Oribi Gorge
Friday, February 18, 2011
Our Holiday
Sunday, 16 January, 2011
We left Kemptonpark at 05:00 this morning. We took the N3 all the way to Warden, where we decided to take the old road. So glad we did! Absolute highlight and surprise of the day, was the fourteen Southern Bald Ibis on the rugby field. We then made our way through Ladysmith. Between Colenso and Escort we came across a delightful little farm stall, called:”The Aloes”. They sell the most divine venison pies and lots of other nice foodstuff!
We then made our way through a very scenic area, part of the Midland meander to finally arrive in Pietermaritzburg, where we wanted to do a bit of last minute shopping for food.
Unfortunately this sprawling cesspool of a city was so disgustingly dirty. We also did not feel safe. We decided we actually have enough to eat and drink and carried on to Albert Falls.
We arrived shortly after 15:00. We quickly set up camp and are now discussing our dinner menu over an ice cold Millers! The African Fish Eagles can be heard calling from a nearby tree. Beautiful! The sun is still high, but I shall shortly light the fire after a dip in the dam!
We had a lovely dinner. Blesbok fillet, with jacket potato, baked beans, mushroom and sauce. I finished the whole bottle of Obikwa Shiraz by myself. Bedtime! We’ll leave the dishes for the morning.
Monday,17 January
We woke up to the call of Red-Chested Cuckoo, Diederik’s cuckoo and the thundering hooves of a herd of Zebra that came down to drink. A White Stork came visiting too. We just had a quick snack. Seeded low GI bread with salmon spread. We are going for a drive now.
We just got back from the actual falls. It is very beautiful, but unfortunately, graffiti on the rocks, defacing what could have been a serene sight. There were broken bottles, plastic and cans lying everywhere, even in the water. A person does not mind paying to see the falls, but they can at least clean up a bit. Anyway, the taxi drivers enter for free and then they wash their taxis in the river.
We saw a lot of birds as well as Giraffe, Blesbok, Impala, Zebra, Vervet monkey on the way back to camp. Back at camp we got a nice surprise! People that camped close to us left and gave us all their left over firewood. Well time for a snack. On the menu is vegetarian sausages with mushroom sauce.
It is so peaceful now. Every one left. We are alone with only the sound of the birds. Two Yellow billed Kites are practising their aerobatics overhead.
Just lit the fire, ice cold Millers in the hand. A couple with “doef doef” music just arrived. They are so “dikgat” and lazy! They drive to the pool, the ablution block as well as to his fishing rods, which is all in a 20 m radius from each other.
The noisy music went on forever! At least we had enough to drink to not be bothered any more. We had a lovely dinner of Chicken breast in a peri-peri sauce with couscous, cauliflower and broccoli.
Tuesday, 18 January 2011
A herd of Nyala came to drink this morning and say good-bye! We packed up at eight this morning after a chicken sandwich for breakfast. At Hiberdene we had a soft serve ice cream and tested the sea water, which was very nice and warm. We then drove down to Oribi Gorge. We had a lovely grilled Hake and chips for lunch on the outskirts of Port Shepstone. The scenery is really beautiful in the gorge. We are camping at Lake Eland tonight. We’ll stay here for three nights. It is very windy, but at least the wind keeps the flies away. We are making venison steaks tonight with fresh vegetables and pasta. Now just relaxing with a cold one, or two or, who’s counting?
An Egyptian Goose just chased a Hadeda! The Hadeda was shouting! Help! Help! A big herd of horses just disappeared over the hill! Nice to sit back and relax!
Wednesday, 19 January 2011
Went for a nice drive to the suspension bridge, afterwards we went to the cave. We took some nice photos. At the picnic sight we had sardines on pro-vitas. The highlight of the day must have been the flock of twenty or twenty one Crowned Crane! They were dancing and jumping! What a sight! We went for a nice swim; really helped us cool down a bit. Now, just having beer and watching the workers plant trees! Late afternoon we went for another game drive and to do some bird watching.
For dinner tonight we had “Reis-Fleisch “, we made it vegetarian by using soya chunks, rice, vegetables, garlic and onion. It was very tasty.
Thursday, 20 January 2011
It is quite chilly this morning. It looks as though it might rain and it is very windy. We are having muesli and fresh fruit for breakfast. Afterwards we shall be going for a drive.
After our game drive this morning, we decided to go to Port Shepstone for another piece of Hake and chips. We also had a few groceries to shop for. We went to the beach but it was just too windy! We are now back at camp. Tonight we shall make a big salad for dinner. We have lettuce, tomato, baby corn, feta, asparagus, cucumber and avocado. This is our last night here at Lake Eland.
Friday, 21 January
This morning we are leaving for Mkambati. For breakfast, Rina had Muesli and I had muesli as well as fresh fruit! At Port Shepstone we stopped at that lovely little place that sells the fresh seafood. We bought ourselves three plain and three spicy fish cakes each!
The road from Bizana to Holy Cross got worse and worse towards the end. The scenery in the mountain passes was beautiful though. It turned out that the map’s distances were also not correct. The road was longer by about twenty kilometres. Finally after many hours of bumping we arrived at our beloved Mkambati! We were met at the gate by a beautiful Yellow-throated Longclaw.
Nice surprise, the chalets have all been revamped and it looks really nice.
The sea water is so nice and warm and the view is awesome. We are having a nice stroll on the beach. We shall come and swim tomorrow! Time to make dinner.
Rina is making a dinner of mussels in mushroom and tomato sauce with pasta
Saturday, 22 January
I woke up to the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks. Now I am sipping a nice cup of coffee, while watching the sun lazily crawling from underneath its pink blanket. In the little bay, where the river runs into the ocean, there is a sun-bleached beach, protected from the wind by Green trees and shrubs. Two Black Oystercatchers are feeding and many little crabs of various colours are tiptoeing in the shallow surf. At one moment, they are chasing the water, the next they disappear under the sand. The rock formations are also stunning and when you look carefully in all the crevices, you can see lots of lizards and skinks. A lone angler is wetting his lines, standing on the rocky edifice, playing tug of war with an imagined behemoth.
A big Chacma baboon just entered the beach area, checking its safety for his troupe. Then the rest of the boisterous gang arrives. They seem to enjoy the beach just as much as us humans do!
I just made us a lovely three-egg omelette with cheese, tomato and onion, vegan sausages and baked beans. We had some ruby grapefruit with that. I had another cup of coffee and Rina had Marshmallow tea!
For lunch, we just had vegetarian nuggets. We went to the Strandloper falls and took some photos. Two Trumpeter Hornbills flew overhead. Back at camp two Black-winged Plovers awaited our arrival.
It is dinnertime! We made a big fire. We grilled chicken breasts with jacket potato and Zahn’s famous curry beans. Rina roasted marshmallows on the fire.
Sunday 23 January
I made us sandwiches for breakfast consisting of lettuce, tomato, cucumber, chicken and cheese.
We went for a walk on the beach and found it quite windy, so we decided to go to the other beach at the Msikaba river mouth. Here we saw six Ground Hornbills. We also bought some bran muffins and scones from an old Xhosa woman, Gogo Christina, at the gate.
Lunchtime we had vegetarian Schnitzels and vegetable patties. We then had an hour long little catnap.
Just came back from a long nude swim in the sea. The water is so nice. Rina lost her diamond-studded tiara! Also known as a Pep stores Alice band. “The sea giveth and the sea taketh! “
In front of the chalet a little mole heap is appearing, getting bigger as he digs!
Rina is doing calamari in fried onion and garlic on the gas, to accompany that we are making zucchini, cauliflower and basmati rice. It was too windy for a fire. The wind acted as a blowtorch and the fire lasted merely minutes. Not even ash remained.
Monday, 24 January
On the eastern horizon, the sun is struggling to break through the ominous layer of black clouds that blanket the dark grey ocean. The day is slowly dawning. I am making tea for Rina and coffee for myself to have with our scones and muffins that we bought from Gogo Christina.
We took a chance on swimming with blue bottles and jellyfish! We did not get stung though, even though there were so many. There are hundreds of those long cone shaped snails on the beach, eating the dead blue bottles and jellyfish. Back at camp, we had a sandwich. Gogo Christina was there with more merchandise, including freshly baked rolls. She walked all the way from the gate, which is ten kilometres from the chalets. It took her two hours, so we felt like we had to buy something. I am glad we did though, because the rolls were so tasty, unlike the store bought ones, which taste and feel like clouds.
We had vegetarian nuggets for lunch, then another nice long nude swim.
I shaved my beard and legs this afternoon, by sitting in the shower, not too comfortable. At least I look and feel more respectable now.
We are making chicken, pap and sheba for dinner. The Cob comes in very handy in this weather. It is raining nonstop. If it were not for the cob, we would be living on num-nums! I must remember to go and pick some more, by the way!
Tuesday, 25 January
All good things come to end. We are leaving Mkambati this morning. We decided not to drive all the way to Coffee Bay today. The driving is too strenuous. After two days of hard rain, the roads are terrible, even worse than when we came. The roads have turned into muddy rivers and the car is slipping and sliding through the deep puddles. When we stopped for a toilet in Flagstaff, I noticed that a beer bottle broke, making a big mess in the back of the bakkie. One of our camping mattresses sucked it up though. I do not know when it is going to get dry though! In Lusikisiki we came across people walking down the road with checkers bags over their shoes, so that they cannot get wet! It is an amusing, but good idea. We bought some ice cream!
Finally, we arrived at Port St Johns. We are staying over at Cremorne Estate again. It is still coming down in buckets! I decided that there is no way we can pitch a tent in this rain, just for one night. So, we decided to take one of the fisherman’s cabins!
We are going to eat restaurant food tonight. We did not offload any of our camping gear and we want to eat our lunch. How do you eat chicken and rice by hand? We used the chicken as a spoon to eat the rice! “‘n Boer maak ‘n plan!” Our eating and cooking arrangements differ a lot while on holiday, from that at home!
I can hear the Fish eagles close by. The river is just about bursting its banks, snaking its way towards the ocean, like a big brown serpent. I can hear some Hadeda Ibis in the background and the ever mournful cry of the Trumpeter Hornbills. It is time to sit back and enjoy another cold Miller. My hands are so sore from opening all these beer bottles!
Wednesday, 26 Jan. 2011
We are leaving Port St Johns. It was just a short stopover this time. I went to take a photo of the ruins of the Cape Hermes Hotel. It always intrigues me! It is quite sad when you think of all the people who had happy times there, fond memories! Now it is all gone!
We have just arrived at Coffee Bay. We are staying at White Clay! We are camping in our tent this time. The weather is still lousy! We had a nice walk on the beach! It is a very small beach at present, because it is high water.
We only had a sandwich for lunch, so we decided to have an early dinner, seeing that the weather is so unpredictable! I once again made chicken on the Cob as well as jacket potato and kidney beans. I had a bottle of Wolftrap 2009 Syrah, Viognier, Mourvedre blend. Rina just stuck to her Millers!
The workers have gone to bed, so now we cannot ask anyone to help us with the hot water problem! Oh well! We decided to have cold showers!
Thursday, 27 January
It was a beautiful morning, but the wind came up early and it is blowing harder and harder. We went for a nice walk to the Hole in the Wall! We wanted to go and swim inside the hole, but due to the high winds, the waves are massive! Far on the horizon, the cumulus clouds are steadily growing fatter! Maybe the wind is going to blow them this way with some more rain!
Rina quickly washed some shorts of hers and we are waiting for them to dry. I am a bit worried they might blow away at any time!
We only had a sandwich for breakfast, so for lunch we are having our low GI seeded bread with peanut butter. Dinner all depends on the wind and rain. It is time to go to the beach again!
We are lying in the tent, playing Mah-jong, hiding from the wind.
The wind resided slightly! I made a small fire for our vegetarian schnitzels in the cob and another one for the potatoes, broccoli and mushrooms on a bigger fire!
21:00 We are going to bed now!
Friday, 28 January
It was a very quiet day! We tried to get to the Mtatha mouth, but we got lost! The route we took was very scenic! Beautiful, but the road was too bad! We were worried that we might not make it back! We also saw an African cowboy with a blue umbrella! We went to a backpackers place to use the internet to pay our monthly bills. Lots of white hippy, type of people around here!
They found a dead got in the sea. It fell off a cliff.
We had smoked pork and baked potato with beans and cauliflower for dinner.
Saturday, 29 January
We had a nice swim. A white dude with a double cab brought 23 little Xhosa children for a swim. He nearly got stuck on the mountain side in the wet green grass, but had enough child power to push him out! We just made vegan chicken tikka for lunch. We are going to have a short nap!
It is still nice and sunny, but getting windier! The seawater is so nice and warm.
Sunday, 30 January
We are leaving today for Dwesa!
As we were about to leave, one of the worker’s brothers approached us for a lift. His whole under lip was shredded. He made it sound as though a broken bottle attacked him, it sounded more like the morning after the night before.
We got lost twice. I think I am going to stick to the main roads now!
We arrived safely! We had no booking. The office was closed, but we managed to get a forest cabin. It is beautiful and idyllic here. Bird sounds all the time.
Monday, 31 January
We had a wonderful day. We went for a swim in the afternoon. We had a wonderful braai in the evening. I made venison with mushroom sauce and jacket potato. Rina made us carrots mashed with onion and potato. After we had dinner, we went to the beach for a walk and just lay there naked on the cold sand.
Tuesday, 1 February
Woke up early. We are going on an excursion with Vuyani, a local guide. Still hoping to see the elusive Narina Trogon or maybe an African Finfoot. We are just having muesli for breakfast. We had a nice trip. We saw the remains of the O Bell shipwreck, it happened in 1916, so only the engine is left. There were also bones from a whale carcass. Fist time we have ever seen shell middens from the Strandloper people that used to inhabit the area.
Wednesday, 2 February
We are leaving today for Double mouth at Morganbay.
Three damn scoundrels attacked Rina while I went into Shoprite in Gcuwa (Butterworth). Thank God, she did not get hurt. She managed to fight them off. The cell phone was charging, plugged into the cigarette lighter so they could not get it out. They grabbed the camera, but then dropped it. It still seems to be working fine though. However, they did make off with an ammo box with all our dry stores. Therefore, we just had salad tonight.I was not in the mood for cooking, neither was Rina. Anyway, we have only tinned food left. Our muesli, peanut butter, rice, everything is gone. There is a little store close by, but they stock nothing that we want. They do not have things such as whole wheat pasta, tofu etc.Therefore, for the next three nights, we will have to do with potato.
Thursday, 3 February
Rina is still sleeping. I am feeling a bit better after the shit we had yesterday! We went for a drive to Kei mouth this morning. We stocked up on some beers.
We had a nice day, walking on the beach and along the rocks. We discovered many rock pools with interesting creatures. We made a chicken stew for dinner with pasta.
Friday, 4 February
Lazy day, lots of wind. We had a nice shower together and watched an episode of Medium, just to escape a bit of the wind. We are now going to light the fire to make some cheese, tomato and onion sandwiches.
We had a salad with hake for dinner.
Saturday, 05 February 2011
After a good night’s rest, we decided to go to Kei Mouth again to buy some more beer, eggs, bread and marshmallows for Rina. We also bought us each a nice sarong. We then hit the beach wearing our new sarongs.
We met the local prosecutor and his family. They wanted me to go fishing with them, but I caught one fish in my life and decided that it would be the last time. He offered to make us breakfast with the fish they were going to catch the next morning, seeing that we blew up their air mattress.
Sunday, 6 February 2011
We could not wait to see whether the guys caught anything, so I left them a letter and hit the road quite early! It was a nice drive to King William’s Town! We did some shopping here for the last few days! A dude we saw in town was driving his Merc in a catatonic state not noticing that his wipers are on. Not a cloud in the sky, sun shining, wipers going crazy, for all the time we were driving behind him. Weird!
Hogsback is beautiful! The mist is drifting in form the mountains! We went on a hike to a waterfall, but we were equipped for a beach walk, not a mountain hike, therefore, we had to turn back! We have a nice communal kitchen at “Away with fairies” Cooked a nice dinner, lots of veggies with chicken. We are now charging our batteries for the cell phones, cameras and the laptop!
Monday, 7 February
We went for a nice walk to a waterfall after we had breakfast. We browsed in some of the little shops afterwards.
Lunch was fresh fruit and bread with peanut butter. The clouds are gathering and in the distance, we can hear thunder.
The rain only started after we lit the fire. It was actually perfect. The rain cooled down the fire, so , our chicken came out perfectly! We made many veggies with our dinner.
Tuesday, 8 February
This morning we are starting to head homewards. We started the Katberg pass, but the road was worse than Sani or anything else we have ever done. It is so close to the end of the holiday and we cannot afford to be stuck anywhere now, or else I will be late for work. We decided to turn around and leave Katberg for another time. It is very beautiful though and we will definitely return. We then proceeded to Aliwal North , looking for a place called Innieklofie. It is suppose to be on the way to Rouxville, 15,4 km from Aliwal. We drove the road three times before we found a rusty old signpost. You could barely read the name. We followed the track, but when we got there, no one was around. We tried their cell number numerous times, but always got voicemail. We then returned to Aliwal and found a camping spot on the banks of the Orange River. The name of the place is Badfontein. They have a place where the hot sulphuric water comes out of the rocks where you can swim. It is so nice, to see they bubbles coming out of the rocks!
When I got out of the water, I got such a shock, because the sulphuric water reacted with my wedding ring. It became all the colours of the rainbow and more! Fortunately, after some spit and elbow grease it returned to normal.
The mosquitoes want to carry us away, but fortunately, we still have some Tabard. The grass is very long and the seeds and pollen is causing severe hay fever. I am trying to cure it with Scotch.
Rina is making us a nice vegetarian dish tonight with lots of veggies and pasta.
Wednesday, 9 February 2011
We took a drive to Aliwal North this morning to buy some supplies, where after we went for a swim in our hot spring. Lunch consisted of mealies, peanut butter on bread and a fruit. We had it so late though; we decided to just have a salad for dinner. I think it was the biltong for breakfast that stuffed things up a bit.
We decided to spend an extra night here. That means we will just have one night in Bloemfontein. We will most probably not camp there, so that we can leave early. Tomorrow will be our last day of the holiday, in other words.
Well, so much for the salad! We became hungry and decided to make chicken livers and mushrooms on seeded bread! It was tasty!
Thursday, 10 Feb. 11
We once again woke up to the call of Fish Eagles and the sound of a Titbabbler, singing its heart out!
For breakfast, we warmed up leftovers from the previous two nights. We had a nice day at our Sulphur warm fountain. We swam naked without any disturbances. For an early dinner, we had fillet Mignon with jacket potato, Brussels sprouts and zucchini.
This is the time to say good-bye to our holiday! Tomorrow we shall stopover in Bloemfontein and then do the last few hundred kilometres of our trip!
Old Thor is wielding his hammer again. The rumbling is getting louder.
What a nice gesture: the owner of the guest farm gave us a bag of potatoes. It is a working farm and they are presently harvesting potatoes.
Friday, 11 February 2011
We had a tremendous and very scary thunderstorm during the night. It passed quickly though, but it rained all through the night. That means we have to pack a wet tent again.
The sandy mud track towards the tar road was so slippery. For a moment, I was worried that we might get stuck, but all went well.
We arrived in Bloemfontein early. This is our last stopover. I just did not feel like driving all the way to Kemptonpark. We are staying in a little double storey one-bedroom chalet in the Bloemfontein caravan park. It only cost R240 per night, but it is clean, safe and value for money. It is perfect for a one-night stop when you are on the way between somewhere and nowhere. We quickly went to get a few things at the supermarket and on the way back we got totally lost.
We are going to have the last braai of our holiday tonight. I am relaxing with a Scotch and Rina is having a cold Miller.
Saturday, 12 February 2011
We left Bloemfontein early after a hearty breakfast. We had a pleasant drive without any incidents. We arrived home and unpacked everything by 14:45.
It was a great holiday and we had a very good time.
Now it is back to work!
We left Kemptonpark at 05:00 this morning. We took the N3 all the way to Warden, where we decided to take the old road. So glad we did! Absolute highlight and surprise of the day, was the fourteen Southern Bald Ibis on the rugby field. We then made our way through Ladysmith. Between Colenso and Escort we came across a delightful little farm stall, called:”The Aloes”. They sell the most divine venison pies and lots of other nice foodstuff!
We then made our way through a very scenic area, part of the Midland meander to finally arrive in Pietermaritzburg, where we wanted to do a bit of last minute shopping for food.
Unfortunately this sprawling cesspool of a city was so disgustingly dirty. We also did not feel safe. We decided we actually have enough to eat and drink and carried on to Albert Falls.
We arrived shortly after 15:00. We quickly set up camp and are now discussing our dinner menu over an ice cold Millers! The African Fish Eagles can be heard calling from a nearby tree. Beautiful! The sun is still high, but I shall shortly light the fire after a dip in the dam!
We had a lovely dinner. Blesbok fillet, with jacket potato, baked beans, mushroom and sauce. I finished the whole bottle of Obikwa Shiraz by myself. Bedtime! We’ll leave the dishes for the morning.
Monday,17 January
We woke up to the call of Red-Chested Cuckoo, Diederik’s cuckoo and the thundering hooves of a herd of Zebra that came down to drink. A White Stork came visiting too. We just had a quick snack. Seeded low GI bread with salmon spread. We are going for a drive now.
We just got back from the actual falls. It is very beautiful, but unfortunately, graffiti on the rocks, defacing what could have been a serene sight. There were broken bottles, plastic and cans lying everywhere, even in the water. A person does not mind paying to see the falls, but they can at least clean up a bit. Anyway, the taxi drivers enter for free and then they wash their taxis in the river.
We saw a lot of birds as well as Giraffe, Blesbok, Impala, Zebra, Vervet monkey on the way back to camp. Back at camp we got a nice surprise! People that camped close to us left and gave us all their left over firewood. Well time for a snack. On the menu is vegetarian sausages with mushroom sauce.
It is so peaceful now. Every one left. We are alone with only the sound of the birds. Two Yellow billed Kites are practising their aerobatics overhead.
Just lit the fire, ice cold Millers in the hand. A couple with “doef doef” music just arrived. They are so “dikgat” and lazy! They drive to the pool, the ablution block as well as to his fishing rods, which is all in a 20 m radius from each other.
The noisy music went on forever! At least we had enough to drink to not be bothered any more. We had a lovely dinner of Chicken breast in a peri-peri sauce with couscous, cauliflower and broccoli.
Tuesday, 18 January 2011
A herd of Nyala came to drink this morning and say good-bye! We packed up at eight this morning after a chicken sandwich for breakfast. At Hiberdene we had a soft serve ice cream and tested the sea water, which was very nice and warm. We then drove down to Oribi Gorge. We had a lovely grilled Hake and chips for lunch on the outskirts of Port Shepstone. The scenery is really beautiful in the gorge. We are camping at Lake Eland tonight. We’ll stay here for three nights. It is very windy, but at least the wind keeps the flies away. We are making venison steaks tonight with fresh vegetables and pasta. Now just relaxing with a cold one, or two or, who’s counting?
An Egyptian Goose just chased a Hadeda! The Hadeda was shouting! Help! Help! A big herd of horses just disappeared over the hill! Nice to sit back and relax!
Wednesday, 19 January 2011
Went for a nice drive to the suspension bridge, afterwards we went to the cave. We took some nice photos. At the picnic sight we had sardines on pro-vitas. The highlight of the day must have been the flock of twenty or twenty one Crowned Crane! They were dancing and jumping! What a sight! We went for a nice swim; really helped us cool down a bit. Now, just having beer and watching the workers plant trees! Late afternoon we went for another game drive and to do some bird watching.
For dinner tonight we had “Reis-Fleisch “, we made it vegetarian by using soya chunks, rice, vegetables, garlic and onion. It was very tasty.
Thursday, 20 January 2011
It is quite chilly this morning. It looks as though it might rain and it is very windy. We are having muesli and fresh fruit for breakfast. Afterwards we shall be going for a drive.
After our game drive this morning, we decided to go to Port Shepstone for another piece of Hake and chips. We also had a few groceries to shop for. We went to the beach but it was just too windy! We are now back at camp. Tonight we shall make a big salad for dinner. We have lettuce, tomato, baby corn, feta, asparagus, cucumber and avocado. This is our last night here at Lake Eland.
Friday, 21 January
This morning we are leaving for Mkambati. For breakfast, Rina had Muesli and I had muesli as well as fresh fruit! At Port Shepstone we stopped at that lovely little place that sells the fresh seafood. We bought ourselves three plain and three spicy fish cakes each!
The road from Bizana to Holy Cross got worse and worse towards the end. The scenery in the mountain passes was beautiful though. It turned out that the map’s distances were also not correct. The road was longer by about twenty kilometres. Finally after many hours of bumping we arrived at our beloved Mkambati! We were met at the gate by a beautiful Yellow-throated Longclaw.
Nice surprise, the chalets have all been revamped and it looks really nice.
The sea water is so nice and warm and the view is awesome. We are having a nice stroll on the beach. We shall come and swim tomorrow! Time to make dinner.
Rina is making a dinner of mussels in mushroom and tomato sauce with pasta
Saturday, 22 January
I woke up to the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks. Now I am sipping a nice cup of coffee, while watching the sun lazily crawling from underneath its pink blanket. In the little bay, where the river runs into the ocean, there is a sun-bleached beach, protected from the wind by Green trees and shrubs. Two Black Oystercatchers are feeding and many little crabs of various colours are tiptoeing in the shallow surf. At one moment, they are chasing the water, the next they disappear under the sand. The rock formations are also stunning and when you look carefully in all the crevices, you can see lots of lizards and skinks. A lone angler is wetting his lines, standing on the rocky edifice, playing tug of war with an imagined behemoth.
A big Chacma baboon just entered the beach area, checking its safety for his troupe. Then the rest of the boisterous gang arrives. They seem to enjoy the beach just as much as us humans do!
I just made us a lovely three-egg omelette with cheese, tomato and onion, vegan sausages and baked beans. We had some ruby grapefruit with that. I had another cup of coffee and Rina had Marshmallow tea!
For lunch, we just had vegetarian nuggets. We went to the Strandloper falls and took some photos. Two Trumpeter Hornbills flew overhead. Back at camp two Black-winged Plovers awaited our arrival.
It is dinnertime! We made a big fire. We grilled chicken breasts with jacket potato and Zahn’s famous curry beans. Rina roasted marshmallows on the fire.
Sunday 23 January
I made us sandwiches for breakfast consisting of lettuce, tomato, cucumber, chicken and cheese.
We went for a walk on the beach and found it quite windy, so we decided to go to the other beach at the Msikaba river mouth. Here we saw six Ground Hornbills. We also bought some bran muffins and scones from an old Xhosa woman, Gogo Christina, at the gate.
Lunchtime we had vegetarian Schnitzels and vegetable patties. We then had an hour long little catnap.
Just came back from a long nude swim in the sea. The water is so nice. Rina lost her diamond-studded tiara! Also known as a Pep stores Alice band. “The sea giveth and the sea taketh! “
In front of the chalet a little mole heap is appearing, getting bigger as he digs!
Rina is doing calamari in fried onion and garlic on the gas, to accompany that we are making zucchini, cauliflower and basmati rice. It was too windy for a fire. The wind acted as a blowtorch and the fire lasted merely minutes. Not even ash remained.
Monday, 24 January
On the eastern horizon, the sun is struggling to break through the ominous layer of black clouds that blanket the dark grey ocean. The day is slowly dawning. I am making tea for Rina and coffee for myself to have with our scones and muffins that we bought from Gogo Christina.
We took a chance on swimming with blue bottles and jellyfish! We did not get stung though, even though there were so many. There are hundreds of those long cone shaped snails on the beach, eating the dead blue bottles and jellyfish. Back at camp, we had a sandwich. Gogo Christina was there with more merchandise, including freshly baked rolls. She walked all the way from the gate, which is ten kilometres from the chalets. It took her two hours, so we felt like we had to buy something. I am glad we did though, because the rolls were so tasty, unlike the store bought ones, which taste and feel like clouds.
We had vegetarian nuggets for lunch, then another nice long nude swim.
I shaved my beard and legs this afternoon, by sitting in the shower, not too comfortable. At least I look and feel more respectable now.
We are making chicken, pap and sheba for dinner. The Cob comes in very handy in this weather. It is raining nonstop. If it were not for the cob, we would be living on num-nums! I must remember to go and pick some more, by the way!
Tuesday, 25 January
All good things come to end. We are leaving Mkambati this morning. We decided not to drive all the way to Coffee Bay today. The driving is too strenuous. After two days of hard rain, the roads are terrible, even worse than when we came. The roads have turned into muddy rivers and the car is slipping and sliding through the deep puddles. When we stopped for a toilet in Flagstaff, I noticed that a beer bottle broke, making a big mess in the back of the bakkie. One of our camping mattresses sucked it up though. I do not know when it is going to get dry though! In Lusikisiki we came across people walking down the road with checkers bags over their shoes, so that they cannot get wet! It is an amusing, but good idea. We bought some ice cream!
Finally, we arrived at Port St Johns. We are staying over at Cremorne Estate again. It is still coming down in buckets! I decided that there is no way we can pitch a tent in this rain, just for one night. So, we decided to take one of the fisherman’s cabins!
We are going to eat restaurant food tonight. We did not offload any of our camping gear and we want to eat our lunch. How do you eat chicken and rice by hand? We used the chicken as a spoon to eat the rice! “‘n Boer maak ‘n plan!” Our eating and cooking arrangements differ a lot while on holiday, from that at home!
I can hear the Fish eagles close by. The river is just about bursting its banks, snaking its way towards the ocean, like a big brown serpent. I can hear some Hadeda Ibis in the background and the ever mournful cry of the Trumpeter Hornbills. It is time to sit back and enjoy another cold Miller. My hands are so sore from opening all these beer bottles!
Wednesday, 26 Jan. 2011
We are leaving Port St Johns. It was just a short stopover this time. I went to take a photo of the ruins of the Cape Hermes Hotel. It always intrigues me! It is quite sad when you think of all the people who had happy times there, fond memories! Now it is all gone!
We have just arrived at Coffee Bay. We are staying at White Clay! We are camping in our tent this time. The weather is still lousy! We had a nice walk on the beach! It is a very small beach at present, because it is high water.
We only had a sandwich for lunch, so we decided to have an early dinner, seeing that the weather is so unpredictable! I once again made chicken on the Cob as well as jacket potato and kidney beans. I had a bottle of Wolftrap 2009 Syrah, Viognier, Mourvedre blend. Rina just stuck to her Millers!
The workers have gone to bed, so now we cannot ask anyone to help us with the hot water problem! Oh well! We decided to have cold showers!
Thursday, 27 January
It was a beautiful morning, but the wind came up early and it is blowing harder and harder. We went for a nice walk to the Hole in the Wall! We wanted to go and swim inside the hole, but due to the high winds, the waves are massive! Far on the horizon, the cumulus clouds are steadily growing fatter! Maybe the wind is going to blow them this way with some more rain!
Rina quickly washed some shorts of hers and we are waiting for them to dry. I am a bit worried they might blow away at any time!
We only had a sandwich for breakfast, so for lunch we are having our low GI seeded bread with peanut butter. Dinner all depends on the wind and rain. It is time to go to the beach again!
We are lying in the tent, playing Mah-jong, hiding from the wind.
The wind resided slightly! I made a small fire for our vegetarian schnitzels in the cob and another one for the potatoes, broccoli and mushrooms on a bigger fire!
21:00 We are going to bed now!
Friday, 28 January
It was a very quiet day! We tried to get to the Mtatha mouth, but we got lost! The route we took was very scenic! Beautiful, but the road was too bad! We were worried that we might not make it back! We also saw an African cowboy with a blue umbrella! We went to a backpackers place to use the internet to pay our monthly bills. Lots of white hippy, type of people around here!
They found a dead got in the sea. It fell off a cliff.
We had smoked pork and baked potato with beans and cauliflower for dinner.
Saturday, 29 January
We had a nice swim. A white dude with a double cab brought 23 little Xhosa children for a swim. He nearly got stuck on the mountain side in the wet green grass, but had enough child power to push him out! We just made vegan chicken tikka for lunch. We are going to have a short nap!
It is still nice and sunny, but getting windier! The seawater is so nice and warm.
Sunday, 30 January
We are leaving today for Dwesa!
As we were about to leave, one of the worker’s brothers approached us for a lift. His whole under lip was shredded. He made it sound as though a broken bottle attacked him, it sounded more like the morning after the night before.
We got lost twice. I think I am going to stick to the main roads now!
We arrived safely! We had no booking. The office was closed, but we managed to get a forest cabin. It is beautiful and idyllic here. Bird sounds all the time.
Monday, 31 January
We had a wonderful day. We went for a swim in the afternoon. We had a wonderful braai in the evening. I made venison with mushroom sauce and jacket potato. Rina made us carrots mashed with onion and potato. After we had dinner, we went to the beach for a walk and just lay there naked on the cold sand.
Tuesday, 1 February
Woke up early. We are going on an excursion with Vuyani, a local guide. Still hoping to see the elusive Narina Trogon or maybe an African Finfoot. We are just having muesli for breakfast. We had a nice trip. We saw the remains of the O Bell shipwreck, it happened in 1916, so only the engine is left. There were also bones from a whale carcass. Fist time we have ever seen shell middens from the Strandloper people that used to inhabit the area.
Wednesday, 2 February
We are leaving today for Double mouth at Morganbay.
Three damn scoundrels attacked Rina while I went into Shoprite in Gcuwa (Butterworth). Thank God, she did not get hurt. She managed to fight them off. The cell phone was charging, plugged into the cigarette lighter so they could not get it out. They grabbed the camera, but then dropped it. It still seems to be working fine though. However, they did make off with an ammo box with all our dry stores. Therefore, we just had salad tonight.I was not in the mood for cooking, neither was Rina. Anyway, we have only tinned food left. Our muesli, peanut butter, rice, everything is gone. There is a little store close by, but they stock nothing that we want. They do not have things such as whole wheat pasta, tofu etc.Therefore, for the next three nights, we will have to do with potato.
Thursday, 3 February
Rina is still sleeping. I am feeling a bit better after the shit we had yesterday! We went for a drive to Kei mouth this morning. We stocked up on some beers.
We had a nice day, walking on the beach and along the rocks. We discovered many rock pools with interesting creatures. We made a chicken stew for dinner with pasta.
Friday, 4 February
Lazy day, lots of wind. We had a nice shower together and watched an episode of Medium, just to escape a bit of the wind. We are now going to light the fire to make some cheese, tomato and onion sandwiches.
We had a salad with hake for dinner.
Saturday, 05 February 2011
After a good night’s rest, we decided to go to Kei Mouth again to buy some more beer, eggs, bread and marshmallows for Rina. We also bought us each a nice sarong. We then hit the beach wearing our new sarongs.
We met the local prosecutor and his family. They wanted me to go fishing with them, but I caught one fish in my life and decided that it would be the last time. He offered to make us breakfast with the fish they were going to catch the next morning, seeing that we blew up their air mattress.
Sunday, 6 February 2011
We could not wait to see whether the guys caught anything, so I left them a letter and hit the road quite early! It was a nice drive to King William’s Town! We did some shopping here for the last few days! A dude we saw in town was driving his Merc in a catatonic state not noticing that his wipers are on. Not a cloud in the sky, sun shining, wipers going crazy, for all the time we were driving behind him. Weird!
Hogsback is beautiful! The mist is drifting in form the mountains! We went on a hike to a waterfall, but we were equipped for a beach walk, not a mountain hike, therefore, we had to turn back! We have a nice communal kitchen at “Away with fairies” Cooked a nice dinner, lots of veggies with chicken. We are now charging our batteries for the cell phones, cameras and the laptop!
Monday, 7 February
We went for a nice walk to a waterfall after we had breakfast. We browsed in some of the little shops afterwards.
Lunch was fresh fruit and bread with peanut butter. The clouds are gathering and in the distance, we can hear thunder.
The rain only started after we lit the fire. It was actually perfect. The rain cooled down the fire, so , our chicken came out perfectly! We made many veggies with our dinner.
Tuesday, 8 February
This morning we are starting to head homewards. We started the Katberg pass, but the road was worse than Sani or anything else we have ever done. It is so close to the end of the holiday and we cannot afford to be stuck anywhere now, or else I will be late for work. We decided to turn around and leave Katberg for another time. It is very beautiful though and we will definitely return. We then proceeded to Aliwal North , looking for a place called Innieklofie. It is suppose to be on the way to Rouxville, 15,4 km from Aliwal. We drove the road three times before we found a rusty old signpost. You could barely read the name. We followed the track, but when we got there, no one was around. We tried their cell number numerous times, but always got voicemail. We then returned to Aliwal and found a camping spot on the banks of the Orange River. The name of the place is Badfontein. They have a place where the hot sulphuric water comes out of the rocks where you can swim. It is so nice, to see they bubbles coming out of the rocks!
When I got out of the water, I got such a shock, because the sulphuric water reacted with my wedding ring. It became all the colours of the rainbow and more! Fortunately, after some spit and elbow grease it returned to normal.
The mosquitoes want to carry us away, but fortunately, we still have some Tabard. The grass is very long and the seeds and pollen is causing severe hay fever. I am trying to cure it with Scotch.
Rina is making us a nice vegetarian dish tonight with lots of veggies and pasta.
Wednesday, 9 February 2011
We took a drive to Aliwal North this morning to buy some supplies, where after we went for a swim in our hot spring. Lunch consisted of mealies, peanut butter on bread and a fruit. We had it so late though; we decided to just have a salad for dinner. I think it was the biltong for breakfast that stuffed things up a bit.
We decided to spend an extra night here. That means we will just have one night in Bloemfontein. We will most probably not camp there, so that we can leave early. Tomorrow will be our last day of the holiday, in other words.
Well, so much for the salad! We became hungry and decided to make chicken livers and mushrooms on seeded bread! It was tasty!
Thursday, 10 Feb. 11
We once again woke up to the call of Fish Eagles and the sound of a Titbabbler, singing its heart out!
For breakfast, we warmed up leftovers from the previous two nights. We had a nice day at our Sulphur warm fountain. We swam naked without any disturbances. For an early dinner, we had fillet Mignon with jacket potato, Brussels sprouts and zucchini.
This is the time to say good-bye to our holiday! Tomorrow we shall stopover in Bloemfontein and then do the last few hundred kilometres of our trip!
Old Thor is wielding his hammer again. The rumbling is getting louder.
What a nice gesture: the owner of the guest farm gave us a bag of potatoes. It is a working farm and they are presently harvesting potatoes.
Friday, 11 February 2011
We had a tremendous and very scary thunderstorm during the night. It passed quickly though, but it rained all through the night. That means we have to pack a wet tent again.
The sandy mud track towards the tar road was so slippery. For a moment, I was worried that we might get stuck, but all went well.
We arrived in Bloemfontein early. This is our last stopover. I just did not feel like driving all the way to Kemptonpark. We are staying in a little double storey one-bedroom chalet in the Bloemfontein caravan park. It only cost R240 per night, but it is clean, safe and value for money. It is perfect for a one-night stop when you are on the way between somewhere and nowhere. We quickly went to get a few things at the supermarket and on the way back we got totally lost.
We are going to have the last braai of our holiday tonight. I am relaxing with a Scotch and Rina is having a cold Miller.
Saturday, 12 February 2011
We left Bloemfontein early after a hearty breakfast. We had a pleasant drive without any incidents. We arrived home and unpacked everything by 14:45.
It was a great holiday and we had a very good time.
Now it is back to work!
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