..........and from the Nkutu River side via the Splash picnic site for a view back towards the Uve Road falls just visible in the middle left of the picture. This involved walking past the front of 29 B Margaret Crescent which I wasn't looking forward to, but it appears totally unchanged, which was comforting.
..........while the crassulas were a magnificent magenta with tiny white stars at the centre of the flowers that cram the head of the plant.
Took an early stroll along uMhlanga's beach front and idly wondered where the inspiration for this pier came from - a dead whale perhaps. A few nights later I was chatting to my next host and the topic of cremation arose which reminded me of the time I scattered my mother's ashes very close to the lighthouse. There was a howling onshore and as I didn't have much experience of these things I grabbed a handful, flung it and of course the ashes came straight back into my face. After much spitting and spluttering, I remembered reading that Keith Richard's once bragged of smoking his dad, but I doubt that many can top eating his own mum!
Shongweni Dam is always worth a visit and still manages to be a bird haven even though it is nearly surrounded by low-cost suburbia and at one of my regular stops close to the dam wall it was a great pleasure to find................
...............both Cape rock thrush and mocking chat still in attendance.
Also of interest was that the by-pass tunnel, that was originally used to divert the river when the dam was built, was open and flowing strongly, a sure sign of heavy rains in the catchment as..........
.............the dam was also spilling. The structures on top of the wall are called fuse gates and are designed to drop over the edge when various stages of flooding occur, as a safety measure to prevent catastrophic failure and protect the downstream population.
Mark Ward-Able is the greenkeeper at Howick Golf Club and was my host for the next week or so. Torrential rains made maneuvering the Beast on his lawn an interesting exercise that required a plank to prevent the nose-wheel bogging. He generously invited me to a braai with vegetables and an interesting gravy that required slicing rather than pouring.
Very nearby the uMngeni River was creating a major spectacle at the close on 200 m Howick Falls.....
...........while Midmar was spilling for the first time in ages............
.........and is currently just over 100% full.
In August 2010 Jo found what turned out to be the 700 th species on my list, a forest buzzard. Though I'd seen something that may have been one 10 years earlier I wasn't sure as they can be confused with juvenile common buzzards. The way to be sure is to find a bird before the commons arrive from their sojourn on the steppes. Which was why I headed for Karkloof where the event had occurred in the hope of seeing one for a second time. Wasn't to be so had to make do with a dear little dusky flycatcher, which I've always described as 'sitting fat' from the poem about cats that says.......they sleep long and sit fat.
Here the Karkloof river drops over a fall that just pips Howick in height and creates a lot more mist.
Near the falls a couple of Cape honeysuckles, now Tecoma capensis, were flowering and one had such deep orange flowers that I suspect it originated in a nursery.
Was headed for Wagendrift near Escort when I got the news that there were problems renewing my licences. This now has to be done in Gauteng as in spite of the umpteen billion rand eNatis system they are still unable to do it anywhere other than where the vehicle is registered. They also no longer send out notifications that licences are due, so we now have to their job for them by filling in a new form every time. Net result is my poor sister galloping around fruitlessly and vast costs of ferrying documents back and forth as you daren't use the Post Office. Hence I ended up at Midmar Dam and now have to endure this view - tough in Africa.
Just down the road is Nelson Mandela's capture site which now sports a grand sculpture that merely appears to be a bunch of rusty poles with bits of scrap welded to them.....
until you take the metaphorical Long walk to freedom and hit the spot...... Very creative and original.
The other prolific species in flower now is the captivating Gladiolus dalenii just one of the many flowers the country has given to the world.
The Midmar dam side of the reserve has no animals but across the other side is Thurlow which is accessed by another gate. It is well known for grassland species and a visit turned up this quaint little banded martin with quizzical eyebrows and a barn owl! It was hunting over the grasslands at 11 am -obviously didn't have a very successful night.
Wendy and Richard joined me on my next visit to Thurlow and, while I'd seen one on my previous visit, we encountered no less than three stunning Denham's bustards. However they were so skittish that a photo was impossible, so I borrowed one. At over 7 kg they are one of the heaviest birds capable of flight.
Make of these what you will they are actually a fungus called a puff-ball, about the size of their golfing (or human) equivalent.
One stop produced a group of broad bordered grass yellow butterflies taking refreshment at a damp patch - probably urine. Their name is far bigger than they are!
Then Bishop had a senior moment. I parked on the verge and set off on a walk when I heard a vehicle approaching and looked round in time to see my bakkie hurtling down the hill, straight into the ladies loo - and I mean literally INTO. I went to report it and phone the insurance company and by the time I got back there was a roll-back on site very competently removing it from where I thought a skyhook would be required. Doesn't look too bad, does it? Initial quote R127 000, thank heavens for insurance. They've also given me a hire car for two weeks but as it's minute and hitchless I'm stuck until the repairs are done. What an idiot, you may laugh as much as you like now..
