which must have gusted up to 80kmph. The sand blew into everything from Cellphones, camera's, eyes and mouth. It was most unpleasant and conditions could not have been tougher.

Some of the events that I recorded:





Taplin Relay:
Ultimately we were only allowed one team. The idea of putting Marion into the U14 team did not work out as the officials would not allow this as we already had one team in the competition.
Our team consisted of Anke; Ally; Tristan and Christian.
In the first heat: Anke run 4th; Ally swim 9th; Tristan BB; 9th and Christian Maliby 7th.
So the team made the finals:
Taplin Finals: Anke run 8th; Ally Swim 13th; Tristan BB 14th and Christian Malibu 16th. I think that we can be proud of this team for taking part in a really tough competition with strong opposition.

Surf Swim Finals;
Boys: Chrisian 11/30
Girls: Ally 16/30

Beach Sprint:
Boys: Tristan and Tiane were placed 3rd and fourth but I cannot remember the order.
Girls: While Anke was initially placed first there was a dispute lodged and the judges looked at the video on a computer and agreed that Anke was finally placed 3rd. This was unfortunate and a human error that Anke had to deal with.

The next morning she was looking her normal happy self and we were proud to have this courageous girl in our team. Earlier on Mieke had been placed 3rd in the U12 girls beach sprint so Thomas and Ursula went home very proud parents.
Body Board boys ind; Heat 4 Christian; 7th and Deluan 16/19
Body Board Semi Final: Heat Two: Christian 14/20

Body Board girls ind: Heat 1 Anke: 12/20 and heat 2; Ally 11/20
The cut for the next level was always 50% and so we had no Summies U14 in the finals.





Flags:
This is possibly one of the most character building events as the arena is surrounded by spectators including your peers. And one by one you are eliminated and have to walk out of the arena with a smile and your head held high.
Girls U14 Flags: The system works in a snake and there are 15 competitors with 12 flags until there are just 20 into the finals.
Round 1: Anke and Ally
Round 2: Anke and Ally
Round 3: Anke and Ally
Round 4: Anke and Ally
Round 5: Anke and Ally
ROund 6; Anke and Ally

This took the two girls into Semi Finals for Flags:
They both stayed in for the first 4 rounds and Ally was finally eliminated coming in the last round before the finals cut. So Ally was placed 11th overall. Not bad: 11th Nipper Girls in South Africa for Flags! Anke went into the finals against the top ten Flags girls in South Africa. The competition was fierce and Anke had to work really hard to take 3rd position in a contraversial finish where it appeared that she had the flag in her hand but her rival emerged from the flurry of sand with the flag.

During the Flags competition there was some kind of worry about the surface as one Nipper after the other injured themselves. Finally the competition was able to start again and our Nippers did Summerstrand proud.

Boys Flags;
Here too there were 15 boys and 12 flags in each of the rounds;
Round 1: Bradley; Christian; Taine; Tristan & Deluan
Round 2: Bradley; Tristan; Taine & Deluan
Round 3: Bradley; Taine; Tristan
Round 4: Bradley; Tristan; Taine
Round 5: Tristan; Taine.
Tristan and Taine then went on to work through a series of Semi Finals remaining for the entire session to qualify for the finals.
Flags Finals;
Tristan 9th
Taine 5th





Long run: Boys Tristan 10th; Bradley 37 and Christian 50 out of around 75 boys.

Iron Nipper: Heat 2 Deluan 16th; Christian 7/16 and Bradley 13/16.
Iron Nipper Girls: Ally 11/20.
Semi Final: Christian: 8/16
Final: Christian: 16th. This was the final event on the last day and Christian's last event as a Nipper. By this time he was totally exhausted having competed in every possible event including the Long Run.

Run-swim-run
Heat 1: Christian 11/32 and Deluan 27/32
Girls heat 2: Ally 11/32
Finals
Ally: 9/32 and Christian 14/32
This was Ally's last event as a Nipper and she finished just behind Simone from FH who had been a silent rival throughout the competition. It was one of Ally's Highlights as she was placed 9th Girl U14 Nipper in South Africa. And won points for the Summies team. It was a great way to complete her Nippers Career.




On the second day of the competition Nicky and Lene brought their 7 children to the beach. The children had a ball; Playing in the sand and surf and cheering Ally on. It was a stunning day for the beach and worth thr drive from the other side of the bay.

At the end of the third day there is a Dad's / Coaches swim. Here I forget that my mind has not caught up with my body. There is a 15 year difference. I am 60 while my mind forgets this and thinks that I am only 45. Thomas runs ahead of me. I run into the surf but am still diving into the waves when the first dad's are already rounding the first buoy. Ah so what? I am enjoying myself. I swim around the buoys and look up to see the marshalls bringing me the finish posts closer so that I dont have quite as far to swim. What an insult! But of course while the Dad's were having a great time swimming the Nippers thought that this was the funniest part of the whole carnival and laughing with glee watching these old men trying to avoid drowning.

This had been three really long tiring days: On the Saturday afternoon a number of parents had tickets for a Super Rugby game: Stormers playing Reds; Stormers had not lost a match yet this season but to the dissappointment of the Local Supporters the run of wins was to end that afternoon.

Barbara and I loaded up the trailer and headed back to Cathy's home. They had some friends over for a Braai that evening. I was not good company as I sat on a couch with a drink to join the children watching TV with my eyes closed.





The following morning; Sunday 10th we left Cathy & Saul at around 05.00am, Collected Michaels children; Jessica; Daniel and Joshua from Nicky's house and then with four children in the back seat and a trailer full of boards set off home. We took the N1 under the Hugenot's Tunnel and then onto the R62. Stopped for some breakfast in Robertson and then continued along the R62 past Ashton, Montague, Ladismith, Oudtshoorn and then to the Langkloof road. Finally 10 hours later (16.00) we arrived at home. This route is around 770kays -- 30kays longer than the way we had come.

We received final results during the week:
Roger obtained results for us:





Hi Guys
I managed to get the results from Lifesaving S.A.
U14-SS 6th not bad considering small team ,remember this age group for Summies won Nationals when they were U10 & U12!

U12-SS 15th
U10-no team=no points
Overall 1st- F.H. 558 pts, 2nd-D.S. 531 pts, 3rd K.B. 297 pts, 13th S.S. 71pts.
Best Regards
Roger.

Here are some of the Official Results:
Beach Sprints: Anke Spies 3rd and Tristan Jonas 3rd:
Flags: Anke Spies 3rd
Beach Relay: Tristan Jonas; Taine Finn; Anke Spies and Bradley Odendaal 2nd
U14 total scores: Fish Hoek first with 296 points; Kings Beach 4th 72 points; Summerstrand 6th 56 points

Overall Summerstrand was placed 13th out of 22 teams. Kings Beach was 3rd; East London 9th and Plettenbergbay 10th.







The following week I was in the Transkei. Barbara had the three little children to contend with. Patrick phones me to tell me that St John is playing Rugby at the Kings Park Grounds. Not the main field but one of the side fields. Friday evening Ally played her first hockey match for Old Grey Girls Team. They played at the NMMU Astro in Summerstrand against an NMMU team. We sat with Patrick, Terry Billson and Carmel and Terry's Parents: Beth & Brian; Also Robin Fourie whose daughter Rayne plays for the same team. Also there was Ally's Friend Kaytlin who always has a really busy game. Terry has brought some wine and snacks; so we make the evening into a small social group. Ally's coach is Dean Gow who finished last years Two Oceans 21 with me. He was Ally's Clarendon Park coach as well. This afternoon Ant Adler and a group of men are hiking up the Cockscomb hoping to Summit on Saturday morning. I had to miss this as I felt that I have been away from home just too much the last few weeks and still have a busy few weeks ahead. Julia is off on a Hockey Retreat with the Pirates Girls Team.





Ally and Natalie are pretty solid in defence hardly letting a ball through. Fron there we went off to Grey to watch the first team play against Paul Roos from Paarl. It was an exciting game to the finish with two short corners after full time but Grey was unable to match the one goal of Paul Roos.

Saturday Morning 15.04.2011;
I am up early for a run. It has been weeks since I have run and I really look forward to the beach this morning. This morning it is Pat and Ronel Scheepers; Sjani Human; Andrew Barton & Susan Burri. We leave at 05.30am and now I am really happy to be here. We jog up towards Walmer Boulevard and then meet up with some friends of Sjani: Laura and Anton. They jog with us. Anton announces that he is not a runner but proceeds to set the pace. Laura tells us that she is a Radio Presenter for Algoa FM. Now I have met three radio presenters and four if you include Neil Bissiker. Up Walmer boulevard and then along Strandfontein. Pat, Andrew and Susan head down Second Avenue and we continue to Admiralty Way.

It is a stunning morning and we are running easily but with Anton setting the pace there is no time to relax. He is happy to have run and is now keen to start this as a sport. We have a swim at Hobie beach after the run. Here we see Ron and Lynne Pask, Mike & Beth Roote and Brian Burnett. They go for a walk each Saturday morning and have tea on the promenade. It seems that Laura is a friend of Carl and Craig Pask. The 10 and 5 kay run goes past us and we wait for the runners to come past before leaving the Hobie beach Parking.

Saturday 16th April.
This afternoon Ally and I go to Rugby at Grey. It has been raining a bit but not heavily. By the time that we are at Grey the rain starts to fall. I have a sweat top and jacket plus a cap to keep the rain off my face. Really not too bad at all. The Thirds win against Paul Roos and the Second team loses. But by now the rain is pelting down and I am quite saturated. Ally comes over and we decide to go home. This afternoon she is going to stay over at a Friend: Natalie Billson. A little later something really extraordinary happens:
Barbara had a Corn Snake for the past three or so years. It came to us a tiny little worm and Barbara has fed and nurtured this snake to quite a sizable snake. The snake escaped somehow when we were in Cape Town last weekend.
Barbara goes to the pet shop and buys a new Corn Snake. She shows this snake to me and it too is the size of a long earth worm.
This this morning she brings the snake to show me again and I comment on how strange it is that the snake appears to have changes shade of colour. The snake I remember her showing me a day earlier appeared to have dark markings while the snake that she shows me today is almost Yellowish. But Barbara poo-poo's my memory as the snake has not changed colour it is my imagination.
Then later in the afternoon I am watching Rugby on TV while Barbara is reading a new Wilbur Smith book. I walk through to the kitchen for some coffee. I am bare foot after trying to dry out from the rain at Grey. I stand on something wet / slimey and look back -- there is the Snake that Barbara had shown me the first day. The one with dark markings slithering in the doorway. Barbara jumps up and looks in the snake box; There are two snakes. What happened when she bought the snake is that the shop owner took out a snake but they were all intertwined and he must have picked up two snakes by mistake and neither he nor Barbara noticed this. Now we have two Corn Snakes. What I find absolutely amazing is the fact that the dark snake escaped from the box; that I happened to be bare foot; that I happened to walk out at the very moment that the snake slithered across the doorway and that I did not squash the snake but looked back to find it still there in sight. A second later and it would have crossed over and been hidden forever.

Today; after months of correspondence, applications, stress etc we finally received Jacqui's Police Clearance certificate. This has gone on for probably over a year. Today I was finally able to scan a copy to Jacqui. This will surely take a huge weight off her mind as it was possible that Israel could have refused to renew her visa.

FRIDAY 22ND APRIL 2011
EASTER WEEKEND
TWO OCEANS HALF MARATHON

CATHY AND NICCI COMPLETE THEIR FIRST TWO OCEANS WITHIN THE CUT OFF TIME OF 3 HOURS. THIS THEY BOTH DO WITH NO TRAINING BUT IN NEW OUTFITS.




Easter Monday: I had a run on the beach front. We did the normal course up Walmer Boulevard along Strandfontein and down Admiralty. I had to battle to keep up with the fast pace that Suzanne, Maryna, Ronel and Graham set. It was Maryna's birthday yesterday; Graham Richards joined us; Gerald is back after his operation 6 or 7 weeks back. Ronel; Sjani; Adrienne; Colin; Suzanne were there for most of the run. I had a swim in shallow water off Millers Point as the Hobie beach area is taken up with the Splash festival. Later on I dropped Ally off at her friend Kelly and the two of them spent the morning at the festival.



Monday 25th April 2011
Barbara, Dawn and Gail went to visit Avery Anne in St Francis Bay. I did some shopping at Woolworths for supper and met Jenny and Katherine Dean. Mike has been running very well in the mornings. I am not able to keep up with him right now. Jenny thinks that this is due to him completeing the Addo Run and being motivated. We have all entered the Baviaanskloof run again this year after swearing; "Never Again!" Katherine is looking well. This evening Dawn and Brenda come over for a Butternut soup supper. Ally has her friend Kerry stay over as they start the morning with Water Polo Training.

Tuesday 26th. As a result of the numerous public holidays, today is a school holiday. For the first time this season I wear a long sleeve T-shirt to running. It is not cold but there is a chill in the air. I run with Mike Dean; Kobus, Suzanne, Lynne and Rianna make up the fast group. Barbara, Dawn and Brenda head off to East London for the next few days. They are visiting Dawns friends in EL.

Ally and her friend Kerry go off to Movies this evening. They meet up with their friends at Walmer Park. Terry Billson drops them off later and the two of them push the couches together and they sleep in the lounge. I am sure that part of the reason for this is that Ally's Room is in such a mess that they are lazy to clean up her bed.

Wednesday 27th. Today is freedom day; RSA celebrates the first elections where Nelson Mandela cast his vote in 1994 -- 17 years ago. Barbara and Dawn are still in East London. I had planned a run but when I heard the cold wind I put that idea back where it belonged; Collected a cup of coffee and stayed in bed until around 9am reading and listening to the wind howling outside and rattling doors and windows inside.

Friday 29th April.
Today starts our Prince Albert Adventure.
See separate blog for this.