Schoongezicht Hike

Well the hike has come and gone and a great time was had and an exciting time was had by all. We left Johannesburg at about 4pm and I took a slightly wrong route and so ended up with an extra 30mins of driving going through Rustenburg and then then N4 toll route which is a hell drive in the dark. South Africans have the worst driving habits in the world and there were some really scary overtaking manouvres being performed around us.

We heard later that there were some really serious accidents later that evening one of which involved a jack-knifed truck and a car that drove into it. Thankfully we were ahead of the chaos - and no, we did not cause the chaos!

The farm consisted of an old farmhouse, two rondavels and another complex of four bedrooms and a kitchen situated alongside the farmhouse.

Shirley, Loren (our daughter) and I took a lovely six kilometre hike on the Saturday morning after breakfast. The farm is a working cattle farm and also a game farm and we saw some lovely game; impala, wildebeest, mountain buck and great bird life.

Saturday evening was dramatic. Someone running the farm had decided that safe electrical connections were not the order of the day and had rigged up a potentially lethal connection that nearly killed Shirley. She was so badly shocked that she was unconcious for about five minutes and in pain for a lot longer than that. Praise the Lord that Shirley has a strong heart otherwise she would have died with the amount of current that went through her!

This meant that on Sunday we did a short four kilometre hike instead of the long 17 km one. This allowed Loren and me to really explore our photography skills and we experimented to our hearts content amoungst some great scenery. Thank goodness for digital cameras; I can't imagine what it would have cost in the days of 35mm spools!

On the Sunday afternoon we painted and then sculptured with clay and really used our artistic skills (or lack thereof).

I'll include photos a bit later as it's getting late and time for sleep.

Thanks for reading and sharing in our experiences.

Another weekend another hike

Wow, just finished a 15 km hike in 4 hours in a small game reserve not far from Johannesburg. Very dry and very dusty but stunning. Went with a friend Emlyn and about 60 other people and broken up into groups.

I must admit that this was a very hectic walk and at a fast pace and now I'm paying the price. Not only am I exhausted but my right knee is extremely painful. I'll have to get it ready though for next week when Shirley and I will be doing the Schoongezicht hike and that will be two days of walking. Come on knee get better!

Here are some pics of the wild life we saw and of the hike.

These giraffe were awesome. They watched us then ran off and much later came back around for another look at us.

Another weekend another hike

Wow, just finished a 15 km hike in 4 hours in a small game reserve not far from Johannesburg. Very dry and very dusty but stunning. Went with a friend Emlyn and about 60 other people and broken up into groups.

I must admit that this was a very hectic walk and at a fast pace and now I'm paying the price. Not only am I exhausted but my right knee is extremely painful. I'll have to get it ready though for next week when Shirley and I will be doing the Schoongezicht hike and that will be two days of walking. Come on knee get better!

Here are some pics of the wild life we saw and of the hike.

These giraffe were awesome. They watched us then ran off and much later came back around for another look at us.

Mateke Hike

Mateke is a game reserve near Rooiberg and close to Thabazimbi. This is a beautiful part of the bushveld which I love to go to. The temperatures for the weekend were great with a cold minimum of around 3C and the maximum around 25C.

What a wonderful weekend hike this turned out to be. It was quite a long drive which I hitched along with friends Peter and Claudette in their vehicle. There is a fuel strike on the go and fortunately their vehicle uses diesel and so could easily make it there and back on a full tank it needed. We arrived there as the sun set on Friday and left mid-morning on Sunday.

Being winter there was not a lot of bird life although I did see a spectacular malachite kingfisher. The most fascinating thing on the hike was seeing a group of about twenty insect eating plants. They are bright scarlet and about 2 centimetres in diameter. This is the first time I have seen such plants in their natural habitat and did not know they occurred here in South Africa. They are truly amazing little plants.

The hike was an easy 13 kilometre round trip which took about 5 hours at a very leisurely pace as one of the hikers was not fit at all.

This is a place to see again and a definite must for the hot summer. The streams will be fantastic for coling off from the high summer temperatures.

New hike coming up

Next weekend I'll be on a hike in Mateke. If you look at the following co-ordinates S24°17’13.63” E27°39’07.92” on Google Earth you'll see where I'll be. This area is Shirley's and my favourite place. It's in the beautiful bushveld area of South Africa and just a little west of the Waterberg Mountains which we love so very much.

Although it's winter here in the southern hemisphere this is a warm part of the country at this time of the year. Night temperatures though will plummet to around 3º Celsius from day time temperatures of about 20º C.

I'm doing some training in gym to get my fitness levels and strength up a bit but I fear I've fallen into too little too late as usual.

I'll be taking pictures which I'll post here once I've returned.

Take a hike :)

Yesterday Shirley and I had no work and although thunderstorms were forecast we decided to take a hike in Mountain Sanctuary Park. Even though it's pretty close 55 kilometres as the crow flies it's a 2 hour journey to get there. The last piece of road is pretty rough and thank goodness for the Land Rover.

The forecast was correct but the thunderstorms only arrived at 5 o'clock so we had a fantastic day hiking and swimming in the crystal clear mountain streams and then Shirley painted whilst I pottered around with the camera.

We saw some huge baboons and then on the way home some amazing buffaloes.

What a great day. Wish we could do it everyday.

Australia

Lats Tuesday Shirley and I arrived back after three wonderful weeks in Perth, Australia. This was my first occasion to leave Africa and what an eye opener to see how the first world live. We stayed with our friends, Paul and Debbie, and Shirley's sister Ivy. Paul and I were in the British South Africa Police together in what was once upon a time called Rhodesia. That seems like such a long time ago now.

Paul and Debbie and Ivy went out of their way to show us so much of Western Australia and there was not a day that went by without us seeing new things. It is beyond words to describe friends (and family) like this. It is a blessing that I wish everyone could experience.

There is so much to share about our experiences in Oz and wonderful photos that I'll have to take time to arrange it methodically and share here.

Until then, see you mate ;)