Thanks to my wonderful Qantas airpoints, I managed to get a short trip in to Port Macquarie to see Chloe, Israel and Alana on my way to London. I love the little planes that take you up there - there's really something about seeing the propeller whizzing around so fast until it becomes see-through which helps you imagine how it must have been like flying in 'the olden days'.
Chloe et al live in a great house which borders a huge reserve on two sides - full of kookaburra and frogs (which I heard), kangaroo (which I saw) and snakes (which, thankfully, I neither heard nor saw). Maybe the presence of Indie, their boisterous bull terrier puppy helps to scare them off! It was such a nice, chilled visit. We basically just hung out playing with Alana who's now eight and a half months old and cute as a button (particularly the hands and feet which rotate around like crazy whenever she's happy or there's food nearby - that generally makes me happy too so I completely understand), and had a few excursions to the beach and into town. Port Macquarie has such a lazy atmosphere - and considering it was 23 degrees and the middle of winter I completely understand!
It was lovely seeing Chloe again too - it's sometimes a bit of a challenge keeping up with everyone when we all live scattered over the globe but it's great when you can talk to someone and it's like no time's gone by at all, you're exactly as you were. Hopefully we can meet up again in London soon!
No photos yet as I've resorted to using my old film camera in place of my sadly departed digi. Hopefully they come out ok! The excitement of anticipation is half the fun though anyway.
Next stop, San Francisco!
Friday, 20 August 2010
Wednesday, 11 August 2010
Krazy Kroonstad
Kroonstad was definitely not somewhere which we had read about in the Lonely Planet and thought, my gosh, we absolutely can't miss it! In fact, I don't know if I even bothered to read past the introduction...
But, as the only place worth mentioning on the way between Lesotho and Johannesburg, it was where we were destined to spend the last two nights of our trip. We rocked on up to the near deserted, yet enormous, campsite. In fact, the only other people camping were the some workers...obviously Kroonstad's not a big winter camping destination! After spending the night out at a very 'interesting' Afrikaaner biker bar watching the Spain vs Germany game, we realised why - it was freezing! Luckily we had our fantastic Basotho blankets to keep us nice and toasty.
After a hearty breakfast of stale fat cakes rolled in sugar (we really were sinking to new lows of coronary meltdown by that point), it was off to explore! The tourism office was barred closed, but once the workers got over the shock of seeing some tourists, let us in to look over their paltry selection of pamphlets and gave us a list of the top 20 things to do in Kroonstad. While the white lion breeding centre could have grabbed our attention on another day, we were all animal-ed out, so instead decided to spend the morning doing practical things (i.e. the internet) then a bit of a historical jaunt around town.
While Emilia and I were at the internet cafe, Adrian and Dan managed to strike up a lengthy conversation with an extremely friendly local who owned not only the bargain goods shop, but the fish and chip shop next door. Next thing we knew we were being shouted a massive fish and chip lunch! And that was only the beginning of the generosity of the Kroonstad locals...
After lunch we decided a walk around the place was warranted. We checked out the market (Emilia narrowly avoiding, yet again, buying a traditional African dress which while very cool, was several sizes too big and probably would have languished helplessly in the back of the wardrobe waiting to be altered), then went to the local church. It was quite impressive, all round turrets and manicured gardens. One of the gardeners saw us trying the door to see if it was open and got the caretaker who gave us the grand tour! The door key was enormous, as were the bibles inside and the beards of all the ancestors in the photos on the wall! Inside it looked more like a theatre than a church, but still in quite an austere style - I thought it was a great combo.
After the church we decided to make for the jukskei museum. Jukskei I hear you ask? It's a traditional folk sport which is kind of like petanque - you throw these big sticks at another stick in some sand - and it's awesome fun! It's a really big deal in South Africa (mainly among the Afrikaaners) and the people at the museum were so friendly! The guy showed us round the museum, pointing out all the interesting things, and then actually took us outside for at least an hour and showed us how to play! I had a freakishly good start, knocking the stick over in the middle every time for my first three goes, but my form rapidly deteriorated after that... It was definitely beginners' luck!
Another braai followed the jukskei and then it was our last night in the tents and last night in South Africa... A drive up to Joburg the next day and straight on the plane! Strange that it was all over.
I will definitely, definitely, be back in Africa soon. It was absolutely wonderful and I'm dying to see more!
Tuesday, 3 August 2010
Where can you see lions...
Here are Adrian's photos of South Africa, and then of Lesotho. His are much more animal heavy than mine given the fancy nature of his camera and awesome zoom lens! If you ever want to see more animal ones, give us a shout - there are hundreds more where these came from...
Monday, 26 July 2010
Lesotho #2
Imagine if you will, a village perched high up in the mountains, accessible only by steep, rocky paths and comprising about a dozen, round mud huts. Oh, and a whole lot of animals, including donkeys, cows, roosters and pigs. That was the sight that our saddle weary bodies encountered about mid-afternoon on our first fully day in Lesotho.
We hopped down from our horses, checked out our rondavel and were introduced to our teenage guide who would take us on the walk up to see the waterfall at the end of the valley. Now, if we were thinking this would be some pleasant stroll through the hills we would have been sadly, sadly mistaken. It was like being on an army assault course! Determined to keep up so I would know where to put my feet on all the rocky terrain, it was a hard hour slog up to the waterfall and another one back, but my goodness, was it worth it. I think it could easily have been the single best thing in the whole trip – it was absolutely, incredibly beautiful. And the sense of adrenalin and endorphins from charging across the hillsides at such a pace was pretty awesome too! Our guide was loping across the rocks in gumboots, going at the same pace up and down hills as on the flat – unlike the rest of us scrambling behind! I only fell over twice which I think was pretty reasonable for me… We took some photos but I just don’t know if they would have captured it – it really was magical.
That night we hunkered down in our rondavel – which was actually really warm and cosy. Our dinner of pasta, veges and luncheon sausage was a delight (I’m allowed to say that, I was cooking it) and after sharing it with our two guides they shared with us their 'fat cakes' which were absolutely delicious… (We loved them so much that we bought a whole heap the next day, learnt to roll them in sugar, and gorged ourselves until we could eat no more…oh well, this was also after we cut them open, put chocolate inside them and cooked them in the embers of the braai…mmmmm….).
The morning dawned slowly through the mist – what a place to wake up. Surprisingly no-one was too sore and achy, so after a gourmet breakfast of tinned spaghetti, it was back in the saddle. It was all going well until Emilia’s horse went a bit mental. She was on the lead (Mujalifa was holding the reins) and decided to basically walk into a hole and throw Emilia off. Luckily she didn’t fall too awkwardly so no broken bones! She and I swapped horses at that point – my horse Mistress was so placid that it was a nice change for me to have to (literally) rein in a more uptight ride. It took until about 1pm to head back to the lodge, going on the other side of the river so we got a completely different perspective on all the mountains. Once we got back we went straight back out for a walk to see some rock art and a cave which helped you throw the best echoes out across the valley – very cool. That night was our extravagant cooked dinner at the lodge followed by (you guessed it) watching more football.
The next day we sadly had to leave the lodge, but dampened our pain by doing a bit more sightseeing in the hills and buying a blanket each! The blanket in Lesotho (also known as a Basotho blanket is really important (see here or here for the very interesting story of how they came to be so integral to daily life).
We’d seen them on nearly everybody, and while I thought it was quite ironic that the locals liked our ‘western clothes’ and we liked their blankets, that wasn’t going to stop us buying one. Adrian had wanted one for a while, having read about them in the guide book, but I think it wasn’t surprising that we were all so enamoured we had to buy one. We had thought you needed to go to a special souvenir shop or something, but no, these are sold in the supermarket along with everything else. We caused a bit of a commotion though buying four at a cost of 550 maloti each (just over NZ$100) – the manager of the supermarket was definitely in a good mood! Dan and I got ones with a corn pattern (me black and dark blue, Dan orange and light blue), while Adrian got a red and yellow crown pattern and Emilia got a black and dark blue kind of fleur de lis pattern. They’re pure wool and just fantastic.
After a slight scare where the customs official thought we had bought them to on-sell and wanted us to pay duty on the blankets, it was back into South Africa and up to Kroonstad, a mid-size Free State town where we were passing a couple of nights before heading home.
Last entry on Kroonstad coming soon!
We hopped down from our horses, checked out our rondavel and were introduced to our teenage guide who would take us on the walk up to see the waterfall at the end of the valley. Now, if we were thinking this would be some pleasant stroll through the hills we would have been sadly, sadly mistaken. It was like being on an army assault course! Determined to keep up so I would know where to put my feet on all the rocky terrain, it was a hard hour slog up to the waterfall and another one back, but my goodness, was it worth it. I think it could easily have been the single best thing in the whole trip – it was absolutely, incredibly beautiful. And the sense of adrenalin and endorphins from charging across the hillsides at such a pace was pretty awesome too! Our guide was loping across the rocks in gumboots, going at the same pace up and down hills as on the flat – unlike the rest of us scrambling behind! I only fell over twice which I think was pretty reasonable for me… We took some photos but I just don’t know if they would have captured it – it really was magical.
That night we hunkered down in our rondavel – which was actually really warm and cosy. Our dinner of pasta, veges and luncheon sausage was a delight (I’m allowed to say that, I was cooking it) and after sharing it with our two guides they shared with us their 'fat cakes' which were absolutely delicious… (We loved them so much that we bought a whole heap the next day, learnt to roll them in sugar, and gorged ourselves until we could eat no more…oh well, this was also after we cut them open, put chocolate inside them and cooked them in the embers of the braai…mmmmm….).
The morning dawned slowly through the mist – what a place to wake up. Surprisingly no-one was too sore and achy, so after a gourmet breakfast of tinned spaghetti, it was back in the saddle. It was all going well until Emilia’s horse went a bit mental. She was on the lead (Mujalifa was holding the reins) and decided to basically walk into a hole and throw Emilia off. Luckily she didn’t fall too awkwardly so no broken bones! She and I swapped horses at that point – my horse Mistress was so placid that it was a nice change for me to have to (literally) rein in a more uptight ride. It took until about 1pm to head back to the lodge, going on the other side of the river so we got a completely different perspective on all the mountains. Once we got back we went straight back out for a walk to see some rock art and a cave which helped you throw the best echoes out across the valley – very cool. That night was our extravagant cooked dinner at the lodge followed by (you guessed it) watching more football.
The next day we sadly had to leave the lodge, but dampened our pain by doing a bit more sightseeing in the hills and buying a blanket each! The blanket in Lesotho (also known as a Basotho blanket is really important (see here or here for the very interesting story of how they came to be so integral to daily life).
We’d seen them on nearly everybody, and while I thought it was quite ironic that the locals liked our ‘western clothes’ and we liked their blankets, that wasn’t going to stop us buying one. Adrian had wanted one for a while, having read about them in the guide book, but I think it wasn’t surprising that we were all so enamoured we had to buy one. We had thought you needed to go to a special souvenir shop or something, but no, these are sold in the supermarket along with everything else. We caused a bit of a commotion though buying four at a cost of 550 maloti each (just over NZ$100) – the manager of the supermarket was definitely in a good mood! Dan and I got ones with a corn pattern (me black and dark blue, Dan orange and light blue), while Adrian got a red and yellow crown pattern and Emilia got a black and dark blue kind of fleur de lis pattern. They’re pure wool and just fantastic.
After a slight scare where the customs official thought we had bought them to on-sell and wanted us to pay duty on the blankets, it was back into South Africa and up to Kroonstad, a mid-size Free State town where we were passing a couple of nights before heading home.
Last entry on Kroonstad coming soon!
Wednesday, 21 July 2010
Photos!
Here's a teaser of some photos from the trip...
At the Nelspruit fanzone watching South Africa vs Uruguay.
Outside the NZ vs Italy match at Nelspruit.
Congratulating the team.
Elephant at Kruger National Park!
At the Nelspruit fanzone watching South Africa vs Uruguay.
Outside the NZ vs Italy match at Nelspruit.
Congratulating the team.
Elephant at Kruger National Park!
Click here for the rest of the photos from the first couple of weeks of our trip (before my camera got knocked out of my hand and went bung...).
Adrian's much better ones should be up at some point - we just have to go through the 3000 shots of elephants, 2000 shots of lions and one million of various antelope species to pick out the perfect ones for the album...
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