Superstition to Super!

You know how things come in 3's? You hear about an accident and then another one, and until you hear about a third one you stay at home? Or you drop a glass, then a plate and almost throw a bowl onto the floor to get it over with! Well, at the beginning of May, we decided to go away in Gemsquash. Rob found a perfect place only a couple of hours drive from here, pet friendly and away from 'civilisation' so we spent a happy couple of days sorting out and packing and organising food and bedding and making sure that Alfie's toys were ready.

Then, the day before we were due to go, Rob's glasses broke! They just cracked across the bridge of his nose and fell off! Thank goodness he had his old, heavy ones as backup!

Then, we decided to switch the caravan fridge on so that I could simply transfer from the kitchen just before we left. Nothing, it was dead. No reassuring hum, nothing. Rob checked the wiring and the plug, and even fitted a new plug just in case!

Now, remember we had given Gemsquash a facelift and that involved moving the fridge, so Rob pulled it out and found a loose wire! But, he wasn't sure where it went and rather than make things worse, he did the right thing and called an electrician who promised to call round early the next morning.
That was the second thing, and we just knew that there would be a third waiting for us! The next morning the electrician arrived dead on time and fixed the fridge in a matter of minutes. Phew, it rattled into life and we were set to go. Packing completed, we loaded the dog into the car, and put our shoulders to the caravan ready to push.

Then, the fates laughed and sent number three! The jockey wheel jammed solid and we couldn't move it! It would go backwards and forwards but would not allow us to turn left or right. Rob did a spot of DIY with a four pound hammer and managed to break the handle too!! By now I was wondering if there was a message hidden in this somewhere and was ready to unload and unpack!

Just then a black cat crossed my path.......not unusual seeing that we have two of them!

We decided to take a chance and go! We heaved and shoved Gemsquash into the drive and Rob reversed the car with precision, thanks to my perfect hand signals! And we were off!

What a wonderful place it turned out to be. A citrus farm with the camping area right on the edge of the Olifants River. We parked on the grass under huge trees a stone's throw from the water.

Taken from the water's edge.

A little manoeuvring was necessary to get the caravan into position before Rob unhooked it as the jockey wheel didn't miraculously unjam itself on the way, but as we were the only people there, there was plenty of room to do this.


We spent the first two days reading and bird watching, and Alfie did a lot of sheep watching, he isn't a great birder. We saw two otters playing in the water but they were so fast that we couldn't get the cameras ready in time.

Morning mist through the window.

I celebrated my birthday while we were there and we had a wonderful hamburger in the little farming town of Citrusdal. The citrus lorries rumbled past us, tractors were parked in the street while the owners went shopping, and the burger was one of the best that we have tasted in a long time.

The Uitspan Coffee Shop

Rob had a chip that was a contender for the longest in the world and after lunch we went for a little drive.

The longest chip in the world?

 Have a look at this photo, can you see Snoopy dog leaning on a rock?

Snoopy!

That evening the baboons poured down the hills across the river from us and we sat and watched them raid the citrus orchards while the dogs barked and the workers banged dustbin lids and shouted.

Goodbye baaaaad sheep!

All too soon our week was up, we both felt that we could stay longer, but we shall definitely return. The owners made us feel very welcome and gave us a huge bag of export oranges when we left.
I made marmalade and added a good slug of whisky for flavour! It didn't set too well though and Rob has tried it poured over ice-cream!

Whatever makes you happy!