PE and surrounds

Things have been fairly hectic of late as I've been moving frequently as I was caught out by the long weekend among other things.  The site in Grahamstown was below the office and when I went to return the keys I noticed that the Beast's roof was filthy, so one morning I moved the bakkie close, climbed on the back and set to work.  Only problem was I could not reach the centre so was eventually forced to scale the roll bar and ease my bum onto the roof.  Moving very gingerly and keeping close to the edges I eventually managed to remove the muck, not sure whether it was a lifetimes or just since I set our - time will tell.  My last night in Canon Rocks the electricity went off just after 5 pm and when it didn't come back on after two hours it was obviously not load shedding.  It was still off when I started packing up to move and rain made it even more fun.  When I finally got plugged in 18 hours later, I checked the freezer for damage and the ice cubes hadn't even melted!

Pearson Park Resort, in Colchester of all places, was the next stop, about 30 k's north of Port Elizabeth on the Sundays River.  I found a lovely site under a couple of massive figs.......

............and right next to the river.

 Just after 3 pm, the power went off again so had to find a pub to watch the Boks against Japan - shouldn't have bothered.  Before I went to the pub I was having a sun-downer when a boubou started calling right above my head and next minute his mate decided my bike was worth investigating and spent the next five minutes hopping around on it not more than 2 m away.  This was about when it dawned that a long weekend was nearly upon me so the search began.  I started by going inland to the village of Addo but the park there was on a diabolical road which, the copious rain we've been having, really messed up, so I went into Addo Elephant Park on the off chance - full.  While not quite as spectacular as the west coast, the flowers were doing their best, like this swathe of aloes on the way to the park.

Spent a couple of hours driving around but it is a poor substitute for Kruger and the vegetation is very dense so not a lot on show.  From one lookout spotted this traffic jam caused by a herd and was sure that I had the best view.

Later found this big chap with the most impressive tusks I've ever seen on an Addo elephant, they are smaller and carry less ivory than their Kruger cousins.

  There were a lot of dazzling "scrambled egg' bushes (Rhigozum obovatum) in flower - most impressive.

On the way back I passed Uitenhage, which looked really neat and tidy so followed the arrows to the information place and asked about a caravan park, nothing here said the lady but have you tried Van Staden's or The Ferry near Jeffrey's Bay.  Phoned and the first was full but the second had sites available , so shot down the next day to check it out and the long weekend woes were over.  This left me time to explore locally and on a bike ride I found that Pearson's extended all the way to the Sundays Mouth, with another extensive dune field on the opposite shore..............

........and rather lovely sunset.

With three spare days before the long weekend I decided to spend time in PE, which I've always had a soft spot for and moved in to Pine Lodge Park right next door to Cape Recife Nature Reserve. I spent a lot of time there searching for a couple of terns that have always managed to elude me and they managed to do it again!  Added another lighthouse to the list though - the black dots (which I've only just noticed) are not terns, they're on the stay wires of a tower.

Was sitting having breakfast one morning when a visitor popped in had a look around then proceeded to sunbathe on the lawn.- not quite the sort of "bird" I would have preferred.

Drove around PE and was impressed at how neat and tidy it is in the main, one addition since my last visit was this OTT flag in Donkin Park.

It has often amazed me that for one so apparently bright, the simplest things often take the longest for me to twig.  When I went to hook up the Beast before departure I started reversing the bakkie up and a light went on.  Wouldn't it be easier to bring Beast to bakkie rather than the other way round, after all it is equipped with these amazing "movers' so it is essentially a giant RC toy.  My life will be much easier henceforth.  The road I picked to leave PE was not the best and when I stopped to get an apple out of the fridge the TV was lying on the dining-room bench, undamaged fortunately.  Pop rivets holding the bracket were not a great idea of the previous owner and it is now firmly bolted in place. So to The Ferry Hotel on the banks of the Gamtoos River about 20 k's outside Jeffrey's Bay and the hordes descended.  There are over 60 sites and there were only two or three empty ones, needless to say I headed for the hills most days.  Realized I didn't have a pic of this place so took this and as you can see it's been raining solidly for the last 20 hours.  Lots of history here as the original hotel, which dates back to the late 1800's is gradually being renovated.

Van Staden's Flower Reserve was one of my refuges and it was amazing, three different colours of Watsonia.......

...............hordes of protea...............

...............and Leucospermum.

Plus a novel view of the Van Staden's Bridge - magical place.  Was atlassing and saw a bulbul fly past so duly noted it, but when the card was submitted I received and out of range form......for a Dark-capped bulbul?  On checking was embarrassed  to see that I'd left Dark-capped behind somewhere north of PE and was now in Cape Bulbul territory and I hadn't even noticed the white eye rings - Old timer's strikes again.

Went to check the surfers riding the tubes in this superb bay, might yet be brave enough to try out my boogie.

And a bike ride to the Gamtoos Mouth turned up a new species for the trip - Avocet.

Went to check a camp site I'd once used about 30 years ago in Bavianskloof and was pleasantly surprised to see it in good shape and all of R48 per night.  Would have loved to spend a few nights there but the final 3 k's of road to the camp would probably finish off the Beast for good.  Nice to see that Eastern Cape Parks are still looking after their assets but the roads.........  To access Bavians you drive all along the Gamtoos Valley and as the orange trees were in bloom the smell was overpowering.

Next hurdle is school holidays so am going to escape to Willowmore in the Karoo, then return to the coast when the dust has settled.

Port Alfred, etc

Next stop Green Fountain near Port Alfred, all very zooty with each site having it's own ablutions.  Notice how the bike has shrunk and changed colour.  Decided that the Honda was just too nice and it was getting ruined by the coastal air so advertised it on OLX and had two calls at 7 am the next day.  Sold it for cash to Gerrit in George and he had someone come and collect it from Cove Rock, a very large Oom who had obviously had a really good liquid lunch - I did fear that it would not make it.

Not bad hey?  The ablutions not the bike.

Before  leaving East London I visited Game and bought a Chinese Raleigh for R1 300 (not quite in your class Dave Mercer) as it was the last one in stock and having been assembled in house didn't work so well. Never fear out came the tools and although it only has 18 of it's 21 gears it's good enough for me - really need some exercise.  Also visited the museum and while I'm not wild about stuffed animals (because that's exactly what they look like) the really interesting part was the Coelacanth Hall.  Also collect my last UIF payment and on a stroll down to the beach from Cove Rock came across a very indignant little puffadder crawling across the road.  Although he didn't appreciate it, I did see him safely to the other side.  The lump out at sea is Cove Rock - a sign at the beach says "High crime area due to Municipal negligence"

Had lunch down at the marina in Port Alfred one day and noticed some guys messing around with a boat - a sunken one.  Three of them in wet suits were being given some very vocal advice from a varying number of bystanders and it eventually dawned that they were trying to re-float it.  As the camera was were it always is when you need it, I had to be content to just watch though what they did was very clever.  With a rope attached to the pier and looped under the hull, they tied the other end to a plastic 44 gallon oil drum which was then filled with water and tied off just below the surface.  Then out came a very small plastic tube attached to a compressor and air was pumped into the drum and up she popped, well a little way.  Then with the first drum holding the boat up they repeated the process with a second drum, etc, etc.  Took about 3 hours but eventually the gunwales cleared and they were able to bail - which of course they left to the black guy!

Next day I noticed a lot of young ladies assembling an enormous rowing eight, they actually have to transport them in two halves then assemble on site, I reckoned them to be at least 15 m long.  They started practicing starts and turns with the male cox bellowing orders - reminded me of the army.  It's an annual regatta involving those Universities that can afford such costly pieces of kit.  Note no male volunteers to carry the thing either.

Took a trundle through to Bathurst, as in another life I actually bought a piece of land there, R1 800 for 4 acres, if I recall. While nosing around I saw a sign that said Toposcope and not knowing what the heck that was took a drive to the top of a nearby hill and found this pile erected by the 1820 Settlers Foundation.  Though now a bit vandalized, it shows the direction and distance to the farms of all those guys dumped here in 1820 and the view is pretty spectacular.

On the way back I detoured to a private reserve (which I later found is on the market for a mere 20 million) where I discovered a new  mammal species for my life list, a pretty little Grysbok that was so fascinated by something I couldn't see, that I got very close indeed before it dashed off..  Grys is Afrikaans for grey referring to the markings on the flanks.

I also spent a morning atlassing at Riet River Mouth a short distance from the camp, which not only has a lagoon and massive beach but a rather large dunefield which I couldn't resist.  Great fun taking giant strides down precipitous down-wind sides.......

..........and even an oasis with lovely fresh water and a couple of Shelduck.

As Green Fountain was being invaded by some mob I had to leave so moved to Grahamstown, into what appeared to be a very grand municipal caravan park that also boasted individual ablutions - but the cracks were beginning to appear like so many other spots in the town.  The Botannical Garden is sad and as with so many other towns the roads are a mess, but there are still a lot of magical buildings and St Andrews School looks like it was transferred straight from the English countryside.  Spent time around the varsity ogling some very pretty ladies both young and old.  One thing there's no shortage of is churches including St Patrick's here which doesn't seem to know whether it's a castle or church.

Found this at a local shopping centre and am thinking of doing the same to the Beast.

Did a day trip up to the land of JRR Tolkein in Hogsback and although there are foreboding natural forests in the town there didn't appear to be a single indigenous tree.  As it had been raining very heavily the trails were a muddy mess so only stayed for a toasted sarmie.  A view of what I assume is the Hogsback.....

.....and back down into the valley.

 After three nights in Grahamstown, I've moved to Cannon Rocks near Kenton-on-sea about 100 k's from PE.  Only planning on three nights here and was delighted when this little Fiscal Flycatcher welcomed me to the campsite.  They are having problems with newly installed ablution block so once again have a private suite in one of the cottages.