South Africa Oct Nov 2010

South Africa October 2010
We arrived at Johannesburg airport on the 19th October (Vic’s mothers 88th birthday) after a 3 hour stop over we flew on to George in the Eastern Cape. We were met by an employee of our dear friend Anneke who then drove us to Knysna about 35 mins from where we are staying.
Knysna is a small town on the east coast and a popular holiday area. We are fortunate to have the use of Vic’s sister’s holiday home here as it is very close to the retirement village where his mother Mary lives. After a quick shower it was off to celebrate Mary’s birthday with some family and friends at a local restaurant called Mo’s. It was a super evening togwther with a surprise birthday cake.
After a few days we were getting itchy feet and needed a project to help us settle so we decided to take on the vegetable garden which would ensure lots of lovely summer vegetable for everyone. This done Vic was offered the job of test driving the latest Mercedes AWD 4x4 light weight truck. This required us to fly to Joburg and pick up the vehicle which had been at the SASB for testing first (South African Standards Board). Having done this we then stayed overnight with family in Crowthorne (a suburb of Joburg) before heading to Bloemfontein to pick up an off road pop top caravan as our accommodation for the trip. We then headed North West for the Kalahari Gemsbok Frontier Park which lies on the South African, Botswana and Namibian borders. Part of the brief for testing the vehicle was that we had to cover certain types of terrain, the destination we chose was ideal in every way with rough unsealed roads, corrugations, sand steep inclines etc. We found campsites each night either on the edge of a town or on someone’s farm, which were the best as the farmer sets aside a lovely little area with trees for shade, and has built a small ensuite rondarvel with a shower hand basin and flushing toilet, plus a place to light a camp fire and a BBQ area. The weather in the day varied from 32-38c so in the late afternoon the temp was perfect and a great excuse for a cold beer as we set up camp. Later as the sun went down and night closed in the night sky was absolutely magical, no light pollution and literally millions of stars. We slept like babies. The following morning we headed north into the park and as it is the off season camp spots were readily available. This all sorted and our caravan parked, the awning up we had lunch then headed off into the game area. We were not disappointed as there was an abundance of wild life all to be seen at close range hence many photos were taken until the battery in the camera needed charging. Three hours later in the late afternoon sun we headed back to the campsite as it was now beer o’clock. During our time away three other groups had made camp after introductions and an exchange of stories we lit our BBQ and camp fire and asked a young Flemish couple who were in a tent next to us to join us, they had been in NZ on holiday a few months earlier and we had recently been in Belgium so we had lots to talk about. After the Kalahari we headed south making our way back to Knysna via Calvinia and Oudtshoorn in the little Karoo. We had been away 6 days. Two days later after the clothes had been washed we were off again this time just an overnight trip through the Prince Albert and Baviannskloof Passes which are breath taking and had just the sort of terrain we needed for stage 2 of the trial. Once again we saw lots of wildlife including a rooikat ( roy cat) a small lynx type cat with small pointy ears, lots of baboons and blue ball monkeys with babies on their backs, so cute. We stayed in a self contained cottage in the middle of the Baviannskloof overnight which was over 100 years old and would have not looked out of place on a hillside in Tuscany. We arrived home late on Friday night tired but happy. In the interim we have caught up with people we made friends with last year as well as some old friends of Vic’s who just by coincidence also enjoy the odd glass of wine.
This week so far we have pottered around the island, however tomorrow is the 3rd and final trial for the vehicle. This is to be held in some large sand dunes on a farmers property in the Mossle Bay area which is south west of Knysna, this will more hair raising than the trails to date and photos are required to send through to Germany, we will ensure that we put some up on the blog with the next update. There is so much to see and do but our new truck will not be ready until early in the New Year so it’s a good time to do lots of research and reading.
We are waiting daily to hear news of our new grandchild’s arrival, Anna & Hamish being the proud parents of baby #2.
We have a postal address and landline here; they are P.O.Box 420 Knysna 6570 Sth Africa: Ph # 0027443846009. Vic is using a Sth African sim card so is not contactable on his NZ mobile #, my mobile remains unchanged and of course we are both available on our gmail addresses.
Love to you all
Michele & Vic
“The Weranui Wanderers”