The Overberg and surrounds – Tourists in our own backyard

2015-10-19 | puppy1952

There is nothing like having visitors to prompt you into visiting places that are all too familiar but still exciting to explore.

Now that we are residing in the picturesque, fishing village of Struisbaai at the tip of Africa and a three hour drive from our former home, Cape Town, we welcome having friends to stay. Last week Tony and Sharon were our guests for a midweek break and what fun we had.

The weather was not perfect but at least the rain held off and it was not too cold. On Wednesday set off to visit Elim 36 km away. Of course we birded on the way there and back!

Blue Crane

Red-billed teal

Elim was established in 1824 by German missionaries as a Moravian mission station. The grew vines in the viticulture suitable terrain so as to produce their own wine for communion. The he missionaries taught the villagers a variety of trades and skills. Thatching was a skill they mastered and to this day Elim thatchers are recruited to from all over the world.

The village is picturesque and has changed little over the years. The thatched whitewashed cottages are typical fo their homes. All the roads in the village lead to the thatch roofed church. The community, still mainly Moravian, consists of farmers, artisans and farmers.

Elim is becoming known for the export of fynbos, and as an emerging area in the production of wine.

We visited the museum which has some fascinating exhibits.

Implements from a bygone age

The waterwheel

We loved this cart with a licence plate!

Typical kitchen from long ago

Sharon showing how lowly she can be

On Thursday, after a delicious “Early” breakfast we set off for the historic town of Swellendam wich was declared a magisterial district in 1743. It was the fourth oldest in South Africa, and was named after Governor Hendrik Swellengrebel who was the first South African born Governor, and his wife, Helena Ten Damme. This outlying settlement was the gateway to the interior, and was visited by many famous explorers and travellers including Francois Le Vaillant a noted ornithologist (1781).

A village was established beyond the Drostdy, where artisans including numerous wainwrights, blacksmiths, coopers and traders settled. Swellendam was the last outpost of Dutch civilisation on the eastern frontier and thus the services of the residents of the town were of utmost importance.

Our first stop after a scenic drive from Struisbaai was The Old Mill Restaurant. We wanted to sit in the garden but it had rained and the seats were wet so we settled for an indoor table and ordered coffee and milk tart. Inside the menu we found a touching trip report written by one of the staff. They had all been taken to The Kruger National Park and surrounds to do a training course. What an amazing experience they had flying for the first time, seeing fascinating wildlife and exploring a part of our land that they’d only dreamed of. And what a lot they learned about their trade too. The piece was written with such warmth and appreciation of every aspect of the experience. It’s worth going to this restaurant just to read it!

Earl and Sharon next to the lovely fireplace

Feeling refreshed we went to the Drosdy Museum and really enjoyed all the exhibits and re-informed ourselves of our South African history.

Sharon emerging from the Cooper’s cottage

Sharon thinks I should crochet a spread like this!

Tony and Sharon in the court room of the original drosdy

Tony and Sharon in the court room of the original landrost

Earl wants this for his hearse

He says I can have this one

A very old Singer Sewing Machine

At ‘The Whipping Post’ restaurant (It was the old gaol) we found this stunning patio furniture which I fancy having here in Struisbaai!

We spent a good few hours exploring Swellendam and I can recommend it as a destination especially if you have an interest in things historical. There is also a pottey you could visit and we popped into an art gallery too. The exhibits were interesting and if I could choose I would have take this.

The weather was cooling down quite rapidly by the time we left and made our way to The Bontebok National Park. There was not too much to see but we were thrilled that we saw its star performers plus a few other creatures.

Star of the show

And some of his friends

The flora is stunning

Southern Black Korhaan

Back in Struisbaai we popped into the harbour and took a photograph of the stingrays cruising beneath the surface.

Such a beautiful harbour

On Friday Sharon and I made the most of the most glorious morning and walked to Agulhas.

View on our walk

The men met just over an hour later and we did the compulsory standing on the southern tip thing, took a scenic drive to Suiderstrand and then had breakfast at Potpourri.

Our Southernmost Friends

Me with the Agulhas rocks in the background

It was a lovely end to to a brilliant visit with our friends.

A Whale of a Time in Struisbaai

2015-10-04 | puppy1952

There are two things my darling husband knows I don’t do. I don’t fly in light aircrafts and I don’t go out to sea in small boats! Yet this year found me flying not once but twice in a light aircraft and today, wait for it, I went out to sea in Kiora – his small fishing boat!’

And why was I persuaded to do this mad thing? Well as I’ve mentioned in this Blog before, I’ve decided to retire adventurously and to do things I wouldn’t in my saner days do. A little bit of madness in one’s old age goes a long way to make one move out of one’s comfort zone. Megan was keen to go so I decided – oh well why not!

So up we were before 7 this morning and out to sea we went! I was not a happy camper for the first half an hour it’s the speed and bumping over the waves that scares me silly, but then I got into the flow and decided I’d better just enjoy it.

To be honest it is beautiful out at that time of the morning which is actually late for most fishermen.

In the middle of the ocean

This trawler is from Cape Town and on her way to Gaansbaai

Earl spotted some whales

My super zoom camera did not let me down

I even caught a fish – red stump

We changed Kiora’s name to Love Boat

Megan’s Blue Hottentot

Earl was thrilled to get a beautiful cob

The pyjama shark had to be released

The red roman was released too

Phoning and Fishing – After all we girls can multi-task

We moved from reefs to wrecks looking for the best fishing grounds but there was not really much happening today. The scarcity of birds told us that we could try but our luck would be limited so at 11:00 we headed back to shore.

Nice to take photos from the other side

Our beautiful harbour

Happy Fishers

Everybody was pretty tired after all the fresh sea air so after cleaning fish we all had an afternoon nap. Tonight we are going to Tommy and Megan’s friend’s farm for a braai.

Struisbaai and Arniston – Birding with friends

2015-10-03 | puppy1952

We are having a very special weekend with friends from Cape Town. Tommy and Earl have been fishing friends since the 1990s and we have shared some great times together. What a pleasure to meet his new partner, Megan, for only the second time and so great to see how happy they are together. It’s never too late to find love and happiness.

Tommy and Megan arrived late Friday afternoon armed with supplies and insisting that they were going to provide supper! Megan immediately made herself at home in my inadequate kitchen and whipped up a delicious sweet potato and vegetable roast, salad and baked apples for dessert. The apples were cored and drizzled with honey and cinnamon and stuffed with slices of Bar One. The guys made a fire and Earl braaied the meat to perfection.

Megan at work on the Baked Apples

The men relaxing

The Braai Masters

After a delicious meal we chatted till late and then decided that bed would be good as the guys wanted to fish the next day.

I woke to the sound of voices in the lounge and went to investigate. Everyone was sitting in pyjamas. “What happened to the fishing?” I asked – Too windy came the reply. What? It looked like a perfect day to me but the signs of inclement weather, they assured me, were there.

So after an “Early” breakfast we set of on a birding excursion. A few weeks ago Tommy and Megan had done a birding day with some local farmers and they chalked up a list of 60 species. “We need to beat that by at least one,” Tommy insisted.

So starting with a few species in our garden we set off, girls at the back and boys in front. But why we did this I do not know because whenever we stopped Tommy hopped out to give his girlfriend a kiss! I offered to swap places but he declined.

The birding was fast and fun. We ticked off specie after specie and enjoyed every one we spotted. We put out positive vibes into the ether and saw almost everything on our wishlist. Earl was determined to find a kingfisher and as we were chatting about the malachite, pied and giant which were possibles, Tommy reminisced about the first time he’d seen a giant and Megan said she’d never seen one. Seconds later what should we see but a beautiful Giant Kingfisher. It flew and we thought we’d missed the photo but Tommy found him and with a bit of maneuvering of the car I managed to get a decent shot.

Giant Kingfisher – Lifer for Megan

Our destination was Arniston and we birded happily all the way until we decided to get a move so as not to miss the low tide, the cave being a must see.

Here are some of the birds we saw.

Our National Bird

Blue Crane on nest

Two Ibis species – Sacred and Glossy

A third Ibis species – Spoonbill

Avocet upon her nest

Stilts

Grey Heron with coot in background

Spur-winged geese

Yellow-billed kite

Cape Longclaw

Jackal Buzzard

Finally we arrived at Arniston and headed straight to the cave. It’s a slippery walk over the rocks but not at all arduous if the tide is low. We had to be a tad careful as we were doing it on the incoming tide.

The route to the cave

Inside looking out to sea

Tommy

Megan

Both of them

It’s dark inside so photgraphy is difficult

Exiting via the tunnel

That was fun

We had to take this pic of the lovers at a heart shaped rock formation

Then we went to the harbour to see what had been caught – nothing worth buying I’m afraid but it was an interesting visit.

Fishermen

After this little visit we went to have a drink at the hotel

The traditional fishing village is also worth a visit.

We birded some more on our return trip and chalked up 72 species in all. How proud we were of this! Back in Struisbaai we went to the fish shop to buy fish much to my disgust as I never eat bought fish – I will settle for nothing less than fresh caught by my husband. But Tommy insisted as he loves Earl’s “Gebakte Vis”

Well it turned out to be not so bad and we had a wonderful meal of beer battered fried red fish and vegetables followed by fruit and ice cream.

Tomorrow – we might just go fishing!

Retiring Adventurously – Heritage Weekend – Struisbaai and Breede River

2015-09-28 | puppy1952

Weekends and Long weekends mean nothing to one when one’s retired as every day is a holiday. It’s only when somebody rings to say they want to come to stay that one realises that something special is happening.

Our darling daughter, Laurie, sometimes known as Lolz, came to spend the Heritage Weekend with us here in Struisbaai. “But Mom, You need to meet my friend Cara’s parent – they’ll be at Breede River – would’t you l like to spend Saturday there and spend the night?

Well, why not? We haven’t got anything better to do and we’ve heard a lot about Cara’s parents over the years and the girls have often said, “you guys have so much in common – you really need to meet.” When one’s kids are little, you meet the parents of their friends but when they grow up, you tend not to. So we agreed that this would be a good idea.

Lolz arrived at 7:14 pm on Wednesday evening and we went to Pelican Harbour Cafe for dinner. Not the best supper we’ve ever had there but still a pleasant evening. Earl’s ribs were okay but our grilled calamari was a bit fishy in taste and we left half of it.

Daddy and Daughter

Enjoying the old photographs of Struisbaai

It looked good and usually it is!

The next day Lolz had to do some work – she’d taken Friday off so needed to do work to make up for it.

We did some garden work and found this tiny tortoise the size of a small urchin shell and smaller than the leaf it was next to.

Lolz needed to get some air after working hard most of the day and so we went for a walk on our beautiful beach.

The harbour

Lolz

View from the boardwalk

On Friday she needed to work some more and I did quite a bit of ‘hooking’. She saw my crochet work and ordered a set of placemats!

We decided to make Banting pizzas for supper! The local fish shop stocks Banting products and we bought psyllium husks from them. I prepared the cauliflower mash and Lolz mixed this with the psyllium husks to make the pizza bases. We baked them in the convection oven and then added the toppings. I had no faith that this would work but to be honest the pizzas were divine – even better than normal pizza – But if you decide to do it, don’t expect it to be anything like normal pizza. The base is nothing like a normal pizza base. I never liked Pizza bases – I always felt sick after eating Pizza as much as I like eating them at the time. But the cauliflower/psyllium husk base was just delicious and no after effects! We put our favourite topping on top – cheese, feta, olives, creamed spinach, olives and avo after.

A canary loving our garden

Lolz making Pizza

Me eating Banting Pizza

On Saturday we were packed with towels and bedding and ready to leave by 9:00 am. We stopped to pick up a dozen pre-ordered croissants from O K Grocer and then shopped in Bredasdorp for our braai.

Our first stop was at my sister at Riverine, Breede River. Her son, Robert was there with his wife Katja and baby Matthew. There is another little great nephew on the way!

Matty waiting for Granny’s scones

Tucking into scones

The croissants weren’t bad either

But Matty prefers his Grandma’s scones

Mom, I need a jammer lappie!

Boy having fun

Robs still love his mommy

Lolz, Tana, Earl

Brian, Robs

After a couple of lovely hours catching up with family we made our way to Lemoentuin to meet Laurie’s friends. L Cara and Laurie have been friends since they spent a year working in London. The girls have always wanted their parents to meet and this weekend it finally happened. What a stunning time we had! In spite of it being a cold and wet weekend we had the most amazing time. As the girls predicted we immediately clicked with Doug and Bridget as we have so much in common.

We had an early braai so that we could go to The Boathouse Pub to watch the Rugby.

The gang - Earl, Doug, Lolz, Justin and Cara

The gang – Earl, Doug, Lolz, Sean and Cara

Watching the Boks beat Somoa – Cara, Heather, Earl, Sean

The Boathouse, Breede River

I’m not really big on watching sport but it is after all The World Cup – so I got quite excited to see the Boks doing so well. Last week we ate Sushi – with disastrous results – On this day we had a traditional braai with boerewors and obviously this bode well and we crushed the Samoans! Go Bokke!

After the match we took Doug and Bridget home, enjoyed a cup of coffee and chat and then retired to bed.

Next morning the kids cooked breakfast on the skottel and we finally made our way back to Struisbaai. The dirt roads were muddy and slippery but luckily we can go anywhere in a Land Rover. But oh wow just look at the designer mud!

Earl getting rid of the mud

Kokstad visits Struisbaai

2015-09-07 | puppy1952

I have often blogged about our Kokstad Clan as we frequently venture to KZN to visit them and to indulge in some of our favourite activities. There are one or two good game parks there, the fly fishing is excellent and there is some wonderful birdlife – not to mention the very warm and friendly people to whom we are related!

Barbara and Andrew have been part of my life ever since I met Earl when they gathered me into the bosom of the family without hesitation. There are many happy memories of holidays spent on their farm Brooklyn where they still live. Their first three children fitted in with the ages of our first two and their younger two with our youngest and all eight got on very well together.

Their visits to Cape Town are rare so when they announced they were coming down to visit Barbara’s brother and do the Flowers, we were thrilled. They spent a few days with us here in Struisbaai and we had a wonderful time.

It was a lovely day on Thursday so after an “Earlie” breakfast we took a drive to Brandvlei. The birding en route was productive and we marvelled at all the water that was lying around after the recent rains.

Three banded plover

There were hundreds of spur-wing geese

Flying over the temporary water

My favourite photogenic duck – Yellow-billed duck

Black-winged stilt looking his best

Such long legs

Red-billed teal joined in the fun

Red-knobbed coots

We liked this picturesque cottage

With farm geese in front

Barbara’s more into flowers than birds

The wind was quite chilly at Brandvlei but we took a walk down the beautiful beach

White-fronted flowers were racing up and down the shoreline

White-fronted plovers were racing up and down the shoreline

The gulls always pose beautifully

Barbara and Andrew

Something on the rocks got Earl’s attention

It was good to let the wind blow through our hair

We then made our way back the same way before heading to Arniston.

Earl was intrigued to see a pond boiling with carp – where had they come from?

Some locals took the opportunity to catch them with their hands!

Nice one!

Bokmakierie captured our attention

This heron probably got lucky

Special to see white-faced ducks

Fishermen in the rough sea at Arniston

Beautiful beach – but tide too high to explore the cave

We had lunch at the hotel and then made our way home.

This Denham’s bustard was one of the highlights

On Friday I showed Barbara our village and all it’s special little shops. We were having a really good time but the men missed us and at lunch time rang for us to return. We then took a drive to Agulhas and had coffee and cheesecake at Potpourri!

It was delicious

It was a short but very pleasant trip and we will be seeing them again in the Christmas holidays! That would make it the third time this year!

Struisbaai – finally settling into our retirement home

2015-09-06 | puppy1952

We were supposed to move semi-permanently to Struisbaai in March this year but Life happened and we found ourselves on several adventures before we could take the first step.

So this is a catch up of what has been happening since we returned from our Namibian Trip.

On 25 July we came up for our first stint to Struisbaai, dropped in at Toyota Bredasdorp where we traded in my beloved Volkswagen Caravelle and took ownership of a brand new Toyota Avanza.

I shall miss my bus which has transported family and friends, school-kids and grandkids on many amazing trips in the utmost comfort. But after 10 years and a Land Rover to take her place we decided to get a smaller run around for Struisbaai and surrounds and leave the Landy for towing boat and caravan.

We’ve learned to cook for two, to not worry about what the rest of the family were doing and to simply enjoy each other’s company. Because we both had kids when we met we’ve never lived alone together and we have not had the luxury of empty nest syndrome either! It has been blissfully peaceful.

So what do we do all day? Well – the house needs maintenance and Earl is busy with that. He is also drawing plans for our extension and once the building begins he will be busy supervising that.

For years I have been up before 6 every morning and thought I would never get out of the habit but now we sleep in until 8 most days and what luxury that is!

My day begins with a 45 minute workout – I have a mini gym in the lounge – amazing what you can do in a small space. Earl has set up my TRX I have kettle bells, a skipping rope and a pilates ball and I use the passage for shuttles. Then after my shower we have a leisurely breakfast. There is of course the housework, laundry and shopping to do and we can take as long as we like over that.

Many years ago I used to knit, sew and crochet and do crafty things and I am slowly taking it up again. So I listen to the radio of podcasts and knit! It doesn’t make for interesting blogging but it’s what I do for many hours!

Struisbaai is a lovely little place and there is the beach and lovely birding drives and walks too too. We are not bored.

The harbour

A gull on the beach

A dog made friends with Earl

The Pelican Harbour Cafe serves a good breakfast and sitting outside in the winter sun is sooo pleasant

Earl chatting to a local fisherman

We have been back to Cape Town a couple of times for a funeral and business appointments but we are now here till November.

Visiting the Kids in Kokstad – Getting There

2015-04-23 | puppy1952

Yes – another trip! We certainly are enjoying our adventurous retirement. We saw our rural kids in Struisbaai and Cape Town in December/January. Our last visit to them in Kokstad was a year ago so really another visit was due. We also had the excuse of our brother-in-law, Andrew’s 80th coming up in May so after less than two weeks at home after our Kgalagadi trip we departed Cape Town yet again.

Our new home is going to be Struisbaai but we haven’t had time to move there yet! Therefore we decided to stop there for two nights to see that everything was still in order at the house and to check what needed to be done there. Earl sorted out the garden, I checked the inventory and we decided that a new Convection Oven should be added to the kitchen equipment.

Of course we also checked out the birdlife in the area.

Cape bulbul

Common Waxbill

Common Fiscal

African Pipit

Female Southern Black Korhaan

A visit to the harbour is compulsory and on the Sunday the day was clear and beautiful and the stingrays were having the time of their lives

On Monday 13 April we made our way to Great Brak to visit Diane and Carey. What a piece of paradise they have found. Carey was just out of hospital after a back operation but he was up and about and keen to show us everything. On Tuesday Diane and I took a very steep walk to the river planning to get a ride back with Earl but the pet calf followed us so we had to walk her back! It was a steep climb but I certainly needed the exercise.

First bird we saw – swee waxbill

Diane’s fishpond is a source of delight to the cat

He fell in trying to get a catch then swam to the edge without suffering too much trauma

Very pretty walk

Even the calf enjoyed it

But, boy was it steep to get back

Although it was only a day and a night with Carey and Diane we had an amazing time and are so impressed with what they have done with their place. Carey custom builds campervans and has set up an amazing workshop on the plot. Diane has taken to the country life like she was born to it. Next time we will stay for longer.

Struisbaai with three Generations – Exploring the Agulhas Coast Rock Pools

2014-12-20 | puppy1952

Earl was up at an indecent hour and went off to fish on Abrie’s boat. Lauren, Shannon, the boys and I were out of the house by 7:30 as we were to meet Professor Gavin Marneveldt for a rock pool excursion. His talk yesterday had peaked our interest and we were looking forward to exploring the rock pools with more informed eyes. It was overcast and cool and there was a splash of rain as we drove to Stinkbaai, just next to the Agulahs Camp Site. It was a good day to have something different to do. While we waited we explored on our own, watched the competitors in the Cape Agulhas Classic ride past and observed a family of francolin.

The Cape Agulhas Classic riders were also up bright and early

Crabs having a feast on a fish head in one of the rock pools

Southern Most Fracolin on an early morning walk

Southern Most Cape Francolin on an early morning walk

There was an excellent turn-out to the rockpool excursion – just a pity more didn’t pitch up to Professor Marneveldt’s lecture yesterday – reason being, I think, because there were quite a few young children. This morning they all had an amazing time.

We started at the Littorina zone on the upper shore. This region is named after the small snails that inhabit this zone. Littorina spp. has the ability to survive the severe conditions of heat stress and water loss of the upper shore.

Because of the overcast conditions the periwinkles were out in their hundreds instead of hiding beneath the rocks

We worked our way to the other zones, upper balanoid, lower balanoid and cochlear and found all kinds of interesting creatures and plants in the pools. Ninety nine percent of life on earth is in the sea.

Brain seaweed

This limpet has a huge appetite and lives on micro organisms and algaes that live on the rocks

sea sponge in cochlear zone

The kids were thrilled to find an octopus

Marine Explorers of Stinkbaai

View toward Agulhas lighthouse

Chiton found in high tide zone

sea urchin found in cochlear zone

Brittlestar on Shannon’s hand

sea cucumber

After spending a few hours enjoying the rock pools we decided to pop into Potpourri for breakfast. Grandpa’s fishing excursion ended early without much fish being caught.

Checking the menu at Potpourri

Rock pooling is hungry work so a healthy breakfast went down well

When we got home the three boys went to the beach, Lauren, Lisa and I got stuck into cleaning house while Allan trimmed the tree – what a transformation!

After the chores we were all ready for the beach. The wind had blown away the clouds and the waves were superb for boogy board and body surfing.

The tourists have arrived and the beach is more crowded than a week ago!

Warming up for a swim

Bat and Ball with Simon and Jay

Si has a good eye for the ball

Catching a wave

Go Josh!

What a stunning day it turned out to be. Tomorrow is our last day and we are all feeling a little low – “why are we letting the house out?” is the lament from the young ones.

Well kids, Cape Town is cool too you know. And now that Granny and Grandpa are pensioners every cent counts. We have had a brilliant 10 days and there is always next year!

Watch this space for further reports on our family holiday! The new title will be “Kokstad Kids in Cape Town”

Struisbaai Gathering of Three Generations – A relatively quiet day

2014-12-19 | puppy1952

Lauren brought coffee in bright and early this morning. “We’re still on farm time,” she said. It will take a while to get into holiday mode. With everyone sharing sleeping quarters it is difficult to sleep in and soon the entire menagerie of grandchildren were gathered in our room.

What time is it?

I love you Grandpa!

Before the hijinks began we rallied the troops and headed for the beach. It was overcast but there was not a breath of wind and the sea was as calm as a millpond.

The harbour – I never tire of it

The beach in the early morning

Lauren and Shan braving going in for a swim

I was the first to plunge into the deliciously calm and clear water – there were no waves; just some gentle swells. It was chilly at first but we all stayed in for ages as it was just so pleasant. Grandpa who is more of a fisherman than a bather came in too but was ever watchful and overprotective, admonishing us for drifting away from the group. Of course this just set the young ones off on an ever increasing mission to scare him silly!

We headed home eventually and Lauren whipped up a wonderful champagne breakfast (scrambled eggs, bacon, kidneys and toast) for 11 just in time for niece/cousin Peta-Ann and her hubby’s arrival from Gansbaai.

She is a chip off her Cheffing father’s block

Cousin Reunion

After breakfast I checked FaceBook and felt a twinge of jealousy to see my friend, Julian’s post about birds he was seeing in Robertson! Earl was impressed with the bass caught too!

Earl and me drooling over Julian's Face Book photographs - birding and fishing in Pat Busch Nature Reserve Robertson - So jealous

Earl and me drooling over Julian’s photographs – birding and fishing in Pat Busch Nature Reserve Robertson – So jealous

Peta Ann has not been too Struisbaai in more than five years and barely recognised the house and the town! We took her on a little shopping excursion to show her how it had all changed since its earlier days of one co-0p grocery store, a shell shop and a fish shop!

Shopping in the metropolis of Struisbaai!

The girls and me testing out the quality of the coffee in The Nursery Coffee Shop - It passed with flying colours

The girls and me tested the quality of the coffee in The Nursery Coffee Shop – It passed with flying colours

Peta Ann and Eugene left at 2:30 and Earl, Lauren, the boys and I went to a talk – Close Encounters of the Marine Kind with at the Sanparks boardroom in Agulhas.

Prof Gavin Maneveldt (Department of Biodiversity & Conservation Biology,University of the Western Cape) was amazing. We were the only people there and seeing that we had our grandchildren he geared his talk to their level. He allowed the boys to ask questions and engaged with them beautifully. It was a fascinating presentation and will culminate with a guided outing to the rock pools tomorrow morning. What a pity that more people did not respond to this invitation. We didn’t expect it to be so immensely informative. More on this tomorrow after our field trip.

Struisbaai Gathering of Three Generations – Birding with the Locals

2014-12-18 | puppy1952

I love the early mornings but up at quarter to five stretches it a bit when you’re on holiday! No just kidding when it comes to birding it’s definitely the best time of the day. Earl and I met up with 10 other crazy people and had a wonderful birding excursion led by Dr Wim de Klerk. We discovered that this outing was happening on a notice of events for the month of December displayed in the mall.

Arthur and Wally kindly offered to accommodate us in the former’s vehicle and we explored the edges of bodies of water and the salt pans using the car as a hide and getting out when appropriate.

This Agulhas National Park hosts a variety of habitat types and great biodiversity as far as birds are concerned. The patches of renosterveld host large numbers of Black Harriers and we saw them flying and two perched in a tree. Agulhas Long-billed Lark is a special for this area and we managed to see him briefly too. We also saw a number of marsh harriers. One of our target birds was the African Snipe and were delighted to find that too.

The Spotted Eagle owl greeted us at our meeting place

Many Spurwinged geese flew overhead – they are plentiful in this area

Kittlitz plovers were wading on the edges of the water and also further away

Kittlitz’s plovers were wading on the edges of the water and also further away

Our Fellow Birders

We had to get quite deep into the veld

Some young black-shouldered kites were still being cared for by their parents

Some young black-shouldered kites on the nest. Their parents were about still finding food for them.

Some curlew sandpipers

Purple Swamphen

African Snipe

Pelicans on the salt pan – Kelp gulls in the foreground

There were hundreds of Lesser flamingos - quite unusual to see so many

There were hundreds of Lesser flamingos – quite unusual to have them in this area

The vulnerable Denham’s bustard made an appearance

Wally is a really fun guy and I just loved his hat with its Ostrich Plume

Earl and I were really welcomed by this group of people. We will definitely get in touch again when we start spending more time in Struisbaai. Thanks to all, especially Emerentia (organiser) Arthur (driver) and Wim (leader) for including us on this wonderful outing.

We called it a day at 11 and Earl and I went to the Aviator’s Restaurant for breakfast. An ex-pilot runs it and has an old plane that he intends mounting on the roof! He also has a flying school and takes people on scenic flights. Struisbaai certainly is a unique place with something for everybody.

Struisbaai Gathering of Three Generations – Swimming, Shopping and Fishing

2014-12-17 | puppy1952

A perfect fishing day dawned again. Earl, Allan and Lauren got up at a very rude hour and quietly slunk off to sea, the latter two having dosed on sea-sick medication the night before!

My rising time, though not as bad mannered as theirs, might have seemed a little extreme to some. The young ones groaned when I cheerfully encouraged them to join me on the beach for a walk and swim. “Meet me there,” I called and left them to dawdle over bowls of Otees and debate as to whether or not it was worth the effort.

Once again it was a blissful morning made better that the masses had not yet arrived. I left my camera behind and regretted it when I spotted a rock kestrel on top of a “Christmas Tree” and then an oystercatcher on the shore line. By the time I was on my return lap down the beach, Simon and Josh appeared to look after my towel and glasses while I went in for a dip. Heavenly – the sea was calm and clear with hardly a ripple. A mom and daughter started chatting to me and asked if I were local. It was their first visit and they were delighted that they’d decided to camp here this year.

Struisbaai is indeed an idyllic place for a holiday. It’s off the beaten track and still a fairly well-kept secret although it’s grown tremendously since my introduction to it in 1982.

It was about quarter past nine when the boys and I returned home with croissants from OK Grocer’s bakery for breakfast(This has got to stop before I gain a ton!) An hour later the fisherfolk pulled in. Lauren had the biggest and best fish!

Lauren’s Fish

The females of the family decided to bond before lunch and how better to do that than to go shopping! Yes in Struisbaai! A new clothing store, Beach Bliss, opened just a week ago and is superbly stocked for men, women and children.

Beach Bliss

Wanien is the owner and there is something for everybody

What do you think, Gran?

This one …..

Or this?

We got quite a few items for Shannon – Christmas presents – so she’ll have to wait to wear them! Lisa and Lauren also got one or two things and I bought a beach bag.

We were almost done when Earl phoned to find out where we were. Not to be outdone we got him some new stuff too – from another lovely shop in the mall.

Earl in his new shorts and shirt

All that shopping is thirsty work so we stopped at Cafe dul Sud for coffee/milkshakes.

Two Strawberry milkshakes, one chocolate a Cappuccino and black for me please!

The girls headed home while Earl and I went to chat to our friends Lynn and Glyn who have a gift shop, Due South, in the mall. We also popped into the nursery coffee shop to get a Christmas loaf for tea.

Friendly Girl in the nursery/coffee shop

Nursery

Coffee shop

South Bound – a wonderful place to browse

We’ve been looking for a suitable bird feeder and found one a quaint little craft shop which sells all kinds of locally made stuff.

We love it’s name and the notice outside – Not made in China – Buy from your own people.

What a surprise to arrive home to the smell of fresh fish frying in the pan. Lauren has taken on the mantle from her dad! It was delicious – the young ones had the nerve to say – Even better than yours, Grandpa! Well equally as good anyway!

What a super star – She caught it – She cooked it

The beach was our next port of call – after 3:30 to avoid the harmful UV rays. And wow – the water was divine – I usually don’t stay in for more than 10 minutes but I just didn’t want to get out this afternoon and the kids were even worse.

The sea was extra blue today

Kites were flying

It’s amazing, Gran!

Shannon got busy with my bird stickers when we got back and they are a-ma-zing. Thanks you Leah for a wonderful gift.

Difficult to photograph but this one came out quite well!

So ended another lousy day in Africa! Tomorrow Earl and I are making an early start to go bird watching with a local expert. Watch this space!

Struisbaai Gathering of Three Generations Day 6

2014-12-16 | puppy1952

Abrie suggested a cure for my hand – sleep with an “Asyn Lap” and when you wake up all the bruising and swelling will have disappeared. Well I thought it was worth a try so Earl bound me up in a crepe bandage and poured brown vinegar over it and finally my hand was taped into a plastic bag. But in the middle of the night I woke up with an excruciating itch under the bandage which I ripped off to scratch. My hand looked pickled and I washed off the vinegar and went straight back to sleep! Admittedly the swelling has reduced and there is no bruising but it is not completely better yet!

Here are some pictures that Joshua took last night.

Laurie

Simon learning the art of tablet photography from an expert

Simon learning the art of phone photography from an expert

The Gang

Fooling around

Cuzzies

Shan and Annie

Chilled

This morning early Grandpa and I gathered the grandkids and headed to the beach. There was much moaning about the ridiculously early hour but they forced themselves and were glad of it later! As far as I am concerned the best time to be on the beach is early in the morning before it gets too hot or too windy.

Looking out to perfection on from the boardwalk

Miles of soft sand

A jellyfish being devoured by sea snails

Into the cool, blue sea

Chilly at first

The kids stayed in for ages

Simon

Walking back

Fishing boat returning

We returned at quarter to ten for a lovely breakfast and then chilled till later when the kids returned to the beach. Jay and Shan are a bit too sunburned for my liking! Earl did some chores around the house, I chilled doing very little for most of the days and Allan cooked an awesome curry for dinner. Laurie and Annie left for Cape Town just after 6 but they will join us at home next Monday – the house will be bursting at the seams till the New Year! What a pleasure to have everyone together – family bonding at its best.