So Far ...

(Sarita): Left Springbok behind with the wind blowing at us at speed while we plodded along at 80km, not too bad considering we towing a citi behind us. The road was long and after each bend the next stretch of road looked exactly like the last stretch of road. No decent 'padstals' to stop at, although the friendly weaver birds at the laybys made a cute distraction along the way. They all congregate on the fence & check you out and then 1by1 they fly right by your feet to pick up any tit-bits you might throw their way - they got the burn't part of the bread from the night before... LOL! We arrived in Augrabies and took a chance sneaking in the cats... got bust by the park ranger, who was really very decent about it, & we quietly left the next day.  But we did not leave without seeing the falls itself which were not that mighty but nevertheless still amazing, so we shall return in February when the river is in full force  - hopefully without pets!  When we left Augrabies it was the first time on our journey that we were actually doing what we were supposed to be doing - hitting the road with no definite target in mind but a resolve to find us a place to rest our bones for a night or three.

As we drove the clouds threatened some rain but we escaped with only a few drops, if you can call it that.  The cats were getting restless & I was stressing that they would just squat on the floor! OMG surely a furry ball of confusion would have been flung far & wide into the desert only to stop a few kilometers later to clean the mess off our van!!!  Seriously, it took some time to finally find us a place but when we did it was dusk & there was dust! We camped out at Red Sands Lodge outside Kuruman & it is beautifully red! At sunset the hills are a magnificent colour unlike I've ever seen. But enough with that, there are wild animals here! That come right up to our van! Holy crap I feel like a city-slicker! At every camp-site we have encountered some form of 'wild' animals - firstly those beastly cats with their cute little eyes begging for food at every opportunity, then the tribe of monkeys at Augrabies that surrounded our camp site to check out our little lionesses., and now at this place the first night we were welcomed by the sound of jackals howling on the hills & the buck eating his way through the bushes by reception! A monkey stuck his head in Erin's window today & seemed a little more than interested in the kit-kats, especially Peppa.  We will upload some fotos as soon as we get stronger internet signal because at the moment it take almost 30 minutes just to download emails... such is the way, small price to pay for where we are.

So far I speak for us all that we are enjoying the challenge - this is a totally different lifestyle & everyday we are learning new things! A different way of thinking and embracing everyday tasks is taking some getting used to but we are catching on and one really starts to look at what was once considered important is perhaps not so. I admit there is a lack of privacy so you have to find ways to spend me-time so I meditate a lot more than I used to - which is a good thing! & Andrew and Erin read - getting lost in books. Besides all that we generally busy with school and this and that and the other... there always seems to be washing!

Stupid Peppa

(Andrew)Peppa came back this evening..we can leave with happy hearts, provided she doesnt do that again..heres hoping

Springbok..still

(Andrew)We havent moved on today as planned coz our cat Peppa has gone jolling or something..tomorrow sure as the sky is blue and Springbok is cold, she will become a resident here in this cold spot. it must get waaay hot here in summer, though..so tomorrow morning early we gonna be off to Augrabies. We are gonna take a slow one and stop at the padstalletjies etc..didnt ever really think i would see Pofadder but we going thru tomorrow. I hope the stupid cat comes back..

Well,we left sunny&warm clanwilliam behind at about 11:30 this morning an arrived in springbok about 4this afternoon. had to leave the western cape sometime.. we overnighting at Springbok caravan park..its damn cold here, the wind is steadily icy. Sarita&Erin are off to town tomorrow morning for retail therapy and i'll pack up(such as it is after a 1night stop)and go to the wishywashy. i missed the turnoff to the caravan park and we had to go about 5km before it was safe enough to turn this around with the car attached..lol. Springbok has surprised me no end..i had always thought it was on flat land, but today i see its built on and around a hill.. blow me away..lol. theres a harsh beauty about this landscape, all the rocks and hills are broken up but been that way for so long they are rounded from the wind. sunset looked incredible with the hills first going red then sillouhetted against the sunset..stood out like a real life hologram.. off to Augrabies tomorrow, another 300km+ drive tomorrow, but then it is stopping time for a while again...

Time to travel again

(Andrew)We've come to the end of a really cool week at Bulshoek Dam in Clanwilliam, time to move on.... weather's been cloudy today but overly cold or anything - just a couple of sprinkles of rain. Erin has swum to the other side of this dam, using the river's current... it looked cool except the water is too cold for me. didnt get any fish but we will just have to try everywhere we can. Erin also learnt to shoot our big gas operated pellet gun - that was good for both of us... we shot out a shed-load of pellets and gas cannisters... from our van to the middle of the dam... so I've turned the power down to get more shots out of it. Erin catching frogs and hundreds of tadpoles in the stream here. Sarita made potbrood for the first time today & it came out well but next time will be better..I just know this! we've booked here for a few weeks in december, closer to the water among the big trees. Gonna be cool....cant wait...
So we hit the road tomorrow to Springbok, overnight there and then on to Augrabies the next day. We'll spend about 10days there and until the long weekend, then head towards Jhb on a 3day run over the weekend..each hop about 300km or so..