After months of organising (and stressing), we finally hit the road early on Friday morning with Dustin looking slightly stressed at what he had got himself in for (two girls threatening to play ABBA for 600km/10hrs)! This was only compounded by squeals of delight from Meg and I every time we hit “new” road and the fact that we threatened to lock him in the car when we finally stopped in Ermelo for a loo break (he was taking a long time and we were bursting!). Ermelo also meant Wimpy breakfast - what would a road trip be without a Wimpy meal? Or for that matter, a quick stop in the Crazy shop? (This has become a habit since a girls weekend to Clarens). So after buying hats and things, we pointed the car for Sodwana – and then stopped. And went. And stopped. And went… And so it was that quite a couple of hours later, we arrived at Triton in Sodwana.
And of course, arriving at Sodwana meant only one thing – quickly unpack and head to the Smoothie Bar – Yum yum! The only problem is the choice of what smoothie to get! Think Tara and I did well with a French Kiss though – Vanilla, Kahlua and not sure what else but REALLY good! Good start to the trip! It was also a good time to catch up on the happenings of the last year with Henri and Leigh :)
We got a late launch so only needed to be at the beach 8:30 (Greg – 8:30, not 9:15! Lazy bugger got an extra hours sleep and used the useless excuse that he only arrived at 1am!). But late launch = lie in on a dive trip = amazing! The only problem was my usual coffee-in-bed-person was looking after his girlfriend so I actually had to get out of bed and make my own coffee – a first for a Sods trip I think! Need to get that sorted! Our first dive was to Antons (saw dolphins on the way, about 10m from the boat!), and it didn’t disappoint – eels, rays, lots of fishies, porcelain crabs… Bounce, bounce! No wait, bad idea - that uses lots of air! But after 50mins, most people were hitting critical pressure (thanks for the 15l cylinder Doug – I was fine even with Liesl buddy breathing!) so it was back to the beach. There is a 2 hour blank in my memory here – bit concerning… as suddenly, it was time to start kitting up for the next dive! It was a “special interest” dive with Peter Timm over the sand. He gave us the most incredible briefing and then it was off to south of Jesser point. As predicted, we saw very little for the 1st 5mins but then… Sand dollars, sea pen forests, cuttlefish, sea stars… INCREDIBLE! WOW! We packed up and headed to, you guessed it, the smoothie bar. Brazilica this time – hazelnut and frangelico? Also good :)
Back at Triton, it was time to get ready for the graduation of 1*’s , fines and then the party. Pat was an awesome Turquin – hoola hoops and all – and duly made all the 1* promise various things! And somehow emphasized the “Bode Brothers” status – not quite sure what this status is and whether we should laugh or be in awe… Then the fines came up – one whole boat, bar two people, “fed the fish” = fines all around, breaking down before getting to Sods = more fines, being an awesome instructor, being a fish and not using air – its amazing the fines that got dished out! But it did get the party off to a great start.
And party we did! Awesome music (thanks Doug) with two individuals (Jason and Dustin) not allowing anyone to leave and an amazing group of people. However, what goes on tour stays on tour, so for those that were there, I say 99 red balloons has scarred me – “Epic” (in a good and bad way?) FAIL! For those that weren’t there, you may need to bribe people to find out… We literally brought the roof down – and Hardy put it back up! The party ended close to 1 am (sorry for those with an early launch) when Doug (early launch!) turned the music off and we went swimming – in various stages of clothes (no – there was amazingly no skinny dipping!). And then the chirp of the trip came up: Imagine 30 odd people swimming in tiny little pool, all on a high after an amazing party. Noise may (or may not) have been made. So Hardy stands at the end of the pool, and in a very responsible voice, requests us all to keep quiet in 15min, party over. To which the response from the pool was “Hardy, are those tighty whitey’s?” - the laughter was probably louder than any noise we may (or may not) have been making! But within 15mins, every one was on their way to bed, and I was fast asleep (apparently I was called to go chat/go for coffee/something…)
The next morning, my coffee in bed issue was solved when coffee and breakfast (fruit and yoghurt) and juice was brought to me in bed – Thanks Dust and Meg! Very soon we were off to the beach, where some people, feeling the effects of the night before but still brave enough to dive, fed the fish! We had an awesome dive – lots of rays which buried themselves, more pretty fish, a geometric eel… The highlight of my dive however was SEEING MY FIRST TURTLE! Yay! Eventually! Right at the end of the dive as well! I was on my way up to safety stop (after a 70min dive!) and went back to look at it! :) :) :) And then we got to the surface and a HUGE one swam towards the boat! :) The next dive was also good! My buddy by this stage had learnt to talk underwater and so yelled at me every 10mins to check something out! This was a good thing as the previous dive he pointed stuff out to everyone else and then me! Remember some beautiful nudi’s on the this dive… We also took a slate down so communication became easier. I also learnt that if I briefly lost him for a second, I just needed to look for someone floating head down :)
Back at Triton, it was lunch time (at 5pm!) while others passed out - either in their cabins (= good option) or in the middle of the central camp area (= bad idea - you shouldn't surprised to wake up a while later surrounded by people and with a savanna being poured down your throat!). And then off to the Smoothie Bar. Again :) I hear your shock and horror and match it with a mochagelico (frangelico and coffee? – YUM). Except that this time we also ate – pizza - mmmm.... Then while the rest of us went back to bed, others went for a walk on the beach, and came back a couple of hours, sopping wet, to complete darkness – there was a huge storm and the electricity went!
The next morning, bright and early (and after a bit of bribery to DM’s so my boat could get a nice DM), we went for our last dive for the weekend. I saw my 3rd turtle. And my 4th. And my 5th. And my 6th. And then I stopped counting and starting swimming past them! One huge one though was very cute as he had wedged himself inbetween some rocks and was having a back scratch. Funnier though was Dustin who went quite close to watch him and with a surge ended face-to-face with him. We also swam past (as there were so many) honey comb morays at cleaning stations. We did however see an octopus, an ENORMOUS marble sting ray and at our safety stop were surrounded by fish balls! Another amazing dive!
And an amazing weekend!
Long live the turquin in epic awesomeness!
Link to the pics:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/EpicAwesomenessSodwanaNovember2010?authkey=Gv1sRgCMSah7eCsLiHbA#
Thursday, 09 December 2010
Tuesday, 09 November 2010
Halloween by cylume-light
With much excitement, we jumped into our cars one Friday afternoon and quickly made our way to Marico Oog for the weekend. So maybe jumped is a bit of a euphemism – there wasn’t much space to do anything to squeeze into the cars with all the dive gear, camping stuff and food. And if I have to admit it, quickly was also an exaggeration - 90mins we were 40km into a 200km journey! However, the only other time we stopped was at one of those stop-go’s – and I think the other people in we queue were only too glad when we moved on (3 girls singing ABBA out loud in the middle of a dorpie… I think they may ask us to come back – or not! But think we provided better entertainment than the discussions on hydrogen as an alternative fuel source and psychological analysis (Dan did Dustin in 15mins?) that went on in the other car.
And then we hit (literally) the dirt road. The road was in shocking condition but we finally made it there, with cars in 1 piece (quite an achievement – a car before us left the contents of its sump on the road!) and started putting up tents. It was then we realised that the girls were far more organised than the boys :) (Don’t worry boys, what goes on tour, stays on tour! Moobies, girls opening cylinders and all! Oops – sorry did I say that?). So while 1 girl (aka Liesl) unpacked the cars (plural!) the other 2 (Karen and I) managed to put up a tent and then contributed to setting everything out – while 3 boys (Dan, Dustin, Duncan) couldn’t even get 1 tent up! Determined to prove themselves, they then pumped up Liesl’s mattress – and promptly complained about having stiff arms! Hardy arrived back from a brief, enforced visit to Zeerust (to get parts to fix the above mentioned sump) and after devouring an amazing amount of food we hit the sack. Well, Hardy hit the floor first after falling through his hammock but the idea is the same!
EARLY the next morning, we were woken by those-that-left-the-contents-of-their-sump-on-the-road as they hit the road again. Read 1 x Grumpy me. Even after coffee. In bed. Rolled over and attempted to go back to sleep… But by 7:15, coffee was calling (again) and we headed onto the pontoon and watched the world wake up - in other words we slowly, with the influence of caffeine, became aware of our stunning surroundings. We finished setting up camp (hammocks were deemed to be very important, especially after someone fell through his the night before) and eventually headed to the water for some free diving (and diving). As usual, Hardy showed off, closely followed by Dan, Dustin and Duncan who swam around quite happily while I was just SUPER excited to get to 10m and back with neither ears nor lungs exploding! Stunning diving though! Although I did make mental notes NOT to breathe through my snorkel after putting it in the water (choke choke). SCUBA gear was then donned and we went off for a dive to the bottom and through the floating reed beds – amazing!
Back out the water, we all did some much needed relaxing/reading/dozing in the sun. And then ate. And the relaxed/read/dozed in the sun. And then ate. Again. And relaxed/read/dozed some more. And ate AGAIN. Wait, maybe there wasn’t space for that last eat. Anyway, see a pattern emerging?
Eventually we headed back to the Oog – but more to cool down and relax than dive though Hardy and I did test our cameras – his battery went flat and mine leaked, Big time. = unsuccessful! And then I forgot my mental note about not breathing through submerged snorkels. So we got out and while Karen, Dan and I headed off to get the Donkey lit so we could have hot showers later, the others got things ready for the night dive. Which was AMAZING! Sitting on a grid at 5m blowing bubbles and looking at them through torch light. Incredible. And no torch light. Spectacular And I had a new fancy schmancy new torch that actually works! We saw tonnes of freshwater shrimps, including ones whose eyes glowed in the dark! I was having such fun, I really didn’t want to leave, but was underweighted with an ally so it told me it was time to come up after about 20mins!
While the boys started the fire for the braai (despite not being able to put up a tent/pump up mattresses/open cylinders etc., they do have their uses!), the rest of us went to shower – only to find the donkey had gone out. I must have somehow had extra oxygen in my lungs coz one or two puffs later, there was a roaring fire – and hot water. Magic! And we emerged “good and clean and fresh – tra la la la”. And food was already being cooked! Bonus. After eating another extraordinary amount of food, the question became what to do with cylumes on Halloween? Or alternatively, how do 7 “adults” occupy themselves on Halloween when we have glowsticks? Well play with settings on cameras and draw pictures of course! And so followed a couple of hours of deciding what to draw, drawing it and excited squeals when it worked out! And a couple of shots of Dustin attacking himself!
The next morning it was time for the swim-through-the-fence dive to the more substantial reed beds – but on the unfriendly neighbouring farmers property. Again – wonderful. Although battling with buoyancy (I was now using 5 weights!), it was still fun swimming through all the caverns formed by floating reed beds – well at least until Dan lay on the floor and Dustin tried to catch up with someone with tiny fins (= swam hard) and both kicked up silt – compounded by me floating near the top. We decided it was time to get out of the reed beds and went back to the main pool where we did saumersaults and star jumps and cartwheels at 7m. Want a good laugh? Watch someone try to do a cartwheel in full SCUBA gear. We explored some more and saw “pretty fishies” (that’s all I can tell you about them!) and shrimps and crabs and and and…
And then it was time for more food - a huge cook up brunch. When we literally could eat no more and could barely move we starting packing up. And after fitting everything back into the cars (not much more space despite giving stuff to Hardy), we decided we didn’t really want to leave so went and relaxed on the pontoon for a while again. Two engineers + spare time on a raft = competition to push each other in. Until of course they figured out that the two girls swimming and diving off the raft were in bikini’s which were likely to shift position when entering the water. And then followed push Liesl into the water and when she goes in easily, chase her so she can’t get out!
Eventually we got out and started the drive home.
Not wanting the weekend to end we decided to stop in Magaliesburg for a wimpy coffee milkshake. Dan’s car kindly agreed by getting a puncture as we drove into the town (on decent, pothole-free and tarred roads?). So we found somewhere to get it fixed and watched in amusement as the engineers repositioned everything to their standards. As soon as the tyre was back on (supervised by said engineers of course) we headed for a much anticipated milkshake.
I think that this has to be one of the best inland dive sights – the dives, the venue and the great people always make this a relaxing, fun and enjoyable weekend filled with happy memories and laughs.
Some pics (also courtesy of Duncan and Hardy) are at: http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/HalloweenByCylumeLight?authkey=Gv1sRgCM7oj8S_6_fRRg#
And then we hit (literally) the dirt road. The road was in shocking condition but we finally made it there, with cars in 1 piece (quite an achievement – a car before us left the contents of its sump on the road!) and started putting up tents. It was then we realised that the girls were far more organised than the boys :) (Don’t worry boys, what goes on tour, stays on tour! Moobies, girls opening cylinders and all! Oops – sorry did I say that?). So while 1 girl (aka Liesl) unpacked the cars (plural!) the other 2 (Karen and I) managed to put up a tent and then contributed to setting everything out – while 3 boys (Dan, Dustin, Duncan) couldn’t even get 1 tent up! Determined to prove themselves, they then pumped up Liesl’s mattress – and promptly complained about having stiff arms! Hardy arrived back from a brief, enforced visit to Zeerust (to get parts to fix the above mentioned sump) and after devouring an amazing amount of food we hit the sack. Well, Hardy hit the floor first after falling through his hammock but the idea is the same!
EARLY the next morning, we were woken by those-that-left-the-contents-of-their-sump-on-the-road as they hit the road again. Read 1 x Grumpy me. Even after coffee. In bed. Rolled over and attempted to go back to sleep… But by 7:15, coffee was calling (again) and we headed onto the pontoon and watched the world wake up - in other words we slowly, with the influence of caffeine, became aware of our stunning surroundings. We finished setting up camp (hammocks were deemed to be very important, especially after someone fell through his the night before) and eventually headed to the water for some free diving (and diving). As usual, Hardy showed off, closely followed by Dan, Dustin and Duncan who swam around quite happily while I was just SUPER excited to get to 10m and back with neither ears nor lungs exploding! Stunning diving though! Although I did make mental notes NOT to breathe through my snorkel after putting it in the water (choke choke). SCUBA gear was then donned and we went off for a dive to the bottom and through the floating reed beds – amazing!
Back out the water, we all did some much needed relaxing/reading/dozing in the sun. And then ate. And the relaxed/read/dozed in the sun. And then ate. Again. And relaxed/read/dozed some more. And ate AGAIN. Wait, maybe there wasn’t space for that last eat. Anyway, see a pattern emerging?
Eventually we headed back to the Oog – but more to cool down and relax than dive though Hardy and I did test our cameras – his battery went flat and mine leaked, Big time. = unsuccessful! And then I forgot my mental note about not breathing through submerged snorkels. So we got out and while Karen, Dan and I headed off to get the Donkey lit so we could have hot showers later, the others got things ready for the night dive. Which was AMAZING! Sitting on a grid at 5m blowing bubbles and looking at them through torch light. Incredible. And no torch light. Spectacular And I had a new fancy schmancy new torch that actually works! We saw tonnes of freshwater shrimps, including ones whose eyes glowed in the dark! I was having such fun, I really didn’t want to leave, but was underweighted with an ally so it told me it was time to come up after about 20mins!
While the boys started the fire for the braai (despite not being able to put up a tent/pump up mattresses/open cylinders etc., they do have their uses!), the rest of us went to shower – only to find the donkey had gone out. I must have somehow had extra oxygen in my lungs coz one or two puffs later, there was a roaring fire – and hot water. Magic! And we emerged “good and clean and fresh – tra la la la”. And food was already being cooked! Bonus. After eating another extraordinary amount of food, the question became what to do with cylumes on Halloween? Or alternatively, how do 7 “adults” occupy themselves on Halloween when we have glowsticks? Well play with settings on cameras and draw pictures of course! And so followed a couple of hours of deciding what to draw, drawing it and excited squeals when it worked out! And a couple of shots of Dustin attacking himself!
The next morning it was time for the swim-through-the-fence dive to the more substantial reed beds – but on the unfriendly neighbouring farmers property. Again – wonderful. Although battling with buoyancy (I was now using 5 weights!), it was still fun swimming through all the caverns formed by floating reed beds – well at least until Dan lay on the floor and Dustin tried to catch up with someone with tiny fins (= swam hard) and both kicked up silt – compounded by me floating near the top. We decided it was time to get out of the reed beds and went back to the main pool where we did saumersaults and star jumps and cartwheels at 7m. Want a good laugh? Watch someone try to do a cartwheel in full SCUBA gear. We explored some more and saw “pretty fishies” (that’s all I can tell you about them!) and shrimps and crabs and and and…
And then it was time for more food - a huge cook up brunch. When we literally could eat no more and could barely move we starting packing up. And after fitting everything back into the cars (not much more space despite giving stuff to Hardy), we decided we didn’t really want to leave so went and relaxed on the pontoon for a while again. Two engineers + spare time on a raft = competition to push each other in. Until of course they figured out that the two girls swimming and diving off the raft were in bikini’s which were likely to shift position when entering the water. And then followed push Liesl into the water and when she goes in easily, chase her so she can’t get out!
Eventually we got out and started the drive home.
Not wanting the weekend to end we decided to stop in Magaliesburg for a wimpy coffee milkshake. Dan’s car kindly agreed by getting a puncture as we drove into the town (on decent, pothole-free and tarred roads?). So we found somewhere to get it fixed and watched in amusement as the engineers repositioned everything to their standards. As soon as the tyre was back on (supervised by said engineers of course) we headed for a much anticipated milkshake.
I think that this has to be one of the best inland dive sights – the dives, the venue and the great people always make this a relaxing, fun and enjoyable weekend filled with happy memories and laughs.
Some pics (also courtesy of Duncan and Hardy) are at: http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/HalloweenByCylumeLight?authkey=Gv1sRgCM7oj8S_6_fRRg#
Fabulous females, horizontal hail and “perspiring pink”
It all started over a milkshake when Liesl and I decided we needed to get out of Jo’burg and was confirmed when Shona (aka Twoot) agreed that an all girls pampering weekend was in order. So we booked, paid and got excited – which wasn’t hard as we happened to decide to go on the opening weekend of the soccer world cup. And yes, for all of those who are concerned, we only left on the Saturday morning AFTER Bafana drew with Mexico (Go Bafana)!
So very early on Saturday morning (so early that Karen and Liesl forgot not only their coffee (BAD thing at that time of the morning!) but also their wine! Tragedy!), Liesl, Karen, Alex, Anne (who we managed to convince on the Thursday to come), Meg and myself (but not Twoot – there were “issues” and despite many pleas that he was a “Miss comfortable Girly Pant”, not Marius either) set off for Sunnyside Guest Farm near Clarens. There was a road trip kind of atmosphere so we stopped in some pretty little dorpie (actually it was a loo stop but...) and then in Bethlehem (to replace that wine but there also just happened to be a Crazy Shop and you can’t walk past those!). Anyway, onwards towards Clarens – until we (Meg and I) suddenly decided that stopping at the Ash River outlet point for the Lesotho Highlands water scheme was a good idea and managed to convince Anne of photo opportunities and the others had no option but to follow. Very pretty! And incredible amount of water – I think the “channel” was 6m deep! Photos taken and it really was onward to Clarens.
The intention was only to go into Clarens “very quickly” (lunch was calling – Sunnyside is full board and besides it was going to be a relaxing, pampering weekekend), but we still managed to support the financial well-being of Clarens residents, with assurances to each other that we definitely needed (not wanted) to come back and line the pockets of the community further later that afternoon. And so to Sunnyside and lunch.
We were welcomed with the most delicious tea (and I’m not a tea drinker!) and shown our rooms (we were moved together in case we made a noise!) with just enough time to get settled for lunch. And then began the eating. Homemade. Everything. Soup. Bread. Butter. Steak or macaroni cheese. Fruit salad and ice cream. Yummy cheese. We attempted to walk out but think it was more of a waddle and then it was back to Clarens.
Clarens really is a “cute” little town. We wondered around looking in all the shops, spending lots and being amazed at Annes bargaining power, all the time watching the clock (couldn’t miss tea at four!). Luckily for us, the weather helped us along and a huge storm blew into town just before 4 – it was amazing how quickly the town emptied as people rushed to cars and under cover as the hail came down – horizontally. And so it was 6 giggling girls driving back to Sunnyside through horizontal hail – so much of it that the gardens were white! And back to more food. Again!
After chatting around the fire for a while with other guests (who were knitting scarves for kids schools in what was decided to be “perspiring pink”) we went back to the rooms. And attempted to think past what was waiting for dinner! So while some organised horse riding (Anne), others went for walks or started playing board games in front of the fire gain.
And then it was dinner time. And there was even more food than at lunch time. All of which we managed to find space for – soup and homemade bread and butter, a roast and 6 veggies and a hot pudding. We decided that nothing much else was going to happen that night – except for some pampering of course.
So baths with bath salts bought that day and in PJ’s we all ended up in one room. And Anne hit mafia mode. Not only in accent and behaviour but also with the ferocity with which she attacked our feet and gave us foot massages with foot scrubs and foot masks. Meg, Liesl and I attacked everyones face with face masks and somehow we also all painted each others nails – so full manicures and pedicures were also had by all. Well, we were actually just impressed that we got a facemask on Alex and Anne got her foot treatment from Liesl slightly later. All of this was accompanied by laughs – so much so that Liesl’s back actually went into spasm – unfortunately for her she had both a face and foot mask on so couldn’t really actually move. Which of course made the rest of us laugh even more! And so the evening continued until about 10pm when we were so exhausted we headed to our own rooms and bed.
The next morning, we headed to breakfast – and yet again over-ate with prrodge, fruit, full cooked breakfast etc etc. Luckily by this stage, Anne had managed to book horse riding in Golden Gate National Park. So off we headed – this time in 2 cars as the roads were slippery and wet – as Liesl found out when her car went down the road for a couple of meters at 90deg but we couldn’t stop as we would then get stuck! Our cars covered in mud (literally covered – spray on mud had nothing on us!), we found the place. It was with great trepidation that Alex, Karen and Liesl took to their horses having never ridden before (or not having ridden since pnies in childhood) but with great excitement that Anne, Meg and I got onto ours. It was a divine ride – through the foothills of Golden Gate with wildlife all over the place. And Liesl’s horse alternatively cantering or trotting to stay in front and Alex telling her horse “Good horsey, no horsey, No, NO, stop, STOP”. We finished and quickly went back – for tea! And then decided to stay for lunch as well! As if we hadn’t eaten enough.
So while the rest went for a walk along the river, I got roped into go for a MTB ride with a 10year old girl – how hard could that be! INCREDIBLY! Especially when the “bike” you’ve been lent only has a barely attached front wheel, no back brakes, no shocks and is stuck in “downhill” gears – and we were riding uphill! Combined with an hyperactive kid! However, I managed to stay upright for 2 laps and then suggested we go down to the river for a walk – which (luckily) was accepted readily. The lunch bell went and we hurried back for lunch – an “indoor” braai! YUM! We really did waddle out of the dinning room.
And then packed.
And headed back to the Big Smoke.
It was a weekend of fabulous females, horizontal hail and “perspiring pink”. And putting on 2kg – apparently! Not surprisingly though!
Pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/FabulousFemalesHorizontalHailAndPerspiringPink?authkey=Gv1sRgCNuUsdWq5NaE7gE#
So very early on Saturday morning (so early that Karen and Liesl forgot not only their coffee (BAD thing at that time of the morning!) but also their wine! Tragedy!), Liesl, Karen, Alex, Anne (who we managed to convince on the Thursday to come), Meg and myself (but not Twoot – there were “issues” and despite many pleas that he was a “Miss comfortable Girly Pant”, not Marius either) set off for Sunnyside Guest Farm near Clarens. There was a road trip kind of atmosphere so we stopped in some pretty little dorpie (actually it was a loo stop but...) and then in Bethlehem (to replace that wine but there also just happened to be a Crazy Shop and you can’t walk past those!). Anyway, onwards towards Clarens – until we (Meg and I) suddenly decided that stopping at the Ash River outlet point for the Lesotho Highlands water scheme was a good idea and managed to convince Anne of photo opportunities and the others had no option but to follow. Very pretty! And incredible amount of water – I think the “channel” was 6m deep! Photos taken and it really was onward to Clarens.
The intention was only to go into Clarens “very quickly” (lunch was calling – Sunnyside is full board and besides it was going to be a relaxing, pampering weekekend), but we still managed to support the financial well-being of Clarens residents, with assurances to each other that we definitely needed (not wanted) to come back and line the pockets of the community further later that afternoon. And so to Sunnyside and lunch.
We were welcomed with the most delicious tea (and I’m not a tea drinker!) and shown our rooms (we were moved together in case we made a noise!) with just enough time to get settled for lunch. And then began the eating. Homemade. Everything. Soup. Bread. Butter. Steak or macaroni cheese. Fruit salad and ice cream. Yummy cheese. We attempted to walk out but think it was more of a waddle and then it was back to Clarens.
Clarens really is a “cute” little town. We wondered around looking in all the shops, spending lots and being amazed at Annes bargaining power, all the time watching the clock (couldn’t miss tea at four!). Luckily for us, the weather helped us along and a huge storm blew into town just before 4 – it was amazing how quickly the town emptied as people rushed to cars and under cover as the hail came down – horizontally. And so it was 6 giggling girls driving back to Sunnyside through horizontal hail – so much of it that the gardens were white! And back to more food. Again!
After chatting around the fire for a while with other guests (who were knitting scarves for kids schools in what was decided to be “perspiring pink”) we went back to the rooms. And attempted to think past what was waiting for dinner! So while some organised horse riding (Anne), others went for walks or started playing board games in front of the fire gain.
And then it was dinner time. And there was even more food than at lunch time. All of which we managed to find space for – soup and homemade bread and butter, a roast and 6 veggies and a hot pudding. We decided that nothing much else was going to happen that night – except for some pampering of course.
So baths with bath salts bought that day and in PJ’s we all ended up in one room. And Anne hit mafia mode. Not only in accent and behaviour but also with the ferocity with which she attacked our feet and gave us foot massages with foot scrubs and foot masks. Meg, Liesl and I attacked everyones face with face masks and somehow we also all painted each others nails – so full manicures and pedicures were also had by all. Well, we were actually just impressed that we got a facemask on Alex and Anne got her foot treatment from Liesl slightly later. All of this was accompanied by laughs – so much so that Liesl’s back actually went into spasm – unfortunately for her she had both a face and foot mask on so couldn’t really actually move. Which of course made the rest of us laugh even more! And so the evening continued until about 10pm when we were so exhausted we headed to our own rooms and bed.
The next morning, we headed to breakfast – and yet again over-ate with prrodge, fruit, full cooked breakfast etc etc. Luckily by this stage, Anne had managed to book horse riding in Golden Gate National Park. So off we headed – this time in 2 cars as the roads were slippery and wet – as Liesl found out when her car went down the road for a couple of meters at 90deg but we couldn’t stop as we would then get stuck! Our cars covered in mud (literally covered – spray on mud had nothing on us!), we found the place. It was with great trepidation that Alex, Karen and Liesl took to their horses having never ridden before (or not having ridden since pnies in childhood) but with great excitement that Anne, Meg and I got onto ours. It was a divine ride – through the foothills of Golden Gate with wildlife all over the place. And Liesl’s horse alternatively cantering or trotting to stay in front and Alex telling her horse “Good horsey, no horsey, No, NO, stop, STOP”. We finished and quickly went back – for tea! And then decided to stay for lunch as well! As if we hadn’t eaten enough.
So while the rest went for a walk along the river, I got roped into go for a MTB ride with a 10year old girl – how hard could that be! INCREDIBLY! Especially when the “bike” you’ve been lent only has a barely attached front wheel, no back brakes, no shocks and is stuck in “downhill” gears – and we were riding uphill! Combined with an hyperactive kid! However, I managed to stay upright for 2 laps and then suggested we go down to the river for a walk – which (luckily) was accepted readily. The lunch bell went and we hurried back for lunch – an “indoor” braai! YUM! We really did waddle out of the dinning room.
And then packed.
And headed back to the Big Smoke.
It was a weekend of fabulous females, horizontal hail and “perspiring pink”. And putting on 2kg – apparently! Not surprisingly though!
Pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/FabulousFemalesHorizontalHailAndPerspiringPink?authkey=Gv1sRgCNuUsdWq5NaE7gE#
Friday, 05 March 2010
Eyes opened at Marico Oog
The long awaited trip to Marico Oog finally happened!
And it took a bit of organisation: not sure how many times we tried, and when we eventually set the weekend, the Wits compressor broke, so we had to spend hours at NUC filling cylinders. Thanks Paolop! And we were missing some of the orinators of the idea (:( to Doug and Roach!) Then rushed day on Friday, but eventually we were in the car just before 4! At 5, we were about 30km – from home. At 6, we were still in Jo’burg (!@#$%^&* traffic). Eventually, we were in Rustenburg, then Swartruggens and finally Zeerust. With no music! Not because we weren’t organised or because we couldn’t decide on who’s music to play (this was a likely scenario) but because the GPS/music player kept blowing the radio/cigarette lighter fuse. So poor Paolo had to make do with Shona and I. I think he would’ve preferred our music!
Eventually though, with the help of cell phones with GPS, we were almost there. Or so we thought. The co-ordinates were wrong! And it was pouring with rain! And the roads were very muddy! And we had Alex following us in a little Taz. (Read we got stuck in the mud. And rain). Eventually, after SIX AND A HALF HOURS, we got there! And amazingly, it stopped raining for long enough for us to put our tents up :) And Julie and Chris had been there for an hour already!
Early Saturday morning, Hardy and family arrived. While having coffee and breakfast, we all took bets as to what time Peter, Jolande and Karen would arrive and were all hopelessly wrong when they arrived way before any of us expected them.
Eventually, we got to the water and decided to try some free diving. SUCH fun! I was so happy to get to 5m – and then watched the others showing off with Hern and Little easily going to 10m and Hardy and Alex freaking 1*’s out while they were doing skills by watching with no gear and swimming under the grid! We also free dived to an eye. Then it was onto SCUBA diving and the real eye! Viz was amazing – about 10m! Until we went through the water lilies and reeds that is – when lots of silt meant that half way through overhangs you could see Nothing! Nada! Niks! Niente! Was interesting :) But still absolutely amazing. While some of us made it out, others swam in “deeper” and ended up the other side of some reeds from us – and so ensued a game of Marco Polo. Eventually though, we all swam back through the fence (the cool reed beds are in another “angry” farmers land so the eye has a fence through it) and went for lunch.
The afternoon was spent relaxing around the campsite and getting ready for a night dive – which was also on the list of to-do’s for all the other divers. We were luckily the 2nd group in and were able to sit on the grid and moon gaze through the bubbles at the full moon from 5m under the water – AMAZING! But (insert expletive – use your imagination!) cold!
So while Shona and I counted the minutes until we could have a hot shower, Paolo cooked our food for us! And just as we got out of our nice warm shower, food was ready – perfect timing. And then we hit the sack early – 4 people in my little tent (when there was a HUGE tent free) meant that we all (except Chris) woke up at some stage during the night boiling hot and finding the tent very stuffy.
After a lazy morning and full cooked breakfast, we went back to the water and after a brief amount of training, Julie hit 10m! And Zena got to 7m! And then I got to 10m! And Shona swam under the grid! We finished off doing another SCUBA dive while Hardy and others were free diving. Hardy decided to “shadow” us – unbeknown to Alex. Resulting in an amazing face-plant/corkscrew action into the silt when he pinched her bum. We were all laughing so much we had to surface to catch out breath. And then we went back to the reed beds – and with just 3 of us and minimal silting, it was incredible – swimming under reed beds with caverns. And the viz was about 10-15m so we could see so much.
Then it was home time – packing up tents and all that wonderful stuff that has to happen at the end of a camping weekend. And back to reality! And even after loosing Flex, and going to find her, the return trip took about 3 hours!
Pics can be found at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/EyesOpenedAtMaricoOog?authkey=Gv1sRgCLub5YvH-5_N_wE#
Or
http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/EyesOpenedAtMaricoOog?authkey=Gv1sRgCLub5YvH-5_N_wE#
And it took a bit of organisation: not sure how many times we tried, and when we eventually set the weekend, the Wits compressor broke, so we had to spend hours at NUC filling cylinders. Thanks Paolop! And we were missing some of the orinators of the idea (:( to Doug and Roach!) Then rushed day on Friday, but eventually we were in the car just before 4! At 5, we were about 30km – from home. At 6, we were still in Jo’burg (!@#$%^&* traffic). Eventually, we were in Rustenburg, then Swartruggens and finally Zeerust. With no music! Not because we weren’t organised or because we couldn’t decide on who’s music to play (this was a likely scenario) but because the GPS/music player kept blowing the radio/cigarette lighter fuse. So poor Paolo had to make do with Shona and I. I think he would’ve preferred our music!
Eventually though, with the help of cell phones with GPS, we were almost there. Or so we thought. The co-ordinates were wrong! And it was pouring with rain! And the roads were very muddy! And we had Alex following us in a little Taz. (Read we got stuck in the mud. And rain). Eventually, after SIX AND A HALF HOURS, we got there! And amazingly, it stopped raining for long enough for us to put our tents up :) And Julie and Chris had been there for an hour already!
Early Saturday morning, Hardy and family arrived. While having coffee and breakfast, we all took bets as to what time Peter, Jolande and Karen would arrive and were all hopelessly wrong when they arrived way before any of us expected them.
Eventually, we got to the water and decided to try some free diving. SUCH fun! I was so happy to get to 5m – and then watched the others showing off with Hern and Little easily going to 10m and Hardy and Alex freaking 1*’s out while they were doing skills by watching with no gear and swimming under the grid! We also free dived to an eye. Then it was onto SCUBA diving and the real eye! Viz was amazing – about 10m! Until we went through the water lilies and reeds that is – when lots of silt meant that half way through overhangs you could see Nothing! Nada! Niks! Niente! Was interesting :) But still absolutely amazing. While some of us made it out, others swam in “deeper” and ended up the other side of some reeds from us – and so ensued a game of Marco Polo. Eventually though, we all swam back through the fence (the cool reed beds are in another “angry” farmers land so the eye has a fence through it) and went for lunch.
The afternoon was spent relaxing around the campsite and getting ready for a night dive – which was also on the list of to-do’s for all the other divers. We were luckily the 2nd group in and were able to sit on the grid and moon gaze through the bubbles at the full moon from 5m under the water – AMAZING! But (insert expletive – use your imagination!) cold!
So while Shona and I counted the minutes until we could have a hot shower, Paolo cooked our food for us! And just as we got out of our nice warm shower, food was ready – perfect timing. And then we hit the sack early – 4 people in my little tent (when there was a HUGE tent free) meant that we all (except Chris) woke up at some stage during the night boiling hot and finding the tent very stuffy.
After a lazy morning and full cooked breakfast, we went back to the water and after a brief amount of training, Julie hit 10m! And Zena got to 7m! And then I got to 10m! And Shona swam under the grid! We finished off doing another SCUBA dive while Hardy and others were free diving. Hardy decided to “shadow” us – unbeknown to Alex. Resulting in an amazing face-plant/corkscrew action into the silt when he pinched her bum. We were all laughing so much we had to surface to catch out breath. And then we went back to the reed beds – and with just 3 of us and minimal silting, it was incredible – swimming under reed beds with caverns. And the viz was about 10-15m so we could see so much.
Then it was home time – packing up tents and all that wonderful stuff that has to happen at the end of a camping weekend. And back to reality! And even after loosing Flex, and going to find her, the return trip took about 3 hours!
Pics can be found at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/EyesOpenedAtMaricoOog?authkey=Gv1sRgCLub5YvH-5_N_wE#
Or
http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/EyesOpenedAtMaricoOog?authkey=Gv1sRgCLub5YvH-5_N_wE#
Midmar madness
It was that time of year again – when half of Jo’burg (or so it seems on the N3) heads down to Midmar, swims a mile and then turns around and comes back again with a brief stop at the Bierfasl. We joined the madness… again!
Friday afternoon saw us hurriedly packing the car in order to beat the traffic – err – good attempt, but it still took us a LONG time to get out of Joburg. But pretty soon we were at Woodwind Cottage and unpacked. It was then that a theme for the weekend was set – tease me (not bad) and decide what-Jenny-wants-for-her (suppose my fault for going away with 4 guys!), beginning with what makes someone attractive (after analysing George Clooney)… Interesting conversations! “Hello” rapidly became a better option for me :) – which means conversation had stooped to an all time low!
And then onto another theme for the weekend – Marius “Miss Girly Pants” Van Wyk – who refused to share a bed with Theo and insisted on sleeping on cushions on the floor instead! Even worse, he made Theo sleep on the floor the next night, thereby giving Theo the better bed the night before “the race”.
And so it was that the next morning, we left (late) for Midmar, parked the car and headed off to register – what a pleasure in comparison to other years! And then for the reason we went – the swim :) Yes, we all made it, despite it being significantly further than previously due to all the rain recently. Well, that’s my excuse anyway…
After relaxing in the beer tent for a while, we headed off to Hilton to pick up a friend of Mikes and then headed towards Howick Falls, with me in the boot of my own car! I still wonder! Anyway, Howick wasn’t far away and pretty soon Mike, Henk (the friend), Chris and I were at the bottom of the falls to climb/relax while Marius and Theo stayed at the top (remember the girly pants?). Climbing was unsuccessful and Chris and I realized that perhaps, maybe there was sudden;t more water coming over the falls. We almost ran back up and then it started raining. And raining. And pouring! So I ran to get the car, Mike, Henk and Chris walked, then found shelter and proceeded to open beers and I fetched Marius and Theo who were waiting 300m away (err, need I say girly pants – they didn’t want to get wet!).
We headed back and within an hour, all 5 of us had showered and warmed up and we headed off (in the rain) to the Bierfasl to meet Julie and co. Yummy dinner while attempting to control 4 boys – 1 who was dancing while sitting at the table (Theo), another who was drooling over school girls (Marius) and another two were picking out cougars and men I should take home. *sigh* Got home and attempted to watch Troy. Fell asleep.
Next morning, Valentines Day I may add, I cooked breakfast for all while they watched Troy. Again! Well, there were offers of help and Chris and Mike did wash up… And then it was off to the chocolate shop! YUM! And coffee! Also good! And then Rawdons for beer! :) And then the long drive home :(
Pics:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/MidmarMadness?authkey=Gv1sRgCOWEyrKjtojSLw#
or
http://picasaweb.google.com/home
Friday afternoon saw us hurriedly packing the car in order to beat the traffic – err – good attempt, but it still took us a LONG time to get out of Joburg. But pretty soon we were at Woodwind Cottage and unpacked. It was then that a theme for the weekend was set – tease me (not bad) and decide what-Jenny-wants-for-her (suppose my fault for going away with 4 guys!), beginning with what makes someone attractive (after analysing George Clooney)… Interesting conversations! “Hello” rapidly became a better option for me :) – which means conversation had stooped to an all time low!
And then onto another theme for the weekend – Marius “Miss Girly Pants” Van Wyk – who refused to share a bed with Theo and insisted on sleeping on cushions on the floor instead! Even worse, he made Theo sleep on the floor the next night, thereby giving Theo the better bed the night before “the race”.
And so it was that the next morning, we left (late) for Midmar, parked the car and headed off to register – what a pleasure in comparison to other years! And then for the reason we went – the swim :) Yes, we all made it, despite it being significantly further than previously due to all the rain recently. Well, that’s my excuse anyway…
After relaxing in the beer tent for a while, we headed off to Hilton to pick up a friend of Mikes and then headed towards Howick Falls, with me in the boot of my own car! I still wonder! Anyway, Howick wasn’t far away and pretty soon Mike, Henk (the friend), Chris and I were at the bottom of the falls to climb/relax while Marius and Theo stayed at the top (remember the girly pants?). Climbing was unsuccessful and Chris and I realized that perhaps, maybe there was sudden;t more water coming over the falls. We almost ran back up and then it started raining. And raining. And pouring! So I ran to get the car, Mike, Henk and Chris walked, then found shelter and proceeded to open beers and I fetched Marius and Theo who were waiting 300m away (err, need I say girly pants – they didn’t want to get wet!).
We headed back and within an hour, all 5 of us had showered and warmed up and we headed off (in the rain) to the Bierfasl to meet Julie and co. Yummy dinner while attempting to control 4 boys – 1 who was dancing while sitting at the table (Theo), another who was drooling over school girls (Marius) and another two were picking out cougars and men I should take home. *sigh* Got home and attempted to watch Troy. Fell asleep.
Next morning, Valentines Day I may add, I cooked breakfast for all while they watched Troy. Again! Well, there were offers of help and Chris and Mike did wash up… And then it was off to the chocolate shop! YUM! And coffee! Also good! And then Rawdons for beer! :) And then the long drive home :(
Pics:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/MidmarMadness?authkey=Gv1sRgCOWEyrKjtojSLw#
or
http://picasaweb.google.com/home
Tuesday, 12 January 2010
For the love of a bike (or lack thereof) – Botswana Road Trip
This story starts with a frantic phone call from Anne (aka Banan) on the 30th Dec to see what I was doing the next day and if I had a valid passport and ends 2400km and 3.5 days later... The long and short of it was that Anne’s oldest brother, Vito, was in a motorbike accident in Botswana (luckily only 2 broken ribs but sill needed to be flown back to SA) and so we went up, with her youngest brother, Luigi, to fetch the bike!
And is was one of those trips were a pictue (link a the bottom) says a thousand wods!
So, we duly hit the road and, with no particular plans, headed towards Botswana and Gabarone. We got to Gabs and continued on… and on… and on… Until we got to Mahalapye and dinner. And then on… and on… and on some more until we got to Francistown at about 1am. Bed was very welcome – and a very comfy one at that! The birding (a couple of lifers but this wasn’t a birding trip) started with a Woodland Kingfisher, whose 4:30am wake up call did not go own well! The hotel (Cresta Marang) was very well set out but we had no time to enjoy it as we left early and headed up to Nata the next day, not knowing exactly how long anything was going to take. However, the police couldn’t have been nicer and everything was sorted out very quickly with no fuss. They had listed everything and all was in a box waiting for us – apart from valuables which they had locked in a safe! I don’t think even a drop of petrol was taken! After making sure we knew where we were going, we continued towards Kasane to get the bike at a veterinary control barrier.
And then we stopped in absolute amazement – there was an elephant walking down the road towards us! This would not be surprising – except that it was on the A3, the main road between Gabarone to Kasane! And this was no chance occurrence – there was another one a couple of kilometers further along! Again, the Botswana people (in typical hospitality and friendliness) at the barrier couldn’t have been more helpful, helping us (read Luigi) load the bike (while telling us about the 3 lion that had walked past earlier) and then giving us detailed directions to the accident site. So off we went…
We think we found it, took a couple of pics and then headed back towards Nata wondering what we should do with ourselves. The idea was to try to get to the Makgadikgadi Pans so we stopped and asked around. It was recommended that we head towards a lodge, Planet Baobab as the pans were flooded (strange being the wet season!) but that they would have a better idea. The road was interesting with donkey carts, termite mounds, huge concrete aardvark (?)… Planet Baobab was an oasis and we didn’t venture further – a pool, cold dink, large baobabs… Amazing! The lounge/bar area was decorated in cow hide with beer bottles and an outside lounge suite in concrete couches and the rooms were stunning as well with a very cute bathroom. After a game of “straight sharky, we had a braai dinner and despite huge plans to download pictures, we hit the sack.
Next morning we drove around for a while looking for markets but once we realised that the only place to find them was Francistown or Gabarone, decided to head down that direction via Nata to see if we could go quad biking. Banan and I made very good use of our cameras while Luigi struck different poses on the bike – not only while we were sill but while we were driving as well! No luck for quad biking (pans still flooded!) but it was suggested we head to Nata Sanctuary. We couldn’t take the trailer in and the P55 seemed a lot but we went for it anyway!
Brilliant decision! The sanctuary is the north east corner of the Makgadikgadi pans and really made the vastness and flatness real. Absolutely amazing and indescribable. The road often disappeared – either in mud (those flooded pans again!) or into a large pan where it was pot luck as to where the exit was. After playing in what we thought was a large pan, we headed to the “river mouth” but didn’t make it – need a 4 x 4. We did however get super dooper excited at 3 flamingo’s! We continued along the road for a while and then came across the view that everyone looks for – MILLIONS (literally!) of flamingo’s – and a couple of ostrich. This pan was Humungous and literally stretched as far as the eye could see. We were all 3 speechless – for the 1st and last time on the road trip – and for about ½ hour as we just attempted to take in the sites (and not get stuck in the mud!). Reluctantly, we started heading back but found some other interesting sites along the way back – a baobab, some springbok…
And then on to Francistown, and yet more chicken for dinner J We found ourselves another hotel (Tati Rive Lodge – not as nice as Cresta Marang) and duly crashed into bed - again! The next morning we went shopping and looked for the now infamous markets which were nowhere to be found. Instead, we found a whole 3 roadside stalls… We continued looking all the way out o Botswana, even taking a detour to a “craft centre” (closed) and an ostrich farm (yip – you guessed it – also closed!). We left Botswana, crossed over the Limpopo and immediately got “welcomed” back to SA with a glare from the customs official (she was talking on her phone). We decided to push on home rather than stop and eventually got home (after a Wimpy – no chicken!) at about 11. Thank goodness for Banan’s Mom who quickly made coffee while we unpacked and repacked cars. Vito arrived very quickly – supposedly to drop off keys but to check his car and bike (and us?) were back safely?
In conclusion: Essential ingredients for an AWESOME road trip =
2 x amazing friends (thanks Banan and Luigi)
1 x no real plan for 3.5 days and 2400km
1 x kind bother who wants his bike from somewhere in Northern Botswana back (thanks Vito)
Pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/ForTheLoveOfABikeOrLackThereofBotswanaRoadtrip?authkey=Gv1sRgCK_dluymm_nXPQ
And is was one of those trips were a pictue (link a the bottom) says a thousand wods!
So, we duly hit the road and, with no particular plans, headed towards Botswana and Gabarone. We got to Gabs and continued on… and on… and on… Until we got to Mahalapye and dinner. And then on… and on… and on some more until we got to Francistown at about 1am. Bed was very welcome – and a very comfy one at that! The birding (a couple of lifers but this wasn’t a birding trip) started with a Woodland Kingfisher, whose 4:30am wake up call did not go own well! The hotel (Cresta Marang) was very well set out but we had no time to enjoy it as we left early and headed up to Nata the next day, not knowing exactly how long anything was going to take. However, the police couldn’t have been nicer and everything was sorted out very quickly with no fuss. They had listed everything and all was in a box waiting for us – apart from valuables which they had locked in a safe! I don’t think even a drop of petrol was taken! After making sure we knew where we were going, we continued towards Kasane to get the bike at a veterinary control barrier.
And then we stopped in absolute amazement – there was an elephant walking down the road towards us! This would not be surprising – except that it was on the A3, the main road between Gabarone to Kasane! And this was no chance occurrence – there was another one a couple of kilometers further along! Again, the Botswana people (in typical hospitality and friendliness) at the barrier couldn’t have been more helpful, helping us (read Luigi) load the bike (while telling us about the 3 lion that had walked past earlier) and then giving us detailed directions to the accident site. So off we went…
We think we found it, took a couple of pics and then headed back towards Nata wondering what we should do with ourselves. The idea was to try to get to the Makgadikgadi Pans so we stopped and asked around. It was recommended that we head towards a lodge, Planet Baobab as the pans were flooded (strange being the wet season!) but that they would have a better idea. The road was interesting with donkey carts, termite mounds, huge concrete aardvark (?)… Planet Baobab was an oasis and we didn’t venture further – a pool, cold dink, large baobabs… Amazing! The lounge/bar area was decorated in cow hide with beer bottles and an outside lounge suite in concrete couches and the rooms were stunning as well with a very cute bathroom. After a game of “straight sharky, we had a braai dinner and despite huge plans to download pictures, we hit the sack.
Next morning we drove around for a while looking for markets but once we realised that the only place to find them was Francistown or Gabarone, decided to head down that direction via Nata to see if we could go quad biking. Banan and I made very good use of our cameras while Luigi struck different poses on the bike – not only while we were sill but while we were driving as well! No luck for quad biking (pans still flooded!) but it was suggested we head to Nata Sanctuary. We couldn’t take the trailer in and the P55 seemed a lot but we went for it anyway!
Brilliant decision! The sanctuary is the north east corner of the Makgadikgadi pans and really made the vastness and flatness real. Absolutely amazing and indescribable. The road often disappeared – either in mud (those flooded pans again!) or into a large pan where it was pot luck as to where the exit was. After playing in what we thought was a large pan, we headed to the “river mouth” but didn’t make it – need a 4 x 4. We did however get super dooper excited at 3 flamingo’s! We continued along the road for a while and then came across the view that everyone looks for – MILLIONS (literally!) of flamingo’s – and a couple of ostrich. This pan was Humungous and literally stretched as far as the eye could see. We were all 3 speechless – for the 1st and last time on the road trip – and for about ½ hour as we just attempted to take in the sites (and not get stuck in the mud!). Reluctantly, we started heading back but found some other interesting sites along the way back – a baobab, some springbok…
And then on to Francistown, and yet more chicken for dinner J We found ourselves another hotel (Tati Rive Lodge – not as nice as Cresta Marang) and duly crashed into bed - again! The next morning we went shopping and looked for the now infamous markets which were nowhere to be found. Instead, we found a whole 3 roadside stalls… We continued looking all the way out o Botswana, even taking a detour to a “craft centre” (closed) and an ostrich farm (yip – you guessed it – also closed!). We left Botswana, crossed over the Limpopo and immediately got “welcomed” back to SA with a glare from the customs official (she was talking on her phone). We decided to push on home rather than stop and eventually got home (after a Wimpy – no chicken!) at about 11. Thank goodness for Banan’s Mom who quickly made coffee while we unpacked and repacked cars. Vito arrived very quickly – supposedly to drop off keys but to check his car and bike (and us?) were back safely?
In conclusion: Essential ingredients for an AWESOME road trip =
2 x amazing friends (thanks Banan and Luigi)
1 x no real plan for 3.5 days and 2400km
1 x kind bother who wants his bike from somewhere in Northern Botswana back (thanks Vito)
Pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/ForTheLoveOfABikeOrLackThereofBotswanaRoadtrip?authkey=Gv1sRgCK_dluymm_nXPQ
Wednesday, 16 December 2009
Back to the beginning…
So thanks to a Frenchie (aka Jerome) leaving and wanting to go to the Cradle of Mankind, we spent an amazing day exploring…
It started off with a coffee (not for me – I had my mug you’ll be pleased to know) at some garage and Chris and Anne Banan chasing each other around/hooting/generally causing chaos. Did I mention they were chasing each other around in their cars? Oh well… It was a sign of things to come.
After Anne leading and driving past the HUGE Sterkfontein Caves sign and concrete pillars (she claims she was talking too much, Chris reckons you should get a Garmin not a Tom Tom), we made it to the caves and met Francois, Karen and Charl. More coffee and crazy pics and we went down the caves – which were amazing. After descending 119 steps (ask Chris the exact number – he counted!), we entered the elephant chamber, so called because of the large stalagmite and stalactite formations which form an “elephant”. We also went past a very secure door where little foot, a complete Australopithecine skeleton, is still being excavated. It was then onto the 2nd chamber past an underground lake that extends for miles. The guide’s horror story was about a dive expedition that went wrong with 1 diver getting lost and dying down there – not something to tell divers as we immediately wanted to plan a dive in the caves. Apparently its not allowed :( Then it was lights off with the predicted howling to see how dark it really gets down there. The last chamber was the “body” with cavities that looked a heart and kidney, but also had some of the holes though which “they” think animals fell and subsequently died or where saber tooth cats brought their prey leaving fossils in the brecia. And then back into the sunshine (and heat) past a statue of Robert Broom – rub his nose for good luck or hand for wisdom… decisions, decisions
We walked the long way back with views over the cradle before going for ice-creams and Banan buying a hat (whats new?) and Jerome buying some strange monkey (to make sure Chris didn’t feel left out?).
Then it was off to Maropeng and Anne didn’t drive past this time! It is really well done – you approach a huge grass covered dome which houses the museum. You walk in and down a timeline starting at the most recent and ending on a boat ride depicted water (including an ice tunnel and real snow storm), fire, earth and wind. And then through a vortex tunnel depicting the big bang, and you get thrown into life on earth – “so much of fun” with games and hand on exhibits but also many thought provoking sayings. They also had an interesting section on what makes us human before going through a fossil section.
By now tummy’s were talking so we paid a friendly visit to Anne’s farm for a braai. We went to see (and feed) little piglets, saw calves been fed and went to the rabbits. The barn cats had had kittens – so cute! By this stage, Anne’s brother had the fire ready and it was food time – YUM! Good company, good food (Anne did fish that she had caught), good (relaxing) times and suddenly it was 8pm :) So we reluctantly started getting ready to leave when Anne offered us a ride on her brothers motorbike. Only Alex and I were brave enough to go – but such fun. Then it really was time to leave and hit the big smoke again ;(
Pics can be found at: http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/BackToTheBeginning?authkey=Gv1sRgCPf_hcDp9t7imQE#
It started off with a coffee (not for me – I had my mug you’ll be pleased to know) at some garage and Chris and Anne Banan chasing each other around/hooting/generally causing chaos. Did I mention they were chasing each other around in their cars? Oh well… It was a sign of things to come.
After Anne leading and driving past the HUGE Sterkfontein Caves sign and concrete pillars (she claims she was talking too much, Chris reckons you should get a Garmin not a Tom Tom), we made it to the caves and met Francois, Karen and Charl. More coffee and crazy pics and we went down the caves – which were amazing. After descending 119 steps (ask Chris the exact number – he counted!), we entered the elephant chamber, so called because of the large stalagmite and stalactite formations which form an “elephant”. We also went past a very secure door where little foot, a complete Australopithecine skeleton, is still being excavated. It was then onto the 2nd chamber past an underground lake that extends for miles. The guide’s horror story was about a dive expedition that went wrong with 1 diver getting lost and dying down there – not something to tell divers as we immediately wanted to plan a dive in the caves. Apparently its not allowed :( Then it was lights off with the predicted howling to see how dark it really gets down there. The last chamber was the “body” with cavities that looked a heart and kidney, but also had some of the holes though which “they” think animals fell and subsequently died or where saber tooth cats brought their prey leaving fossils in the brecia. And then back into the sunshine (and heat) past a statue of Robert Broom – rub his nose for good luck or hand for wisdom… decisions, decisions
We walked the long way back with views over the cradle before going for ice-creams and Banan buying a hat (whats new?) and Jerome buying some strange monkey (to make sure Chris didn’t feel left out?).
Then it was off to Maropeng and Anne didn’t drive past this time! It is really well done – you approach a huge grass covered dome which houses the museum. You walk in and down a timeline starting at the most recent and ending on a boat ride depicted water (including an ice tunnel and real snow storm), fire, earth and wind. And then through a vortex tunnel depicting the big bang, and you get thrown into life on earth – “so much of fun” with games and hand on exhibits but also many thought provoking sayings. They also had an interesting section on what makes us human before going through a fossil section.
By now tummy’s were talking so we paid a friendly visit to Anne’s farm for a braai. We went to see (and feed) little piglets, saw calves been fed and went to the rabbits. The barn cats had had kittens – so cute! By this stage, Anne’s brother had the fire ready and it was food time – YUM! Good company, good food (Anne did fish that she had caught), good (relaxing) times and suddenly it was 8pm :) So we reluctantly started getting ready to leave when Anne offered us a ride on her brothers motorbike. Only Alex and I were brave enough to go – but such fun. Then it really was time to leave and hit the big smoke again ;(
Pics can be found at: http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/BackToTheBeginning?authkey=Gv1sRgCPf_hcDp9t7imQE#
Tuesday, 08 December 2009
And beach… within a week – the hecticness continues!
So after a hectic couple of days in KNP, I literally had a couple of hours to get ready for Sodwana. Shopping for 4 people for 4 days = 20mins! Inbetween lunch at JCC Woodmead, drinks at JCC Auckland Park & cooking a dinner for my Mom. But I was ready to leave (a little late thanks to a nice cut on my toe) by 6:45am. By 8, we were still not on the highway… It was a hint of things to come! It took over 10hrs to get to Sods, about 500km away!
After avoiding potholes (aka Craters-that-trucks-disappeared-into), we arrived in Ermelo, bursting for the loo! Happily relieved at MacDonalds, we noticed a Game opposite and so began a shopping-for-forgotten-things experience (we got a watch, sheet & picnic set). Back in the car, we remembered we had forgotten to draw money. Roll on Piet Retief. Except that a) every 2nd person in the bustling metropolis of PR uses STD bank (as do Julie & I), b) there was only 1 working ATM, c) it was pay day and d) it starting pouring with rain after waiting in the queue and not moving for 20mins! We decided to try elsewhere and headed off to Pongola. 3 hrs and 100km later (thanks to road works and storms), 3 VERY grumpy people arrived in Pongola. We were slightly happier when there was no queue at the ATM which worked, and singing again after Wimpy lunch! Food Glorious Food! And it was off to Hluhluwe – and another shopping-for-forgotten-things experience (this time for “Pretty Girl/Lady” etc.) hair stuffs (try diving with hair in your face – not fun!). And finally, we got to Sods!
After a quick unpack, it was off to the Smoothie Bar for some cocktails – YUM! Anyone in the area – it’s worth the stop :) A quick dinner and it was off to bed – needed to be on the beach at 6am for a 7am launch
First dive was to 7 mile – YAY – a long boat ride, which turned out to be even longer than expected due to a malfunctioning motor and Meg attempting to steer ;) However, it was worth it – although not as much life as shallower on 2 mile, very different and very pretty with many different corals that hid hawkfish. After about 35mins at 25m, I was out of air, so left Candice (buddy) and Leandra and I headed up and got caught in the bubble stream – amazing! On the surface we waited… and waited… and waited! Eventually everyone was up and we got on the boat. I immediately fed the fish (sea sickness…). Change of boats into one with 2 functioning motors) and Leandra joined the fish-feeding club!
Back on the beach, we were joined by a beautifully scratched Liesl – who had gone snorkeling and ended up on the rocks – OW! But we were soon off on another dive to Stringers. LOTS more life with awesome teeny tiny box fish, some eels, nudibranchs, octopi,eels… and no fish feeding!
Shopping followed (again!) at the beach markets followed by showers and an attempt to cook before the graduation, which was themed survivor-style, complete with flags, sashes and torches! Thanks to Doug for the music! And not thanks to Chris for the Shooters! Or Shona for not being there so me drinking for her!
Sunday was not so early but an awesome deep dive to Deep Sponges – amazing… HUGE eel amongst other things, but nice long dive, thanks to my buddy Peter! Upon surfacing, we saw whales breaching about 15m away – WOW! And then a turtle in the breakers! That afternoon’s dive was also great, and, thanks to the efforts of Dave (DM), Candice (buddy) and Peter, I saw my 1st ray (blue spot) for this trip but also some Porcelain crabs!
We headed back to the Smoothie Bar for dinner on Sunday Night – where I promptly fell asleep… Oops! After being starving when we got back from the beach and eating lunch at 5:30 (after assisting Tomme who tried to cut his thumb off), Candice and I could not finish pizza between the two of us! Bed called, so we headed home early.
Monday was another early dive to Roonies to find seahorses. No seahorses but we saw a HUGE marble sting ray (wing span 2m), eels, mantis shrimps, cleaner shrimps in a potato bass mouth, a scorpion fish (good spot Meg), 2 paper fish (thanks Cathy) and some awesome nudibranchs! A deep dive by Paolo, Francois and Karen meant they had a long deco and we bounced in the water = others joining the fish feeding club!
It was sad to leave but leave we did. The journey back was much better apart from a freak storm which lasted about 100m with bright sunshine either side but such hail and wind and rain that we couldn’t tell which direction it was all coming from, never mind where the road was!
Again, thanks all for an AWESOME weekend!
Pics are at: http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/Sodwana09?authkey=Gv1sRgCLvGrtS976SO8wE#
After avoiding potholes (aka Craters-that-trucks-disappeared-into), we arrived in Ermelo, bursting for the loo! Happily relieved at MacDonalds, we noticed a Game opposite and so began a shopping-for-forgotten-things experience (we got a watch, sheet & picnic set). Back in the car, we remembered we had forgotten to draw money. Roll on Piet Retief. Except that a) every 2nd person in the bustling metropolis of PR uses STD bank (as do Julie & I), b) there was only 1 working ATM, c) it was pay day and d) it starting pouring with rain after waiting in the queue and not moving for 20mins! We decided to try elsewhere and headed off to Pongola. 3 hrs and 100km later (thanks to road works and storms), 3 VERY grumpy people arrived in Pongola. We were slightly happier when there was no queue at the ATM which worked, and singing again after Wimpy lunch! Food Glorious Food! And it was off to Hluhluwe – and another shopping-for-forgotten-things experience (this time for “Pretty Girl/Lady” etc.) hair stuffs (try diving with hair in your face – not fun!). And finally, we got to Sods!
After a quick unpack, it was off to the Smoothie Bar for some cocktails – YUM! Anyone in the area – it’s worth the stop :) A quick dinner and it was off to bed – needed to be on the beach at 6am for a 7am launch
First dive was to 7 mile – YAY – a long boat ride, which turned out to be even longer than expected due to a malfunctioning motor and Meg attempting to steer ;) However, it was worth it – although not as much life as shallower on 2 mile, very different and very pretty with many different corals that hid hawkfish. After about 35mins at 25m, I was out of air, so left Candice (buddy) and Leandra and I headed up and got caught in the bubble stream – amazing! On the surface we waited… and waited… and waited! Eventually everyone was up and we got on the boat. I immediately fed the fish (sea sickness…). Change of boats into one with 2 functioning motors) and Leandra joined the fish-feeding club!
Back on the beach, we were joined by a beautifully scratched Liesl – who had gone snorkeling and ended up on the rocks – OW! But we were soon off on another dive to Stringers. LOTS more life with awesome teeny tiny box fish, some eels, nudibranchs, octopi,eels… and no fish feeding!
Shopping followed (again!) at the beach markets followed by showers and an attempt to cook before the graduation, which was themed survivor-style, complete with flags, sashes and torches! Thanks to Doug for the music! And not thanks to Chris for the Shooters! Or Shona for not being there so me drinking for her!
Sunday was not so early but an awesome deep dive to Deep Sponges – amazing… HUGE eel amongst other things, but nice long dive, thanks to my buddy Peter! Upon surfacing, we saw whales breaching about 15m away – WOW! And then a turtle in the breakers! That afternoon’s dive was also great, and, thanks to the efforts of Dave (DM), Candice (buddy) and Peter, I saw my 1st ray (blue spot) for this trip but also some Porcelain crabs!
We headed back to the Smoothie Bar for dinner on Sunday Night – where I promptly fell asleep… Oops! After being starving when we got back from the beach and eating lunch at 5:30 (after assisting Tomme who tried to cut his thumb off), Candice and I could not finish pizza between the two of us! Bed called, so we headed home early.
Monday was another early dive to Roonies to find seahorses. No seahorses but we saw a HUGE marble sting ray (wing span 2m), eels, mantis shrimps, cleaner shrimps in a potato bass mouth, a scorpion fish (good spot Meg), 2 paper fish (thanks Cathy) and some awesome nudibranchs! A deep dive by Paolo, Francois and Karen meant they had a long deco and we bounced in the water = others joining the fish feeding club!
It was sad to leave but leave we did. The journey back was much better apart from a freak storm which lasted about 100m with bright sunshine either side but such hail and wind and rain that we couldn’t tell which direction it was all coming from, never mind where the road was!
Again, thanks all for an AWESOME weekend!
Pics are at: http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/Sodwana09?authkey=Gv1sRgCLvGrtS976SO8wE#
Monday, 07 December 2009
Back to the Bush!
What a hectic couple of days…
It started with my Uncle and cousin arriving from the UK, and the cricket match that didn’t happen due to the freezing cold and rain. They headed off to Kruger with my Mom while I went to Lisa and Andrew’s wedding. What an AMAZING wedding! Lisa looked stunning and I’ve rarely seen such a happy relaxed couple :) And amazingly, the weather let up for a couple of hours! We had such fun – so much so I even managed to keep high stiletto’s on for (most) of the night, despite almost falling a couple of times on the grass. It really was fantabulous!
Then it was off to Kruger for me as well! I stopped and had coffee and muffins with Tracy in Lydenburg and then got to the heat and humidity (I had forgotten it!) of Skukuza. I met up with the family and we went for a picnic lunch at Lake Panic – much to the concern of my uncle and cousin who were quite wary of being out the vehicle in “the middle of Kruger”. I then quickly caught up with Karen and Stevie from OTS before we headed off to Biyamiti…
Well, at least tried to head off on a relaxing afternoon drive. Due to all the rain over the past couple of days, many bridges were flooded and quite a few of the roads as well. Everywhere we turned we came across people saying roads were impassable. But we arrived safely with some nice sightings along the way, including a HUGE python!
The next morning it was up early (read 4am) for a walk – which was amazing! Apart from a black rhino really close (about 10m away!), we saw elephant and white rhino and the usual impala, giraffe etc. That evening, Chris and Uncle John treated us to an evening (which turned into a night) drive – and we saw another python, a mamba, a white-tailed mongoose, and finally after not seeing much but impala for about 1.5hrs, some lions with cubs! SSOOO cute!
a nice drive through the park, we set off for home…
…or so we thought! Dad’s car decided otherwise when the fan belt broke just past Hazyview. Not a good idea with 4 over-tired people who are all head strong. However, Renault assist and AA were great and just over 2 hrs later we were on the way to Old Joe’s Kaia. Which was great except for the fact it was my Mom’s 60th the next day, and my graduation. However, the folks at Old Joe’s couldn’t have been nicer – they made us welcome, made my Mom a Chocolate Baked Alaska birthday cake and set an amazing birthday breakfast table complete with “Happy Birthday” serviettes. The fact that my other cousin passed more of his GP exams was further cause for celebration :)
Then it was off to Renault in Nelspruit – not the best experience ever. But eventually, the fan belt was fixed and we rushed back to Jo’burg.
After getting my gown, unpacking and changing, we got back to graduation with literally 10mins to spare! And we all got tickets :)
At the end of a rushed day, we went out for a yummy (sushi) dinner!
Pics are: http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/LisaAndrewSWedding?authkey=Gv1sRgCLXPu6Hd-L-81wE# (Lisa & Andrew's Wedding)
and http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/KNPNov09?authkey=Gv1sRgCOLLycP57L6ZeQ# (KNP)
It started with my Uncle and cousin arriving from the UK, and the cricket match that didn’t happen due to the freezing cold and rain. They headed off to Kruger with my Mom while I went to Lisa and Andrew’s wedding. What an AMAZING wedding! Lisa looked stunning and I’ve rarely seen such a happy relaxed couple :) And amazingly, the weather let up for a couple of hours! We had such fun – so much so I even managed to keep high stiletto’s on for (most) of the night, despite almost falling a couple of times on the grass. It really was fantabulous!
Then it was off to Kruger for me as well! I stopped and had coffee and muffins with Tracy in Lydenburg and then got to the heat and humidity (I had forgotten it!) of Skukuza. I met up with the family and we went for a picnic lunch at Lake Panic – much to the concern of my uncle and cousin who were quite wary of being out the vehicle in “the middle of Kruger”. I then quickly caught up with Karen and Stevie from OTS before we headed off to Biyamiti…
Well, at least tried to head off on a relaxing afternoon drive. Due to all the rain over the past couple of days, many bridges were flooded and quite a few of the roads as well. Everywhere we turned we came across people saying roads were impassable. But we arrived safely with some nice sightings along the way, including a HUGE python!
The next morning it was up early (read 4am) for a walk – which was amazing! Apart from a black rhino really close (about 10m away!), we saw elephant and white rhino and the usual impala, giraffe etc. That evening, Chris and Uncle John treated us to an evening (which turned into a night) drive – and we saw another python, a mamba, a white-tailed mongoose, and finally after not seeing much but impala for about 1.5hrs, some lions with cubs! SSOOO cute!
a nice drive through the park, we set off for home…
…or so we thought! Dad’s car decided otherwise when the fan belt broke just past Hazyview. Not a good idea with 4 over-tired people who are all head strong. However, Renault assist and AA were great and just over 2 hrs later we were on the way to Old Joe’s Kaia. Which was great except for the fact it was my Mom’s 60th the next day, and my graduation. However, the folks at Old Joe’s couldn’t have been nicer – they made us welcome, made my Mom a Chocolate Baked Alaska birthday cake and set an amazing birthday breakfast table complete with “Happy Birthday” serviettes. The fact that my other cousin passed more of his GP exams was further cause for celebration :)
Then it was off to Renault in Nelspruit – not the best experience ever. But eventually, the fan belt was fixed and we rushed back to Jo’burg.
After getting my gown, unpacking and changing, we got back to graduation with literally 10mins to spare! And we all got tickets :)
At the end of a rushed day, we went out for a yummy (sushi) dinner!
Pics are: http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/LisaAndrewSWedding?authkey=Gv1sRgCLXPu6Hd-L-81wE# (Lisa & Andrew's Wedding)
and http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/KNPNov09?authkey=Gv1sRgCOLLycP57L6ZeQ# (KNP)
Monday, 12 October 2009
A Miraculous Weekend
We went diving (again) this weekend – and, what a miraculous weekend!
Miraculous coz we were:
a) diving at Miracle Waters
b) it was injury free (pretty amazing with all that was going on!)
c) Shona and I only managed to loose a compass (me), cylinder (me) and ourselves (Shona’s navigation skills!)
After shoving a “miraculous” (sorry – I had to) amount of stuff into my car, we hit the road early on Saturday morning. And that is when Shona and I started laughing, which meant we were well on the way to mild hysteria by the time we reached Hartebeespoort for breakfast. When Alex pulled out her “Oppie Koppie” glasses, we were finished and Jerome (a new French member of the club) was beginning to think he’d made a mistake coming. By the end of breakfast with Anne and Meg involved as well, I think he was pretty convinced! Especially as we went back to the shops about 5 times to get things we had forgotten, despite my car already being overflowing! Anyway, onwards to Miracle waters!
We arrived and set up base, only to move base 5 minutes after we’d finished setting up. Our first dive was to about 15m to do navigation. So we needed to use compass, which would be fine, if somebody (aka yours truly) didn’t get to the descent point minus compass which was definitely in my hand when I left the shore… Luckily we had another compass and did a “search and recovery” and found it on the way back. However, I also “lost” my cylinder (2 dives in a row – am getting a complex – are my buddies trying to tell me something?). My cylinder was quickly re-secured but not without Shona (not my buddy on that dive) falling off the bus she was laughing so much – and didn’t stop when we hit the surface, leading Jerome to believe that we really are mad!
Despite most of the rest of the country having cold, rainy weather, Miracle was very warm – especially in a wetsuit so we quickly made shelter from shade cloth between 2 cars – and then proceeded to cram cooler boxes, people etc underneath for a whole 2 minutes before it was time to kit up again! This time we went to the bus and then plane and Shona and I did well – not loosing anything, not freezing too much, not getting narc’d… We make an awesome pair! Except, as usual, we hit the surface and burst out laughing at something, totally convincing Jerome that we were high.
Our next dive was a 30m skills dive, and thank goodness, we had moved around the dam so we didn’t have a huge long swim again to get to the grid. All went well, until Shona and I decided to move around the grid as we were getting knocked by the people doing skills… except that this little movement caused Shona to become so narc’d she was giggling non-stop and couldn’t get back onto the grid (distance perception!)! In true buddy style, I didn’t desert her, despite her mocking my graceful entries into the water, and we ended up having a great dive.
Then it was night dive time :) And a 30m night dive at that! I got totally narc’d and was quite relieved when Chris (my buddy)’s torch decided to die so it meant he had to hold onto me and lead me for the rest of the dive. At 30m, with no torches, it is pitch black! Again, a great dive. Thanks Francois! When we got to the surface, we realised Paolop (sorry, Paolo)’s torch had also died so he and Shona had a similar dive to Chris and I!
As usual, around a braai, there was much talking and laughing (and drinking). The conversation of the night though had to be Shona and Chris’s discussion of their “marriage” (they were talking at that stage and not "divorced" - Peter wasn't around to steal Chris!) to a 1* who didn’t know them. It was quite funny watching Slim trying to decipher what was going on! Basically good friends and nothing more, Shona and Chris also get “divorced” at the slightest hint of anything and both have other “interests” as well so to outsiders it could be very confusing especially when they both deny it being an open relationship. The other laughing points were Francois jokes…
Bed time called and ended up with Meg, Shona, Chris and myself all sharing a small 4 man tent, on a smaller mattress! Emphasis on the word small. This inevitably, with Shona, Meg and I involved, ended up in giggles, until Meg fell asleep and Shona started getting SMS’s from Paolop telling us to keep quiet! However, no sooner had we kept quiet than over-amourous doves started calling. Let me explain that they were in a cage, right next to our tent! Who keeps doves in cages? And why on earth did they start coo’ing at 2:30am again! And 3:30? And 4:30? Which then woke up an over-excited rooster and he proceeding to start crowing. By 6am, we were all awake, drinking coffee and plotting ways to get rid of certain birds!
But we did get the best dive of the weekend in (thanks Mike)! It was a 30m to a helicopter – much to the excitement of all diving as only Karen had been there before. So after a long swim out, we go down to 30m. And Shona gets narc’d. Again. In hindsight, maybe 30m wasn’t a great place to start diving with a slate and knife but it was only when I wrote how awesome it was and she agreed, but said what is it (to a rather large helicopter) and started leaving her mark that I realized quite how narc’d she was! But we have now left our names at the bottom of Miracle! After a quick explore, we headed back up.
Our final dive was another nav dive with Rob, from the bus so we could “explore” while people were doing their nav. Despite having no trail mix, I still managed to bounce on the bus, and Shona and I really made our mark! Then it was our turn to navigate and we ended up doing a 3-sided square… and getting slightly lost in the process (all Shona’s doing!). This of course caused more hysteria back on the surface. However, before surfacing we went on a little explore and saw so many whelks – WOW!
Then it was back to pack up and drive home… but needed to pack first - a car that was packed to the brim with 2 people on the way there now needed to get 3 people back... um, err. And then we were starving so to extend the weekend, a whole lot of us went for dinner as well :)
Once again, thanks to those SPECIAL people (you know who you are) who, despite everything else, made the weekend so enjoyable for me! And to those who organized it! BIG THANKS!
Pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/AMiraculousWeekend?authkey=Gv1sRgCInYufTg7Zi3_QE#
Miraculous coz we were:
a) diving at Miracle Waters
b) it was injury free (pretty amazing with all that was going on!)
c) Shona and I only managed to loose a compass (me), cylinder (me) and ourselves (Shona’s navigation skills!)
After shoving a “miraculous” (sorry – I had to) amount of stuff into my car, we hit the road early on Saturday morning. And that is when Shona and I started laughing, which meant we were well on the way to mild hysteria by the time we reached Hartebeespoort for breakfast. When Alex pulled out her “Oppie Koppie” glasses, we were finished and Jerome (a new French member of the club) was beginning to think he’d made a mistake coming. By the end of breakfast with Anne and Meg involved as well, I think he was pretty convinced! Especially as we went back to the shops about 5 times to get things we had forgotten, despite my car already being overflowing! Anyway, onwards to Miracle waters!
We arrived and set up base, only to move base 5 minutes after we’d finished setting up. Our first dive was to about 15m to do navigation. So we needed to use compass, which would be fine, if somebody (aka yours truly) didn’t get to the descent point minus compass which was definitely in my hand when I left the shore… Luckily we had another compass and did a “search and recovery” and found it on the way back. However, I also “lost” my cylinder (2 dives in a row – am getting a complex – are my buddies trying to tell me something?). My cylinder was quickly re-secured but not without Shona (not my buddy on that dive) falling off the bus she was laughing so much – and didn’t stop when we hit the surface, leading Jerome to believe that we really are mad!
Despite most of the rest of the country having cold, rainy weather, Miracle was very warm – especially in a wetsuit so we quickly made shelter from shade cloth between 2 cars – and then proceeded to cram cooler boxes, people etc underneath for a whole 2 minutes before it was time to kit up again! This time we went to the bus and then plane and Shona and I did well – not loosing anything, not freezing too much, not getting narc’d… We make an awesome pair! Except, as usual, we hit the surface and burst out laughing at something, totally convincing Jerome that we were high.
Our next dive was a 30m skills dive, and thank goodness, we had moved around the dam so we didn’t have a huge long swim again to get to the grid. All went well, until Shona and I decided to move around the grid as we were getting knocked by the people doing skills… except that this little movement caused Shona to become so narc’d she was giggling non-stop and couldn’t get back onto the grid (distance perception!)! In true buddy style, I didn’t desert her, despite her mocking my graceful entries into the water, and we ended up having a great dive.
Then it was night dive time :) And a 30m night dive at that! I got totally narc’d and was quite relieved when Chris (my buddy)’s torch decided to die so it meant he had to hold onto me and lead me for the rest of the dive. At 30m, with no torches, it is pitch black! Again, a great dive. Thanks Francois! When we got to the surface, we realised Paolop (sorry, Paolo)’s torch had also died so he and Shona had a similar dive to Chris and I!
As usual, around a braai, there was much talking and laughing (and drinking). The conversation of the night though had to be Shona and Chris’s discussion of their “marriage” (they were talking at that stage and not "divorced" - Peter wasn't around to steal Chris!) to a 1* who didn’t know them. It was quite funny watching Slim trying to decipher what was going on! Basically good friends and nothing more, Shona and Chris also get “divorced” at the slightest hint of anything and both have other “interests” as well so to outsiders it could be very confusing especially when they both deny it being an open relationship. The other laughing points were Francois jokes…
Bed time called and ended up with Meg, Shona, Chris and myself all sharing a small 4 man tent, on a smaller mattress! Emphasis on the word small. This inevitably, with Shona, Meg and I involved, ended up in giggles, until Meg fell asleep and Shona started getting SMS’s from Paolop telling us to keep quiet! However, no sooner had we kept quiet than over-amourous doves started calling. Let me explain that they were in a cage, right next to our tent! Who keeps doves in cages? And why on earth did they start coo’ing at 2:30am again! And 3:30? And 4:30? Which then woke up an over-excited rooster and he proceeding to start crowing. By 6am, we were all awake, drinking coffee and plotting ways to get rid of certain birds!
But we did get the best dive of the weekend in (thanks Mike)! It was a 30m to a helicopter – much to the excitement of all diving as only Karen had been there before. So after a long swim out, we go down to 30m. And Shona gets narc’d. Again. In hindsight, maybe 30m wasn’t a great place to start diving with a slate and knife but it was only when I wrote how awesome it was and she agreed, but said what is it (to a rather large helicopter) and started leaving her mark that I realized quite how narc’d she was! But we have now left our names at the bottom of Miracle! After a quick explore, we headed back up.
Our final dive was another nav dive with Rob, from the bus so we could “explore” while people were doing their nav. Despite having no trail mix, I still managed to bounce on the bus, and Shona and I really made our mark! Then it was our turn to navigate and we ended up doing a 3-sided square… and getting slightly lost in the process (all Shona’s doing!). This of course caused more hysteria back on the surface. However, before surfacing we went on a little explore and saw so many whelks – WOW!
Then it was back to pack up and drive home… but needed to pack first - a car that was packed to the brim with 2 people on the way there now needed to get 3 people back... um, err. And then we were starving so to extend the weekend, a whole lot of us went for dinner as well :)
Once again, thanks to those SPECIAL people (you know who you are) who, despite everything else, made the weekend so enjoyable for me! And to those who organized it! BIG THANKS!
Pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/AMiraculousWeekend?authkey=Gv1sRgCInYufTg7Zi3_QE#
Monday, 28 September 2009
So much of Awesomeness and all: the Suikerboschfontein hike
After literally hundreds of emails being sent (the one thread had 52 conversations!), we actually did pull ourselves towards ourselves and managed to organise getting to Suikerboschfontein, near Carolina, with food and all other necessary stuffs for a hike, as well timing our arrival at the designated breakfast stop pretty much together. Amazing! Seriously!
After food (yes, I’m motivated by the availability of food), we continued on to Suikerboschfontein, with a stop at the OK in Carolina for, you guessed it, more food! Anyway, after almost destroying the shop (we needed a ball to play volleyball etc and needed to test it out!) and lots of laughs, we were finally on the last stretch! Lots of singing later and we could see the stunning Rooikrans camp. And then we stopped… puncture time! So Peter’s car was quickly unpacked, and all but Meg, Anne, Peter and I were left looking at the wheel in a surprising short amount of time. A quick wheel change and we were soon eating wors rolls (it was National braai day after all). And then it was off for a walk and swim to a waterfall. WOW! We started off in these rock formations that surrounded camp to an “uitkykpunt” overlooking the valley – beautiful! After going down some ladders (and Meg and I commenting that we were “so glad we’re not doing this with backpacks”), we descended into a forest, with some flowering Iris’ and huge yellowwoods and a clear mountain stream trickling over moss-covered rocks. And on to the freezing waterfall pool! FREEZING! Did I mention that the water was freezing? But it was beautiful!
We had potjie for dinner – yummy! And nice, hot showers courtesy of donkey boilers, which Anne had to start for the boys! And then we were walking around the camp (can’t remember why, except that we thought it highly amusing, but the other hikers thought we were weird) and ended up drinking whiskey coffees at another view point – also stunning!
The next morning was a late start. Backpacks needed to be packed, breakfast needed to be made/eaten, food needed to be evenly distributed, breakfast needed to be made/eaten, bags needed to be weighed and finally, breakfast was made and eaten – a huge cook up! YUM! A new standard has been set for hiking! So, eventually, after taking apples out of bags to eat on the path (in case we hadn’t had enough breakfast), we hit the path, or rock jumping with backpacks of 16 – 18kg (for Meg, Peter and I)! Awesome scenery again though. Our first break was on top of a gorge, and to the detriment of all others involved, I got introduced to Meg’s trail mix. Combine trail mix (aka energy booster) + an already energetic and happy me = super bouncy me! Peter kept telling me how far we’d gone and there was a little jump, or star jump or I’d convince Meg to skip or we’d start singing “it’s been a hard days night; and I’ve been working like a dog…”…
Anyhow, soon after my introduction to trail mix, we entered the forest where we were for most of the day. It was stunning, and I even got to vaguely maybe appreciate some of the millions of ladders, and did a slide or two on the ropes that were meant to be stablilising (Thanks Hardy for teaching me to NOT let go of the rope when diving!). Lunch was had in the forest, at the bottom of a little waterfall. Lots of up and down later (we went into numerous little kloofs), we arrived at the next camp – Oom Japies se huis. Together with dinner, the best thing was hot chocolate with whiskey! Awesomeness! Peter’s coffee flavoured whiskey wasn’t quite as yummy (sorry!).
The next morning, we took the boys coffee in bed on the condition that we got the favour returned. We’re still waiting… Anyhow, another awesome walk – this time mainly in the open but still stunning. At one stage the trail goes past bushmen paintings. We had lunch in a place called “Bobejaan’s hotel” – quite a scramble to a huge old tree, which was like the magic faraway tree, and great for climbing and for the view. Then it was back into the open. At this stage Peter and I decided to “follow the footprints” and devised all sorts of games from just standing on the trail markers (painted footprints) to including them into your stride – quite a challenge when they are 1m up on a vertical rock… We also went past some old Indian ruins which tracked the seasons and were all perfectly aligned and an old kraal. And then it was swim time! Bliss! And more trail mix (I’m convinced the powers that be kept it from me after seeing me the day before!)! More happiness! And then the final slog back up to Rooikrans.
Slog because those ladders that Meg and I said thank goodness we don’t have backpacks on for – yup, you guessed it – we went up there with backpacks on! So Marius, Peter, Karin, Anne, Meg and I had a break at the top at the “uitkykpunt” until we really needed to get back before it got dark while Theo went back for sunset pics. It was wonderful just sitting and chilling and watching all that was happening around us.
Back at camp, although there was no cold beer, there was a whiskey and water and hot shower! And food! And then suddenly it was midnight…
While the girls waited for coffee in bed, Marius and Theo sat around the now dead fire wondering where we all were. A quick tidy up and some breakfast later and we hit the road back to Jo’burg. Thank goodness we left earlyish – the traffic was horrid!
And then a quick unpack, and Peter and I were off to the cricket – and a much appreciated beer! It was awesome just chilling and chatting! But, Yay, New Zealand won :)
To finish off, thanks all, again, for a fantabulous weekend and just for those there, a reminder of the sayings of the weekend:
* “Long live [champ] Meg” – awesome catering, just awesomeness. As compared to Peter (awesome) and Anne (ness) who together make awesomeness.
* Johnny Clegg is the Man; and Peter’s cream is also the Man – Anne didn’t appreciate Meg and my singing to Johnny Clegg, and Peter had anti-bug cream that not only smelt good but worked!
* [in gangsta voice] “Anne is like a posh, old, zombie goat living on an island without a pet rabbit” – when Shona couldn’t come anymore, Meg said she was now significantly the youngest so Anne called herself an old goat. She then came up with friends are people and people are problems so don’t want friends (see the next saying) hence the island and wanted us to stop at the Belfast Pet Shop for a rabbit instead of friends – which we refused to do hence without a pet rabbit. Then, after a long day hiking, started using “big” words, like uncouth, while talking in a gangster voice.
* “You have issues” - but keep them to yourself, don’t make them mine – courtesy of Anne.
* “Those damn Mexicans” – coz you always need someone to blame when things go pear!
As usual, pics are: http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/SoMuchOfAwesomenessTheSuikerboschfonteinHike?authkey=Gv1sRgCMLoxaydmrzUag#
After food (yes, I’m motivated by the availability of food), we continued on to Suikerboschfontein, with a stop at the OK in Carolina for, you guessed it, more food! Anyway, after almost destroying the shop (we needed a ball to play volleyball etc and needed to test it out!) and lots of laughs, we were finally on the last stretch! Lots of singing later and we could see the stunning Rooikrans camp. And then we stopped… puncture time! So Peter’s car was quickly unpacked, and all but Meg, Anne, Peter and I were left looking at the wheel in a surprising short amount of time. A quick wheel change and we were soon eating wors rolls (it was National braai day after all). And then it was off for a walk and swim to a waterfall. WOW! We started off in these rock formations that surrounded camp to an “uitkykpunt” overlooking the valley – beautiful! After going down some ladders (and Meg and I commenting that we were “so glad we’re not doing this with backpacks”), we descended into a forest, with some flowering Iris’ and huge yellowwoods and a clear mountain stream trickling over moss-covered rocks. And on to the freezing waterfall pool! FREEZING! Did I mention that the water was freezing? But it was beautiful!
We had potjie for dinner – yummy! And nice, hot showers courtesy of donkey boilers, which Anne had to start for the boys! And then we were walking around the camp (can’t remember why, except that we thought it highly amusing, but the other hikers thought we were weird) and ended up drinking whiskey coffees at another view point – also stunning!
The next morning was a late start. Backpacks needed to be packed, breakfast needed to be made/eaten, food needed to be evenly distributed, breakfast needed to be made/eaten, bags needed to be weighed and finally, breakfast was made and eaten – a huge cook up! YUM! A new standard has been set for hiking! So, eventually, after taking apples out of bags to eat on the path (in case we hadn’t had enough breakfast), we hit the path, or rock jumping with backpacks of 16 – 18kg (for Meg, Peter and I)! Awesome scenery again though. Our first break was on top of a gorge, and to the detriment of all others involved, I got introduced to Meg’s trail mix. Combine trail mix (aka energy booster) + an already energetic and happy me = super bouncy me! Peter kept telling me how far we’d gone and there was a little jump, or star jump or I’d convince Meg to skip or we’d start singing “it’s been a hard days night; and I’ve been working like a dog…”…
Anyhow, soon after my introduction to trail mix, we entered the forest where we were for most of the day. It was stunning, and I even got to vaguely maybe appreciate some of the millions of ladders, and did a slide or two on the ropes that were meant to be stablilising (Thanks Hardy for teaching me to NOT let go of the rope when diving!). Lunch was had in the forest, at the bottom of a little waterfall. Lots of up and down later (we went into numerous little kloofs), we arrived at the next camp – Oom Japies se huis. Together with dinner, the best thing was hot chocolate with whiskey! Awesomeness! Peter’s coffee flavoured whiskey wasn’t quite as yummy (sorry!).
The next morning, we took the boys coffee in bed on the condition that we got the favour returned. We’re still waiting… Anyhow, another awesome walk – this time mainly in the open but still stunning. At one stage the trail goes past bushmen paintings. We had lunch in a place called “Bobejaan’s hotel” – quite a scramble to a huge old tree, which was like the magic faraway tree, and great for climbing and for the view. Then it was back into the open. At this stage Peter and I decided to “follow the footprints” and devised all sorts of games from just standing on the trail markers (painted footprints) to including them into your stride – quite a challenge when they are 1m up on a vertical rock… We also went past some old Indian ruins which tracked the seasons and were all perfectly aligned and an old kraal. And then it was swim time! Bliss! And more trail mix (I’m convinced the powers that be kept it from me after seeing me the day before!)! More happiness! And then the final slog back up to Rooikrans.
Slog because those ladders that Meg and I said thank goodness we don’t have backpacks on for – yup, you guessed it – we went up there with backpacks on! So Marius, Peter, Karin, Anne, Meg and I had a break at the top at the “uitkykpunt” until we really needed to get back before it got dark while Theo went back for sunset pics. It was wonderful just sitting and chilling and watching all that was happening around us.
Back at camp, although there was no cold beer, there was a whiskey and water and hot shower! And food! And then suddenly it was midnight…
While the girls waited for coffee in bed, Marius and Theo sat around the now dead fire wondering where we all were. A quick tidy up and some breakfast later and we hit the road back to Jo’burg. Thank goodness we left earlyish – the traffic was horrid!
And then a quick unpack, and Peter and I were off to the cricket – and a much appreciated beer! It was awesome just chilling and chatting! But, Yay, New Zealand won :)
To finish off, thanks all, again, for a fantabulous weekend and just for those there, a reminder of the sayings of the weekend:
* “Long live [champ] Meg” – awesome catering, just awesomeness. As compared to Peter (awesome) and Anne (ness) who together make awesomeness.
* Johnny Clegg is the Man; and Peter’s cream is also the Man – Anne didn’t appreciate Meg and my singing to Johnny Clegg, and Peter had anti-bug cream that not only smelt good but worked!
* [in gangsta voice] “Anne is like a posh, old, zombie goat living on an island without a pet rabbit” – when Shona couldn’t come anymore, Meg said she was now significantly the youngest so Anne called herself an old goat. She then came up with friends are people and people are problems so don’t want friends (see the next saying) hence the island and wanted us to stop at the Belfast Pet Shop for a rabbit instead of friends – which we refused to do hence without a pet rabbit. Then, after a long day hiking, started using “big” words, like uncouth, while talking in a gangster voice.
* “You have issues” - but keep them to yourself, don’t make them mine – courtesy of Anne.
* “Those damn Mexicans” – coz you always need someone to blame when things go pear!
As usual, pics are: http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/SoMuchOfAwesomenessTheSuikerboschfonteinHike?authkey=Gv1sRgCMLoxaydmrzUag#
Monday, 07 September 2009
Wonders of the gat at Wondergat!
It was with much trepidation that a group of us found ourselves at Wondergat. After all the stories about how dangerous it is, together with Shona’s infamous dive where she attempted to return to the shore with nothing, minimal sleep and a briefing lecture, I think Shona and I were ready to run!
But was it amazing – WOW!
It started VERY early on Saturday – some mad person/people decided that it would be a good idea to leave Jo’burg at 4am which meant getting up at 3 so we could all get to designated departure point, repack cars (any idea how much space diving stuff + camping stuff takes up?) etc and leave by 4. Except that not only were we late, but some of the mad individuals who decided 4 was a good idea (Paolop!) were very much later! Lots of coffee needed, so much so that we waited outside a Wimpy in Swartruggens for 20mins to get some – watered down Ricoffy would be a good description. So another coffee stop was required in Zeerust – watered down Nescafe… Mmm – not starting well!
But eventually we got to Wondies and set up camp. The desired power nap didn’t happen as need to do dive planning. And have an intro to the site - it is an advanced diving only site, formed by a natural sinkhole, near Mafikeng. It is the deepest natural hole in South Africa, with the shallowest part of the bottom at about 30m and a huge cave on one side extending much further and much deeper and where most of the fatalities have occurred. As it is dolomite that has been eroded over time, and due to stromatolites, the walls of the hole are amazing, with lots of nooks and crannies hiding the most amazing little creatures. The first dive was great – just an orientation at about 10 – 15m around the edge of the gat… We saw the wagon wheels (thought to be remains of stromatolites) and some living stromatolites (look like fluffy cottage cheese disks with a wavy surface) and an amazing variety of fish. Then it was back for lunch, filling of cylinders, finishing setting up camp, including putting up hammocks (thanks Peter!) and back into the water for our 30m skills dive.
And what a dive – any other attempt by Shona to have a shocking dive pales in comparison to this one! We went down to “The Bell” at about 30m to do skills – mask removal, DV (the tube that takes the air from the cylinder to your mouth) retrieval, buddy breathing if there was time… So Hardy (the awesomest instructor ever!) shows us how to do it, and Shona duly tries. Mask off = fine, DV out = fine, DV retrieved = fine, purge DV to put back in mouth (water goes into it) = problem. The 2nd stage/Octo (the bit that goes in your mouth) jams. No problem, Shona calmly reaches for her 2nd Octo – except that it starts free flowing, then stopping. So basically an out of air emergency at 30m. Not fun. But both Hardy and Shona were so calm (or appeared it anyway!) and Hardy quickly gave Shona his 2nd Octo (they are meant for buddy breathing so) and dive is terminated with an emergency ascent! Although scary at the time, it was an awesome dive to see how good our training at WUC is and that we can handle any emergency. And Shona even came up wanting to go down again! We blame it on Bastjin - he was our good luck symbol on Saturday and that was the only dive he wasn't with us!
Then it was night dive time with a full moon! It was almost brighter than during the day and the night life was amazing! Apart from sea dives, it honestly was one of the best dives ever! We all came up on such a high and with a lovely fire waiting once we were out of wetsuits, we sat and chatted (awesome chats and hilarious laughs – thanks especially Peter and Hardy) and drank wine until we suddenly realized it was 2am. After the fire and warmth of the conversation and presence of good friends, bed seemed colder than ever – it was freezing! But Shona managed to convince Paolop to bring us proper coffee (have to camp in style!) in bed!
Sunday was an awesomely warm day so we soon warmed up and were back in the water for skills again and some buddy breathing. This after some dive planning well explained by Francois. All went well at 30m this time (thank goodness), except that I didn’t get to do my skills. We came up to 10m and did some “blind” (as there are no reference points) keeping buoyancy and swimming at the same level and then came up. The comments on the surface (for people that have never been married, and are involved with others, Shona and Chris, you sure get divorced often - what about 3 times in 2 days?). Huge laughs on the surface and I still had to go down to do buddy breathing, but only at 8m so I think I got lucky. Thank goodness as I was still laughing and might have battled deeper!
Then it was packing up time – uuugghhh! I really didn’t want the weekend to end and the thought of driving back wasn’t great, so thanks Peter (again!) for leading the way!
Overall – “wonder”ful weekend with “wonder”ful people!
Very few pics – but check how beautiful the gat is:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/WondersOfWondergat?authkey=Gv1sRgCMCNkICmtc2_pQE#
But was it amazing – WOW!
It started VERY early on Saturday – some mad person/people decided that it would be a good idea to leave Jo’burg at 4am which meant getting up at 3 so we could all get to designated departure point, repack cars (any idea how much space diving stuff + camping stuff takes up?) etc and leave by 4. Except that not only were we late, but some of the mad individuals who decided 4 was a good idea (Paolop!) were very much later! Lots of coffee needed, so much so that we waited outside a Wimpy in Swartruggens for 20mins to get some – watered down Ricoffy would be a good description. So another coffee stop was required in Zeerust – watered down Nescafe… Mmm – not starting well!
But eventually we got to Wondies and set up camp. The desired power nap didn’t happen as need to do dive planning. And have an intro to the site - it is an advanced diving only site, formed by a natural sinkhole, near Mafikeng. It is the deepest natural hole in South Africa, with the shallowest part of the bottom at about 30m and a huge cave on one side extending much further and much deeper and where most of the fatalities have occurred. As it is dolomite that has been eroded over time, and due to stromatolites, the walls of the hole are amazing, with lots of nooks and crannies hiding the most amazing little creatures. The first dive was great – just an orientation at about 10 – 15m around the edge of the gat… We saw the wagon wheels (thought to be remains of stromatolites) and some living stromatolites (look like fluffy cottage cheese disks with a wavy surface) and an amazing variety of fish. Then it was back for lunch, filling of cylinders, finishing setting up camp, including putting up hammocks (thanks Peter!) and back into the water for our 30m skills dive.
And what a dive – any other attempt by Shona to have a shocking dive pales in comparison to this one! We went down to “The Bell” at about 30m to do skills – mask removal, DV (the tube that takes the air from the cylinder to your mouth) retrieval, buddy breathing if there was time… So Hardy (the awesomest instructor ever!) shows us how to do it, and Shona duly tries. Mask off = fine, DV out = fine, DV retrieved = fine, purge DV to put back in mouth (water goes into it) = problem. The 2nd stage/Octo (the bit that goes in your mouth) jams. No problem, Shona calmly reaches for her 2nd Octo – except that it starts free flowing, then stopping. So basically an out of air emergency at 30m. Not fun. But both Hardy and Shona were so calm (or appeared it anyway!) and Hardy quickly gave Shona his 2nd Octo (they are meant for buddy breathing so) and dive is terminated with an emergency ascent! Although scary at the time, it was an awesome dive to see how good our training at WUC is and that we can handle any emergency. And Shona even came up wanting to go down again! We blame it on Bastjin - he was our good luck symbol on Saturday and that was the only dive he wasn't with us!
Then it was night dive time with a full moon! It was almost brighter than during the day and the night life was amazing! Apart from sea dives, it honestly was one of the best dives ever! We all came up on such a high and with a lovely fire waiting once we were out of wetsuits, we sat and chatted (awesome chats and hilarious laughs – thanks especially Peter and Hardy) and drank wine until we suddenly realized it was 2am. After the fire and warmth of the conversation and presence of good friends, bed seemed colder than ever – it was freezing! But Shona managed to convince Paolop to bring us proper coffee (have to camp in style!) in bed!
Sunday was an awesomely warm day so we soon warmed up and were back in the water for skills again and some buddy breathing. This after some dive planning well explained by Francois. All went well at 30m this time (thank goodness), except that I didn’t get to do my skills. We came up to 10m and did some “blind” (as there are no reference points) keeping buoyancy and swimming at the same level and then came up. The comments on the surface (for people that have never been married, and are involved with others, Shona and Chris, you sure get divorced often - what about 3 times in 2 days?). Huge laughs on the surface and I still had to go down to do buddy breathing, but only at 8m so I think I got lucky. Thank goodness as I was still laughing and might have battled deeper!
Then it was packing up time – uuugghhh! I really didn’t want the weekend to end and the thought of driving back wasn’t great, so thanks Peter (again!) for leading the way!
Overall – “wonder”ful weekend with “wonder”ful people!
Very few pics – but check how beautiful the gat is:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/WondersOfWondergat?authkey=Gv1sRgCMCNkICmtc2_pQE#
Sunday, 30 August 2009
OK, so it’s been a while in the life of me but…
... Mopane mapping finished, Magoebaskloof again, some diving, a bit more diving, fun times with friends and now in the Pilansberg J
To start at the most recent, sitting in the Pilansberg after an awesome weekend with my family. We saw the teeniest, tiniest elephant ever – literally a day or two old – it still had it’s umbilical cord and was in a small sub-herd. It explored our car quite closely and fitted under the side mirror. Actually, rather than walked next to our car, read lent on it - it was too unstable to walk on its own! Luckily, Mom (the elephant one, not mine!) was quite relaxed about the whole thing though. So Very Cute! We also some sable this morning, and a giraffe drinking which was quite cool! Other than that, we haven’t seen that much (unless you ask my Mom – we stopped 4 times for the same “rhino” aka a rock and slammed on breaks for running Wildebeest aka a car) but it’s great just being out of the city. And, very exciting, the kingfishers are back! YAY – that means summer is coming! We also had a Natal Francolin come and join us for the rugby yesterday (go BOKKE!) – literally. The door was open and he just walked in and tried to help himself to some of the snacks. Bit of a downer at the end – my sisters car broke down which meant a high speed drive to Hartebeespoort to get there before the AA tow truck did, but she’s safely home – think it’s time for a new car! As a friend, another Heather, who also came up this weekend said – when she wants the car to stop, it goes, and when she wants it to go, it stops (with reference to her “straight-after-service-please-check-the-breaks break-failure accident earlier this year).
Then, recently, I've got lots of diving done. I’ve just done my 2* and basic Nitrox so lots of dives. The 1st set was done at Miracle Waters. We did 3 dives – one “exploratory” dive to 27m and another to 30m to do skills, where we attempted to blow up condoms with various stages of narcosis. I couldn’t really be bothered and Meg next to me thought it was the funniest thing out! Laughter travels at 30m J We also did a night dive – extremely disorienting at 1st – imagine walking outside on a pitch-dark night blindfolded. Now add in the extra dimension of being able to go up or down, the neon lights of cylumes and the odd torch beam including your own and work stuff out! But it was pretty awesome! And as I wasn’t cold when I got out, I love my chicken vest and socks J Then, after only 3½ hours sleep (good pasta evening with friends and the subsequent chatting between Anne, Shona and myself to sort the world’s problems, mainly those to do with the male species), we headed to Bass for our next dive – an what an epic it was. After an almost rescue to go and fetch Paolo (too much working out = wetsuit doesn’t fit = can’t breathe when trying to swim 200m in FREEZING water), the 2 stars hit the water. Shona did so much yo-yo’ing (thanks to an auto-inflating BC) that navigation was impossible (Godfrey, Calley, you would be proud – I swam a rather large square at the same level using a compass! This is a challenge when visability is a couple of metres) but also managed to loose not only her cylinder (with a guffawing buddy, Anne), a fin and a mask, but also a weighbelt (so overweighted it was falling off – not a problem - we’ll just move it up and tighten it, except that now it’s sitting at the bottom of Bass Lake). So anyone who is diving there soon and comes across a blue weight belt with 9 weights on it (I said it she was over-weighted), please return it to Shona (or Dave, her now ex-bf!). And then Shona starts cramping. I said it was epic! But lots of coffee, more pasta and more Malva pudding later seemed to help!
Then back to the beginning - or the end of the last blog post - the end of Mopane Mapping and Magoebaskloof, again. Picking up from the last blog… more walking up near Phalaborwa. Practical tricks abounded - from attempting to walk stright over huge termitaria (had to keep a straight line), to running away from imaginary elephants when Godfrey was moving the vehcile to singing "yellow submarine" (I'm still asking why?!), I think we gave Godfrey, among others (sorry for the rocks Robert!), a hard time! Phalaborwa’s still not a happening place – I used to run EVERY road in the staff village, around the village and to the compound and back and it took 9 minutes! I had this theory that the 1st time the impala saw you, they would be skittish and move away, the 2nd time it would be a "what the....?" kind of look, the 3rd time (by now about 3 mins after the 1st time you saw them), they were going "didn't we just see you - like a minute ago", the 4th time it would be "we DID see you a minute ago", the 5th time would be "you are really mad or lost" and by the time I'd pass them for the 6th time, they would just ignore me... and this all on 1 loop! But at the end of the week, we had a great drive down to Skukuza – we saw the big 5, except leopard, on the road and a brilliant sighting of wild dog. Also moved the OTS vehicle, or rather turned it around. Hehehehe! When we got to Skukuza, there was a slight problem with our booking, in that we had none! Thank goodness for friends (thanks Laurence!)! I went out with the OTS REU people – some snakes (= herpers excited) and lots of small mammals (= me excited). Then off to rugby for the Super 14 final – except that trapping bats was strangely more appealing... Did watch the second half though – once it was clear that the bulls would win! It was back out with REU the next morning and while we were happy to work with a pride of lions about 200m away (some lady INSISTING that we get back into the vehicles even though we had a game guard with us!), the birding group, including Calley, Karen and Graeme) attempted to get eaten by a lioness (who had cubs!). A game of squash with Henri, a cup of coffee with Karen and we were back in Phalaborwa and then Balulue/Olifants. What a wonderful little camp… We had to awesome volunteers, Malcolm and Mike, come to help us and a great time was had by all. We started off walking in an area, where I’m absolutely positive there was the KNP giraffe convention going on. I have never seen so many giraffe in one place at the same time. Lunch for those couple of days was had in the Timbavati river – WOW! Also came across really fresh lion and rhino spoor but didn’t see them… there! But we did get to see something like 29 lion in 3 days. And the other group (Calley, Godfrey and Mike) tried to get eaten by another lion – they’d not seen a rather large male lion tracking a rather large herd of buffalo until they were about 10-15m away! Then it was back to Magoebaskloof again, this time staying with family friends and Henri and Leigh, friends from Skukuza came to join us. We had a wonderful day on Saturday wondering around the village and a beautiful sunset at the dam. The next day, Henri tried to kill me as we rode down the escarpment (dropped 800m in 15mins) and then realized we had to get back up… and hour later we didn’t want to see another hill! But we had a scrumptious breakfast with Linda and Stu before Henri and Leigh went back and Calley and I headed to the falls. It was Calley’s 21st birthday that week, and Nikki and Rob came for dinner. Apart from Nikki, nobody had seen magic candles… what non-South Africans miss out on! Calley then went back to Magoebaskloof after the last week of Mopane mapping to work at the stable where we had been riding before so when I went to pick her up, she had organized an lovely outride… even if the horse I was on decide that that was the day for being frisky and galloping.
And that working backwards, is the story of the life of me from the last couple of months…
…Except for one thing…
… hold onto your chairs…
… I submitted my PhD!
Yip, it’s in and hopefully by November, my title will change properly! I’m still in the “was it really good enough for a PhD” stage and keep getting up to do it but then…
OK, that was a really long blog, but pics are:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/OutAndAbout1?authkey=Gv1sRgCP7Y0IWjqKu06QE#
Pasta/diving pics are on fb - look for the 1 x pasta, 1 x CRAZY dive & 100% coffee... on my profile!
To start at the most recent, sitting in the Pilansberg after an awesome weekend with my family. We saw the teeniest, tiniest elephant ever – literally a day or two old – it still had it’s umbilical cord and was in a small sub-herd. It explored our car quite closely and fitted under the side mirror. Actually, rather than walked next to our car, read lent on it - it was too unstable to walk on its own! Luckily, Mom (the elephant one, not mine!) was quite relaxed about the whole thing though. So Very Cute! We also some sable this morning, and a giraffe drinking which was quite cool! Other than that, we haven’t seen that much (unless you ask my Mom – we stopped 4 times for the same “rhino” aka a rock and slammed on breaks for running Wildebeest aka a car) but it’s great just being out of the city. And, very exciting, the kingfishers are back! YAY – that means summer is coming! We also had a Natal Francolin come and join us for the rugby yesterday (go BOKKE!) – literally. The door was open and he just walked in and tried to help himself to some of the snacks. Bit of a downer at the end – my sisters car broke down which meant a high speed drive to Hartebeespoort to get there before the AA tow truck did, but she’s safely home – think it’s time for a new car! As a friend, another Heather, who also came up this weekend said – when she wants the car to stop, it goes, and when she wants it to go, it stops (with reference to her “straight-after-service-please-check-the-breaks break-failure accident earlier this year).
Then, recently, I've got lots of diving done. I’ve just done my 2* and basic Nitrox so lots of dives. The 1st set was done at Miracle Waters. We did 3 dives – one “exploratory” dive to 27m and another to 30m to do skills, where we attempted to blow up condoms with various stages of narcosis. I couldn’t really be bothered and Meg next to me thought it was the funniest thing out! Laughter travels at 30m J We also did a night dive – extremely disorienting at 1st – imagine walking outside on a pitch-dark night blindfolded. Now add in the extra dimension of being able to go up or down, the neon lights of cylumes and the odd torch beam including your own and work stuff out! But it was pretty awesome! And as I wasn’t cold when I got out, I love my chicken vest and socks J Then, after only 3½ hours sleep (good pasta evening with friends and the subsequent chatting between Anne, Shona and myself to sort the world’s problems, mainly those to do with the male species), we headed to Bass for our next dive – an what an epic it was. After an almost rescue to go and fetch Paolo (too much working out = wetsuit doesn’t fit = can’t breathe when trying to swim 200m in FREEZING water), the 2 stars hit the water. Shona did so much yo-yo’ing (thanks to an auto-inflating BC) that navigation was impossible (Godfrey, Calley, you would be proud – I swam a rather large square at the same level using a compass! This is a challenge when visability is a couple of metres) but also managed to loose not only her cylinder (with a guffawing buddy, Anne), a fin and a mask, but also a weighbelt (so overweighted it was falling off – not a problem - we’ll just move it up and tighten it, except that now it’s sitting at the bottom of Bass Lake). So anyone who is diving there soon and comes across a blue weight belt with 9 weights on it (I said it she was over-weighted), please return it to Shona (or Dave, her now ex-bf!). And then Shona starts cramping. I said it was epic! But lots of coffee, more pasta and more Malva pudding later seemed to help!
Then back to the beginning - or the end of the last blog post - the end of Mopane Mapping and Magoebaskloof, again. Picking up from the last blog… more walking up near Phalaborwa. Practical tricks abounded - from attempting to walk stright over huge termitaria (had to keep a straight line), to running away from imaginary elephants when Godfrey was moving the vehcile to singing "yellow submarine" (I'm still asking why?!), I think we gave Godfrey, among others (sorry for the rocks Robert!), a hard time! Phalaborwa’s still not a happening place – I used to run EVERY road in the staff village, around the village and to the compound and back and it took 9 minutes! I had this theory that the 1st time the impala saw you, they would be skittish and move away, the 2nd time it would be a "what the....?" kind of look, the 3rd time (by now about 3 mins after the 1st time you saw them), they were going "didn't we just see you - like a minute ago", the 4th time it would be "we DID see you a minute ago", the 5th time would be "you are really mad or lost" and by the time I'd pass them for the 6th time, they would just ignore me... and this all on 1 loop! But at the end of the week, we had a great drive down to Skukuza – we saw the big 5, except leopard, on the road and a brilliant sighting of wild dog. Also moved the OTS vehicle, or rather turned it around. Hehehehe! When we got to Skukuza, there was a slight problem with our booking, in that we had none! Thank goodness for friends (thanks Laurence!)! I went out with the OTS REU people – some snakes (= herpers excited) and lots of small mammals (= me excited). Then off to rugby for the Super 14 final – except that trapping bats was strangely more appealing... Did watch the second half though – once it was clear that the bulls would win! It was back out with REU the next morning and while we were happy to work with a pride of lions about 200m away (some lady INSISTING that we get back into the vehicles even though we had a game guard with us!), the birding group, including Calley, Karen and Graeme) attempted to get eaten by a lioness (who had cubs!). A game of squash with Henri, a cup of coffee with Karen and we were back in Phalaborwa and then Balulue/Olifants. What a wonderful little camp… We had to awesome volunteers, Malcolm and Mike, come to help us and a great time was had by all. We started off walking in an area, where I’m absolutely positive there was the KNP giraffe convention going on. I have never seen so many giraffe in one place at the same time. Lunch for those couple of days was had in the Timbavati river – WOW! Also came across really fresh lion and rhino spoor but didn’t see them… there! But we did get to see something like 29 lion in 3 days. And the other group (Calley, Godfrey and Mike) tried to get eaten by another lion – they’d not seen a rather large male lion tracking a rather large herd of buffalo until they were about 10-15m away! Then it was back to Magoebaskloof again, this time staying with family friends and Henri and Leigh, friends from Skukuza came to join us. We had a wonderful day on Saturday wondering around the village and a beautiful sunset at the dam. The next day, Henri tried to kill me as we rode down the escarpment (dropped 800m in 15mins) and then realized we had to get back up… and hour later we didn’t want to see another hill! But we had a scrumptious breakfast with Linda and Stu before Henri and Leigh went back and Calley and I headed to the falls. It was Calley’s 21st birthday that week, and Nikki and Rob came for dinner. Apart from Nikki, nobody had seen magic candles… what non-South Africans miss out on! Calley then went back to Magoebaskloof after the last week of Mopane mapping to work at the stable where we had been riding before so when I went to pick her up, she had organized an lovely outride… even if the horse I was on decide that that was the day for being frisky and galloping.
And that working backwards, is the story of the life of me from the last couple of months…
…Except for one thing…
… hold onto your chairs…
… I submitted my PhD!
Yip, it’s in and hopefully by November, my title will change properly! I’m still in the “was it really good enough for a PhD” stage and keep getting up to do it but then…
OK, that was a really long blog, but pics are:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/OutAndAbout1?authkey=Gv1sRgCP7Y0IWjqKu06QE#
Pasta/diving pics are on fb - look for the 1 x pasta, 1 x CRAZY dive & 100% coffee... on my profile!
Sunday, 24 May 2009
OTS reflections
So, although I've started a Two weeks in... and still loving it, A Month in... and still loving it etc. I've never really finished any of the posts, so here goes...
... but how to summarise a truely amazing four months (yes four months!) into a couple of lines?
Well, I'll try to be concise and write in more detail elsewhere.
I've been to some amazing places -
eZemvelo – that’s the one I did manage to Blog!
Wits Rural Facility (base for time in Phalaborwa & school visits, Blyde River, indigenous nursery visits),
Shingwedzi (amazing sightings, amazing sunsets, the first scientific project and a one month "friend-a-versary" - a anniversary between friends),
Skukuza (projects, sunsets, parties...),
JHB (culture stuff but cool!),
Cape Town (Robben Island and time off - sushi, Table Mountain, sushi, sunsets on the boulevard and at lions head, sushi, prawns, did I mention sushi?),
De Hoop (wow - amazing place! anybody keen to do the whale trail anytime soon?),
Mapungubwe (it's a really long drive from De Hoop, especially if you go past Skukuza (maybe I shouldn't have mentioned that seeing as I'm trying to convince people to do the whale trail...), but Mapangubwe is an incredible place of incredible contrasts - red rocks, green trees, blue skies and HUGE baobabs - anybody with a 4 x 4 or car with good clearance keen for a visit?),
and finally back to Skukuza (friends again, lots of work... but still amazing!).
I've done some amazing things -
Walking in big 5 areas seems natural, running in them doesn't seem unsafe (except when running into warthogs), cycling in them even less so (except when you chance upon huge pythons) and playing soccer on unprotected fields which an ellie walked through creating huge potholes is now considered normal.
Some awesome projects - from looking at rooting strategies of rock figs and recruitment in baobabs to looking aggressiveness in ants – and that was just the independent projects (ones that all the students design and write up). The specific ones I supervised looked at rates of road kill, monkey (no, not the students!) behaviour inside and outside tourists areas, small mammal community structure in areas with different fire regimes, examining owl pellets to see if they eat small mammals in the same proportion as they occur in the field and looking at the effect of small mammals on seedling recruitment. There were also faculty projects (ones where leading scientists from Wits and UCT come and run projects for 3 days) – we taught scientific method and sustainable resource use in a township school in Phalaborwa, looked at gecko thermoregulation in Shingwedzi, examined spinescence (who would’ve thought that Acacia thorns could be so interesting?), insect community structure and dung beetle eye size (yes, you read correctly!) in Skukuza, tracked tortoises (they don’t move fast!) and played in rock pools in De Hoop and finally had a guest lecture, but unfortunately no project in Mapungubwe.
From a “non-work” perspective – I’ve been horse-riding, on boat trips, on sundowner drives – and other game drives, birding, tubing (I fell out lots in the beginning!), pushed cars out of mud, eaten fish fresh out of the sea, had sundowners over looking the Limpopo with Zim and Botswana both a couple of meters away, climbed GIANT baobabs, played soccer in dry river beds and had parties in the middle of Kruger. I can’t even begin to list all the amazing things – otherwise this post will end up much longer than it already is...
What do I remember?
Amazing people, amazing places, amazing times
What can I take with me?
The incredible amount I've learnt - academically and personally. WOW!
But most of all, the memories
…and the knowledge that I am incredibly privileged to have had this experience!
Some pics are:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/OTSWRF?authkey=Gv1sRgCJK1i6jQxPLL0gE#
http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/OTSShingwedzi?authkey=Gv1sRgCMj59KXB56vz5AE#
http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/OTSSkukuza1?authkey=Gv1sRgCJvFor6ikcWNcQ#
http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/OTSJHB?authkey=Gv1sRgCJHyzbaVu83iJw#
http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/OTSCapeTown?authkey=Gv1sRgCP_G2ZT-u4WFaA#
http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/OTSDeHoop?authkey=Gv1sRgCMethuL8ibrlVA#
http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/OTSMapungubwe?authkey=Gv1sRgCNCG79-NrvO8Mw#
http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/OTSSkukuza2?authkey=Gv1sRgCODSwo3dm_-OOQ#
... but how to summarise a truely amazing four months (yes four months!) into a couple of lines?
Well, I'll try to be concise and write in more detail elsewhere.
I've been to some amazing places -
eZemvelo – that’s the one I did manage to Blog!
Wits Rural Facility (base for time in Phalaborwa & school visits, Blyde River, indigenous nursery visits),
Shingwedzi (amazing sightings, amazing sunsets, the first scientific project and a one month "friend-a-versary" - a anniversary between friends),
Skukuza (projects, sunsets, parties...),
JHB (culture stuff but cool!),
Cape Town (Robben Island and time off - sushi, Table Mountain, sushi, sunsets on the boulevard and at lions head, sushi, prawns, did I mention sushi?),
De Hoop (wow - amazing place! anybody keen to do the whale trail anytime soon?),
Mapungubwe (it's a really long drive from De Hoop, especially if you go past Skukuza (maybe I shouldn't have mentioned that seeing as I'm trying to convince people to do the whale trail...), but Mapangubwe is an incredible place of incredible contrasts - red rocks, green trees, blue skies and HUGE baobabs - anybody with a 4 x 4 or car with good clearance keen for a visit?),
and finally back to Skukuza (friends again, lots of work... but still amazing!).
I've done some amazing things -
Walking in big 5 areas seems natural, running in them doesn't seem unsafe (except when running into warthogs), cycling in them even less so (except when you chance upon huge pythons) and playing soccer on unprotected fields which an ellie walked through creating huge potholes is now considered normal.
Some awesome projects - from looking at rooting strategies of rock figs and recruitment in baobabs to looking aggressiveness in ants – and that was just the independent projects (ones that all the students design and write up). The specific ones I supervised looked at rates of road kill, monkey (no, not the students!) behaviour inside and outside tourists areas, small mammal community structure in areas with different fire regimes, examining owl pellets to see if they eat small mammals in the same proportion as they occur in the field and looking at the effect of small mammals on seedling recruitment. There were also faculty projects (ones where leading scientists from Wits and UCT come and run projects for 3 days) – we taught scientific method and sustainable resource use in a township school in Phalaborwa, looked at gecko thermoregulation in Shingwedzi, examined spinescence (who would’ve thought that Acacia thorns could be so interesting?), insect community structure and dung beetle eye size (yes, you read correctly!) in Skukuza, tracked tortoises (they don’t move fast!) and played in rock pools in De Hoop and finally had a guest lecture, but unfortunately no project in Mapungubwe.
From a “non-work” perspective – I’ve been horse-riding, on boat trips, on sundowner drives – and other game drives, birding, tubing (I fell out lots in the beginning!), pushed cars out of mud, eaten fish fresh out of the sea, had sundowners over looking the Limpopo with Zim and Botswana both a couple of meters away, climbed GIANT baobabs, played soccer in dry river beds and had parties in the middle of Kruger. I can’t even begin to list all the amazing things – otherwise this post will end up much longer than it already is...
What do I remember?
Amazing people, amazing places, amazing times
What can I take with me?
The incredible amount I've learnt - academically and personally. WOW!
But most of all, the memories
…and the knowledge that I am incredibly privileged to have had this experience!
Some pics are:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/OTSWRF?authkey=Gv1sRgCJK1i6jQxPLL0gE#
http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/OTSShingwedzi?authkey=Gv1sRgCMj59KXB56vz5AE#
http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/OTSSkukuza1?authkey=Gv1sRgCJvFor6ikcWNcQ#
http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/OTSJHB?authkey=Gv1sRgCJHyzbaVu83iJw#
http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/OTSCapeTown?authkey=Gv1sRgCP_G2ZT-u4WFaA#
http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/OTSDeHoop?authkey=Gv1sRgCMethuL8ibrlVA#
http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/OTSMapungubwe?authkey=Gv1sRgCNCG79-NrvO8Mw#
http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/OTSSkukuza2?authkey=Gv1sRgCODSwo3dm_-OOQ#
Magoebaskloof Meanderings
With Phalaborwa being the throbbing centre that it is, and with Calley (an ex-OTS student also doing the Mopane Mapping) wanting to experience as much of South Africa as possible, we decided to head to Magoebaskloof for the weekend.
Saturday was a late start – we played card games until 1am the night before, and both needed to send some e-mails. After a brief panic (temporarily misplaced my ipod), we eventually hit the road. The road to Tzaneen is not the most interesting but we both had a good chuckle at a sign – “Giant Baobab – 2001 years old”! Why 2001? Do not forget the 1! And after the baobabs we’d seen in Mapungubwe we were sure this might look like a baby baobab. Calley almost missed Gravelotte (she blinked!), but didn’t miss Tzaneen. From there we headed up Magoebaskloof – it really is an impressive road! My little car battled in some places it was so steep. Unfortunately no pics from going up there – there’s only one little place to pull off and it was packed… We had booked into a cute little B & B – Cherrio (I can recommend it to anyone who goes that direction – it was R150 pppn) and then my tummy was talking – loudly (it was now 2pm and I’d had nothing to eat!), so we headed into Haenertsburg. After a quick bite to eat, we went to find some family friends who live in the area.
We headed back to Cherrio - via an organic cheese farm that many people had recommended but it was closed – to watch the 2nd half of the blue bulls match (the first half was spent talking to Linda). It was freezing so we attempting to get warm in our room. Then it was back to Haenertsburg for dinner – we met Linda, Sturat and Liesel. It was really great catching up with them and as Calley said, they made us feel like family. We went to a really yummy restaurant called The Red Plate – power failure and all they made a plan and still served the most yummy food. There was also another friend of theirs there who had a pet grey wolf. We had seen it in the village earlier and it looks like a husky x alsation. She was quite skittish but let us stroke her when he was around. Then it was back home to attempt to get warm – thank goodness for hot blankets. We watched Madagascar – well Calley watched and I fell asleep within 5 minutes!
But then again, I woke up early this morning to watch the start of Comrades. After convincing myself that I did want to wake up, bundling myself up in a duvet (it was still freezing!) and walking into the cold, I realised that the door might lock itself and the idea of sitting in the freezing TV room til 8 did not appeal and my bed looked far more appealing. So I went back to bed! Breakfast was yummy! The full hog – fruit, cereals, bacon etc. The property is really pretty – they have a couple of trout fishing dams and still have some small patches of indigenous forest in between remnants of pine plantations and kiwi vines, so we went for a quick walk.
We also went horse-riding and Liesel was able to join us with her horse. An hour long outride ended up being 2 hours long. It was amazing – some pine plantation, some natural forest and some grasslands at the top of the mountain. We got amazing views and also really close to game – an impressive Nyala bull about 5m away, and some zebra that decided to join us while we were having a break. One of the horses also had a foal that they were weaning so the foal came along as well and it was very cute seeing her play. We were joined by another foal who just wanted to play and had to convince him to stay with Mom.
Lunch was at the Red Plate again – and it was just as yummy with electricity. The thought of Phalaborwa was not pleasant so we went with Liesel to look at all her animals – and there were lots – from cats and dogs (included a 3-legged one who’s other leg got munched by a leopard and a great dane) to Chinchilla’s, 4m long pythons, tarantula’s… They have a permit to hold indigenous reptiles for re-release as well but didn’t have anything then. Then it was back to Linda and Stu’s for coffee and it really took a lot to convince us to leave.
Now back in Phalaborwa, wondering how we are going to walk 15km tomorrow after the long ride today…
I’ve posted pics at: http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/MagboebaskloofMeandering?authkey=Gv1sRgCOn0qZHpg6_BSA#
Saturday was a late start – we played card games until 1am the night before, and both needed to send some e-mails. After a brief panic (temporarily misplaced my ipod), we eventually hit the road. The road to Tzaneen is not the most interesting but we both had a good chuckle at a sign – “Giant Baobab – 2001 years old”! Why 2001? Do not forget the 1! And after the baobabs we’d seen in Mapungubwe we were sure this might look like a baby baobab. Calley almost missed Gravelotte (she blinked!), but didn’t miss Tzaneen. From there we headed up Magoebaskloof – it really is an impressive road! My little car battled in some places it was so steep. Unfortunately no pics from going up there – there’s only one little place to pull off and it was packed… We had booked into a cute little B & B – Cherrio (I can recommend it to anyone who goes that direction – it was R150 pppn) and then my tummy was talking – loudly (it was now 2pm and I’d had nothing to eat!), so we headed into Haenertsburg. After a quick bite to eat, we went to find some family friends who live in the area.
We headed back to Cherrio - via an organic cheese farm that many people had recommended but it was closed – to watch the 2nd half of the blue bulls match (the first half was spent talking to Linda). It was freezing so we attempting to get warm in our room. Then it was back to Haenertsburg for dinner – we met Linda, Sturat and Liesel. It was really great catching up with them and as Calley said, they made us feel like family. We went to a really yummy restaurant called The Red Plate – power failure and all they made a plan and still served the most yummy food. There was also another friend of theirs there who had a pet grey wolf. We had seen it in the village earlier and it looks like a husky x alsation. She was quite skittish but let us stroke her when he was around. Then it was back home to attempt to get warm – thank goodness for hot blankets. We watched Madagascar – well Calley watched and I fell asleep within 5 minutes!
But then again, I woke up early this morning to watch the start of Comrades. After convincing myself that I did want to wake up, bundling myself up in a duvet (it was still freezing!) and walking into the cold, I realised that the door might lock itself and the idea of sitting in the freezing TV room til 8 did not appeal and my bed looked far more appealing. So I went back to bed! Breakfast was yummy! The full hog – fruit, cereals, bacon etc. The property is really pretty – they have a couple of trout fishing dams and still have some small patches of indigenous forest in between remnants of pine plantations and kiwi vines, so we went for a quick walk.
We also went horse-riding and Liesel was able to join us with her horse. An hour long outride ended up being 2 hours long. It was amazing – some pine plantation, some natural forest and some grasslands at the top of the mountain. We got amazing views and also really close to game – an impressive Nyala bull about 5m away, and some zebra that decided to join us while we were having a break. One of the horses also had a foal that they were weaning so the foal came along as well and it was very cute seeing her play. We were joined by another foal who just wanted to play and had to convince him to stay with Mom.
Lunch was at the Red Plate again – and it was just as yummy with electricity. The thought of Phalaborwa was not pleasant so we went with Liesel to look at all her animals – and there were lots – from cats and dogs (included a 3-legged one who’s other leg got munched by a leopard and a great dane) to Chinchilla’s, 4m long pythons, tarantula’s… They have a permit to hold indigenous reptiles for re-release as well but didn’t have anything then. Then it was back to Linda and Stu’s for coffee and it really took a lot to convince us to leave.
Now back in Phalaborwa, wondering how we are going to walk 15km tomorrow after the long ride today…
I’ve posted pics at: http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/MagboebaskloofMeandering?authkey=Gv1sRgCOn0qZHpg6_BSA#
Saturday, 23 May 2009
Mopane Mapping
So I’ve been asked a couple of times when I’m going to update my blog… well here it is! Some of it at least – the last 4 months on OTS is going to have to wait.
At the moment, I’m busy helping map the southern border of Mopane with SAEON (South African Experimental Observer Network as part of SANParks). The theory is that with climate change/global warming, and with Mopane being such a versatile tree and occurring EVERYWHERE (or so it seems!), the southern border should move south. So we go walking… and walking… and walking… I think today we did about 15km in 5 1/2 hours. We have these “blocks” which we walk transects through every 50m, and on each transect use a nifty program on a PDA called CyberTracker so we can record when we walk into a mopane patch, when we walk into “other” patches (not often) and the density of mopane in a 10 x 3m strip on the transect. Then we get back to the office (in Phalaborwa – although in 2 weeks we move to Olifants for a week) and download the data and use GIS programmes to draw pretty maps of where we think the border may go. That’s the project in a nutshell…
… but it’s a lot more fun than that! Everyday we have walked into the big 5, and got relatively close as well. The first day, we followed elephant around, and then right at the end of the morning, when feet are dragging and the thought of lunch and a nice shower (preferably cold – there’s a reason Phalaborwa is said to have the 2nd mildest winters in the country!) are overwhelming all other thoughts, we literally stumbled upon a leopard, but didn’t see it. It was the only time our game guard, Godfrey, loaded a round in his rifle! This thing was so close, that when it “sawed” you could feel the vibrations in your chest! We’ve also walked into buffalo a couple of times and more elephant. We also get to see all the other stuff as well – I’m beginning to get concerned at the number of vultures we are seeing – do they know something we don’t? We saw a huge chameleon one day, a striped grass snake on another and there are these awesome ants which make paths because so many of them walk along the same route so often.
We’ve also been down to Orpen where most of the mapping happened last year to try and determine what the optimal plot size for accurately doing counts and demography is so that permanent grids can be set up. Afterwards, we stopped at Wits Rural to say hi to some friends.
But all work and no play is no fun – it’s impala rutting season so I often try to head butt others in the group with impala horns that we find lying around. Mental note: Buffalo horns and skulls are heavy! Don’t try to head butt someone with them! Flicking of impala droppings at the person in front of you has also become a favourite pastime – the problem is getting the droppings without them seeing you get the droppings! We tend to finish most mornings by lunch time so also get to do some game drives. Last night, we went to the Grand Opening of Woolies in Phalaborwa – a much anticipated event. So much so, they had a band going and the traffic cops for crowd control. I’m not joking! After struggling to find parking (I think every car in the greater Phalaborwa area was there!), we decided it was too much and waiting in a queue about 100m long to get in just didn’t seem worthwhile, so we turned around and came home! That’s right – we missed the event of the month if not year!
Tomorrow, Calley and I are heading into Magoebaskloof for the weekend – might try to do some hiking and just visiting places – about to do a “things to do in Magoebaskloof” search. Then next weekend we are back in Skukuza for the weekend and then off to Olifants. Will attempt in that time to start getting some of the last 4 months “journalled”
Haven’t taken many pics from the Mopane project yet, but there are some at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/MopaneMapping?authkey=Gv1sRgCKmHs6CRi9mVMA#
At the moment, I’m busy helping map the southern border of Mopane with SAEON (South African Experimental Observer Network as part of SANParks). The theory is that with climate change/global warming, and with Mopane being such a versatile tree and occurring EVERYWHERE (or so it seems!), the southern border should move south. So we go walking… and walking… and walking… I think today we did about 15km in 5 1/2 hours. We have these “blocks” which we walk transects through every 50m, and on each transect use a nifty program on a PDA called CyberTracker so we can record when we walk into a mopane patch, when we walk into “other” patches (not often) and the density of mopane in a 10 x 3m strip on the transect. Then we get back to the office (in Phalaborwa – although in 2 weeks we move to Olifants for a week) and download the data and use GIS programmes to draw pretty maps of where we think the border may go. That’s the project in a nutshell…
… but it’s a lot more fun than that! Everyday we have walked into the big 5, and got relatively close as well. The first day, we followed elephant around, and then right at the end of the morning, when feet are dragging and the thought of lunch and a nice shower (preferably cold – there’s a reason Phalaborwa is said to have the 2nd mildest winters in the country!) are overwhelming all other thoughts, we literally stumbled upon a leopard, but didn’t see it. It was the only time our game guard, Godfrey, loaded a round in his rifle! This thing was so close, that when it “sawed” you could feel the vibrations in your chest! We’ve also walked into buffalo a couple of times and more elephant. We also get to see all the other stuff as well – I’m beginning to get concerned at the number of vultures we are seeing – do they know something we don’t? We saw a huge chameleon one day, a striped grass snake on another and there are these awesome ants which make paths because so many of them walk along the same route so often.
We’ve also been down to Orpen where most of the mapping happened last year to try and determine what the optimal plot size for accurately doing counts and demography is so that permanent grids can be set up. Afterwards, we stopped at Wits Rural to say hi to some friends.
But all work and no play is no fun – it’s impala rutting season so I often try to head butt others in the group with impala horns that we find lying around. Mental note: Buffalo horns and skulls are heavy! Don’t try to head butt someone with them! Flicking of impala droppings at the person in front of you has also become a favourite pastime – the problem is getting the droppings without them seeing you get the droppings! We tend to finish most mornings by lunch time so also get to do some game drives. Last night, we went to the Grand Opening of Woolies in Phalaborwa – a much anticipated event. So much so, they had a band going and the traffic cops for crowd control. I’m not joking! After struggling to find parking (I think every car in the greater Phalaborwa area was there!), we decided it was too much and waiting in a queue about 100m long to get in just didn’t seem worthwhile, so we turned around and came home! That’s right – we missed the event of the month if not year!
Tomorrow, Calley and I are heading into Magoebaskloof for the weekend – might try to do some hiking and just visiting places – about to do a “things to do in Magoebaskloof” search. Then next weekend we are back in Skukuza for the weekend and then off to Olifants. Will attempt in that time to start getting some of the last 4 months “journalled”
Haven’t taken many pics from the Mopane project yet, but there are some at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/MopaneMapping?authkey=Gv1sRgCKmHs6CRi9mVMA#
Tuesday, 03 February 2009
One week in…
… and I’m still loving it!
After driving with nothing but my singing as company (despite the purchase of CD’s in Nelspruit), I arrived in Jo’burg. It was amazing how after just a week in Skukuza, I felt myself tense up as I drove in. A bit of shopping and I was at Wits for a very welcome cup of coffee and an attempt to organise most things. Notice the attempt! Then home to a yummy dinner. The next morning was a bit of a rush, but was spoilt for my Birthday! Back to Wits to attempt (again) to sort stuff out, then shopping (again) and to the airport to pick up students. I now know the airport relatively well, and after the 1st lot of students, also managed to ID OTS students as they were coming through! We eventually left the airport just after 8pm (even when travelling, I don’t think I’ve ever spent that long in an airport!) and drove through the rain to eZemvelo. Lectures started the next morning and by that afternoon the students were really happy to get into the field. Little did they know that the next few days would be grappling with the idea of science and quite a bit of rain later, a bit more field work and model testing. There was the occasional break though – we managed to go on a game drive when the rain let up a bit to allow the roads to dry enough to drive on. I took the students to the Wilge river – you couldn’t even see where the bridge should be! Laurence, Karen and I also went on a bike ride on the muddy roads and the occasional HUGE puddle (read we had wet shoes!). We also managed to get the students on a night drive and saw some springhares – really cute! The staff have also ended up playing scrabble a couple of times – I fluctuate between uselessness and the odd brilliant word. Then it was on to stats and the intricacies and wonder at what excel can do (I wish I knew about pivot tables BEFORE I did my PhD!) and some theoretical modelling. Even if their brains weren’t fried, mine was and I really appreciated the day off today – some PhD, some horse-riding (amazing… even though I’m stiff already!) and some sleep.
Not many pics yet but check out:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/OTSEzemvelo?authkey=PR6nJ4khAwI#
After driving with nothing but my singing as company (despite the purchase of CD’s in Nelspruit), I arrived in Jo’burg. It was amazing how after just a week in Skukuza, I felt myself tense up as I drove in. A bit of shopping and I was at Wits for a very welcome cup of coffee and an attempt to organise most things. Notice the attempt! Then home to a yummy dinner. The next morning was a bit of a rush, but was spoilt for my Birthday! Back to Wits to attempt (again) to sort stuff out, then shopping (again) and to the airport to pick up students. I now know the airport relatively well, and after the 1st lot of students, also managed to ID OTS students as they were coming through! We eventually left the airport just after 8pm (even when travelling, I don’t think I’ve ever spent that long in an airport!) and drove through the rain to eZemvelo. Lectures started the next morning and by that afternoon the students were really happy to get into the field. Little did they know that the next few days would be grappling with the idea of science and quite a bit of rain later, a bit more field work and model testing. There was the occasional break though – we managed to go on a game drive when the rain let up a bit to allow the roads to dry enough to drive on. I took the students to the Wilge river – you couldn’t even see where the bridge should be! Laurence, Karen and I also went on a bike ride on the muddy roads and the occasional HUGE puddle (read we had wet shoes!). We also managed to get the students on a night drive and saw some springhares – really cute! The staff have also ended up playing scrabble a couple of times – I fluctuate between uselessness and the odd brilliant word. Then it was on to stats and the intricacies and wonder at what excel can do (I wish I knew about pivot tables BEFORE I did my PhD!) and some theoretical modelling. Even if their brains weren’t fried, mine was and I really appreciated the day off today – some PhD, some horse-riding (amazing… even though I’m stiff already!) and some sleep.
Not many pics yet but check out:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/OTSEzemvelo?authkey=PR6nJ4khAwI#
Saturday, 24 January 2009
A new beginning
Two days before we left for Marine and Coastals, I got a phone call from Laurence telling me that my dream job was mine! It involved being in Kruger the day that I was supposed to be driving back from Marine and Coastals – hence the roller coaster flight! So in a hectic couple of days before we left, I ran around getting stuff that I needed, and while on the trip, compiled another list that my Mom kindly went mad with! I have lots of yummy stuff!
I rushed around on Tuesday, but only ended up leaving Jo’burg much later than anticipated – and combined with horrid mist between Belfast and Lydenburg – realised that there was no way I was going to make gate closing time. Tracy and Mervyn were awesome and welcomed me with a scrumptious dinner followed by a comfy bed and coffee early the next morning. The mist had not lifted and again I sat behind trucks going 20km/hr going down Long Tom Pass. I really missed Heath – as soon as there is yuck weather, she always drives!
And then I arrived. Kruger. More specifically Skukuza. My base for the foreseeable future. All were very welcoming! Coffee was immediately made – I’ve yet to have a cup of instant coffee! YUM for me! I was shown around a bit and as of yet haven’t gotten lost. I’m staying in the research camp with one of the TA’s at the moment, but he’ll move in with the students when they get here. If you look at the pics, the reeds in the backgound of the house pic are on the bank of the Sabie river :) There's a family of banded mongoose that live at the base of the tree and the minute you open the door, they come running and chirping for food!
We went for sundowners on the first night to a place called 10 minutes - meaning it is 10mins drive from the camp – for Laurence’s Birthday. It was pretty popular - about 50 people! It was beautiful - a wide, sandy river bed with huge trees on the banks and crystal clear water which was being paddled/floating in with some diving into it due to an enthusiastic game of frisbee! Then Karen (the other resident lecturer) and I came back to make dinner and apparently those left saw a black rhino crossing the river. They also saw some lionness’s with cubs on the road back!
In camp, there are some REALLY fat impala and lots of warthogs (which seem to have an inordinate fondness for gardens and most gates only get closed at night!). Its totally different here - you don't need to lock anything but you do drive most places - a couple that came for dinner live 2 houses away and they had to drive! And at night torches just seem to get whipped out of bags!
Did you know... there are over 4000 people working in Skukuza? It’s not so much of a staff village - staff town is more like it - about 200 houses (there is a "compound" as well the other side of camp), research camps and a vet camp, with a gym including pool and tennis courts, police station etc. There is even a traffic department (OK, only about 4 people but still...) and they trap in the village! The speed limit is 30km/hr! I see some fines coming!
Last night, we went for sundowners at the dam – about a 15minute walk from camp. Again, really pretty and it was just a couple of us – including a friend who I haven’t seen for about 4 years which was great. The chef then took us for dinner at the restaurant in Skukuza. Things are pretty relaxed at the moment – I’m sure they’ll get hectic next week but at the moment, I’m really loving my new job! It really doesn’t feel like work!
Click on the link below for pics:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/KrugerOTS?authkey=dIYAXUfjYfw#
I rushed around on Tuesday, but only ended up leaving Jo’burg much later than anticipated – and combined with horrid mist between Belfast and Lydenburg – realised that there was no way I was going to make gate closing time. Tracy and Mervyn were awesome and welcomed me with a scrumptious dinner followed by a comfy bed and coffee early the next morning. The mist had not lifted and again I sat behind trucks going 20km/hr going down Long Tom Pass. I really missed Heath – as soon as there is yuck weather, she always drives!
And then I arrived. Kruger. More specifically Skukuza. My base for the foreseeable future. All were very welcoming! Coffee was immediately made – I’ve yet to have a cup of instant coffee! YUM for me! I was shown around a bit and as of yet haven’t gotten lost. I’m staying in the research camp with one of the TA’s at the moment, but he’ll move in with the students when they get here. If you look at the pics, the reeds in the backgound of the house pic are on the bank of the Sabie river :) There's a family of banded mongoose that live at the base of the tree and the minute you open the door, they come running and chirping for food!
We went for sundowners on the first night to a place called 10 minutes - meaning it is 10mins drive from the camp – for Laurence’s Birthday. It was pretty popular - about 50 people! It was beautiful - a wide, sandy river bed with huge trees on the banks and crystal clear water which was being paddled/floating in with some diving into it due to an enthusiastic game of frisbee! Then Karen (the other resident lecturer) and I came back to make dinner and apparently those left saw a black rhino crossing the river. They also saw some lionness’s with cubs on the road back!
In camp, there are some REALLY fat impala and lots of warthogs (which seem to have an inordinate fondness for gardens and most gates only get closed at night!). Its totally different here - you don't need to lock anything but you do drive most places - a couple that came for dinner live 2 houses away and they had to drive! And at night torches just seem to get whipped out of bags!
Did you know... there are over 4000 people working in Skukuza? It’s not so much of a staff village - staff town is more like it - about 200 houses (there is a "compound" as well the other side of camp), research camps and a vet camp, with a gym including pool and tennis courts, police station etc. There is even a traffic department (OK, only about 4 people but still...) and they trap in the village! The speed limit is 30km/hr! I see some fines coming!
Last night, we went for sundowners at the dam – about a 15minute walk from camp. Again, really pretty and it was just a couple of us – including a friend who I haven’t seen for about 4 years which was great. The chef then took us for dinner at the restaurant in Skukuza. Things are pretty relaxed at the moment – I’m sure they’ll get hectic next week but at the moment, I’m really loving my new job! It really doesn’t feel like work!
Click on the link below for pics:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/KrugerOTS?authkey=dIYAXUfjYfw#
Marine and Coastals… mmmm….
Being picked up at 5:30am after a wedding and a really hectic weekend trying to plan the move to KNP is not the best thing I’d ever heard of….
Once at Wits however, it was all systems go and we were on the bus by 7! YAY! About 2 hours later I wasn’t so excited, 4 hours later was disenchanted with the whole idea and 6 hours later thoroughly bored! Rocky Bay was a welcome sight. Even more welcome was the idea that I wasn’t catering but that meant lecturing more (good option) – the first one that night (bad option) and the next one the next morning (worse option). Lectures need to be prepped in order to be given! Which somehow happened on time with some sleep inbetween! The first day was off to Clansthal for Rocky Shores. The sea was Yuck. It’s the only way to describe it. But we saw some nice “stuffs”. The rocky shore that night at Rocky Bay was much better… many sea cucumbers, shrimps, brittle stars, flat worms, Dictyota… and sea hares – including the “mother of all sea hares” aka known as a communal cnidarian! The next day was transects, and with all the TA’s and staff present, it was pretty relaxed and I had fun exploring the rock pools with Pippa and Stuart - lots of seaweeds, some corals, and the occasional student! We found Convoluta! YAY! And had the required Paddle Pops! The next day was Vernon Crookes. I don’t know if I’ll ever get to appreciate that road – I’m always too concerned about the corners, cliffs and steep hills! I have no idea how the bus driver gets up there - I don't appreciate doing it in a car it so steep and windy! It’s a day that is not usually a favourite with the students but they found nice “stuffs” (again) and it wasn’t too hot so not too bad. And we saw some marms (frogs) as well which the students seem to appreciate. Think they may have appreciated the lunch which we had when we eventually got back at 3pm more though! The next day is usually one of the best days – but it was REALLY hot and humid! And Pippa went home :( We started at Isipingo (what makes students just entering their 2nd year of study think that they know experimental design better than a people who are at least doing their MSc???). I ended up swimming with Amy (lots of fun – very wet!). Then it was on to the Mangroves and Mudflats. As usual a mud fight of sorts broke out. I was sure that because Jo had Amy and I had my camera (thank goodness Meg was right there) and Stuart was telling us to behave, Jo wouldn’t retaliate. I was wrong! Very wrong! uShaka started with students disappearing – some to honestly go to the loo, others (furiatingly) to reapply make-up! We had a good guide and she really explained things well though. The students did their projects the next day so it was quiet a relaxed day for the staff. I also managed to have some awesome chats with Mark about what to expect for OTS. And apart from one student who decided that the best place for a vial was IN his finger, it was also a trouble free day (and trip) :)
The next day was also pretty relaxed – test setting, then listening to the talks and then a rushed visit to the beach to collect specimens for the test. I’m getting good at hindsight. I have learnt that: a) incoming tides means that there are likely to be bigger waves. b) bigger waves tend to go higher up the shore. c) light-coloured pants go see-through when wet. d) (and this is probably the most important) you shouldn’t go collecting specimens off the rocks as the tide is coming in in light-coloured long pants! A very wet me! Paddle Pops (again – we do this often) sorted me out though! My last day on the trip included another visit to the airport, rushing back for the test and marking them (did you know that you use both calls and appearance to identify frogs so that you don’t confuse them with birds?). Jo and I went for Paddle Pops but… tragedy of all tragedies, the shop was closed! So we had a Death-by-Chocolate Magnum at the airport when she and Meg dropped me instead = good alternative! It took longer to drive to the airport and drive home than I was on the plane for – it took about 40mins to fly from Durbs to Jo’burg! Lots of turbulence (it was like a roller coaster ride!), and a tail wind meant that the pilot flew really fast. It was the end of an awesome trip!
Thanks all :)
Click on the link below to see the pics:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/MarineAndCoastals?authkey=t3ryvubPehw#
Once at Wits however, it was all systems go and we were on the bus by 7! YAY! About 2 hours later I wasn’t so excited, 4 hours later was disenchanted with the whole idea and 6 hours later thoroughly bored! Rocky Bay was a welcome sight. Even more welcome was the idea that I wasn’t catering but that meant lecturing more (good option) – the first one that night (bad option) and the next one the next morning (worse option). Lectures need to be prepped in order to be given! Which somehow happened on time with some sleep inbetween! The first day was off to Clansthal for Rocky Shores. The sea was Yuck. It’s the only way to describe it. But we saw some nice “stuffs”. The rocky shore that night at Rocky Bay was much better… many sea cucumbers, shrimps, brittle stars, flat worms, Dictyota… and sea hares – including the “mother of all sea hares” aka known as a communal cnidarian! The next day was transects, and with all the TA’s and staff present, it was pretty relaxed and I had fun exploring the rock pools with Pippa and Stuart - lots of seaweeds, some corals, and the occasional student! We found Convoluta! YAY! And had the required Paddle Pops! The next day was Vernon Crookes. I don’t know if I’ll ever get to appreciate that road – I’m always too concerned about the corners, cliffs and steep hills! I have no idea how the bus driver gets up there - I don't appreciate doing it in a car it so steep and windy! It’s a day that is not usually a favourite with the students but they found nice “stuffs” (again) and it wasn’t too hot so not too bad. And we saw some marms (frogs) as well which the students seem to appreciate. Think they may have appreciated the lunch which we had when we eventually got back at 3pm more though! The next day is usually one of the best days – but it was REALLY hot and humid! And Pippa went home :( We started at Isipingo (what makes students just entering their 2nd year of study think that they know experimental design better than a people who are at least doing their MSc???). I ended up swimming with Amy (lots of fun – very wet!). Then it was on to the Mangroves and Mudflats. As usual a mud fight of sorts broke out. I was sure that because Jo had Amy and I had my camera (thank goodness Meg was right there) and Stuart was telling us to behave, Jo wouldn’t retaliate. I was wrong! Very wrong! uShaka started with students disappearing – some to honestly go to the loo, others (furiatingly) to reapply make-up! We had a good guide and she really explained things well though. The students did their projects the next day so it was quiet a relaxed day for the staff. I also managed to have some awesome chats with Mark about what to expect for OTS. And apart from one student who decided that the best place for a vial was IN his finger, it was also a trouble free day (and trip) :)
The next day was also pretty relaxed – test setting, then listening to the talks and then a rushed visit to the beach to collect specimens for the test. I’m getting good at hindsight. I have learnt that: a) incoming tides means that there are likely to be bigger waves. b) bigger waves tend to go higher up the shore. c) light-coloured pants go see-through when wet. d) (and this is probably the most important) you shouldn’t go collecting specimens off the rocks as the tide is coming in in light-coloured long pants! A very wet me! Paddle Pops (again – we do this often) sorted me out though! My last day on the trip included another visit to the airport, rushing back for the test and marking them (did you know that you use both calls and appearance to identify frogs so that you don’t confuse them with birds?). Jo and I went for Paddle Pops but… tragedy of all tragedies, the shop was closed! So we had a Death-by-Chocolate Magnum at the airport when she and Meg dropped me instead = good alternative! It took longer to drive to the airport and drive home than I was on the plane for – it took about 40mins to fly from Durbs to Jo’burg! Lots of turbulence (it was like a roller coaster ride!), and a tail wind meant that the pilot flew really fast. It was the end of an awesome trip!
Thanks all :)
Click on the link below to see the pics:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lancasterjenny/MarineAndCoastals?authkey=t3ryvubPehw#
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