This was not our most active day by a long shot. We did not get mobile until 10 AM as we just admired the mountain scenry that surrounded our camp site and we talked to the neighbours looking for info on other likely sites to visit on our last leg of our trip. Most campers are only too glad to make suggestion and most of their suggestions are great. Then we drove around the National park for about 2 hours admirering the scenery and then headed for the small tourist town of Clarens. This town is littered with small boutigues and resturaunts. But it also attracts a large tourist crowd, us included. First, as is our habit, we stopped at the Information booth and the lady was full of suggestions, most of them very interesting.
However,after a short Walkabout the town, we happen to find the German Brewer/pub/resturaunt who was giving 6 beer samples so that got my attention. After tasting the beer, one of which was not drinkable, we decide to have their Lunch Plate for two which was an assortment of cheese , bread, cold cuts and sauage. I also told the waiter I would like a pint of one of the samples so i could get the "full body flavour". Both the beer and the Lunch Plate were excellent.
Then we checked out the German resturaunt to make a reservation for 7 PM for a German supper and it was superb. I had Lamb Shank and Carroll had a Pork Snitzhel.
After supper we now had to drive about 20 KM to our camp site and it was very dark mainly because we were surrounded by the mountains. Just as we left the town we seen a tire burning in the middle of the road and this made me a little concerned. I slowly got closer to see what was happening but I was prepared to return to town and ask for a police escort past this area if necessary. But as we got closer, there was nobody around the burning tire so I quickly skirted around it and headed home , arriving safely but wondering what the tire burning meant.
Tuesday, 10 January 2012
Monday, 9 January 2012
5 Jan Thursday Gariep Dam to Golden gate National park
I confused the dates again but I should now be back on track. When we left Gariep , we took the secondary roads on the advise of a " supposedly " well traveled camper, who was just a bundle of knowledge on any topic. After some of the roads he put us on , I might want to give a piece of my mind.
We have now entered the Free State ( FS ) (the name of the province )which by ZA standards is considered to be mostly flat but it is no Parire ,as it is also very mountainous. As we entered the state it was mostly grazing land and i was afraid the scenery would be boring.
Before I go any further, the Free State wraps around 2 sides of another country by the name of LESOTHO which is located in the middle of ZA. South Africans consider it a pain in Ass as it is not a prosporous country nor one you would care to pass there, so they mainly go around it. " Hello Quebec " do you still want to separate?
As we traveled further into the FS, it became obvious that this was an agriculture area. They have huge fields of Beans, peas, some cereal grain and mostly corn. Some area were mainly fruit like peaches and Apricotes. It seemed that every town or city had huge concrete silos which were obviously elevators for storing the grain. I was surprised that I did not see any fields with Canola, althought I'm told they do grow it here.
In the area where there was grazing land, we expected to see hundreds of cattle grazing but it was not so; then again the cattle could have been else were on the land.
We traveled 500 KM today and that is a lot of traveling for ZA due to some road conditons of some secondary roads. As we got to within 100 KM from the Golden Gate National Park we could see the topography changing . The mountains became solid rock formations and the scenery was wonderful. It kind of made you slow down to drink in the different formations. In fact we just had to stop and takes some Pics. It's amazing what the wind, rain and water can do to a rock over a few hundred years and the beauty it can form on the rocks.
We actual came to this area to visit a small tourist town called Clarens, much like Banff, AB except on a little smaller scale. We will visit the town tomorrow so you will get a report in the next blog
We have now entered the Free State ( FS ) (the name of the province )which by ZA standards is considered to be mostly flat but it is no Parire ,as it is also very mountainous. As we entered the state it was mostly grazing land and i was afraid the scenery would be boring.
Before I go any further, the Free State wraps around 2 sides of another country by the name of LESOTHO which is located in the middle of ZA. South Africans consider it a pain in Ass as it is not a prosporous country nor one you would care to pass there, so they mainly go around it. " Hello Quebec " do you still want to separate?
As we traveled further into the FS, it became obvious that this was an agriculture area. They have huge fields of Beans, peas, some cereal grain and mostly corn. Some area were mainly fruit like peaches and Apricotes. It seemed that every town or city had huge concrete silos which were obviously elevators for storing the grain. I was surprised that I did not see any fields with Canola, althought I'm told they do grow it here.
In the area where there was grazing land, we expected to see hundreds of cattle grazing but it was not so; then again the cattle could have been else were on the land.
We traveled 500 KM today and that is a lot of traveling for ZA due to some road conditons of some secondary roads. As we got to within 100 KM from the Golden Gate National Park we could see the topography changing . The mountains became solid rock formations and the scenery was wonderful. It kind of made you slow down to drink in the different formations. In fact we just had to stop and takes some Pics. It's amazing what the wind, rain and water can do to a rock over a few hundred years and the beauty it can form on the rocks.
We actual came to this area to visit a small tourist town called Clarens, much like Banff, AB except on a little smaller scale. We will visit the town tomorrow so you will get a report in the next blog
Sunday, 8 January 2012
5 Jan Thursday Beaufort West to Garip Dam
I suppose some of you readers have realized that my 3 th Jan blog actually covered the 3 th and the 4 th. After 2 1/2 months the days are starting to run together. Anyways, we traveled from Beaufort to the Graiep Dam which covered about 350 KM but it was on N-1 which is basically a freeway without Tolls so it was clear sailing all the way.
The Gariep Dam is the largest Power Dam in South Africa and the resorvior backs up some 85 KM from the dam site. This area is a fantastic recreational area and by all appearances the ZA folk flock to this area during the summer school break. It also has a large marina and about 50 chalets for accommodations.
The trip to the Graiep Dam actually started to change the landscape from GRAPES to actual farm land as we could see that they had Ranches and Farms with some dairy herds which were mostly Gurseys. I did expect to see more Holstein cows than I have seen. It seems that the crop most prevelent in this area was corn and of course they grow their crops continuiosly all year round. So there was some corn planted about 2 weeks ago and some already in tassle. The farms are extremely large and the Farm House is located far from the road so I have never been able to see what equipt they have and i have seen very little field work. As i may have mentioned before most large farms have several permanate staff so it is very common to see 6 to 10 small house for the staff, usually located near the highway.
After arriving at the dam site check-in desk they said we could have any vacate site so that told me that most of the "Summer Vacationers " had headed home as the new school year starts on 11 Jan. The park was great with nice size lots so we grabbed a level one, as it is hard to level our MH and then took the rest of the day off. But we will be on the move tomorrow, just not sure where... yet.
The Gariep Dam is the largest Power Dam in South Africa and the resorvior backs up some 85 KM from the dam site. This area is a fantastic recreational area and by all appearances the ZA folk flock to this area during the summer school break. It also has a large marina and about 50 chalets for accommodations.
The trip to the Graiep Dam actually started to change the landscape from GRAPES to actual farm land as we could see that they had Ranches and Farms with some dairy herds which were mostly Gurseys. I did expect to see more Holstein cows than I have seen. It seems that the crop most prevelent in this area was corn and of course they grow their crops continuiosly all year round. So there was some corn planted about 2 weeks ago and some already in tassle. The farms are extremely large and the Farm House is located far from the road so I have never been able to see what equipt they have and i have seen very little field work. As i may have mentioned before most large farms have several permanate staff so it is very common to see 6 to 10 small house for the staff, usually located near the highway.
After arriving at the dam site check-in desk they said we could have any vacate site so that told me that most of the "Summer Vacationers " had headed home as the new school year starts on 11 Jan. The park was great with nice size lots so we grabbed a level one, as it is hard to level our MH and then took the rest of the day off. But we will be on the move tomorrow, just not sure where... yet.
Thursday, 5 January 2012
3Jan Tuesday Calitzdorp to Beaufort West
When we left Calitzdorp our plans were to go to Karoo National Park which is near Beaufort West. But when we arrived at the gate to the Park; " Sorry Mister the camp ground is fully booked ". Since we were only a couple of miles from Beaufort West, we grabbed our favourite camping book and checked to see if there were any camp site nearby. We called the first one on the list and they had plenty of site, so come on down, so we did. From the road, (a better definition is a Laneway) into the barn yard, I repeat " barn yard" as there were ducks, geese, chickens and dogs, not to mention old trucks, tractor, loader and a scraper. Before I get out of our MH, I thinking " oh no" are we at the wrong place. Then a lady alites from a bldg and says, just grab any space want and i'ii collect later tonight. I'm thinking we are the only ones here so I ask and she says no, there are two other campers . So we go in and to our surprise it was a nice camp ground and all grass. We really did not have to be concerned because by evening there were 12 camper in the park. They also had a pool so we took a dip since ithe temp was in the high 20's C.
Just before we entered the camp site the ENG light on the MH came on and I lost power. I was hoping it would "reset" itself during the night but it did not happen. But that story can wait. It gets better!!!
Around midnight two camper pulled into the park and one pulled up quite close to us. Carroll wakes up and investigates the situation, then wakes me , thinking that I need to know about this at midnight. Basically, if there is no terrorist attack or if I don't win the Lotto I really don't need to be awaken for any other reason. Then at 4AM these same two campers decide to leave. And again Carroll seems to think I need to know about it. Then at 4:30 AM the family next to us decides to pack up and leave and again Carroll advise me, for reasons I don't understand. I think I got another hour of sleep before the roosters decide wake everybody.
Now I have to solve the ENG lite problem so I go to the camp owner and ask if he can direct me to the Mercedes dealer. So he invites me into his house and starts to make some phone call. After 3 phone calls and 1 text msg he gets a hold of "Peit" the mechanic and advises him that I will be there in 20 mins.
So we head out the lane way knowing I can only travel at 30 or 40 kmh due to the lost of power. However, when I shifted into 4 gear, the ENG lite went out and I now had full power, so I decide to go the garage and thank Piet for his concern and then be on my way.
Now the good part that can only happen to the Eslers. As I entered the city of Beaufort west I did notice a Police woman who had a Van pulled over and I assumed she was writing a ticket. I immeadately drop my speed to 60kmh although I was not aware of my speed. I thought to myself that I guess I wasn't speeding until I travel about 200 m and a cop traveling towards me was waving his arm which I thought meant "watch your speed" . However, when I looked in the mirror and seen that he make a quick U turn I knew I did something wrong. So after I stopped I jumped out and met him at the rear of my MH and I said i guess I was speeding; how fast I going. He said, you were not speeding but you are driving a vehicle with expired plates and an expired Roadworthy sticker. I said what are you talking about so he showed the 2 stickers and they expired on 31 Dec2011. I explain that this was a Rental and I was a Canadian tourist so I had no knowledge of these sticker. Technically,he said, I should impound you vehicle, then take you to the police station to pay a hefty fine. I said I would call the company immediately and let them deal with. He said, I'll call my Boss and see what we can do and he did. The finally decision was to let me go and I was to advise the Rental company , which did immediately. When I went to thank the mechanic I ask how long to do the Roadworthy inspect and he said a day but getting an appointment was the problem.
By 10:30 another crisis averted , we were again on the road heading for the Gariby Dam camp site. All is well.... That ends well
Just before we entered the camp site the ENG light on the MH came on and I lost power. I was hoping it would "reset" itself during the night but it did not happen. But that story can wait. It gets better!!!
Around midnight two camper pulled into the park and one pulled up quite close to us. Carroll wakes up and investigates the situation, then wakes me , thinking that I need to know about this at midnight. Basically, if there is no terrorist attack or if I don't win the Lotto I really don't need to be awaken for any other reason. Then at 4AM these same two campers decide to leave. And again Carroll seems to think I need to know about it. Then at 4:30 AM the family next to us decides to pack up and leave and again Carroll advise me, for reasons I don't understand. I think I got another hour of sleep before the roosters decide wake everybody.
Now I have to solve the ENG lite problem so I go to the camp owner and ask if he can direct me to the Mercedes dealer. So he invites me into his house and starts to make some phone call. After 3 phone calls and 1 text msg he gets a hold of "Peit" the mechanic and advises him that I will be there in 20 mins.
So we head out the lane way knowing I can only travel at 30 or 40 kmh due to the lost of power. However, when I shifted into 4 gear, the ENG lite went out and I now had full power, so I decide to go the garage and thank Piet for his concern and then be on my way.
Now the good part that can only happen to the Eslers. As I entered the city of Beaufort west I did notice a Police woman who had a Van pulled over and I assumed she was writing a ticket. I immeadately drop my speed to 60kmh although I was not aware of my speed. I thought to myself that I guess I wasn't speeding until I travel about 200 m and a cop traveling towards me was waving his arm which I thought meant "watch your speed" . However, when I looked in the mirror and seen that he make a quick U turn I knew I did something wrong. So after I stopped I jumped out and met him at the rear of my MH and I said i guess I was speeding; how fast I going. He said, you were not speeding but you are driving a vehicle with expired plates and an expired Roadworthy sticker. I said what are you talking about so he showed the 2 stickers and they expired on 31 Dec2011. I explain that this was a Rental and I was a Canadian tourist so I had no knowledge of these sticker. Technically,he said, I should impound you vehicle, then take you to the police station to pay a hefty fine. I said I would call the company immediately and let them deal with. He said, I'll call my Boss and see what we can do and he did. The finally decision was to let me go and I was to advise the Rental company , which did immediately. When I went to thank the mechanic I ask how long to do the Roadworthy inspect and he said a day but getting an appointment was the problem.
By 10:30 another crisis averted , we were again on the road heading for the Gariby Dam camp site. All is well.... That ends well
Wednesday, 4 January 2012
2Jan Monday montage to Calitzdorp
The " dorp " in Calitzdorp actually stands for the word town in our language. We chose Calitzdorp because it had hot pools, cool pool and a " Jacuzzi " as if we needed a Jacuzzi in this weather but the cool pool was great during the hot afternoon and the hot pool was great in the evening when it cools down. Besides the hot pool is great for conversation and information gathering , of which Carroll is a master at that. Iwas talking to a guy and he is an oil worker who specialises in the installation of Ocean Rigs and pipelines and is going to Canada next week to do a job off the East coast. He works for a company called Stolts for you oil guys.
The trip from Montagu to Calitxdorp was very scenic and there seemed to be endless farms of grapes, olives and a over abundance of fruits trees, mostly peaches and apricots. With the amount of grape farms we have seen on our travels, ZA must produce the most wine in the world. This area is all mountains ( not the Rockies of course) and the roads wind their way around and thru the passes making it very enjoyable drive. We sent an email to KEA to advise them we intend to keep the MH until 12 Jan but today is a holiday so we will get the reply tomorrow.
The trip from Montagu to Calitxdorp was very scenic and there seemed to be endless farms of grapes, olives and a over abundance of fruits trees, mostly peaches and apricots. With the amount of grape farms we have seen on our travels, ZA must produce the most wine in the world. This area is all mountains ( not the Rockies of course) and the roads wind their way around and thru the passes making it very enjoyable drive. We sent an email to KEA to advise them we intend to keep the MH until 12 Jan but today is a holiday so we will get the reply tomorrow.
Monday, 2 January 2012
1 Jan 2012 Sunday at Montagu
I already did a Blog for 1 jan but I lost the signal during the " Publishing" and it said it went but I don't see it so this is a repeat blog, just so you know if it shows up.
Sunday was a slow day so we went for a drive up the mountain mainly to see if the "Tractor Ride" up the Mountain was open even thoygh we were told it might be closed. It was closed. But the scenic drive was breath taking. I don't know how these people can farm on the these mountain but they do. There never seems to be an end to the grape farms but there were many other farms that grow peaches, apricotes, Olives, strawberries and other vegetables which we could not identiy from the vehicle. There were a few dairy herds and some beef cattle. We also seen 1 farm that had recently combine either oats or wheat. Most of the farms, whether it be grapes or cattle have 6 to 10 houses for the families of their permanate staff. This is quite common throughout ZA and I assume the housing is part of the pay package. The unique part is that all the houses are exactly the same design and colour.
The round trip up and back down the mountain covered 70 KM and was most enjoyable because of the scenery. We never seem to tire of the farms as the layout of grapes , trees or vegetable are in perfect rows and are as neat as can be.
Sunday was a slow day so we went for a drive up the mountain mainly to see if the "Tractor Ride" up the Mountain was open even thoygh we were told it might be closed. It was closed. But the scenic drive was breath taking. I don't know how these people can farm on the these mountain but they do. There never seems to be an end to the grape farms but there were many other farms that grow peaches, apricotes, Olives, strawberries and other vegetables which we could not identiy from the vehicle. There were a few dairy herds and some beef cattle. We also seen 1 farm that had recently combine either oats or wheat. Most of the farms, whether it be grapes or cattle have 6 to 10 houses for the families of their permanate staff. This is quite common throughout ZA and I assume the housing is part of the pay package. The unique part is that all the houses are exactly the same design and colour.
The round trip up and back down the mountain covered 70 KM and was most enjoyable because of the scenery. We never seem to tire of the farms as the layout of grapes , trees or vegetable are in perfect rows and are as neat as can be.
Sunday, 1 January 2012
31Dec End of 2011
Today we are leaving Stellenbosch and going to Montague, about 200 km away. Why Montague you ask; because it is the start of Route 62 which has the same type of Nostalgia that Route 66 in the USA has. This was a very scenic drive as we came thru the fruit belt with grapes, peaches, pears and others we did not recognise from the MH. We also seen a few Chicken Ranches and some Dairy herds. This route took us thru the mountains and in particular pass they cut a Tunnel thru the mountain and at first I assumed it was a km long, then I decided it must be 3 km long and finally when I exited it I now think it was about 5 km in length. I don't like Tunnel so it was too long for me.
When we reached the town of Montague we trusted our GPS to find the camp ground, which is right in the town. As we are going down the street we seen that we have to " fjord " a river and I'm thinking , no way in hell are we crossing a river. But then I/we seen it was actually a one lane bridge with a shallow layer of water running over it so it wasn't so bad after all. Then as I hit the bridge there were 2 vehicle coming the other way but I took control and made them wait.
The camp site is wonderful and all site are completely grass and it is just like a carpet. As we signed in We were advised that there was a New Years Eve Braai ( that is Bar-B-Q for you folks who don't speak Afrikaan) and that we could get tickets at the " Tuck shop " for R65 PP ( 8.00 cdn ) . They were " Braai ing " 2 whole Lambs. During our conversation with people running the Tuck shop we found tht they have a daughter married to a ZA doctor who has his practise in Oyen, AB and they are coming to Oyen to seevtheir daughter in June. For you folks who never travel, Oyen is 1hr north of Med Hat.
Montague is kind of the the fruit capital of this area so they have a business that dehydrated fruit and also does wholesale and retail sales so we ( mostly Carroll ) just had to visit it and of course buy some of their product.
The New Years Briaa started at 7:30 so we joined the crowd of over 100 party " Goers" and managed to get a second helping ofthe lamb dinner. it was an excellent meal.
We called it a day around 11PM and pretended it was midnight. Well that is it for 2011. Were will we be for 2012????? Happy New Year to the blog readers
When we reached the town of Montague we trusted our GPS to find the camp ground, which is right in the town. As we are going down the street we seen that we have to " fjord " a river and I'm thinking , no way in hell are we crossing a river. But then I/we seen it was actually a one lane bridge with a shallow layer of water running over it so it wasn't so bad after all. Then as I hit the bridge there were 2 vehicle coming the other way but I took control and made them wait.
The camp site is wonderful and all site are completely grass and it is just like a carpet. As we signed in We were advised that there was a New Years Eve Braai ( that is Bar-B-Q for you folks who don't speak Afrikaan) and that we could get tickets at the " Tuck shop " for R65 PP ( 8.00 cdn ) . They were " Braai ing " 2 whole Lambs. During our conversation with people running the Tuck shop we found tht they have a daughter married to a ZA doctor who has his practise in Oyen, AB and they are coming to Oyen to seevtheir daughter in June. For you folks who never travel, Oyen is 1hr north of Med Hat.
Montague is kind of the the fruit capital of this area so they have a business that dehydrated fruit and also does wholesale and retail sales so we ( mostly Carroll ) just had to visit it and of course buy some of their product.
The New Years Briaa started at 7:30 so we joined the crowd of over 100 party " Goers" and managed to get a second helping ofthe lamb dinner. it was an excellent meal.
We called it a day around 11PM and pretended it was midnight. Well that is it for 2011. Were will we be for 2012????? Happy New Year to the blog readers
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