Woke to gray and overcast skies, lots of mist, it normally burns off with the sun, but not today, seems we are in for rain finally. Had a lovely HOT bath and made up for last night, walked the beach and then packed the dogs in the van and hit the road.
witwater
piketberg
I took the road less travelled, according to my map it is the lesser road to Piketberg but is tarred, should have learnt by now not to believe this dumb map, we drove and drove and drove until a turnoff to Veldrif told me I was on the right road, but going straight to Piketberg led me straight on to a sand road, I hate sand roads, thankfully although it was gray and cold it wasn't raining so the road was good for the 17km before hitting the tar again.
I stopped at a little village called Witwater at the base of the Piketberg mountains and we walked around a lovely little town, looks like it is built for the workers of the area, but such a great spot to permaculture, spread out houses and a large green common in the middle and houses going up the mountain face but of course nothing grows here except poverty.
My map said I could get up the Versvelds pass from this road and go up to Piket-Bo-Berg, not to be, no signs and I later found out it would have been a mistake as the road is bad even for a 4x4, so we drove around and into Piketberg, lovely little town, not so little actually, drove up the hill to the top of the town to take the dogs for a short hike before getting some food from Spar, the chosen food chain on this coast as their are no Woolworths or Checkers or Pick 'n'Pay's, the last time I came across one was Vredenburg. We headed out of town about a kilometre and took the turnoff to Piket-Bo-Berg up the Versvelds Pass for about 10km before stopping in at the first farm we came to, to ask a couple if they knew where I could find Chris Watson, the guy that Lachlan had recommended I talk to about land and permaculture. Stunning drive up the twists and turns of the mountain pass, have no idea how the fruit trucks get around these bends.
precarious parking spot for our walk up the hill
Piket-Bo-Berg camp spot at the tea garden
the mist coming down to envelop us for the night
Wow what a great reception, they invited me in, looked up Chris's number, of course they knew him, phoned his house and spoke to his mom and found out he will only be back on the mountain tomorrow afternoon. Then they invited me in for coffee, when I mentioned the dogs, she put her dogs outside and invited us all in to the kitchen, enormous farmhouse with all the luxuries, they only rent it from the children of the owner, who has retired to Langebaan, Fanie and his wife, the couple, work in town and at the potato nursery, they fed me vegie soup and coffee and conversation, gave me a breakdown of the farms on the mountain and life in general, we got to talking about permaculture and land and they phoned everyone they know who is selling land up here, of course all way out of my price range as it is fertile and established and draws millions when it also has established fruit trees, which is the main crop up here, one plot with 2 houses and a cottage on 2ha was going for R2,4 million, no-one grows vegies up here they tell me. She also phoned the tea garden and arranged accommodation in the campsite there for us.This is what farming life is like and it's great to be back in it, they could not have been more accommodating.
We finally left when the dogs started getting agitated, Pepi brought up all the grass she has been eating at all our stops, obviously eating too many titbits, I must stop adding so much to their diets, we drove the 12km, past Chris's farm,to the tea garden and with the help of the owners wife we found ourselves a campspot amongst the few available just before the rain came down. This is a narrow farm going up the hill with a tea garden, nursery and accommodation, the campsites are at the top of the farm.
R20 a night, with power and R5 extra if I go down to the mom in laws house for a hot shower, wow, could stay here for a long time, it is really pleasant, the rain didn't really lash us, just irritatingly consistant making walking uncomfortable, we ended up huddles comfortably inside our warm caccoon with the door open, and the mist blanketed us in. Thankfully I am prepared with some food, juice and coffee as their is no food up here in the form of restaurants, the tea garden is closed this late on a wet winters day and tomorrow is market day so it is closed all day, we will eat what we have which is plenty and enjoy this peaceful mountain spot, it is beautiful.
Could catch up with my blog and labling my pictures, could read and watch some shows and let the dogs snore their heads off, with so much beach walking in the last few days it will do them good to have a sleep from 4 o'clock until the morning, hopefully a long walk in the morning will be on the cards, I think Lani is all walked out, Pepi is still recuperating and taking her tablets every day but sleep will do her good and Jos is still taking her pain killers, so nature is forcing a restoring of their balance. Wow this place reminds me of Hogsback, same feeling same farm life and same weather, up on top of a mountain as well.
So again, all is well in the life of Bubbles and her brood, sleep well.
Slept through a blanket of mist,rain and lashing wind but the trees around us acted as great wind breaks so we had the violence of the weather to enjoy but no side effects, no bashing us around like we had in Cape Town.
Went to the mother in laws house for a shower, they had forgotten to put the geezer on so we went for a walk all over the property for an hour then back for a luke warm shower. The rain held off all morning so we enjoyed a walk in the cold again.
I paid R50 for two nights stay. amazing.
We drove down the mountain, about 22km into town and found a Spur on N7 where I could e-mail my wwoofer farms and download some shows and update the blog. Very cold and wet outside so will have to walk the dog between rain storms today.
where we are heading Piket-Bo-Berg
Picked up a few
things at Spar and headed back up the mountain, the cops came by and
asked me how much I charge to catch a snake, I said nothing, should
have said R3 mill, probably would have got it.
The day turned
out to be a stunner, cleared partially, stayed cold and slightly
windy but we went for walks around the farm, up the hill, down the
slope, over the hill to the neighbours, by dinner time the dogs were
tuckered out and we could settle down for the night without them
annoying me. Good to have electricity, music playing, photos
downloading, shows to watch, maps to study, novels to read, all in
good light, phones to charge, electricity makes life easy.
One thing is for
certain, I am not settling on a plot on a mountain, or on a slope,
their is nothing worse than slipping and sliding up and down a
mountain all day, makes farming very difficult, everything here is on
a slope, I tried all kinds of plans to get the camper level without
success. The campsite is on a slope, the toilet is on a slope, the
greenhouses are on slopes, everywhere you walk is on a slope, most of
this is okay, but to farm and cart things up and down and hold water
where you want it, these make life arkward when they are on a slope.
Of course for me the worst is when I make coffee and my cup cannot be
filled because it slops over on one side, I have to find something to
put under my cup to level it so I can fill it to the top, I will get
withdrawal symptoms if my coffee is not exactly as it should be. One
good thing last night was that the slope was to the back, so the dogs
ended up right against the back of the camper leaving me enough space
to stretch my legs out and be able to turn around, heaven.
So ends a new day
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