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.