I got published on Watkykjy...

I sent the guys at Watkykjy a couple of pics of a really fucked up car I spotted in Struisbaai when we were through there fishing a couple of weekends ago.

The guys published the pics, so go here to check them out (and read some of the comments...they're hilarious in themselves)...

A Gift in the Post...

I had an idea what the Post Office parcel notification was for, but wasn't sure, as it also could have been a speeding fine I think I may have committed a couple of weeks ago.

Thankfully, it was not a fine.

It was, in fact, the gift that the Daft Scots Lass (ADSL) sent me for winning her Caption My Photo competition recently.

How kewl is this? ADSL sends everyone, who wins her weekly competition, a "wee gift" as a prize. But, to top it all, in my case she also sent me a couple of fridge magnets that I can use to put up photos of my granddaughter, born recently, and a personalised note, "Fir Yer Wee Bairn".

In addition to the fridge magnets, there's also a pocket knife thingy which will be handy in the car (or when I try and break out of a wooden prison someday - that saw adapter on the tool is fuckin' sharp), a book which looks like it could be a good read, and a handwritten note in a card (not too often these days that someone sends a greeting card with a handwritten note in it).Very kewl...




Paper-clipped to the card were a couple of ADSL's unique peel-and-stick tattoos. Sometimes, folks stick them somewhere and send ADSL a photo of the tattoo, some in unusual places.

I thought that, to contribute my little bit of "unusual", I would do something a little different (perhaps ADSL has had one sent to her like this before, I don't know) and this is what I will email her shortly...I think the humour is right up her alley (or, case in point, right next to mine)...



ADSL, thanks for the gifts...they are much appreciated.

Tequila is your friend...

It never used to be, following an ugly episode when I was about 20, in which myself, my brother and an old friend got horribly pissed during a tequila drinking competition.

BTW...never do that. Never have a tequila drinking competition. It is one that you WILL NOT win. No-one ever wins a tequila drinking competition, but then nobody tells you that when you're 20 years old either.

I digress...

I was at a monthly meeting of our NSRI station and, with the command of the station having been handed over to a new bloke, we decided to go and have a couple of drinks to celebrate. Actually, it's the way he generates his popularity with the young crew we have.

Anyway, a couple of pints later and I decide I had better do my duty as a new grandfather and buy everyone a drink to toast her birth. I felt like something unusual so one of the guys tells me about this new caramel-flavoured tequila that's on the market. "Not a blinding fuck", I tell him, relating my competition-losing episode to him.

"Come on, you'll enjoy it", he says and takes me into the bar where a mate of his is the barman and asks him to bring down the bottle. "Sniff that", he says and, much to my pleasure, it smells really caramel-ish. My head's telling me "But it's tequila", but I tell my head to shut-the-fuck-up and order a dozen shots.

Three of the mates chickened out of the toast (fuck you lot) so I had more than my fair share of the stuff, and it wasn't all that bad, I must be honest...

So...go out and get a bottle. Arriba Tequila is now your friend...

Here's another pic...

This is a far nicer pic of LJ, I think.

You can see straight away that she's not as puffy after the birth experience as with the previous pic...

Gorgeous wee lass...

Boulders, Blooms, Diesel Tanks and Dust - Part 2

From Tietiesbaai, we had a long-ish day of about 300km ahead of us. A lot of it would be along sandy tracks but it proved to be fun driving.

We headed out after the morning "coffee and rusks" ritual, something we would do every day of the trip. Our first stop was Laaiplek ("Loading Place") a little fishing establishment on the edge of a dorpie called Velddrif ("Field Drift"?.....hmmmm). We wanted to see if we could get some fresh fish to enjoy on the braai for the evening, but it turned out that all they produced (that day, at least) was Bokkoms, a dried-out mullet which is savoured by many of the local folk. Personally, I stay away from them. My son-in-law, Scott, enjoyed them on their recent visit, but there's no choosing family, is there? ;-)

As it happens, there was no fresh fish, only dried stuff, so we stopped in at a little take-away place to order a toasted sandwich for the road and get some firewood. It must have taken almost an hour for them to sort out the toasted sarnies. I thought Cape Town was slow sometimes. Also, the lady who sells the firewood is not there on Mondays either, so we couldn't get any wood. Maybe she should take her sign down over the weekends...

Hanging from the rafters are rows of drying mullet, or Bokkoms, as they are known in these parts.

This is the Laaiplek harbour entrance, with the main channel running on the left. Not a swell or wave in sight, and yet no fishing boats moving in or out either.


These beautiful pelicans were hanging around the area where the folks were hanging out the mullet to dry. They are magnificent birds and are larger than most people realise. The unfortunate bird on the other side of the gate had a badly damaged left wing and would not be able to fly, so he probably hung around on the dock or in the water waiting for a freebie.


Why they would have called this lighthouse "Island Point", I have no idea. It was nowhere near an island and it wasn't on a point either. Still, lighthouses are always interesting. Maybe I like lighthouses so much because in my previous life I drowned because there was no lighthouse and now I see them as beacons of hope that I never had back then...hmmmm...


From Laaiplek, we had a short leg-stretch stop at Elandsbaai, a famous surf spot, which I had always wanted to see. There was a nice little goofy-footer break running of about two feet, but the guys were surfing in amongst the kelp. Not sure I would fancy that as I have swum in kelp before and it has a habit of tangling you in it. The seagull just happened to fly into the shot as I snapped it, but it looks like it's stalking the guy on the surfboard.


Here's another shot of a surfer, this time without the predatory seagull.


Our next stop was Lambert's Bay, famous for its I&J fish factory and harbour. Also, for its Bird Island, a nesting colony for Cape Gannets. Here, everyone is reading the information boards that are scattered along the route between the pier entrance and the hide.


I was first at this hide not long after it opened, about 12 years ago, on another trip I was doing down the west coast. It's good to see that the government hasn't closed this down, even though visitors look like they are few and far between thanks to the twenty bucks entrance fee at the start of the pier. I suppose they have to fund the colony somehow. On the far side of the hide are large glass windows, and an open section upstairs, that we viewed the birds from. There are great vantage points to snap a few photos of the birds.


A view of Lambert's Bay harbour and the fish factory in the background.


The Gannets circle around the spot they are coming in to land at, spy their spot and/or their partner (it's unusual for both of them to be off the nest at the same time), come round again...


...then just drop down from about five feet, more or less onto their nest, sometimes onto their neighbour's site. If that happens, there's all sorts of squabbling that goes on, but never malicious.


Touchdown...


When the bird lands, there are a number of ways they reacquaint themselves with their partners. One of them is "necking", which either entails both birds rubbing necks together, or the newly-landed bird sticking his head straight up in the air, almost like saying "Hahahahahahaha....made it!"


We saw lots of these little fellows...Toktokkies (not sure how that would translate). For communication with their own kind, they tap the pointy little bit on their butts on the ground in a rhythmic motion. Perhaps they have different patterns to express different emotions, I don't know...


Did I mention we were there for the flower show too? Here's a few we saw along this part of the route...






The chariots that would endure a battering on the trip. The black Mazda-rati is mine, and the cherry Ford belongs to Mr C, in picture. Basically, they are the same vehicle, both built by Ford, just a couple of years apart in age and cosmetics.



The beach view from our campsite, at Brand Se Baai (Brand's Bay). We were camped on a deep bed of mussel shells, and the entire crunchy beach was probably ten feet deep in them. The shells were all bleached, so they had been dredged up some time ago. It was quite pitiful to see all this as the destruction was caused by diamond concessionaries who dredged the sea bed in front of the campsite and sucked everything in its path into a huge vaccuum pipe, all in search of a few small shiny stones. The smell from the dead seal pup around the corner didn't add too much to the atmosphere either, but at least the wind wasn't blowing directly in our direction.

Form a laager, mense...haul those lorries in tight. Our campsites were always put together with a lot of thought for location, weather (wind) and whether or not our heads would be uphill or down.

View of the campsite from next to the ocean.


Similar shot, just zoomed out a little to show the gang chilling with a cold one.


As usual, a couple of arty-farty shots, this time of the blue sky from behind a silhouetted rock.




End of Part2 - number 3 coming soon...

Who's yer Grandaddy?

Meet baby Layla Jane, born at 04h25 to Tamlyn and Scott Parrett. 4.3kg at birth (9lb 7oz).

I had been receiving updates through the night, but got worried when they stopped a little after 2am.

As it turns out, there were some complications, details unclear yet, but they were sorted out and both mother and daughter are doing well now. No doubt, everyone is very tired and who can blame them.

I'll post more later when I've spoken to mother and father later...

For now though, I think I can stop worrying...

Of Blooms, Boulders, Diesel Tanks and Dust - Part 1

Ok, so as some of you know, we were away recently on two weeks R&R. Friends, call them Mr and Mrs C, put together another epic trip along the lines of the Kgalagadi Park trip last year, only this time it was to be up the Cape West Coast and into the Richtersveld National Park.

Also, this time, the scenery was to be totally different as, except for the Richtersveld and its rocky landscape, we would be going to view the annual flower blossoming of the West Coast which is a globally-known phenomenon.

Yeah, I know...me going to look at flowers. You lot must think I'm off my fuckin' head, but it's something that I'd been told has to be seen to be believed so I was looking forward to it. Really.

As has come to be expected of our long holidays, I was asked whether I would be compiling a travelogue, but this time I decided I wouldn't for a couple of reasons. Firstly, they are time-consuming to draft on the trip and infringe on socialising time. Secondly, I wanted to chill out. Thirdly, I figured I'd use the old adage "a picture paints a thousand words" and use images and descriptions to describe each stage of the journey.

So...grab a drink of choice, sit back, and expect to see some great photos and maybe get your itch going to head out on such a trip with your travelling partners...


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Day 1 - Tietiesbaai (Titty's Bay)

We left home around 10h30am on Sunday 14th August, with the Mazda-rati packed to the gills. We were only a half hour late from our agreed meeting time, but that seems typical of us to be late. Meeting up with the C's, we headed out for the highways and byways that would get us up the coast and to our first campsite, which was just over 2hrs away. Not a long drive for the first day, but we would use the additional hours in the camp to hone our tent-pitching skills again and to repack some stuff that would not be needed until a later stage.

On our way, we stopped off at Postberg, where the flowers were in full bloom and where we bought a laminated sheet with pictures of all the different species we might expect to see in the area. I figured it would keep SWMSBO occupied and not so bored as I was doing all the driving. We marked off each specie we saw with a felt-tipped marker so that we could keep track.


The spread was quite magnificent and I don't believe either of us had seen so many wild flowers in one spot before. There were blooms of all the colours of the rainbow with patches dominated by a specific colour in many instances.


The flowers spread out from the ocean's edge, with the wind creating waves of petals.

Looking like a blanket of snow, these white flowers spread right up the side of the hill in front of us.

Yellow blooms dominated this particular patch of ground.

The Mazda-rati, looking quite shiny. She would look totally different upon our return home, as you'll see later.

Mrs C, who would be the official videographer, doing her thing. She narrates all the clips so that Mr C can put together a travel video.

More flowery snow...

And another view of it...

A close-up of some of the blooms...

The back of the packed Mazda-rati, showing the new sliding drawer system I installed a few days earlier. That is a story in itself, but basically I bought the pre-made shelving system and bins, lined the system up in the bakkie (including space for the deep-cycle battery box on the right of the photo), hauled it in and out a dozen times while I drilled holes and fitted permanent bolts through the bodywork, then slotted the system into place, ready for the journey. Both the upper and lower shelves slide out, making it very easy to get to the back of them.

What you cannot see, however, is the other stuff packed behind the shelf system. Two twenty litre diesel jerry cans, a bin load of spares and parts, a number ten gas bottle, some fishing gear, two dozen Windhoek Lager cans and a case of Savannah bottles (it's about time they came out in cans too).

To the left of the shelves is a "boot bag" containing an assortment of camping stuff, including braai grids, rubber mallet, axe, spare tent pegs, panga, and the bottle jack (which would also come in handy later, but not for a puncture).

On the top shelf were two large water containers, an easy-to-fold-out gazebo, a large fishing tackle bag, a bin of pots, pans and kitchen utensils and, most importantly, the "dop" bin, where we kept the larger bottles (3x Cap'n's Organ, 1x Laphroaig 10yr old Qtr Cask, a couple of bottles of wine, and the coffee pot.

Of the six bins on the lower shelf, one contained tools, one had lighting and electrical stuff, another had cleaning liquids and cloths, while the remaining three had an assortment of foodstuffs.

The inside of the cab did not get away unscathed either. The back seat was taken out and, on a board I had made last year, the Snowmaster fridge was hooked up to the deep-cycle battery. For the first time, a small camping wardrobe was also included for our clothing. It's an amazing thing that, though it has three shelves, folds away into a briefcase size shape that can be packed away at home when not in use. Still, we needed more space and ended up filling all the nooks and crannies with camera equipment and binoculars, shoes, toiletries and medicine bags, and "padkos". That car was loaded.

Lastly, our camping table, mattresses and sleeping bags were packed (crammed) on top of the top shelf stuff, leaving very little space for fishing rods. I eventually strapped the rod tube to the roof for fear of breaking it inside the cab.

A side-on view of the extended drawer system. It made our lives so much easier than last year, where we had to lift out plastic bins full of stuff, then load them all back in at night to prevent marauding animals from getting into them. This time it was a case of lift a latch, slide out shelf, open box, take out thing, close lid and slide shelf back into place...much easier, and less strenuous on my back.

The campsite, sheltered from the wind, with place for a fire on the side of the rocky ledge to the right.

Tietiesbaai is named in honour, not for a particular part of the female anatomy, but for a rock formation on top of a hill. It just so happens that this rock formation does, in fact, look like a favourite part of the female anatomy.


The bay, to the side of our campsite...

A couple of art-farty photos...

The surf was huge on the day we arrived and it pounded the rocks in front of us all night long.

These gulls were hanging about expecting a feed, but left rather disappoiunted when the sun set.

This one is of the early dawn, the following morning. We had spent a rather cool evening in front of the "flammetjie", trying to keep warm, all bundled up in an assortment of warm clothing which would, by the end of the trip, probably never have the smell of campfires washed out of them ever again. Certainly, the memories would never be washed out. Yes, it was cold, but we had plenty of liquid warmth to keep us in good spirits and chatting away for a few hours. When we retired for the night, we spent a very pleasant night in our new "360 degrees" sleeping bags, which were rated to -5degC. In fact, they were so snug, only on one occasion did I sleep with anything more than my birthday suit on and even then that was undies and t-shirt, probably cos I had had a couple too many Capn's.


Right, that's the end of part one. Look out for more, coming soon...