Back to the fairest Cape

Yellow Sands Resort near Cintsa and East London had been recommended by several people and it certainly is a superb spot with many of the sites having sea and/or river views.

A stroll around the extensive grounds turned up these gorgeous clivia in all their blooming glory!

Very sad to come across this large jelly fish stranded on the beach but wasn't about to risk picking it up and returning it to the sea.

Next stop was in the Baviaanskloof just past Port Elizabeth and along a very narrow road to Innikloof about 20 km from Patensie.  Never mind Innikloof, the road was so narrow that if I'd met anything coming the other way I'd have been Innikak!  A magical, sparkling river runs along the valley and provides water for the naartjie farm on which the camp site is situated

While talking an amble, I discovered this puzzle bush Ehretia rigida in bloom with flowers far more colourful than usual, must be something in the water.

Simply had to take a ride along the old road to Van Stadens Wild Flower Reserve where the newer of the two bridges forms a stunning backdrop.

This fork-tailed drongo was busy hawking insects in the picnic site..........

......and the leucospermums were full of both yellow............

        

.....................and orange flowers.

Stopped for coffee on the way back at a cafe that looked out on this view ...........

...........and later in the evening was treated to a lovely sunset - SA really is a magical place to live.

Speaking of magic, a Cape Chestnut on the side of the road was really showing off.  It's botanical name describes it perfectly - Calodendron capensis - beautiful tree of the Cape.

And so to Sedgefield and Lake Pleasant on the aptly named Groenvlei, whose water definitely has a green tinge though it was difficult to capture in full sun. Spent a good deal of time helping my former landlady get her newly acquired house in order after the move from Forest Hills.

When you fully appreciate the astonishing beauty of the place it's easy to see what prompted the move.

This beach near Lake Pleasant is mostly deserted and stretches for about 10 km to the mouth of the Buffels River.

Whilst taking an early constitutional I encountered a small family of white-fronted plovers and this youngster seemed very concerned with something above it, though I failed to find what it was.

A little further on a pair of African black oyster-catchers appeared to be either doing some sort of pair bonding routine or a courtship dance involving a lot of bobbing and weaving.

Driving back after the stroll, I noticed these terrestrial orchids Bonatea speciosa with their odd shaped, green and white flowers.

Paid a quick visit to Plettenburg Bay to have dinner with friends and was again struck by the magnificence of the scenery around this part of the world.

Going in the other direction towards George you have the mountains.....

..........and the Seven Passes road back to Wilderness which was a joy on Big Red.

As with all the rivers in the area, the water is stained to tea colour by the high tannin content

Leaving Sedgefield I headed over the Outeniqua Pass to Oppidam, 20 km the other side of Oudtshoorn, the ongoing drought once over the mountain was much in evidence and farmers in the region are having a torrid time.

In contrast the plentiful supply of water from Grobbelaar's River ensured a camp that was well grassed and and provided a full on glamping experience, with individual, kitchen, dining and ablution facilities.

The road up to the Cango Caves was not only ideal for a ride but provided some awesome views......

..........as did the spectacularly winding road through Meiringspoort with it's dozens of river crossings.

Also couldn't resist going back over the Outiniqua Pass on the bike and found a very large species of aristea A bakeri which has flowers about 30 mm in diameter on an impressive metre long stem.

............and a scarlet watsonia W. fourcadei ...... I think.

The trip to Warmwaterberg along the R63 was through some of the most drought stricken regions of the province.  Typical of South African though, just outside Ladismith, was the gang of weed-whacker toting workers vainly searching the verges for a blade of grass to cut.  Priorities people!

Just before Ronnie's (famous) Sex Shop - which is actually a cafe and bar - a dirt road leads up a fairly steep slope to a resort that boasts hot springs and a forever view. 

Final stop was at Siver Sands just outside Robertson which is conveniently close to one of my favourite estates, Van Loveren, home to the very reasonable but excellent Tangled Tree range - good wine cheap packaging.

And finally to Riebeek Kasteel, which, though named after Jan van Riebeeck, has decided that it doesn't need the c. Nestling below the Kasteelberg it's a quaint little village with a monster kerk that could house the entire valley community comfortably.

From the top of the nearby Bothmaskloof Pass the extent of this verdant valley may be appreciated with it's many hectares of vines, olives, fruit and wheat stretching towards the Liemietberg mountains. Fully intend to thoroughly explore all the passes in the area over the next four months.

A trek to Riebeeck

Could not resist buying Big Red, a Honda NC750 that is a thing of beauty. 2014 with less than 8000 km on the clock, I stole it for 10k less than the asking price and haven't stopped smiling since.  Had to fit a winch to the bakkie so that I'm able to load and off-load, but we're now inseparable and headed to the Cape together.

Zipped up to Boksburg to see my sister and brother-in-law and road-worthied and registered Big Red in record time then headed back to Karridene.  Have always admired this massif near Harrismith which is one of the many that make the road through Van Reenan's Pass so attractive.

Happened to come across this very colourful new growth on a small dune myrtle Eugenia capensis which also features a novel leaf arrangement with three of them symmetrically arranged around the twig.

Spent many hours strolling along the endless beaches that stretch both ways from Karridene and one morning happened upon this little white-fronted plover, but only noticed the ghost crab when I downloaded the picture.

Have mentioned before how the numbers of African black oyster-catchers have recovered dramatically after beach driving was banned and here's further proof.  20 years ago it was a notable event to see a single bird, now groups of 10 or more are common.

Took a stroll through TC Robertson Reserve in Scottburgh and found a bunch of novices dancing in the sunshine, the name refers to their colouration which is similar to that apprentice nuns, though I thought they all wore black and white..

While there, noticed this weird structure in the river bed and closer inspection revealed the access road to a new housing complex - very swish.

Decided not to go through the former Transkei on the way to the Cape, so first stop on the circumnavigation of Lesotho was Bushwillow, about 15 km from Howick in the Karkloof area.  The first night was spent in splendid isolation but I was awakened by some furious tapping and fluttering noises emanating from the bakkie.  Mr southern boubou had decided he didn't much like the opposition and was doing his level best to see the fellow off.

The peace was shattered on Saturday when a large group of the younger generation pitched camp right next door with herds of kids in tow - really am quite allergic to them!  The sunrise the following morning was great and by the time I returned from a foray to Midmar Dam they had all disappeared.

Later that afternoon this gaudy fellow paid a brief visit, chatted awhile then flitted, fortunately not before I managed to snap a fair picture of a greater double-collared sunbird, which is only slightly greater than his very similar cousin the southern double-collared.......

......................and not long after that, the full moon hove into sight.

Made the mistake of taking a stroll up into the Karkloof and after a couple of kilometers of near vertical climb, still seemed nowhere near the top so gave up.  On the descent I came across a very exciting animal - a Natal purple-glossed snake. an absolute delight but very shy.  Every time I pulled her out to get a better pic she dived under the leaf litter again but was otherwise exceedingly polite. The long thin section of tail makes it a she.

Soon headed for the hills for an overnight stop at Hlalanathi, the stark contrast between winter grass and newly green acacia necessitated a brief stop near Estcourt.

As ever the Amphitheatre made a spectacular backdrop to what has to be one of the loveliest campsites.

A pair of familiar chats had a nest above the geyser and were busily feeding chicks.  As usual the highly descriptive Afrikaans name of spekvreter, refers to their liking for lard which the Trek-boers used to grease the wagon axles and these guys soon learned to peck off the excess.

Then it was on to Golden Gate which was a mistake.  The construction site at the top of the camp was excessively noisy so a planned two night stay was reduced to one. The massive sandstone cliffs above Glen Reenan camp were impressive though. 

Zastron was next as I've never been to the place before and the caravan park there had good reviews and on the way passed this koppie which is so typical of that part of the Freestate.

Dawn the next day was almost on a par with west coast sunsets with the view looking east from the campsite worth getting up for.............

..........while that to the west was almost as good.

The village itself is rather special and nowhere near as Afrikaans as I imagined. It was established by the brothers de Winnaar and the elder, Renier, lived to become a legendary raconteur. His most famous story involved an encounter with the Devil whom he persuaded that his pangeweer (a fearsome weapon that required huge doses of gunpowder) was a new-fangled pipe and innocently asked if he'd like a smoke. The Devil agreed and when his head parted company with his body it struck the nearby Aasvoelsberg and blew a hole clean through the rock.

The mountain's name derives from the vulture colony situated on the northern side and I'm pleased to report that there are still a number of majestic Cape vultures using the site.  Our vulture population is under threat from the muti traders, who have convinced people that the far seeing eyes of the birds will enable anyone who sleeps with a vulture head under his pillow, to predict the winning lottery numbers.

While viewing the colony I noticed something weird - a small herd of lechwe feeding on the lower slopes - the nearest naturally occurring population of this antelope is in the Okavango Delta.

The caravan park in Zastron is called Mountain View but as there is this in one direction and another directly behind plus the Maluti's of Lesotho in the distance it's not entirely clear which view is being referred to.

The grounds are home to a pair of bokmakeries whose wonderful voices are heard regularly and one of them was confiding enough to allow a rather special picture to be taken.  Note the enormous hook on the beak which is characteristic of all our shrikes.

Bought a bottle of "Obies" to fend off the cold and after a few, it took quite a while to figure out what exactly was amiss.  Perhaps it allows you to read the label while slugging from the bottle.

Noticed from the map the the road to Sterkstroom crossed the Orange River so took a ride and discovered a smaller version of both the river and the bridge where Aliwal North stands on the banks about 100 km further downstream.

Passed through Aliwal on the way to the coast, which brought back many childhood memories as my grandparents lived there for most of their considerable lives.  Not entirely sure but part of this building may have housed grandads' jewelry shop.

Was headed for an overnight stop at Valschfontein when I noticed this cloud.  "So what's it all about then?"

Valschfontein resort is one of those delightful, out of the way and totally unexpected places situated on a farm between Jamestown and Queenstown, that boasts first class facilities. After a warm welcome, I managed to set up my dish and watch SA beat Japan, which made the sun-downer even more satisfying.