Too much of a good thing

Sunday was kayaking day on the Klip rivier near Meyerton.
Kayaking involves surprisingly a lot of "admin work". The admin work for kayaking are small things that one has to do before you get your boat on the water and it is a little time consuming. The Saturday day we had to find roof rails for the car and the kayaks had to be fitted onto the rails. We also had to pack a "lunch box and snack box", beers also went into the fridge.

Sunday morning at 6o'clock we got up and it was just smiles. We met Gert and Deléne on the R21 highway. At the Klip river there was a K1 race, so we sat and watch some other people rowing. By 10o'clock we launched our boats. It was a scenic route - birds were singing and green Willow trees were hanging into the water. I think the photos are better than words.

We were paddling with the wind but the current of the river were strong and would push us downstream. The suck back of the river is also something to keep in mind, this is quite strange after a bend and you find yourself paddling in the the going direction. We stopped three times to gain our power.

As we were paddling we worked out that the route is 18km and that we will be finishing between 2 and 3o'clock the afternoon.
The route became difficult towards the end because objects like trees blocked the river and made paddling impossible. A few times we had to take our kayaks out of the river and carry it - carrying a kayak is hard work.

All the obstacles didn't make the clock stop ticking, by sunset we were still paddling. I was wet, cold, hungry, tired and I didn't feel like paddling anymore. I wanted to stop and get out, but people built their house near the river and it was dangerous. Helgard and myself had an argument and I realized that to much of a good thing is not nice anymore.

When I saw the car, I was relived that the paddling part was done.
The morning we left one car at the starting point and the other at the finishing point.
Gert and Deléne took the car at the finishing point to get the other car. Helgard and myself were left guarding with the kayaks, I was scared because it was dark and homeless persons was walking around making small fires and trying to catch the last finish of the day.

We got home at 20h30 and we started cleaning the kayaks and everything that we took with us. By 10 o'clock we finish cleaning everything and we both had a shower. As we were having a quick dinner we nearly fell asleep at the table.

Monday morning Gert phoned and told Helgard that we paddled 30km. I was very proud of myself. My sore body reminded me of the turning point where the unpleasant became really unpleasant. I used hard words by saying that I'm not going to paddle again, but I think that I will just make sure that things are better organize, so that we don't paddle that far.

More photos here

Kayak's on Vaal river

The weekend excitement started this week on Thursday already, Gert and Deléne bought two kayaks. Thursday evening Helgard and myself were invited to "test-drive" the kayaks on Rietvleidam. Gert knows Helgard very well and anything that Helgard test-drives he'll probably end up buying. Gert persuaded me with the web site that made the need for kayaks just bigger. (Don't look at the website www.canoekayak.co.za )

Thursday night after the test drive we all had dinner at Mimo's it was just "Kayak-talk".

Friday morning Helgard woke up very excited, he had decided also to buy two kayaks for us. Helgard was on his way to Germany so Gert and Deléne had to do the buying. Friday we were very exited, but we have not seen the kayak's and SMS's and phone calls regarding the Kayaks went back and forth.

Saturday was an early morning, 04h40 the alarm went off. A shower couldn't even wake me up, but at 5h30 we were awake, excited, in the car and on our way to Parys. In Parys we met Gert and Deléne. About 20km outside Parys we stop to put our kayaks in the water. Everybody was laughing and excited. We didn't really know how to put the gear on, but between jokes and laughter we figured it out.

Gert was the first one to get wet, but when Helgard fell into the water twice, Deléne and myself couldn't stop laughing.
Kayaking looks very easy, but it was difficult for me, my kayak was controlling me. Everybody was very kind and nice and gave me some pointers, but it was difficult to start using the pointers, because the water level was very low and there were a lot of rocks.

At one stage fly fisher men took their lines out of the water and said very nicely: "you go"
The day was highlighted with laughter, sore bodies but happy hearts.

Rudi helped with the logistics by picking us up late Saturday afternoon. Saturday night we spent at the Van der Westhuisen's in Potchefstroom. They were very friendly and spoiled us.

After a long day up and on the water, we went to bed just before 12 o'clock, as my head hit the pillow I fell asleep.

SPAR Women's 10km Challenge

Every year the well-known convenience store Spar organizes and sponsors a running race in certain regions. This year the Spar Ladies race for the Pretoria region was held on Saturday the 25 of August at the sporting grounds of LC de Villiers.
The race is famous among ladies, but guys in drag may also enjoy the race with the ladies.




This race was special for me because it was my first 10km under 50 minutes, but let me quickly run the race with my fingers.

Helgard and myself was both working till about 2o'clock. Helgard phoned me before 2o'oclock to wish me luck; I really appreciated it. Like normal I was a little late, so my warm-up was sprinting to the starting point. After the gun short I tried to move forward as quickly as possible, it was impossible because there were a lot of runners and walkers. I did my first kilometer in 7 minutes and 20 seconds. I realized that I had to speed up my pace if I want to finish under 50 minutes. At the 4 kilometer mark a friendly guy said "ladies your average is 5.06", I wanted to take it slower but I was doing math's in my head and I realized that I couldn't slow down. I didn't stop for water I just did maths in my head because I had a goal. At the 9km mark I saw a smiley friendly face, I realized that it was my standard 6 teachers that was running faster than me, she was the last bit of motivation that I needed to keep me going. Big was my smile when I stop my watch at 48 minutes and 38 seconds. There was nobody to take a picture but the one at the bottom will do for my memories.

Francois's 40th Birthday (Re-Run)

The weekend of 26 August was Francois re-run of his 40th birthday party. A re-run is just a nice way to say that you 41. The "age-thing" didn't stop Francois from being the "party-man"

Francios treated the group of friends for a weekend away at Mala Juba Lodge. All the guests had there own rooms with a swimming pool in the middle of all the rooms.

Saturday evening was highlighted by a game drive. Because we were a lot of people there were 2 bakkies a the Landover for the women and kids and the yellow bakkie for the guys. The trip started when we all got a "cup", the cup with your initials on it was filled with Tassenberg.

On the game drive we saw zebra's, bush bucks, kudu's ostriches and some birds. The game drive was relaxing till we got to the rhino's family. The mother walked closer to the Landrover, the baby followed the mother and soon the father was standing a meter a way from me. The Landrover couldn't move because moving would upset the family and they would get aggressive. Rachel the driver and owner of the farm know the animals, so she drove away when she taught they were calm. The yellow bakkie was still behind the laughter and wisdom of the "wise men" quickly changed to quiet when the rhino's walked closer to them. The yellow bakkie is usually the feeding vehicle. Luckily men could drive away without getting hurt/eten.

The evening a big fire was made, we all were sitting around the fire talking and drinking wine. Joleen and Francois made dinner very special by setting the table nicely and cooking good food. The chocolate fountain for dessert was a winner.

Saturday night after dinner we plaid a game called "pass the fire". A finger is dip into red Sambuca. The finger with the Sambuca is lit! With your finger alight you had to light the Sambuca finger of the person sitting on your left. Thus the flame is passed around at considerable speed in a circle. The punishment for letting the flam die is of cause to empty your cup of Sambuca. Everyone who played together had a red finger the next morning.

The night ended with friends sitting in a Jacuzzi and laughing.

Sunday morning was breakfast time, and what a breakfast!
After breakfast we all went for a walk in the bush. Francois, Roché and ___ started running and screaming "rhino's". We (only some) all did the same, because we thought that the rhino's of the previous night wanted to attack us. Luckily it was just a joke.

Sunday afternoon when everybody was saying good-bye, it was with sadness to leave, because the weekend was just to short.

More photos here and here

Francois made a very nice little video of the weekend that he showed us the next week. Wonder if it will make it onto YouTube?