Tuesday 10 February 2015

A-Camping We Did Go!

I realise that this is a little late, by a day or so, but I have made it extra long, so hopefully you will forgive me!

We have just come back from a long weekend caravan trip! A return trip to Fynbos Farm, where we went for our first caravan trip after we bought our beloved Gemsquash, three years ago now. In fact, that was my very first ever caravan trip!

So, for the last three years, we have been saying 'We really must go there again, it was such a super place........', every time we drove past the turnoff. And, now we have been there twice, but, I am happy to go back every month for a week or so!

So, off we set on Thursday morning. I have mentioned the wind farm near Hopefield before now and as we got closer, we saw what appeared to be a black blob thing on one of the blades.

See the black blob on the blade?

Have a closer look.

People in there!!!

It is people! In a basket thing! Working on the blade and hanging miles above the earth suspended by little bits of wire and string! Doesn't it make the hairs on the back of your neck rise? It does mine!


Off we set again and of course stopped for lunch at one of our favourite places, a little place called 'du Vlei'. I have to admit, food plays an enormous part in our camping trips, where to stop on the way, what to pack, what to buy along the way for 'just in case', snacks for the evening, snacks for the morning, biltong, chips and biscuits! (And how do you spell 'banting'?)

Set up and ready to relax!

By mid-afternoon we had basically set up camp, the groundsheet was in place, the tent was up and the poles were in position. And, as Rob was about to hammer the last tent peg in, we realised that...........we had boxed the car in and would have to remove a couple of pegs and a pole or two so that I could hold the tent out of the way and Rob could squeeze past literally between a rock and a hard place (a tree)! Phew! Then, as we were unpacking the cooler box, I realised that I had forgotten to bring my box of wine! So, into the car (now released from its corner) and off to the tiny town of Wolseley, where there is a very popular Bottle Store that stays open until 9 pm Monday to Saturday! There is no pharmacy though, so what the wine doesn't cure necessitates a trip into Ceres!

The entrance to the camping area.

Fynbos Farm is situated in the most beautiful valley, guarded by a range of mountains that closely resembles a row of sleeping elephants. As the light changes by the minute, so does the mood of the mountains, and we have promised ourselves that we shall go back when they are capped with snow! And hopefully before as well. And after.

See the elephants? Beautiful mountains.

A friend of ours had asked us to pop into the nearby Waverley Hills Wine Estate (never a problem for me!), and buy some wine, so on Friday morning we did just that. It is a beautiful estate that overlooks Wolseley and onto the range of mountains beyond.

The view from the Restaurant.

Too early for lunch as it was only eleven thirty (?), we opted for coffee and a slice of delicious cheese cake! (Now do you see how important food is to us?) Look below:

Malva cheesecake!! I honestly only ate half!!

Now, look at the next photo, look at the dog, or should I say The Dog?? She is an Anatolian Shepherd, and she is going to be the subject of my next blog, so I shan't tell you anything else, but remember the photo!

Leila, the Anatolian Shepherd, makes Alfie look like a chihuahua!

As I knew it was going to be hot there, (everywhere is hotter than Jacobsbaai) I insisted that we pack our Swimming Costumes! (Drum roll there!) And Friday was a real stinker, probably in the 40 degrees by afternoon. So, reluctantly Rob agreed, and off we went to the little pool at the campsite. It's a very small pool, literally big enough to plunge into, but the water felt as though it was straight out of the fridge! It was freezing! Rob got wet to his ankles and I was braver, I ended up on tip toe on the bottom step before I admitted defeat and climbed out!

Some of the neighbours visiting!

We had the most wonderful weekend, and as the campsite only consists of 9 sites, it's never busy and every site is shady and private and the ablution block could be featured in a Homes and Garden magazine. We braaied every evening, and we sat and stargazed after supper. Alfie enjoyed it too, and although he felt the heat, he refused to swim!

Braai time! Plus wine and chips!!

We read and relaxed, we went on drives to the nearby towns, we were visited by chickens, horses and peacocks and we could hear the trains hooting in the distance.

There are a few learner cockerels though who insisted on trying out their voices at about three in the morning!

Good organic fowl for the pot!!

4 comments:

Cathy D said...

It is a myth that the cockerel crows at the break of dawn - they can't tell the time - anytime of the day or night is cockadoodle time...... I used to love our caravan trips way back in the day....

Unknown said...

Oh that is a fantastic blog, I felt as though I was there with you, those mountains really do resemble elephants!How could you forget the wine, almost as important as the dog food!!

Pauline said...

Oh heck..................dog food!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pauline said...

Oh heck..................dog food!!!!!!!!!!!!