Sunday 03 Nov 2013

L: I was up and off on my walk to see the birds and stopped back at the camp site when Steve called me for coffee and cereal. We were just finished when I heard an African Fish Eagle and went to the river hoping to see it. Imagine my surprise when I realised that there were two flying in the sky, but quite far apart....I waited for quite a while in order to get them into the same shot and then managed to get a shot of both of them with a jet in the sky too.

We packed up the rooftop tent and went for our last swim in the hot and cold pools of Calitzdorp.

S: We headed out and followed the GPS route to Calitzdorp town which was the more direct route through the valley. Half way along the road we had to pass through the Gamka River. This particular crossing was a long concrete causeway which curved so you could not see the end of it. The water was running over the causeway, but initially we could see that the water was not very deep so we carried on. After we had gone through most of the curve, we could not see the bottom any more. At this point I thought it prudent to stop and walk the river to work out the depth so I stopped the bakkie, left the engine running, and jumped out and left Lesley to be entertained watching fish swim “upriver”. L: And wondering why you left me and your car in the rushing water....?? (What not to do, in a flooded river). S: It was not flooded. L: I took a video of Steve slipping his way along the bridge.

S: The causeway was so slippery that I nearly slipped and fell right there. Then I slipped my way along in a shuffle trying not to fall. I was halfway across and the depth was knee high so it did not look so bad. Near the end the water was halfway up my thigh and then I did not feel so confident. Anyway I made my way slowly back to the bakkie, still debating about whether we should give it a go. I compared my mid thigh measurement against the vehicle. It came to about 15cm above the bottom of the door and to the top of the wheel. I decided to give it a go. For a few reasons. We had crossed water before with no troubles but not quite as deep as this and you do not know if you can do it until you try. Also we were close to a town so if something went wrong it was only 10km to walk. I'm kidding. In theory this depth is possible if you take it slowly and create a bow wave in front of the vehicle.

Most of the theory worked. Except I took it a little faster than I should have and ended up with water over the bonnet and hitting the windscreen. L: Not just hitting the windscreen Steve, rushing up to the windscreen wipers!!
S: I also now have two spot lights on the front acting as fish bowls. L: And no, I did not take a photo of the water over the bonnet while I was trying to hang on and stay dry.......
S: After all that excitement we got through Calitzdorp and headed over the Huis River Pass for Ladismith. The pass is easy to drive and you can see parts of the old pass still hugging the hills in some places. About 15 km from Ladismith there is a turn off with a sign saying that this was a far more scenic drive to Ladismith. So we turned off. It was called the Hoeko Valley and we really enjoyed the scenery, everything so green and lush with grape-vines and fruit trees.

Along the road was a police van which “slid off the road” according to the policeman warning traffic to slow down. How things slide in dry conditions - we are yet to find out. The police were apparently chasing a criminal who ran off the road.

We stopped in Ladismith at a restaurant called Andri's for lunch where we were able to finish our blog and had enough signal to publish. We stopped to photograph a rather strange little house with bicycles in the trees and other funny little gizmos like farm implements and water wheels.

From Ladismith we took the road to Laingsburg – along the way the GPS showed that there were some Anglo Boer War Graves so we took the road to go and see. We only found one Boer War grave which had 3 soldiers buried in it from the 1901 war. Sounds morbid....The rest of the graves were of locals. There was a grave of one family which held about 4 children none of whom had survived longer than a year or two. Life was so tough in those days.

A little bit further down the road, we turned off at a gate into Anysberg Reserve. It was a further 22 kms to the office and camping ground along a bumpy track. We saw a lone Gemsbok on the way in.

There is only one shower and toilet operating for the whole camp site as the others are in the process of being built, for the last year. We took a walk up to the swimming dam and had a rather cool dip. It was very refreshing.

We put up the ground tent as we were using the bakkie the following day and built a fire for our supper braai.

Sleep........

Saturday 02 Nov 2013

S: It was time to drag ourselves from our bout of luxury and carry on our journey. We were not sure where today's stop would be but were heading inland to eventually get to the Anysberg Reserve. We had breakfast, packed the bakkie and said our goodbyes. The sun was shining today so things looked good.

As is our custom we try and keep off the main roads so after we had crossed the lagoon at Knysna we turned off to Phantom Pass and started what is known as the Seven Passes Road. The road alternates between gravel and tar, good and bad and the scenery alternates between forest and farmland. It is all very green though and there is a lot of water flowing in the rivers and across the road forming some vicious ditches for which you have to come to almost a dead stop before crossing. It is so much nicer to travel these back roads which have so little traffic, wind down the window and smell the grass. Because you are travelling so much slower you can see so much more.

We eventually got to George at about lunch time. I have put my watch away so am not keeping track of time all that much. It is not so easy though as there is a clock on the GPS and in the car. It was about this time I discovered I had lost my wedding ring. Fortunately it is not my original one, which is back at home in the safe, but it still makes me irritated that I was so stupid as to lose it. L: That is why I have given you a spare one.....and insured everything. So it is a wedding ring, silver bracelet and your Aqua shoes that you have lost!! Oh dear.

Anyway we stopped at the first shopping centre we came to and had something to eat at a place called Annelien's. Then it was back on the road, unfortunately the main road up the Outeniqua Pass to Oudtshoorn. But not for long. At the foot of the pass is the turn-off for the historical Montagu Pass. It is almost automatic now as the vehicle just turns onto the rough tracks.

Montagu Pass was amazing. It is narrow, winding and most of the way single lane. There are lots and lots of waterfalls with a lot of them right next to the road. Unlike a lot of the other old passes this one was not built by a Bain. One of the noticeable differences, I think, is this one has a wall, all the way, of about half to a full metre high built on the outside of the road (to stop you falling off the edge). At the start of the pass is an old toll house which is being restored. We stopped off near the top of the pass to photograph one of the waterfalls directly under the old railway bridge – this train line runs over the high pass.

On the other side of the pass we drove past a farm which had a large dam with two black swans in it. Needless to say we had to stop so that Lesley could go photograph and talk to them. Yes, you heard me right. The farm's name was Leliefontein which she said was just like her nickname, Lellie. I tried to tell her that Lelie is an Afrikaans name and means lily.

A short time later we were back on the Oudtshoorn road and heading for Badenhorst Butchery, which had been recommended, but as we suspected was already closed. We decided to drive past the old military base – South Base, where we both served 33 years ago and met (on the shooting range) while doing our military service in 1980. The base is now a SA Police Service Training Academy. The man on duty came over and we explained that we both had lived in the base, he waved us through. It was so surreal to see where most of the buildings were still used, but so altered and updated. The memories.....

By this time we had decided to stop over at the Calitzdorp Spa for the night as it was getting late.

L: We drove straight in and set up camp as the man at the gate said that we could pay the manager in the morning – only R175 for the night.

We toddled off down to spend some time in the warm baths surrounded by peacocks and peahens. We had a braai back at the camp site and enjoyed our lamb chops while watching a herd of Springbok grazing a few meters away. At one stage, one of the babies got startled and ran so close to our neighbours fire that he was almost dinner.

We had another relaxing swim before bed and had the pools to ourselves for a while.

Off to bed in the rooftop tent with all the birds chirping quietly for the night.

Friday 01 Nov 2013

S: The cold front had hit Knysna so it pretty much rained the whole day. But that did not bother us as we had the comfort of a house and were able to do some washing, continue to catch up on some news and do our admin.

C & B had done a trip to Namibia a few years back as far as the Kunene River so were able to give us some advice about the place as we are planning to be in the same area when we leave next year, driving Cape Town to London.

We had also done a trip through Namibia before but had only gone as far north as Etosha Pan.

Cheryl had gone to work in the morning but when she got back she and Lesley sat together and Lesley taught her how to crochet. I was busy refilling the water tank 5 litres at a time. The water in Knysna does not agree with some people so I put a bit of Miltons in the water. My UV light water filter did not last the mountain trip from Baviaanskloof. The glass cylinder broke with all the bumping. When I originally installed it I was not happy with how fragile it looked and suspected it might not last in the back of the bakkie. I tried to cushion it in a bit of foam but it eventually succumbed. We will have to rethink the process. Possibly just use Miltons and if the filters do not get rid of the taste then install a taste filter as well.

For supper we agreed to go to the Ocean Basket at the waterfront and it was time for us to treat C & B for being such wonderful hosts. The OB overlooks part of the harbour and even though it was still raining the view was still lovely.

We had driven past C & B's new house on the way to the waterfront. It is high up on a hill overlooking a valley and they hope to be able to move into it in a few weeks time.

L: It was really great being able to catch up on all the news and seeing where they stay now after relocating from Cape Town.

Off to bed.........

Thursday 31 Oct 2013

S: The sun was shining when we got up this morning. Lesley was off, again, with the camera. I lazily rolled out of bed and made some coffee. I was glad that the sun was up so that we could dry out the roof-top tent before we packed it away as we were staying with friends in Knysna for the next two nights and not using the tent.

Our hostess, Naomi, had said that we could take our time before leaving today so we were in no hurry to get packed up and go.

The lapa and tee pees are positioned amongst a number of huge pecan nut trees which is part of the income for the farm.

While I was drinking my coffee I heard Lesley shouting something from in the bush. Thinking something was wrong, I hastened to find her – only to discover that she was excited about finding a jackal buzzard. The bird had long since flown away, but Lesley had 20 photographs to prove that it, did in fact, exist. I think that I should buy her a whistle that she can use if she is in trouble any time.....Knowing her, she will probably use it anyway as I would be more likely to respond to it than her just calling me, but I will remind her about the Cry Wolf story.

Now that I was with her I decided – if you can't beat them, join them, and we went for a walk to the river. We found a signpost that read BEWARE B-ody watching – Man Ahead. (Picture below). Later when I went to pay Naomi and her husband, Ingo, I asked her about the sign. She told me that the property next door was owned by a hermit in his 80's who once lodged a complaint about the fact that when he used his binoculars he could see nude people swimming in the river. Hence the sign!! Seems some clients had skinny dipped and he was shocked when he saw them......

L: After we had breakfast, packed up and showered Steve decided that we should walk up the steep hillside to see the cabins. There are 4 wooden chalets built on the hill, quite far from each other for privacy. They are 2 bedroomed with one bedroom en-suite with a balcony overlooking the valley. They are fully equipped with everything you need for a weekend getaway. Some of them overlook the trout ponds, but apparently there are no trout breeding at the moment, but we forgot to ask the owners the story about the trout at the moment.

S: I left Lesley at the one little pond to take photos and went off to the reception to pay and met Ingo, Naomi's husband, who was cooking up a storm for the 40 guests arriving on motorbikes the next day......

Naomi and Ingo are avid mountain bikers and Ingo enjoys hunting which he does in the Willowmore area, where there are a number of hunting farms. He is a more unconventional hunter as he uses a crossbow. Lesley came and met me at the reception and was also introduced to Ingo.

All in all, Ingo and Naomi were very good hosts and very informative about the area and we really enjoyed the conversation and our stay.

By the time we got away it was 11h30 and we got back onto Prince Alfred's Pass and headed for Knysna. Along the way there is a turn off to Plettenberg Bay and someone has erected a structure which consists of a series of hollow steel square tubes each culminating in a horn. There are mouth pieces on each pipe but at different heights through which you can blow and see how well you can blow a trumpet. It is supposed to be an elephant call, or so they say. Needless to say you have to stop and try it out. Don't forget your sanitized wet wipes.

L: We stopped off at a place advertising a Big Tree, only 100m from the road so we decided to go for a walk to see it. The tree was a Yellow wood, 46 meters high with a trunk circumference of 7 meters. Further down the road we saw another Big Tree sign, but did not see that one. We did, however, turn off at a view point called Spitskop and drove the steep 500m to the top. It was well worth it with beautiful views all around to the Baviaanskloof mountains and the sea with the Heads of Knysna visible in the distance. We took lots of photos and had a little picnic up there.

S: It was back on the road and off to Knysna. The gravel was quite bad in places due to the damage from water run-off from the rains and the effects of the heavy logger trucks, but because of our air-springs the suspension softened the effects of the bumps considerably. It was a bit of a shock coming out of the mountains and straight through a squatter camp/township as we turned onto the N2 into Knysna.

We stopped off for some supplies at the first Spar we saw and then it was a few more kilometres to our friends, Bart and Cheryl's place. They are renting a place until moving into their new home next month.

We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening chatting and catching up, with a really nice chicken curry meal in between. We can recommend this 'guest house' to anyone!

It started raining soon after we arrived and was still raining on and off when we eventually went to bed.

Wednesday 30 Oct 2013

L: Off we go, again. I spent a while down at the beach this morning looking for the dolphins, but seems that I got there too late (after a disturbed night with unbelievable lightning flashes and a bit of thunder and lots of rain). I did see one or two dolphins and a whale, but way out so not very easy to see.

I went back to the room to shower, pack up and hand in the keys which we did and then set off on our next leg of the journey. We had really enjoyed Aloe Again in Jeffrey's Bay as we had the huge big house to ourselves and it was so quiet and peaceful with the gentle crashing waves in the distance.

We drove off and after a little while, Steve took a turn-off to the left (which was a bit earlier than the GPS was saying) so he covered, by saying that he just turned off to get us some coffee and a muffin, nice one, Steve! S: I thought I covered nicely. You're just too suspicious!

At Joubertina we turned off into the town to try and find something for lunch. We did find an ATM so we drew some money (it was pay day) and found a tractor graveyard before eventually discovering the local eating place which we had driven past on the way in. “The Ark” does not say much about this being a restaurant. Really spicy french fries are the order of the day.

S: We carried on and drove through the farmlands, which is called the Langkloof region until we reached the turn off for the start of Prince Alfred's Pass which, after all the rain, was lovely and green. The first bit was a bit wet and muddy so I decided to engage four wheel drive as the wheels were starting to slip. We stopped a few times to look at the scenery and take photographs and enjoyed the river. I need to explain something here. Every time Lesley sees a bird flying across our bows we have to stop so she can try and photograph it. This happens many times but some times I resist and carry on driving.

We eventually arrived at the gate for Outeniqua Trout Lodge, Steve had phoned ahead, to check if we could camp there overnight. They only charge R100 per person and accept camping if there are no clients in their tented camp.

We were greeted by two Blesbok on the front lawn. They are still wild but seem to be happy to roam around but still keeping their distance from people. When we arrived, the owners were away so one of the ladies that work on the farm and services the place showed us where to camp.

The camp site is wonderful with what they call the lapa, at our disposal. This is a huge, covered area with a fully equipped kitchen with gas stoves and a water heating system for washing up. There are also several picnic tables and chairs. There are sides that come down, made out of shade cloth for extra warmth too.

There are separate ablutions which are really good.

L: We did a bit of exploring and because it was raining, again, we decided to make an easy supper on the gas stove of sweetcorn pancakes with veg and an avocado pear and lots of warm drinks.

While we were busy, Naomi, the owner popped in and explained how to work the water-heater in the kitchen and bathroom. It is very complicated, but effective. It uses paraffin and a little cup attached under the pipe.

We had a long chat with Naomi about the area. They have 4 huge big wooden cabins for visitors up on the hill and also 4 (4-sleeper) tee pee tents. They are all so well made and nicely maintained. There is also the original farm house and the old mill next door which can be rented but they are reluctant to rent out the old farm house as it needs a lot of upkeep to maintain it.

Naomi also told us about the surrounding area and the various animals that live in and around the farm. They have the right to take 400 litres a second from the various rivers bordering their farm.

It was still raining when we went to bed and it continued to rain throughout the night, but not too heavily.