Clos To Home Again - Willows 12 to 14 April 2009

Another two nights at the Willows. Tiny was once again the star of the show with many many visitors (mostly from the caravan club camped there). For the first time the awning was used as it starting raining and we had Uschi and Danie coming for a braai. Pictures below :-

Above : Tiny with Awning up

Danie and Drink, Lunch

Uschi and Staffie (13 week old puppy)

Tiny DVD player

Close To Home - The Willows 1st to 3rd May 2009

For this long weekend we decided to stay close to home and try the Willows a resort about 15km (or 15 minutes) from home. I was really impressed and we had a good relaxing weekend. The star of the weekend though was tiny and we had a string of people all wanting to have a look all weekend.

Some pics of Tiny and the campsite

Above : Tiny and the view and just the view

Above : Tiny at Pink Time and the view from inside Tiny early morning.

Above : Looking at the view and the view being looked at !

Karoo National Park 6 to 9 April 2009 Part 2

The first night in the park we had a braai and the following morning after tea and coffee set off for adrive around the park, here are a few pics.

Photos above left, morning tea,above right at the top of the Klipspringer pass and below me in the swimming pool at the Bulkraal picnic spot (where we were all alone).

After another braai the next morning we headed to Steytlerville via Aberdeen and Willowmore. Some more pics.

Top left - General Dealer in Aberdeen (click to see full size image, telling it like it is !)

Top right - Strip road betwen Willowmore and Steytlerville

Bottom left - Flags painted onto the mountainside on the Uitenhage side of Steytlerville.

Bottom Right - All alone in the farm campsite just outside Steytlerville.

That afternoon we went to the Karoo Hotel where we had a couple of drinks and supper, watched the sunset before heading back to the campsite for an early night and an early start back to PE the next morning where we had to fetch a horse (but thats another story !).

Above left - The Karoo Hotel

Above right - Sunset over Steytlerville

Karoo National Park 6 to 9 April 2009 Part 1

We decided to do a small tour into the Karoo before Easter. The itinery was Monday and Tuesday in the Karoo National Park just outside Beaufort West and then Wednesday night

in Steylerville returning on Thursday morning. I've decided to keep the blog more pictorial so that I have more chance of keeping in up to date. So here goes I brief pictorial tour of the Karoo. On the right we headed to the park through the Langkloof , here we are at a stop in Joubertina. From Joubertina we headed down the R62 turning up to Uniondale. From Uniondale, where we didn't stop, but which looks like a really quaint little Karoo Town we turned up towards Beaufort West though Meiringspoort which is really spectacular. Here is JT at a picnic spot in the Poort.

From Meiringspoort we neaded on north towards Beaufort West. The scenery was typical Karoo miles and miles of straight roads and not much else. With JT being so light I just set the cruise control at 120km/h and watched the world go by. When we eventually arrived at the park it is in fact just outside Beaufort West (about 5 minutes drive). Below are pictures of the road between Meieringspoort and Beaufort West, the entrance to the park, the chalets at the park and JT in the campsite at the park.

Continued in next post.

Natures Valley 31 Januatry 2009 Part 2

An early supper followed and just to show how little has changed over the years here is a photo taken at the braai around 1987 and one taken on this trip

Natures Valley 31 st January 2009 (second outing)

Well, after many false starts (band gigs etc) we
eventually decided that we would be going away the weekend of the 31st come rain or shine, even if it was just for one night. The place we chose to go was the DeVasselot section of the Tstsikamma National Park situated at Natures Valley. We have been camping there since the early 80's when the campsite was run by the Department of Forestry and the campsites cost R2 a night ! Although we haven't been there for some time, it was like arriving home , the place is so familiar. Natures Valley is situated at the bottom of the Groot Rivier Pass. Here is the view from the top of the pass.

After stopping to look at the view we headed down the pass, which was no problem with JT (our tinys name) on the back. Once in the campsite we drove around looking for a site. I overestimated my driving skill and at one stage we had to unhook JT to turn it around, fortunately not to much of a problem given the weight. We eventually settled on a site near the ablutions but still in the forest (a site we have camped on many times before. After setting up JT which only took a couple of minutes as we were only there for one night and so were not setting up awnings of tables.
Heres Vanessa and I after having got JT in place and set up as well as JT in position.

After finishing setting up JT and having something for lunch we headed down to the lagoon for a couple of hours where we spent most of the time in the river, playing ball and Vanessa looking at the fish which were nibbling her toes. The photos show what a beautiful spot this is.

Great fun was had at the river and once finished we headed back to the campsite where Vanessa took a walk to the river (just upstream from the lagoon, different but just as beautiful !

End of Part 1

First Weekend Away (And minor problems)

After deciding during the crazy season not to go away we ebventually relented and decided to go away on the 10th and 11th of January 2008. The kids had decided that they wanted to come with us (accompanied by boyfriend and girlfriend) so we chose J-Bay because the caravan site although right on the beach, is also close enough so that they could walk into town to the surf shops etc. Kirstie and her boyfriend decided that they would like to stay two nights so we took two cars so that Grant.Ashleigh and myself could come home on the 11th and I would shoot out after work on the 12th to tow the caravan home (about 70km).
We had to wait for Andrew to finish work before we could leave (not that we would have been ready before then anyway !) and got away at about 1.00pm. By 2.00pm we were there and by about 2.30pm set up (not much to do with tiny, but a tent to be put up). We managed to get a site right next to the sea. Here you can see the view from the camp site. I however had forgotten to pack in the electric cable and so went back to PE to collect it ! Although one of the reasons for going away was to try out the awning, it was very windy and so we didn't bother until later when we discovered the first problem was that the poles didn't fit through the eyes in the awning! Something that must be sorted out.

We basically just lazed around for the rest of the afternoon before having a braai in the evening. Whilst I was braaing Kirstie, Vanessa and Andrew decided to play Skip-Bo and, to my surprise so did Grant and Ashleigh. Here are some rare photo's of Grant playing cards. A bigger rarity would have been if I could have got a photo of him reading, but that would have been asking far to much, like trying to get a photo of Kirstie not reading whilst she was busy with Twilight !

Here's a photo of the others playing cards before Grant joined them. We will never know what possessed him , whether it was the fact that Ashleigh was playing or whether he'd run out airtime ! Anyway the bottom line is that everyone enjoyed playing skip bo. After Skip Bo we ate and then Vanessa and I went to bed whilst the kids went and chilled on the beach in front of the campsite with Mr Hub.
The next morning started off early with tea and coffee and some very sleepy kids (no ideawhat time they and Hubmon went to bed ! You can see in this photo the brilliant view that we had from inside tiny. Despite the view Vanessa is looking a little grumpy which could have had something to do with my snoring in the night or the fact that I got up at about 6.oo am and apparently disturbed her (which I find hard to believe as I am normally as quiet as a mouse !

I started with breakfast and the kids were woken up to finish the dishes from the previous evening as well as get the table ready for breakfast. These photos show the shocked expressions at being woken up ! Kistie first and then happier because things go better with Coke !

The others looked much the same when they woke up, sleepy and bleary eyed !

Thanks however to my fantastic cooking skills smiles were soon put on their faces as they tucked into bacon and eggs.

After breakfast and tidying up the kids took a walk into town, whilst we stayed and lazed around. Vanessa, Kirsie and Andrew decided to stay for another day whilst I woukld take Grant and Ashleigh home and fetch Tint after work the next day. We lefft at about 5.00pm and shortly after Tracy and Emma arrived at the campsite to visit. Below is the site as it looked when we left, it clearly shows that the tent is bigger than Tiny !

When I arrived back after work the next day everything was ready and we simply hooked up and were on our way. Disaster was narrowly averted when I misjudged the amount of fuel needed to get me back home and the fuel warning light came on well outside PE. Slowing down considerably I eventually managed the approx 40km from Thornhill to Greenbushes despite the fact gthat the onboard computer had said 10km when I left Thornhill. Lesson learned. Overall a most sucessfull first outing !