The end of July 2013

27^th July

Another glorious sunrise woke us up, had a long walk around the camp site to get rid of all our aches and pains, hard work bouncing around in the camper yesterday. She started like a dream this morning, gone are the starting problems I have been having with her recently it would seem, great work by my two old grease monkeys. We headed out of town and left the mountains behind and embraced the flat, flat Karroo, dry and dusty and blowing like hell. Made good time to Willowmore with no stops, flat and easy so able to drive at a good pace, we kept going and stopped at Aberdeen.

the flat Karroo

A little Karroo town, very dry with a lot of locals hanging around the little town centre, nothing to do, nowhere to go, no work to be had, made me feel slightly less hopeless about being homeless right now. We couldn't find a nice spot to walk so filled up with petrol and headed out, stopped at the first big picnic spot for a walk, and at the next one for breakfast and at the next one for another walk, the dogs are tired of the camper so once we hit Graaff Reinet I took them up the hill to the first hiking trail I saw signposted.

We have walked a lot in the last few months but all little walks or close to towns or cities, there is something special about strapping on your boots and hitting a real hiking trail, even if the sign says 'no dogs' there were a few cars parked outside the gate and I didn't think they would mind the dogs if we should encounter them on the trail, we didn't, 3 different routes to take and we took the short one and then went off the trail and into the vegetation, so little chance of being sighted.

hot work on the trail

The Camdeboo mountains, lovely rock formations

Hot work for the dogs, even with the wind blowing, but we all felt good to get back to a long walk. I sat in the camper for a few hours catching up on writing so they could have a break from the driving, I cannot get a connection which I was hopeful of, I would have stayed for 2 nights if I could have and spent tomorrow watching the cricket, not to be.

The pretty town of Graaff Reinet

Did get some internet time at the Spur and the manager gave me details of two campsites, one too far out of town and the other by the dam, very expensive and a no dog policy so we retraced our steps, drove over the sand road next to the shanty town to the dam bridge, stopped to ask the owner of one of three houses if she minded us sleeping next to her house, she had no objections, they are council houses she told me, so we parked with a view of the water and slept the night under a blanket of stunning stars.

our council house estate for the night

the dam

out for a walk before dinner

28th July

Woke to a lovely sunrise over the dam and walked a bit, couldn't get the camper started at first but with perseverence she finally kicked in, so much for no starting problems, but to be honest it was a freezing cold night so she was probably just cold.

our neighbours in the shanty town

Strange day, we drove for miles with poor Pepi hiding behind me shaking like a leaf at every truck that went by, I forgot how the dogs hate the main highways which we have not been on for so long. Drove with the coldest fingers and toes I've had for awhile, through Bethesda Road, Middelburg (the poorest of towns I've seen, desperate people on the side of the road asking for a handout, too deprressing even to stop), Naaupoort and finally Colesburg,  listening to the on again off again dulcet tones of Algoa FM. Didn't stop much as every time I popped my head out of the camper, I thought I would lose my nose.

I found the Horse and Mill English pup where we were greeted by our hostess Jackie, she made us very comfortable, parked us in front of the cricket, wined and dined us and directed us up the road to the golf club where we could go for a hike in the hills. Turned out to be a golf club with no golf course, unless I was blind, but hard to hide a golf course I would think, we did have to wangle our way around a huge road construction, massive overhead passes and and new roads being built to form an impressive intersection, not sure why the small town of Colesberg warrants it as their is not much traffic at this intersection with the N1 and N9, maybe someone in Government knows something the rest of us don't.

The Wimpy at the One stop, at the same intersection to be, had no wi-fi connection to watch the second innings so I decided to hit the road and stop at the next one stop on the highway and watch the remainder of the match and then overnight their as well. Silly girl, just because we were now on the N1, does not mean it will have any one stops, so I found out to my detriment. We got to Springfontein where I put in R200 worth of petrol expecting the next one stop soon and we drove and drove and drove and looked for a one stop in vain.

The beautiful Karroo 

We passed Trompsburg, Edenburg, lost the sun, was like a block of ice, could not move a muscle, I had by this point put Pepi under the blanket to stop her shivering and shaking at the mountain of trucks flying past us, my lights are not great so hard to see the road ahead in the pitch dark, road works everywhere, I was driving on the smell of an oil rag looking desperatley for any petrol station, not necessarily a nice comfortable ONE STOP, when Lorraine called, my voice acted like a beacon for the dogs and they came off the bed, over the water bowl, climbed on their food bin and wanted to climb into my lap, I had to shove them backwards or end up in the ditch, I saw a sign saying Tom's Place so Lorraine googled it and told me it's a resort, I missed the turn off so had to do a u turn, on the N1, in the dark, dodging the trucks and get off the highway on the other side looking for Tom's. did see the Shell sign and drove into the parking lot next to a sad looking shop and an empty restaurant.

Tom's Place, not to be recommended

I didn't care, pulled in to the parking lot and this is where we spent the night, went inside and had a terrible plate of chips, watched a rerun of an even worse cricket match, slept in the coldest camper on the coldest night of our trip and went a second night without a shower which was worse than being a block of ice.

29th July

Woke to a world of ice, ice hanging off the back of the camper, the water bottle on the radiator was iced, the dogs bowl was iced, my clothes on the front seat left out to dry, were iced, I couldn't believe it could be this cold when I had come from such a mild Cape, crossing over the Orange into the Free State was clearly an idiotic thing to do.

Could not get the camper started, had a push from the guys at the garage without success as well so had to walk the dogs around Tom's place for more than an hour before she would dain to turn over, albeit reluctantly and finally start, filled he up and hit the road for a massive 39km, after yesterdays marathon session of 400km, the longest we have ever done in one day, what a pleasure to get as far as the Windmill Casino, pull in and stop and let the dogs have a rest from the highway.

I was last here with Kobus when we came to get his car fixed and we spent two great nights at Bains. I could get an 8.ta connection so decided to look for a campsite and stay the night, we found Reynekes, R220 a night with a special price of R130 as I am a 'pensioner', R20 extra for the dogs, such a bargain, I decided to stay for two nights so I could have some pampering, especially a hot shower. What a pleasure to feel clean again, I am never taking hot water for granted again, in fact water for granted again, come on you city folk, time you invested in that grey water system and started catching water off your roof, won't cost a lot, just some adjustments to your downpipes and a small plastic tank, talk to Sam, she will fit you up.

I did get to pamper myself a little, moisturiser soaked in like a sponge, I think I need one of Elisabeth's hydro sessions, lots of them, the dogs loved being outdoors and out of the camper, walked most of the day and played ball with them until the train came past, made such a noise they both hopped straight in the camper and left the ball in the flower beds, maybe they'll find it tomorrow.

our private trampoline 

and a personal ablution block

Started to surf the net in search of affordable properties around the country, amazing what's out their under the 'sequestration' headings, don't I know all about that. Made contact with Sarah to arrange to be at their place by Friday, so we have a week to get ourselves back where we came from. Had a call from Robbie decrying his new taxman, I really wanted to help him but am reluctant to get myself back into the financial muck pile and the mire of the corporate world, he will have to muddle on without me, most of my other clients seem to have found themselves a good replacement.

So we are comfortable and warm and looking forward to a better night,go well.

30th July

Woke late after using a fair amount of my 8.ta night gigs to download some movies, felt I needed to use them before I end up losing them and the connection after 11pm was the fastest I have ever had it, must something in the Bloem air.

Had a relaxing day, spent R950 at Pick n' Pay stocking up with luxuries for the next wee wile, not likely to find good stores where I am going, and no, not silk PJ's and fish eggs, good coffee, caramel sugar and double ply toilet paper make up what we call luxuries, and of course tuna for the dogs.

pleasant stop for a couple of nights 

Also managed all the washing, lots of ball throwing, a ton load of lying in the sun time with my book, hot enough to be topless yet again and still have not made it out of my shorts in 4 months, not sure if I actually packed any longs.

So a peaceful night in prospect and more searching for properties, yesterday was the Cape, today we are looking for properties in Mpumalamga, I actually want some info from Cami-Leigh and Anglo on Marloth Park, it looks like a great spot for a small permaculture business, will have to check it out while I am in the area.

Day 112 and moving on NORTH

My linseeded doors

the stockade I cleared for tenters

the first Bubbles loo, hole started

Woke to a beautiful day and took a walk with the dogs towards another stunning sunrise, unfortunately the day took a bad turn at breakfast when I voiced an opinion that was misconstrued, I was talking about the law of attraction, if I put positive thoughts into the universe I get positive results back, negative thoughts brings me negative results, my sentiments were badly put and incorrectly interpreted and the result was a lot of negative energy and bad vibes which I was not comfortable with so we decided to pack up the camper and leave.

the Great Brak river

The Universe certainly has a way of making sure I don't get too comfortable in one spot, clearly it does not intend for me to be a Klein Karroo farmer, hence the very sudden return to being footloose and fancy free with no idea where to go to next as I had no plans to leave for awhile. Such is life although I was enjoying my stay, I learnt a lot, loved the good food and the long walks, appreciated the free wi fi and could see myself living out here with no problem, but the end result of the mornings contretemps is that we are heading for greener pastures, literally, as I can't imagine a place drier than here at the moment. I'd like to thank Lizelle and Kevin for a great stay, they are good people and my leaving has created a void I am sure they will fill with another great wwooffer, maybe one with more skills than I have.

couldn't believe the size of this shadecloth house

it goes on forever, behind the camper

I am happy that settling on a plot is foremost in my mind now and I no longer want to be wandering around any more, so I am speaking to a few communities and eco villages who are looking for new members to swell their numbers, I will pop in to a few over the next few weeks and see if I can find one the Universe wants me to stay in, meanwhile we are back on the road and also back on the beach we found a lovely campsite hidden in the hills overlooking the Great Brak River and as usual we are it's only occupants, well us and the cat Josie found to chase.

the hoi polloi on one side

the plebs on the other

postcard scene, so tranquil

I know I said no more sunsets but the one we had today was lovely I just had to add the pictures in here. I spoke to Karel today to see how they are doing, he wants to swop lives with me and hit the road, he said he lived out of a suitcase for years and would love to go back to it, he told me to go find a small piece of land and farm it and not get involved in large plots, big fields, lots of livestock and huge plans, they just cause headaches and return the same profits as small plots without the hassles and the responsibility, I think he is probably right and I'll keep that in mind, farm small and share big.

Bad news on the cricket front, I think the guys are waiting until I get settled somehwhere with my satellite dish in place and then they'll start winning. Linneth phoned and is happily working in Ridgeway, great job, so we did well with her, she is also saving towards her auxillary year at college, glad that we encouraged her to do that first care workers course, she also wants to buy my car so that will help her if she can come up with the bucks, probably ask her dad and brother to help her out, I can see her dashing off to Limpopo at every opportunity once she is mobile, her daughter will love it, as will her mum.

So we have a comfortable campsite for the night, with the prospect of a hot shower, I got into the first two episodes of 'Downton Abbey' at the Place so downloaded a couple more episodes to watch and will see if I am hooked enough after these two to continue watching, not very funny nor very absorbing just yet, would much prefer the next season of Big Bang to start soon.

So life moves on and we will sleep well tonight, did a lot of wandering around today and walking on beaches and waterways so the dogs are tuckered out and quite happy to be back in the camper, as am I, I quite missed it and clearly we were not meant to get too cosy in the Karroo so we are back to chaos looking for another comfort zone, wish us luck.

Sleep well.

Friday 26^th July

Woke early to unhook my power cable which I was not supposed to plug in as I did not pay for the power option, no-one around to notice so we had light, recharged laptop and this morning we have a cold fridge so my milk and yoghurt will last. Did some ablutions and then took a walk over the ridge to the lovely secluded beach, wind swept, Pepi ran around like a puppy, the dogs are happy to be chasing the ball again, it was difficult to do with the collies as they were not letting my two get a sniff of the ball, so we spent a long time with it last night and today, had such a great sunset to enjoy last night and was reluctant to be indoors so the dogs benefitted, the beach has got to them and they love rolling in the sand but are yet to get used to the waves and salty water, real ugly faces when they get taste of salt.

We went back and said our goodbyes to our lovely camp host, a bear of a man who enjoyed our company as we were his only occupants, he tells me summer is full of Gautengers and it is so busy he can't think straight. We headed to Knysna and took the road up to Uniondale, I want to head North along the N9 and this looked like a good option, until we hit the dirt road and found out we had to travel for 70km though the forest and over the mountains on dirt, not a bad road, unless your definition of bad is fu#$%ng s@#t then you think again about your decision to take the scenic route and you castigate yourself for 70km, it was great scenery, it was over magic mountains, it did have lovely picnic spots and viewpoints, we did take our time, but my god, it was a terrible road, bumped us along like kangaroos at one point and the worst potholes imaginable.

the start of the outeniqua trail in the knysna mountains

Buffelsnek about 30km up and over dirt roads I won't mention

The worst part of the drive up the mountains is the amount of time we were driving on a single lane around blind bends, no chance of missing a head on collision if someone came the other way, the camper took up the whole road, amazing how we get through life on such wims of chance.

lots of logging going on up here, Cape Pine

We did finally make it to Avontuur and then hit the tar road for the last 10km on the Prince Alfred Pass which Lorraine has been wanting me to drive for a long time, after our marathon drive, the pass was a disappointment, no biggie and dull in comparison, no adventure to speak of.

we found this lovely place at Kruisvallei

We came into Uniondale, blinked a bit and were out the other end and into a caravan park to walk the dogs and relax for a few hours, no-one there so decided to go into town for petrol and hit the road and keep going towards Graff Reinett, unfortunately the camper had other plans and would not start, she had dome it when we were in the valley taking a picture of Angie's G spot KAK Accommodation, clicked when I turned the key, but then started, so I figured it was a lose wire somewhere but hell if I could find it, had to walk across the road to Africa Aloe and ask the secretary to call for help. She laughed when I asked for an auto electrician, she said I can only call the towing guys, we don't have anyone else, so I sat and waited, sewed up my work pants yet again, they are all hanging together with thread these days my lovely cotton shorts, until finally a bakkie arrived with TOWING written all over it. I explained my dilemma to the two lovely guys, one as old as methusalah, he immediately climbed under the engine, found the errand wire, connected it, tightened my fan belt which I knew was loose but was told only needed some sunlight soap, Karel told me that, I will have to let him know he was a smidgen wrong on that one, they also connected a pipe that should have been taking my petrol fumes away from my manifold but was actually just sitting in the metal groove of the bumper, someone had forgotten to reconnect it, so in the end my camper was spiffy and better than before, and these two did not even charge me, so my luck with the camper remains, I did ask the universe to give me no trouble that I could not easily manage and to date, it has followed orders swimmingly.

we came along that sand path through the mountains

stopped for a break from the bumpy ride

So we went into town and filled up the empty tank, empty too regularly for my liking, then popped into the Lodge for a bite, had a terrible spud but free internet so could catch up with my mail, surf a bit and watch some cricket, well keep in touch with it at least, we are doing better this game, unfortunately had to leave it halfway through the second innings and we headed back to the campsite as it's too late to hit the road and the dogs wanted feeding.

A lady finally pitched up to take R80 off me, good deal for electricity and a hot shower and our own lovely company so could let the dogs run around without a problem.

So good day, excellent weather, a bit cold in the morning but heats up well and stays mild all through the night, I don't think this part of the country has a winter, although a few people I have spoken to in Cape Town say it's wet and miserable.

Off for some more ball throwing before the sun goes down, have fun and cuddle up.

.

Slaughter

Nothing to say today guys, I'll let the pictures do the talking, suffice to say that if you want to know what a real free range chicken is, look for the skinny, scrawny beast with long legs and a woody, tough taste, those lovely juicy birds with trussed up legs you get at Woollies are about as far from being free range as one can conceivably get away with it seems, and the eggs are bright orange as I kept telling the guys at the cheese shop at Carreiras but it never stopped them from continuing to sell the junk they have labelled as 'free range' under false pretences, lucky for them Joburgers are none the wiser when it comes to Au natural.

Hopefully these pics will encourage you to eat less meat towards a better and brighter world with less natural resources being depleted in our attempt to feed 7 billion people with an ever increasing diet richer in meat and animal products....

Monday morning dawns bright and cheerful and four cockerels and one pesky hen that could not keep out of the veggie patch are crated and ready for the chop

Katrina has number one, standing on his wings to hold him down.

With a tight hold on his head she slices through his neck in one quick flash.

She holds him down until he stops any erratic movement, he does still talk to us without a head but I am assured it is just air in the wind pipe, the chicken may disagree.

Once satisfied that her chicken no longer realizes that it has a head, she places him gently in the bucket and goes on to number two.

There is still some movement but again I am assured that this is just reflexes, the chicken agrees.

Hot water is pored over the two cocks, not boiling, but scalding, loosens the hold the feathers have on the skin.

The water needs to be at the right temperature or you end up taking 2 hours to do a 10 minute job, just ask Kevin....

The plucking begins, Katrina makes it look very easy and in about 5 minutes has her chicken almost bare to the bone.  

The final touches to make sure the last of the feathers have been removed, very good cleaning job, none of those pesky hard to digest bits left on like the wonderful pieces you get from KFC, so I'm told.

Hold the feet in the hot water to loosen the skin and then twist the flaccid bits off to leave clean smelling feet ready for the potjie pot that they will be going into for Katrina's evening meal.

Ah, there we have the scrawny, long legged cleaned bird waiting for his entrails to be pulled unceremoniously from his bosom to add to the dead looking head and feet pile.

Out comes the fatty neck and then we open up the ass and pull out the juicy entrails.

     washed in clean water to remove                                                        the last vestiges of unwanted blood.

The next chicken having his feet removed and legs cleaned.

The pile of juicy bits is getting higher with the addition of the third and fourth lucky chicken.

Ready to be taken inside and sliced up or trussed up and frozen for a lovely future dinner of a healthy and naturally fed young cock.

Katrina kindly cleans the liver and the stomach, skimming all the extraneous stuff and the fatty bits and leaving the household with usable offal to add to our next wonderful meal.

eggs in different stages of production from the that pesky hen that finally got her comeuppance.

the finished product, 5 chickens to freeze

     

The most important male bits remain to tell the sad story of what became of their owners. Enjoy your next roast chicken guys.