Further round Riebeek

A pot plant on the veranda sprang a surprise of rather outsize proportions and I was informed that it's a clematis.  The local version makes up for it's lack of size by sheer numbers so was astonished that this was the same family. Clematis jackmanii certainly makes a statement.

Just 5 kilometers up the road is another hamlet called Rebeeck Wes (they hung onto the c unlike Riebeek Kasteel).  It was probably snobbery which drew the more affluent members of society to Riebeeck Wes, whereas Kasteel was more working class and the differences are evident in the scale of the older houses, grandness versus..........

............cottages.

Went for an early stroll one morning and was in time to catch the moon just before it set behind the berg.

Don't know what it is but there is a massive wind farm on the road to Ceres and watching the enormous blades rotating lazily is very compelling - engineering on a grand scale, but Eskom is still dithering about Independent Power Producers.

Just past Ceres the road winds up into the Koue Bokkeveld via the Gydo Pass, motorcycle heaven.

It's odd that the seasons are reversed in this area, having winter rainfall, everything is bone dry in summer, but it does create some lovely dried grasses.

Have mentioned previously the impressive numbers of raptors that occur here and this is one of the more elegant ones, a rock kestrel hawking from a convenient perch.

At a pit stop I stumbled upon a Karkablom Tritoniopsis antholyza - what a mouthful and no I have no idea what either name means or refers to!

After a particularly scorching couple of days a cold front blew in and slapped a remarkable tablecloth on the mountain.

As the grape harvest has begun I pulled in to a nearby estate to grab a share of the anticipated 1.3 million tonne haul.  That's a number that is just way beyond any imagination.

Like the grapes the view from the shop was excellent.

Simply had to go and ride the Chapman's Peak Road and stopped at a picnic site where I took a picture of the immaculate view last time I was here, four years ago - and it's still just as good.

Headed out towards the mountains to do an atlas card and stopped to check on some swallows and swifts and when I turned around..................I was getting the hairy eyeball.  Unusual to see a spotted eagle owl still up at 8 am, obviously didn't get enough supper.

Took a drive up to an old haunt Citrusdal to check the condition of the road over the Cederberg to Ceres - not good - but did find a new rooibos plantation wrested from the rocky surrounds.

One evening the crescent moon was so close it felt as if you could touch it, look at all the craters along the terminator.

Went out birding with a friend into the Darling Hills area on gorgeous day with a painted sky - the Cape does good scenery even in the wheat-belt.

Meet Wolfie, an Alsatian on steroids who terrifies all the passersby but is as docile as a bunny.  He got all twitchy the other day because the wind was howling around the rafters.

Went in search of a lifer at Kliphoek Salt Pans near Velddrift but was distracted by, among many others, brown-throated martins.....

...................very little stints...............

...........chestnut-banded plovers.............

................Caspian terns...........

................and curlew sandpipers.

I stayed at the delightfully named Kuifkopvisvanger Resort four years ago and searched in vain for a red-necked phalarope which had over-wintered and was in breeding plumage. So seeing as I was looking for a Wilson's phalarope this time round..............the inevitable happened.

Fortunately I hooked up with a couple of young brothers who were professional tour guides home on holiday and we exchanged numbers and split up.  No more than 10 minutes later I got the call and there it was - not quite as pretty, but a lifer is a lifer.  Later I was able to return the complement when I relocated the red-neck so that they could get photos.  Two phalaropes in one afternoon is quite an achievement in the southern hemisphere.

Tulbagh is just up the road so went for a drive through the valley.........more spectacular backdrops .....

...........and the village whose main drag is an unattractive row of shops but one road down in Church Street are some superb examples of Cape-Dutch architecture............

...........and some of the houses date back to the late 1700's.  Most of them were badly damaged in an earthquake in 1969 but a restoration committee was formed and a lot of them have been restored as per their original plans.  Each house has an information board outside and the museum has pictures of the destruction.

Friends from England were staying in Somerset West and invited me for lunch and on the way to the very upmarket Erinvale Golf Estate I happened on this beguiling scene.

I have a route that includes two of the best local mountain passes, Bain's Kloof and DuToit's Kloof which I ride fairly often.  It also includes part of the Slanghoek valley which has a certain charm.......

..............and a stop at the top of DuToit's is mandatory.............

 

...............and a final blast along the R45 with the Kasteel beckoning.  Hard to get tired of doing it.