Woke to a wet
and misty morning, left the door open over night so much of our clean
camper was wet this morning, tried to have a shower, let the dogs
have a piss and pack up without getting us all too wet, not very
successfull but gave us a reason to leave early and drive the 45km
over the coastal road, which is a relatively new road that was not
here the last time I was in the area, to Lambert's Bay. The map
showed it as a tar road but the last part was a potholed sand road
but by then the fog had cleared a bit and the rain had let up, not a
pleasant road to have travelled if it was still raining, picked up a
coloured hitchhiker, sweet guy who would rather sit with the dogs
growling at him than walk in the drissle the last 5km into town, he
showed us where the campsite was, not where my map showed it, and
then told me to come by his place on my way out of town and he will
give me some aartappels, thanked me profusely for the lift and went
on his way. We had been past by lots of 4x4's on the sand road and
the camper looks like she took a mudbath.
snow on the mountains
ostrich farming this far north and snow on the piketberg mountains
Elands bay
The campsite had
no-one around so we went back into town for a walk on the beach and
then came back to the site later, the lady had been there all along
hiding behind her phone, quoted me R136 for the night then dropped it
to R102 when I mentioned I'm on pension (this is really working for
me) I said I would stay for two nights, then she said I could not
stay when I mentioned the dogs, but my charm talked her around, I
promised to park in the little area thay have at the bottom of this
huuuuge place, suitable for tents and down a bank a bit hidden from
the rest of the park, there is one other caravan here with a tent and
all the fittings including a satellite dish, the book says they are
from Cape Town and they wanted to bring their little dog but were
told they could not, she is worried about them seeing my dogs, I said
I would stay under the rada far away from them, not hard to do as
this must be the largest campsite I've stayed in in South Africa, I
remember a larger one in Lisbon but it was a municipal one that
housed a lot of permanent tenants, this one has only holiday makers,
must be hell here in season.
We cuddled
indoors with a book for awhile until the sun came out a bit and the
day cleared up, then drove out of the site and round and down the
outside of it onto the empty beach which we are parked next to but
cannot get to because of the fence surrounding the park, we stopped
in the parking area with one other little white car there as soon as
I stopped the three occupants got out of the car, all holding
beers,and accosted me wanting to know about the snakes, young guys
out doing what youngsters do on a Saturday afternoon in Lambert's
bay, they were very interesting to talk to and even accepted Jos
attacking them when I let the dogs out the door, I had told them just
to stand still and they did, and were impressed when she went at them
but then stopped and sniffed their jeans and left them alone.
sunset at elandsbaai
elands bay
the railway line
our front yard
So how is my law
of attraction radar, one of them, Donovan, has just been up the coast
to Doringbaai and tells me the roads are bad because of the rain but
in the dry weather my camper will be fine as long as I just watch the
potholes, they did the trip in their little white jobby, then one of
them tells me he lived in Skaapvlei which is a huge town and everyone
does their own thing and there are no farmers up there so you can
build your farm wherever you want tannie, they tell me, now is that
not exactly what I wanted to hear or what, that is the spot I am
looking at give or take 50km either side and I knew nothing about
Skaapvlei, never heard of it. I was looking at the map and thinking
of the perfect spot being around Cliff point, looks great and I can
park myself between the road and the beach if the space is large
anough, may be too close to civilization but it looks and sounds
great so I will go and check it out, he also told me the campsites
along the coast are for 4 x 4's and my camper will get bogged down in
the sea sand if I attempt to go to one, good to know.
Left them to
their beers and loud music and took a long walk along the beach and
the dunes out of town, down around the river mouth with water that
stinks to high heaven, even in this pretty town, must be from the
fisheries in the area, there are a lot of them, then into town for
some lunch and to look for some wi-fi. The hotel gives theirs only to
guests and the local restaurant that supplies it with a meal was
closed, so we gave it a miss, had another walk in the town beach and
then headed back to the campsite for dinner for the dogs, coffee for
me, still black, I am attempting to get a taste for it so when I live
in the middle of nowhere I won't miss not having any milk.
Had the night to
write and read and watch some TV shorts, started watching 'Community'
which I thought was really doff to start with but it's growing on me,
maybe because I am limited with my choices, not sure. I got the first
three seasons from Kay in Cape Town. Dogs are out like lights because
they spent an hour chasing the feral cats that are too dumb to leave
the area and I know if Jos gets hold of one she will rip it apart so
I have to shake the cats out of the trees until they hightail it out
of our little boudour down here in no mans land and out of Josies
sight.
So comfortable,
warm, settled, the rain is back, should be able to have a hot shower
later when I'm ready for bed and tomorrow we will go and explore bird
island and attempt to have a meal and maybe get some internet
connection.
Before I had a
chance at a shower the owners husband rocks up in his 4x4 and tells
me, in very nice Afrikaans, that their are some 'swart mense' running
around that he is not happy with and he prefers it if we move the
camper to the main body of the campsite near the ablution block, he
feels we need to be in a safer spot as this one is far away from
everybody, (not many people in this campsote so I am not sure who he
thinks will come to my rescue should I need rescuing) but he was so
earnest about his request I did not have the heart to refuse him,
also did not tell him that we have parked in places where 'baai swart
mense bly' and felt no fear, but each to their own, so we ended up
parked next to the road which was noisy and irritating and tonight I
am going to the other side of the park where the sea is, which was my
original plan and the only reason we ended up downstairs was becasue
of the dogs, but they don't seem worried about that so I may as well
get the prime spot overlooking the ocean where we can watch the
sunset and sunrise as we have become accustomed to doing.
Did find it
more pleasant to have a shower without needing to walk a long way to
the ablutions.
So finally,
sleep tight
Woke to a cold
morning and we cuddled under the duvet until after 8, then crept out,
got dressed and hit the beach for a walk, I wanted to explore bird
island but there are no major birds this time of year, no Cape
Gannets, no penguins, some cormorants and lots of seagulls but they
are on the beach as well, plus the island, which is connected to the
mainland by a concrete walkway, looks like a bit of concrete designed
for the tourists and not the birds, the dogs were also not allowed to
come with me, so we looked from afar, and gave it a miss.
Had a relaxing
day exploring the town a bit, had a bad potjie lunch at the Weskus
kombuis, (not very originl names on the West coast.) We had no
electricity in town due to some maintenance so could only pay cash
for anything I needed as no machines were working, as I have no cash
left that limited us, but we were cool and spent most of the day
tramping around the beach, walked up the small mountain to see more
of the vlei and the water birds and checked out the town, then ended
up at our new spot on the sea side of the campsite, relaxed for the
rest of the night with my book and some tv shorts, added “How I met
your mother” to 'Community' wish I had something decent to watch
like the big bang theory.
It was a
beautiful crisp, blue day, the sea was stunning, the surfers were
out, people braaing in the park and lots of walkers, what did get to
me was the beggers, every person who saw me approached me blatantly
for food and when I said I have none they said money would do,
nothing skaam about these beggers, it eventually drove us to spend
time between walks in the campsite where I could read in peace, it
would be nice to give but impossible to give to everyone. The sea is
intoxicating and I am glad I made the decision finally to come and
live this side of the country, something energising about the
constant pull of the waves, should give me a whole new lease on life.
So hot shower
and snuggle into bed.
Sweet dreams
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