Today was another " long !!!!" travel day, as we did the 60 KM from George to Oudtshoorn, which is a city of 75,000 althought it appears much smaller. It is obvious a tourist area because the amount of signs advertising B and B; self-catering Chalets ( which mean you make them both ) ; Guest House and Caravan parks. Our park has 30 camp sites and 51 chalets. Incidently they charge by the number of people staying in the room ,not for the room. The owner told me his chalets were full for the weekend and he had 231 customers staying there.
The drive from George was thru the mountains ( definitely not the Rockies ) which are covered with vegetation and or trees. The scenery was great but the drive a little scary at times. First the road is two lanes with no shoulder and I mean NO shoulder. That gives you about 1 foot of space on each side of the MH to make an error. That in itself, was not bad but as i looked in the mirror I seen the entire gang of "Hell's Angel's " coming up behind me and apparently they do not have to abide by the speed limit. Bear in mind this hwy is either going up or down hill and has a zillion curves. These guys were using the centre line as their passing lane so I was giving as much room as i could or maybe I should say as much room as Carroll would allow me to give. If I hear her say " don't get over " when we return to North american I think I'll throw her our of the vehicle. Finally the 30 or so " Murder Cycles " as I call them passed me so I felt more comfortable. Until I rounded a curve and seen that they had pulled off in " layby " to regroup or chat. I immediately realized that these Bikers would be passing me again and sure enough they passed a few miles down the road. Luckily , that was the last we seen of them and the rest of the drive was peaceful. There are many farms in the area that raise cattle, sheep, goats and Ostrich. this use to be tobbaco farming area many years ago as the old delapated drying barns are still standing, most just barely. Apparently the Ostrich was more lucative, especially the leather.
After we got set up at our camp site , we hit the pool as it was very hot, in fact too hot. Then we spoke to the owner who gave us a map of the area and pointed out the " Must See " areas.
By this time it was after lunch so we decided to settle for the Ostrich farm which was only 7 KM away. The farm conducts a tour every hour or so we joined the next tour , which consisted of a couple from Switzerland, Germany. Indian and the Philipines. First we rec an excellent briefing on the Ostrich, how it came to ZA, why farm it and the benefits to our health from the meat. I was most impressed with the toughness of the leather and how expensive it is. I was also surprised that the only animal faster than a Ostrich over a few KM is the Cheeta, as the they can reach a speed of 70 KMH. The Ostrich could also kill with one blow of it's foot which is lightening fast and has a razor sharp toenail. Some farmers raise a few Ostriches with their cattle , sheep or goats as they as very protective of their terittory and with fight off any predators. Then we tour the Pens and seen the newly hatched birds and then we headed for the ride pens. I was first to volenteer so the coralled one and gave me a two second blurb on how to hold on and with help i did manage to get a short ride. Then they neede a volunteer to feed the animals and again I when first as they others where somewhat shy. I would like to include pics but I doubt know how. Then we ask to to stand on some Ostrich eggs to see how strong the were and they can hold a person up to 300 LBs. Again we have pics of Carroll and I on the eggs.
Since the temp was 40 C at the farm and it was around 4 PM we headed back tot he Park and hit the Pool again.
We later went out for supper and Carroll being the one to try something new had an ostrick steak, I stuck with the beef. the Ostrich was good but has a fining grain than the beef and a somewhat mild flavour.
Sunday, 4 December 2011
Saturday, 3 December 2011
3 Dec Saturday Train Ride
The other 2 headers for 3 Dec were published without me touching the " Plublished " button so I don't how it happened. Just diereguard them as I can not delete them.
Now for Saturday. On Thursday, while at the Information Booth we were told about this train ride up the mountain. Since we had no other plans for Sat , we booked it. As it turns out it was very interesting. the train itself was actually the engine that normally pulled the test cars along the track to do the inspection. It was converted to carry about 20 tourist at a time but they had a 2nd car that held another 12 people.
The tour was narrated by a lady who was well versed in the history of the particular rail system, the history of the city of George and the name of all the flowers and faua we seen in route.
This particular rail system was started in 1908 but not completed until 1913 and it was constructed by prisoners. It covers a distance of 50 miles from George to Outshorn and was mainly a passenger train. It ceased operations in 1949 due to lack of passengers. The climb from sea level to the apex covered some 20 Km and took about 1 hour to reach the top. The mountain that we climbed was covered by forest , grass or indegious plants. One piece of information that surprised me was the ZA has only 2 % of indegious trees left due them being logged out over the years and replaced with a fast growing Mexican Pine. As a result the pine trees are mainly used for Pulp as they are not good for lumber products.
This trip took 2 1/2 hours and killed part of the day. Then we decided to go to a Berry farm and maybe pick some strawberries but once we got there, which was a half hour drive, we opted for lunch and bought the " already " picked berries. We then decide to go to a new mall in the area of our camp site as we needed a few groceries and the weather was cool, cloudy and threatening rain.
We were about a 1/2 from the shopping centre, so all I had to do was to back track my route. As i approached the 1 st " Roundabout" I forgot which exit I needed and naturally chose the wrong one and ended up going the wrong direction. I finally got turn around and when I hit the next " roundabout " I chose the wrong exit again. This time I really got turned around and it took the Navagator about 20 mins to get me back on track. Finally we got to the mall, and while walking down the mall I spotted a Vodafone store and they sold iPad2. Since my iPad was not working at all I ask one astute looking salesman if he would look at it for me. He agreed, so I went to the MH and got my iPad.
While I was getting my iPad Carroll was walking around the mall and found a Walk-in Clinic. She has had a hard time hearing for about a week and it was getting worst so she went into the clinic and the doctor took her right away. In the meantime, I'm at the Vodafone store having my iPad readjusted as it turns out. The problem was with the remote keyboard and if you don't have an ipad you probably don't have the foggest idea what I'm talking about. Suffice to say, Mr. Vodafone told me not to use the remote keyboard again as it was broken, and he then got the ipad to function properly for which I greatly appreciated.
It cost R250 ( 32.00 cdn ) for the doctors appt and she gave Carroll a perscription for some ear drops to clean out the wax in her ears.
By this time it was 4:30 pm and the weather was cool so we decide to take in a movie rather then sit in the camper so we killed another 2 hours and seen the movie " Moneyball ". If you haven't seen , it is worth seeing.
Then we picked up some KFC and went home to make the rest of the supper.
Now for Saturday. On Thursday, while at the Information Booth we were told about this train ride up the mountain. Since we had no other plans for Sat , we booked it. As it turns out it was very interesting. the train itself was actually the engine that normally pulled the test cars along the track to do the inspection. It was converted to carry about 20 tourist at a time but they had a 2nd car that held another 12 people.
The tour was narrated by a lady who was well versed in the history of the particular rail system, the history of the city of George and the name of all the flowers and faua we seen in route.
This particular rail system was started in 1908 but not completed until 1913 and it was constructed by prisoners. It covers a distance of 50 miles from George to Outshorn and was mainly a passenger train. It ceased operations in 1949 due to lack of passengers. The climb from sea level to the apex covered some 20 Km and took about 1 hour to reach the top. The mountain that we climbed was covered by forest , grass or indegious plants. One piece of information that surprised me was the ZA has only 2 % of indegious trees left due them being logged out over the years and replaced with a fast growing Mexican Pine. As a result the pine trees are mainly used for Pulp as they are not good for lumber products.
This trip took 2 1/2 hours and killed part of the day. Then we decided to go to a Berry farm and maybe pick some strawberries but once we got there, which was a half hour drive, we opted for lunch and bought the " already " picked berries. We then decide to go to a new mall in the area of our camp site as we needed a few groceries and the weather was cool, cloudy and threatening rain.
We were about a 1/2 from the shopping centre, so all I had to do was to back track my route. As i approached the 1 st " Roundabout" I forgot which exit I needed and naturally chose the wrong one and ended up going the wrong direction. I finally got turn around and when I hit the next " roundabout " I chose the wrong exit again. This time I really got turned around and it took the Navagator about 20 mins to get me back on track. Finally we got to the mall, and while walking down the mall I spotted a Vodafone store and they sold iPad2. Since my iPad was not working at all I ask one astute looking salesman if he would look at it for me. He agreed, so I went to the MH and got my iPad.
While I was getting my iPad Carroll was walking around the mall and found a Walk-in Clinic. She has had a hard time hearing for about a week and it was getting worst so she went into the clinic and the doctor took her right away. In the meantime, I'm at the Vodafone store having my iPad readjusted as it turns out. The problem was with the remote keyboard and if you don't have an ipad you probably don't have the foggest idea what I'm talking about. Suffice to say, Mr. Vodafone told me not to use the remote keyboard again as it was broken, and he then got the ipad to function properly for which I greatly appreciated.
It cost R250 ( 32.00 cdn ) for the doctors appt and she gave Carroll a perscription for some ear drops to clean out the wax in her ears.
By this time it was 4:30 pm and the weather was cool so we decide to take in a movie rather then sit in the camper so we killed another 2 hours and seen the movie " Moneyball ". If you haven't seen , it is worth seeing.
Then we picked up some KFC and went home to make the rest of the supper.
Friday, 2 December 2011
2 Dec Knysna to George
We left Knysna ( pronounced Ni s nah ) heading for George a city of 200,000 plus but we had a few stops on our way to see some small town recommended by our fellow campers. The first town was Rheenendal ,about 20 Km from Knysna and this was visited because Carroll read about it in a brochure. It was a Total waste of fuel. But on the way we seen a sign that advertised a coffee and lunch bar at a dairy farm so we dropped in to investigate. As it turns out it is quite a nice breakfast/lunch bar overlooking a Gorge. Incidentally, there are a "Zillion" Gorges in the country and most are advertised as a "must " see, so we did not need another one. However, they had Brewed coffee and we added a Muffin and a Scone and called it breakfast. They also sold cheese so we picked up a slab of that.
Back on the road again, we headed for another quaint town, namely, Sedgefield. this was highly recommended by a lady we met on the Zip Line excursion. As it turns out this town has a well marked driving tour thru the town. The first few blocks had nice but mature homes, probably middle class ; then it took us thru the worst part of town , that appeared to be all Blacks and this area was definitely lower, lower class with most houses being shacks. Why this is on a tour route is beyond me. After we exited this area we were now into the Upper Class of homes and infact one house was built like a castle. From here we were directed to the beach area which of course is the Indian Ocean and this area was cottages and tourist hotels etc. Thinking we had seen the town we left the Beach and followed the next sign up into a new area and we were lead to one of the most beautiful beach we have seen. This beach area was at the mouth of a river just as it met the Indian Ocean and it was difinitely a favour area for the local kids because it was shallow and had miles of sandy beaches. We were told by a lady we met on the Zip Line that this was a top attraction for people who liked the beaches but it was not much for surfers.
Next we headed for George, some 50 KM away but we just had to slow down for all beautiful Ocean senery. Then as we were climbing a mountain area we notice a dozen or so , colourful Parachutes gliding all around the mountain side. They would drop down just about to the ground and then shoot back up high over the mountain. As it turns out there was a"Pull off " right in the area so we stopped and shot a few pics of this show. While we were stopped , Carroll drumed up a conversation with 4 young girls from Norway, one who was a student and was studying in Capetown, the other were visiting. I drummed up a conversation with a couple from England but moved to ZA to retire. Apparently many British retirees do this.
Finally, we reached George around 1 PM so we decide to look for and found the Tourist Information building. The young lady was most helpful and even set us up for a Scenic trolley ride up the mountain tomorrow. She also pointed out other interesting things see and do. She advised us to be at the Information booth tomorrow at 4 PM till late as they were turning on the Christmas light in the park across the street and there would some music.
We then decide to find a " Caravan " park were we could park for the next 2 days. The first one we sought out became a pain in the ass to sign in as the reception area was no where near the Park and I want to see the place that we will be camping in so we left it. We found another beautiful and emaculate park , 1 KM away from the beach. It is actually a resort with condo style chalets. The parking pad is manacured grassed area and we have our own private bathroom across from our MH. The lady owner walked me down to the pad to make sure I was happy with the location and then showed me the bathroom complete a shower. I got to admit, I did " snicker " when she said , this is your private bathroom. When do you get a private bathhroom in a Caravan park.
Ok, now it was time to get some beach time so we headed for the beach about 1 1/2 KM away. It was a very nice area ,which attracted the younger crowd mainly because it was good for Surfering and for the Boggy Board crowd. The beach had about 50 /50 Black and Whites , but they do not intermingle but they don't bother each other either. The Black kids were kicking a Soccer ball around and the white kids were playing with a Ruby ( football ) ball.
After a few hours on the beach we returned to the Caravan park to rest up for supper. We checked with the owner for a good resturaunt for fish and he sent us one that was great. We had the local favour which is also caught locally called KingKlip and it was good.
Back on the road again, we headed for another quaint town, namely, Sedgefield. this was highly recommended by a lady we met on the Zip Line excursion. As it turns out this town has a well marked driving tour thru the town. The first few blocks had nice but mature homes, probably middle class ; then it took us thru the worst part of town , that appeared to be all Blacks and this area was definitely lower, lower class with most houses being shacks. Why this is on a tour route is beyond me. After we exited this area we were now into the Upper Class of homes and infact one house was built like a castle. From here we were directed to the beach area which of course is the Indian Ocean and this area was cottages and tourist hotels etc. Thinking we had seen the town we left the Beach and followed the next sign up into a new area and we were lead to one of the most beautiful beach we have seen. This beach area was at the mouth of a river just as it met the Indian Ocean and it was difinitely a favour area for the local kids because it was shallow and had miles of sandy beaches. We were told by a lady we met on the Zip Line that this was a top attraction for people who liked the beaches but it was not much for surfers.
Next we headed for George, some 50 KM away but we just had to slow down for all beautiful Ocean senery. Then as we were climbing a mountain area we notice a dozen or so , colourful Parachutes gliding all around the mountain side. They would drop down just about to the ground and then shoot back up high over the mountain. As it turns out there was a"Pull off " right in the area so we stopped and shot a few pics of this show. While we were stopped , Carroll drumed up a conversation with 4 young girls from Norway, one who was a student and was studying in Capetown, the other were visiting. I drummed up a conversation with a couple from England but moved to ZA to retire. Apparently many British retirees do this.
Finally, we reached George around 1 PM so we decide to look for and found the Tourist Information building. The young lady was most helpful and even set us up for a Scenic trolley ride up the mountain tomorrow. She also pointed out other interesting things see and do. She advised us to be at the Information booth tomorrow at 4 PM till late as they were turning on the Christmas light in the park across the street and there would some music.
We then decide to find a " Caravan " park were we could park for the next 2 days. The first one we sought out became a pain in the ass to sign in as the reception area was no where near the Park and I want to see the place that we will be camping in so we left it. We found another beautiful and emaculate park , 1 KM away from the beach. It is actually a resort with condo style chalets. The parking pad is manacured grassed area and we have our own private bathroom across from our MH. The lady owner walked me down to the pad to make sure I was happy with the location and then showed me the bathroom complete a shower. I got to admit, I did " snicker " when she said , this is your private bathroom. When do you get a private bathhroom in a Caravan park.
Ok, now it was time to get some beach time so we headed for the beach about 1 1/2 KM away. It was a very nice area ,which attracted the younger crowd mainly because it was good for Surfering and for the Boggy Board crowd. The beach had about 50 /50 Black and Whites , but they do not intermingle but they don't bother each other either. The Black kids were kicking a Soccer ball around and the white kids were playing with a Ruby ( football ) ball.
After a few hours on the beach we returned to the Caravan park to rest up for supper. We checked with the owner for a good resturaunt for fish and he sent us one that was great. We had the local favour which is also caught locally called KingKlip and it was good.
Thursday, 1 December 2011
1 Dec Thursday Plettenberg to Knysna
Today we went to Knysna which is 37 KM from Plettenberg. It was not a long drive day but we had hoped we could drive "out " of the dam rain. We arrived in Kuysna and it was slightly overcast with a drizzle. We were not sure what to do or if we would stay so we did a drive about the town and found the waterfront which had ample parking mainly because it has a gorgerous ( that's probably not the best word to describe it ) "walking only " Shopping Quay about 2 blocks long. It also has an " i " Information booth so we ventured over to see what they had for us. The information here was too provide and or sell tourist with several boat trips around the harbour and area.
The city of Knysna is built on an large estuary and has a narrow entrance which protects it from any storms. It was obviously found by sailors many years ago when then needed a place to mooring during a storm. Inside the estuary they also have 2 small island which have been bridged from the mainland , albeit a small brigde of about 100 feet long. As a result, a housing developement , of the upscale variety, has been built on the Islands. With such a gorgerous view, it is not surprising that the housing developement happened.
Anyway, back to our story. When we checked with the information booth they explained that they had several excursion , all that were part of a boat trip within the Estuary. Incidentally, the tide rises and falls every 6 1/2 hours, which compared to the Pacific in Comox, BC which changes every 12 hours or so. So the one that intersted us was a boat ride across the Estuary, then a ride in 3 wagons towed by a tractor/truck ( for lack of a better word) up a 2.2 KM up a mountian trail and if we wanted , we could hike back down to the boat dock that housed a resturaunt of which the likes we have never seen in all our travels. It is a semi-outdoor resturaunt built amoung the trees but they did not cut any trees down to built it. The decking and the tables are set amoung and around the trees. These trees do not grow straight like a pine or Fir; the tree limbs just twist and turn , up and down and around. The resturaunt would be about the size of a small town hockey arena, as a comparison.
When we arrived back at the resturaunt, after the hike down, they had a buffet dinner which was second to none. It had everything from Kudu ( antelope ) Calamaria, chicken, fish ,beef, salads, and many deserts.
I know you are waiting on the cost of this excursion so here it comes. The 4 hour trip and the meal cost R790 or about 100.00 cdn for the both of us, which we felt was worth the price.
As a side note , while going up the 2.2 KM mountain ride our vehicle quit 1 KM from the drop-off point so we had to hike the last Km. Carroll orginally thought she could hike down but once we got to the top she changed her mind and rode in the wagon. I am glad she chose to ride down because the hiking was really rough and would have been a killer on her knees. Of course it was a piece of cake for a "Trained Killer " like me. By the time I got the the resturaunt it was definitely Miller time. There were also two tour Bus loads of people; one from UK and one from Germany.
After the tour ended and as we walked to the MH we had to walk by some more Hawkers selling table clothes and place Mats. Carroll stopped to as the price and after 10 mins of "Brow Beating "the lady, Carroll walked away with another table cloth. We then moved to the shopping Quay, which was nearby and did some window shopping for an hour or so and then decide to stay in Kynsna for the night and went looking for a camp site. We found one in our camping book and checked it out as it was on the edge of town. It is a nice area, all grass and the cost was R180 but I explained that was a Pensioner so he dropped it to R162.
Since we had a big dinner at 12:30 or 1PM we did not need a big supper so we had a snack in the MH. There are only two of us in the camp site but every camp site has several Chalets or as they call the "self Catering" which means bring your own food. Tomorrwo we will move down towards the Cape.
The city of Knysna is built on an large estuary and has a narrow entrance which protects it from any storms. It was obviously found by sailors many years ago when then needed a place to mooring during a storm. Inside the estuary they also have 2 small island which have been bridged from the mainland , albeit a small brigde of about 100 feet long. As a result, a housing developement , of the upscale variety, has been built on the Islands. With such a gorgerous view, it is not surprising that the housing developement happened.
Anyway, back to our story. When we checked with the information booth they explained that they had several excursion , all that were part of a boat trip within the Estuary. Incidentally, the tide rises and falls every 6 1/2 hours, which compared to the Pacific in Comox, BC which changes every 12 hours or so. So the one that intersted us was a boat ride across the Estuary, then a ride in 3 wagons towed by a tractor/truck ( for lack of a better word) up a 2.2 KM up a mountian trail and if we wanted , we could hike back down to the boat dock that housed a resturaunt of which the likes we have never seen in all our travels. It is a semi-outdoor resturaunt built amoung the trees but they did not cut any trees down to built it. The decking and the tables are set amoung and around the trees. These trees do not grow straight like a pine or Fir; the tree limbs just twist and turn , up and down and around. The resturaunt would be about the size of a small town hockey arena, as a comparison.
When we arrived back at the resturaunt, after the hike down, they had a buffet dinner which was second to none. It had everything from Kudu ( antelope ) Calamaria, chicken, fish ,beef, salads, and many deserts.
I know you are waiting on the cost of this excursion so here it comes. The 4 hour trip and the meal cost R790 or about 100.00 cdn for the both of us, which we felt was worth the price.
As a side note , while going up the 2.2 KM mountain ride our vehicle quit 1 KM from the drop-off point so we had to hike the last Km. Carroll orginally thought she could hike down but once we got to the top she changed her mind and rode in the wagon. I am glad she chose to ride down because the hiking was really rough and would have been a killer on her knees. Of course it was a piece of cake for a "Trained Killer " like me. By the time I got the the resturaunt it was definitely Miller time. There were also two tour Bus loads of people; one from UK and one from Germany.
After the tour ended and as we walked to the MH we had to walk by some more Hawkers selling table clothes and place Mats. Carroll stopped to as the price and after 10 mins of "Brow Beating "the lady, Carroll walked away with another table cloth. We then moved to the shopping Quay, which was nearby and did some window shopping for an hour or so and then decide to stay in Kynsna for the night and went looking for a camp site. We found one in our camping book and checked it out as it was on the edge of town. It is a nice area, all grass and the cost was R180 but I explained that was a Pensioner so he dropped it to R162.
Since we had a big dinner at 12:30 or 1PM we did not need a big supper so we had a snack in the MH. There are only two of us in the camp site but every camp site has several Chalets or as they call the "self Catering" which means bring your own food. Tomorrwo we will move down towards the Cape.
30 Nov Wedesday. Tsitzikamma Park to Plettenberg
Before I give you our travelogue to Pettenberg I must tell you about how friendly the ZA campers are with us. Our neighbours in Tist..... Park gave us a lot of information on where to go and what to see. However, they did much more; the gave us there cell # and insist that we stop for a visit when we pass thru their city and they they gave us a jar of homemade marmalade as a gift. The people we have met in ZA are just great and really make us feel welcome.
Now for the travelogue. We left Tsit... and travel a whole 55 KM to Plettenberg Bay,which is a very vibrate city of (my guess) approxi 10,000. Since the camp ground we selected, with the recommendation of other campers, was 4 Km before the city so we checked in there 1st. ( they would not give me "Pensioners" rates ) It is a very nice camp ground, right on a river which empties into the Indian Ocean about 500 M from the camp ground, so the river actually goes up and down with the Ocean tide.
After selecting a spot, since it was barely 10 % full, we were allowed to select any vacant spot, we decide to tour the city and if possible find an Information Booth to get advice on what to see. No luck there , so we drove around the city and soon found the Waterfront and Beach area. After parking we walk around the beach but it was crowded with University student who are on summer holidays. The summer holidays are from late Nov to the middle of Jan and we have already been told the every beach and camping area will be crowded from now until we leave on 15 Jan. Also the price of camping will double by mid Dec, if not right away.
The parking lots at the beaches usually provided an area for Hawkers to set up and sell their wares to unsuspecting customers, namely Carroll. When Carroll says "she just wants to look" , I immedately get out my wallet because we are definitely buying something and she did not disappoint me.
Since the City Beach was crowded we returned to our camp site, on the river and went for a swim; it was cool but not cold, and then read for a while or fell asleep and enhanced our tan.
After a couple of hour of beach time we decided to get the MH washed ( it was dirty from the rain on the dirt roads in the parks ) while we went grocery shopping. I got the MH Hand Washed and Dried for R80 ( 10.00 ), which i think was a bargin. After grocery shopping , the MH wasn't ready so I grabbed my computer and we went for a coffee at a place called the Mugg and Bean, which is a franchise much like Kelsey's but , more import , they have " free " internet for 1/2. Since my connection at the camp was somewhere between "Bugger all and None" I wanted to at least check our emails which we did. We have taken advantage of the free internet at the Mugg and Bean in Joburg so we knew it would be available here also.
We then got our MH and fuelled up so to be ready to roll in the morning. You either need Petrol or diesel not gasoline. I ask the "filling" station attendant if it was going to rain and he said absolutely , in about 1 hour and it will rain all night. He was right on as it started to rain as soon as I lite the Briggettes. No gas Bar-B-Q's here.
We delayed supper until it quit raining or at least slowed down somewhat. Then I bar-b-q the hamburgers, sauage and the Mushrooms to go along with corn on the cob. Veggies ground all year round here so nothing is out of season. As soon as i finished with the "Barbie' it started to pour again and never stopped all night. Tomorrow we will move south and we hope we have seen the last of the rain.
Now for the travelogue. We left Tsit... and travel a whole 55 KM to Plettenberg Bay,which is a very vibrate city of (my guess) approxi 10,000. Since the camp ground we selected, with the recommendation of other campers, was 4 Km before the city so we checked in there 1st. ( they would not give me "Pensioners" rates ) It is a very nice camp ground, right on a river which empties into the Indian Ocean about 500 M from the camp ground, so the river actually goes up and down with the Ocean tide.
After selecting a spot, since it was barely 10 % full, we were allowed to select any vacant spot, we decide to tour the city and if possible find an Information Booth to get advice on what to see. No luck there , so we drove around the city and soon found the Waterfront and Beach area. After parking we walk around the beach but it was crowded with University student who are on summer holidays. The summer holidays are from late Nov to the middle of Jan and we have already been told the every beach and camping area will be crowded from now until we leave on 15 Jan. Also the price of camping will double by mid Dec, if not right away.
The parking lots at the beaches usually provided an area for Hawkers to set up and sell their wares to unsuspecting customers, namely Carroll. When Carroll says "she just wants to look" , I immedately get out my wallet because we are definitely buying something and she did not disappoint me.
Since the City Beach was crowded we returned to our camp site, on the river and went for a swim; it was cool but not cold, and then read for a while or fell asleep and enhanced our tan.
After a couple of hour of beach time we decided to get the MH washed ( it was dirty from the rain on the dirt roads in the parks ) while we went grocery shopping. I got the MH Hand Washed and Dried for R80 ( 10.00 ), which i think was a bargin. After grocery shopping , the MH wasn't ready so I grabbed my computer and we went for a coffee at a place called the Mugg and Bean, which is a franchise much like Kelsey's but , more import , they have " free " internet for 1/2. Since my connection at the camp was somewhere between "Bugger all and None" I wanted to at least check our emails which we did. We have taken advantage of the free internet at the Mugg and Bean in Joburg so we knew it would be available here also.
We then got our MH and fuelled up so to be ready to roll in the morning. You either need Petrol or diesel not gasoline. I ask the "filling" station attendant if it was going to rain and he said absolutely , in about 1 hour and it will rain all night. He was right on as it started to rain as soon as I lite the Briggettes. No gas Bar-B-Q's here.
We delayed supper until it quit raining or at least slowed down somewhat. Then I bar-b-q the hamburgers, sauage and the Mushrooms to go along with corn on the cob. Veggies ground all year round here so nothing is out of season. As soon as i finished with the "Barbie' it started to pour again and never stopped all night. Tomorrow we will move south and we hope we have seen the last of the rain.
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