My Christmas lunch menu this year is:
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Smoked Salmon Mousse, Smoked Salmon, Soda Bread, Salad
Roast rib of Beef, Yorkshire Pudding, Stilton & Port Gravy
Roast Potatoes, Sprouts with Pancetta & Chestnuts, Mustard & Maple Roast Parsnips, Carrot & Swede Mash, Horseradish Sauce
Christmas Pudding & Cream or Brandy Sauce
Coffee, Liquers & Chocolates
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We decided to have a change from Turkey and all the trimmings. I have to confess to several things. First, I've never cooked a joint of beef before. And the one I bought is HUGE. 8lbs or more. Might not seem big to some, but for me, it's approximately 16 times bigger than the only beef I've ever cooked (steak). So, I'm seriously thinking of investing in a meat thermometer. Otherwise I'll just ruin the thing by constantly opening the oven and poking it with a huge knife.
According to Nigella (and indeed, St Delia) this size joint is going to take about 3 hours to cook, for medium. I can't cook it rare, as the in laws won't like that.
Actually, now I think of it, I've never cooked Yorkshire Puddings either, but I'll have two Mum's on hand to assist with that. Although you couldn't get two more different Yorkshire Puds than mine and Roy's mums. My mum's is cooked in a roasting pan, huge and shall we say solid in the middle. The edges rise up the pan and become light and crispy - but the centre section is like a stodgy, centimetre thick pancake (possibly like a Toad in the Hole without the Toad). Roy's mums are cooked in a bun tray, and light as a feather. I like both types - I was brought up on the stodgy version but have to admire the skill of my mother in law in making hers so light. Apparently, the secret was to let my father in law and all of their 4 sons have a good old whisk of the batter!
Second confession - many of the items on the menu will be shop bought. The smoked salmon mousse, soda bread, Carrot & Swede mash, oh - and the Christmas pudding will all be courtesy of Messrs Marks & Spencer, or Tesco.
And third, and possibly most sinful decision for this Christmas is that I am going to try sprinkling my roast potatoes with Semolina for added crunch. Now this, I have resisted for years - ever since I came across Nigella's recommendation of this method. I've transitioned from lard to olive oil to vegetable oil to goose fat over the years. In fact, I've even made no-fat roasties - that would be 1995-1997 when I was fanatical about eating less than 30% of my calorie intake as fat. But, it has to be said, the knack making of perfect roasties is a family thing that I like to think I inherited! It was taught to me by my mum, long before I ever heard of Delia or Nigella, and passed on to her by her Auntie Alice. Auntie Al was my Great Uncle Joe's wife, who sadly died very young (in her early 50's) when I was maybe 5 or 6. I remember her - but vaguely. I recall being fascinated by her as she had a jewelry collection (unusual in my family) and I think she was offering me to choose a ring - just to try on. Must ask Mum about that.
To digress from the roast potato, when she died, Uncle Joe (who my mum was really close to) gave Mum one of Alice's rings - a heavy gold Mizpah ring. I used to wear it when I was in my 20's and took it on holiday to Spain once. I managed to lose it - it came off my finger whilst I was playing in crashing waves...... Mum was not too pleased but I don't think she ever told Uncle Joe.
Anyway, back to potatoes. Mum had learned this method from her Auntie Alice and while I was growing up I knew that wherever I ate roast dinner, the spuds were NEVER as good as my Mum's. Never. So, once I moved out of home I asked her to show me how to make them (you can tell I never helped much in the kitchen when I was at home) and she did. Telling me how she'd got the method not from her Mum but from Auntie Alice. I mean, it's no big secret, and I've since read Delia who advocates pretty much the same method, but there is a lot to be said about the end result when you make your roasties this way.
Boil the potatoes (you should cut some of them lengthways if possible so that you get some nice flat sides and not just all round potatoes) in salted water.
At the same time (or preferably before) you should get your fat heating in a hot oven.
After a while, when a sharp knife just eases in to the top centimetre of the potato, drain them and stick a lid on the pan. Take a tea towel and hold the lid onto the pan and shake it vigourously, in various directions, so as to bash and roughen the edges of the potatoes - this is what gives you the crunchy exterior.
Take the fat out of the oven and tip in the potatoes from the pan, taking care to stand back and avoid splashes! Take a big spoon and baste each spud with fat. Stick them back in to the oven (on about 200) and leave them until the bottoms have gone gold-brown. Turn them, baste again and leave again. About 10 minutes before the end of cooking, tip out most of the fat - again this helps with crunchiness. I can't give precise times, the trick is to know when they are brown enough. I usually allow about 40 minutes in the oven.
So - if my potatoes are perfect - why the semolina? Well, for years I pooh poohed the goose fat trend, and then when I finally tried it, was impressed with the difference. So, having scorned the semolina idea - in my view you should not need it for crunch, if you make the potatoes properly - I do want to experiment with it.... just to prove myself right, I guess. And if I was wrong all along, well - to improve on perfection will be no big heartache for me.
As a caution, I think I'll make two trays of potatoes - one with and one without semolina. Although with a HUGE joint that is going to take hours to roast, I may not have space in the oven for all these things! Wish me luck. I will report my findings.....
Sunday 21 December 2008
Monday 17 November 2008
Food Blog fan #1
I've been collecting food blog links for a little while now (I guess they replaced my Cancer Website collection last year). I LOVE to read people's descriptions of the food that they cook, eat or grow... and even more so when food porn photos are involved. There are some stunning food blogs out there - in fact, they have competitions and all sorts of things that I don't really understand, but they get mentioned occasionally.
One thing I've noticed is that whenever a food blogger (and most of the sites I've seen are by women) posts a photograph of themselves up, they are invariably very slim. How?? Maybe they never eat the stuff they cook? Maybe they have incredible will power and self control. I don't know, but it fascinates me. Maybe one day I'll learn the secret.................
One thing I've noticed is that whenever a food blogger (and most of the sites I've seen are by women) posts a photograph of themselves up, they are invariably very slim. How?? Maybe they never eat the stuff they cook? Maybe they have incredible will power and self control. I don't know, but it fascinates me. Maybe one day I'll learn the secret.................
Evil Green & Blacks.....
I mentioned my new G&B chocolate cookbook recently. Kate - who is Joe the lodger's girlfriend - was here last night and mentioned that she loves flapjacks. She also likes chocolate (strange is the woman who doesn't!). So I grabbed the book off the shelf and pointed at the picture above the Chocolate Flapjack recipe. "You'd like them, then" I said (trying to contain my excitement for I knew I had all the ingredients in stock). "Ooh yes they look all squidgy and yummy" says Kate (or words to that effect).
So, tonight, after dinner (Kate was here again, more on that another time, she is now our second lodger) I wandered into the kitchen to clear up. And make flapjacks. Now, I've only ever made "healthy low fat flapjacks" before and to be honest they're a waste of time - they pretty much crumbled as soon as they came out of the tray. So this time, I meant business - I mean, 350g of butter?? This is most definitely NOT a healthy recipe. But it is so easy.
Melt 350g of butter with 6oz muscovado sugar and 60z soft brown sugar in a pan along with 3 tbsps of golden syrup. (Actually I only had 150g of butter and so made up the balance with Flora Buttery - my nod to healthy eating). Once they are all melted and combined, throw in 450g of oats (I used 200g of extra special large oats, that I buy in to make Granola and 250g of regular Scotts porridge oats) and 6 tablespoons of cocoa powder. Green & Blacks, naturally. Mix it all well and then pour into a baking tray - I lined mine with greaseproof paper to avoid knife marks when cutting. Bake at 140 for 18-20 minutes. Cool for 20 minutes. Cut into about 20 squares. Wait until completely cold until removing from tray. This last bit is difficult... you just want to dive in and eat them, but they fall to pieces until completely cooled. I put mine into the garage to speed up the cooling process...... There is, I have discovered, no instant gratification to be had when making flapjacks. Not even a trace of cake batter to feast on whilst waiting for the finished baked item.
A modification suggested in the book is to add dessicated coconut and I'd have loved to, but Joe the lodger is allergic to coconut and so I decided it would be mean to make a tray of flapjacks that he couldn't eat. This boy, on arriving here in October, told me he didn't really have a sweet tooth - interesting then that he has wolfed down every sugar laden treat I've cooked up since then!!!
So, we finally got to taste these flapjacks at about 9pm. Roy declared them to be "Stunning, better than the muffins". Kate said "oh yes they were all soft inside" (she must like this in a flapjack. I liked them too. Oh Evil Green & Blacks, what have you done to me!
I said to my sister by text tonight that since Joe arrived I'm turning into Aunt Flipping Bessie! She replied that I love it really. And I think I do!
Oh, I will try to put up a pic of the flapjacks tomorrow....
So, tonight, after dinner (Kate was here again, more on that another time, she is now our second lodger) I wandered into the kitchen to clear up. And make flapjacks. Now, I've only ever made "healthy low fat flapjacks" before and to be honest they're a waste of time - they pretty much crumbled as soon as they came out of the tray. So this time, I meant business - I mean, 350g of butter?? This is most definitely NOT a healthy recipe. But it is so easy.
Melt 350g of butter with 6oz muscovado sugar and 60z soft brown sugar in a pan along with 3 tbsps of golden syrup. (Actually I only had 150g of butter and so made up the balance with Flora Buttery - my nod to healthy eating). Once they are all melted and combined, throw in 450g of oats (I used 200g of extra special large oats, that I buy in to make Granola and 250g of regular Scotts porridge oats) and 6 tablespoons of cocoa powder. Green & Blacks, naturally. Mix it all well and then pour into a baking tray - I lined mine with greaseproof paper to avoid knife marks when cutting. Bake at 140 for 18-20 minutes. Cool for 20 minutes. Cut into about 20 squares. Wait until completely cold until removing from tray. This last bit is difficult... you just want to dive in and eat them, but they fall to pieces until completely cooled. I put mine into the garage to speed up the cooling process...... There is, I have discovered, no instant gratification to be had when making flapjacks. Not even a trace of cake batter to feast on whilst waiting for the finished baked item.
A modification suggested in the book is to add dessicated coconut and I'd have loved to, but Joe the lodger is allergic to coconut and so I decided it would be mean to make a tray of flapjacks that he couldn't eat. This boy, on arriving here in October, told me he didn't really have a sweet tooth - interesting then that he has wolfed down every sugar laden treat I've cooked up since then!!!
So, we finally got to taste these flapjacks at about 9pm. Roy declared them to be "Stunning, better than the muffins". Kate said "oh yes they were all soft inside" (she must like this in a flapjack. I liked them too. Oh Evil Green & Blacks, what have you done to me!
I said to my sister by text tonight that since Joe arrived I'm turning into Aunt Flipping Bessie! She replied that I love it really. And I think I do!
Oh, I will try to put up a pic of the flapjacks tomorrow....
Tuesday 11 November 2008
The wonders of baking
One of my favourite things in the whole world (well the world of food) is a Millie's Muffin.
http://www.milliescookies.com/products/muffins.php
The Chocolate Chunk version, to be precise. I've occasionally strayed and bought Cappucino, but the Chocolate Chunk remains my preference. It has become a tradition, when travelling, for Roy and I to celebrate the start of our holiday with a Millie's Muffin and coffee at the airport. They're £1.89 each now. I can remember the time (around 5 years ago) when you could get a Muffin and a coffee for £1.10 as a special promotion. Actually when trawling that website for information, I noticed that the calorie content of these muffins is HORRENDOUS! No wonder I never want to eat anything else all day when I've had one. They come in at around 760 calories! I am pleased to say that the Chocolate Chunk is not quite the highest calorie version - that honour goes to the Double Chocolate at a whopping 780 calories. I wish I'd never looked....
After dinner this evening, I mentioned to Roy that I had an urge to make White Chocolate & Blueberry muffins. This is a recipe I tested, and loved, when my niece Emily was staying with us last summer. In fact, it's about the closest in texture to a Millie's muffin that I've ever baked. It's that fantastic combination of crusty top and soft interior that I like. Of course, my baking urge was in part due to the niggling in my brain telling me "you still have one more bar of Green & Blacks in the fridge". Needless to say, the two bars of Butterscotch had well disappeared, but the white chocolate was sitting there, waiting to be used. I'd originally earmarked it for a duo of chocolate pots (recipe from the G&B book) but then the muffin idea took hold.
It is amazing how quickly you can conjure up a batch of 14 muffins! I got the urge just after 7pm and before 8, there they were - ready to eat, still slightly warm from the oven. And they were as good as I remembered. The only problem is that the top goes soft over night - you just can't retain that fresh from the oven crust. But still pretty good the next day. And the day after that......
Baking is magical.. I know it's a science and so on, but it never ceases to amaze me how people figured it all out... how the combination of some wet and dry stuff can produce instant comfort on a plate.
http://www.milliescookies.com/products/muffins.php
The Chocolate Chunk version, to be precise. I've occasionally strayed and bought Cappucino, but the Chocolate Chunk remains my preference. It has become a tradition, when travelling, for Roy and I to celebrate the start of our holiday with a Millie's Muffin and coffee at the airport. They're £1.89 each now. I can remember the time (around 5 years ago) when you could get a Muffin and a coffee for £1.10 as a special promotion. Actually when trawling that website for information, I noticed that the calorie content of these muffins is HORRENDOUS! No wonder I never want to eat anything else all day when I've had one. They come in at around 760 calories! I am pleased to say that the Chocolate Chunk is not quite the highest calorie version - that honour goes to the Double Chocolate at a whopping 780 calories. I wish I'd never looked....
After dinner this evening, I mentioned to Roy that I had an urge to make White Chocolate & Blueberry muffins. This is a recipe I tested, and loved, when my niece Emily was staying with us last summer. In fact, it's about the closest in texture to a Millie's muffin that I've ever baked. It's that fantastic combination of crusty top and soft interior that I like. Of course, my baking urge was in part due to the niggling in my brain telling me "you still have one more bar of Green & Blacks in the fridge". Needless to say, the two bars of Butterscotch had well disappeared, but the white chocolate was sitting there, waiting to be used. I'd originally earmarked it for a duo of chocolate pots (recipe from the G&B book) but then the muffin idea took hold.
It is amazing how quickly you can conjure up a batch of 14 muffins! I got the urge just after 7pm and before 8, there they were - ready to eat, still slightly warm from the oven. And they were as good as I remembered. The only problem is that the top goes soft over night - you just can't retain that fresh from the oven crust. But still pretty good the next day. And the day after that......
Baking is magical.. I know it's a science and so on, but it never ceases to amaze me how people figured it all out... how the combination of some wet and dry stuff can produce instant comfort on a plate.
Sunday 9 November 2008
Sunday 9th November
No idea what to call this blog, so have just dated it.
It is a miserable, cold, windy and rainy day - so the walk to Temple Newsam did not happen. Instead I pottered around at home. My one achievement? Making dumplings for the first time ever! I did a beef stew and dumplings for dinner. Thanks to Jamie Oliver - I followed (more or less) the recipe from Ministry of Food. I actually have purchased this book as one of Roy's Christmas presents but on leafing through it realised that in all my 40-odd years, I have never made dumplings and the recipe was there, so....
They were pretty easy actually and turned out well. As did the stew.
I also found a huge butternut squash in the garage and because I could not recall exactly how long it had been there (it looked ok) I decided to roast it and then I stood pondering over over to do with the pulp. Eventually I plumped for a butternut squash soup, with a base of onion, garlic and veg stock and spiced up with cayenne pepper and ginger. It is pretty good actually. I'll freeze some and use the rest tomorrow evening.
Still on the topic of food, in Tesco yesterday they were offering a "free" Green & Blacks chocolate recipe book when you purchased three bars of G&B chocolate. I needed no encouragement. I left with 2 bars of butterscotch choc and a bar of white choc (having stocked up on 70% dark choc last week) and my lovely new recipe book. And it is very lovely - there are some fabulous recipes and ideas in there. I can't wait to try some.
I just realised that I haven't yet updated about my lodger! Since early October, we've had my nephew Joe living with us. He's studying at Leeds Uni until the end of this year, and with it only being a sort term placement there, there wasn't much point in him finding accomodation elsewhere. We've enjoyed having him here - his girlfriend Kate is also in Leeds (but living in a shared student flat) and she is here quite a lot too. It's been fun playing surrogate parents! And probably one of the things that prompted back in to the kitchen and my recipe books...
It is a miserable, cold, windy and rainy day - so the walk to Temple Newsam did not happen. Instead I pottered around at home. My one achievement? Making dumplings for the first time ever! I did a beef stew and dumplings for dinner. Thanks to Jamie Oliver - I followed (more or less) the recipe from Ministry of Food. I actually have purchased this book as one of Roy's Christmas presents but on leafing through it realised that in all my 40-odd years, I have never made dumplings and the recipe was there, so....
They were pretty easy actually and turned out well. As did the stew.
I also found a huge butternut squash in the garage and because I could not recall exactly how long it had been there (it looked ok) I decided to roast it and then I stood pondering over over to do with the pulp. Eventually I plumped for a butternut squash soup, with a base of onion, garlic and veg stock and spiced up with cayenne pepper and ginger. It is pretty good actually. I'll freeze some and use the rest tomorrow evening.
Still on the topic of food, in Tesco yesterday they were offering a "free" Green & Blacks chocolate recipe book when you purchased three bars of G&B chocolate. I needed no encouragement. I left with 2 bars of butterscotch choc and a bar of white choc (having stocked up on 70% dark choc last week) and my lovely new recipe book. And it is very lovely - there are some fabulous recipes and ideas in there. I can't wait to try some.
I just realised that I haven't yet updated about my lodger! Since early October, we've had my nephew Joe living with us. He's studying at Leeds Uni until the end of this year, and with it only being a sort term placement there, there wasn't much point in him finding accomodation elsewhere. We've enjoyed having him here - his girlfriend Kate is also in Leeds (but living in a shared student flat) and she is here quite a lot too. It's been fun playing surrogate parents! And probably one of the things that prompted back in to the kitchen and my recipe books...
Saturday 8 November 2008
Autumn is well and truly here
So now it is dark by 5pm and the trees are absolutely stunning this year. I don't know if it is because we had such a wet summer but the colours are incredible and the leaves seem to be sticking on the trees for a long time. The reds, golds, ambers, russets and browns are beautiful. I might venture down to Temple Newsam tomorrow to see what kind of display the trees there are putting on.
Mum has finally had her nose job. She had a basal cell carcinoma (which sounds more alarming than it apparently is) which was mis-diagnosed for many years and therefore being wrongly treated with creams and antibiotics. Finally, it was recognised as a rodent ulcer - the non technical name for it - and she was referred to a specialist. Removing these growth is supposed to be straightforward. You may recall that the removal was supposed to happen last June - on the day dad died - but was cancelled because mum's heart rate was erratic and because the numbing agent contains adrenaline they did not want to go ahead. So, after a long process of referral back to her heart specialist, waiting for cardioversion to correct the heart rate, and waiting again for skin specialist referral - she finally had the ulcer removed this week.
All went well - they did not use a general anaesthetic - but my god her face is a mess! She looks like she has been badly beaten up. This is due to the fact that at the same time as the ulcer is removed a skin graft is taken to cover over the area. The graft was taken from her cheek. It's all very clever, and I am sure it will look great when it has healed but for now it is pretty horrible. Underneath mum's eye is bruised and puffy and she has two big lines of stitches on her face. And through all this she's been terrific - in fact the only thing she's bothered about is having the stitches removed!
The recent cook fest went well. The mushroom risotto was excellent and I will definitely remake. The sticky stuff for the binfire party went down a treat - they'll be repeated too. Salmon fishcakes were also good - and I also made a Nigella chocolate cake which includes half a jar of marmelade - I'd forgotten all about this one, but found the recipe again when I was leafing through "Domestic Goddess". I LOVE the Nigella Christmas book - it's fabulous and there are lots of recipes in there that I intend to try. When I do I need to try to take some pictures - not that I'd ever compete with some of the fantastic food blogs out there.........
Mum has finally had her nose job. She had a basal cell carcinoma (which sounds more alarming than it apparently is) which was mis-diagnosed for many years and therefore being wrongly treated with creams and antibiotics. Finally, it was recognised as a rodent ulcer - the non technical name for it - and she was referred to a specialist. Removing these growth is supposed to be straightforward. You may recall that the removal was supposed to happen last June - on the day dad died - but was cancelled because mum's heart rate was erratic and because the numbing agent contains adrenaline they did not want to go ahead. So, after a long process of referral back to her heart specialist, waiting for cardioversion to correct the heart rate, and waiting again for skin specialist referral - she finally had the ulcer removed this week.
All went well - they did not use a general anaesthetic - but my god her face is a mess! She looks like she has been badly beaten up. This is due to the fact that at the same time as the ulcer is removed a skin graft is taken to cover over the area. The graft was taken from her cheek. It's all very clever, and I am sure it will look great when it has healed but for now it is pretty horrible. Underneath mum's eye is bruised and puffy and she has two big lines of stitches on her face. And through all this she's been terrific - in fact the only thing she's bothered about is having the stitches removed!
The recent cook fest went well. The mushroom risotto was excellent and I will definitely remake. The sticky stuff for the binfire party went down a treat - they'll be repeated too. Salmon fishcakes were also good - and I also made a Nigella chocolate cake which includes half a jar of marmelade - I'd forgotten all about this one, but found the recipe again when I was leafing through "Domestic Goddess". I LOVE the Nigella Christmas book - it's fabulous and there are lots of recipes in there that I intend to try. When I do I need to try to take some pictures - not that I'd ever compete with some of the fantastic food blogs out there.........
Wednesday 29 October 2008
Brrrrrr.....
Did I say it was sunny and warm three days ago? Scrap that - it is now freezing cold and parts of the UK have had snow!
So, my cookfest will continue shortly with:
Mushroom Risotto
Salmon and Broccoli fishcakes
Sticky Gingerbread
Sticky Toffee Pudding
Sticky Sausages
I realise that there is a lot of stickiness going on, but it is that time of year!
The risotto and fishcakes I want to try and happen to have the ingredients for - might make them tomorrow. The rest are for a binfire party on Saturday night.
And the great news is that my new Nigella book arrived (the Christmas one) this week so I've been earmarking some other things to try. I'm definitely going to have a go at chilli jam. And I'll probably remake the grotesque sounding but really yummy choc, prune and tia maria fruit cake.
Ok, I'm off to check my stocks of sugar and dates.....
So, my cookfest will continue shortly with:
Mushroom Risotto
Salmon and Broccoli fishcakes
Sticky Gingerbread
Sticky Toffee Pudding
Sticky Sausages
I realise that there is a lot of stickiness going on, but it is that time of year!
The risotto and fishcakes I want to try and happen to have the ingredients for - might make them tomorrow. The rest are for a binfire party on Saturday night.
And the great news is that my new Nigella book arrived (the Christmas one) this week so I've been earmarking some other things to try. I'm definitely going to have a go at chilli jam. And I'll probably remake the grotesque sounding but really yummy choc, prune and tia maria fruit cake.
Ok, I'm off to check my stocks of sugar and dates.....
Monday 27 October 2008
Martha or Maxine?
Martha or Maxine?
Martha:
Stuff a miniature marshmallow in the bottom of an ice cream cone to prevent ice cream drips.
Maxine:
Just suck the ice cream out of the bottom of the cone, for Pete's sake! You are probably lying on the couch with your feet up eating it, anyway!
Martha:
To keep potatoes from budding, place an apple in the bag with the potatoes.
Maxine:
Buy Hungry Jack mashed potato mix. Keeps in the pantry for up to a year.
Martha:
When a cake recipe calls for flouring the baking pan, use a bit of the dry cake mix instead and there won't be any white mess on the outside of the cake.
Maxine:
Go to the bakery! Hell, they'll even decorate it for you!
Martha:
If you accidentally over-salt a dish while it's still cooking, drop in a peeled potato and it will absorb the excess salt for an instant 'fix-me-up.'
Maxine:
If you over-salt a dish while you are cooking, that's too bad. Please recite with me the real woman's motto: 'I made it, you will eat it and I don't care how bad it tastes!'
Martha:
Wrap celery in aluminum foil when putting in the refrigerator and it will keep for weeks.
Maxine:
Celery? Never heard of it!
Martha:
Brush some beaten egg white over pie crust before baking to yield a beautiful glossy finish.
Maxine:
The Mrs. Smith frozen pie directions do not include brushing egg whites over the crust, so I don't.
Martha:
Cure for headaches: take a lime, cut it in half and rub it on your forehead. The throbbing will go away.
Maxine:
Take a lime, mix it with tequila, chill and drink! All your pains go away!
Martha:
If you have a problem opening jars, try using latex dish washing gloves. They give a non-slip grip that makes opening jars easy.
Maxine:
Go ask that very cute neighbor if he can open it for you.
Martha:
Don't throw out all that leftover wine. Freeze into ice cubes for future use in casseroles and sauces.
Maxine:
Leftover wine??????????? HELLO!!!!!!!
A friend sent this to me. I was reading it, laughing and then thought about the left over egg whites and wine in my freezer, and the fact that I reaching for a pen to jot down the tips about lime for headaches and potato to mop up excess salt..... hmmm.... I am most definitely a Martha!
Martha:
Stuff a miniature marshmallow in the bottom of an ice cream cone to prevent ice cream drips.
Maxine:
Just suck the ice cream out of the bottom of the cone, for Pete's sake! You are probably lying on the couch with your feet up eating it, anyway!
Martha:
To keep potatoes from budding, place an apple in the bag with the potatoes.
Maxine:
Buy Hungry Jack mashed potato mix. Keeps in the pantry for up to a year.
Martha:
When a cake recipe calls for flouring the baking pan, use a bit of the dry cake mix instead and there won't be any white mess on the outside of the cake.
Maxine:
Go to the bakery! Hell, they'll even decorate it for you!
Martha:
If you accidentally over-salt a dish while it's still cooking, drop in a peeled potato and it will absorb the excess salt for an instant 'fix-me-up.'
Maxine:
If you over-salt a dish while you are cooking, that's too bad. Please recite with me the real woman's motto: 'I made it, you will eat it and I don't care how bad it tastes!'
Martha:
Wrap celery in aluminum foil when putting in the refrigerator and it will keep for weeks.
Maxine:
Celery? Never heard of it!
Martha:
Brush some beaten egg white over pie crust before baking to yield a beautiful glossy finish.
Maxine:
The Mrs. Smith frozen pie directions do not include brushing egg whites over the crust, so I don't.
Martha:
Cure for headaches: take a lime, cut it in half and rub it on your forehead. The throbbing will go away.
Maxine:
Take a lime, mix it with tequila, chill and drink! All your pains go away!
Martha:
If you have a problem opening jars, try using latex dish washing gloves. They give a non-slip grip that makes opening jars easy.
Maxine:
Go ask that very cute neighbor if he can open it for you.
Martha:
Don't throw out all that leftover wine. Freeze into ice cubes for future use in casseroles and sauces.
Maxine:
Leftover wine??????????? HELLO!!!!!!!
A friend sent this to me. I was reading it, laughing and then thought about the left over egg whites and wine in my freezer, and the fact that I reaching for a pen to jot down the tips about lime for headaches and potato to mop up excess salt..... hmmm.... I am most definitely a Martha!
Soup season, with carrot muffins thrown in for good measure
It is getting to the time of year when I like to make (and eat) soup. Mind you, it is so sunny and mild outside today, I feel a bit of a fraud saying that!
I decided yesterday to make a pan of my favourite "healthy, tasty, warming" soup - Lentil & Carrot - but I ran out of time (and energy) having made a batch of granola, cooked a roast dinner, done some shopping, taken Mum home etc. etc.
So this morning, I got into gear. The lentil and carrot soup is SO easy.
Chop a large onion, 2 sticks of celery, 2 carrots into a pan - saute in a little olive oil for about 15 minutes. Don't forget to drop in the leaves from the top of the celery (assuming that you don't buy those soul-less neat little packages of celery hearts).
Rinse about a mug ful of red lentils in cold water. Add to the pan. Top up with approximately 1 litre of veg stock and simmer until the lentils are cooked and the veggies are soft. If you think it's getting a bit dry during cooking add a splash of water. Season with pepper. Blitz with a stick blender until you get the consistency you like. My preference is for the odd chunk of veg to be left in.
This freezes ok, too.
So, whilst cooking the soup, I remembered having some left over (cooked) cauliflower in the fridge from yesterday. Being a Martha and not a Maxine (I will clarify that on a later blog) I keep this sort of stuff! I decided to make a cauliflower and cheddar soup out of that - just one portion, for me, for lunch. I chopped half an onion, 2 small new potatoes and 1 stick of celery into a pan. Sauteed in a little oil. Added the cooked cauli and about a pint (maybe just under) of veg stock. Simmered until all the veg was soft. Blitzed it up with a dash of double cream (also left over from yesterday) and decided that this was just SO good it did not need the cheddar adding.
I think I'll "plan" to have left over veggies every Sunday in future. A bit of stock and a tiny splash of cream can transform them in to the most wonderful soup.
And finally, while I was in the kitchen, I decided to try out my new silicone cupcake cups! I had a recipe from a supermarket magazine for Carrot Cupcakes. They are very tasty indeed - I've eaten one, and plan to freeze the rest for an easy "on the run" breakfast. And fairly healthy - they are made with wholemeal flour, raisins, carrots, apricots, seeds. I guess the bad bit is the sugar and to be honest, you could easily halve the amount and still have a great tasting muffin.
I decided yesterday to make a pan of my favourite "healthy, tasty, warming" soup - Lentil & Carrot - but I ran out of time (and energy) having made a batch of granola, cooked a roast dinner, done some shopping, taken Mum home etc. etc.
So this morning, I got into gear. The lentil and carrot soup is SO easy.
Chop a large onion, 2 sticks of celery, 2 carrots into a pan - saute in a little olive oil for about 15 minutes. Don't forget to drop in the leaves from the top of the celery (assuming that you don't buy those soul-less neat little packages of celery hearts).
Rinse about a mug ful of red lentils in cold water. Add to the pan. Top up with approximately 1 litre of veg stock and simmer until the lentils are cooked and the veggies are soft. If you think it's getting a bit dry during cooking add a splash of water. Season with pepper. Blitz with a stick blender until you get the consistency you like. My preference is for the odd chunk of veg to be left in.
This freezes ok, too.
So, whilst cooking the soup, I remembered having some left over (cooked) cauliflower in the fridge from yesterday. Being a Martha and not a Maxine (I will clarify that on a later blog) I keep this sort of stuff! I decided to make a cauliflower and cheddar soup out of that - just one portion, for me, for lunch. I chopped half an onion, 2 small new potatoes and 1 stick of celery into a pan. Sauteed in a little oil. Added the cooked cauli and about a pint (maybe just under) of veg stock. Simmered until all the veg was soft. Blitzed it up with a dash of double cream (also left over from yesterday) and decided that this was just SO good it did not need the cheddar adding.
I think I'll "plan" to have left over veggies every Sunday in future. A bit of stock and a tiny splash of cream can transform them in to the most wonderful soup.
And finally, while I was in the kitchen, I decided to try out my new silicone cupcake cups! I had a recipe from a supermarket magazine for Carrot Cupcakes. They are very tasty indeed - I've eaten one, and plan to freeze the rest for an easy "on the run" breakfast. And fairly healthy - they are made with wholemeal flour, raisins, carrots, apricots, seeds. I guess the bad bit is the sugar and to be honest, you could easily halve the amount and still have a great tasting muffin.
Monday 20 October 2008
Dreaming of Dad
Well it has been one year and 4 months since Dad passed and in that time I've never dreamed of him. On Sunday night I did. I recall seeing him come toward me and he gave me a big hug. It was lovely - he looked, felt and smelled like my Dad. In good health. And then he took my hands and was holding both of them and looking into my face and smiling at me.
His eyes were that beautiful deep "Alman Blue". We didn't really speak, I think I was trying to speak to him but couldn't and I don't remember him answering.
I woke up feeling nice about it.
But now I'm wondering why he came to me?
His eyes were that beautiful deep "Alman Blue". We didn't really speak, I think I was trying to speak to him but couldn't and I don't remember him answering.
I woke up feeling nice about it.
But now I'm wondering why he came to me?
Tuesday 10 June 2008
Nothing to blog about?
On 6th April I wrote this:
I have yet to report on our recent trips to Horsham, Maidstone and Canterbury
and I didn't ever blog those trips. Since then, we've had little jaunts to:
Dundee and Swindon
and I haven't written those up either.
I doubt I'll get round to it now. Suffice to say, all of those trips were excellent, revolved around my work and contained lots of driving and a fresh appreciation of how diverse and beautiful Britain can be. Especially when the sun shines, as it did for a lot of the time we were away.
Ok, patriotic bit over.
June has been manic, work wise. I found myself out on business every single day - except for two days this week Wednesday and Friday when I have full days "in the office". It's been good though. Seeing lots of different places, lots of the same motorway and a few nice hotels.
On Thursday this week I'm going over to mum's after work. Lorraine, Mum and I are going out. On Friday, we're visiting the graveyard, as it will be one year since Dad died. The year has gone over so quickly and I feel as if so much has happened since - what with mum's house move, changing jobs, South Africa, Roy's work situation etc.
So I did have a lot to blog about, (the travels) but I never got round to it and I'm fed up playing catch up.
Next scheduled trip is 12th July when we'll celebrate our third wedding anniversary (belatedly, it's on the 1st July) with a stay at the Pheasant Inn in Chester. I think we're also going to Chester Races on that day, too.
I have yet to report on our recent trips to Horsham, Maidstone and Canterbury
and I didn't ever blog those trips. Since then, we've had little jaunts to:
Dundee and Swindon
and I haven't written those up either.
I doubt I'll get round to it now. Suffice to say, all of those trips were excellent, revolved around my work and contained lots of driving and a fresh appreciation of how diverse and beautiful Britain can be. Especially when the sun shines, as it did for a lot of the time we were away.
Ok, patriotic bit over.
June has been manic, work wise. I found myself out on business every single day - except for two days this week Wednesday and Friday when I have full days "in the office". It's been good though. Seeing lots of different places, lots of the same motorway and a few nice hotels.
On Thursday this week I'm going over to mum's after work. Lorraine, Mum and I are going out. On Friday, we're visiting the graveyard, as it will be one year since Dad died. The year has gone over so quickly and I feel as if so much has happened since - what with mum's house move, changing jobs, South Africa, Roy's work situation etc.
So I did have a lot to blog about, (the travels) but I never got round to it and I'm fed up playing catch up.
Next scheduled trip is 12th July when we'll celebrate our third wedding anniversary (belatedly, it's on the 1st July) with a stay at the Pheasant Inn in Chester. I think we're also going to Chester Races on that day, too.
In memory of Frank Scott - 6th June 2008
My cousin Frank passed away on Friday 6th June. He had been ill for a little while and was not able to have the surgery that might have saved his life.
Frank lived on the Isle of Man and in my younger years I would visit him there a lot, with my other cousin, his sister Joan. I haven't seen too much of Frank in recent years.
He leaves a widow and two daughters.
Rest in peace, Frank.
Frank lived on the Isle of Man and in my younger years I would visit him there a lot, with my other cousin, his sister Joan. I haven't seen too much of Frank in recent years.
He leaves a widow and two daughters.
Rest in peace, Frank.
Sunday 1 June 2008
In memory of Barry Alman - 18.5.2008
Just over a week after we returned from South Africa, we had a call to give us some very sad news. My cousin, Barry (who had been ill while we were staying in SA) had passed away.
I hope that Barry is resting peacefully. We never got to see him when we were there, but I met Barry years ago at my parents, when he was living in the UK.
On 26th May (the day of his memorial services) we laid family flowers at Goodison Park football ground in Barry's memory.
I hope that Barry is resting peacefully. We never got to see him when we were there, but I met Barry years ago at my parents, when he was living in the UK.
On 26th May (the day of his memorial services) we laid family flowers at Goodison Park football ground in Barry's memory.
South Africa Holiday - the end!
So I've been bringing my SA blog up to date and now it is finished. I am sure there is tons of stuff I missed.
I do love Africa. I also find it a very strange place - full of contradiction. There is so much beauty (the land and the people) and also so much brutality. I also find that I am drawn to politically "interesting" places like SA and Cuba. It makes me think. And that can only be good, hey?
Now that is a real South African-ism. Adding "hey" in a questioning manner at the end of sentences or statements. I am trying not to copy it in everyday speech, because it irritates Roy when I do!
Other things they say are "oh shame" all the time. And not only if you're telling them about some mishap or unfortunate incident. And "is it?". Another question, but not always used in that context, or "correctly". I'm trying to think of an example. Here's one.
Me: "We're going to Durban next week".
South African person: "Is it?".
The one I like is "we'll make a plan". This is said all the time - and sounds really grand and formal, but can be as simple as "Let's have coffee. We'll make a plan and meet up". I love that one!
And "ja" is used a lot instead of yes, even by non-Afrikaners, I think.
Finally, "just now" is a commonly used phrase. As in "we'll see you just now". With "just now" meaning any length of time - not immediately. Actually, they use this in Scotland a lot, too.
My personal favourite expression was one often used by Korbie, the Afrikaans lady who we met on safari with her British husband, Brian. As we drove around, Brian would often point out birds to her. She was a very calm, relaxed lady. Slowly, she'd raise her binoculars to her eyes, look at the bird and gently sigh out "Stunning". With absolutely no enthusiasm whatsoever! It was so funny. "Stunning" became one of the catch phrases of our trip, thereafter.
I think I went to SA thinking that it would be a good place to live in. I've changed my views about that, largely due to the political situation and also the crime rates. I think it would be nigh on impossible for a white couple like us to emigrate there now - unless of course we had our own business and were self sufficient. I don't think immigrants are wanted. The government is trying hard to rebalance things (racially) and opportunity is granted only to some.
Many parents are actively encouraging their kids to get qualified and then get out of the country. SA is losing talented people to the UK, Australia and New Zealand. It's so sad.
I guess I had in mind that things were on the way to being "mended" now, post apartheid, but the truth is that they are nowhere near resolved. There is a long, long way to go - and I don't quite know how it will all work out in the end.
But I'll be back. Definitely.
I do love Africa. I also find it a very strange place - full of contradiction. There is so much beauty (the land and the people) and also so much brutality. I also find that I am drawn to politically "interesting" places like SA and Cuba. It makes me think. And that can only be good, hey?
Now that is a real South African-ism. Adding "hey" in a questioning manner at the end of sentences or statements. I am trying not to copy it in everyday speech, because it irritates Roy when I do!
Other things they say are "oh shame" all the time. And not only if you're telling them about some mishap or unfortunate incident. And "is it?". Another question, but not always used in that context, or "correctly". I'm trying to think of an example. Here's one.
Me: "We're going to Durban next week".
South African person: "Is it?".
The one I like is "we'll make a plan". This is said all the time - and sounds really grand and formal, but can be as simple as "Let's have coffee. We'll make a plan and meet up". I love that one!
And "ja" is used a lot instead of yes, even by non-Afrikaners, I think.
Finally, "just now" is a commonly used phrase. As in "we'll see you just now". With "just now" meaning any length of time - not immediately. Actually, they use this in Scotland a lot, too.
My personal favourite expression was one often used by Korbie, the Afrikaans lady who we met on safari with her British husband, Brian. As we drove around, Brian would often point out birds to her. She was a very calm, relaxed lady. Slowly, she'd raise her binoculars to her eyes, look at the bird and gently sigh out "Stunning". With absolutely no enthusiasm whatsoever! It was so funny. "Stunning" became one of the catch phrases of our trip, thereafter.
I think I went to SA thinking that it would be a good place to live in. I've changed my views about that, largely due to the political situation and also the crime rates. I think it would be nigh on impossible for a white couple like us to emigrate there now - unless of course we had our own business and were self sufficient. I don't think immigrants are wanted. The government is trying hard to rebalance things (racially) and opportunity is granted only to some.
Many parents are actively encouraging their kids to get qualified and then get out of the country. SA is losing talented people to the UK, Australia and New Zealand. It's so sad.
I guess I had in mind that things were on the way to being "mended" now, post apartheid, but the truth is that they are nowhere near resolved. There is a long, long way to go - and I don't quite know how it will all work out in the end.
But I'll be back. Definitely.
Wednesday 7 May 2008
The last day - going home, and one final palaver
I just missed my last sunrise by 10 minutes. Shame. By the time I wandered in to the lounge at 6.25am the sun was casting a gorgeous red/orange glow into the room. I couldn't get back to sleep so I stayed up. G&M had to pop out to sort something out with the bakkie, and Gail arrived to see us before we left.
It was a beautiful, hot sunny day. We had breakfast and then sat in the garden chatting all morning, interspersed with bits of packing here and there. I am determined not to exceed the luggage allowance of 20kg each, and so I'm throwing away all sorts of clothes that we won't use again and leaving all my leftover sunscreen etc. with the family!
Before we left I gave Dad's little journal of his time in SA to Margaret, and asked her to pass it on to Gordon. I didn't want to give it to him directly as I thought it might all get a bit emotional.
We left the house at about 2pm for the airport. We had a clear run and G&M parked up and came in to see us off after check in. However, we encountered a big problem at check in. Whilst we had paperwork confirming our South African Airways (SAA) flights from Durban to Jo'burg and then on to Heathrow, the BMI agent who booked the flights for me had not properly ticketed them - so the check in girl was missing a ticket code for the DUR-JNB leg. Without it, she could not issue us boarding cards. She'd already tagged the luggage and sent it through.
After much faffing, she came back from the SAA office and said her manager was dealing with it and was trying to contact London to get the code. In the meantime we'd have to wait. The next update we got was when she told us that is was "highly unlikely" we'd be on our flight to Joburg (due to leave at 15.40). But that she'd be able to put us on the 16.40 (provided that London sorted the references out) and we'd still make our Heathrow connection. In the meantime she was going to have our luggage taken off the flight and brought back round to check in.
Ok, we sat and waited. Time marched on (we'd told G&M to go before the traffic out of Durban built up) and still no answer... then I saw a guy bring a piece of paper to her and say "this is what you need". So I assumed she'd be calling us over soon. She didn't. Instead, she disappeared for a very long time and was last spotted hovering at the stand by desk. Maybe the flight was full and she was struggling to find 2 seats for us? It was by now 10 minutes before the 16.40 flight was due to close and I was getting really anxious. I went looking for the check in girl and found her in a small office near the main SAA offices. She looked at me and said "Oh". I said that the 16.40 flight was about to close and what was happening.... another girl dragged her away by the hand and they were giving each other sly looks!! She turned and said to me "I promise you'll be on that flight". NOW I was getting worried.
I went back to Roy, who was waiting by the check in desk. She came back and started to check us in, but was making a complete hash of it. Eventually her supervisor came along and helped out but I could not relax until I'd seen those boarding cards print out! Just at the last minute, I noticed our cases trundling away on the conveyor belt with JNB labels on them. I asked her "have you checked those bags through to Heathrow?". She said "Oh shit" (no kidding) and ran after them to put the proper LHR labels on. I guess the only good news about today was that our bags weighed in spot on 40kgs!
So we then hot footed it through security and pretty much straight on to the flight. We weren't sitting together but it was only an hour flight so not too bad. I read the in flight mag, had a much needed glass of white wine and watched my last African sunset just as we landed in Johannesburg. A perfect red ball falling below the arc of the earth. Wow.
Joburg Airport is hideous (think Heathrow but with hustler) and we had our last tourist sting of the holiday happen! Our own faults for standing about looking confused as to how to get to International Departures. A smartly dressed guy came and asked what we were looking for and before we knew it was showing us the way and politely demanding a "nice tip" for his trouble!
Ah well... soon enough we were in the Baobab lounge and relaxing for a short while. Unfortunately we missed the early boarding call for Business Class passengers and ended up in a HUGE queue to board the flight.
We ate dinner and then tried to sleep. It was SO hot though, and I did not sleep well. Watched a movie (Juno) and tried to sleep again. Not much joy. I thought the drama of today might have exhausted us!
We landed on time and had enough time (but not much spare) to collect our bags and get through to the domestic terminal. The walk to baggage collection was about 3 miles long. Don't you just love international airports? I was a bit worried about whether our bags would actually have made it through - the one place you don't want your bags going missing is Joburg! Most of the SA passengers seemed to have their suitcases shrinkwrapped in cellophane for security reasons!
So we stood at the carousel and waited. And waited. And waited some more. Ever the voice of doom, Roy decided that our bags were lost. But then, just as we'd given up hope, out they came. Leaving us now quite short on time to make the connection, and we were tired and irritable. So getting to domestic check in, we thought it would be quick and easy as we'd checked in online and printed boarding passes at Margarets the day before. But a nice "jobsworth" security man was determined to hold us up (he'd seen us trying to sneak through a "no entry" section of the BMI area) and made us go to a separate set of scales to have our luggage weighed. When we got there, the woman looked at us and said "why are you hear, just go to the bag drop". We explained that we'd been trying to but got stopped. Grrrrr... as we passed the guy again he just smirked at us.
So finally we were in Leeds. We booked a taxi and were home at last.
The end.
It was a beautiful, hot sunny day. We had breakfast and then sat in the garden chatting all morning, interspersed with bits of packing here and there. I am determined not to exceed the luggage allowance of 20kg each, and so I'm throwing away all sorts of clothes that we won't use again and leaving all my leftover sunscreen etc. with the family!
Before we left I gave Dad's little journal of his time in SA to Margaret, and asked her to pass it on to Gordon. I didn't want to give it to him directly as I thought it might all get a bit emotional.
We left the house at about 2pm for the airport. We had a clear run and G&M parked up and came in to see us off after check in. However, we encountered a big problem at check in. Whilst we had paperwork confirming our South African Airways (SAA) flights from Durban to Jo'burg and then on to Heathrow, the BMI agent who booked the flights for me had not properly ticketed them - so the check in girl was missing a ticket code for the DUR-JNB leg. Without it, she could not issue us boarding cards. She'd already tagged the luggage and sent it through.
After much faffing, she came back from the SAA office and said her manager was dealing with it and was trying to contact London to get the code. In the meantime we'd have to wait. The next update we got was when she told us that is was "highly unlikely" we'd be on our flight to Joburg (due to leave at 15.40). But that she'd be able to put us on the 16.40 (provided that London sorted the references out) and we'd still make our Heathrow connection. In the meantime she was going to have our luggage taken off the flight and brought back round to check in.
Ok, we sat and waited. Time marched on (we'd told G&M to go before the traffic out of Durban built up) and still no answer... then I saw a guy bring a piece of paper to her and say "this is what you need". So I assumed she'd be calling us over soon. She didn't. Instead, she disappeared for a very long time and was last spotted hovering at the stand by desk. Maybe the flight was full and she was struggling to find 2 seats for us? It was by now 10 minutes before the 16.40 flight was due to close and I was getting really anxious. I went looking for the check in girl and found her in a small office near the main SAA offices. She looked at me and said "Oh". I said that the 16.40 flight was about to close and what was happening.... another girl dragged her away by the hand and they were giving each other sly looks!! She turned and said to me "I promise you'll be on that flight". NOW I was getting worried.
I went back to Roy, who was waiting by the check in desk. She came back and started to check us in, but was making a complete hash of it. Eventually her supervisor came along and helped out but I could not relax until I'd seen those boarding cards print out! Just at the last minute, I noticed our cases trundling away on the conveyor belt with JNB labels on them. I asked her "have you checked those bags through to Heathrow?". She said "Oh shit" (no kidding) and ran after them to put the proper LHR labels on. I guess the only good news about today was that our bags weighed in spot on 40kgs!
So we then hot footed it through security and pretty much straight on to the flight. We weren't sitting together but it was only an hour flight so not too bad. I read the in flight mag, had a much needed glass of white wine and watched my last African sunset just as we landed in Johannesburg. A perfect red ball falling below the arc of the earth. Wow.
Joburg Airport is hideous (think Heathrow but with hustler) and we had our last tourist sting of the holiday happen! Our own faults for standing about looking confused as to how to get to International Departures. A smartly dressed guy came and asked what we were looking for and before we knew it was showing us the way and politely demanding a "nice tip" for his trouble!
Ah well... soon enough we were in the Baobab lounge and relaxing for a short while. Unfortunately we missed the early boarding call for Business Class passengers and ended up in a HUGE queue to board the flight.
We ate dinner and then tried to sleep. It was SO hot though, and I did not sleep well. Watched a movie (Juno) and tried to sleep again. Not much joy. I thought the drama of today might have exhausted us!
We landed on time and had enough time (but not much spare) to collect our bags and get through to the domestic terminal. The walk to baggage collection was about 3 miles long. Don't you just love international airports? I was a bit worried about whether our bags would actually have made it through - the one place you don't want your bags going missing is Joburg! Most of the SA passengers seemed to have their suitcases shrinkwrapped in cellophane for security reasons!
So we stood at the carousel and waited. And waited. And waited some more. Ever the voice of doom, Roy decided that our bags were lost. But then, just as we'd given up hope, out they came. Leaving us now quite short on time to make the connection, and we were tired and irritable. So getting to domestic check in, we thought it would be quick and easy as we'd checked in online and printed boarding passes at Margarets the day before. But a nice "jobsworth" security man was determined to hold us up (he'd seen us trying to sneak through a "no entry" section of the BMI area) and made us go to a separate set of scales to have our luggage weighed. When we got there, the woman looked at us and said "why are you hear, just go to the bag drop". We explained that we'd been trying to but got stopped. Grrrrr... as we passed the guy again he just smirked at us.
So finally we were in Leeds. We booked a taxi and were home at last.
The end.
Tuesday 6 May 2008
Battlefields - Day 2 (with a mini drama included)
It is our last full day in South Africa. Who needs an alarm clock when there are hadeha birds around? Not us. We woke at 6. We'd been told that breakfast would be served at 8 so we packed our bags and took a quick stroll around the gardens. There is a memorial to Foy's wife in the garden, which is very touching.
I have to say that if you are looking at the pics of the bedrooms on the Penny Farthing website, they seem a bit old fashioned and dreary. They actually are incredibly comfortable and much nicer than they look on the site!
Breakfast for us was cereal, papaya and toast. We haven't really been eating cooked breakfasts - which is probably just as well, given some of the evening meals we've indulged in!
Foy told us that we would be driving our own car on the tour and so with him (and our heavy case) in the back, we set off down the dirt track. We dared not to criticise it as Foy proudly told us he'd built it all himself when he was a young man. As we went over the first big bump (there are lots of them - water pipes I assume) I felt the underneath of Gordon's car scrape the ground. I was very nervous that we'd wreck his car. I think the combined weight of Roy, myself, Foy (a big man) and the suitcase was a tad too much!
Back on the main road, I breathed a sigh of relief, until a few minutes later when Foy instructed me to turn left onto another dusty, stony track! There were chips flying up everywheree. Foy advised me to stay above 60kms per hour to "even out" the road. Actually, it works. Wish I'd learned this tip earlier in our holiday!
First, we stopped at Rorke's Drift. This is the scene of the film Zulu and Foy gave us a very detailed overview (using a scale model of the area) of the battles of Isandlwana and Rorke's Drift, and also what had happened at Fugitive's Drift. We then went to the rebuilt hospital at Rorke's Drift, where Foy gave us chapter and verse of that battle and how the 100+ English fought off 4000 Zulu Warriors. Fascinating. Details here, if you want them:
http://battlefields.kzn.org.za/battlefields/about/192.xml
Next, we drove across the Buffalo River to Isandlwana Hill. This, I think, is the most poignant battlefield of all. So many men killed in such a short space of time. Standing on a slope overlooking the hill and the battlefield below it, the sense of history is incredible. And just to see all the white stones marking mass graves makes you sad, and for the pacifists among us, also a bit angry at the waste of young lives.
Foy told us the story of the battle - all 1.5 hours of it - and then we headed back to Penny Farthing where we ate a picnic lunch before heading home. We were on the road by 2.30 - well in time to reach G&M's before dark.
We'd consulted with G before we set off and he'd recommended that we should NOT take the R33 route via Greytown. We checked our maps, and realised that to go back the way we came (via Dundee and Ladysmith) would add about 100kms to the trip. Ann had warned us off the R33 too - she said "I wouldn't use it, and I live here". Foy, however, was insistent that we use it - "You'll get to see proper rural Africa, Zulu villages and farms. You'll be fine, and it is a beautiful drive". Ann's final comment on the matter: "It's ok for him to say that - he speaks fluent Zulu so if he broke down in the middle of nowhere, he'd be fine".
What did we do? We took the R33 of course. Tempted by the shorter trip, and the promise of beautiful valleys and hills. We'd asked Foy if there were gas stations along the way. Oh yes, he'd said, you can fill up at Greytown - 100kms from Penny Farthing. Roy asked me on the way back from the Battlefields how much petrol we had left. I told him a quarter tank. Foy said that would be plenty to get us to Greytown.
So, with Roy driving, we were about 10kms from the house, when he challenged me on the petrol situation. "This is nowhere near a quarter tank" he said. Hmm. "Well I'm sure it was when I looked". So now we have a problem. We are effectively in the middle of nowhere and we have insufficient petrol to take us 100kms to Greytown. We have no idea where the nearest gas station is. But we know we're about to hit a town called Pomeroy, so there was bound to be some petrol there, wasn't there?
Actually - no, there wasn't. We did find a gas station and pulled in to find a queue of trucks there. Most of them brimming with workers, hanging out of every available inch of truck! Sitting in the front of our little Mazda 3, GPS in one hand, wallet in the other, camera round my neck and with two mobile phones in my lap - I started to feel that I was the focal point of every pair of eyes within 20 metres and ever so slightly uncomfortable. Then I noticed a sign saying "Diesel". I said to Roy that this was a diesel only station and so we had to drive off. Where is the next place? According to our map it was Tugela Ferry, I couldn't work out the distance, but it's a lot nearer than Greytown. I also couldn't tell how big a place it was.
So we climbed up some hills - Roy was coasting down them and the anxiety of not knowing if we would make it to a gas station was really spoiling our enjoyment of the fantastic scenery! I was silently trying to figure out a contingency plan if we did run out of fuel in the countryside. I didn't really have one. It was not a good time for Roy to advise me that the Fuel Warning indicator light had just come on.
Eventually, I started to notice the familiar "taxis" along the route. Not many of them, but I saw at least one white minibus pull in to drop somebody off. Ah ha, here is contingency. If we break down, we'll have to stand on the road, hail a taxi, get to Greytown, buy a can of fuel and get a taxi back to the car. Hardly ideal (and would probably take HOURS) but at least there is some sort of plan there.......
As we coasted down a really big hill, we started to see signs of Tugela Ferry in the distance. Oh - good news - it was looking like a fairly big place, and not just houses - some industrial looking buildings too. Surely there would be petrol here? Down and down the hill we dropped, and then all of a sudden, we hit a traffic jam! As we crawled round a bend, the anticipation was excruciating... finally we could see the main drag of the road as it went through town, but there were no gas station signs. Not one. Oh dear. We saw cafes, restaurants, shops - surely there is petrol here? Another bend in the road, and this time, as we came off it, there it was, in all it's red and yellow glory: SHELL. Ahhhhh... BIG sigh of relief, a bit of cheering and air punching and in we drove.
This was the best petrol station I've ever seen! Not only were there goats and chickens running around all over the forecourt, but there were ladies selling fruit and veg and all kinds of stuff along the edges and all along the roadside. Roy got out. Getting out of your car at the gas station here is totally unnecessary. In fact, filling up is a great experience because somebody comes and does it all for you. And while the tank is filling, they wash all the windscreens and wing mirrors too. All for a small (R5-R7) tip. I wish we had that in Britain! But he'd decided to get out and stretch his legs and chat to the attendant. I could hear him lying. "We're very tired, we've just driven from Johannesburg", he fibbed. What was all that about? According to Roy, he felt unsafe here (well, Ann had spent a while telling us how evil Tugela Ferry was) and so he'd decided that the best defence was to get out and be friendly and also go for the sympathy vote by claiming to be on a long road trip. Whatever!
In actual fact, we were merely a curiosity in Tugela Ferry. Lots of folk wandered past and peered into the car, but then just smiled, waved and passed on by. To be the only white faces in a town which clearly gets very few tourists, did not mean that we were threatened at all - just a novelty. The attendant came round to my door to chat to me. Actually, this was a feeble attempt at getting money. She told me that she'd heard we were flying to England tomorrow (Roy must have filled her in on our travel plans). Oh, she said, she'd LOVE to fly to England, but she had no money. She didn't quite have her hand stretched out toward me but the implication was clear. Well we could always swap, I said. You have my ticket and I'll stay here? She burst out laughing and wandered off.
So, with a full tank and peace of mind we left Tugela Ferry. NOW we could enjoy the stunning surrounds of the hills and valleys. Now we could marvel at the sheer number of people walking on the roads. I think school was just out so we were waved at by dozens of happy looking kids. Now we could appreciate how interesting the landscape was, and try to spot the "hills that look like elephants" that Foy had mentioned to us.
Women carry babies on their persons wrapped in towels. Around the waist, around their back. Sometimes more than one. And many women have umbrellas up to shade their heads from the sun. We also saw some people carrying goods on their heads - first time we'd seen this in southern Africa. And women gather reeds along the road - presumably for thatching, as a lot of the houses here are thatched roofs.
It was a beautiful drive down to Pietermaritzburg, where we picked up the N3 motorway. At times, it looked and felt like England. But soon we knew we were in Africa as we saw the sun setting over the hills behind us. We drove into G&M's drive at 5.40 - good timing! Had a quick chat and then got showered and changed as we're taking G&M out for dinner tonight.
We went to La Strada - an Italian in Hillcrest, about 10 mins drive away. I drove tonight.
http://www.restaurants.co.za/details.asp?resId=3976
We shared a pizza bread with various cheeses (including Gorgonzola) on top. It was delicious. Then we all had Fillet steak (apart from Gordon who had a chicken salad) and that was also excellent. Then home, for coffee and a chat. We had a VERY late night tonight - 11pm.
I have to say that if you are looking at the pics of the bedrooms on the Penny Farthing website, they seem a bit old fashioned and dreary. They actually are incredibly comfortable and much nicer than they look on the site!
Breakfast for us was cereal, papaya and toast. We haven't really been eating cooked breakfasts - which is probably just as well, given some of the evening meals we've indulged in!
Foy told us that we would be driving our own car on the tour and so with him (and our heavy case) in the back, we set off down the dirt track. We dared not to criticise it as Foy proudly told us he'd built it all himself when he was a young man. As we went over the first big bump (there are lots of them - water pipes I assume) I felt the underneath of Gordon's car scrape the ground. I was very nervous that we'd wreck his car. I think the combined weight of Roy, myself, Foy (a big man) and the suitcase was a tad too much!
Back on the main road, I breathed a sigh of relief, until a few minutes later when Foy instructed me to turn left onto another dusty, stony track! There were chips flying up everywheree. Foy advised me to stay above 60kms per hour to "even out" the road. Actually, it works. Wish I'd learned this tip earlier in our holiday!
First, we stopped at Rorke's Drift. This is the scene of the film Zulu and Foy gave us a very detailed overview (using a scale model of the area) of the battles of Isandlwana and Rorke's Drift, and also what had happened at Fugitive's Drift. We then went to the rebuilt hospital at Rorke's Drift, where Foy gave us chapter and verse of that battle and how the 100+ English fought off 4000 Zulu Warriors. Fascinating. Details here, if you want them:
http://battlefields.kzn.org.za/battlefields/about/192.xml
Next, we drove across the Buffalo River to Isandlwana Hill. This, I think, is the most poignant battlefield of all. So many men killed in such a short space of time. Standing on a slope overlooking the hill and the battlefield below it, the sense of history is incredible. And just to see all the white stones marking mass graves makes you sad, and for the pacifists among us, also a bit angry at the waste of young lives.
Foy told us the story of the battle - all 1.5 hours of it - and then we headed back to Penny Farthing where we ate a picnic lunch before heading home. We were on the road by 2.30 - well in time to reach G&M's before dark.
We'd consulted with G before we set off and he'd recommended that we should NOT take the R33 route via Greytown. We checked our maps, and realised that to go back the way we came (via Dundee and Ladysmith) would add about 100kms to the trip. Ann had warned us off the R33 too - she said "I wouldn't use it, and I live here". Foy, however, was insistent that we use it - "You'll get to see proper rural Africa, Zulu villages and farms. You'll be fine, and it is a beautiful drive". Ann's final comment on the matter: "It's ok for him to say that - he speaks fluent Zulu so if he broke down in the middle of nowhere, he'd be fine".
What did we do? We took the R33 of course. Tempted by the shorter trip, and the promise of beautiful valleys and hills. We'd asked Foy if there were gas stations along the way. Oh yes, he'd said, you can fill up at Greytown - 100kms from Penny Farthing. Roy asked me on the way back from the Battlefields how much petrol we had left. I told him a quarter tank. Foy said that would be plenty to get us to Greytown.
So, with Roy driving, we were about 10kms from the house, when he challenged me on the petrol situation. "This is nowhere near a quarter tank" he said. Hmm. "Well I'm sure it was when I looked". So now we have a problem. We are effectively in the middle of nowhere and we have insufficient petrol to take us 100kms to Greytown. We have no idea where the nearest gas station is. But we know we're about to hit a town called Pomeroy, so there was bound to be some petrol there, wasn't there?
Actually - no, there wasn't. We did find a gas station and pulled in to find a queue of trucks there. Most of them brimming with workers, hanging out of every available inch of truck! Sitting in the front of our little Mazda 3, GPS in one hand, wallet in the other, camera round my neck and with two mobile phones in my lap - I started to feel that I was the focal point of every pair of eyes within 20 metres and ever so slightly uncomfortable. Then I noticed a sign saying "Diesel". I said to Roy that this was a diesel only station and so we had to drive off. Where is the next place? According to our map it was Tugela Ferry, I couldn't work out the distance, but it's a lot nearer than Greytown. I also couldn't tell how big a place it was.
So we climbed up some hills - Roy was coasting down them and the anxiety of not knowing if we would make it to a gas station was really spoiling our enjoyment of the fantastic scenery! I was silently trying to figure out a contingency plan if we did run out of fuel in the countryside. I didn't really have one. It was not a good time for Roy to advise me that the Fuel Warning indicator light had just come on.
Eventually, I started to notice the familiar "taxis" along the route. Not many of them, but I saw at least one white minibus pull in to drop somebody off. Ah ha, here is contingency. If we break down, we'll have to stand on the road, hail a taxi, get to Greytown, buy a can of fuel and get a taxi back to the car. Hardly ideal (and would probably take HOURS) but at least there is some sort of plan there.......
As we coasted down a really big hill, we started to see signs of Tugela Ferry in the distance. Oh - good news - it was looking like a fairly big place, and not just houses - some industrial looking buildings too. Surely there would be petrol here? Down and down the hill we dropped, and then all of a sudden, we hit a traffic jam! As we crawled round a bend, the anticipation was excruciating... finally we could see the main drag of the road as it went through town, but there were no gas station signs. Not one. Oh dear. We saw cafes, restaurants, shops - surely there is petrol here? Another bend in the road, and this time, as we came off it, there it was, in all it's red and yellow glory: SHELL. Ahhhhh... BIG sigh of relief, a bit of cheering and air punching and in we drove.
This was the best petrol station I've ever seen! Not only were there goats and chickens running around all over the forecourt, but there were ladies selling fruit and veg and all kinds of stuff along the edges and all along the roadside. Roy got out. Getting out of your car at the gas station here is totally unnecessary. In fact, filling up is a great experience because somebody comes and does it all for you. And while the tank is filling, they wash all the windscreens and wing mirrors too. All for a small (R5-R7) tip. I wish we had that in Britain! But he'd decided to get out and stretch his legs and chat to the attendant. I could hear him lying. "We're very tired, we've just driven from Johannesburg", he fibbed. What was all that about? According to Roy, he felt unsafe here (well, Ann had spent a while telling us how evil Tugela Ferry was) and so he'd decided that the best defence was to get out and be friendly and also go for the sympathy vote by claiming to be on a long road trip. Whatever!
In actual fact, we were merely a curiosity in Tugela Ferry. Lots of folk wandered past and peered into the car, but then just smiled, waved and passed on by. To be the only white faces in a town which clearly gets very few tourists, did not mean that we were threatened at all - just a novelty. The attendant came round to my door to chat to me. Actually, this was a feeble attempt at getting money. She told me that she'd heard we were flying to England tomorrow (Roy must have filled her in on our travel plans). Oh, she said, she'd LOVE to fly to England, but she had no money. She didn't quite have her hand stretched out toward me but the implication was clear. Well we could always swap, I said. You have my ticket and I'll stay here? She burst out laughing and wandered off.
So, with a full tank and peace of mind we left Tugela Ferry. NOW we could enjoy the stunning surrounds of the hills and valleys. Now we could marvel at the sheer number of people walking on the roads. I think school was just out so we were waved at by dozens of happy looking kids. Now we could appreciate how interesting the landscape was, and try to spot the "hills that look like elephants" that Foy had mentioned to us.
Women carry babies on their persons wrapped in towels. Around the waist, around their back. Sometimes more than one. And many women have umbrellas up to shade their heads from the sun. We also saw some people carrying goods on their heads - first time we'd seen this in southern Africa. And women gather reeds along the road - presumably for thatching, as a lot of the houses here are thatched roofs.
It was a beautiful drive down to Pietermaritzburg, where we picked up the N3 motorway. At times, it looked and felt like England. But soon we knew we were in Africa as we saw the sun setting over the hills behind us. We drove into G&M's drive at 5.40 - good timing! Had a quick chat and then got showered and changed as we're taking G&M out for dinner tonight.
We went to La Strada - an Italian in Hillcrest, about 10 mins drive away. I drove tonight.
http://www.restaurants.co.za/details.asp?resId=3976
We shared a pizza bread with various cheeses (including Gorgonzola) on top. It was delicious. Then we all had Fillet steak (apart from Gordon who had a chicken salad) and that was also excellent. Then home, for coffee and a chat. We had a VERY late night tonight - 11pm.
Monday 5 May 2008
Battlefields - Day 1
We woke at 6.15am to............ sunshine! Please let it stay sunny.
We had breakfast with Gail and then left her place at around 9.30 to drive into the Battlefields area where we are spending the next 2 days. This part of the trip was organised, booked and paid for by G&M but as I explained they are now unable to join us.
Our first stop was Spionkop. This was the site of a British defeat by the Boers in January 1900.
http://battlefields.kzn.org.za/battlefields/about/191.xml
What struck me most was that it is a very beautiful place, and somehow you can't imagine it being a place to fight. There are 360 degree views from the top of the hill - and it is such a clear day we can see along the entire Drakensberg range. Stunning.
We had Spionkop to ourselves, there was nobody else around at all. You can drive right to the top of the hill (yay, no walking!) and then do a self guided trail. It is interesting and also very sad - to see all those graves (mostly mass grave sites) and read how young most of the men were.
I also find it strange that this particular battle was between the Boers and the British - both fighting over something that didn't belong to either of them!
The famous "Kop" stand at Anfield is named after Spionkop, in tribute to the many local people who fell at this battle (the West Lancashire regiment had a large presence there). I only learned this recently! But luckily before we travelled to SA.
So after leaving Spionkop (along a 7km dusty dirt track, of course) we drove through Ladysmith, and had planned to stop there. We decided against this as there was no parking near the museum (which specialises in the Battlefields story) and there didn't seem to be many tourists around... just a working town. We drove through Glencoe and Dundee - where we stopped to get a sandwich at Pick n Pay - and parked up just out of Dundee to eat lunch. Lunch included the biggest custard slice I've ever seen in my life. But we did share it!
Our B&B - Penny Farthing - was about 30kms past Dundee and we arrived there just after 2. Penny Farthing is a lovely property in the middle of nowhere - 2/3kms along a dirt track off the main road - and we were greeted by three dogs barking excitedly as we opened the car doors. It was only 2 days later, back at G&Ms, that we realised one of the dogs had badly scratched the passenger door!
http://www.pennyf.co.za/index.htm
Ann, the housekeeper, greeted us and showed us to our room. It was lovely, and as it was still hot and sunny, we had a little walk round the gardens and sat by the pool to read for a short while. Everywhere we went we were followed by the dogs!
Roy wasn't feeling so good so he had a lie down and then we went out for another walk, venturing further out into the open farmland. It really is tranquil and beautiful here. Foy, the owner and our Battlefield guide for tomorrow, dropped some reading material in at our room and said he would see us at dinner.
We had drinks at 6.30pm and then we all sat down to eat. Dinner is a communal affair with all guests eating with Ann and Foy. Ann is the cook (although she does have a lot of help) but eats very little as she says she would get too fat if she ate the meals she cooked every night. I was starting to suffer with dog allergies as those dogs have the run of the house, including the dining area. But they are nice dogs! The only other guests are a Dutch couple, and they are not on the tour with Foy tomorrow. In fact, it looks like we'll have him to ourselves.
Dinner: Mushroom soup (delicious!) with croutons/ Lamb, sweet potato, broccoli, samp & beans, carrots, cauli, gravy/Strawberry cheesecake and ice cream.
Now, Margaret has been worrying about us driving after dark here. And so she asked us to speak with Foy to make sure that he would have us back off the tour in time for daylight driving. It is a good 3-4 hours back to Durban and sunset is now shortly before 6pm. So he agreed, and said that to "save time" in the morning, we would watch a video whilst having after dinner coffee. The idea is that he gives a lot of background info to the Anglo-Zulu War before the tour commences.
We all went through to the lounge. About 5 minutes into the first film, the dutch lady was fast asleep! I had the "fidgets" and could not keep still. I went to take an antihistamine and came back to the lounge. The film ended and I thought "oh great - bedtime". Foy came back in. Instead of wishing us good night, he put another video in the machine. We watched that. Surely now we can sleep? Not quite. He then came back in and said he would do our "orientation"! This consisted of him telling us where the Boers, Zulus and English were coming from in the months leading up to the Zulu War. So all incredibly interesting, but I'm sure I'll have forgotten everything by tomorrow!
It is a chilly night - the fire has been burning since 6 - but we have electric blankets and sleep well.
We had breakfast with Gail and then left her place at around 9.30 to drive into the Battlefields area where we are spending the next 2 days. This part of the trip was organised, booked and paid for by G&M but as I explained they are now unable to join us.
Our first stop was Spionkop. This was the site of a British defeat by the Boers in January 1900.
http://battlefields.kzn.org.za/battlefields/about/191.xml
What struck me most was that it is a very beautiful place, and somehow you can't imagine it being a place to fight. There are 360 degree views from the top of the hill - and it is such a clear day we can see along the entire Drakensberg range. Stunning.
We had Spionkop to ourselves, there was nobody else around at all. You can drive right to the top of the hill (yay, no walking!) and then do a self guided trail. It is interesting and also very sad - to see all those graves (mostly mass grave sites) and read how young most of the men were.
I also find it strange that this particular battle was between the Boers and the British - both fighting over something that didn't belong to either of them!
The famous "Kop" stand at Anfield is named after Spionkop, in tribute to the many local people who fell at this battle (the West Lancashire regiment had a large presence there). I only learned this recently! But luckily before we travelled to SA.
So after leaving Spionkop (along a 7km dusty dirt track, of course) we drove through Ladysmith, and had planned to stop there. We decided against this as there was no parking near the museum (which specialises in the Battlefields story) and there didn't seem to be many tourists around... just a working town. We drove through Glencoe and Dundee - where we stopped to get a sandwich at Pick n Pay - and parked up just out of Dundee to eat lunch. Lunch included the biggest custard slice I've ever seen in my life. But we did share it!
Our B&B - Penny Farthing - was about 30kms past Dundee and we arrived there just after 2. Penny Farthing is a lovely property in the middle of nowhere - 2/3kms along a dirt track off the main road - and we were greeted by three dogs barking excitedly as we opened the car doors. It was only 2 days later, back at G&Ms, that we realised one of the dogs had badly scratched the passenger door!
http://www.pennyf.co.za/index.htm
Ann, the housekeeper, greeted us and showed us to our room. It was lovely, and as it was still hot and sunny, we had a little walk round the gardens and sat by the pool to read for a short while. Everywhere we went we were followed by the dogs!
Roy wasn't feeling so good so he had a lie down and then we went out for another walk, venturing further out into the open farmland. It really is tranquil and beautiful here. Foy, the owner and our Battlefield guide for tomorrow, dropped some reading material in at our room and said he would see us at dinner.
We had drinks at 6.30pm and then we all sat down to eat. Dinner is a communal affair with all guests eating with Ann and Foy. Ann is the cook (although she does have a lot of help) but eats very little as she says she would get too fat if she ate the meals she cooked every night. I was starting to suffer with dog allergies as those dogs have the run of the house, including the dining area. But they are nice dogs! The only other guests are a Dutch couple, and they are not on the tour with Foy tomorrow. In fact, it looks like we'll have him to ourselves.
Dinner: Mushroom soup (delicious!) with croutons/ Lamb, sweet potato, broccoli, samp & beans, carrots, cauli, gravy/Strawberry cheesecake and ice cream.
Now, Margaret has been worrying about us driving after dark here. And so she asked us to speak with Foy to make sure that he would have us back off the tour in time for daylight driving. It is a good 3-4 hours back to Durban and sunset is now shortly before 6pm. So he agreed, and said that to "save time" in the morning, we would watch a video whilst having after dinner coffee. The idea is that he gives a lot of background info to the Anglo-Zulu War before the tour commences.
We all went through to the lounge. About 5 minutes into the first film, the dutch lady was fast asleep! I had the "fidgets" and could not keep still. I went to take an antihistamine and came back to the lounge. The film ended and I thought "oh great - bedtime". Foy came back in. Instead of wishing us good night, he put another video in the machine. We watched that. Surely now we can sleep? Not quite. He then came back in and said he would do our "orientation"! This consisted of him telling us where the Boers, Zulus and English were coming from in the months leading up to the Zulu War. So all incredibly interesting, but I'm sure I'll have forgotten everything by tomorrow!
It is a chilly night - the fire has been burning since 6 - but we have electric blankets and sleep well.
Sunday 4 May 2008
Sani - the Pass to surpass all Passes
As you may have read we've driven a LOT of mountain passes in the last 3 weeks. And loved pretty much every single one of them, even the ones we've moaned about. So today we're heading up the Sani Pass. This time it's different - we will not be self driving this one. The state of the roads and the steep, sharp bends near the top, mean that this one is best left to the experts.
Woke just before 7. It is windy and cloudy. It is Autumn here and I'm totally discombobulated. All around us are the beautiful colours of Autumn - red, gold and brown trees. And yet back home, the trees are just starting to bud (or where when we came away) and everything will by now have turned to green.
We got up out of bed when our coffee and wake up call arrived at 7.30am. Oh - and the extremely tasty home made biscotti! No sooner had we finished that, it was time for breakfast! We wanted to eat early-ish and then take a stroll. The food, as expected, was lovely. With light as a feather home made scones being the crowning glory on the buffet table. I also had some poached eggs.
Walking around the dam, we stopped to watch two herons fighting over domination of a tree and a small island in the lake. One of them eventually managed to harangue the other one off his patch!
We checked out, paid up, chatted with the owner and receptionist, complimenting them on their hotel. They told us we have to come back! I'd love to. In fact, they've even told us the best room to ask for! Funny, but I already thought we had the best room.....
Then we wandered outside to wait for our car to take us up the Sani Pass. It didn't seem as if any of the other guests in the hotel were on the same trip as nobody else was waiting. We'd been told that the driver would be there between 9.30 and 9.45. We'd filled in all our passport/border control forms.... the other exciting thing about Sani Pass is that it actually takes you from South Africa, across the border into Lesotho, an independent Kingdom.
It was almost 10 before a 4WD with "Sani Pass Tours" pulled up into the hotel drive. As the driver got out we strolled toward him and introduced ourselves. He looked at us blankly. "Sorry, I don't have any tours booked today, who did you book with?".
I explained that we made our booking via the hotel. He asked us to wait and said he'd go and have a word with the hotel people. He came back out and explained that there had been a mix up (we'd gathered that already). I'd actually changed the date of our hotel reservation (and the Sani tour) before we came out here, and unfortunately the hotel had forgotten to let him know. As far as he knew we were not due to do the trip until the next day!
But, no matter. He jumped in his car, told us to get in (apologising he'd not had chance to clean it out) handed us a "Birds of the Sani Pass" laminate and set off driving. On the way, he started telling us all about the history of the road leading into Lesotho.
http://www.sanitours.co.za/default.htm
On the way to the Pass, we saw basotho people, wrapped in brightly coloured woollen blankets, leading some horses down the road. Our guide explained that they come down to trade things, look for work or steal cattle and other animals.
Soon after, our guide took a phone call and explained that there was another car from his tour company only 5/10 minutes ahead of us, so if we didn't mind, we would be joining that tour. No problem. I was glad that he'd got his day back! Soon after we were with Viv, our new guide and Muriel - a Swiss lady who was the only other person on the trip. And off we went - up the Pass.
Sani Pass is without question the most horrendous road I've ever travelled on. The rocks, stones, water and potholes cover 100% of it. Having done the trip, I don't think I'd have been scared of self driving (in the right car!) but I don't think it would particularly enjoyable - it just takes far too long. And the concentration required would make that hard work. It takes over 3 hours to get up (including a few quick stops) and 2.5 hours to get down.
We saw reedbok, eland and angora goats on the mountains whilst going up. At the top we saw a cape vulture and a Drakensberg Rock Jumper (beautiful orange bird unique to this area). On the way back down, Viv had to stop to pick up a stunning chameleon off the road as he would just not move out of the way of our car!
At the top we went into a basotho woman's (small) hut. They have a flag system outside to show what they're trading on any particular day (beer, bread, garments, etc). We tried some local beer (all I can say is that it was "refreshing") and some excellent wholewheat bread. We learned a few words in the local language (which I have of course now forgotten) and then we were invited to peruse her collection of traditional hats which were for sale and scattered across her bed. The big hats were quite nice - not for wearing, but being woven I had in mind that they'd make good food covers if we were eating outdoors! Anyway, in the end, I just bought a tiny hat - easier to pack (and not much cheaper!). I guess it's just a little souvenir and I figured that it would be a small contribution to this lady to say thanks for letting us in her hut.
Talk about a tourist sting! Just after I picked up and paid for the hat, Viv asked if we'd maybe like to make a "small donation" to the lady. Muriel announced that she had no small change whatsover, and so Roy ended up handing over more cash "from the three of us"!
After the visit to the hut (which was pretty brief and a little less informative than I'd imagined it would be) we were taken to the Sani Top Chalet - the highest pub in Southern Africa.
http://www.sanitopchalet.co.za/index.htm
Here we drank local beer (but not the home brew!) and ordered lunch. Whilst waiting we wandered outside on the balcony and took in the fantastic views. But we didn't linger too long - the sun was out by now but there was a howling wind and it was pretty cold! Inside we ate with Muriel. Roy had sausage and mash which was pretty hearty! I got a a "Famous Sani Sausage" with bread. It actually turned out to be a giant hot dog - but the bread was home made and really good. Muriel ordered smoked trout and it looked very good.
After lunch we set off back down... Roy learned a lesson: do not eat a huge meal when you're going to be bounced around on a horrid road for 2 hours straight afterwards!
Back at the hotel by 3.30pm, we collected our car and headed off to Gail's house, as we were staying with her that night. We had a good drive - on the proper road! - there and arrived just as it was getting dark. Gail lives in Hilton, a beautiful suburb of Pietermartizburg. Or just "Maritzburg" as the locals call it. We haven't been into the town itself, and I don't think we'll get time to.
So, Gail cooked us a spag bol and we chatted with her over a bottle of red, until we were both yawning and tired and so went to bed early. Oh - we'd watched a lightning storm from the dining room. We stayed in a self contained cottage at the side of the main house. Candy and Katie were there but just joined us for dinner as they were watching movies.
Woke just before 7. It is windy and cloudy. It is Autumn here and I'm totally discombobulated. All around us are the beautiful colours of Autumn - red, gold and brown trees. And yet back home, the trees are just starting to bud (or where when we came away) and everything will by now have turned to green.
We got up out of bed when our coffee and wake up call arrived at 7.30am. Oh - and the extremely tasty home made biscotti! No sooner had we finished that, it was time for breakfast! We wanted to eat early-ish and then take a stroll. The food, as expected, was lovely. With light as a feather home made scones being the crowning glory on the buffet table. I also had some poached eggs.
Walking around the dam, we stopped to watch two herons fighting over domination of a tree and a small island in the lake. One of them eventually managed to harangue the other one off his patch!
We checked out, paid up, chatted with the owner and receptionist, complimenting them on their hotel. They told us we have to come back! I'd love to. In fact, they've even told us the best room to ask for! Funny, but I already thought we had the best room.....
Then we wandered outside to wait for our car to take us up the Sani Pass. It didn't seem as if any of the other guests in the hotel were on the same trip as nobody else was waiting. We'd been told that the driver would be there between 9.30 and 9.45. We'd filled in all our passport/border control forms.... the other exciting thing about Sani Pass is that it actually takes you from South Africa, across the border into Lesotho, an independent Kingdom.
It was almost 10 before a 4WD with "Sani Pass Tours" pulled up into the hotel drive. As the driver got out we strolled toward him and introduced ourselves. He looked at us blankly. "Sorry, I don't have any tours booked today, who did you book with?".
I explained that we made our booking via the hotel. He asked us to wait and said he'd go and have a word with the hotel people. He came back out and explained that there had been a mix up (we'd gathered that already). I'd actually changed the date of our hotel reservation (and the Sani tour) before we came out here, and unfortunately the hotel had forgotten to let him know. As far as he knew we were not due to do the trip until the next day!
But, no matter. He jumped in his car, told us to get in (apologising he'd not had chance to clean it out) handed us a "Birds of the Sani Pass" laminate and set off driving. On the way, he started telling us all about the history of the road leading into Lesotho.
http://www.sanitours.co.za/default.htm
On the way to the Pass, we saw basotho people, wrapped in brightly coloured woollen blankets, leading some horses down the road. Our guide explained that they come down to trade things, look for work or steal cattle and other animals.
Soon after, our guide took a phone call and explained that there was another car from his tour company only 5/10 minutes ahead of us, so if we didn't mind, we would be joining that tour. No problem. I was glad that he'd got his day back! Soon after we were with Viv, our new guide and Muriel - a Swiss lady who was the only other person on the trip. And off we went - up the Pass.
Sani Pass is without question the most horrendous road I've ever travelled on. The rocks, stones, water and potholes cover 100% of it. Having done the trip, I don't think I'd have been scared of self driving (in the right car!) but I don't think it would particularly enjoyable - it just takes far too long. And the concentration required would make that hard work. It takes over 3 hours to get up (including a few quick stops) and 2.5 hours to get down.
We saw reedbok, eland and angora goats on the mountains whilst going up. At the top we saw a cape vulture and a Drakensberg Rock Jumper (beautiful orange bird unique to this area). On the way back down, Viv had to stop to pick up a stunning chameleon off the road as he would just not move out of the way of our car!
At the top we went into a basotho woman's (small) hut. They have a flag system outside to show what they're trading on any particular day (beer, bread, garments, etc). We tried some local beer (all I can say is that it was "refreshing") and some excellent wholewheat bread. We learned a few words in the local language (which I have of course now forgotten) and then we were invited to peruse her collection of traditional hats which were for sale and scattered across her bed. The big hats were quite nice - not for wearing, but being woven I had in mind that they'd make good food covers if we were eating outdoors! Anyway, in the end, I just bought a tiny hat - easier to pack (and not much cheaper!). I guess it's just a little souvenir and I figured that it would be a small contribution to this lady to say thanks for letting us in her hut.
Talk about a tourist sting! Just after I picked up and paid for the hat, Viv asked if we'd maybe like to make a "small donation" to the lady. Muriel announced that she had no small change whatsover, and so Roy ended up handing over more cash "from the three of us"!
After the visit to the hut (which was pretty brief and a little less informative than I'd imagined it would be) we were taken to the Sani Top Chalet - the highest pub in Southern Africa.
http://www.sanitopchalet.co.za/index.htm
Here we drank local beer (but not the home brew!) and ordered lunch. Whilst waiting we wandered outside on the balcony and took in the fantastic views. But we didn't linger too long - the sun was out by now but there was a howling wind and it was pretty cold! Inside we ate with Muriel. Roy had sausage and mash which was pretty hearty! I got a a "Famous Sani Sausage" with bread. It actually turned out to be a giant hot dog - but the bread was home made and really good. Muriel ordered smoked trout and it looked very good.
After lunch we set off back down... Roy learned a lesson: do not eat a huge meal when you're going to be bounced around on a horrid road for 2 hours straight afterwards!
Back at the hotel by 3.30pm, we collected our car and headed off to Gail's house, as we were staying with her that night. We had a good drive - on the proper road! - there and arrived just as it was getting dark. Gail lives in Hilton, a beautiful suburb of Pietermartizburg. Or just "Maritzburg" as the locals call it. We haven't been into the town itself, and I don't think we'll get time to.
So, Gail cooked us a spag bol and we chatted with her over a bottle of red, until we were both yawning and tired and so went to bed early. Oh - we'd watched a lightning storm from the dining room. We stayed in a self contained cottage at the side of the main house. Candy and Katie were there but just joined us for dinner as they were watching movies.
Saturday 3 May 2008
Back on the road again
I walked out to see a beautiful sunrise this morning (6.15am). But after that it clouded over and it is very cool and overcast.
We're heading out on the Midlands Meander and then on to Himeville for an overnight stay in the Drakensberg mountains.
http://www.midlandsmeander.co.za/midlands/index.html
I'm not sure quite how I would describe the Meander. I guess you could say it is a scenic drive with shops and cafes and restaurants along the way. I had in my mind that they'd all be quite close together but they aren't. And the Meander route is quite confusing as it isn't one loop route as such but there are little branches going off it all over the place! We wanted to be off the Meander by lunchtime as we didn't want to arrive at Moorcroft Manor too late.
So, we stopped only a few times - at Higgly Piggly - a small centre with farm shop, cafe, plant nursery, ceramic place and a few other shops. We bought some wine there. Next we called in at Decadance where they feature stunning artwork made of beads. And then into Spiral Blue - kind of an Eastern shop. Finally we called in (after 3kms up a dirt track) to Swissland - a wooden chalet surrounded by goats. Guess what they sell there? Yup, cheese. We tasted a lot of cheeses but decided against buying a "picnic platter" there as it was not quite warm enough to sit outside for long.
We decided to go for a proper lunch stop at Bierkassl - which had been recommended by G. We arrived at 12.45-ish. The sun had popped out so we grabbed the last remaining outside table only to find it was in the shade. This resulted in a squabble as I said that if Roy had been faster (he'd been faffing around in the car park) we'd have got into the sun.
We were ignored by 2 or 3 different waiters until about 10 past 1. By now we were both really irritable. Eventually we saw a menu, but realised that there were no "snacky" things or sandwiches on there. So we told our waiter we were leaving and he suggested going round the corner to a place called Aladdin's Lamp. We parked up there and it took us a good 5 minutes to find the cafe. When we did there was a big sign up announcing its closure until further notice.
So, back to the main road and we called in to the Nathan Road Junction Deli. It was awful! We got toasted sandwiches (mine had the weirdest looking bacon I'd ever seen on it) and cold chips. The salad was not so fresh looking. Only saving grace was that the coffees were quite good. And it didn't cost much!
So, on we went. We studied our map and decided on an alternate route to the one Gordon had told us to take. We ended up on the Souter Pass. Now this was not a steep mountain pass, but after a while on it the tarmac changed to a dirt road. And it went on and on and on like that for 50kms - horrible, bumpy, pot hole filled dirt track. And this time we weren't in the 4X4. I felt really bad that I had taken G's car on such an awful road. That said, the scenery was stunning. We were following the Drakensberg south. And saw a beautiful Jackal buzzard on the way.
We arrived at Moorcroft Manor at 4-ish. That dirt trail only finished about 2kms before the hotel and had taken some time to negotiate. Moorcroft is fantastic. We've been upgraded to a suite, we think - the bath is the best bath in South Africa! They have a free ironing service here so Roy put a pair of trousers in, as they needed doing. They were back in record time! And for this brilliant hotel we're paying £30 each, bed and breakfast. We'd be in the tiniest of rooms if we had a B&B in Britain for that price.
http://www.moorcroft.co.za/default.htm
We walked around the little dam at the foot of the hotel grounds - watched herons and hadehas and fishermen. There was a beautiful sunset over the mountains but it's not a clear night. Fingers crossed for tomorrow.
We had a decanter of sherry in our room so we took a tipple before going to dinner. Then in the bar we were offered drinks and the menus. The food was - you know what I'm going to say - amazing. We both picked the same!
Amuse bouche: ham, cream cheese, caper
Starter: Deep fried feta with shaved smoked trout / salad and dressing, melba toast and butter
Main: Fillet steak, pepper sauce, potato wedges, carrot, broccoli
Dessert: Black Forest Cheesecake (homemade with cherries, kirsh and chocolate)
Coffees. (Irish for Roy).
I forget the exact price of this but it was under R400. The fillet was superb - flame grilled and so tender and tasty.
Overall, Moorcroft is THE best hotel we've stayed in for value. In fact, it is one of my favourite places here.
We're heading out on the Midlands Meander and then on to Himeville for an overnight stay in the Drakensberg mountains.
http://www.midlandsmeander.co.za/midlands/index.html
I'm not sure quite how I would describe the Meander. I guess you could say it is a scenic drive with shops and cafes and restaurants along the way. I had in my mind that they'd all be quite close together but they aren't. And the Meander route is quite confusing as it isn't one loop route as such but there are little branches going off it all over the place! We wanted to be off the Meander by lunchtime as we didn't want to arrive at Moorcroft Manor too late.
So, we stopped only a few times - at Higgly Piggly - a small centre with farm shop, cafe, plant nursery, ceramic place and a few other shops. We bought some wine there. Next we called in at Decadance where they feature stunning artwork made of beads. And then into Spiral Blue - kind of an Eastern shop. Finally we called in (after 3kms up a dirt track) to Swissland - a wooden chalet surrounded by goats. Guess what they sell there? Yup, cheese. We tasted a lot of cheeses but decided against buying a "picnic platter" there as it was not quite warm enough to sit outside for long.
We decided to go for a proper lunch stop at Bierkassl - which had been recommended by G. We arrived at 12.45-ish. The sun had popped out so we grabbed the last remaining outside table only to find it was in the shade. This resulted in a squabble as I said that if Roy had been faster (he'd been faffing around in the car park) we'd have got into the sun.
We were ignored by 2 or 3 different waiters until about 10 past 1. By now we were both really irritable. Eventually we saw a menu, but realised that there were no "snacky" things or sandwiches on there. So we told our waiter we were leaving and he suggested going round the corner to a place called Aladdin's Lamp. We parked up there and it took us a good 5 minutes to find the cafe. When we did there was a big sign up announcing its closure until further notice.
So, back to the main road and we called in to the Nathan Road Junction Deli. It was awful! We got toasted sandwiches (mine had the weirdest looking bacon I'd ever seen on it) and cold chips. The salad was not so fresh looking. Only saving grace was that the coffees were quite good. And it didn't cost much!
So, on we went. We studied our map and decided on an alternate route to the one Gordon had told us to take. We ended up on the Souter Pass. Now this was not a steep mountain pass, but after a while on it the tarmac changed to a dirt road. And it went on and on and on like that for 50kms - horrible, bumpy, pot hole filled dirt track. And this time we weren't in the 4X4. I felt really bad that I had taken G's car on such an awful road. That said, the scenery was stunning. We were following the Drakensberg south. And saw a beautiful Jackal buzzard on the way.
We arrived at Moorcroft Manor at 4-ish. That dirt trail only finished about 2kms before the hotel and had taken some time to negotiate. Moorcroft is fantastic. We've been upgraded to a suite, we think - the bath is the best bath in South Africa! They have a free ironing service here so Roy put a pair of trousers in, as they needed doing. They were back in record time! And for this brilliant hotel we're paying £30 each, bed and breakfast. We'd be in the tiniest of rooms if we had a B&B in Britain for that price.
http://www.moorcroft.co.za/default.htm
We walked around the little dam at the foot of the hotel grounds - watched herons and hadehas and fishermen. There was a beautiful sunset over the mountains but it's not a clear night. Fingers crossed for tomorrow.
We had a decanter of sherry in our room so we took a tipple before going to dinner. Then in the bar we were offered drinks and the menus. The food was - you know what I'm going to say - amazing. We both picked the same!
Amuse bouche: ham, cream cheese, caper
Starter: Deep fried feta with shaved smoked trout / salad and dressing, melba toast and butter
Main: Fillet steak, pepper sauce, potato wedges, carrot, broccoli
Dessert: Black Forest Cheesecake (homemade with cherries, kirsh and chocolate)
Coffees. (Irish for Roy).
I forget the exact price of this but it was under R400. The fillet was superb - flame grilled and so tender and tasty.
Overall, Moorcroft is THE best hotel we've stayed in for value. In fact, it is one of my favourite places here.
Friday 2 May 2008
Touring the other side of Durban
Woke at 6 and read my book... I'm determined to finish Mandela's Long Walk to Freedom before I leave here. After breakfast, Roy helped Gordon change a tyre on his bakkie (pick up truck) as Caitlin had borrowed it yesterday and got a flat.
Once all that was done, we took a drive out - me driving to get used to G's car as he's lending it to us for the weekend. G&M were supposed to be accompanying us on our weekend away but unfortunately they are too busy with running their business and so they can't come.
We drove around the Valley of 1000 Hills. We stopped at some nice craft shops and also to meet Gail for a coffee and pass her some stuff she'd left in G&M's the other night. Next we went to a place called Phezulu, to watch some Zulu dancing. It was really good.
http://www.phezulusafaripark.co.za/zuluculture.htm
The views of the valley of 1000 Hills from Phezulu were incredible. The weather is a little brighter today but still not brilliant. When the sun is out it's lovely - but soon cools down when it clouds over.
We stopped at the Cape Town Fish Market for lunch. Margaret recommended the grilled hake and chips - and it was very good. And not too heavy.
http://www.ctfm.co.za/home/
Back home to chill out and then Margaret cooked us a wonderful lamb roast dinner. I love how she makes butternut squash - she cooks the butternut until soft and then mashes it with butter and salt and pepper. She taught us this when she visited England last year and I have made it since. Yummy!
We sat and chatted after dinner - G&M can both talk a lot and are really good company. It is fascinating hearing about some of the adventures they've had since moving to SA in 1969. They've had some tough times, too. As a family, the SA Almans have been through a lot and yet they have not lost their spirit or verve for life.
Once all that was done, we took a drive out - me driving to get used to G's car as he's lending it to us for the weekend. G&M were supposed to be accompanying us on our weekend away but unfortunately they are too busy with running their business and so they can't come.
We drove around the Valley of 1000 Hills. We stopped at some nice craft shops and also to meet Gail for a coffee and pass her some stuff she'd left in G&M's the other night. Next we went to a place called Phezulu, to watch some Zulu dancing. It was really good.
http://www.phezulusafaripark.co.za/zuluculture.htm
The views of the valley of 1000 Hills from Phezulu were incredible. The weather is a little brighter today but still not brilliant. When the sun is out it's lovely - but soon cools down when it clouds over.
We stopped at the Cape Town Fish Market for lunch. Margaret recommended the grilled hake and chips - and it was very good. And not too heavy.
http://www.ctfm.co.za/home/
Back home to chill out and then Margaret cooked us a wonderful lamb roast dinner. I love how she makes butternut squash - she cooks the butternut until soft and then mashes it with butter and salt and pepper. She taught us this when she visited England last year and I have made it since. Yummy!
We sat and chatted after dinner - G&M can both talk a lot and are really good company. It is fascinating hearing about some of the adventures they've had since moving to SA in 1969. They've had some tough times, too. As a family, the SA Almans have been through a lot and yet they have not lost their spirit or verve for life.
Thursday 1 May 2008
YOU-Shakka!
It is the first of May. And this week there have been two or three (I get confused) public holidays in South Africa. A lot of people have taken the full week off work.
So it is now the beginning of a long holiday weekend here. Gail took us out today on a tour of Durban city. Actually, we started by having a look at the Kloof gorge nearby my aunt and uncle's house. It is huge and very scenic. We then drove down in to Durban but we did not park up and get out to have a walk as "downtown" Durban is not considered white-friendly or safe. Such a shame. We saw the old buildings and shops and the town hall.
Next, we stopped at Ushaka. This is a very cleverly designed aquarium attraction on the newly developed section of Durban's waterfront. By the time we arrived it had started to rain, so I guess it was one of the better places to be - being largely indoors. There are some outdoor things there - including a water park - but we just had a walk round and looked at the various fish and underwater life from the Indian Ocean. The design is like a shipwreck and at some point as you walk round the whole "ship" turns upside down!
We then ran back in to the small mall which lines the entrance to Ushaka and stopped for coffee and lunch at Ninos (which is a coffee shop chain here). Gail's daughters Candice and Caitlin had joined us and we chatted and just generally hung out. Made me feel quite young ;-)
The reason today's blog is named You-Shakka is because of a standing joke with my cousin, her kids and my aunt. Auntie Margaret mispronounces Ushaka. It should be oosharkah, quite a gentle sound. Margaret says YOU-Shakker - a real harsh sound. So we were having some fun with that all day - shouting out YOU-Shakka at various points. I guess you had to be there!
We came back to G&Ms and Margaret had made curry. She makes the most fabulous lamb curry and chicken and prawn, too. With various sambals to accompany. It was delicious - apparently the secret in the recipe is blitzed up baked beans! I must try that one day.
Another early night. We get so tired here - and really, we're doing the least we've done all holiday.
So it is now the beginning of a long holiday weekend here. Gail took us out today on a tour of Durban city. Actually, we started by having a look at the Kloof gorge nearby my aunt and uncle's house. It is huge and very scenic. We then drove down in to Durban but we did not park up and get out to have a walk as "downtown" Durban is not considered white-friendly or safe. Such a shame. We saw the old buildings and shops and the town hall.
Next, we stopped at Ushaka. This is a very cleverly designed aquarium attraction on the newly developed section of Durban's waterfront. By the time we arrived it had started to rain, so I guess it was one of the better places to be - being largely indoors. There are some outdoor things there - including a water park - but we just had a walk round and looked at the various fish and underwater life from the Indian Ocean. The design is like a shipwreck and at some point as you walk round the whole "ship" turns upside down!
We then ran back in to the small mall which lines the entrance to Ushaka and stopped for coffee and lunch at Ninos (which is a coffee shop chain here). Gail's daughters Candice and Caitlin had joined us and we chatted and just generally hung out. Made me feel quite young ;-)
The reason today's blog is named You-Shakka is because of a standing joke with my cousin, her kids and my aunt. Auntie Margaret mispronounces Ushaka. It should be oosharkah, quite a gentle sound. Margaret says YOU-Shakker - a real harsh sound. So we were having some fun with that all day - shouting out YOU-Shakka at various points. I guess you had to be there!
We came back to G&Ms and Margaret had made curry. She makes the most fabulous lamb curry and chicken and prawn, too. With various sambals to accompany. It was delicious - apparently the secret in the recipe is blitzed up baked beans! I must try that one day.
Another early night. We get so tired here - and really, we're doing the least we've done all holiday.
Wednesday 30 April 2008
A new holiday starts - our trip to Durban
We were up early to pack our bags, as we fly today from Port Elizabeth to Durban. I will never know how we managed to close our cases! We had packed all of the wine we'd bought in Franschhoek - up to now we'd been able to leave it in the car boot.
We had an easy run to PE airport. Quite funny, as our Dutch friends were also flying out of PE at about the same time as us, and they had a GPS system. When we saw them at PE, they told us they'd ended up in the middle of a township!! Did we have any problems? Nope, just followed the airport signs!
On check in our luggage was 9kg overweight. Eek. However, the nice lady on the desk said she would be lenient with us and ignore it.
We flew Kulula, a low cost domestic airline. It was hilarious. I have never laughed so much on a flight - the safety announcement was comical (deliberately so). They call all their passengers "kulula fans" and deliberately make the announcement funny so that people keep listening. Clever really. Some excerpts:
"Buckle those belts around your gorgeous hips, kulula fans".
"In the event of landing in water... put on your stunning life jacket (it's just your colour) and if you feel it deflating then find this tube and BLOW baby BLOW. You never know - you might just make this!"
"In the 1,000,000 to one chance of Robert Mugabe ever stepping down, or decompression in the cabin......... Now we recommend fitting your own oxygen mask first and then helping just one other person. So if you have 2 children with you, then now is the time to decide which one you love most".
There was a load of other stuff but I'm not sure how well it will translate to blog so I'll leave it there!
We landed spot on time. Gordon and Margaret (my aunt and uncle) were there to greet us and drive us to their home - our base for the next week. The weather is not great (20 and cloudy) despite Durban being known as the Sunny City! We arrived at their place mid afternoon and sat and chatted. The views from their house are wonderful - I felt like I knew the place because, when Dad was ill and G&M came to visit him, they bought lots of photos and video clips of their house as Dad wanted to see it. They only moved here 2 years ago - my uncle designed it himself and they had it built on a plot of land they bought. When my Dad visited, they were living in a different part of Durban.
The area they live in now borders a nature reserve and there are Zebras who stand in the field at the bottom of their road....
http://www.sa-venues.com/attractionskzn/kloof.htm
Soon after, Gail (my cousin) and her youngest daughter Candice arrived and they started the Braai (South African BBQ). This was wonderful - we had the most tasty fillet steak and Gail made fantastic sweetcorn fritters and something called putu-pap. This is mealie meal (maize) cooked until crumbly and served with tomato and onion gravy - very tasty. Another recipe I've since repeated at home.
We had an assortment of other meat too and plenty of red wine was consumed.
The sad thing we learned today is that my cousin Barry is ill.
We were all in bed by 10 - it's very much an early to bed, early to rise type of life style and we're fitting in to that quite nicely!
We had an easy run to PE airport. Quite funny, as our Dutch friends were also flying out of PE at about the same time as us, and they had a GPS system. When we saw them at PE, they told us they'd ended up in the middle of a township!! Did we have any problems? Nope, just followed the airport signs!
On check in our luggage was 9kg overweight. Eek. However, the nice lady on the desk said she would be lenient with us and ignore it.
We flew Kulula, a low cost domestic airline. It was hilarious. I have never laughed so much on a flight - the safety announcement was comical (deliberately so). They call all their passengers "kulula fans" and deliberately make the announcement funny so that people keep listening. Clever really. Some excerpts:
"Buckle those belts around your gorgeous hips, kulula fans".
"In the event of landing in water... put on your stunning life jacket (it's just your colour) and if you feel it deflating then find this tube and BLOW baby BLOW. You never know - you might just make this!"
"In the 1,000,000 to one chance of Robert Mugabe ever stepping down, or decompression in the cabin......... Now we recommend fitting your own oxygen mask first and then helping just one other person. So if you have 2 children with you, then now is the time to decide which one you love most".
There was a load of other stuff but I'm not sure how well it will translate to blog so I'll leave it there!
We landed spot on time. Gordon and Margaret (my aunt and uncle) were there to greet us and drive us to their home - our base for the next week. The weather is not great (20 and cloudy) despite Durban being known as the Sunny City! We arrived at their place mid afternoon and sat and chatted. The views from their house are wonderful - I felt like I knew the place because, when Dad was ill and G&M came to visit him, they bought lots of photos and video clips of their house as Dad wanted to see it. They only moved here 2 years ago - my uncle designed it himself and they had it built on a plot of land they bought. When my Dad visited, they were living in a different part of Durban.
The area they live in now borders a nature reserve and there are Zebras who stand in the field at the bottom of their road....
http://www.sa-venues.com/attractionskzn/kloof.htm
Soon after, Gail (my cousin) and her youngest daughter Candice arrived and they started the Braai (South African BBQ). This was wonderful - we had the most tasty fillet steak and Gail made fantastic sweetcorn fritters and something called putu-pap. This is mealie meal (maize) cooked until crumbly and served with tomato and onion gravy - very tasty. Another recipe I've since repeated at home.
We had an assortment of other meat too and plenty of red wine was consumed.
The sad thing we learned today is that my cousin Barry is ill.
We were all in bed by 10 - it's very much an early to bed, early to rise type of life style and we're fitting in to that quite nicely!
Tuesday 29 April 2008
A day in the Elephant Park
We woke at 6 - we're still on Kwandwe time!
I still have an upset stomach - that bug is certainly hanging around.
We had breakfast and then joined our new Dutch friends who were on the same Addo game drive as us. Our guide is Ilana, a young girl.
It was a strange start to the morning - misty, drizzly and cold. Then, as soon as our jeep got just outside of the Park gates, all of the mist lifted and the sun was out. This was a good thing as we were freezing in the jeep (even with several layers and our "ponchos" on).
Addo Elephant Park is a National Park and we could have self driven in there - but we decided that it would be better to have a guide and so we'd booked on the trip. Ilana was excellent - she was incredibly knowledgeable and there wasn't a plant, bird, insect or mammal that she could not give detailed information about. I was hugely impressed.
http://www.sanparks.org/parks/addo/
We saw:
Red hartebeest
Kudu
Yellow Mongoose
Warthogs - everywhere!
White necked raven
Ibis (Hadeha)
Southern Booboo
Ostrich
Helmeted guinea fowl
Tortoise
And - a huge dung beetle rolling her dung ball across the road, while her male partner just watched. No further comment on this! I was so pleased to see the dung beetle as I wanted to know how big they are in real life. They're about 2-3 inches long. You're not allowed to drive over the elephant dung (which is everywhere) at Addo so as to protect this rare species.
What about eles? Oh yes - we did see some, eventually. In fact we'd given up hope. Poor Ilana must have driven up and down every single loop road in the park when all of a sudden we rounded a corner just in time to encounter a small herd of 6 munching their way through the trees and then crossing the road right by our jeep. I couldn't believe how close they come. Definitely not shy eles. Then we saw a large group in the distance down by a watering hole, including a few huge bulls - but by the time we'd got down there, the elephants had wandered on. Still, a great morning.
On our way out of the park we had to pull up sharp behind a car that had stopped. The driver was out of the car and loading plant material (Ilana said it was spekboom, which the locals eat like a salad leaf) into his boot. She shouted to him that it was illegal to a) be out of your car in the park unless at a designated spot (there are lions in Addo) and b) it was HIGHLY illegal to remove any vegetation from the park. He just smiled and said Thank You.
Stupid man. Within seconds, Ilana had clocked his vehicle reg and phoned ahead to the Park Gate to ensure that he got searched on exiting.
So - back at Elephant House for about 2. What to do this afternoon? Ilana gave us some ideas.
http://www.elephanthouse.co.za/
We decided on a drive up the Zuurberg Pass into the mountains where we'd seen a one hour circular walk. Looked like just the right length walk. We quickly found (after paying our way on to the trail) that it was another treacherous South African walk! We took a very rocky climb down and down and down (all the time thinking "I've got to get back up this) and then the trail levelled out for a while. But followed the edge of the mountain along a sheer cliff edge for some distance. We didn't look down much! Fortunately the road back up to the car park was nice and smooth and actually a fairly gentle incline. We saw some incredible insects on the trail! This was the first exercise we'd done in about a week so it was nice to stretch the legs out.
We got back in time for afternoon tea and cake (which was delicious) and then decided to have a look around the Addo Valley Raptor and Reptile Centre. We had a couple of hours to pass before getting ready for dinner and it wasn't really hot enough to sit out in the gardens.
http://www.addoraptorreptile.com/about_us.html
Now, generally speaking, I'm not a huge fan of animals in cages, but this place was a bit different.
Darren, the guy who runs it, took us round and we were there for nearly 2 hours - holding snakes, feeding hawks, meeting all his "friends". He really is a great guy - kind of a South African Steve Irwin type, really passionate about what he does. Roy loves reptiles (maybe it's a boy thing) and so was delighted to hold a baby black mamba (one of the deadliest snakes in the world). He also liked having two pythons wrapped around his neck! I can't say that I was as pleased when Darren popped one of them on my shoulders, too - but I guess you have to try these things. "Go on" he said "It's like having a massage, it's nice". It wasn't!
I did like feeding the kite and owls. Holding an owl on my (gloved) hand was very special. And very heavy! Darren takes in injured snakes and birds and he trys to rehabilitate most of the birds and let them go. I tell you - this was the best R40 I spent!
Dinner was at the Elephant House again. There is another restaurant in walking distance but we decided to stay put.
Roy: Onion, Saffron and Herb zapped tomato tart/Lamb shank, roasted veg and mash/Spiced apple pie.
Jan: Beetroot, rocket and avo salad with seeds and lime dressing/Herb baked chicken breast, potato wedges and veg/Malva Pudding with ice cream
My dinner was not quite as advertised! The seeds and lime dressing weren't there, and the chicken breast was a scrawny leg. But the malva pudding was excellent and made up for it.
We shared a bottle of white and then Roy had the largest Irish Coffee I've ever seen in my life!
I still have an upset stomach - that bug is certainly hanging around.
We had breakfast and then joined our new Dutch friends who were on the same Addo game drive as us. Our guide is Ilana, a young girl.
It was a strange start to the morning - misty, drizzly and cold. Then, as soon as our jeep got just outside of the Park gates, all of the mist lifted and the sun was out. This was a good thing as we were freezing in the jeep (even with several layers and our "ponchos" on).
Addo Elephant Park is a National Park and we could have self driven in there - but we decided that it would be better to have a guide and so we'd booked on the trip. Ilana was excellent - she was incredibly knowledgeable and there wasn't a plant, bird, insect or mammal that she could not give detailed information about. I was hugely impressed.
http://www.sanparks.org/parks/addo/
We saw:
Red hartebeest
Kudu
Yellow Mongoose
Warthogs - everywhere!
White necked raven
Ibis (Hadeha)
Southern Booboo
Ostrich
Helmeted guinea fowl
Tortoise
And - a huge dung beetle rolling her dung ball across the road, while her male partner just watched. No further comment on this! I was so pleased to see the dung beetle as I wanted to know how big they are in real life. They're about 2-3 inches long. You're not allowed to drive over the elephant dung (which is everywhere) at Addo so as to protect this rare species.
What about eles? Oh yes - we did see some, eventually. In fact we'd given up hope. Poor Ilana must have driven up and down every single loop road in the park when all of a sudden we rounded a corner just in time to encounter a small herd of 6 munching their way through the trees and then crossing the road right by our jeep. I couldn't believe how close they come. Definitely not shy eles. Then we saw a large group in the distance down by a watering hole, including a few huge bulls - but by the time we'd got down there, the elephants had wandered on. Still, a great morning.
On our way out of the park we had to pull up sharp behind a car that had stopped. The driver was out of the car and loading plant material (Ilana said it was spekboom, which the locals eat like a salad leaf) into his boot. She shouted to him that it was illegal to a) be out of your car in the park unless at a designated spot (there are lions in Addo) and b) it was HIGHLY illegal to remove any vegetation from the park. He just smiled and said Thank You.
Stupid man. Within seconds, Ilana had clocked his vehicle reg and phoned ahead to the Park Gate to ensure that he got searched on exiting.
So - back at Elephant House for about 2. What to do this afternoon? Ilana gave us some ideas.
http://www.elephanthouse.co.za/
We decided on a drive up the Zuurberg Pass into the mountains where we'd seen a one hour circular walk. Looked like just the right length walk. We quickly found (after paying our way on to the trail) that it was another treacherous South African walk! We took a very rocky climb down and down and down (all the time thinking "I've got to get back up this) and then the trail levelled out for a while. But followed the edge of the mountain along a sheer cliff edge for some distance. We didn't look down much! Fortunately the road back up to the car park was nice and smooth and actually a fairly gentle incline. We saw some incredible insects on the trail! This was the first exercise we'd done in about a week so it was nice to stretch the legs out.
We got back in time for afternoon tea and cake (which was delicious) and then decided to have a look around the Addo Valley Raptor and Reptile Centre. We had a couple of hours to pass before getting ready for dinner and it wasn't really hot enough to sit out in the gardens.
http://www.addoraptorreptile.com/about_us.html
Now, generally speaking, I'm not a huge fan of animals in cages, but this place was a bit different.
Darren, the guy who runs it, took us round and we were there for nearly 2 hours - holding snakes, feeding hawks, meeting all his "friends". He really is a great guy - kind of a South African Steve Irwin type, really passionate about what he does. Roy loves reptiles (maybe it's a boy thing) and so was delighted to hold a baby black mamba (one of the deadliest snakes in the world). He also liked having two pythons wrapped around his neck! I can't say that I was as pleased when Darren popped one of them on my shoulders, too - but I guess you have to try these things. "Go on" he said "It's like having a massage, it's nice". It wasn't!
I did like feeding the kite and owls. Holding an owl on my (gloved) hand was very special. And very heavy! Darren takes in injured snakes and birds and he trys to rehabilitate most of the birds and let them go. I tell you - this was the best R40 I spent!
Dinner was at the Elephant House again. There is another restaurant in walking distance but we decided to stay put.
Roy: Onion, Saffron and Herb zapped tomato tart/Lamb shank, roasted veg and mash/Spiced apple pie.
Jan: Beetroot, rocket and avo salad with seeds and lime dressing/Herb baked chicken breast, potato wedges and veg/Malva Pudding with ice cream
My dinner was not quite as advertised! The seeds and lime dressing weren't there, and the chicken breast was a scrawny leg. But the malva pudding was excellent and made up for it.
We shared a bottle of white and then Roy had the largest Irish Coffee I've ever seen in my life!
Monday 28 April 2008
Kwandwe, Day 4 and we leave today
Strangely, two couples did not join the morning drive. Nick and Nicky were "having a lie in". Huh? Brian and Korbie had decided to leave at 9am for their long drive to the far end of the garden route. Now B & K safari a lot - well they live in Joburg and clearly have the cash to do it. But Nick and Nicky were on the last two days of their trip! Personally I'd have been making the most of it.
And what a fantastic drive they missed! We were joined by a lovely SA couple from Cape Town, Elizabeth and Graham.
We saw:
Elephant (we finally caught up with them. They were really noisy and were dusting their backs and "shouting" at one of the cars).
Steenbok
Rhino
Impala
Red Hartebeest
Cheetah (they were also quite active this morning, a great sighting)
Oryx
Warthogs
Ostrich
Zebra
Vervet Monkeys
Wildebeest
Springbox
Buffalo
In fact, at one point, Alfie told us we had three endangered species in our sights - black rhino, black wildebeest and cheetah. Alfie was good company. And he really knew his stuff, although I did find that early on in the trip he wasn't particularly forthcoming with info. Once we started asking questions, he did tell us a lot of stuff. Maybe he realised we actually wanted to know more about things at that point. I asked some stupid questions though! One morning we were going over a load of "humps" on the track and I asked him why they'd put speed bumps in the reserve. I think he struggled to keep a straight face as he explained that they were the park's water pipes running under the track and not speed bumps!
Another day, Brian was going on about wanting to see a Knysna Woodpecker. Alfie made some comment about how he'd probably hear it before he saw it. I piped up with: "Why - what does it sound like?". Every single person in the car just looked at me and said "It's a woodpecker". Duh! Actually, later on I read in a bird book that it also has a distinctive call so I do feel somewhat vindicated.
I became rather fond of bird watching on this trip - there are so many beautiful birds here and it is amazing what you see when you look. In fact, we did buy a Sasol (one of the two main guides to SA birds) while we were in Addo.
So, back to camp for breakfast and then our farewells. Lisa and Simone (the camp hosts) came to say goodbye. A guy called Shakes was driving us back to the Main House to pick up our car. 10 minutes in to the journey I asked the inevitable question to Roy: Did you pick up our passports and cash out of the safe? I got the inevitable answer: No.
Another turn around to get them!
As we drove ourselves out of the Reserve, we saw some lovely giraffe by the gate. It had started to drizzle by then. We had a 2 hour drive to our next port of call - the Elephant House guest house near Addo Elephant Park.
We arrived mid-afternoon. It was still raining. What a pity. The gardens (and swimming pool) here are lovely. We walked around them and when the rain went off we took a walk in nearby farm land and citrus groves. We came back for "afternoon tea" - cake and tea/coffee were being served on the terrace - and then went back to our room to chill out.
Of all the accomodations we stayed in during our trip, this was the room we liked least.
We were told we'd been upgraded from a Terrace room but the room we got was nothing special, probably the smallest of all the places we'd stayed in. I think what put me off were the "antiques" which basically meant tatty furniture and threadbare rugs in the room! Again, maybe just a matter of taste.... the room was clean, though and the bed was comfortable. Maybe by this point we'd just been spoiled rotten!! However, what we did love about Elephant House was the ambience. It's so chilled and relaxing and the staff here are just so happy! We listened to them gossiping and laughing in the kitchen and saw them playing hide and seek in the gardens one morning.
Elephant House serves dinner, and so we decided to eat here tonight. Before dinner, we were invited to take drinks on the terrace and we chatted with all the other guests over a glass of wine. We have three girl friends - one from Ireland, one from Australia and one from Oklahoma - they were good fun. We also met a lovely Dutch couple who speak about 5 languages! When dinner was served, the lady chef and waitresses came dancing through the garden, banging a gong and singing an african song to announce it!
Roy: chorizo/potato/pepper salad
Jan: Butternut fritters dusted with parmesan/salad
Both: rare beef fillet with brown onion gravy and sweet potatoes. Chocolate Lava Hot Pot and vanilla bean ice cream. Bottle of red. Coffee.
This was all very nice indeed - the beef, as ever, was exceptional.
Clive, the owner, has worked in stud farms all his life and actually worked at Coolmore stud in Ireland. Roy was so keen to chat to him! And his eyes were popping out of his head at all the horse racing books and magazines strewn around the lounge/library. He borrowed a couple to glance through during our stay.
Another coincidence - one of the other guests (the Irish girl) is a distant relative of Vincent O'Brien (famous horse racing trainer in Ireland with strong connections to Coolmore). She says that she is from the "poor side of the family"!
After dinner, somebody managed to persaude Roy to sing! Oh no! Actually he gave rather a nice rendition of "On Ilkley Moor Bar Tat" which is a famous Yorkshire song. I didn't even know he knew it!
Tomorrow we're booked on a game drive into the Elephant Park, but the good news is that we don't leave until 9am! Luxurious lie in......
And what a fantastic drive they missed! We were joined by a lovely SA couple from Cape Town, Elizabeth and Graham.
We saw:
Elephant (we finally caught up with them. They were really noisy and were dusting their backs and "shouting" at one of the cars).
Steenbok
Rhino
Impala
Red Hartebeest
Cheetah (they were also quite active this morning, a great sighting)
Oryx
Warthogs
Ostrich
Zebra
Vervet Monkeys
Wildebeest
Springbox
Buffalo
In fact, at one point, Alfie told us we had three endangered species in our sights - black rhino, black wildebeest and cheetah. Alfie was good company. And he really knew his stuff, although I did find that early on in the trip he wasn't particularly forthcoming with info. Once we started asking questions, he did tell us a lot of stuff. Maybe he realised we actually wanted to know more about things at that point. I asked some stupid questions though! One morning we were going over a load of "humps" on the track and I asked him why they'd put speed bumps in the reserve. I think he struggled to keep a straight face as he explained that they were the park's water pipes running under the track and not speed bumps!
Another day, Brian was going on about wanting to see a Knysna Woodpecker. Alfie made some comment about how he'd probably hear it before he saw it. I piped up with: "Why - what does it sound like?". Every single person in the car just looked at me and said "It's a woodpecker". Duh! Actually, later on I read in a bird book that it also has a distinctive call so I do feel somewhat vindicated.
I became rather fond of bird watching on this trip - there are so many beautiful birds here and it is amazing what you see when you look. In fact, we did buy a Sasol (one of the two main guides to SA birds) while we were in Addo.
So, back to camp for breakfast and then our farewells. Lisa and Simone (the camp hosts) came to say goodbye. A guy called Shakes was driving us back to the Main House to pick up our car. 10 minutes in to the journey I asked the inevitable question to Roy: Did you pick up our passports and cash out of the safe? I got the inevitable answer: No.
Another turn around to get them!
As we drove ourselves out of the Reserve, we saw some lovely giraffe by the gate. It had started to drizzle by then. We had a 2 hour drive to our next port of call - the Elephant House guest house near Addo Elephant Park.
We arrived mid-afternoon. It was still raining. What a pity. The gardens (and swimming pool) here are lovely. We walked around them and when the rain went off we took a walk in nearby farm land and citrus groves. We came back for "afternoon tea" - cake and tea/coffee were being served on the terrace - and then went back to our room to chill out.
Of all the accomodations we stayed in during our trip, this was the room we liked least.
We were told we'd been upgraded from a Terrace room but the room we got was nothing special, probably the smallest of all the places we'd stayed in. I think what put me off were the "antiques" which basically meant tatty furniture and threadbare rugs in the room! Again, maybe just a matter of taste.... the room was clean, though and the bed was comfortable. Maybe by this point we'd just been spoiled rotten!! However, what we did love about Elephant House was the ambience. It's so chilled and relaxing and the staff here are just so happy! We listened to them gossiping and laughing in the kitchen and saw them playing hide and seek in the gardens one morning.
Elephant House serves dinner, and so we decided to eat here tonight. Before dinner, we were invited to take drinks on the terrace and we chatted with all the other guests over a glass of wine. We have three girl friends - one from Ireland, one from Australia and one from Oklahoma - they were good fun. We also met a lovely Dutch couple who speak about 5 languages! When dinner was served, the lady chef and waitresses came dancing through the garden, banging a gong and singing an african song to announce it!
Roy: chorizo/potato/pepper salad
Jan: Butternut fritters dusted with parmesan/salad
Both: rare beef fillet with brown onion gravy and sweet potatoes. Chocolate Lava Hot Pot and vanilla bean ice cream. Bottle of red. Coffee.
This was all very nice indeed - the beef, as ever, was exceptional.
Clive, the owner, has worked in stud farms all his life and actually worked at Coolmore stud in Ireland. Roy was so keen to chat to him! And his eyes were popping out of his head at all the horse racing books and magazines strewn around the lounge/library. He borrowed a couple to glance through during our stay.
Another coincidence - one of the other guests (the Irish girl) is a distant relative of Vincent O'Brien (famous horse racing trainer in Ireland with strong connections to Coolmore). She says that she is from the "poor side of the family"!
After dinner, somebody managed to persaude Roy to sing! Oh no! Actually he gave rather a nice rendition of "On Ilkley Moor Bar Tat" which is a famous Yorkshire song. I didn't even know he knew it!
Tomorrow we're booked on a game drive into the Elephant Park, but the good news is that we don't leave until 9am! Luxurious lie in......
Sunday 27 April 2008
Kwandwe, Day 3
Morning drive:
Bushbuck
Kudu
Waterbuck
Four white rhinos
Vervet Monkeys
Terrapin
We were on the trail of elephants for most of the drive.
We heard them - trumpeting and crashing trees down. We saw and smelled their dung. We witnessed the wreckage they left behind them. We did not see elephant.
Sunday evening drive:
We had new guests - an English couple called Nick and Nicky who are both Doctors and on honeymoon. They are quite dull. We also had a new tracker who is called Banana. Banana found us four lions, a female and her three young (not tiny cubs, a bit older than that). We also saw rhino, warthog, buffalo and yellow billed duck.
A very quiet night, but then Alfie spotted a feather in our tracks - he picked it up and it was from an eagle spotted owl. So we decreed it to be our "lucky feather" and indeed it was.
On the way back to camp (shivering after dark despite wearing 4 layers and my new beanie hat) we saw not one but two Aardwolf! This was incredible - it's always a thrill to spot the rarer animals. Alfie could not believe we saw two. He got over excited thinking that one was a baby but then decided it was an adult. We also saw a porcupine.
Tonight there were no stars as it was cloudy. Back in camp we were served white gluhwein... that's how cold it is after dark here!
Bushbuck
Kudu
Waterbuck
Four white rhinos
Vervet Monkeys
Terrapin
We were on the trail of elephants for most of the drive.
We heard them - trumpeting and crashing trees down. We saw and smelled their dung. We witnessed the wreckage they left behind them. We did not see elephant.
Sunday evening drive:
We had new guests - an English couple called Nick and Nicky who are both Doctors and on honeymoon. They are quite dull. We also had a new tracker who is called Banana. Banana found us four lions, a female and her three young (not tiny cubs, a bit older than that). We also saw rhino, warthog, buffalo and yellow billed duck.
A very quiet night, but then Alfie spotted a feather in our tracks - he picked it up and it was from an eagle spotted owl. So we decreed it to be our "lucky feather" and indeed it was.
On the way back to camp (shivering after dark despite wearing 4 layers and my new beanie hat) we saw not one but two Aardwolf! This was incredible - it's always a thrill to spot the rarer animals. Alfie could not believe we saw two. He got over excited thinking that one was a baby but then decided it was an adult. We also saw a porcupine.
Tonight there were no stars as it was cloudy. Back in camp we were served white gluhwein... that's how cold it is after dark here!
Saturday 26 April 2008
Kwandwe - Day 2
We were awake intermittently throughout the night. Partly because a huge cricket was chirruping away ALL night in our bathroom. Roy took it outside this morning.... just 7 hours too late!
We were woken properly by a door knock at about 10 to 6. Coffee and biscuits were delivered and the coffee was sufficiently inky to wake me up nicely for the morning game drive. We all met at 6.30am and headed straight out.
Roy has dubbed Kwandwe "the Truman Show" safari and in a way I know what he means. Our first safari (honeymoon in Selous, Tanzania, 2005) was a HUGE park with no fences anywhere. Completely wild. Kwandwe is 25000 hectares - so hardly small - but because you KNOW it is a private reserve and that there are boundary fences out there, it kind of feels different.
We had a very quiet start to the drive - we were looking for elephants and lion for the Italian couple who are leaving after breakfast. We saw two tiny steenbok just after leaving the lodge, and then not much else at all for a while. Some kudu. Warthogs.
We were constantly chasing for lions, using radio contact with the other 7 cars that were out there somewhere. Eventually, we heard that a lone female was around and we found her. We were the third car there. (Another difference to Selous, who had a maximum 2 car per animal rule). She was walking down a track and then plonked herself down under a bush and proceeded to roar for her cubs or her pride. She roared several times and we watched her for quite some time. Incredible sound to hear.
After a while we moved on. We saw some red necked Francolin birds - quite rare, apparently. And that was pretty much it.
We feasted on a huge breakfast and then shortly afterwards (or so it seemed) we had lunch. In between the drive and eating we lounged around on our deck and read/watched birds/scanned the bush opposite our deck for wildlife. It was not warm enough to get into the plunge pool today. Shame.
On the afternoon drive we were joined by Brian and Korbie - a couple from Joburg. Brian was born in Liverpool and has lived in SA for 30 years. They seem nice. This afternoon was a success - we finally got to see cheetah. Roy was hoping we would, as they don't have any at in the Selous. We came across two of them (males) lying in the grass. Watched a while in the hope of them "doing something" but they didn't. This is the problem with big cats - they tend to not do a lot for about 18 hours each day! But coming back to camp after sundowners we got lucky - the two of them walked across our track in the darkness. Sia put the red light on and we watched them a little longer. Beautiful animals.
We also saw a scrub hare and some bats after dark. Other sightings on the afternoon drive were:
Buffalo
Zebra
Warthog
Eland
Red Hartebeest
Terrapin in a watering hole
Springbok
Blesbok
Each night as we came in, Alfie would comment on the clear sky and the incredible stars. I wish I knew what I was looking at. Maybe next time we'll book a trip with some astronomy thrown in!!
Tonight we all ate together with Alfie. The food was good and so was the company - although, Brian (who I think is something v. important in banking) did tend to make the whole thing have a very "corporate" atmosphere. We were also treated to Brian's views on SA politics and economy, and global politics and economy. Each of us (South African, British, Dutch) had to give details of how things were in our country. Interesting - but not quite so lighthearted for a holiday!
Guess what? Another early night.
We were woken properly by a door knock at about 10 to 6. Coffee and biscuits were delivered and the coffee was sufficiently inky to wake me up nicely for the morning game drive. We all met at 6.30am and headed straight out.
Roy has dubbed Kwandwe "the Truman Show" safari and in a way I know what he means. Our first safari (honeymoon in Selous, Tanzania, 2005) was a HUGE park with no fences anywhere. Completely wild. Kwandwe is 25000 hectares - so hardly small - but because you KNOW it is a private reserve and that there are boundary fences out there, it kind of feels different.
We had a very quiet start to the drive - we were looking for elephants and lion for the Italian couple who are leaving after breakfast. We saw two tiny steenbok just after leaving the lodge, and then not much else at all for a while. Some kudu. Warthogs.
We were constantly chasing for lions, using radio contact with the other 7 cars that were out there somewhere. Eventually, we heard that a lone female was around and we found her. We were the third car there. (Another difference to Selous, who had a maximum 2 car per animal rule). She was walking down a track and then plonked herself down under a bush and proceeded to roar for her cubs or her pride. She roared several times and we watched her for quite some time. Incredible sound to hear.
After a while we moved on. We saw some red necked Francolin birds - quite rare, apparently. And that was pretty much it.
We feasted on a huge breakfast and then shortly afterwards (or so it seemed) we had lunch. In between the drive and eating we lounged around on our deck and read/watched birds/scanned the bush opposite our deck for wildlife. It was not warm enough to get into the plunge pool today. Shame.
On the afternoon drive we were joined by Brian and Korbie - a couple from Joburg. Brian was born in Liverpool and has lived in SA for 30 years. They seem nice. This afternoon was a success - we finally got to see cheetah. Roy was hoping we would, as they don't have any at in the Selous. We came across two of them (males) lying in the grass. Watched a while in the hope of them "doing something" but they didn't. This is the problem with big cats - they tend to not do a lot for about 18 hours each day! But coming back to camp after sundowners we got lucky - the two of them walked across our track in the darkness. Sia put the red light on and we watched them a little longer. Beautiful animals.
We also saw a scrub hare and some bats after dark. Other sightings on the afternoon drive were:
Buffalo
Zebra
Warthog
Eland
Red Hartebeest
Terrapin in a watering hole
Springbok
Blesbok
Each night as we came in, Alfie would comment on the clear sky and the incredible stars. I wish I knew what I was looking at. Maybe next time we'll book a trip with some astronomy thrown in!!
Tonight we all ate together with Alfie. The food was good and so was the company - although, Brian (who I think is something v. important in banking) did tend to make the whole thing have a very "corporate" atmosphere. We were also treated to Brian's views on SA politics and economy, and global politics and economy. Each of us (South African, British, Dutch) had to give details of how things were in our country. Interesting - but not quite so lighthearted for a holiday!
Guess what? Another early night.
Friday 25 April 2008
Kwandwe, Day 1
We had a long (500km) drive to Kwandwe. Right along the N2, past Port Elizabeth, Grahamstown and then inland to our game reserve. Nothing too exciting to report en route... just a long slog of a drive. We were determined to get to Kwandwe in time for the afternoon game drive so we did not stop, apart from a quick refuel at Grahamstown.
I tried to point out exciting places along the way but Roy was not over impressed by seeing (in the distance) Jeffrey's Bay, a world top 5 surfing destination. Nor was he as excited as I was when I saw a zebra from the car (in one of the first game reserves we drove past).
Arrived at Kwandwe at about 1.30pm. We checked in at the Main House and then were picked up for a 30 minute drive over to our Lodge (Great Fish River Lodge). By 2.30 we'd been greeted by one of our hosts - Simone - and were sitting down to lunch of steak sandwich. A quick look around our beautiful suite (and a very brief dip in the plunge pool) and then we were back in the main lodge to have our "induction" and set off on the first game drive.
The weather is hot today. Our ranger is Alfie, a young Afrikaner who has pretty much grown up in the bush. Proudly announces that he's never lived in a City all his life. He has a tracker called Sia who assists him, by sitting on a raised seat out at the front of the car and looking for tracks and any animals. Our companions in the jeep are a Dutch couple on their honeymoon (Alexander and Marika) and an Italian couple who speak little English. In fact, they speak little, full stop. But they are not unpleasant. In fact, the husband is a very good spotter - he sees lots of animals from his seat at the back of the jeep and calls out to let us all know when he does.
We had a good drive - looking back on my notes, I see that we spotted:
Kudu
Giraffe
Springbok
Zebra
Wildebeest
Warthog
Jackal
Baboons (who we heard howling, barking and fighting on some rocks)
Oryx
Red Hartebeest
We also saw the very rare Black Rhino - three of them lying down along side each other and then later we spotted them running along together.
Some of the best sightings, though, were after dark. We stopped for Sundowners near a lake. It was too cold for gin and tonics so I opted for coffee with a splash of brandy in it. Driving back to lodge, dusk was just turning to dark when we spotted two male giraffes "necking". This is where they push at each other - they start with their necks and then end up effectively side by side trying to barge each other out of the way. Apparently this can go on for hours - until one of them walks away and is therefore the "loser" who has failed to gain dominance. We watched them until the light completely faded. It was like a beautiful, slow motion, silent dance. Alfie said it looks elegant and gentle, but they actually really hurt each other.
Then, driving back to camp (freezing cold in the back of the open jeep - it is really chilly once that sun has gone) we were lucky to see an eagle spotted owl sitting in a tree by the edge of the track. Sia put his red filter over the spotlight - this stops the animals getting disturbed - and we watched him for a while. Then he flew off - silently and effortlessly.
I also have written in my notes that we saw a "Night bird" but I have no idea what that was? Alfie was often calling out bird names that I could not catch or remember. Oh, and we saw a huge frog on the stairs leading down to our suite when we came back from camp.
Back to camp. They met us with drinks and a roaring fire. We then quickly bathed and changed. So funny - Roy went arse over tit on the bathroom floor in the most dramatic fall I've witnessed in a long time! Luckily he was not hurt. Then back for dinner. We both ate kudu - it was delicious - the most tender meat, not unlike fillet beef.
Early to bed - our wake up call is coming at 6am tomorrow.
http://www.ccafrica.com/reserve-1-id-2-8
I tried to point out exciting places along the way but Roy was not over impressed by seeing (in the distance) Jeffrey's Bay, a world top 5 surfing destination. Nor was he as excited as I was when I saw a zebra from the car (in one of the first game reserves we drove past).
Arrived at Kwandwe at about 1.30pm. We checked in at the Main House and then were picked up for a 30 minute drive over to our Lodge (Great Fish River Lodge). By 2.30 we'd been greeted by one of our hosts - Simone - and were sitting down to lunch of steak sandwich. A quick look around our beautiful suite (and a very brief dip in the plunge pool) and then we were back in the main lodge to have our "induction" and set off on the first game drive.
The weather is hot today. Our ranger is Alfie, a young Afrikaner who has pretty much grown up in the bush. Proudly announces that he's never lived in a City all his life. He has a tracker called Sia who assists him, by sitting on a raised seat out at the front of the car and looking for tracks and any animals. Our companions in the jeep are a Dutch couple on their honeymoon (Alexander and Marika) and an Italian couple who speak little English. In fact, they speak little, full stop. But they are not unpleasant. In fact, the husband is a very good spotter - he sees lots of animals from his seat at the back of the jeep and calls out to let us all know when he does.
We had a good drive - looking back on my notes, I see that we spotted:
Kudu
Giraffe
Springbok
Zebra
Wildebeest
Warthog
Jackal
Baboons (who we heard howling, barking and fighting on some rocks)
Oryx
Red Hartebeest
We also saw the very rare Black Rhino - three of them lying down along side each other and then later we spotted them running along together.
Some of the best sightings, though, were after dark. We stopped for Sundowners near a lake. It was too cold for gin and tonics so I opted for coffee with a splash of brandy in it. Driving back to lodge, dusk was just turning to dark when we spotted two male giraffes "necking". This is where they push at each other - they start with their necks and then end up effectively side by side trying to barge each other out of the way. Apparently this can go on for hours - until one of them walks away and is therefore the "loser" who has failed to gain dominance. We watched them until the light completely faded. It was like a beautiful, slow motion, silent dance. Alfie said it looks elegant and gentle, but they actually really hurt each other.
Then, driving back to camp (freezing cold in the back of the open jeep - it is really chilly once that sun has gone) we were lucky to see an eagle spotted owl sitting in a tree by the edge of the track. Sia put his red filter over the spotlight - this stops the animals getting disturbed - and we watched him for a while. Then he flew off - silently and effortlessly.
I also have written in my notes that we saw a "Night bird" but I have no idea what that was? Alfie was often calling out bird names that I could not catch or remember. Oh, and we saw a huge frog on the stairs leading down to our suite when we came back from camp.
Back to camp. They met us with drinks and a roaring fire. We then quickly bathed and changed. So funny - Roy went arse over tit on the bathroom floor in the most dramatic fall I've witnessed in a long time! Luckily he was not hurt. Then back for dinner. We both ate kudu - it was delicious - the most tender meat, not unlike fillet beef.
Early to bed - our wake up call is coming at 6am tomorrow.
http://www.ccafrica.com/reserve-1-id-2-8
Thursday 24 April 2008
What a palaver!
We woke at 7 to watch a beautiful sunrise over the mountains. Took a short stroll down and along the ridge before breakfast. I fell over on the way and just about managed to save my new camera from serious damage! I had a few grazes (which we get paranoid about now after my incident in Greece a few years ago) but nothing bad.
Over breakfast Martin consulted with us over our plans for the day. He approved of our proposed walk around the Robberg Peninsula and said he has sent many guests out there to do it. He also suggested a few different things for the afternoon - but our only plan was to chill out by the pool if we got back early enough. It is very hot today - so hot that we can feel it at 8am - usually it is after 9 when things start to warm up.
So, we drove to Robberg and were there by 9.30am. We parked up and set off on the "short" walk which takes 2 and a half hours. Martin had mentioned some "challenging" parts of the trail involving cliffs. The "long" walk takes 4 - we felt that to be slightly ambitious.
After a short walk downhill (on rocky steps) we found ourselves literally scrambling over cliffs. With a sheer drop into the sea. We then had a nice flat section through fynbos (and even a little shade at one point) before dropping down a huge sand dune. The sand dune led down (steeply) to a beautiful "double beach" bay called Witsand. As we made our way down, Roy was some distance ahead of me. I've never been fond of walking on soft sand, and I spotted a ridge running along the middle of the dune, to my right, which was covered in footprints. I wondered if this was the trail (but there were no signposts). So I decided to take it anyway. I was being smart - there was no way I was walking all the way down to the beach if I had to walk back UP the dune to pick up the trail again. I shouted to Roy and signalled to him what I was doing. He waved and carried on to the beach.
I stood and watched him disappear in to a distant dot on the beach. He was taking of his trainers - they must have been FULL of sand by now - and walking along the beach. I carried on walking to my right. I figured that we'd catch up with each other eventually. What I hadn't reckoned on was that the closer to the sea we got, it became impossible to shout - as the crashing waves just totally drowned out any voices. I also didn't cater for the series of smaller dunes below me, which as I moved along the ridge, were now blocking my view of the beach. I could only see sections of it. I could not see Roy at all. I stood. I waited. I assumed that he'd come in to view at any minute.
After a while, still no sign. I shouted and screamed but of course this was pointless. At this point I started to get concerned. It was now blazing hot, and Roy was carrying all of our water supply. If I couldn't find him, I'd have to start to make my way back on to the trail - but I had no idea which way the trail actually went - left or right off the beach? It looked like you could get up either way. I have no sense of direction and couldn't figure out which way the car park was. I started to panic slightly. What if Roy didn't realise I'd headed back and spent all day in the hot sun looking for me? What if he got seriously sun burned or dehydrated? How was I going to climb back up to the car park with no water? My thoughts soon turned quite ridiculous - WHAT IF Roy had gone for a paddle in the sea and been swept away by a huge wave, and was now drowning in the bay at the mercy of sharks?
It all seems so stupid now, but how quickly your imagination can take hold!
Ok, so the priority was to find the trail back to the car park. Either that or go back the way we'd come. (By the way, there was not a soul around on this section of the walk, just the two of us!).
I took out the tiny map we'd been given when we paid into the car park (this is National Park and there was a fee to come in). I studied carefully. Nope, still could not work out which way to go.... but at least I learned that the beach ahead of me was called Witsand. There were three trails on the map, and I couldn't make head or tail of it. I noticed a telephone number on the back... ah, the number for Robberg Peninsula office! Luckily I had my mobile phone in my bag. I called them... the ranger must not have believed what he heard!
Me: Hello, I'm halfway down the big sand dune with Witsand ahead of me and I've lost the trail.
Ranger: You've lost the trail, madam?
Me: Yes. I need to know if I turn right or left to get back to the car park.
Ranger: Go down to the beach, turn right and you'll see the trail signs at the base of the rocks where the beach ends.
Me: Ah, thank you. I've also lost my husband but I'm sure he's just in the sand dunes somewhere. I'll call you back if I can't find him.
Ranger: stunned silence.
So, I also twigged that if I went right down on to the beach, I might stand a chance of Roy being able to see me (assuming he was still alive!). So I did. As I reached the bottom of the dunes, I saw him standing to the right of the beach, pointing at the trail signs. We walked toward each other - I put my arms out to him and wailed "I thought I'd lost you".
"Don't be so bloody daft!" he said. "I've been walking up and down those sand dunes looking for you - I'm knackered!".
So, all was well. But I was slightly put out by the lack of drama in our reunion! Didn't he realise how panicked I'd been! LOL.
We then headed back on to the cliffs for another section of scary cliff climbing. Wow, I never thought I'd do this kind of stuff, I'm a bit of a wimp when it comes to heights and things like that. Then the worst bit - the climb back up seemingly endless and massively steep steps. With plenty of water stops, I made it. What a stunning walk. And challenging. I forgot to mention the dozens of smelly and noisy seals we'd seen playing in the water beneath us en route.
Back at the car park, I opened the car and put the engine on to get the aircon going. (Did I mention how HOT it was today?). What you need to know is that this hire car has keyless ignition. So you point and press it to open the doors, and providing the "clicker" is within 4 meters of the car, it will start when you press a button on the dash. All you need to do is pop the clicker in your pocket or in the front of the car somewhere. We'd been using one of the cup holders as our repository for the clicker whilst driving.
Roy was faffing about with his trainers and socks - still trying to get the sand out - so I sat on a wall near the car and had a long drink of water. What we really both wanted was a large, cold beer and a sandwich. We'd heard of a bar called the Lookout - right on the beach at Plettenberg - so we planned to drive there for lunch.
When we got there, we just managed to bag the last parking place near the bar. We hopped out, and I went to lock the car. Hmm. Where is the clicker? I said that I thought I'd dropped it in the cup holder when I opened the car. Not there. We searched the car inside and out - no sign of the clicker. I got back in and pushed the ignition button. A message flashed up saying "Key missing". Oh no - I must have dropped it in the car park at Robberg (5 miles away). What to do? Roy went into the bar and asked for a taxi number. They gave him the details for a local firm. When I called, the guy said he was "out of town" and would not be back until 5pm. I asked if he knew of any other taxis and he said no. Back to the bar. We tried the second number they gave us (bear in mind this was an incredibly busy place and this one waitress was kind enough to stop and look in Yellow Pages to help Roy) and it was not answering. On the third visit to the bar, a barman called Bobby said that he knew of somebody and he made a phone call. Yes - his friend would be down with us in about 5 minutes. I had visions of the key either being stolen - or even worse, run over by another car in the car park! Assuming, of course, that's where it was!
So this really nice lady picked us up - we both left the hire car (there was nothing in it to steal, and lets face it, it wasn't going anywhere!) in the charge of the local car guard. As soon as we pulled into Robberg car park, a guy stepped out of his car and said "Lost something? Keys?". Yes! He had them. Thank you god. So we headed back to the Lookout and we finally got that beer and sandwich we needed! Just an hour late (and several rand lighter after paying our taxi bill and tips to the kind people in the bar who helped us!).
We then drove along to Keurboom beach, which was lovely and deserted. Finally got back to Fynbos Ridge to laze by the pool and listen to bird song and insects whilst trying to spot, photograph and identify birds.
The stars here are incredible at night. We can see the Milky Way again.
Martin had given us a couple of recommendations for dinner this evening and so we headed to Fu.shi in Plett Bay.
http://www.fushi.co.za/fushi-about.html
If you have a few minutes spare, look at the menu.... the names of each dish are superb! We had a fantastic meal here. Again, the value was superb - R400 for three courses, coffee and bottle of white wine.
Jan: Tempura Veg and Peanut Sauce, followed by Masala Kingklip with pumpkin risotto. Chocolate Chilli Fondant with pistachio brittle.
Roy: Beef strips wrapped in roti with salad, Masala Kingklip with pumpkin risotto and Mango Brownie with mango ice cream and lychees.
Wonderful. The choc chilli fondant was superb - I asked the waitress what type of chilli they put in and she said fresh red chilli. I've since made this at home and it was yummy!
Home to Fynbos Ridge. Big drive tomorrow.
Over breakfast Martin consulted with us over our plans for the day. He approved of our proposed walk around the Robberg Peninsula and said he has sent many guests out there to do it. He also suggested a few different things for the afternoon - but our only plan was to chill out by the pool if we got back early enough. It is very hot today - so hot that we can feel it at 8am - usually it is after 9 when things start to warm up.
So, we drove to Robberg and were there by 9.30am. We parked up and set off on the "short" walk which takes 2 and a half hours. Martin had mentioned some "challenging" parts of the trail involving cliffs. The "long" walk takes 4 - we felt that to be slightly ambitious.
After a short walk downhill (on rocky steps) we found ourselves literally scrambling over cliffs. With a sheer drop into the sea. We then had a nice flat section through fynbos (and even a little shade at one point) before dropping down a huge sand dune. The sand dune led down (steeply) to a beautiful "double beach" bay called Witsand. As we made our way down, Roy was some distance ahead of me. I've never been fond of walking on soft sand, and I spotted a ridge running along the middle of the dune, to my right, which was covered in footprints. I wondered if this was the trail (but there were no signposts). So I decided to take it anyway. I was being smart - there was no way I was walking all the way down to the beach if I had to walk back UP the dune to pick up the trail again. I shouted to Roy and signalled to him what I was doing. He waved and carried on to the beach.
I stood and watched him disappear in to a distant dot on the beach. He was taking of his trainers - they must have been FULL of sand by now - and walking along the beach. I carried on walking to my right. I figured that we'd catch up with each other eventually. What I hadn't reckoned on was that the closer to the sea we got, it became impossible to shout - as the crashing waves just totally drowned out any voices. I also didn't cater for the series of smaller dunes below me, which as I moved along the ridge, were now blocking my view of the beach. I could only see sections of it. I could not see Roy at all. I stood. I waited. I assumed that he'd come in to view at any minute.
After a while, still no sign. I shouted and screamed but of course this was pointless. At this point I started to get concerned. It was now blazing hot, and Roy was carrying all of our water supply. If I couldn't find him, I'd have to start to make my way back on to the trail - but I had no idea which way the trail actually went - left or right off the beach? It looked like you could get up either way. I have no sense of direction and couldn't figure out which way the car park was. I started to panic slightly. What if Roy didn't realise I'd headed back and spent all day in the hot sun looking for me? What if he got seriously sun burned or dehydrated? How was I going to climb back up to the car park with no water? My thoughts soon turned quite ridiculous - WHAT IF Roy had gone for a paddle in the sea and been swept away by a huge wave, and was now drowning in the bay at the mercy of sharks?
It all seems so stupid now, but how quickly your imagination can take hold!
Ok, so the priority was to find the trail back to the car park. Either that or go back the way we'd come. (By the way, there was not a soul around on this section of the walk, just the two of us!).
I took out the tiny map we'd been given when we paid into the car park (this is National Park and there was a fee to come in). I studied carefully. Nope, still could not work out which way to go.... but at least I learned that the beach ahead of me was called Witsand. There were three trails on the map, and I couldn't make head or tail of it. I noticed a telephone number on the back... ah, the number for Robberg Peninsula office! Luckily I had my mobile phone in my bag. I called them... the ranger must not have believed what he heard!
Me: Hello, I'm halfway down the big sand dune with Witsand ahead of me and I've lost the trail.
Ranger: You've lost the trail, madam?
Me: Yes. I need to know if I turn right or left to get back to the car park.
Ranger: Go down to the beach, turn right and you'll see the trail signs at the base of the rocks where the beach ends.
Me: Ah, thank you. I've also lost my husband but I'm sure he's just in the sand dunes somewhere. I'll call you back if I can't find him.
Ranger: stunned silence.
So, I also twigged that if I went right down on to the beach, I might stand a chance of Roy being able to see me (assuming he was still alive!). So I did. As I reached the bottom of the dunes, I saw him standing to the right of the beach, pointing at the trail signs. We walked toward each other - I put my arms out to him and wailed "I thought I'd lost you".
"Don't be so bloody daft!" he said. "I've been walking up and down those sand dunes looking for you - I'm knackered!".
So, all was well. But I was slightly put out by the lack of drama in our reunion! Didn't he realise how panicked I'd been! LOL.
We then headed back on to the cliffs for another section of scary cliff climbing. Wow, I never thought I'd do this kind of stuff, I'm a bit of a wimp when it comes to heights and things like that. Then the worst bit - the climb back up seemingly endless and massively steep steps. With plenty of water stops, I made it. What a stunning walk. And challenging. I forgot to mention the dozens of smelly and noisy seals we'd seen playing in the water beneath us en route.
Back at the car park, I opened the car and put the engine on to get the aircon going. (Did I mention how HOT it was today?). What you need to know is that this hire car has keyless ignition. So you point and press it to open the doors, and providing the "clicker" is within 4 meters of the car, it will start when you press a button on the dash. All you need to do is pop the clicker in your pocket or in the front of the car somewhere. We'd been using one of the cup holders as our repository for the clicker whilst driving.
Roy was faffing about with his trainers and socks - still trying to get the sand out - so I sat on a wall near the car and had a long drink of water. What we really both wanted was a large, cold beer and a sandwich. We'd heard of a bar called the Lookout - right on the beach at Plettenberg - so we planned to drive there for lunch.
When we got there, we just managed to bag the last parking place near the bar. We hopped out, and I went to lock the car. Hmm. Where is the clicker? I said that I thought I'd dropped it in the cup holder when I opened the car. Not there. We searched the car inside and out - no sign of the clicker. I got back in and pushed the ignition button. A message flashed up saying "Key missing". Oh no - I must have dropped it in the car park at Robberg (5 miles away). What to do? Roy went into the bar and asked for a taxi number. They gave him the details for a local firm. When I called, the guy said he was "out of town" and would not be back until 5pm. I asked if he knew of any other taxis and he said no. Back to the bar. We tried the second number they gave us (bear in mind this was an incredibly busy place and this one waitress was kind enough to stop and look in Yellow Pages to help Roy) and it was not answering. On the third visit to the bar, a barman called Bobby said that he knew of somebody and he made a phone call. Yes - his friend would be down with us in about 5 minutes. I had visions of the key either being stolen - or even worse, run over by another car in the car park! Assuming, of course, that's where it was!
So this really nice lady picked us up - we both left the hire car (there was nothing in it to steal, and lets face it, it wasn't going anywhere!) in the charge of the local car guard. As soon as we pulled into Robberg car park, a guy stepped out of his car and said "Lost something? Keys?". Yes! He had them. Thank you god. So we headed back to the Lookout and we finally got that beer and sandwich we needed! Just an hour late (and several rand lighter after paying our taxi bill and tips to the kind people in the bar who helped us!).
We then drove along to Keurboom beach, which was lovely and deserted. Finally got back to Fynbos Ridge to laze by the pool and listen to bird song and insects whilst trying to spot, photograph and identify birds.
The stars here are incredible at night. We can see the Milky Way again.
Martin had given us a couple of recommendations for dinner this evening and so we headed to Fu.shi in Plett Bay.
http://www.fushi.co.za/fushi-about.html
If you have a few minutes spare, look at the menu.... the names of each dish are superb! We had a fantastic meal here. Again, the value was superb - R400 for three courses, coffee and bottle of white wine.
Jan: Tempura Veg and Peanut Sauce, followed by Masala Kingklip with pumpkin risotto. Chocolate Chilli Fondant with pistachio brittle.
Roy: Beef strips wrapped in roti with salad, Masala Kingklip with pumpkin risotto and Mango Brownie with mango ice cream and lychees.
Wonderful. The choc chilli fondant was superb - I asked the waitress what type of chilli they put in and she said fresh red chilli. I've since made this at home and it was yummy!
Home to Fynbos Ridge. Big drive tomorrow.
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