Bulshoek Dam... again

So we decided to take the back road to Clanwilliam, a very slow journey to say the least but then again that's the whole point!
There were times we couldn't even see the golf trailing behind us, there was so much dust.




Along the way we came across an oasis with a waterfall coming straight out the rock...




From the road we travelled we were able to get the full view of Clanwilliam Dam, it's a lot bigger than one would expect and we travelled (very slowly ... on a dirt road) along it's length.

Clanwilliam Dam

 

We arrived to a very hot and empty campsite, awesome! We settled right on the waterfront under the trees, and felt right at home. Shortly after that people started filtering in and the place filled up at a steady rate and getting rather full towards xmas. We set up tent and all the odds and ends that make up home and of course had a lekker braai...

It was amazing weather, some days were a little breezy but with the heat it was a relief as opposed to a bother.




On our 1st day there we caught 5 fish between 2-3.5kgs, it was so exciting! Erin got the big one that day of 3.5kgs and Andrew ended up getting a 4kg about a week later.

the 1st of many...

 

all bright eyed with adrenalin

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in the middle of the night... sleepy eyes

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they just kept on biting...

 

... and biting

Every single fish that we caught was safely released back into the river.

This friendly herd wandered through the campsites and grazed across the river, so often we were entertained by their antics and the sounds of them lowing to each other - it was quite a hoot!

We really had a lot of fun in the 2 weeks we spent there and had so many laughs.

such a good sport ,,, LOL

Erin passed Grade 5 with an 82% total average! Oh wow, we are so incredibly proud of her and if I had any dwindling doubts about home-schooling, well they are so a thing of the past - so bring on Grade 6! She is walking around like a Cheshire cat who just caught the canary - fantastically well done Erin.

Erin made a friend while we were camped at Bulshoek, which was really cool as it gave us plenty of time off. In fact we explored the river with a little blowup boat and we met some very interesting people, so with all the fishing, swimming and beautiful weather we got rather tanned.

We found a rope-swing hanging from the oak tree up river and Andrew had some fun swinging into the river. It was so fantastic playing in the water like little kids, floating down the river though a channel through the reed beds to our campsite. Erin even learnt to ride a long board standing up with a paddle, she called it 'subbing', and I called it 'standing on a surf-board while paddling'.

cool-cat

The cats absolutely loved this site and Peppa adopted this fishing boat as her chill out spot! She even abandoned her water bowl for lapping it up fresh from the banks of the river.

Peppa & Tsonga friends at last!

Unfortunately it was time to leave as we had made a commitment elsewhere for xmas. The place was buzzing the day before xmas when we left with the last of campers pulling in, I think we're going to miss this place.

I reckon we'll come back soon, and hopefully spend a bit of quality time - it's a great place to spend some time fishing and getting through school.

On the road again back to the city didn't much appeal to us, but heh it's xmas - a time of merriment and days filled with love, laughter and plenty of good food... also summer decided to drop by Cape Town. LOL

Cederberg Mountains

Finally our time in Cape Town had come to an end, with a lot of last minute rushing around and eventually the mountain saw the back end of us trailing up the N7 on 1st Dec.

We were glad to be on our way again even though it was only a skip away into the Cederberg, and as soon as we hit the mountain pass we lost all cellphone signal... what bliss! It was then I remembered my sis was going in for an operation, so Jo you were in our thoughts;-} As we were driving along we passed Algeria, LOL this was funny for us because when we lived in Cape Town we always wanted to spend a weekend in Algeria, but 'it was just too far off the beaten path'... now we were going further into the mountain!





It was rather cool that we could set up the hammock and dart board, and in all the time we were there we could only make use of them on 1 day - because of the wind!


Although the wildlife was pretty cool, plenty of birds, lizards, frogs and loads of spiders!

This was one of those places that looked more spacious in the brochure... but we made the best of it, which was easy as the place was relatively empty - so simply chilling and relaxing as hard as possible was on the agenda, well the wind didn't give us much choice.
So much for escaping the Cape Wind.

Eight days later we made our way out the gates taking the scenic route to Clanwilliam. This meant a long and slow trek through the mountains on a little dirt road, and we were rewarded with such incredible beauty. It seemed as if we were the only people on earth.

Exams are Over!

Finally Erin's exams are over and all the studying and stressing has come to an end!

I'm fairly sure she has done well and given her best.

Well done Erin and let's keep up the hard work for Grade 6 next year!

Full Circle ...?

Our journey to Cape Town was non-eventful, no drum roll or coming home music. Except it was everything that I remember… rain and cold! We had come full circle and we could just make out the mountain from the clouds, it was good to be back.

So we book into by Melkbos but this time we have found ourselves a spot that is protected from the worst of the cold and wind.

Our days are mostly filled with revision and Erin studying, and in our free time we're fixing up and replenishing our stuff for the next round of touring. Busy busy…

Erin is half-way through with exams and personally I can’t wait for the end of November, but she is really doing so well and putting a lot of effort into staying on top of her studies. We are very proud of her and of the commitment she has shown towards her schooling. I am looking forward to a new experience with grade 6 next year as I've learned tutoring techniques along the way and found loads of new ideas in making the lessons much more interesting and fun.

We celebrated my friend Jessie's birthday at their house and had an awesome time catching up over a braai and a couple of drinks. She has a wonderful family and we feel so welcome in thier home.

If you know us well, you will not be surprised to hear that we only started looking for places to stay in December after we got to Melkbos – everything by the seat of our pants! Eventually we have found a couple of what-we-hope-to-be-amazing-spots and our good friends Ian and Jess are putting us up for xmas day. Thanks guys, i know we will all have a super day!

All of the places we're going to in December are in the mountains and we’ll be out of range again with this crappy little modem of ours, so we out of touch for a while until we back in Cape Town again for xmas. The one spot has no electricity and has prompted us to go solar, and now we even doing our bit to reduce our carbon footprint. I can see Andrew is going to pick this dude’s brain until he has taught Andrew everything about solar power. LOL

Witsand

So we left Oudtshoorn with lovely memories and trekked to Witsand to visit our friend Hanli and her family and we surprised her for her birthday.

They live in such a beautiful place overlooking the mouth of the Breede river, the wind wasn't very friendly though but everyone else was.

 Troi inherited our pet-fish when we packed up to go on the road, and wow! these fish have come a long way, they are doing so well and they bring joy the family. Met some new people which is always a bonus and even better that they were genuinely nice and funny dudes.

Little Troi is a cute little kid, but I think a bit of a handful for Erin... but way gorgeous nevertheless. We had an awesome time celebrating Hanli's birthday around a braai and a few drinks and loads of laughs. It's so cool meeting up with good ol' friends.

Leon and Troi took Andrew and Erin fishing up the river in their boat, and even caught some little fish but had to throw them back as they were all too small.

All too quickly the weekend was over and we packed up to leave and took a leisurely Sunday drive back to Cape Town.

Oudtshoorn

A lovely long drive to Oudtshoorn & Erin studying on the road... just like we planned and all went well.

The scenery was breathtaking all the way but when we reached the mountain range - oh wow.


Just before we got to Oudtshoorn, the silence spoke volumes as to how we were feeling surrounded by the magnificent mountain range.

 Incredible to say the least...

We stayed at a municipal park which turned out to be really nice, surprisingly so as municiple parks are seriously not the greatest.

This place was so far off the internet grid we did not even have cellphone coverage. It gives new meaning to isolation less than 10km from town!

There was a beautiful dam up in the mountains but unfortunately our entry was restricted and only open to municipality - it figures...  It was nice to see bus loads of children regularly being brought for outings and wonderful to see how well behaved they were.

It was rather odd though that there was no 'wildlife' hanging around besides our cats, so we spent a day at their local Wildlife Ranch.

Not much to look at when you first arrive but as we went on the tour with the guide our disappointment changed to enjoyment.

We learned quite a lot about their recovery programmes for injured and abandoned animals and had an opportunity to either crocodile cage dive or spend some time with cheetahs or tigers.

Oh man! Erin was pleading to crocodile cage dive but both Andrew and I were a bit intimidated by the size of the 3 crocs on call... uh ah!

So the best we could offer her was a visit to the cubs.  In the end she settled for the cheetahs - which turned out to be such fun. They are so adorable, but one has to respect the fact that they are wild animals. 

We had an awesome day but were exhausted at the end of it and were only too happy to trek back to our 'home'.

After some hectic studying I rewarded Erin with a trip to the cango caves and we did the full tour... LOL it was hectic crawling through those tight spots!

I would have never believed I could get my ass through there had it not been for the large dude that was on the same tour - I had to see him crawl through the tunnel before I went.

As we were inching our way through the 'tunnel of love' Erin pipes up what a big mistake it would be if someone were to fart! LOL that cracked me up.

The structures in the cave looked as if they were pictures out of a fantasy novel, like Lord of the Rings, absolutely incredible how the rocks formed over thousands of years. Imagine being the first person to find the cave...

On our last day in Oudsthoorn Erin and I decided to visit the ostrich farm for a quick tour. I was 'hugged' by one of the ostriches but she was too quick for the kodak moment and we met a 'dwarf' ostrich - short and all!

 I finally gave in and bought Erin an ostrich egg, much to her delight and even picked up a couple of bottles of wine. Nice!

All too quickly our time in Oudsthoorn had come to an end and we had to start packing up for our visit to Hanli enroute to Cape Town... exam time looming again.