A Visit to Addo – Carol’s Rest is Elephantastic

2018-04-13 | puppy1952

Today we left Jubilee Farm and headed to Addo Elephant Park. Their camping was fully booked so we had to find accommodation outside The Park. Our intention was to stay at the south end near Colchester. However, we heard on the radio that there was rioting on the N2 and in the village. Rocks and burning objects were being thrown around so we thought it best to stay out of the troubled zone. News 24 Report

The other end of the park was not affected so we booked into The Homestead just 10 minutes away from the Addo Rest Camp entrance. By 2:30 we were set up and ready to go adventuring.

There were lots of black-headed heron around

After enjoying a variety of zebra, red hartebeest, kudu and millions of warthogs we stopped at Carol’s Rest where one male elephant was hogging the water hole while another two were fooling around and a fourth made a later appearance. A thirsty zebra was too nervous to drink while Jumbo was taking up most of the space

Please can I join you for a drink?

Clearly you’re not sharing with me!

The cheeky warthogs had no fear and joined right in

Still the zebra was not too sure

A jackal decided to make do with a muddy puddle further away

Thirst drove the zebra to take a few steps closer

Brave boy – you did it!

Aaah that’s better

The zebra got his drink then what the camera missed was hilarious. The elephant squirted him with his trunk! We nearly fell out of the car laughing and the zebra leaped out of the pond!

I think he’s telling his friend all about it

These two entertained us with their interaction

They twisted their trunks together

And seemed to really like each other

We spent ages just watching these wonderful creatures interact, push, pull, chase and scratch each others ears with their tusks – it was amazing.

But as we had to leave the park by six we made our way back to the gate and out again. On our way home we stopped at Lenmore to shop for fresh veggies at their deli. We also decided to go to their restaurant for supper. What a great decision as their lamb shank was to die for. It was served with delicious veggies too – green beans, cauliflower cheese, creamed spinach, glazed carrots and roasted baby potatoes.

A fabulous ending to a perfect day

Plettenberg Bay – More Exploring

2018-04-12 | puppy1952

The trouble with having gel nails is that when you’re away from your usual technician for any length of time you have to find someone else to fix them when they’re due for an upgrade! Google is a great help and this morning a quick search got me making an appointment at Divine Salon for 9:00 am. One hour later and I was very happy with the results.

Afterwards we decided to try one of the little coffee shops near Central Beach. The brekkie of scrambled eggs, fried tomatoes and avocado pear was lovely, the coffee was excellent and The Earl enjoyed his cappuccino.

We can highly recommend La Cafeteria

It has a great vibe, fun waitrons and today was a gorgeous day if you wanted to sit outdoors

Coffee is important – and ours was perfect

Afterwards we went exploring. There are two rivers that attract tourists to Plettenberg Bay – The Bitou and The Keurbooms. We drive past the former on the way to Jubilee farm so we decide to check out Keurbooms.

We found a lovely beach called Keurbooms Beach which has the famous Enrico Restaurant next to it. There is a boardwalk linking another beach on the right of the restaurant. I walked along the beach to the left and then we walked along the boardwalk to see the other secluded beach. Even though the weather was stunning today we only saw about five other people! I am sure it is very different in the summer season. There are some beautiful holiday homes overlooking the beaches.

Enrico’s Restaurant

The beach to the right

African Black Oyster-catchers on the beach

I was upset to see an oyster catcher’s foot caught in a tangle of fishing net and seaweed.

The Earl admiring the view

This is what he is looking at

The Beach on the other side of Enrico’s

After enjoying the beaches we headed to Keurboom’s River. If you’re into boating this is the place for you.

You can book a ferry trip or do a sun-downer cruise

Canoes can also be hired

There was a fair bit of activity on the river. There are houseboats, ferries, motorboats etc. It looked like a lot of fun.

On our way back to Jubilee we stopped to take photos of birds on the Bitou River.

Grey Heron

We watched a male pied kingfisher catch this fish and give it to his mate. She is about to swallow it.

A Jackal Buzzard refused to pose on the telephone wire but I got him in flight

Then he settled into a nearby tree.

It was indeed an interesting morning. Next time we come to Plettenberg Bay we will be a bit more informed about the best places to visit.

Fun Photo Challenge – Caring and Kindness

2018-04-11 | puppy1952

This week’s Fun Photo Challenge from Cee calls for photographs depicting caring and kindness.

Big Dog caring for puppy

Small child caring for puppy

Being kind to pet

Even warthogs care for their mates

Sharing is caring – Leopard shares his kill with hyaena

Mother love – caring for baby

Father Jacana cares for the young

The mighty lioness is a caring mother

Plettenberg Bay – The Kids’ New Home – Exploring

2018-04-09 | puppy1952

How amazing it has been to see our kids happily adapting to their new lives here in Plettenberg Bay. Lauren has been to meet a few colleagues at her new school, set up her classroom and has Simon’s uniform sorted. Tomorrow they start their first day – Lauren to teach a class of 22 Grade 2s (what a pleasure) and Simon to finish his final primary school year.

The Earl has been busy doing handyman stuff around the house and I have enjoyed the wonderful new kitchen so much that I’ve done a lot of the cooking!

Grandpa busy with his screw-driver

Me in kitchen heaven

On Friday Earl and I took Lauren and Simon to George. The excursion was to find school shoes for Simon and the only ones that would do were the Woolworths brand. Plettenberg Woollies could not oblige and nor could Knysna so it ended up being a two hour but scenic drive the the larger town. It was shopping paradise and we managed to complete it all in time to meet our relatives, Diane and Carey, for lunch. They drove the hour from Great Brak to meet us. It was a really good bonding time for us all.

Diane, Simon, Lauren, Carey

The weather has been pretty awesome. At this time of the year it can be iffy. Jubilee Farm is in the mountains so gets a bit of mist but it doesn’t last all day and we’ve had some really sunny clear days.

On Sunday it was glorious so Allan and I took a long up hill and down dale hike while the others followed in the Everest. I found it somewhat exhausting but totally awesome.

One of the dams we discovered

The Everest negotiating the steep track

Shan, The Earl and Allan admiring the dam

A view towards the farm house

Yet another dam

Hosting a lone yellow-billed duck

Allan and Shan walking across the lands which will be good for the cattle

Breath-taking view

Today was another glorious day but rain will follow as a berg wind was blowing.

Lauren had to go to school for a few hours, Allan took Simon to get the remainder of his uniform and we met up at The Lookout Deck for breakfast.

Lookout Deck – Plettenberg Bay

The View over Lookout Beach

Steps to Gina’s secluded little beach

Shan and I had Baby Benedicts – (spinach and mushroom)

Simon fancied the savoury/sweet French toast with bacon and maple syrup

After breakfast the family went off shopping while we explored a bit of Plettenberg Bay. We used often to visit the Beacon Island Hotel in the old days so it was a bit of a trip down memory lane.

Sand Art on Central Beach

Sunbathing is fun when you’re made of sand

African Wildlife on the Beach

The Beacon Island Hotel in the background of Central Beach

Central Beach

We had a very brief thunderstorm – not unexpected after all the heat. After the thunderstorm we sat out on the deck and enjoyed the view while Allan had a business meeting in the dining room.

It’s so great seeing our kids settling in and enjoying their new home – and we just love it too. They’d better watch out – we will be visiting frequently in the future!

Steam of Consciousness Saturday – Passive/Aggressive

2018-04-07 | puppy1952

The prompt for this week’s Stream of Consciousness is Passive/Aggressive

Passive/aggressives are not easy to deal with. I prefer rude and obnoxious to passive aggressive because I don’t feel guilty when I deal with the former. I can give them back as much as they give me. But those gentle, sweet passive/aggressives know just which buttons of mine to push.

One tactic I hate is when I offer the individual a treat – Would you like to go for a milkshake with me – knowing she would really love it – and the reply comes – Only if you really want to go. Like she’s doing me the favour!!!

You see that’s the problem – they look at you with wide eyed innocence and say things like “Oh – it’s okay – I don’t mind if you go to the movies without me – I’ll just stay here at home with the baby sitter and be oh so sad.” Of course you go off as if you didn’t care but all the while you worry about the sad little boy you left at home! Meanwhile, he’s as happy as can be manipulating the baby sitter to do his will.

They’re clever these passive aggressive because they know how to work on your guilt. You find yourself feeling that you’re the one in the wrong and you keep trying to keep the hard done by passive aggressive happy. It’s hard not to be drawn into their mind games. Calling their bluff or ignoring them just doesn’t seem to help! You’re always the one that ends up feeling guilty! Aaaah – it drives me insane. I’ve tried being passive/aggressive back but I can’t seem to get it right. It always seems to backfire on me. So what to do? There is no winning so I choose my battles with the p/a’s in my life. I ignore and fume inside and move on to something else if I can. OR – I just give in because I love those darn passive/aggressive people in my life.

Passive Aggressive

Cee’s Black and White Challenge – Cars, Trucks, Bikes

2018-04-06 | puppy1952

This week Cee asks us to posts black and white photos of Cars, Trucks and/or motorcycles

“This week the topic is Cars, Trucks, Motorcycles. This is a topic you can really have enjoy. Your cars, trucks or motorcycles can be anything from brand new to vintage.”

Motorcycle

Vintage Cars

Royal Mail Van

Fun Photo Challenge – Happy

2018-04-06 | puppy1952

Here is my contribution to this week’s Fun Photo Challenge

This week’s prompt is – HAPPY.

A group of young people allowed me to photograph them having fun on Struisbaai Beach

Share Your World – 2 April 2018

2018-04-05 | puppy1952

Here is my contribution to this week’s Share Your World from Cee

What was or is your favorite cartoon?

There was no television in South African when I was a child so we did not grow up watching cartoons. However, we did read comics! Harvey Comics were very popular in my day. My favourites were Wendy the Good Little Witch, Caper The Friendly, Little Dot and Little Lulu. Oh and of course Richie Rich the Poor Little Rich Boy.

Richie Rich

My uncle owned a cafe and we were allowed to sit at the tables and read the comics – so long as we didn’t damage them in any way!

Which cooking utensil (other than the usual pots and pans etc) would you miss the most?

The right knife is essential and if I forget to pack at least one of them for a self-catering holiday I would go in search of one to buy.

Would you dare to sleep in haunted house overnight?

Probably. I am not afraid of ghosts. I would find it interesting if I were told that my sleeping quarters were haunted and would want to research the story.

Casper_the_friendly_ghost_4604f42d4e883

What did you appreciate or what made you smile this past week? Feel free to use a quote, a photo, a story, or even a combination.

I smiled a lot over The Easter Weekend but on Sunday I really appreciated that my grown-up grandsons still wanted to have an Egg Hunt. They threw themselves into it and competed to be the first to find their loot. The most obvious eggs eluded them until I told them they were cold or hot! It was great fun.

Just waiting to be discovered

Time for The Hunt already?

Some lovely loot

They’re here Jay!

Thanks Easter Bunny

Plettenberg Bay – Our Kids’ New Home

2018-04-05 | puppy1952

A new chapter began in the lives of our middle daughter and son-in-law when they moved from their small holding in Kokstad to a farm in Plettenberg Bay just before the Easter Weekend. Leaving was a huge wrench as they’d had a very happy 20 years there. But things change and there comes a time when opportunity demands you move on. Allan has a new business venture, Lauren starts a new teaching job at Plett Primary, Simon will complete his Grade seven there and Shan starts at Glenwood House in George next term.

For us it means that visiting each other becomes a whole lot easier. A two day road trip has now been reduced to five hours!

So with caravan in tow (we plan to go to Addo afterwards) we departed from Struisbaai at 8:30, popped in to an appointment in Bredasdorp at 9, had breakfast and hit the road at 10:15. We made two half-hour stops en route and arrived at Jubilee Farm at 3:30! The added bonus is that we take in the beautiful Garden Route to get there. It was such a stress free trip.

Of course we kept in touch as we travelled and Simon was at the farm gate to greet us when we arrived. He ran ahead toward the house where the rest of the family were waiting. And wow – what a difference. Their home in Kokstad was lovely but very much smaller with its three bedrooms, one bathroom, small lounge/dining room and a very tiny kitchen. There was an outside office/flat and laundry and the garden was stunning but now they have five enormous bedrooms, three bathrooms – two of them en suite, a huge kitchen, walk-in pantry, scullery and laundry. The living area is open plan and has panoramic view across the valley and the huge double garage has a door leading into the house.

Lounge, Dining Room and kitchen have flow to each other but are still separate

View

Right in front of the house is a small dam where Simon fishes regularly. There are also several other big dams on the farm one of which is just a short walk away. All of them are stocked with bass and blue gill.

Simon is in his element

Right in front of the house

Lauren and I took a walk so see what the guys were catching

At the big dam

Grandfather in Heaven

Simon’s Bass from the bigger dam

Doggie heaven

Lauren doesn’t know herself in her new kitchen. And I had a wonderful time making the salads and dessert for their 20th anniversary dinner. Earlier in the day we’d all gone into town to shop. Lauren got prawns from Robberg Fine Foods, cooked them in garlic butter and served them on a bed of Basmati rice. Delicious.

Lauren cooking prawns in her enormous new kitchen

IMG_4773-002

The anniversary dinner

Twenty Years of wedded bliss

Struisbaai Easter Weekend

2018-04-02 | puppy1952

Struisbaai at Easter time becomes a hub of activity. Our normally quiet little fishing village is suddenly alive with tourists and events. On a normal weekend it’s busy enough for the peace-loving locals but at Easter the town explodes and there’s traffic on the normally car-empty roads. The beach, which goes on for miles, is often empty of people on a normal day, but at on this weekend it’s the first place the visitors head to.

On Easter Saturday this is exactly what happened as it dawned bright and sunshiny after two days of cloud and rain.

The Earl, our grandson, Jay and friend, Ray were off to sea by 6:00 am. They should have gone yesterday so we could have fish for Good Friday but the rain prevented that so we had to have our Good Friday on Saturday.

Jay loves sharks! He cuddled this dogfish and gave it a kiss before releasing it back into the sea.

The rest of the household rose from their slumbers a lot later and we headed to The Shed for the Food Market. There were lots of goodies to eat but all we bought were some fresh veggies from the farmer’s stall. We decided it best to go for a proper brekkie at Shipwreck Coffee Shop instead.

My gorgeous girls at The Shed’s Food Market

Me buying fresh produce for the weekend

Traffic on the main road was bumper to bumper. The NSRI (National Sea Rescue Institute) were encouraging folk to part with R 10,00 to boost their coffers. In return you got a marshmallow egg and a chance to photograph them and their vehicles.

I gave them R10,00 – after all my men were out at sea!

Rescue Boat

On Standby

Josh and I walked to the area where the Land Rover Rally was happening. We spent some time admiring the landies both ancient and new. There were time trials too which were fun to watch.

Land Rover Rally

Registration Office

A very old land rover

Land Rover Passion starting young

This one is 71 years old – I was told.

Track Trial

After taking some interesting photographs we went for a long walk on the beach – well, I walked and took photographs and Josh ran on for about 3km. I thought I’d missed his return but soon after I turned around he caught up with me.

Somebody scrawled the date in the sand

And declared her love for Daddy and family

Abandoned Sandcastles

Busy Beach

Fishermen’s Paradise

Watch out for the jellyfish!

Most Beautiful Beach in the Country

Josh running in bottom right corner

Josh returning

We continued our walk along the boardwalk and as we approached the harbour, Lisa and Laurie waved to show they were there with the former’s friends, Margaret and Frans. Their kids were having fun on the beach. Spencer invited Josh to go out with him on the paddle skis. He dashed home to change into his costume while the adults went to Pelicans for a drink.

My girls and Margaret sharing a bottle of Pink

Josh on paddle ski

Josh and Spencer

While we were there we heard the whirring of a helicopter and observed it doing a practice rescue. That was fun too.

It was after three when we finally got back home and I started preparing for the fish supper. I baked a lemon meringue for the first time in my life – and this was a Banting version that I got from a recipe book written by a local of the Overberg, Madelè Burger. Her book is called “Hier’s Die Toortsie Weer” You can see her blog Here Her posts are mainly in Afrikaans but there are some in English too. I am pleased to report that it turned out pretty well. Not a crumb was left after our dinner. I also used her recipes to make a creamy eggplant dish and a butternut salad.

Busy in the kitchen

And it’s done!

Creamy Eggplant Dish

The fishermen returned at 5 pm, sunburned, tired but happy after catching enough fish to feed eight of us for dinner. There is nothing to beat eating fish fresh from the sea.