Witsand ... fishing!

After a long and slow journey we eventually rolled into Witsand which lies along the mouth of the Breede river.

 Leon and Hanli invited us to set up camp on their farm for a bit,... a beautiful, but windy place. There are no trees, even the Port Jacksons lay low and if there is no south-easter blowing then the south-west wind is howling... sand sand and more sand everywhere! It was a constant battle but at least that was the only pressing thing we had to do the whole time we were there.

We were only going to stay a couple of days... perhaps a week at the most and then go on our way. Then Andrew went fishing... LOL

Leon laid his hands on a small rubber duck with a big engine, so loads of fun in the waves there, too...

So Andrew made the most of it and spent most of his time fishing, and I mean fishing!!! Leon invited Andrew out on the boat, and it was springtide and full moon so the fishing was ON!! 

Okay, he's insisting here over my shoulder that it was a slow start but to be honest I was really impressed with the size of dinner he brought home!

He even made the local newspaper...

There's a couple of bull sharks stalking the river mouth and these fishing guys with their 17kg catches are easy targets for a lekker meal for these fat lazy sharks.

Shame I can only imagine the heartbreak when you fighting a fish for 20 minutes for it to come down to a race between the gaff and the shark - only for the haai to say 'hi, thanks & goodbye'.

So at the end of it (the rod, that is) the head weighed 4kgs! ... and that was the 2nd fish on the menu for the shark!

As the saying goes, 'all's well that ends well' - we ate amazing grunter and cob.

Andrew caught 3 cobs, (10kg, 11kg & 14kg) and loads of grunter between 2-4kgs - Erin even contributed to that lot with a 4kg grunter!

14kg cob

Massive stingray!

He even had a stingray fighting for 40 minutes...

A full catch

While they fished I caught up on some time with Hanli, mostly at the pool, where we whiled away the hours tanning and swimming... perfect! It was so cool that Erin and Troi finally bonded and were so amazing together playing. He is such a sweet boy and would spontaneously give us hugs filled with so much loves. We got to know littl' Troi a lot better and he is really so funny with quite the sense of humour! It wasn't long before he started speaking to us in English, wow that was quite amazing and even Erin's Afrikaans has since taken an upturn - in fact we all got some practice at it.

friends ... finally!

Tsonga the hunter

There was no shortage of animals milling around the campsite, everyday the geese made their rounds hissing and freaking out anyone who got in their way, so Troi made it his mission to chase them on their way, ha ha.

No lawnmower required...

Shame poor Tsonga got beaten up rather badly by some rogue assassin cat from the lodge, and this time Peppa knew better and stayed away from the chaos. I think between the dogs, sheep, geese and sleep it was more than enough to keep her occupied. LOL


It was so nice to be able to cook in a kitchen with a 6-plate gas stove and an amazing oven! I loved it, and basically took over the kitchen for the time we stayed - cooking some of the dishes I don't have the opportunity to do in the van.

It was cutting it fine with the school term starting so late and I had to rush off to Cape Town to collect Erin's 2012 curriculum from the postbox. I sat for days tracking this parcel and the moment it pulled up on the tarmac of CT airport I raced to the mother city. Hanli would not hear of me going alone and was packed before me. LOL

I never get tired of that view...

Needless to say it was a very productive trip, we had a long list of errands to run! But we made up for it by staying at such a wonderful B&B that Hanli arranged for us. The bed was ... a BED! What heaven, and I enjoyed every awake and asleep moment I spent sprawled on that bed. We also had a view to die for... Anyways towards the end of the dreaded list I was yearning for 'home' (Andrew and Erin) and by the time we finished at the storage I was racing for Witsand. I had the school curriculum and I was happy to be going back, I had enough of Cape Town and 'stuff to do on the list'. I was tired, hungry and hot!

Gratefully we got home at dusk to some very happy smiley faces, it was so cool! So now we were ready to start planning the next leg of our journey...










I literally spent the next 24hours printing out Erin's work for Grade 6 so we could get going on the road and on the 2012 curriculum...

We spent some time chatting about what's next and seeing as I was about to embark on a cheesemaking course in February we decided to head east along the garden route towards George.

A couple of days later we said our goodbyes and our promises to return in a little while were bound by ties of friendship.

Thank you to Leon, Hanli and Troi for the amazing time. Your hospitality knew no bounds and you made us feel welcome in your home, thank you.

Simonskloof Mountain Retreat

So the advert said to phone ahead of time to check the status of the road... we didn't phone! It wasn't raining or anything drastic like that but as it turned out the road was already drastic.  I think the van 'shat' itself...

heading up and over

snake slithering away... away is good!

Obviously at first it all seemed normal dirt road but that very suddenly changed to a 4X4 trail that our van had never seen the likes of.  Looking back on it we probably should have unhitched the car. 10kms of treacherous road lay ahead of us... a car passed us by and asked rather surprisingly if we were indeed going to Simonskloof to which we very nervously nodded while balancing 3 wheels on a rocky ridge, to let them pass.



We must of looked a sight because they gave a very reassuring smile and wished us good luck! Anyways after some very hairy and scary situations and over an hour we finally got to civilization... the car that passed us! We met up with the owners of the place and their dogs (there's always dogs LOL) and we were so exhausted by the time camp was finally set up but we still got a braai going. There's nothing like chilling out next to a roaring fire at sunset... anywhere in South Africa.

Did we have a rude awakening awaiting us?... OH YES! I know I sound melodramatic but for me... it was a fairly traumatic experience.  We were shown the ablutions, most days a cold water shower until Andrew managed to get the donkey geyser running long enough for at least 2 of us - now the shower with a view I can handle, really not a problem compared with the 'long-drop' with a view! Andrew says it was a respectable long-drop but to be honest I did not feel very respectable sitting there with the flies buzzing around my head waiting for me to lift my booty. Oh no... it was awful!!

No not a long-drop... waiting for shower water to heat up!

We all got through it and by the end of the 4 days and I promised that never again will I take a flushing toilet for granted. So I will say no more about that matter and move on!

However the rest of the time was amazing - totally isolated... and freakin' HOT!!

The vast expanse of the place and the rawness - obviously no electricity or cellphone activity, I couldn't believe we didn't make it on the 2 'deep-cycle' batteries connected to the 60W solar panel. By the last day our fridge had drained the last little smidge of energy from it's cells. The cats had a ball too and loved every second of it, every day they came home with something dead.

All around us were wild fruit trees, bursting with the ripening fruits of pears, apples, cherries and apricots, even pomegranets! Incredible... just up the path was this small little dam where no fishing was permitted but that didn't stop Erin with her fishing net.  These bluegills had no idea that humans could be threatening..., she must have caught hundreds with her net but obviously let them all go.

While we were chilling on the floating jetty a little snake swam towards us and of course I freaked out, if only for a second until I realised how small he was 30cm. LOL!  Everyday our site was visited by this massive tortoise together with his friends, so we left out our peels for him which they loved.




We had a very cool time but did not escape unscathed, as all around the camp were these magnificent old oak trees, of which one was 200 years old, but they spent the time raining their sap all over our stuff! At least it wasn't too difficult to wash off ;-}

So we learn't something the hard way, don't park under or anywhere near oak trees!

Back on the road we drove separately and somehow the drive back to the tar road did not seem half as bad or treacherous - I think we just needed a little taming.

So the 'stupid bitch' Garmin was set for Witsand...

xmas day

We arrived at Ian & Jess's house on xmas eve to a very excited and bustling household. Fortunately the cats settled down nicely considering we were parked on the big grassy sidewalk outside their house, those cats are truly amazing! We were a little worried they would wonder into someone's garden, pulled by the memory of the good ol' days of a house in the suburbs with a bed in the sun...

The first thing Erin did was jump in the pool and that was the last we saw of her until xmas morning! It was so freakin' hot that the beers went down steadily and the next thing I knew the festivities had begun, way cool.

We were woken at the crack of dawn by the children with a cup of suspect 'tea or coffee' ...(I couldn't tell LOL ha ha) - but we were so finished from the previous late night, so an hour later & 2 cups of kick-ass coffee down the hatch and we were almost ready.


We had a fun morning watching the kids (and Ian) enjoying all the presents, it was brilliant. It was lovely exchanging gifts and we were loving the joy being spread around with all the laughter and joking around.

The way society is 'evolving' and big business is milking every known holiday to the advantage of making money, and Christmas being the biggest of the year, I think the significance of xmas is lost on most of today's kids, which is sad because it is really about giving a part of yourself, your time and most of all your love. I know we all give in different ways, our hearts, in gifts, donations, favours, to the poor or whatever suits our nature at the time of giving but ultimately it is to give with unconditional love and 'without' expectation. The happiness of this festive time has quickly changed to the happiness of 'getting lots' of gifts. Come on parents, lets go through a xmas without a 'gift list' and so many gifts... ja right says dad! LOL

Oh man we had some stunning laughs throughout the day!

Of course, we had a beautiful lunch which we ended up having for dinner... after a couple of rounds of shooters (that bottle didn't last long heh guys!?). It was well worth the wait though, Jess and I cooked a wonderful feast! We had such a blast swimming and lounging round the pool the whole day, that I totally forgot to take pictures and these are just a few that were snapped. They really don't do justice to the really cool day we had.

Needless to say by 8 o'clock we were pretty worn out and already one casualty down for the night - even the kids voluntarily went to sleep! Oh my hat, by the time Andrew and I tidied up and finished showering were like walking zombies to our van.











By the next day we were already getting itchy feet and were ready to hit the road, although we knew it was not going to be an easy one ahead of us... 30kms of harsh dirt road awaited us and no electricity for 4 nights! So Andrew instead played Wii golf with Ian all day, he insists it was only one game however 18 holes goes a freaking long way especially only after practice... LOL

Ian and Jess thank you for your genuine hospitality and the continued use of your washing machine, you guys are fabulous!