Craven : South Africa 2019 TR #4

[Flying mermaid]

My brother is a friend of Ramaphosa. They served on company boards together. He has wanted to see Ramaphosa as President for a long time, as he feels he can turn the country around, but yes he has told me that Ramaphosa has to tread very carefully, as there are many in the ANC who do not support him. Hopefully he can stay in long enough to become more secure and start to implement the changes the country needs. Julius Malema is one of the most dangerous threats around for the future of South Africa.

 

[Denali]

We were planning on returning car when we got back to Cape Town (after diving at Gansbaai) but maybe we should keep the car for a couple of day trips.

I was planning on using the hop on/off bus to get to Table Mountain gondala.

 

[Flying mermaid]

We were planning on returning car when we got back to Cape Town (after diving at Gansbaai) but maybe we should keep the car for a couple of day trips.

I was planning on using the hop on/off bus to get to Table Mountain gondala.

There are some beautiful day trips out of Cape Town. Don’t be scared to use Uber for getting around Cape Town, (although the hop on hop off bus is good too), it’s very cheap and safe. If you plan to go up Table Mountain, book your tickets online - there is a queue to get tickets and then another to go up - booking allows you to skip one queue

Table Mountain Aerial Cableway | Official Website

Welcome to the official Aerial Cableway website. Find essential info for planning your visit to Table Mountain. Buy your tickets online before you arrive.

www.tablemountain.net

 

[craven morehead]

My brother is a friend of Ramaphosa. They served on company boards together. He has wanted to see Ramaphosa as President for a long time, as he feels he can turn the country around, but yes he has told me that Ramaphosa has to tread very carefully, as there are many in the ANC who do not support him. Hopefully he can stay in long enough to become more secure and start to implement the changes the country needs. Julius Malema is one of the most dangerous threats around for the future of South Africa.

@Flying mermaid I am limited by technology between giving you an Agree or Hugs emoji ❤ At the risk of sounding like a wannabe Afrikaner ( I love the country that my friends were born in and I wish to visit many more times ). I have many, many friends both in country and ex-pat who I speak with regularly who agree Ramaphosa has wonderful business credentials and genuinely has the best interests of SA at heart but his attempts to right the country will be stymied by his own party this is very sad and I suspect we may be a generation away from seeing good for all. I am going back in 2 years time right or wrong and hope to see a change for the better but am not holding my breath. Corruption is endemic and yes Malema is evil personified. I very much appreciate your experienced view on this cheers CM

 

[craven morehead]

We were planning on returning car when we got back to Cape Town (after diving at Gansbaai) but maybe we should keep the car for a couple of day trips.

I was planning on using the hop on/off bus to get to Table Mountain gondala.

The hop on/off bus service is fine but as stated by others Uber is cheap and effective. Most importantly, please enjoy

 

[craven morehead]

Back in KZN and today we took a drive down to Scottburgh Beach. It took about an hour to get down here. Lovely beach with some F&B options right on hand





















A little bit for everyone here. Waves, river, rocks, swimming baths and lagoon. Would be a nice place to bring a picnic or if you're not that way inclined there are food and beverage outlets.

 

[craven morehead]

Scottburgh cont :

The girls are happy


Nice protected spot here.



Heading up for a feed


Decided to give John Dory's a go. They tell me it used to be a Wimpy here previously.




Some views from up top







I would seriously consider renting a place down here for a week next visit and save the hassle of going up and down the coughpy road to Highflats.

3 of the 4 of us had fish & chips which were excellent and my mate had a steak yep not a fan of seafood the poor bloke.

 

[craven morehead]

Next day trip was to visit friends near Albert Falls Dam on the other side of Pietermaritzburg :



Some photos of the road between PMB and the pub where we were meeting for lunch. Cottages, shacks, huts or shanties even some houses call them what you like. They are spread out as far as the eye can see It's staggering the amount of the population that live on the fringes of the cities in these so called townships or locations.
















Vendors on the roadside all through out the country


Just thought I would show the uninitiated that South Africa isn't all Safari Parks and Resorts

 

[craven morehead]

We made it safely to the little country pub "The Amble Inn". We had come here 4 years back for dinner and drinks and the first question the publican asked was did we wish to eat supper before or after the Rugby because they would not be serving while the game was on. Naturally we chose after they do love their Rugby over here and this was Sharks territory.







Out on the back deck








Big crowd in today


Managed to get everyone looking and smiling at the same time. A minor miracle.


The best Bunny Chow (Lamb) I have ever had plenty of heat in the curry but a beautiful flavour ... yum!



Having spent the last 20 years in a small country town these sort of quirky little pubs appeal to me it was great seeing our friends again and we spent several hours chatting and catching up. Back to Highflats tonight.

 

[craven morehead]

Heading up to Newcastle to visit some good friends :



Stopped for a break at BP Windmills Nottingham Rd Midlands. Near Mooi River.



Hadn't come across this sign previously : New type of crime to me I don't even lock my car at home!



The one thing I remember from the last trip. They advertised that they had the cleanest toilets in South Africa. Who knows but they were nice and clean. Not your average servo toilets for sure.





Time for a quick Pie, Chips & Gravy and back on the road to Newcastle


The place had certainly expanded since 2015. Great place for a pit stop.

 

[craven morehead]

Arrived safely in Newcastle at our friends lovely house in the suburb of Aviary Hill : Newcastle is the third biggest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. The usual security measures were to be seen along with a massive Boerboel at ~80kgs you would want to be a brave man to take on Jake! Baie groot hond

"The Boerboel, also known as the South African Mastiff, is a large, Molosser-type breed from South Africa and are bred for the purpose of guarding the homestead. These dogs were bred as working farm dogs and are one of the most powerful dog breeds in the world and have a bite force of up to 800 psi. "

The house had been added onto in stages over the years but worked well for the family along with the beautiful big yard and gardens. Could be a few beers being sacrificed soon



One son lives in this 2 bedroom cottage and also runs an accountants business from an office in the main part of the house











Elderly Mother in Law lives at right hand end of house in self contained granny flat. Good set up and works well for everyone.









Lovely spot to spend a few nights

 

[craven morehead]

Cooled off a bit tonight so the fire pit got a workout while the braai was being attended to by one of the lads. Even pulled the sides down on the gazebo to keep the breeze out.





The cold finally got the better of me well I still had shorts on I'm not real bright!

Now another new type of food for me & served as a starter in this case.

Skilpadjies ( little tortoise ) is a traditional South African food. The dish is lamb's liver wrapped in netvet (caul fat), which is the fatty membrane that surrounds the kidneys. Most cooks mince the liver, add coriander, chopped onion, salt and Worcestershire sauce then wrap balls of this mixture with the netvet and secure it with a toothpick and grill over an open fire and it's ready to eat when the fat is crisp.



I absolutely enjoyed them and I think I scoffed about half a dozen. Not that I got to try ( it was beers tonight ) but I reckon they would be awesome with a nice red I was having too much fun to take any photos but the mains ended up a carnivores delight. Later in the evening when everyone was well lubricated one of the lads got the guitar out and I had my first crack at singing in Afrikaans judges gave me an 8 out of 10. The things you do on vacation. Awesome evening!

 

[craven morehead]

Today was a social round of golf at Utrecht Country Club about 50kms from Newcastle. Sounds fancy but has definitely seen better days. The reason for coming here was that this small mining town was where my mates all grew up and did their apprenticeships etc. They said 25 years ago this was the social hub of the town. I bought a club cap over from my home course to give to my good mate as a small gift.

I borrowed this photo to give some perspective : there isn't much around.


The clubhouse


Tennis courts need some TLC


Water .... what water


So the black tee box markers are actually old percussion drill tip tips from the mines which you used to access halfway up the mountain and just drive straight in. All closed now and the town is in decline. Also over the other side of the fence is a modest game reserve. Pretty much Giraffe, Various species of Buck, Baboons and the lovable Warthogs!


From the course we spotted one Giraffe but phone camera zoom was useless.


Warthogs on the run


About the best photo I could manage on the run but warthog in foreground and baboons in background centre and left. Now we get kangaroos, emus, echidnas, and the odd tortoise and dingo at home so it was good to see something different. I'm certain if my mates could make the trip to my course it would be just as weird for them. On the previous trip we played Sun City ( Gary Player ) and as we came down one of the fairways we saw about two dozen mongooses playing beside the green. Now that was odd for an Aussie to witness.

 

[craven morehead]

So on the way home my mate wanted to do a bit of a loop and show me where he used to work and also visit his sister in Volksrust who I had met 4 years previous. On the way we would pass through the small village of Wakkerstroom literally translated as Awake Stream. Wakkerstroom is the second oldest town in the province of Mpumalanga. Naturally we pulled in to the Wakkerstroom Hotel for 2 quick beers



It's a bit hard to see but on the hill is a monument to the 100 year anniversary of the Voortrekkers great trek. There is an Ox Wagon above the 1838 -1938



Nice Church in the background






Beautiful pub once inside






Oh Deer



Nice rustic little town and I can see how on weekends and holiday times this place would be packed.

 

[craven morehead]

So after 2 very full and thoroughly enjoyable days and nights in Newcastle done, it was back to Highflats ! Now the next day by pure luck we got a message from one of our dear friends ( the mother of a mate who used to live in our street ) was going to be relatively close by for the next few days. She would normally have been ~600kms away over in Kriel and I had already indicated that we wouldn't have a chance to get there this trip. Now she was going to be staying at Shaka's Rocks Ballito only 40kms North of Durban we had to make the effort to go visit. I borrowed my mate Sean's car the following day as he had been called into work. So I dropped him at work and along with his wife Lyn and Mrs CM off we headed on the 2 hour drive up to the Dolphin Coast.



We drove straight to where Tannie Rilda was staying at Chaka's Rock Chalets and Google Maps was once again on the money at around 2 hours ( speed limit optional ) What a wonderful opportunity to catch up and more so because it was completely unexpected. We had last seen each other 18 months ago in Townsville when she and her husband had been visiting their son and I had fortuitously been up that way for a wedding. It was now approaching 12 months since she had lost her husband. I reflected fondly that things had conspired and I had managed to see him up in Townsville on that trip. It was an emotional catch up.



Now we only had a 3-4 hour window so after many hugs and kisses and initial chit chat, I insisted on taking everyone out for lunch. We decided to jump in the car and wing it. We ended up at Al Pescatore Italian Restaurant : Home - Al Pescatore



Magnificent views from our table. At one stage a pod of about 8 dolphins cruised past just to reiterate that we were visiting the Dolphin Coast







Cheers !! The girls all loved their coughtails.



We all thoroughly enjoyed our meals. Top notch tucker with a premium to pay for the location but well worth it. No complaints

Mrs CM and Tannie Rilda went with Penne al Gorgonzola : Prawns, Gorgonzola cheese and spring onion in a cream sauce.



I decided on the fillet steak with a blue cheese and mushroom sauce. A bottle of Shiraz to share. As I was driving I had one glass as did my tannie. I gave her the rest of the bottle to take back to the chalet to enjoy at her leisure.



Lyn just can't get enough of a good feed of fish : Once again she didn't eat supper this night



Happy to recommend this place. Good food, good service and a great location. Reasonably well priced.

 

[craven morehead]

Today was our last day in KwaZulu-Natal before heading back to JNB. We decided on a bit of a drive and a pub lunch which ended up being at the Himeville Arms. We didn't take the most direct route as we wanted to detour through Creighton a very small town where two of our dear friends grew up and indeed got married in the small local church. We also made a stop in at the Underberg Pub originally to suss it out for lunch but left after 2 quick beers I had been through both Underberg & Himeville previously on my way up to Lesotho via the Sani Pass some weeks earlier before Mrs CM arrived in country. This area of the Southern Drakensberg is home to lots of spas, retreats and lodges offering all sorts of outdoor activities and trout fishing.


Closest I've been to a church in some time it was great to see a bit of our friends history. They were the couple who actually asked us to join them on our first trip back in 2015 and we formed many enduring friendships from that trip. Even though they couldn't make this trip it was basically like visiting family this time around.



We got to Underberg and it was windy and dusty as well as cool so we thought we'd seek shelter in the pub. Beer and a fireplace what could be better right?
Maybe even have some lunch.



The place looked like it had a bit of character but we were the only one's there once we went inside we had left our weapons in the car and even had shoes on



My silly old mate an absolute larrakin. He and I shared many many laughs over the weeks.



The publican got the fire going thinking he'd hit the jackpot



However the place was dusty and even my beer didn't taste 100%. It just didn't feel right, so we decided to head across to the 115 year old Himeville Arms which was only about 10 minute drive away.



It's quite a large place and part of the Premier Hotel & Resorts group.



We all had a basic but decent lunch like homemade pies & chips etc and spent an enjoyable afternoon here. Definitely some atmosphere here compared to the last joint and a much cleaner and a far better presented establishment. The staff were also fantastic. I only took a couple of photos of the front bar but there were other rooms including snooker room etc to keep you amused.



We would braai again tonight !!

 

[craven morehead]

Well we finished with a bang last night no surprises there! We were up early as we had to allow for up to 2 hours travel in to King Shaka depending on the traffic and we also had to drop another friend off down in Scottburgh on the way. We had packed the bulk of our luggage the night before so no holdups there. We ended up having a good run in and were at the airport ~11.00 for a 12.30 departure on BA6220 in J. We had already decided we would forgo the lounge and spend the last hour or best part of with our friends. So Mugg & Bean it was for coffee en toasties. We managed a good 45-50 minutes before having to head inside. We all tried our best to play it cool until the last 5 minutes for our goodbyes Made it comfortably airside 15 minutes before boarding for the short flight back to JNB I quite like this airport.



Checked in at J counter and through security pretty quickly :


Today's bird : It was now starting to sink in that we wouldn't see our friends again for 2 years.


As we had not long had a toastie each we decided to share a meal on the flight. Once again blandish but okay and much tastier that the beef and tomato pasta on the 2 previous flights. Can't expect too much on a 50 minute flight. I relaxed and sipped on a few reds while reading the paper.



Originally I had tried to book this flight for the next day to maximize every last day in KZN and just have an overnighter in JNB to chill before the long trip home. For whatever reason I couldn't get paid J seats. So today it is. Smooth and quick flight and once again Mrs CM who is not even QF Tin let alone Bronze luggage came out first !!! Anyway we're safely back in the Protea Hotel for 2 nights instead of the planned one. Thought we'd better raise a glass to the Aussie Flag. Like I need an excuse

 

[craven morehead]

Sorry folks have been struggling to close out this TR.

So as stated we had originally only planned one night back in JNB but that didn't work out. So we were delighted when another mate who lives in Secunda which is 130kms away contacted us and said he and his 2 sons were going to come and visit They arrived the following morning just in time for me to shout them the buffet breakfast at the Protea. Over brekky and coffee we decided we would head over to Pretoria to the Voortrekker Monument and then play it by ear for the rest of the day.

The Voortrekker Monument is located just south of Pretoria. This massive granite structure is prominently located on a hilltop, and was raised to commemorate the Voortrekkers (Pioneersd) who left the Cape Colony in their thousands between 1835 and 1854 and was designed by the architect Gerard Moerdijk. My first thoughts as we approached from a distance was that it wasn't that big however up close was a different story.

A couple of Poortrekkers


Sculpture of Piet Retief : Coincidentally the mate I am visiting with today went to Piet Retief High School

Pieter Mauritz Retief was a Voortrekker leader. Settling in 1814 in the frontier region of the Cape Colony, he assumed command of punitive expeditions in response to raiding parties from the adjacent Xhosa territory. Eventually clubbed to death by Zulus in 1838.



The Vow :



The gardens are very well done and include many indigenous plants. The entire main block of the Monument is surrounded by a ‘Laager’ of 64 granite Ox-wagons.



Very peaceful today



One view from up top :



Two elements make the monument a site worth visiting: the Historical Frieze and the Cenotaph Hall. We were really impressed with the marble frieze.

The unique marble Frieze is an intrinsic part of the design - in Bas-relief 27 panels depict the story of the Great Trek from 1835 to 1852. The Frieze does not only show the history of the Great Trek, but also depicts every day life, work methods, religious beliefs and the way of life of the Voortrekkers.



Bit of a closer view.


On top of the Hall of Heroes' is an arch from where one can view the interior of the Monument. Funnily enough we took the lift up Not the best place if you are scared of heights The view looking down to the central focus point of the Monument which is the Cenotaph situated below the entry level.



It is through an opening in the arch that the sun shines at twelve o'clock on 16 December each year onto the middle of the Cenotaph and the words, Ons vir jou Suid-Afrika or 'We for thee, South Africa'. The ray of sunshine symbolises God's blessing on the lives and endeavours of the Voortrekkers.



Really glad we visited this place and could have spent more time here there is also a museum on the lower level.

Part of me wonders if this Monument will stand the test of time.

 

[craven morehead]

After the hard thirsty slog playing tourist it was time for a couple of beers. Local knowledge suggested Capital Craft Beer Academy in Menlo Park, Pretoria





Enjoying possibly my favourite beer in the world : Erdinger Weissbier a maginficent 5.3% German Wheat Beer



This was quite a large establishment with plenty of seating available both in and outdoor. It was very clean and the service was both friendly and good.
We delegated one of the lads to be driver ( note coffee ) after 2 or 3 beers it was time to think about where we would dine tonight.

 

[Daver6]

Sorry folks have been struggling to close out this TR.

So as stated we had originally only planned one night back in JNB but that didn't work out. So we were delighted when another mate who lives in Secunda which is 130kms away contacted us and said he and his 2 sons were going to come and visit They arrived the following morning just in time for me to shout them the buffet breakfast at the Protea. Over brekky and coffee we decided we would head over to Pretoria to the Voortrekker Monument and then play it by ear for the rest of the day.

The Voortrekker Monument is located just south of Pretoria. This massive granite structure is prominently located on a hilltop, and was raised to commemorate the Voortrekkers (Pioneersd) who left the Cape Colony in their thousands between 1835 and 1854 and was designed by the architect Gerard Moerdijk. My first thoughts as we approached from a distance was that it wasn't that big however up close was a different story.

A couple of Poortrekkers
View attachment 182191

Sculpture of Piet Retief : Coincidentally the mate I am visiting with today went to Piet Retief High School

Pieter Mauritz Retief was a Voortrekker leader. Settling in 1814 in the frontier region of the Cape Colony, he assumed command of punitive expeditions in response to raiding parties from the adjacent Xhosa territory. Eventually clubbed to death by Zulus in 1838.

View attachment 182199

The Vow :

View attachment 182192

The gardens are very well done and include many indigenous plants. The entire main block of the Monument is surrounded by a ‘Laager’ of 64 granite Ox-wagons.

View attachment 182193

Very peaceful today

View attachment 182194

One view from up top :

View attachment 182195

Two elements make the monument a site worth visiting: the Historical Frieze and the Cenotaph Hall. We were really impressed with the marble frieze.

The unique marble Frieze is an intrinsic part of the design - in Bas-relief 27 panels depict the story of the Great Trek from 1835 to 1852. The Frieze does not only show the history of the Great Trek, but also depicts every day life, work methods, religious beliefs and the way of life of the Voortrekkers.

View attachment 182200

Bit of a closer view.
View attachment 182198

On top of the Hall of Heroes' is an arch from where one can view the interior of the Monument. Funnily enough we took the lift up Not the best place if you are scared of heights The view looking down to the central focus point of the Monument which is the Cenotaph situated below the entry level.

View attachment 182196

It is through an opening in the arch that the sun shines at twelve o'clock on 16 December each year onto the middle of the Cenotaph and the words, Ons vir jou Suid-Afrika or 'We for thee, South Africa'. The ray of sunshine symbolises God's blessing on the lives and endeavours of the Voortrekkers.

View attachment 182197

Really glad we visited this place and could have spent more time here there is also a museum on the lower level.

Part of me wonders if this Monument will stand the test of time.

Geez. I have some faint memories of visiting this as probably a six or seven year old.