The girls came home from school on Tuesday this week to find Rust paralysed from the waist down. When we came to NZ we got 2 black labs, puppies from the same litter. We called them Ben and Inca. The names came from the wonderful BBC programme called Castaway. I guess it was a reality show, before reality shows became popular. One of the 'Castaway's' was a very well bred young man called Ben (I think he was an art editor with Tatler or some such magazine. Anyway, Ben was a likeable guy with a black lab called Inca. We liked the name Inca and Ben just followed.
The puppies grew up. Eric got a job as the local animal control officer to help out financially while he studied. We resolved that we would not take in waif and stray dogs (we do that enough with people:-)), unless it was a chocolate lab. Ben was always a bit stroppy and, after going for Eric and I on separate occassions we had him put down. Eric shot him as he tucked into a few of his favourite biscuits. Lots of people asked how he could do that but, think about it. It was actually far more human than loading him into the car and taking him into a vet where he would then have a needle stuck in him in unfamiliar surroundings. As it was Inca was not left alone as a few months earlier we had acquired Rust, a chocolate lab that was about the same age as our labs but probably going to be put down.
Rust has been paralysed for 4 days now and apart from wagging his tail is not showing any signs of progress. On the previous Monday night, well in the early hours of Tuesday morning, Eric was woken up by Rust barking madly. He looked out to see Rust trying to dig out under the fencing of their pound and even using his teeth and lifting the hugely heaving chain link structure. Eric went out and found he was going mad at a hedgehog walking just outside the pound!! Anyway, Eric moved the hedgehog, growled at Rust and went back to bed. In the morning all was normal and Rust ran out for his breakfast and charged around as usual. I went off early in the morning as I was teaching in Hamilton. The boys were locked up again when Eric, Harriette and Alice went off together to school/work. In hindsight, Alice remembered that Rust was lying down as they drove off, he would normally have been standing up wagging his tail. So, the girls came home and found him paralysed. Eric was with clients so could not be contacted so they rang me. They are lucky I happen to answer the phone as it was on silent. I had just finished teaching my last session. I came home, loaded Rust up and took we him to the vets where we left him for a night and 2 days. Big discussions about possible diagnosis, how far to go with diagnostics and treatment and of course, prognosis. Our attitude is that we need to know he has an 80% chance of recovery in a short-ish period and that recovery means he can run around. Anything less than that is not acceptable. We heard of a jack russell locally that had a year of physio and can just about walk. Things are not looking good. X-Rays do not show anything. We have decided that if after 1 week he cannot support his weight we will have him put down. So now he is at home. He is out on the deck during the day (where he would have spent the day anyway), allowed in the kitchen for the evening (the labs are not allowed indoors normally) and sleeps in the laundry at night. We are not very hopeful as he has showed no signs of improvement so far.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Rotary GSE Exchange - Our Danish Students
Be honest. Is visiting Denmark on your bucket list.? No? Is wasn't on mine either. But it is now. This week Matamata have had the huge pleasure of hosting the Rotary Group Study Exchange team from Denmark visiting our district. GSE is a programme where a small team of young (25 - 40 years), non-Rotarians, led by a Rotarian, visit a paired Rotary District to experience the culture and work of that country. The Danish Team visiting us consists of: Peter, Helle, Mette and Claus with their team leader Kjeld. They have been great fun, their English is perfect, their sense of humour wicked and they are all very intelligent and interesting people. We hosted Mette here at Cedar Lodge and she was an absolute pleasure! They arrived on Sunday but as we were involved in a fund raising 4x4 drive for Harriette's GIPS trip we could not pick her up until late afternoon. We immediately took her to Richard and Robyn's were we were having tea. Within minutes of arriving she was entertaining the 4 girls in the living room while we caught up with R+R. We hadn't seen them in ages! On Monday the team went out with the Cambridge Club and I caught up with them for diner in the evening. Tuesday I was on an office day so took a few hours of time owed and joined the team to walk up Wairere Falls. This is a walk that I have long wanted to do but with Eric's leg and 2 couch potatoes for children it was never going to be a family trip (Alice is still insisting she would do it). My calves still hurt!!! It was a 3 hour trip with some serious climbing. The falls are about 380m above sea level and, I think 153m, high. There is a lookout point half way up where you look across to the falls then another actually on the top of the falls looking down. I joined fellow Rotarians David H and Eric M for the trip. The soak in the Opal hot pools afterwards was much appreciated before going back to work for a few hours before the big district welcome in the evening, an event I had the pleasure to MC!!
Before the tramp on Tuesday the group visited a chicken farm. I had asked Mette what she wanted for dinner on Wednesday (the only evening they were at home) and she had said chicken. She changed her mind after the visit and we went for a fillet of beef instead :-) Wednesday they were hosted by a Hamilton Rotary club. Dinner at home, as I said then Thursday they has a vocational day going off in differnet directions. Fred took Mette to Auckland to visit a Fonterra base looking at aspects of the business. Mette works for another dairy co-operative in Denmark. In the evening Peter and Ineke hosted a BBQ at their place for about 30 of us. It was a great evening. Fish was on the menu. Some of the boys had been fishing as their vocational day was cancelled (I think). They caught heaps of snapper and David even gave us some to take home. Eric's unproductive fishing trips are well known in the club :-)
On Friday it was up at 5am to meet at Matamata racecourse where we were shown around by a local racing journalist and met one of NZ's leading horse trainers before having breakfast. The team stopped off at our place for coffe on their way to Tirau to be passed along to the next club. I had come home with all Mette's luggage still in the car. Luckily we were on the way!
We have learnt a lot about Denmark this week and it is certainly on out 'to-do' list now. I am sure we will have at least 5 families hwo would host us. Similarly, we hope to see each of these lovely people again as they return to NZ with their families for a mpore leisuely visit. They will be exhausted when they get back. They have 6 weeks of almost back-to-back activities staying with 8 host families!! We will catch up with them at the District conference at the end of the month.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Matamata's Latest Law Partner - Eric Tanner LLB(Hons) :-)
I will, I will, I will write my blog more frequently. I will, I mean I really, really will!!!! Well I’ll try anyway. Winter is drawing in and so I should start to get better at it as I’ll be less inclined to jump out of bed in the mornings so, maybe....
Where to start? Well the biggest piece of news is that Eric has finally made it. As of 1 April (no, not a joke!) 2010, Eric is a partner in MagillEarl Solicitors of Matamata
In his jeans because it was the weekend!
I cannot tell you how very proud I am of him, well of us both really. I believe that there were several times when Eric may have given up on this journey. As I have explained before, it has taken so very long, from the time when we lived in South Street, Whitstable and we made the decision that Eric would study to be a lawyer, for him to get qualified. Partly because of the poor advice from the legal education council of NZ when we arrived. However, when he qualified he was very lucky to land a job with the afore mentioned firm. The partners were at that stage in their lives where they were looking to pass the firm on and Eric, and Paul, were the solicitors they decided were the right people for this. The handover is a staged affair over 3 years. Last year Paul took on a portion, this year Eric and next year it gets levelled out to a 50:50 partnership between them. We are certainly going to struggle for the next year or 2 but then, I am hoping that our financial situation will improve significantly . On the 1st both the girls were out in the evening so I cooked and we had a very romantic, candlelit dinner with balloons and banners, to celebrate. We went out to dinner as a family on Wednesday this week, Eric’s first full day as a partner.
Another, about to be, major piece of news is that we (nearly) have some form of central heating. Anyone who has been here in the cooler months, or is familiar with New Zealand will know that our houses are appallingly insulated and therefore very cold in the winters. Our, being an old (by NZ standards) house is a classic example of this. We do have loft insulation but our old Jayline wood burner was next to useless. Well, prior to setting off to South Africa our hot water tank developed a leak. We decided to bit the bullet and as we had to replace the cylinder we would get the right one for the wood burner we wanted and get both. We did some rapid research and found a company here that supply’s reconditioned Rayburns www.classiccookers.co.nz . We wanted something that burnt wood, heated our hot water and that we could run radiators off. This is it:
As you can see it’s not yet fully installed. There’s a reason for that! We ordered it in December for delivery mid-Feb. It did not arrive until mid-March. Thank heavens Mark was here when it did arrive (he called in for a tea on his way to Auckland) as the girls and I were not. It weighs 220kgs and had to be moved from the drive, up onto the deck and into the kitchen. It took them 2 hours to get it shifted! Eric had previously relayed the hearth after reinforcing the floor and once in position the next job was to get the council to grant building consent then get the plumbers in to connect up to the cylinder and and install a flue. When the cylinder was installed I asked the plumber 3 times if he was positive they had the right one. Eric was adamant it wasn’t, and when we spoke to the plumbing firm this time round one of the senior guys came out and agreed it was the wrong one. So, we are currently waiting for the flue and correct cylinder to arrive. We are in the process of sourcing radiators but I am hoping that we will at least have heat and hot water by next weekend. The temperatures are dropping significantly at the moment so I am keen to get this fixed up asap. Last weekend, Easter, we spent some time gathering in, chopping and stacking fire wood. With all the tress we have felled in the last 18 months it is certainly not in short supply! I’ll keep you posted.
Next week will be busy for us. We have a Danish student on Rotary’s GSE (Group Study Exchange) scheme. We don’t have to worry about entertaining her as their programme is jammed packed. They will be exhausted by the time they go home. She arrives on Sunday and we are meant to be at another Rotarians for lunch but we will not be available. Harriette’s GIPS (Global Issues Problem Solving) team have a fund raiser that day. We have arranged a 4x4 drive across a whole lot of farms at the base of the Kaimais. I say we, I actually mean the local 4x4 drive club. They pay money and get to drive. We provide morning tea and lunch. Not sure what time it finishes but the students go to Hobbitton (the set of the LOTR’s movies) after lunch and then back to Kevin and Margaret’s do we will collect her from there late afternoon. Our Rotary meeting on Tuesday is a formal affair which I am MC-ing!! The girls are playing music at it so it will be a family affair.
Where to start? Well the biggest piece of news is that Eric has finally made it. As of 1 April (no, not a joke!) 2010, Eric is a partner in MagillEarl Solicitors of Matamata
In his jeans because it was the weekend!
I cannot tell you how very proud I am of him, well of us both really. I believe that there were several times when Eric may have given up on this journey. As I have explained before, it has taken so very long, from the time when we lived in South Street, Whitstable and we made the decision that Eric would study to be a lawyer, for him to get qualified. Partly because of the poor advice from the legal education council of NZ when we arrived. However, when he qualified he was very lucky to land a job with the afore mentioned firm. The partners were at that stage in their lives where they were looking to pass the firm on and Eric, and Paul, were the solicitors they decided were the right people for this. The handover is a staged affair over 3 years. Last year Paul took on a portion, this year Eric and next year it gets levelled out to a 50:50 partnership between them. We are certainly going to struggle for the next year or 2 but then, I am hoping that our financial situation will improve significantly . On the 1st both the girls were out in the evening so I cooked and we had a very romantic, candlelit dinner with balloons and banners, to celebrate. We went out to dinner as a family on Wednesday this week, Eric’s first full day as a partner.
Another, about to be, major piece of news is that we (nearly) have some form of central heating. Anyone who has been here in the cooler months, or is familiar with New Zealand will know that our houses are appallingly insulated and therefore very cold in the winters. Our, being an old (by NZ standards) house is a classic example of this. We do have loft insulation but our old Jayline wood burner was next to useless. Well, prior to setting off to South Africa our hot water tank developed a leak. We decided to bit the bullet and as we had to replace the cylinder we would get the right one for the wood burner we wanted and get both. We did some rapid research and found a company here that supply’s reconditioned Rayburns www.classiccookers.co.nz . We wanted something that burnt wood, heated our hot water and that we could run radiators off. This is it:
As you can see it’s not yet fully installed. There’s a reason for that! We ordered it in December for delivery mid-Feb. It did not arrive until mid-March. Thank heavens Mark was here when it did arrive (he called in for a tea on his way to Auckland) as the girls and I were not. It weighs 220kgs and had to be moved from the drive, up onto the deck and into the kitchen. It took them 2 hours to get it shifted! Eric had previously relayed the hearth after reinforcing the floor and once in position the next job was to get the council to grant building consent then get the plumbers in to connect up to the cylinder and and install a flue. When the cylinder was installed I asked the plumber 3 times if he was positive they had the right one. Eric was adamant it wasn’t, and when we spoke to the plumbing firm this time round one of the senior guys came out and agreed it was the wrong one. So, we are currently waiting for the flue and correct cylinder to arrive. We are in the process of sourcing radiators but I am hoping that we will at least have heat and hot water by next weekend. The temperatures are dropping significantly at the moment so I am keen to get this fixed up asap. Last weekend, Easter, we spent some time gathering in, chopping and stacking fire wood. With all the tress we have felled in the last 18 months it is certainly not in short supply! I’ll keep you posted.
Next week will be busy for us. We have a Danish student on Rotary’s GSE (Group Study Exchange) scheme. We don’t have to worry about entertaining her as their programme is jammed packed. They will be exhausted by the time they go home. She arrives on Sunday and we are meant to be at another Rotarians for lunch but we will not be available. Harriette’s GIPS (Global Issues Problem Solving) team have a fund raiser that day. We have arranged a 4x4 drive across a whole lot of farms at the base of the Kaimais. I say we, I actually mean the local 4x4 drive club. They pay money and get to drive. We provide morning tea and lunch. Not sure what time it finishes but the students go to Hobbitton (the set of the LOTR’s movies) after lunch and then back to Kevin and Margaret’s do we will collect her from there late afternoon. Our Rotary meeting on Tuesday is a formal affair which I am MC-ing!! The girls are playing music at it so it will be a family affair.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
A huge catch up blog
Why, Oh Why, Oh Why do I leave it so long??? How on earth do I catch up after 2 months of no blogging? Well actually it shouldn't be too bad as I don't think a lot has happened lately.
Freckles had a calf. Typical, she required the assitance of a vet on a public holiday (Waitangi Day). Still the bull calf is heathy, and cute!!
On 10th February, at the end of a horrendously busy week, and when it wass nost inconvenient, the contractors baled our hay. This means it has to be colelcted in that day. I had thought we had got away with it as there was no sign of the contractors at 5pm but Eric came home at 5,30pm and said they were baling!! I had already asked Helen if Phil and Tom could help. They were able to come over, well not Tom as he was busy but Helen, Phil and Geaorge (11) came. Alice told Ketherine thatw e were baling and Richard phoned and offerd assistance so the evning turned out to be incrtedibly hard work but fun and sociable. I stretched our planned Mexan meal to feed 11 of us at 9pm!! At least we have heaps of hay in for the winter, and actaully very little stock. With the country/region heading for drought we are in a better poition than lots of others.
Emily also had a calf, rpoduced on her own, we think on the night of 18th February:
Mark and Eric have had some boy-time lately playing with chain saws:
and fishing. Well Eric fished and caught these while Mark threw up all day!!:
Freckles had a calf. Typical, she required the assitance of a vet on a public holiday (Waitangi Day). Still the bull calf is heathy, and cute!!
On 10th February, at the end of a horrendously busy week, and when it wass nost inconvenient, the contractors baled our hay. This means it has to be colelcted in that day. I had thought we had got away with it as there was no sign of the contractors at 5pm but Eric came home at 5,30pm and said they were baling!! I had already asked Helen if Phil and Tom could help. They were able to come over, well not Tom as he was busy but Helen, Phil and Geaorge (11) came. Alice told Ketherine thatw e were baling and Richard phoned and offerd assistance so the evning turned out to be incrtedibly hard work but fun and sociable. I stretched our planned Mexan meal to feed 11 of us at 9pm!! At least we have heaps of hay in for the winter, and actaully very little stock. With the country/region heading for drought we are in a better poition than lots of others.
Emily also had a calf, rpoduced on her own, we think on the night of 18th February:
Mark and Eric have had some boy-time lately playing with chain saws:
and fishing. Well Eric fished and caught these while Mark threw up all day!!:
Sunday, January 17, 2010
WOW!!! That word summed up yesterday for us. We went back up to Outshoorn to visit Cango Wildlife Ranch. Now we had been there on previous visits to SA and assumed that the girls would not want/need to go back but they did! If we’d have known before we went to Cango Caves we could have done both visits in one day but they only announced this after we had done the caves. Anyway... we planned to head back there yesterday. The weather has been so fickle here, totally unpredictable. Dense cloud makes you think you can’t do the beach so an ‘activity trip’ is planned for the day and then the sun comes out and the temps hit the high 30’s, or 42 degrees C as was the case yesterday!!! Anyway, the park had changed a little and we arrived and immediately were directed to a tour, obviously this is what you do as no one asked if we wanted to! The place is small, and with a tour under your belt you don’t need a map. Firstly was the Valley of the Ancients tour, and we were first taken into a giant greenhouse like structure, hot and damp, to look at fruit bats (I love these), turtles, some small buck (blue duiker) and gorgeous birds. Then it was vultures, crocs, pygmy hippos, etc etc. Next were the cats. Cango is part of a cheetah conservation project and has reared over 100 cubs. They had 8 cubs about 7 weeks old, sooo sweet and 3 Bengal tiger cubs that were a few months old – totally and utterly adorable. We looked at adult cheetahs, tigers and lions and then did the encounters. Into the lion’s den, well the cubs dens. First, the cheetahs, then the tigers. The experience was amazing; we were all so excited, awed and overwhelmed by a sense of privilege. How many other people have been able to sit with and stroke these animals? OK lots but have you??? The cheetahs, we freshly fed, remember it was 42 degrees C and totally out for the count. They barely stirred for us. One of the tiger cubs though was awake and playful. He was stalking single leaves blowing in the breeze and light patterns on the rock as it filtered through the tree above. I fell totally and utterly in love!
Another encounter you can experience at Cango is to get in a cage which is submerged in the croc pond! We saw a couple of Brazilian teenage girls do this. It was very amusing!
The South African kids have gone back to school now so the place is a lot quieter. I suspect that Cango Ranch was so quiet because no-one would be daft enough to go the The Klein Karoo desert on such a hot day. Mad dogs and Englishman and all that!
The previous day, Tuesday, Trish, Simon, Ashley and Sue came back from their Durban and Drakensberg trip. They had some great game drives seeing the big 5 within an hour on their last trip that morning, including a leopard with a cub.
On Sunday we went to Knysna. We started off at the Knysna Quays and had a very nice lunch at The Dry Dock restaurant. Gorgeous food and a great setting. We then had a drive around and viewed some of the dramatic scenery about the place. Much of the time Trish and Simon were away we took advantage of the privacy at the house to sunbathe and chill out. At Lynne and Vaughn’s there is never any privacy. Even if we stayed in when the Dukes went out there is the maid, the gardener etc around. Don’t get me wrong, I love being with them but here we have been able to get some decent sunbathing in. Eric, as usual, has sneered jealously at my brown skin as he curses his red, then peeling self. I, of course, am totally smug. I might not be blessed with good looks or a decent shaped body (OK it wouldn’t be too bad if I didn’t eat so much) but at least I can tan nicely. Please God do not make me pay in later years.
Another encounter you can experience at Cango is to get in a cage which is submerged in the croc pond! We saw a couple of Brazilian teenage girls do this. It was very amusing!
The South African kids have gone back to school now so the place is a lot quieter. I suspect that Cango Ranch was so quiet because no-one would be daft enough to go the The Klein Karoo desert on such a hot day. Mad dogs and Englishman and all that!
The previous day, Tuesday, Trish, Simon, Ashley and Sue came back from their Durban and Drakensberg trip. They had some great game drives seeing the big 5 within an hour on their last trip that morning, including a leopard with a cub.
On Sunday we went to Knysna. We started off at the Knysna Quays and had a very nice lunch at The Dry Dock restaurant. Gorgeous food and a great setting. We then had a drive around and viewed some of the dramatic scenery about the place. Much of the time Trish and Simon were away we took advantage of the privacy at the house to sunbathe and chill out. At Lynne and Vaughn’s there is never any privacy. Even if we stayed in when the Dukes went out there is the maid, the gardener etc around. Don’t get me wrong, I love being with them but here we have been able to get some decent sunbathing in. Eric, as usual, has sneered jealously at my brown skin as he curses his red, then peeling self. I, of course, am totally smug. I might not be blessed with good looks or a decent shaped body (OK it wouldn’t be too bad if I didn’t eat so much) but at least I can tan nicely. Please God do not make me pay in later years.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Africa 3: Thursday 7th January 2010
Well a very Happy New Year! I am sitting on the elevated deck at Trish and Simon’s house in Wilderness, about 450km east of Cape Town. Their house is all wood, the living area above the garage and rain water tanks. It has 4 bedrooms, 2 on the next floor up, the main on this level and a smaller one on the ground level. All have en suites, which is beginning to seem like the norm for new houses in S.A. Harriette is in the spa out here on the deck, over the bush, Eric is suffering from a night on the loo but has just woken and moved from the couch to the shaded part of the deck, Alice is sunbathing next to me. From the deck you can just see the ocean in one direction and the inland lagoons in the other. It is beautiful, peaceful and seems to be safe here – totally different to the atmosphere in JHB.
I have left it longer than I meant to blog so will try to re-cap. Our stay at Lindani lasted until Monday 28th December. The week remained lazy except, I tried to get Eric to try out the bike. He was pathetic!! Even in the lowest (or is it the highest, I can never remember, anyway, the easiest gear) he could not manage. His leg has a lot to answer for. We were only on the farm tracks and went about the same distance I run in the mornings but that was his limit. I went on ahead then caught up with him on the return journey. I really do understand that it is not his fault and don’t resent him, just the fact that he has this injury. As I have got fitter, not scrub that, as I have become more active, I spend less and less time with Eric and the kids as I pursue the cycling etc. I really wish we could do these things as a family. If Eric and I could do them together then the girls would have to come along, but with Eric staying at home they do so also. Oh well!
We drove home from Lindani on Monday 28th December. It was good to have internet access again. At Lindani it was intermittent, through Vaughn’s TG3 card, and only available under one tree. By the time we all had a quick go the computers battery died! Poor Alice always seemed to be the one whose, urgent, Face book checking was interrupted! On Tuesday Eric and I headed off to the Eastern Transvaal, or the Mphalunga District as it is now called, to the Mount Sheba hotel. We stayed there in 1989 and loved it. We booked months ago and paid online. Afterwards Eric said we should have gone to the Lost City at Sun City and when we got there we decided that would have been the letter option. It was definitely below par, a bit disappointing. The restaurant was nice looking and the food sounded great but was a bit tasteless. On top of that the weather was overcast so all the spectacular scenery was hidden behind clouds. We stopped in at Pilgrim’s Rest on the way to Mount Sheba, an historical mining town, and had lunch at the lower end. On our anniversary, the 30th, I went for a run in the morning. Now Mount Sheba is seriously high up but in a dip, almost like a crater, surrounded by high peaks so the road down into the grounds is seriously steep. I run almost all of the way on my way out, though have to confess that I did resort to walks for very short sections at its steepest. Later, we headed off to Hazyview. We wanted to do a canopy cable trip, sort of like a series of flying foxes, but they were fully booked. As we drove into Hazyview I got pulled over for speeding. The (black) cop was very professional, and after long discussion let me off with a warning. I was pleased, for 2 reasons. A. We did not get a fine but more B. He did not try to elicit a bribe! This is common practice here. Lynne was stopped a week or two ago and the when the cop tried to get money out of her she went ballistic at him yelling ‘Are you trying to bribe me!” Some colleagues were nearby and the cop was horrified and shooed her away in a big hurry hoping the other cops had not noticed!! Also, when we were stopped in SA once before the cop tried to get money out of us – failed!! At Hazyview we had coffee and looked around some art galleries. We then headed off to The Pinnacle. I took photos of it they seem to have been downloaded. Maybe they are on the video camera. From here we went to God’s Window but could see nothing there. I was surprised that we now have to pay to park at these sights. Lynne and Vaughn also were and think it is to do with ‘2010’ ie the Soccer World Cup which comes here in June. We then went to Lisbon Falls
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Lisbon Falls
The morning of 31st December was bright and sunny. Typical, we were leaving that day!! We drove up out of the hotel grounds and parked to do a walk to the Mount Sheba lookout along this path. It was quite lovely.
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This was the view of the hotel from where we walked:
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The Mount Sheba Hotel
When we got back to the hotel I made Eric come to do a walk to a waterfall. I had it in my head that this was a short walk but after about 5 minutes the path was becoming treacherous. There was no way Eric could make it so I sent him back and I pressed on. The path got steeper and more rugged but after about 15 minutes I came to this grotto/waterfall in the woods. I was all alone and it was quite divine.
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I got back to the hotel and we checked out. When we got back to JHB the house was empty apart from Brian, the gardener. Lynne and Vaughn had taken the kids ice skating. Apparently, the purpose was to get H and A to appreciate how hard it was to ice skate before they went to see the Imperial Ice Stars in Cinderella. They had obviously had a good time. While we had been away they had been out for several meals, horse riding as well as ice skating. Mark, Claire, and her boyfriend Chris, had taken them to the movies to see Avatar. They loved the movie and I think we will probably go and see it sometime. Avatar was made at Weta studios, in Wellington.
For the NY’s Eve celebrations we went to the Barnyard at Broadacres. It’s a cabaret venue. The tables are long refectory type tables that accommodate large groups. You can take your own food or buy pizzas there. We went with Ali and William, H, A and Michael. H, A and Michael have been getting on brilliantly. The act was Broadway Musicals and great fun. We sang all evening and danced for some of it. It was a great night.
I think we have shopped every day when in JHB! The choice is fantastic. I cannot get over it. Living in JHB you could shop forever! I had forgotten how I had gotten used to such little choice living in NZ. I think I prefer it how we are in NZ, so little materialism by comparison. I guess you used to what you live with.
The 1st January 2010, and I guess the first day of a new decade, started off sunny but clouded over and stayed that way until we left JHB on the 5th. On NY’s Day Lynne’s family came for a braai in the afternoon. Vaughn, Marks eldest son, (yes there are two Vaughns!) came. I hadn’t seen ‘little’ Vaughn in over 23 years! I think he was about 7 then! Needless to say we had lots of embarrassing tales to tell him from my recollections of his early years. I also had photos with me, taken at Marks place in about 1985! We all did a lot of reminiscing!
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January 1st at the Dukes
On Saturday 2nd January Lynne, Vaughn, William, Daniel and I went mountain biking again.
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Well no mountains in JHB but there was an interesting mountain bike trail along the spruit (river) from the Dukes place to Emerentia Dam. It was about 15km one way. Once there we went to a very nice, packed cafe for a well earned drink. I had gone through some muddy puddles and looked a state; hot sweaty and very mud sprayed. We sat amongst JHB’s beautiful people and drew a few looks!!! I was very amused. On the way back I had a moderately serious fall. Nothing broken, but definitely more serious than a simple tumble. I was thrashing it and just about keeping up with William, a serious biker, when we went round a sweeping bend at speed. Immediately there were 2 short, sharp downhill bends. I managed the first but on the second I think I went up the side slope, overcorrected and caught my peddle in the ground. I crashed spectacularly. I hit my head hard, hurt my ribs, both arms and was generally stunned. The rear wheel came off the bike and the handle bars bent. No one actually saw me fall but Lynne came round the bend a few moments later to find me flat out, not moving and tangled in the bike. I heard her call out and, knowing how she panics, struggled to call out I was OK. I had visions of her leaping on me and doing CPR!!!! I felt her checking my pulse and pupils and eventually pulled myself into the present. I pulled myself together, assessed my injuries and assured everyone I was OK. The guys repeatedly told me they would go and get a car but I decided I would be able to carry on. They spent a few minutes reconstructing Michael’s bike and eventually I was able to complete the journey. Unfortunately we were near the start of the return journey so it was a long trip back. I had lost my confidence and took it slowly. Vaughn had to carry my bike in a few places as there was no way I could push or carry it across the streams. Back at the house Lynne’s nursing skills were put to full use and I was settled in a hot bath with muscle ache relieving stuff in and plied with tea and pain killers. Just as well as the sympathy from my own family was sadly lacking!!! My face (left side and across my forehead along the ring of the bike helmet), ribs and arms were sore for quite a few days but I was surprised how little bruising I sustained considering how I hurt!!
On the same evening we four and Stephanie, went to see the Imperial Ice Stars (mainly East European ex-Olympic ice skaters) perform Cinderella on Ice at the Teatro Theatre at Monte Casino. It was amazing! I cannot believe that I was not aware of the show when it was in NZ. They are ¾ the way through a 2 year tour. I will certainly go and see them again if I get the opportunity. We all really enjoyed it. On top of the amazing ice skating skills the choreography and costumes where spectacular.
The following day, Sunday 3rd, we decided to head off to the Roof Market at Rosebank Mall. It took ages to find (Rosebank has at least 3 huge malls) and when we got there it was not there, closed for a few weeks over the Christmas period. So, we headed off to Newtown, a busy hub in downtown JHB, where the Market Theatre is housed. It was dead. It seemed that JHB was empty for the holiday period! We then went to Zoo Lake (an old haunt) to a new, and amazing restaurant called Moyo’s. There we were entertained with live music, all (yes including the adults) were face painted, and had a great meal before walking around the lake.
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Monday 4th January was the day of our drive down to Wilderness, near George on the Garden Route. We left at 4.30am and arrived at 6.10pm. It actually was not a bad journey. We listened to audio books on my iPod, finally orientating Eric to the Twilight series. We got through book one and started book 2. Books pass the time so easily. We drove in 3 hour chunks and only had to fill the Kombie once. 1250km (about 750 miles). Trish (Eric’s sister) and Simon live in the UK but love Africa. Over the years Simon has travelled extensively across the continent. They have built an elevated log house on the huge dunes between the Indian Ocean and Langvlei lagoon. The property is surrounded by dune scrub/bush and has large decks. Trish and Simon arrived from the UK a few days earlier with some friends, Sue and Ashley.
Tuesday 5th January Eric and Simon went into George to run some errands while I ran, then waited for the girls to get up. We then headed off to buy groceries and birthday pressies for Eric. We came back to a wonderful braaied giant prawn lunch for Ben and Liviana, friends of T+S. Ben’s company built the house, in fact they also built the Caboose Hotel in Taupo!! After lunch we 4 headed off to the beach off Buxton Rd. I laid there thinking this could easily be a NZ beach ie gorgeous, quiet, long golden and sandy! Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. It was perfect. Unlike the meal we had that evening!! We went to the Wilderness Grille. Don’t you go! We were seated then waited about 30 minutes before anyone took our drinks order. What was galling was that a young Afrikaans guy was standing not 4 feet from us doing very little. When we asked for some service he said our waitress would soon be along. To cut a ong story short although the actual waitress was nice the general service and time we waited was terrible. We refused to pay the 10% ‘gratuity’ which resulted in Eric having a heated discussion with the manager, a very rude Afrikaans women who sat smoking all evening although the place was obviously understaffed for the evening. I felt sorry for Simon and Trish as they had booked it.
Yesterday, the 6th, Eric woke with the trots so I took T, S, A and S to George airport with the girls. We then shopped and made our first trip to an internet cafe. R39 (about NZ$8, GBP3) for 25 minutes x 3. I thought that was pretty good. I started off telling the girls to remember to send Sarah an email for her birthday then promptly forgot to do so myself until I walked out the place!! I then decided I would text her from home but could not send. I was out of credit and we have not been near a Vodafone shop since (you cannot top up by credit card as I usually do). So Sarah, if you are reading this, we were thinking of you and hope you had a great day. And sorry I did not get a card to you. I could not add my blog entries as I did not have my hard drive with me but will do next time. Gosh I am so disorganised. It was overcast all day and we did not get back from shopping until mid afternoon so spent the rest of the day at Bakatad. And that brings us up today – phew!!
I have left it longer than I meant to blog so will try to re-cap. Our stay at Lindani lasted until Monday 28th December. The week remained lazy except, I tried to get Eric to try out the bike. He was pathetic!! Even in the lowest (or is it the highest, I can never remember, anyway, the easiest gear) he could not manage. His leg has a lot to answer for. We were only on the farm tracks and went about the same distance I run in the mornings but that was his limit. I went on ahead then caught up with him on the return journey. I really do understand that it is not his fault and don’t resent him, just the fact that he has this injury. As I have got fitter, not scrub that, as I have become more active, I spend less and less time with Eric and the kids as I pursue the cycling etc. I really wish we could do these things as a family. If Eric and I could do them together then the girls would have to come along, but with Eric staying at home they do so also. Oh well!
We drove home from Lindani on Monday 28th December. It was good to have internet access again. At Lindani it was intermittent, through Vaughn’s TG3 card, and only available under one tree. By the time we all had a quick go the computers battery died! Poor Alice always seemed to be the one whose, urgent, Face book checking was interrupted! On Tuesday Eric and I headed off to the Eastern Transvaal, or the Mphalunga District as it is now called, to the Mount Sheba hotel. We stayed there in 1989 and loved it. We booked months ago and paid online. Afterwards Eric said we should have gone to the Lost City at Sun City and when we got there we decided that would have been the letter option. It was definitely below par, a bit disappointing. The restaurant was nice looking and the food sounded great but was a bit tasteless. On top of that the weather was overcast so all the spectacular scenery was hidden behind clouds. We stopped in at Pilgrim’s Rest on the way to Mount Sheba, an historical mining town, and had lunch at the lower end. On our anniversary, the 30th, I went for a run in the morning. Now Mount Sheba is seriously high up but in a dip, almost like a crater, surrounded by high peaks so the road down into the grounds is seriously steep. I run almost all of the way on my way out, though have to confess that I did resort to walks for very short sections at its steepest. Later, we headed off to Hazyview. We wanted to do a canopy cable trip, sort of like a series of flying foxes, but they were fully booked. As we drove into Hazyview I got pulled over for speeding. The (black) cop was very professional, and after long discussion let me off with a warning. I was pleased, for 2 reasons. A. We did not get a fine but more B. He did not try to elicit a bribe! This is common practice here. Lynne was stopped a week or two ago and the when the cop tried to get money out of her she went ballistic at him yelling ‘Are you trying to bribe me!” Some colleagues were nearby and the cop was horrified and shooed her away in a big hurry hoping the other cops had not noticed!! Also, when we were stopped in SA once before the cop tried to get money out of us – failed!! At Hazyview we had coffee and looked around some art galleries. We then headed off to The Pinnacle. I took photos of it they seem to have been downloaded. Maybe they are on the video camera. From here we went to God’s Window but could see nothing there. I was surprised that we now have to pay to park at these sights. Lynne and Vaughn also were and think it is to do with ‘2010’ ie the Soccer World Cup which comes here in June. We then went to Lisbon Falls
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Lisbon Falls
The morning of 31st December was bright and sunny. Typical, we were leaving that day!! We drove up out of the hotel grounds and parked to do a walk to the Mount Sheba lookout along this path. It was quite lovely.
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This was the view of the hotel from where we walked:
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The Mount Sheba Hotel
When we got back to the hotel I made Eric come to do a walk to a waterfall. I had it in my head that this was a short walk but after about 5 minutes the path was becoming treacherous. There was no way Eric could make it so I sent him back and I pressed on. The path got steeper and more rugged but after about 15 minutes I came to this grotto/waterfall in the woods. I was all alone and it was quite divine.
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I got back to the hotel and we checked out. When we got back to JHB the house was empty apart from Brian, the gardener. Lynne and Vaughn had taken the kids ice skating. Apparently, the purpose was to get H and A to appreciate how hard it was to ice skate before they went to see the Imperial Ice Stars in Cinderella. They had obviously had a good time. While we had been away they had been out for several meals, horse riding as well as ice skating. Mark, Claire, and her boyfriend Chris, had taken them to the movies to see Avatar. They loved the movie and I think we will probably go and see it sometime. Avatar was made at Weta studios, in Wellington.
For the NY’s Eve celebrations we went to the Barnyard at Broadacres. It’s a cabaret venue. The tables are long refectory type tables that accommodate large groups. You can take your own food or buy pizzas there. We went with Ali and William, H, A and Michael. H, A and Michael have been getting on brilliantly. The act was Broadway Musicals and great fun. We sang all evening and danced for some of it. It was a great night.
I think we have shopped every day when in JHB! The choice is fantastic. I cannot get over it. Living in JHB you could shop forever! I had forgotten how I had gotten used to such little choice living in NZ. I think I prefer it how we are in NZ, so little materialism by comparison. I guess you used to what you live with.
The 1st January 2010, and I guess the first day of a new decade, started off sunny but clouded over and stayed that way until we left JHB on the 5th. On NY’s Day Lynne’s family came for a braai in the afternoon. Vaughn, Marks eldest son, (yes there are two Vaughns!) came. I hadn’t seen ‘little’ Vaughn in over 23 years! I think he was about 7 then! Needless to say we had lots of embarrassing tales to tell him from my recollections of his early years. I also had photos with me, taken at Marks place in about 1985! We all did a lot of reminiscing!
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January 1st at the Dukes
On Saturday 2nd January Lynne, Vaughn, William, Daniel and I went mountain biking again.
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Well no mountains in JHB but there was an interesting mountain bike trail along the spruit (river) from the Dukes place to Emerentia Dam. It was about 15km one way. Once there we went to a very nice, packed cafe for a well earned drink. I had gone through some muddy puddles and looked a state; hot sweaty and very mud sprayed. We sat amongst JHB’s beautiful people and drew a few looks!!! I was very amused. On the way back I had a moderately serious fall. Nothing broken, but definitely more serious than a simple tumble. I was thrashing it and just about keeping up with William, a serious biker, when we went round a sweeping bend at speed. Immediately there were 2 short, sharp downhill bends. I managed the first but on the second I think I went up the side slope, overcorrected and caught my peddle in the ground. I crashed spectacularly. I hit my head hard, hurt my ribs, both arms and was generally stunned. The rear wheel came off the bike and the handle bars bent. No one actually saw me fall but Lynne came round the bend a few moments later to find me flat out, not moving and tangled in the bike. I heard her call out and, knowing how she panics, struggled to call out I was OK. I had visions of her leaping on me and doing CPR!!!! I felt her checking my pulse and pupils and eventually pulled myself into the present. I pulled myself together, assessed my injuries and assured everyone I was OK. The guys repeatedly told me they would go and get a car but I decided I would be able to carry on. They spent a few minutes reconstructing Michael’s bike and eventually I was able to complete the journey. Unfortunately we were near the start of the return journey so it was a long trip back. I had lost my confidence and took it slowly. Vaughn had to carry my bike in a few places as there was no way I could push or carry it across the streams. Back at the house Lynne’s nursing skills were put to full use and I was settled in a hot bath with muscle ache relieving stuff in and plied with tea and pain killers. Just as well as the sympathy from my own family was sadly lacking!!! My face (left side and across my forehead along the ring of the bike helmet), ribs and arms were sore for quite a few days but I was surprised how little bruising I sustained considering how I hurt!!
On the same evening we four and Stephanie, went to see the Imperial Ice Stars (mainly East European ex-Olympic ice skaters) perform Cinderella on Ice at the Teatro Theatre at Monte Casino. It was amazing! I cannot believe that I was not aware of the show when it was in NZ. They are ¾ the way through a 2 year tour. I will certainly go and see them again if I get the opportunity. We all really enjoyed it. On top of the amazing ice skating skills the choreography and costumes where spectacular.
The following day, Sunday 3rd, we decided to head off to the Roof Market at Rosebank Mall. It took ages to find (Rosebank has at least 3 huge malls) and when we got there it was not there, closed for a few weeks over the Christmas period. So, we headed off to Newtown, a busy hub in downtown JHB, where the Market Theatre is housed. It was dead. It seemed that JHB was empty for the holiday period! We then went to Zoo Lake (an old haunt) to a new, and amazing restaurant called Moyo’s. There we were entertained with live music, all (yes including the adults) were face painted, and had a great meal before walking around the lake.
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Monday 4th January was the day of our drive down to Wilderness, near George on the Garden Route. We left at 4.30am and arrived at 6.10pm. It actually was not a bad journey. We listened to audio books on my iPod, finally orientating Eric to the Twilight series. We got through book one and started book 2. Books pass the time so easily. We drove in 3 hour chunks and only had to fill the Kombie once. 1250km (about 750 miles). Trish (Eric’s sister) and Simon live in the UK but love Africa. Over the years Simon has travelled extensively across the continent. They have built an elevated log house on the huge dunes between the Indian Ocean and Langvlei lagoon. The property is surrounded by dune scrub/bush and has large decks. Trish and Simon arrived from the UK a few days earlier with some friends, Sue and Ashley.
Tuesday 5th January Eric and Simon went into George to run some errands while I ran, then waited for the girls to get up. We then headed off to buy groceries and birthday pressies for Eric. We came back to a wonderful braaied giant prawn lunch for Ben and Liviana, friends of T+S. Ben’s company built the house, in fact they also built the Caboose Hotel in Taupo!! After lunch we 4 headed off to the beach off Buxton Rd. I laid there thinking this could easily be a NZ beach ie gorgeous, quiet, long golden and sandy! Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. It was perfect. Unlike the meal we had that evening!! We went to the Wilderness Grille. Don’t you go! We were seated then waited about 30 minutes before anyone took our drinks order. What was galling was that a young Afrikaans guy was standing not 4 feet from us doing very little. When we asked for some service he said our waitress would soon be along. To cut a ong story short although the actual waitress was nice the general service and time we waited was terrible. We refused to pay the 10% ‘gratuity’ which resulted in Eric having a heated discussion with the manager, a very rude Afrikaans women who sat smoking all evening although the place was obviously understaffed for the evening. I felt sorry for Simon and Trish as they had booked it.
Yesterday, the 6th, Eric woke with the trots so I took T, S, A and S to George airport with the girls. We then shopped and made our first trip to an internet cafe. R39 (about NZ$8, GBP3) for 25 minutes x 3. I thought that was pretty good. I started off telling the girls to remember to send Sarah an email for her birthday then promptly forgot to do so myself until I walked out the place!! I then decided I would text her from home but could not send. I was out of credit and we have not been near a Vodafone shop since (you cannot top up by credit card as I usually do). So Sarah, if you are reading this, we were thinking of you and hope you had a great day. And sorry I did not get a card to you. I could not add my blog entries as I did not have my hard drive with me but will do next time. Gosh I am so disorganised. It was overcast all day and we did not get back from shopping until mid afternoon so spent the rest of the day at Bakatad. And that brings us up today – phew!!
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Africa 2: Boxing Day
Gosh this Christmas week has turned out to be all we had wished for. The 4 families have got on well. Everyone has pulled their weight with the cooking and cleaning up (if the only the bare minimum has been done). We are living in 4 cottages and eating meals in the largest one which is in front of the pool. Plenty of space to allow for privacy when one wants it. We sort our own breakfasts out and join up for lunch and supper (sorry, 'tea' for the kiwi readers!).
Tuesday, after my first blog, we all headed off to the dam a few kms away for sundowners.
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As we 18 arrive in 2 vehicles and on mountain bikes there was a couple there sitting quietly with binoculars!!! We apologised from the off-set for the noise as we settled down to GnT’s, chips n’ dips. I felt sooo sorry for them but they were fine saying they were staying very close by and could come down any time. Vaughan and I made our way through the bush to the other side of the dam to get a better view of the sunset but I did not have my camera. On the way back Michael happily relinquished his bike and I had my first taste of mountain biking, be it just on farm tracks. However, I had 3 large GnT’s on board and it was mainly downhill and much of the track was soft sand. I yelled most of the way and still do not know how I did not fall off. I guess the booze helped to dull my senses/relax me so I did not care. I don’t know. Whatever, it was exhilarating and great fun. I should thank Michael for doing the uphill slog bit for me.
On Wednesday Eric, Alice and I went into Vaalwater to top up supplies! It is a real African small town. A few small shops, one supermarket and Africans everywhere. There was a strike going on outside the Spar with lots on singing and chanting with posters accusing the owners of being racist and not paying a decent salary. It is so sad to see the extent of the poverty, but where on earth does a government start to address things? The road from Vaalwater is lined on both sides with game farms like the one we are staying on so you sometimes see game. Eric saw 2 giraffe as I was driving back on this occasion but I missed them.
Thursday, Christmas Eve, was lazy. I went with Ali and Mel to visit her friends Denise and Alan. Alan is the son of the owners of this place and they live here on the farm. Their home is amazing. Denise is a fine arts artist and I comment on her beautiful paintings throughout the house, not knowing she had painted many of them!! The stoep (patio) is huge, probably 40’ by 15’ deep and looks out onto the longest pool I have ever seen in a private home. The garden is surrounded by snake proof bush fencing. It is another world!! They told us stories of living in the bush, including watching a troop of baboon attacking a python who was crushing, and then ate, a full sized female. The python was so badly injured it probably did not survive.
Eric, Alice and I went for a game drive in the early evening. We found it difficult to follow the maps and ended up at a road end with a sign to a lookout. For some reason I thought it was just a few yards into the bush so we poured a GnT each and headed off. We walked, and climbed, for 15 minutes thinking “It can’t be much further” as we rounded each bend. We reached the top about 1 minute before the sunset and boy was it worth the climb.
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I was then immediately nervous, not sure how much light we had left and very keen not to be caught in the bush with no torch! We hurried back, well tried to but Eric was struggling on the downhill climb because of his leg, and eventually got to the Kombie with just a few minutes of dusk left.
Christmas day was perfect. I ran in the morning, so I would feel less guilty eating later! The day was soo relaxed with far too much food. We managed to get 2 huge tables together to seat all 18 of us.
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CLAIRE, ALICE, ERIC, HARRIETTE AND YVONNE
Dinner consisted of a starter c/o Eric. A whole, camembert stuffed with gorgonzola and soft goat’s cheese, topped with walnuts and a cranberry sauce.
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Absolutely divine - everyone wanted the recipe. Turkey, braaied fillet steaks and a gammon with salads and roasted vegetable made up the main course. Lynne was just going to do Christmas cake and coffee but we insisted on desserts (of course) and did a mango tiramisu (orange juice and sherry to soak the biscuits instead of Tia Maria, and topped/layered with fresh mangos) and Harriette did a pavlova. We even managed to find kiwi fruits for that..JPG)
STEFFIE, LYNNE, WILLIAM AND HARRIETTE IN THE KITCHEN. YVONNE, MEL, VAUGHN, ABBY AND ALI AT THE TABLE.
We did nothing else all day except laze around and when it got too hot, swam. This is Mark and I.
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This is Willam, Mark, Eric and Mel in the kitchen.
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This morning, Boxing Day, I went for a run, swim, press-ups and then sunbathed (at 7am!) before breakfast. This has been my routine here. The run was very special this morning as I disturbed a small herd of impala. They ran ahead of me down the farm track for about 5 minutes, stopping every so often to see if I was following, and darting in and out of the bush before finally disappearing. Amazing!! After breakfast we 4 Tanners took the Kombie and went on a game viewing drive. We are staying on a game farm of about 4,000 hectares (10,000 acres in old money). There are no large cats (apart from a few leopard), rhino or elephant here, hence you can walk and cycle in the bush. There are more kudu than I have ever seen and we saw this feller
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with about 12 others when we went out on Christmas eve evening. They are my favourite antelope. We see a lot of kudu, impala (by far the most common antelope) and wart hogs from our accommodation. When we wake up in the morning I creep round the place looking out all the windows as they are often very close to the cottage, until the sounds of tea making and breakfast start up!
On our drive today we saw the above, plus wildebeest with lots of babies, zebra, baboons, eland, hartebeest, bontebok and the animal we had been most hoping to see, giraffe; a mommy and baby:
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Eric and I got out the Kombie and took a few paces closer to the giraffes to get a better picture but mommy spotted us and took up a very protective stance, and my battery died on the camera! I then walked down the farm track and watched a few small herds on the plain around the trees until Eric drove up to meet me. By the time we got back to the cottages I was cooking and feeling quite nauseous but then it was in the high 30’s. Straight into the pool, then lots of chatting with the others, in the shade of course, before lunch. The afternoon was spent lazing around until 5pm when William, Vaughn, Justine and I went out for a cycle. Well this was not what I expected. I thought it would be a cycle along some farm tracks, negotiating a few bumps and hills. Boy was I in for a surprise. We went mountain biking!!! It was so scary, and exhilarating. We didn’t see much in the way of animals but boy did we get round the bush. First we cycled over these 2 rickety bridges that I had been nervous walking over the previous day, then Vaughn and William decided to climb a foot path over the hill, on bikes. I reminded them that I was a novice and said that Justine and I would go a different route!! They were such gentleman they would have none of it and we took an alternate route. Back on cycle tracks this time. It was really hard work and I felt that I was holding the others back but they encouraged and advised me on the way round. The cycle paths are graded 1-3 for difficulty and on the 3’s most of us climbed/walked with our bikes for short distances. There had been a huge rain storm a few hours before we left and Justine said the bush was much prettier after the rain, the light in the damp bush was fantastic, when I was not so scared that my eyes were actually open!! It was fantastic. I loved it but boy was it hard and tiring. Sooo different to road biking. When I later commented on slowing them down lWilliam said he enjoys getting new people into the sport and does not mind the slow rides with the novices. So kind.
So who are we here with, apart from the 5 Dukes? Lynne’s brother Mark and his gorgeous girls, Justine and Claire, who are uni age, Lynne’s Mom, Yvonne and friends of the Dukes; William and Ali with their 2 children Jamie and Abby and Ali’s Mom Mel. When I lived in SA in the 80’s Lynne’s family were like a second family to me and it is great to be spending time with them again. Mark in the film/sound making industry and I am trying to persuade him that he should come and do some work in NZ for awhile.
So far, and only on the second week of this holiday, I have written 3000 words. This is going to be a novelette not a blog entry. Well done if you are still with me.
Tuesday, after my first blog, we all headed off to the dam a few kms away for sundowners.
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As we 18 arrive in 2 vehicles and on mountain bikes there was a couple there sitting quietly with binoculars!!! We apologised from the off-set for the noise as we settled down to GnT’s, chips n’ dips. I felt sooo sorry for them but they were fine saying they were staying very close by and could come down any time. Vaughan and I made our way through the bush to the other side of the dam to get a better view of the sunset but I did not have my camera. On the way back Michael happily relinquished his bike and I had my first taste of mountain biking, be it just on farm tracks. However, I had 3 large GnT’s on board and it was mainly downhill and much of the track was soft sand. I yelled most of the way and still do not know how I did not fall off. I guess the booze helped to dull my senses/relax me so I did not care. I don’t know. Whatever, it was exhilarating and great fun. I should thank Michael for doing the uphill slog bit for me.
On Wednesday Eric, Alice and I went into Vaalwater to top up supplies! It is a real African small town. A few small shops, one supermarket and Africans everywhere. There was a strike going on outside the Spar with lots on singing and chanting with posters accusing the owners of being racist and not paying a decent salary. It is so sad to see the extent of the poverty, but where on earth does a government start to address things? The road from Vaalwater is lined on both sides with game farms like the one we are staying on so you sometimes see game. Eric saw 2 giraffe as I was driving back on this occasion but I missed them.
Thursday, Christmas Eve, was lazy. I went with Ali and Mel to visit her friends Denise and Alan. Alan is the son of the owners of this place and they live here on the farm. Their home is amazing. Denise is a fine arts artist and I comment on her beautiful paintings throughout the house, not knowing she had painted many of them!! The stoep (patio) is huge, probably 40’ by 15’ deep and looks out onto the longest pool I have ever seen in a private home. The garden is surrounded by snake proof bush fencing. It is another world!! They told us stories of living in the bush, including watching a troop of baboon attacking a python who was crushing, and then ate, a full sized female. The python was so badly injured it probably did not survive.
Eric, Alice and I went for a game drive in the early evening. We found it difficult to follow the maps and ended up at a road end with a sign to a lookout. For some reason I thought it was just a few yards into the bush so we poured a GnT each and headed off. We walked, and climbed, for 15 minutes thinking “It can’t be much further” as we rounded each bend. We reached the top about 1 minute before the sunset and boy was it worth the climb.
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I was then immediately nervous, not sure how much light we had left and very keen not to be caught in the bush with no torch! We hurried back, well tried to but Eric was struggling on the downhill climb because of his leg, and eventually got to the Kombie with just a few minutes of dusk left.
Christmas day was perfect. I ran in the morning, so I would feel less guilty eating later! The day was soo relaxed with far too much food. We managed to get 2 huge tables together to seat all 18 of us.
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CLAIRE, ALICE, ERIC, HARRIETTE AND YVONNE
Dinner consisted of a starter c/o Eric. A whole, camembert stuffed with gorgonzola and soft goat’s cheese, topped with walnuts and a cranberry sauce.
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Absolutely divine - everyone wanted the recipe. Turkey, braaied fillet steaks and a gammon with salads and roasted vegetable made up the main course. Lynne was just going to do Christmas cake and coffee but we insisted on desserts (of course) and did a mango tiramisu (orange juice and sherry to soak the biscuits instead of Tia Maria, and topped/layered with fresh mangos) and Harriette did a pavlova. We even managed to find kiwi fruits for that.
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STEFFIE, LYNNE, WILLIAM AND HARRIETTE IN THE KITCHEN. YVONNE, MEL, VAUGHN, ABBY AND ALI AT THE TABLE.
We did nothing else all day except laze around and when it got too hot, swam. This is Mark and I.
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This is Willam, Mark, Eric and Mel in the kitchen.
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This morning, Boxing Day, I went for a run, swim, press-ups and then sunbathed (at 7am!) before breakfast. This has been my routine here. The run was very special this morning as I disturbed a small herd of impala. They ran ahead of me down the farm track for about 5 minutes, stopping every so often to see if I was following, and darting in and out of the bush before finally disappearing. Amazing!! After breakfast we 4 Tanners took the Kombie and went on a game viewing drive. We are staying on a game farm of about 4,000 hectares (10,000 acres in old money). There are no large cats (apart from a few leopard), rhino or elephant here, hence you can walk and cycle in the bush. There are more kudu than I have ever seen and we saw this feller
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with about 12 others when we went out on Christmas eve evening. They are my favourite antelope. We see a lot of kudu, impala (by far the most common antelope) and wart hogs from our accommodation. When we wake up in the morning I creep round the place looking out all the windows as they are often very close to the cottage, until the sounds of tea making and breakfast start up!
On our drive today we saw the above, plus wildebeest with lots of babies, zebra, baboons, eland, hartebeest, bontebok and the animal we had been most hoping to see, giraffe; a mommy and baby:
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Eric and I got out the Kombie and took a few paces closer to the giraffes to get a better picture but mommy spotted us and took up a very protective stance, and my battery died on the camera! I then walked down the farm track and watched a few small herds on the plain around the trees until Eric drove up to meet me. By the time we got back to the cottages I was cooking and feeling quite nauseous but then it was in the high 30’s. Straight into the pool, then lots of chatting with the others, in the shade of course, before lunch. The afternoon was spent lazing around until 5pm when William, Vaughn, Justine and I went out for a cycle. Well this was not what I expected. I thought it would be a cycle along some farm tracks, negotiating a few bumps and hills. Boy was I in for a surprise. We went mountain biking!!! It was so scary, and exhilarating. We didn’t see much in the way of animals but boy did we get round the bush. First we cycled over these 2 rickety bridges that I had been nervous walking over the previous day, then Vaughn and William decided to climb a foot path over the hill, on bikes. I reminded them that I was a novice and said that Justine and I would go a different route!! They were such gentleman they would have none of it and we took an alternate route. Back on cycle tracks this time. It was really hard work and I felt that I was holding the others back but they encouraged and advised me on the way round. The cycle paths are graded 1-3 for difficulty and on the 3’s most of us climbed/walked with our bikes for short distances. There had been a huge rain storm a few hours before we left and Justine said the bush was much prettier after the rain, the light in the damp bush was fantastic, when I was not so scared that my eyes were actually open!! It was fantastic. I loved it but boy was it hard and tiring. Sooo different to road biking. When I later commented on slowing them down lWilliam said he enjoys getting new people into the sport and does not mind the slow rides with the novices. So kind.
So who are we here with, apart from the 5 Dukes? Lynne’s brother Mark and his gorgeous girls, Justine and Claire, who are uni age, Lynne’s Mom, Yvonne and friends of the Dukes; William and Ali with their 2 children Jamie and Abby and Ali’s Mom Mel. When I lived in SA in the 80’s Lynne’s family were like a second family to me and it is great to be spending time with them again. Mark in the film/sound making industry and I am trying to persuade him that he should come and do some work in NZ for awhile.
So far, and only on the second week of this holiday, I have written 3000 words. This is going to be a novelette not a blog entry. Well done if you are still with me.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Africa1: Lindani the Tuesday Before Christmas
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Well, we are finally here - Africa. Lindani to be precise. It’s mid-day-ish a few days before Christmas and I am sitting under a tree (already a tad red from sitting by/in the pool this morning), and blogging. I am writing this in Word as internet connection here is intermittent to say the least. Actually, we are not that far from civilisation. This is in effect a farm, with game, and very nice accommodation in the form of cottages. We have a cluster of 4 of them between 18 of us. There are others around but who knows where. Nowhere near here that’s for sure. The nearest town (take the word ‘town’ with a pinch of salt, we are not talking anything as big or flash as Matamata here) is about 30km away.
To describe where we are, and by the time I post this the photos will accompany, the accommodation area is a mowed area of grassland surrounded by hills of African bush, i.e. scrub and thorn trees. The cottages are spaced out and look out to mowed grass with a pool dotted with huge red rocks around it and a native looking fence and shade area. Then it is longer grass, through which a small herd of around 50 springbok strolled 30 minutes ago, and then the hills. The farm has farm tracks along which you can drive (we plan to do that later this afternoon) and walking and cycling tracks.
This morning Eric woke about 5 and I was up about 5.30am. Outside the cottage were lots of impala (smallish, elegant buck), and I think Eric saw a kudu. Mark saw a herd of buffalo but we missed them. Harriette, Eric and I did a short bush walk about 7am but didn’t see anything.
I guess I ought to start at the beginning. When we went to the UK in 2007 we said we would meet Trish (Eric’s sister) and Simon out here for Christmas 2008. They live in the UK but have built a house in Wilderness (on the Cape Coast), I think to retire to. We therefore planned for that trip but in 2008 they said they would not be out here that Christmas so we re-arranged for 2009. We managed to wangle 6 weeks leave somehow. So, we left NZ on 17th December, so exhausted after a hectic (I mean more hectic than usual) 3 months and arrived in Johannesburg on Friday morning (6pm NZ time). We spent a 7 ½ hr stopover in Singapore airport, leaving at 2am local time. Two 11 hr flights. Lynne collected us from the airport and we battled through traffic jams like I cannot remember, to their house. Lynne and Vaughn are amongst our dearest friends. Lynne and I met in 1984 when we both did our ICU training in JHB. During this time Lynne and Vaughn dated and finally married some time after I left SA. They have 3 children; Michael (15), born the day after Alice, Stephanie (10) and Daniel (9). Vaughn has his own mine consultancy business and talks in billions of rands (the local currency – R1+NZ$5) in his dealings. Lynne assures me she is very busy, but does not work and has a full-time maid and gardener. You can imagine how I tease her . They live in a gorgeous house in crime ridden JHB. Their house, like all others, is behind a high fence topped with 5 electric wires entered through a huge remote controlled gate. Once inside you are not really aware of the security, it just feels like a nice secluded garden.
We managed to stay awake all Friday but did not see Vaughn. He left for work at 6am and returned at 3am Saturday morning for a few hours kip. I saw him when I went for a run at 6am as he headed back to the office. (Just as well really as I had no idea how to exit the property!) They were just finalising a mining feasibility study for some Indian clients and right on the deadline. I am not sure if that was the projects deadline or Vaughn’s as he was heading off on holiday. He said he’d be back about 12. Naively I thought he meant mid-day. He finally got home at 11pm Saturday night! I’ll never complain about Eric working in the evenings again! (It’s all gone very quiet here, the children have left the pool and I think everyone that can is tucked up in the shade reading or snoozing. Eric’s asleep in our bedroom).
Saturday, still in Johannesburg, we went to Fourways to collect our car. We had booked a small people mover, a Toyota Avanza but they upgraded us to a VW Kombie. Now Alice dreams of owning a kombie and nearly burst into tears of joy when we met back up with the girls and told her she would be cruising round Africa for 6 weeks in one! Later that day we went to Monte Casino HYPERLINK HERE , a very impressive Tuscan style mall, I guess you would call it, but rather than shops it is mainly entertainment and food orientated. We had a late lunch/early supper there at John Dory’s and bought tickets for Cinderella on Ice, which Lynne has seen and said was unbelievable. We go on 2nd December and will take Steffie, who missed out on it first time round. We then headed home for another early night.
Sunday we, and Steffie, went to a Sandton mall shopping for last minute Christmas presents. You cannot believe the shopping here. I have never seen so much wealth, and contrasted to such poverty when you move out of town. Everywhere there are car dealers for Lotus, Aston Martin, Bentley, Lexus. It never stops. And the shops!!!! I have never seen so many. It is quite a culture shop after NZ. Cheryl (as in Mark and Cheryl) is in NZ at the moment visiting Mark who lives there (Yes an odd set up but the plan is that Cheryl will eventually move out there), asked me a few weeks ago if I missed proper shopping living in NZ. I said no, not really understanding the question as I had everything I needed in NZ, but when I was in Sandton I thought of the question again, and understood! I think I prefer lack of choice (most of the time. How on earth do you find the time to shop here. You could go on forever!!
On Sunday afternoon we went to Alberton to see Anna and Ginty (Ouma and Oupa to Harriette and Alice). This elderly Afrikaans couple ‘adopted’ me when I lived out here after I supported them in caring for their son, my friend, Alex. Alex had motor neurone disease from the age of 21. He was their only son and an incredibly gifted guy. He died after about 6 years living paralysed and on a ventilator at home. It was terribly tragic. I admired and loved Alex and cannot imagine what Anna and Ginty went through. Anyway, they are both very dear to us and it was an emotional visit. We will try and get over there a few more times while we are here.
Monday was shopping and packing for this trip. We spent a small fortune in Fourways Woolworths (R4,500 = nearly NZ$1,000), Lynne also left with 2 trolley loads of shopping. When it came to packing up it was such a good thing we had the Kombie. I am not sure how we would have done it otherwise! We finally headed out of JHB about 3pm (which was the time we had planned to arrive!). We had to drive through a township and had strict instructions from Lynne on about approaching the 2 sets of traffic lights slowly if they are red so you are not actually stationery for too long. Lynne drives like a madman (the girls said they would never complain about my driving again) but assured us that we were not in a hurry and it would be a leisurely drive. We averaged 130km/hour all the way there!!!!
PHOTO’s
To describe where we are, and by the time I post this the photos will accompany, the accommodation area is a mowed area of grassland surrounded by hills of African bush, i.e. scrub and thorn trees. The cottages are spaced out and look out to mowed grass with a pool dotted with huge red rocks around it and a native looking fence and shade area. Then it is longer grass, through which a small herd of around 50 springbok strolled 30 minutes ago, and then the hills. The farm has farm tracks along which you can drive (we plan to do that later this afternoon) and walking and cycling tracks.
This morning Eric woke about 5 and I was up about 5.30am. Outside the cottage were lots of impala (smallish, elegant buck), and I think Eric saw a kudu. Mark saw a herd of buffalo but we missed them. Harriette, Eric and I did a short bush walk about 7am but didn’t see anything.
I guess I ought to start at the beginning. When we went to the UK in 2007 we said we would meet Trish (Eric’s sister) and Simon out here for Christmas 2008. They live in the UK but have built a house in Wilderness (on the Cape Coast), I think to retire to. We therefore planned for that trip but in 2008 they said they would not be out here that Christmas so we re-arranged for 2009. We managed to wangle 6 weeks leave somehow. So, we left NZ on 17th December, so exhausted after a hectic (I mean more hectic than usual) 3 months and arrived in Johannesburg on Friday morning (6pm NZ time). We spent a 7 ½ hr stopover in Singapore airport, leaving at 2am local time. Two 11 hr flights. Lynne collected us from the airport and we battled through traffic jams like I cannot remember, to their house. Lynne and Vaughn are amongst our dearest friends. Lynne and I met in 1984 when we both did our ICU training in JHB. During this time Lynne and Vaughn dated and finally married some time after I left SA. They have 3 children; Michael (15), born the day after Alice, Stephanie (10) and Daniel (9). Vaughn has his own mine consultancy business and talks in billions of rands (the local currency – R1+NZ$5) in his dealings. Lynne assures me she is very busy, but does not work and has a full-time maid and gardener. You can imagine how I tease her . They live in a gorgeous house in crime ridden JHB. Their house, like all others, is behind a high fence topped with 5 electric wires entered through a huge remote controlled gate. Once inside you are not really aware of the security, it just feels like a nice secluded garden.
We managed to stay awake all Friday but did not see Vaughn. He left for work at 6am and returned at 3am Saturday morning for a few hours kip. I saw him when I went for a run at 6am as he headed back to the office. (Just as well really as I had no idea how to exit the property!) They were just finalising a mining feasibility study for some Indian clients and right on the deadline. I am not sure if that was the projects deadline or Vaughn’s as he was heading off on holiday. He said he’d be back about 12. Naively I thought he meant mid-day. He finally got home at 11pm Saturday night! I’ll never complain about Eric working in the evenings again! (It’s all gone very quiet here, the children have left the pool and I think everyone that can is tucked up in the shade reading or snoozing. Eric’s asleep in our bedroom).
Saturday, still in Johannesburg, we went to Fourways to collect our car. We had booked a small people mover, a Toyota Avanza but they upgraded us to a VW Kombie. Now Alice dreams of owning a kombie and nearly burst into tears of joy when we met back up with the girls and told her she would be cruising round Africa for 6 weeks in one! Later that day we went to Monte Casino HYPERLINK HERE , a very impressive Tuscan style mall, I guess you would call it, but rather than shops it is mainly entertainment and food orientated. We had a late lunch/early supper there at John Dory’s and bought tickets for Cinderella on Ice, which Lynne has seen and said was unbelievable. We go on 2nd December and will take Steffie, who missed out on it first time round. We then headed home for another early night.
Sunday we, and Steffie, went to a Sandton mall shopping for last minute Christmas presents. You cannot believe the shopping here. I have never seen so much wealth, and contrasted to such poverty when you move out of town. Everywhere there are car dealers for Lotus, Aston Martin, Bentley, Lexus. It never stops. And the shops!!!! I have never seen so many. It is quite a culture shop after NZ. Cheryl (as in Mark and Cheryl) is in NZ at the moment visiting Mark who lives there (Yes an odd set up but the plan is that Cheryl will eventually move out there), asked me a few weeks ago if I missed proper shopping living in NZ. I said no, not really understanding the question as I had everything I needed in NZ, but when I was in Sandton I thought of the question again, and understood! I think I prefer lack of choice (most of the time. How on earth do you find the time to shop here. You could go on forever!!
On Sunday afternoon we went to Alberton to see Anna and Ginty (Ouma and Oupa to Harriette and Alice). This elderly Afrikaans couple ‘adopted’ me when I lived out here after I supported them in caring for their son, my friend, Alex. Alex had motor neurone disease from the age of 21. He was their only son and an incredibly gifted guy. He died after about 6 years living paralysed and on a ventilator at home. It was terribly tragic. I admired and loved Alex and cannot imagine what Anna and Ginty went through. Anyway, they are both very dear to us and it was an emotional visit. We will try and get over there a few more times while we are here.
Monday was shopping and packing for this trip. We spent a small fortune in Fourways Woolworths (R4,500 = nearly NZ$1,000), Lynne also left with 2 trolley loads of shopping. When it came to packing up it was such a good thing we had the Kombie. I am not sure how we would have done it otherwise! We finally headed out of JHB about 3pm (which was the time we had planned to arrive!). We had to drive through a township and had strict instructions from Lynne on about approaching the 2 sets of traffic lights slowly if they are red so you are not actually stationery for too long. Lynne drives like a madman (the girls said they would never complain about my driving again) but assured us that we were not in a hurry and it would be a leisurely drive. We averaged 130km/hour all the way there!!!!
PHOTO’s
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Breaking Point?
That's where I was yesterday. I am very stressed at present. I am doing a presentation to the National Immunisation Conference next week and have got sooo much work to do to get it ready. I am also involved in a second DHB (sorry District health Board) presentation, again, work needed on that. At work I am involved in reviewing the NZ Immunisation Handbook, which is due for re-publication, have a 6 monthly report due in etc, etc.... I am also waaaaay behind on my GDITE and the final assignment is due in the day after conference. Add to that I have 2 major meetings for the Waikato Youth Music Association (which I chair) in the next fortnight, the Xmas events are beginning, oh, and I'm meant to be training for Taupo in 2 weeks time and, well you can see where my stress levels are. Today is one precious day in about 6 weeks when I have nothing specific planned and tonight is only one of 3 nights in over nearly 3 weeks. Yesterday I drove to Diane's in Matamata, and we went in her car to Te Aroha where we were participating in a cycling event. My plan was to do the 42km route with the girls, then cycle back to Diane's (another 40km) in the afternoon, and drive home form there. I won't go out with those doing the 80km ride because they cycle fast and I am a plod er. With hindsight I should have cycled with Lindsey on the 80km route. He came in way after the others and did not enjoy it as he did most of the ride on his own. I also would have got home by 2.30pm instead of 4.30pm. The ride back on my own was OK (I am listing to the Twilight series on my iPod) except for the wind. I groaned out loud occasionally during the last 10km's as it was sooo hard. I barely got above 16km/hr as opposed to the 23-32km/hr I usually do. Got home to find the house in the same tip it was when I left (I was teaching Wed and got home at 11pm, out at band on Thursday and Friday and left home 7.30am Sat), Eric had been butchering a side of beef all day and was tired and crotchety. Alice seemed to have spent all day clearing her bedroom floor (which still was not clear) and writing essays with no thought of helping Eric or even putting the shopping away I had done on Friday night. When I made a tea and sat down (well fell into the chair) I felt like Eric resented me taking a break (he's adamant that he didn't) but I fell asleep in the chair anyway. We were going out to a surprise 50th birthday party in Hamilton for Kathy. A band mom and mother of Alice's nearly boyfriend - Kent. It was a pot luck and Eric was making a bobotie but it was not going to be ready until the last moment to get us there for 6.30pm. Alice then said it was a 6pm start - opps. I jumped in the shower and went to change the head on my lady razor but after about 15 attempts couldn't because I could not see what I was doing. My eye sight is shocking. I screamed so loudly in frustration that Alice and Eric came running and my throat hurt! I threw the razor at Alice for her to sort out which she did and then she shoo-ed Eric out, muttering, probably something along the lines of "Mommy's gone mad leave her alone".
We finally got to the party and ended up having a really good time. Well I had a good bottle of wine and certainly felt a lot better. Richard and Robyn were also there as were Liz and Steve (other band parents who we really enjoy). Sarah (flute), Alice (clarinet) and Kent (alto sax)played some music along with Kent's brother Ash (drums), Steve (tuba), Patrick (Steve's son- trumpet) and some other trumpet players. All totally un-rehearsed and great fun. I so admired that they could all play music so well that they could come together and just play and have such good fun - and give others such pleasure. Kathy was totally overwhelmed by the occasion and Ray had done a fantastic job pulling it off in total secrecy. I didn't have my camera but pinched Kent's. When I get some photos I'll post them.
Mark popped in last weekend. He had just arrived from the UK and was on his way home. It was great to see him. He had not seen Cheryl, Myles and Laura for 4 1/2 months which was hard on them all. Still, Cheryl arrives in a few weeks and we will catch them just before we head off to South Africa on 17th Dec. They will be gone when we get back though. Not sure what there plans are after that.
We have friends of Mom and Daddy staying with us at the moment, Maxine and Gary. They are on an LSD trip (look, see, decide) and bought a house in Cambridge this week. We haven't seen a lot of them as we haven't been around really. Maxine is a nurse so I have set her up with some meetings with people about work. Gary is an electrician.
Well I am going to get up and potter now.
We finally got to the party and ended up having a really good time. Well I had a good bottle of wine and certainly felt a lot better. Richard and Robyn were also there as were Liz and Steve (other band parents who we really enjoy). Sarah (flute), Alice (clarinet) and Kent (alto sax)played some music along with Kent's brother Ash (drums), Steve (tuba), Patrick (Steve's son- trumpet) and some other trumpet players. All totally un-rehearsed and great fun. I so admired that they could all play music so well that they could come together and just play and have such good fun - and give others such pleasure. Kathy was totally overwhelmed by the occasion and Ray had done a fantastic job pulling it off in total secrecy. I didn't have my camera but pinched Kent's. When I get some photos I'll post them.
Mark popped in last weekend. He had just arrived from the UK and was on his way home. It was great to see him. He had not seen Cheryl, Myles and Laura for 4 1/2 months which was hard on them all. Still, Cheryl arrives in a few weeks and we will catch them just before we head off to South Africa on 17th Dec. They will be gone when we get back though. Not sure what there plans are after that.
We have friends of Mom and Daddy staying with us at the moment, Maxine and Gary. They are on an LSD trip (look, see, decide) and bought a house in Cambridge this week. We haven't seen a lot of them as we haven't been around really. Maxine is a nurse so I have set her up with some meetings with people about work. Gary is an electrician.
Well I am going to get up and potter now.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
A Saturday Posting for a Change
Another Sunday morning. I should be working on my course but instead I'm here. I am doing a 'Graduate Diploma in IT in Education' (GDITE). The first module is online and I have not really got into it. I have gone weeks without looking at the site and am really busy at work so it keeps dropping down on my list of priorities. It is also very primary school teaching focused and so not relevant in that sense to me (I teach adults). Anyway, I will press on with it.
It's a long weekend here. Yesterday was gorgeous. I went on a bike ride up Taotaoroa Rd and back. It's 15km long and seriously, and I mean seriously, hilly and windy (going round bends windy not weather windy!). It is the first real ride I have done this year. The hills nearly killed me. I could have easily been sick at the top of one of them, but coming down was so exhilarating. I got up to 60km/hr on one :-) . I am meant to be doing an 80km section of the Round Lake Taupo challenge http://www.cyclechallenge.com/index.php?id=34 in late Nov and have to get some serious training in to get fit enough for that :-( I then spent the day pottering in the garden. I weed sprayed the drive (350m of it) and strimmed the paths in my veg plot and started tackling the huge amount of weeds in there. As we are away for 6 weeks from Christmas I am in a dilemma as to whether to plant lots of veggies that we won't get to eat or put large parts of the plot to rest and have nothing when we get back. I am advertising for a house-sitter for the 6 weeks we are away do hopefully we will have someone in who will keep on top of the weeding (assuming I can get on top of it first!!)
Today we are vacillating between another day at home (I will go out with the peddlers, Eric will kill a few sheep for the freezer) or a day ticky touring around the Coromandel. I think the former will win and we can go out tomorrow.
It's a long weekend here. Yesterday was gorgeous. I went on a bike ride up Taotaoroa Rd and back. It's 15km long and seriously, and I mean seriously, hilly and windy (going round bends windy not weather windy!). It is the first real ride I have done this year. The hills nearly killed me. I could have easily been sick at the top of one of them, but coming down was so exhilarating. I got up to 60km/hr on one :-) . I am meant to be doing an 80km section of the Round Lake Taupo challenge http://www.cyclechallenge.com/index.php?id=34 in late Nov and have to get some serious training in to get fit enough for that :-( I then spent the day pottering in the garden. I weed sprayed the drive (350m of it) and strimmed the paths in my veg plot and started tackling the huge amount of weeds in there. As we are away for 6 weeks from Christmas I am in a dilemma as to whether to plant lots of veggies that we won't get to eat or put large parts of the plot to rest and have nothing when we get back. I am advertising for a house-sitter for the 6 weeks we are away do hopefully we will have someone in who will keep on top of the weeding (assuming I can get on top of it first!!)
Today we are vacillating between another day at home (I will go out with the peddlers, Eric will kill a few sheep for the freezer) or a day ticky touring around the Coromandel. I think the former will win and we can go out tomorrow.
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