Transkei- Friday 23rd-Monday 26th November

Transkei - Friday 23rd - Monday 26th November
After popping back home for Thursday to do some washing and stocking up we headed off to the Transkei at 4h30 on Friday morning. We drove down to the Mdumbi turnoff where we met Eric, Gill & their kids. From here Grant drove on to Mdumbi and Eric took the rest of us to start our hike at Presley Bay. Quite hectic roads but Grant & Bushwakka did really well.
We started to hike at about 10h00 and the kids did so well as it took us a leisurely 4 and a half hours to get to Mdumbi. WOW!!! The scenery, vegetation and landscape is so beautiful and this was a definite highlight for all of us.

Grant had to do some tricky reverse parking into campsite but we arrived to everything being set up and the most beautiful setting. We had a great braai in the evening with the kids playing with the other kids in the campsite and having a blast.

Saturday morning the kids elected to stay with the dads and have a beach day surfing and swimming as Gill & I headed off into the hills.
We really had the most amazing walk and the photographic opportunities are so abundant that I really want to find out how to use my camera to it's full potential. We got to the Mthatha river and although we were told there is a ferry that you can take to the other side for R10, we could not see anyone. Fortunately there were some fisherman in the mouth of the river that gave us a ride across. I think if we had hung around eventually the ferryman would have appeared. The other rivers that we had had to cross up until now had been manageable, with the kids having to swim but us able to walk with bags above our heads.
The morning had started off quite misty and in the distance we saw silhouettes which as we got closer were these stunning local ladies carrying bundles of wood on their head.

Soon after the river we had to head up a steep hill and towards one of the little villages heading towards Coffee Bay. Some of the local dogs decided that I made quite a tasty treat and took two little nips out of my calf. After Gill patched me up, we headed on towards the Mpuzi River through a coastal forest which a local boy guided us to.

When we arrived in Coffee Bay, we found an awesome little spot where they make an awesome takeaway cappuccino and delicious homemade bread. After these purchase we walked up the hill drinking our cappucino towards White Clay. Whew! When I saw the hill going down, I couldn't believe how Grant had got down their in the truck, but what a magical place. We spent a good portion of the afternoon watching the dolphins playing in the waves right in front of the campsite. Late afternoon we headed off in the Harris' car to watch rugby and get a pizza at Pappagelos.

The most delicious homemade ice-creams to be found at the above little spot. It soon bacame mandatory to never pass without stopping and trying out a new flavour.

On Sunday morning Gill, Mitch & I headed off for our last hike to Hole in the Wall. The others stayed back to surf and were going to pick us up later.

View of truck from hills heading towards Coffee Bay

Over the hill and faraway..... Mitch became very concerned at one point that we were going to be hijacked & taken to live in a village. After a few too many people offered to guide us, we had headed a tad too far inland, we adopted the services of a local who led us back onto the coastal track. We really got to see the most amazing views and were showed where the, "baby" Hole in the wall was.

"Baby Hole in the Wall"

Oupa en Ouma sit op die......

The rest of the gang met us at Hole in the Wall and then we headed back to Coffee Bay where the kids had an awesome time surfing and playing on the beach.

Big Hole in the Wall

Heading down to beach at Coffee Bay

Enjoying their surf

Monday morning we decided to drive to Mpuzi River and try and hike the cliffs to find the elusive cliff jumping. Well we hiked and hiked and hiked some more. We saw beautiful scenery but alas, we did not find the cliff jumping. We decided that this was more than a good enough reason to return. So we headed back to Coffee Bay for our last swim/surf and then back to White Clay to pack up the van & head up the very steep hill and home to East London.

We will definitely be returnin....





Jeffreys Bay/P.E-Monday 19th-Thursday 22nd November

Jeffreys Bay/P.E - Monday 19th - Thursday 22nd November
After leaving Nieu Bethesda we headed to P.E. to say hi to the Browns and goodbye to Donna before her trip to Australia. From here we headed to Jeffreys Bay where we set up at the caravan park and then went to find an early supper. We found the most amazing little restaurant with the HUGEST bowls of pasta. Aimee provided fantastic entertainment by dancing around the table.
Tuesday morning was an awesome day and we headed off to the beach and later hit the factory shops where Aimee made tidy work of spending all of her birthday money.

Wednesday morning we went for a cycle to have breakfast at Nina's and then went for our last swim/surf and packed up and headed to P.E. We spent the afternoon at Pine Lodge swimming and playing tennis and then headed up to visit the cousins at Grant & Michelle.
Grant & I had the night off as the kids stayed at the Brown's and we went out for supper at John Dory.

Nieu Bethesda-Saturday 17th-Monday 19th November

Nieu Bethesda-Saturday 17th-Monday 19th November
We arrived in Nieu Bethesda at about lunchtime and parked the truck in Guy & Karen's garden. What a small piece of paradise they have here. The Karoo landscape is amazingly beautiful in a very striking way. Blue, blue skies and stunning landscape, the most amazing roses seem to be growing in every garden like weeds.

We went for a drive to the local Brewery and tried out their honey beer and homemade cheeses. After this we visited the famous Owl House and found out about the interesting life of Helen Martins.

Later on in the afternoon the kids played around in the garden and had great fun on the foofie slide and made friends with Guy and Karen's nieces and nephews and went to play tennis with them at the country club.

On Sunday morning we went for a cycle around town and then went to look at the Fossil Museum in town and later on for a drive up towards the Sneeuberg Mountains, some really stunning views and lovely bird life.
On Sunday evening we had a lovely braai with David, Bonny & family and really enjoyed their warm hospitality.
Monday morning arrived and we packed up and headed off to Port Elizabeth to say hello and goodbye to the Brown's and then on to Jeffreys Bay.

Graaff Reinet- Friday 16th & Saturday 17th November

Graaff Reinet-Friday 16th & Saturday 17th November

Drive up to viewpoints on Valley of Desolation in Camdeboo National Park

I had forgotten how beautiful Graaff Reinet is. The town is so clean with all the jacaranda trees in full blossom. We had lunch at a lovely little spot in town and then had a little rest in the truck under the trees before heading to William and Cathy's house. We spent the afternoon swimming and playing at their house before heading off to take a drive up to the Valley of Desolation where we had sundowners and snacks. Beautiful views looking back on the town and being able to see how it is built in the shape of a horseshoe. We finished off the evening with a braai at the Pringles house.

Looking back over town

On Saturday morning the kids went up to Union Primary School to play some tennis before we left to go to Nieu Bethesda. Really beautiful school with stunning setting of the mountains in the background.

Mountain Zebra National Park

Mountain Zebra National Park- Wednesday 14th & Friday 16th November

It has been a hectic couple of months and we are finally back on the road. Travelled through to Mountain Zebra and arrived at about lunchtime. Really hot Karoo weather and so we headed to the pool and chilled out around the campsite.
On Thursday morning we went for a game drive and although we didn't see any cheetah we were lucky enough to see lots of other game. We stopped at the watering hole and sat on top of the truck wathching the comings & goings of the animals & having an awesome picnic.

On Friday morning Mitch & I headed off for a run which turned out to be more of a walking hike. We came across some really huge baboons & were deciding weather to retrace our steps but then they moved off. We were able to carry on and were rewarded with some really beautiful views from the top. Another hot day, so after a cool down swim in the pool we packed up and headed to Graaff Reinet to visit William, Cathy, James & Anna Pringle.

Glen Navar-Home-14th August

Glen Navar-Tuesday 14th August
After 3 and a half months we have arrived home, we left Scottburgh at 24h00 and were home by 9h30 in the morning. It is quite a surreal feeling being back and in some ways it seems like just yesterday that we left and in other ways it seems much longer.
We will always treasure our memories and the special experiences we have had.
Until our next adventure, Cheers!

Scottburgh- 9th-14th August

Scottburgh - Thursday 9th-Tuesday 14th August
We moved on to Scottburgh and arrived late afternoon after spending most of the day in Richards Bay at Pelican Island. We were so excited to see Gill, Sarah and Leah that evening as they were staying in holiday flats directly behind the campsite. Aimee has been counting the days to see Leah and we were so chuffed to see them. On Friday morning it was a big disappointement to find that the beach at Scottburgh was closed due to the heavy rains they had experienced the week before. There had been a sewerage spill further up the river so we had to find other beaches that had no estuaries attached. We still enjoyed our time there and one of the highlights for Aimee was the ice-skating the one day when the boys went to uShaka.

The girls ice-skating

Richards Bay-8th August

Richards Bay - Wednesday 8th August
We decided to stop in Richards Bay for one night on our way through to Scottburgh. We spent Wednesday night at the campsite and then on Thursday the public holiday we went to Pelican Island and spent some time on the beach there. Weather was good although water quite chilly, I think we are just spoiled.

Paddle boarding at Pelican Island in Richards Bay



Cape Vidal - 5th-7th August

Cape Vidal - Sunday 5th - Wednesday 8th August
We left Richards Bay on Sunday morning and headed towards our next stop just past St Lucia, Cape Vidal in the iSamangaliso Wetlands Park. This is a Natural Heritage Site and has a beautiful campsite with nicely upgraded ablutions and a lovely beach. The van der Merwes arrived shortly after us and it was so special to see them again.

Jaimee & Aimee on beach at Cape Vidal

We went through to St Lucia on the Tuesday morning to do a boat cruise in the St Lucia estuary and this was fantastic, if not a bit cold. We saw lots of hippo, crocodiles and birds.

Grant & Bryce on boat cruise

Jaimee,Bryce & Sebastian on boat safari on St Lucia Estuary

Mommy & Baby hippos at St Lucia Estuary



Richards Bay - 2nd - 5th August

Richards Bay Caravan Park - Thursday 2nd - Sunday 5th August
We arrived at the Protea Hotel in Richards Bay to book into the caravan park and the coincidences continue. Ron & Wilhimina the couple that we met in Tofo were pulling in behind us. We spent a lovely evening catching up on the rest of our travels and a nice morning on the beach in front of campsite.

Kids on beach with kite-surfers in background

We were pleasantly surprised with Richards Bay as we had no previous knowledge of the town. They have a lovely beach in front of the campsite and masses of kitesurfers were out as they evidently have the second strongest continual wind next to Cape Town.

Bryce & Wilhimina  on beach in front of campsite

Ron & Grant

The campsite is huge with 270 sites and it looks like they have a very well run holiday program and the kids enjoyed playing a game of adventure golf up at the hotel side. Their is such varying colours of sand on the beach and the kids built an awesome fort the one day trying to get protection from the wind.

Boardwalk from campsite to beach

Just checking in

We have moved on from Illovo beach. We spent a night in Ballito at Dolphin again. Invited to supper with Jan and her family. Was great to see them again as was 3 months ago on the way up that we saw them.
Have now made our way North to Richards Bay and are staying at Richards Bay Caravan Park. Will probably be here until Sunday when we meet up with Arno & Lucille van Der Merwe and kids at Cape Vidal. There until Thursday and then we all heaven to Scottburgh until the next Tuesday. Can't wait to see some East Coast family again.
Nights are chilly here and hope winguru is wrong as wind forecasted for a few days from weekend.

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Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note Android phone

Karridene-South Coast(28th July-1st August)

Karridene Protea Hotel (Saturday 28th July - Wednesday 1st August)
We arrived at the Karridene Protea Hotel on Saturday and will be leaving tomorrow. It is a beautiful campsite on the South Coast of Durban. You cross over the railway lines over a bridge and onto a beautiful clean beach and small lagoon. It is not the easiest swimming or surfing beach but the facilities at the campsite have been great. They have squash courts, putt-putt, trampolines and swimming pool. The campsites are really immaculately kept with great ablution facilities. We stopped in Durban beach on Saturday to watch Greg in the Masters surfing competition. He was only competing in the afternoon so we visited with him in the morning. On Sunday the weather was not so great, so we loaded up the truck and went to Galleria shopping complex and watched Ice Age 4 in 3D, which was great fun. Yesterday was also a bit grotty so we spent a bit of time on the beach but mostly did work at the campsite. Today(Tuesday), after doing a bit of schoolwork we headed to Scottburgh Beach for the day. Weather was great, water is a little bit colder than what we are used to in Moz but not too bad.

Tofo-Kruger Park-Mpumalanga-Jhb-Drakensberg-Kwa Zulu Natal

Saturday 14^th & Sunday 15^th July(Tofo to Kruger)

Our initial plan had been to leave early hours of Saturday morning and head to Swaziland for a night & then through to Kruger. We had been having so much fun in Tofo and the weather and water was so awesome, we decided to spend Saturday at the beach and then head straight through to Kruger on the Sunday. We had another awesome day and packed up in the afternoon.

 We left at 12h00 for our trip to the Kruger. A fairly uneventful trip with not too many road blocks got us to Komatipoort border where we had heard such horror stories, it was also the last day of school holidays so we were anticipating chaos. We were pleasantly surprised and before we knew it we were back in South Africa. Quite a weird feeling being back. We stopped in Komatipoort town and had a breakfast at the Wimpy, which we all enjoyed. After that we headed through to the Kruger and to Berg-en-Dal Campsite which was our first stop.

Rest stop just before Komatipoort Border

Sunday 15^th/Monday 16^th & Tuesday 17^th  July: Kruger National Park

We arrived at Berg-en-dal at about 11h00 and set up camp. The kids had a nice cold swim in the pool at the campsite. On Monday morning we took a slow drive from Berg-en-dal  to Skukuza and were very lucky to see elephant, giraffe, lots of impala, buffalo, rhino and lots of birds. After arriving at Skukuza we set up camp and went to the shop area where the watering hole is. We were lucky to see hippo and elephant here.

That night we went to one of the game movies that they show in the outside area, which was very informative and exciting for the kids.

The next day we went for a drive to one of the picnic spots and were also fortunate to spot a lot of animals. A huge herd of Buffalo soon after we left Skukuza, fish eagles, more hippos. It was great viewing from the truck as you are so high up and can see quite a distance into the bush.

Wednesday 18^th July: Blyde River Forever Resorts

We left the Kruger through the Paul Kruger gate and headed towards Hazyview and on to  Graskop  where we had pancakes at Harries Pancake House. From here we headed towards Pilgrims Rest and walked through the historical little town and posted postcards from the old Post Office to the grandparents.

Post Office in Pilgrims Rest

Royal Hotel Pilgrims Rest

From Pilgrims Rest we headed back through Graskop and took the scenic loop to Blyde via Pinnacle Point, God’s Window and on to Bourkes Luck Potholes. We were very lucky to have no mist and we could enjoy the beautiful  views. The Potholes are quite rundown from many years ago but it is still amazing to see the impact of the water through the canyon.

God’s Window

Bourkes Luck Potholes

We arrived late afternoon at Forever Resort Blyde and set up camp. This is the first time that we had felt cold. As the sun set, it was freezing and when we left in the morning at 8h00, it was 2 degrees. So out came all the winter woolies that we have had stashed away.

Thursday 19^th  & Friday 20th July: Badplaas Forever Resort

After leaving Blyde we stopped off at  Bridal falls and Mac-Mac Falls on our way to Nelspruit. We had to get some supplies and odds and ends in our first,”big city” and from here headed to Badplaas. We had a lovely stay here and swam in the hot mineral spring pools. I remember this from when I was Bryce’s age and went on a holiday with a primary school friend of mine, Patricia. We started in the hot outdoor pools and then when the sun disappeared and we went to the indoor pools. These pools temperatures are26/ 36 and 40 degrees. In the morning we had another swim and Grant & Bryce went on go-carts while Mitch and Aimee had a go on the four wheelers.

From here we headed to Johannesburg where we stayed at my mom’s house and took up the whole driveway. Mom’s neighbor kindly let her park in his driveway. It was really great to spend time with mom and to see the Brown family. My friend Shay came for supper and as always, great fun to catch up.

Saturday 21^st-Wednesday 25^th July: Jhb 94 Ernest Rd

On Saturday morning we went with mom to my cousin Neville Young book signing. He has just written a really interesting book aimed at the layman on Astronomy and the Universe.

From here we went to watch Tallis and Shanna in their gymnastics competition where they both did really well. Tallis received 2 gold medals and Shanna and her partner a bronze. We spent the evening at Ryan and Mandi’s house and on Sunday spent the day at Granny Joyce where the cousins had great fun playing dress up and going into the cellar. Had a busty Monday & Tuesday in Jhb, had an awesome supper at Liz & Ian on Monday and at Shay’s house o n Tuesday, as well as having the new awning fitted on the truck and haircuts done.

Cousins playing dress up at 94(Granny's House)

Shay

Wednesday 25th-Friday 26th   July: Atkv Drakensville (Drakensberg)

We left Jhb at  5h00 in the morning and stopped off in a very cold Harrismith for breakfast. Once arriving in Drakensville and setting up camp we headed for the indoor pool and then the kids went to the trampolines and play area. We had a great afternoon spent playing squash and had a great curry that Grant made. The next day, Thursday, more of the same, we went for a run and then to the pool. We spent quite a bit of time doing schoolwork in the sun with a beautiful setting of the Drakensberg Mountains and then some more squash and finishing off with a swim.

Friday 27th July: Durban & Zinkwazi
We left Drakensville fairly early and headed for Durban stopping at the Pavilion shopping centre to pick up groceries and then on to Durban beachfront where we watched some of the Masters surfing competition at the New Pier. From here we headed to Zinkwazi Lagoon Lodge campsite. This has been a definite sign of where advertising is misleading. The campsite is not great, although the beach and lagoon is awesome! We will probably leave here tomorrow and head to one of the campsites on the South Coast.
I will post pictures at a later stage as am battling with the connections to do photos at this stage.