Graeme and Oli were still unwell so we chose to take accommodation in a family chalet rather than camp. After making this decision we discovered that the baboons spent a lot of time at the camp site across the road so were quite glad to be within the walls of a chalet. The room had a bunk in the living area, one double bedroom and a beautiful view of Mushroom Rock.

 

One afternoon as Oli was running up the grassy bank towards our chalet, a baboon was running down the upper ridge towards him. Because of the height difference of the ground, Oli couldn’t see the baboon and the baboon couldn’t see Oli. I yelled out for Oli to stop which he did just in time to avoid meeting the baboon face to face. The baboon stopped in fright and skid-addled away. A lucky escape!

 

Later, this same baboon arrived on our verandah as I was cooking dinner. I think he liked the smells so I yelled out to Oli to shut the door as we didn’t want him inside the chalet! They can be rather cheeky and bold.

Golden Gate has two small game drives which we enjoyed. We saw black wilderbeast, mountain reedbuck, zebra, blesbok antelope and lots of birds and pretty wild flowers.

 

There is a Vulture Hide with a sightings log book but as they hadn’t been fed this day, we weren’t lucky enough to see any.

Our first river crossing in the Hilux or Bukkie as they call them in South Africa…

 

 

 

 

The Mahai Camp at Royal Natal in the Drakensberg Mountains is very large and we had to drive around for a while to find the best place to camp. We set up camp on the side of the camp where many other campers were located near a row of tall pine trees.  Throughout the four nights we stayed at the park we had some terrific thunder and lightning storms.  We felt a bit vulnerable under canvas but despite the very heavy rain, inside the tents stayed dry.  Luckily our site near the trees was safe as a few days later after the storm one of the pines came crashing down across the campground fence.  We intended to stay three nights but ended up staying four as Graeme and Oliver were sick.  This was our first real experience of camping in Africa and we set up the awning which gave us shelter from the rain and hot sun when it appeared.

On our first day we met the security guard, Lucky, who aspired to be a tourist guide. He gave us lots of information about the various walks. We chose to walk to the Cascade Falls for a swim which are a series of pools where the river water runs over smooth rocks between the pools like a natural hydroslide.  The path was paved for much of the way and was a very gentle gradient.  We passed a small rock overhang with some faint rock drawings.  The path crossed the river over a bowed bridge which Lucky had described as a ‘banana’ bridge.  We all had a swim in the chilly water along with several day visitors.

Royal Natal is not a national park where you go on game drives but we still had some great wild animal encounters.  Guinea Fowl were regular visitors.  Bushbuck also came right into the campground.  Sophie and Oliver would stalk up to them with Sophie getting right down on her stomach.  When she held out long grass they would approach her and take it out of her hand.

One day, Oliver came running back to our site yelling ’ The baboons are at the gate’. We grabbed our cameras and raced up to see them. We found a large troop with everything from young babies clinging to their mother’s backs to juveniles play fighting and a huge male who was clearly in charge.  They had come to the gate to eat nuts from one of the European trees near the camp.  When one of the park staff approached on a bicycle they all scattered.  The staff often chased them away from the camp to prevent them from causing trouble and getting into the rubbish bins.

Oliver has a nickname for Sophie – Dolly Dassie – it started at home in Christchurch… and continues now…

The day we left Royal Natal was fine so we were able to dry the tents out before packing them away. We drove up to Oliviershoek Pass on the border between Kwa Zulu Natal (KZN) and Free State.  We had lunch at the picnic stop on the pass and had a good view back into KZN.  On the Free State side we soon passed Sterkfontein Dam and diverted briefly to Harrismith to do some shopping.

We decided to try a real South African butcher shop and bought chicken, chops, a borworse and a sausage meat mix for a meatloaf. It all looked a bit fatty but we thought we would try it out as supermarkets did not always have a great meat selection.

There were not a lot of other campers and we found an isolated spot beside a pond. We tried to set up our power cord but it kept flicking the circuit breaker.  We assumed it was all the wet ground.

This was our first night camping in Africa. There were lots of dogs for Oliver and Sophie to play with.

The next morning we packed up camp and headed back towards Howick on the motorway pulling off onto the old main road just before Howick to visit the Nelson Mandela capture site. There was a small museum about Mandela and we were told by the attendant to take our own “long walk to freedom” down a path to a sculpture of Mandela.  As you approach the sculpture made of many profiled steel posts, a bust of Mandela forms.  You have to stand in just the right spot to get the perfect image.  Across the road from the sculpture is a more modest monument which marks the actual spot where Mandela was arrested leading to his trial and eventual 27 years in prison.

Further along the old main road, known as the Midlands Meander, we arrived at Tourist Village Piggly Wiggly where there were several craft shops and cafes. We had dinner and afterwards, Sophie did candle dipping.  She chose a cat-shaped candle and could choose the wax colour and decorate it with paint before a final dip in clear wax.  She chose purple wax and had a fun time painting her “kitty” which she took a lot of care over.  This was her birthday treat.

 

On the way back to camp it started to pour so we spent the night in a caravan as we did not want to pack away wet tents in the morning. The ‘van’ as they called it was not great.  The veranda to the sitting and kitchen area leaked and one bed broke as soon as I sat on it.  Worst of all it was damp and smelt of mould so we used our own sleeping bags rather than their sheets.  To top it off there was a power cut for most of the night.

The next day dawned fine and we fortunately were only charged camping rates for the caravan from hell. We celebrated Sophie’s birthday and she seemed oblivious of her rough surroundings and excited by her presents. Benji the dog joined the celebration.

We chose to travel the old main road as this was more scenic than the motorway. Our first stop of the day was Mooi River, a very African town, but with a new supermarket where we did some shopping, had a pooi (pie) for lunch and managed to buy Sophie a red velvet birthday cake.

We made a stop at Estcourt to see Fort Durnford. After a look around the fort, we put candles on Sophie’s cake and enjoyed eating it under the shade of little round thatched picnic shelters.

Near Frere where Winston Churchill was captured by the Boars during a train ambush we crossed the motorway and headed northwest to the Drakensberg Mountains passing Winterton, a lovely little village with trees lining the main road, and Bergville, a rural service town. The road up to Royal Natal passed through a village with lots of people and animals along the road. After all the farm land it really seemed like Africa.  Arriving at the entry gate we were told to hurry to reception as it was about to close, we made it just in time.

 

 

As we are almost three months behind on our blog, we may soon load photos with captions until we have caught up. Wi-Fi is not always available here in Namibia and when it is, our priority is making future campsite bookings and organising our itinerary which has had to change several times due to weather, travelling with children and not booking early enough. However, each time it has worked out for the best.

We left late (11am) from Durban, things always take longer than expected at the beginning. So instead of getting to Royal Natal in the Drakensbergs, we stayed our first night at Glensheiling Camp Site. On our way there, we stopped at Pietermaritzburg for lunch at the Tatham Art Gallery Café. We found a car park in the centre of the city and were approached by a parking attendant who issued us a parking ticket for the time we thought we needed.  When we returned we simply paid the extra parking time thus avoiding a fine. We like this system; maybe the CCC could try this approach!

We found the Tatham Art Gallery and its well-known café. We arrived just after a large group so had to wait some time for our food but were able to view the gallery during this time.  The gallery has some contemporary African art, old English & European paintings and some modern masters such as a Picasso sketch and a Matisse bronze.  The lunch was really good and we chatted to a fourth generation English university lecturer who suggested we look at the pipe organ in the town hall which he claimed was the largest in the Southern Hemisphere.  The security officers at the Town Hall looked a bit bemused that we wanted to see the organ but eventually a senior man gave us a tour.  The organ was very impressive as was the large hall in which it sat.

For those of you who have followed my Facebook page, you will know the story of Oliver taking this photo…

… Unbeknown to Oliver, this guy was a Hawker, trading without a licence on the street. We parked our car right here beside him before heading off for lunch. On our return to the car, we watched a tubby policeman spot the Hawker and the chase down the street began. We followed in our vehicle watching with delight and amusement as the policeman tried to catch the fit Hawker as he ran down and across the street. Eventually, the cop gave up and the Hawker escaped.  Oliver was keen to join the chase and help but we continued on our way to Glenshieling.

Heading north again on the motorway we soon came to Howick where we stopped at the Howick Falls. The falls were impressive and when the sun came out there was a nice rainbow above the pool at the base of the falls.  There was a sign at the viewpoint pointing to other falls around the world and to one in New Zealand of which we had never heard.

We met an interesting man from Malawi selling bead craft and jewellery. Nicki and the children had a fun time trying on various items and we bought some jewellery which made him very happy. His brother who was selling batik which looked rather bedraggled having been sitting in the rain looked rather dejected that we did not buy anything from him.

Then continuing up the motor way we pulled off at Nottingham Road for dinner but all the eating places had just closed. However, we managed to buy some sausage rolls and we ate these in the late sun. Sophie and Oliver enjoyed the see-saw and other play equipment outside before we headed to Glen Sheiling campsite.

Queensburgh Caravan Resort

Rabbits, snakes, monkeys . . . even Malvern Park nearby! (Go the Crusaders!)

Arriving at Queensburgh Caravan Resort was not at all like what you’d expect being in busy Durban. It was a beautiful green oasis, peaceful and relaxing. But it was HOT. We stayed in a chalet and there was a swimming pool which we used most days. The funny thing was that the first wild animals we encountered in South Africa were the rabbits which live under the chalets! Then we found blue monkeys, geese, wasps, a small black snake in the pool, skinks, snails, a mole, a leaf moth and a cockroach.

Each day Oliver and Sophie would play with the rabbits and feed them carrot peelings.

One day Sophie took a banana outside to eat but decided to play first so put it down on the ground. Before long a monkey had descended from a tree, snatched the banana off the ground and absconded with it up another tree! Can you spot the banana on the ground? Cheeky monkey!

Another day we found a small black snake in the swimming pool. Graeme flicked it out of the pool by its tail. We were told afterwards it may have been a black mamba – one of the most deadly! Size does not matter when it comes to venom!

We had a friendly wasp who liked to live on our door during the day. We found a giant snail. There was a huge cockroach who scuttled around the bathroom walls at night.

Monkeys sometimes played on the roadside.

 

Geese of all types waddled around.

 

The maid, Judith, was lovely and friendly and really liked our Sophie.

Ushaka Wet’n’Wild and Marine World

We spent a really fun day at Ushaka. They have fewer rides than at Wet’n’Wild on the Gold Coast but they are all close together and achievable in one day. The aquarium was amazing with all the usual suspects and many extras such as jelly fish and seahorses. “Sharp sharp” means “everything’s cool”. Can you spot Oliver’s turtle face?

At the end of the day, the children had a rick shaw ride back to the car.

 

On the day we were to leave Perth we packed up all our gear and ordered a taxi to the airport, so we would be early. In fact we so early that we were the first in the queue at the check in counter – an absolute first for us!  The check in opening time came and went (with Sophie cartwheeling and running about and Oliver being taught how to bowl from a veteran Australian cricketer!) and half an hour later we were advised the flight was cancelled due to a mechanical problem. Sophie and Oliver were so looking forward to finally flying to Africa that this information was not well received! At 9:30pm South African Airways bussed us across Perth to a hotel for the night. This, along with checking into the hotel, took some time and we didn’t get to bed until 11pm which was a very late night for the children but they seemed excited about the whole thing.  We all slept in the same room just like the night before we left for Perth.

In the morning we had breakfast in the hotel and went for a stroll along the Swan River  before the bus took us back to the airport.  This time we were at the end of a very long check in queue.  The flight was due to depart at 2:30pm but was delayed a further hour as they completed all the tasks for the quick turn-around.  Excitement was now wearing thin.

 

We had a good flight to Jo’Burg but nobody slept much as it was a day flight rather than the expected night flight.  Upon arrival about 8:30pm we collected our bags and asked about the connecting flight to Durban.  The ground staff told us to run.  We advised that we would then arrive at 11pm into Durban and our camp ground at midnight which with all our luggage and young children was not possible so they offered a further night in a hotel. We had to walk down a rather dark alley to the bus which given the reputation of Jo’Burg was a bit unsettling.  Another long wait for a hotel room we again were not in bed until 11.00pm. However, we were given two rooms each with a double bed so we could spread out and get some rest.

The next day we caught an early flight to Durban and we jumped into Clive’s Taxi who raced us off to find the Queensburgh Caravan Resort. He had told us he knew where it was but as the journey continued it became apparent he had little idea so Nicki had to direct him from her mobile phone. There was one scary moment when a car passed us on the left and cut right in front of the taxi which was travelling at 120kph.  The taxi cost us a lot more that it should have as it seemed the meter was running fast but we were too tired to work out the correct price and argue. The Queensburgh Caravan Resort was a beautiful place to be in Durban – an oasis within a busy city.

11 January 2018: On both flights, (Christchurch to Auckland to Perth), Oliver and Sophie were asked to hand out lollies. Both children travelled really well. Sophie even found a friend to play with in between doing forward rolls down the aisle.

12 January 2018: Sophie devouring a large piece of watermelon – just gearing up for an African sized slice!

13 January 2018: We wandered down to the nearest beach only to discover it was a dog beach! It made for an interesting experience; one dog stole Sophie’s sandwich while another, who sat down on top of Nicki, was an ex-military dog whose owner was an ex-soldier who had been a sniper! Bluey was the most adorable dog – half Doberman (for brains) and half Pitbull (for brawn), bred especially in the US. He was learning how to be a dog again.

We have been to Fremantle many times by train as it’s very close to where we are staying. We visited the market twice, the café strip, saw buskers and Shed B to travel to Rottnest Island (Rotto to the locals). Oliver and Sophie love the trains. Oliver likes to disappear into another berth to pretend he’s travelling alone while Sophie enjoys climbing the poles like a monkey! Twice we have accidentally caught the express train which races on past our stop – luckily there was no third time!

15 January 2018: The Art Gallery in Perth was a great wet day activity. Heath Ledger’s exhibition was on and we saw a few Antony Gorman sculptures and a lot of interesting art. On the way we stopped at Subiaco for an iced chocolate and brownie at The Dome.

16 January 2018: Rottnest Island is a 30 minute ferry ride from Fremantle. We spent the day hopping on and off the bus to visit different beaches. The day began stormy but ended up scorching hot. Our first stop was Parker Point where we were greeted by five quokkas, (like mini-kangaroos), who wanted our morning tea and a large friendly pelican.

Next we got off at Little Salmon Bay where we were greeted by a large black crab. An amazing swimming spot but when about 60 cyclists turned up with their snorkel gear we reluctantly decided to move on.

We travelled right around to the other side of the island to a beach perfect for snorkelling if only it hadn’t had so many Stingers (small clear jellyfish with long black threadlike tentacles)!

It was getting close to our ferry crossing home so we walked to our last beach where we found a black skink and swam and snorkelled. After Subway and an ice cream we headed for the Ferry home.