Back on the road - finally

May have missed out on a photo of the Sooty Falcon but the Amur's were out in fair numbers in and around Malonjeni and managed a reasonable shot of the male.  What a pretty little bird, hard to believe that they are slaughtered in their thousands in India every year, while on their migration route to Siberia.  They are "harvested" for human consumption - sickening, we may not have their company much longer if this continues.

As Malonjeni was fairly close to the Vaal Dam, decided to take a trundle and see what the level was like and have a look around Denysville, situated near the wall - not really worth it but have since heard the the dam is up to 70% - long may it rise, which sounds like a typically male mantra.

Left the Beast out in the rain overnight and when I woke up...............

..............cute isn't it, probably circa 1950's and still going strong.

Also in the vicinity was Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve and as the last time I was there was with Jo shortly after we got together, nostalgia kicked in.  Found a little patch of the local Bluebells (Wahlenbergia sp.) mit visitor.

The reserve's 11 500 ha includes the highest point in Gauteng at 1 917 m and a 60 km ring road covers most of it.  Very popular with the cyclists who are more than welcome - I got tired just driving it.  Seems to be some confusion about the name but the prevalent theory is it's because of the prolific numbers of Highveld protea, Protea caffra or Sugarbushes as they are known colloquially.

This one slays me, when Richard Boon first introduced me, it was known as Bequaertydendron magalismontanum but it has since slimmed down to a much more sprightly Englerophytum maglismontanum.  Perhaps better to stick with the common name Stem-fruit which refers to?  The fruit being borne on the main stems...........brilliant.  The Latin surname refers to the Magalies Mountains north of Joburg from whence it was originally described.

Have no idea how it came by it's common name of Traveller's Joy but it certainly bucks me up whenever I happen on Clematis braciata, either in flower (as here) or in seed it makes for a wonderful show.

Scattered among the rocky outcrops are the lollipop-like Cabbage trees Cussonia paniculata whose corky bark protects them from fire.

Having already paid one visit to the agent near Villiers to have a drive wheel on the caravan movers replaced, I was forced to go back a second time when the driver on the other side refused to back off after use.  Fortunately I'd previously learned how to overcome this by twiddling a little nut approximately 627 000 times.  Brother-in-law Pete came to the rescue with a cordless drill which nevertheless took a full 30 seconds to do the job but saved a lot of wear and tear on the hands.  I have since modified it to wind the corner steadies up and down too, as an alternative to the automatic jobs which were offered to me for only ........ R24 000.  Had time to kill so visited Villiers.............for the last time.  Only thing of note was this lovely old place with the full 360 degree veranda that is now a B&B. I know it looks gloomy but that the weathers' fault.

Some of you locals who are of similar vintage will probably remember LM Radio which is now back on air playing 60's and 70's songs if you are interested.  One of their more famous jocks was Long John Berks who used to go on about what being a "duck-tail" involved.  What is a duckie, a duckie is a spaaaan of fings.............  These memories all came back to me when I stopped to look at a family of Crowned Lapwings who all sported superb duck-tails.  For those of lesser years, duck-tails were characterized by leather jackets, motorcycles, knuckle-dusters and a similar looking hairstyle.

After several false starts due to other caravan faults I finally managed to escape to Hennop's Pride on the river of the same name near Centurion.  Though the bird-life was a bit disappointing there were a few of these stunners in attendance.  Woodland Kingfishers always bring Kruger to mind as they are common in every camp there but nice to see them in a different part of the country.

As there are a mere six pools in this place one is a tad spoilt for choice.  Admittedly three of them are kiddies pools but I only discovered the last two by accident as they are a couple of kilometers downstream from the main camp.  Isolated enough for a skinny dip but the closest one (below) is only 50 m from my site and I've been reacquainting myself with swimming lengths - boring but not sweaty.

Having never been before I decided it was time to visit the house of Jacob which amazingly still goes by the name of Union Buildings.  A stately pile if ever there was one but closed as it was Saturday.

The gardens are still immaculately maintained and the view over Pretoria majestic.  Didn't particularly fancy shleppimg down all the stairs to get grand shot of old Herbert Bakers masterpiece so cheated and drove to the bottom of the hill.........

................for this.  Magnanimous Mandela, almost as big as the one in Bloemfontein - Jacobs office third from the right, bazooka anyone.

There are a lot of hills around Pretoria and the highest is home to the delectably named Fort Klapperkop.  Couldn't get in as the municipality makes the fee R22 and then doesn't supply change.  However the spaceship parked on the adjacent hill is one of the city's many educational institutes, UNISA, which in spite of it's size, mainly does distance education.

On yet another hill..........................

................and, surprisingly ALSO, on a hill, the Voortrekker Monument - not sure if the the should be The or not - pretty impressive nonetheless.

There are a lot of South Africans - even English speakers who still refer that kitchen essential as a zinc, most likely because the old cast iron sinks were coated with the metal to prevent corrosion.  The second paragraph of this explanation as to what the full size cast iron ox-wagon on display is all about illustrates that confusion still exists in some minds.

When you see work like this you realize what a talented bunch stonemasons were, sad that the art is almost non-existent today.

Hartebeespoort dam and, I hesitate to say village as it's now heading towards city size, are just 20 k's down the road and as the Cable-way is still running and recently refurbished, a trip to the top beckoned.

There the full extent of the water hyacinth problem becomes apparent.  Those two islands in the middle are floating alien invasives and though the water appears blue, close-up it's green with algal bloom courtesy of the extreme fecal content of the water.  Charming, and this is where most of Pretoria's water supply comes from, thank goodness for chlorine

Another example of that thing with the 28 letter name or preferably, Stem-fruit, displaying the amazing brown hairs which adorn the new shoots and undersides of the leaves..................

................while overhead at least 30 Cape Vultures showing the para-gliders how it's done............

...........then up popped this bank of clouds for the perfect photo opportunity.............

..................of course being an engineer meant studying the winding mechanism to figure out how the cars are attached to the constantly moving cable - diabolically cleaver it is too.

Take a wild stab at the name of the bar - a Noddy Badge if you said Lookout but that might also refer to what's said when a drunk trips close to the railing!

On my eleventh visit to the site which is a mere 5 k's from here I finally found the sod.  I had walked no more than 10 m from the bakkie when I almost trod on him.  Seemed totally unperturbed and just wandered a few meters further away and calmly went about his business, fame appears not to have gone to his head. Yellow-throated Sand-grouse - tick.

Time flies

In the last post I mentioned going to a spot near Sun City to look for Yellow-throated Sandgrouse, well very soon after that trip a single male pitched on a patch of short grassland near Centurion so off I went.  Three hours later back I came with nary a sniff.  Of course dozens of people saw it the day before and dozens more the day after.  Ja-nie, methinks they were smoking their socks as I've been there four times now and still no sign - except this was just posted on the SA Rare Bird site, bollocks..........

Boksburg has it's attractions but they soon wear thin so I arranged a trip to Durban and spent time with old and some not so old friends.  First up, Rose and Al in Pietermaritzburg - Al and I go back around forty years and I was at their wedding, lovely to see you guys.  Next were John and Marion who have a magnificent flat up on Umhlanga ridge in a retirement village called Twilanga.  It has one of those views you never get tired of, thanks for your generous hospitality you two.

Onwards to my gorgeous cousin Sue and her phone loving husband Giles, who I  met up with in Mokala Game Reserve last October.  Their grand old place perched above the Umgeni River and overlooking the great white elephant, Moses Mabida Stadium, has been somewhat spoiled by an overly rich idiot next door who has created his own version of Bosnia in his back yard and built a garage for 15 cars - that's fifteen - in the front.

Thence to Kloof and the equally fortunate Smarts who have to put up with this view of the Molweni arm of Kloof Gorge.

Christine led me down an extremely precipitous garden path and into one of the few bits of the Gorge I'd never been to before, and what a joy to see raptors again.  Wahlberg's, Crowned and Fish Eagle, Lanner Falcon, Yellow-billed Kite and Steppe Buzzard in the space of two hours - amazing.  Of course the problem with going down................ I felt in need of a double-bypass and lung transplant by the time I made it back to the veranda.  Soon forgotten when Chis - yes it's Christopher and Christine get over it - produced his world famous chicken potjie.  Another old friend that I hadn't see in at least a year popped in and shattered ear-drums with a magnanimous bray or three.  Trumpeter Hornbill - very apt.

Finally to Justine and Richard which was a bit like coming home as they have the table that I made for our veranda and this lamp which had been with me for over 40 years.  I drove out to the Matopas Hills outside my home town of Bulawayo and had to stand on the car roof to cut this growth out of an old acacia. After stripping the bark, making the base it created something fairly unique.  All these couples had dogs - anyone ever noticed that dog owners use "No!" ten times more frequently than anyone else - worse than kids.

Being a bird-nut himself necessitated Richard and I getting to the Sappi Stanger hide where all manner of delights were allegedly present - until we got there.  However I did manage to get a shot of a wader that is not seen that often in these parts any longer, a Marsh Sandpiper.  What a lovely delicate creature it is with the needle-like bill and legs to die for - well actually feet but lets not quibble.

And the famous pelican whose beak can hold more than his belly can - in this case of the Great White persuasion.  Something I've never noticed before is the porthole in the pouch which I assume allows water to drain but can find no mention of it in the literature.  An astounding fact that I did unearth is the wingspan of an adult male is 3.6 meters, that's nearly 12 feet.  It's only exceeded by some of the great albatrosses.

A little dump called Mbazwana near Sordwana Bay was host to at least three Sooty Falcons and as I missed the one in Plettenberg last year I determined to make a detour on the way back to the Big Smoke.  I stayed in a house in Sordwana village which sported a deck with a view of dense coastal forest towards the bay which is surrounded by some of the highest vegetated dunes in the world - hence no sea view.

Having been told that the birds roosted in eucalypts next to the second roundabout before Mbazwana I duly stopped and scanned every tree in sight, much to the amusement of the locals - not a sausage.  I returned later, overshot the second roundabout and on the way to the third to turn round glimpsed a falcon-like shape in a massive eucalypt.  Grabbed bins and bingo there it was, the little beauty, having seen my fill I reached for the camera............which was still on the deck back at the house.  The time it would have taken to get there and back would leave me without light but that didn't stop me celebrating.  While sitting on the deck contemplating my good fortune up pops the full moon and a line from the Highwayman that my mother was fond of quoting came to mind: "The moon was a ghostly galleon, tossed upon cloudy sea".

Early next morning back I went but there was no adult in sight on the lazy teenager who hadn't yet arisen and with the light all wrong this was the best I could do - look close enough you'll see the tear streaks.........

The return trip involved getting through Jozini, a ridiculously sited town that clings to a narrow ridge above the massive dam.  Not sure if they were introduced or not but this is the only place in RSA where you can catch tiger fish - if you so desire.  As far as I aware it has only ever spilled once but even at 50% it still covers an impressive area.

The last blog contained this picture............

...............and I couldn't remember the name of the bush.  Someone else had the same problem and posted it on the bird-net and wouldn't you know it's a ............wait for it...........a White Berry Bush.  Fluggea virosa if you insist which by tomorrow I'll have forgotten again, interestingly though it's a member of the Euphorbia family a huge genus that includes things that look like cacti and a lot have toxic sap, a little odd then that this one is edible and apparently tasty.

I blame it on the fact that I've actually been working lately putting down tiles on the floor of the cottage kitchen and bathroom, but a major league senior moment occurred recently when I found myself carefully pouring muesli into my glass of juice.  Ho hum.

The Beast had an appointment with the doctors at Campworld as various things needed attention.  One of the things was the jockey wheel which was getting old and tired - I know the feeling.  So they fitted this......

...........that's what I call an effing JOCKEY.  The thing they couldn't do was repair my movers and the only guy locally was in Villiers about 100 k's away.  Got it down there and spent a couple of hours pottering with Pete - my brother-in-law.  Once that was sorted I moved back in and headed for Smuts House in Irene. My second day there required air-con for the afternoon zizz but I was awoken by the sound of dripping water - condensate pouring out where it shouldn't.  As the air-con was one of the things they had worked on, this required another visit to Campworld where they very obligingly traced the fault and I was off again.  Of course no sooner was that done than one of the movers refused to back off, which will necessitate another trip to Villiers.  Hence my current location in Malonjeni near Heidelburg.  Next to the road on the way here is this superb mansion, very reminiscent of the ostrich palaces in Oudtshoorn.

So here we sit in splendid isolation in a monstrous camp with only three other vans, listening to the soughing of the wind in the Poplars which is a very particular noise.  As kids we stayed in the Ivy Cottage behind my grandparents' house in Aliwal North and the street was lined with huge poplars, which were the bane of grandmothers' life, as they not only shed leaves but the seeds are balls that drop fluffy wind-bourne seeds by the gazillion. After numerous failed attempts to persuade the local council to remove at least the one right outside her house, she eventually took and ax to it herself.  The fact that it landed in the road caused some consternation and threats of prosecution were made but fortunately never carried out.