Guests

In my previous  post  I mentioned guests  I'm waiting for  today: 26  December. These six  adults and a baby are going to stay in my large accommodation  - a ten-sleeper - until next Wednesday.  

My smaller holiday unit,  a two - sleeper  has been occupied by  a single man since  last Tuesday. He  leaves on Sunday 30th  and while Steve [hopefully] watches  the shop for  me, I'll go  and clean after this man and prepare for  two guests  who arrive at 2pm! 

But cleaning and prepping units is not what this  post is about. It's about my  single guest and what  inadvertently happened to  him  last Friday.  The owner  of  my  * small unit * set the  gardeners to mowing the huge  lawn  around their private home next  door and  the vast area surrounding my accommodation. 

The ride-on mower which the gardener  uses is  housed  in the   garage  at my unit. Guests have undercover parking  in front of this  garage. Only thing is  my  guest had parked his car flush up against the  garage door.  

As it was quiet  at  my unit, the owner surmised the  guest had gone for  a  walk on the estate and suggested to the four men with her that they  move the car back  and so gain  entry into  the garage.  

How we do  things in Africa is with muscle and strength,  the four  men picked  up the guest's car and began to move backwards with  it.  

All good and  well  until they carefully  put it down a distance from the garage...

... and the alarm went off! 

Apparently  my guest shot out of the unit, eyes as round  as saucers. He'd  been resting  on the bed  when he saw  his car floating past  the window at shoulder height!  Coming from the city where theft, especially car theft is rife,  he  thought the  worst.

The  owner,  standing with the gardeners  apologized  profusely and explained what they'd  been trying to do! She phoned  me later and  suggested I should offer the guest compensation and  deduct it from her part  of the commission. I didn't agree.  I told her that he can  "dine out" on this story  for  many years to come!  

NOTE ** I've specifically  not mentioned the names  of  either of my accommodations. For obvious reasons! 

Here's  wishing  you all a  great Wednesday.

National Heritage Day

...when South Africans celebrate the diverse cultural heritage that makes up a "rainbow nation". It is the day to celebrate the contribution of all South Africans to the building of South Africa 

— Lowry 21:1995

Monday 24th September was National Heritage Day in South Africa. here

The Zulu ladies in the Valley always dress in beautiful traditional outfits. Yesterday I joined them; albeit wearing a gift from my Guest House kitchen staff in  Tanzania - way back in January 2015.

 Gugu, Cecelia, Jo and Happy on the shopping center veranda 

I had guests in The Bunker over the long weekend.  So after  closing the shop at 3pm,  I drove up to the unit, cleaned it and changed the linen. On my way home, I always pass Thokosiza Lifestyle Center . Yesterday I popped in to drop information with the info center and then walked around to see Mavis, whom I knew would be dressed traditionally. 

 ... she was!

Mavis and I smiling for the camera!

Mavis is my house-lady, Thandiwe's sister. Mavis often helps me to explain something to Thandi . Thandi is pure Zulu and my Zulu leaves a lot to be desired! So Mavis is a great help when either of us need to communicate. Mavis also sells Avon Skincare for me in that Center. 

And as if the day wasn't full enough, I had a surprise visit from extended family. Many of my blogger friends have read about my SIL,  Shelley, who's also my birding mentor. Early on Monday morning, a couple walked into my shop. The man asked if I was Jo Hedges. As he introduced himself as Shelley's brother, Laurie, I recognized him. He and Lynn had been visiting in the Berg and Shelley told him where to find me. I was so touched that they popped in to greet me. I hadn't seen them since Grant and I attended Shelley's younger daughter, Kerry's wedding four years ago! 

Jo, Laurie and Lynn 

While writing this post, I got to thinking back on how blessed I've been this past month. On the first Friday both my brothers visited me - the younger one I hadn't seen since 2009. 

In the middle of September Cheryl and Chris made a special detour to stay in the Berg. We'd last seen each other 24 years ago; and for me to meet Chris. 

Yesterday, Laurie and Lynn stopped off to say hello. How cool is that! 

I'm linking to Our World Tuesday here

HAPPY TUESDAY TO YOU ALL! 

Parkrunner of the week!

Name: Grant Hedges

Age: 66

Home parkrun: Winterton

Number of parkruns completed: 25

Number of volunteering occasions: 9

How has parkrun changed your health / fitness? Although I’d always been fit, healthy and active, in my mid- sixties I developed a chest ailment which slowed me down considerably. In September 2016 I became quite ill with breathlessness and chest colds. I subsequently moved from the Free State to Champagne Valley. Although the clean mountain air helped heal my chest issues, I still wasn’t able to do anything strenuous. A walk of about 100m put me back on the sofa for several days. On 24 December I registered for Winterton parkrun and embarked on my first 5km walk. Because there was no pressure on how long I took, I found myself enjoying the walk and finished within 1 hour 21 minutes. These days I’m the tail walker and support people who’ve not walked before or those recuperating from surgery or illness.

Favourite volunteer role? Tail Walker

Why should others volunteer at parkrun? To give the regular volunteers time off or a chance to do the parkrun.

Why should people take part in parkrun? It’s sociable; there’s no pressure to finish in a certain time and it’s healthy.

Most memorable parkrun moment: The first one I took part in and completed on 24 December 2016.

What fellow volunteers say about Grant: Parkrun is not the same if Grant and his wife, Jo are not there on a Saturday.

A great feat, I'd say,  Grant featuring in a national magazine about, Parkrun a worldwide event started in South Africa and run (excuse the pun) by world-famous ultra-marathon runner,  Bruce Fordyce 

Do please read the links above to see what Parkrun is about. 

We weren't at Parkrun this past Saturday as we were busy. (More about this tomorrow)

But next Saturday we'll be there in full force! 

HAPPY MONDAY TO YOU ALL !! 

CWC Ikhayalamafu

Finally this week I pulled on my hiking boots and set off to meet fellow hikers of the Champagne Valley Walking Club (CWC) at the designated spot. We initially walked up to the house of Paul and Ricky Brogan who own Ikhayalamafu ** a private nature reserve nestled directly under Champagne Castle and Cathkin Peak. 

 Waiting for the last walkers to arrive

 The first view we had of Cathkin Peak and Champagne Castle as we walked up to the house 

Walking up the rough track to Paul and Ricky's home

Gathering at the house before Paul takes us on a hike... 

 ...through indigenous forests...

...past many beautiful waterfalls...

...under cool cliff overhangs...

  ...and up steep mountain paths  

Lynette and I always take photos. Because we're behind our cameras, I take photos of her and she takes photos of me - normally taking photos! 

Near a mountain stream, Alan pointed out a spoor - made by a leopard!

 Some places we had to negotiate ladders to get to the next level 

 At a point near our tea spot, Paul's Great Dane, Hector came back to see where we, the second and slower group, were

 Tea in a clearing ...

...under another magnificent waterfall  

 Making our way down the mountain through another indigenous forest 

 A wooden mushroom growing out of a tree trunk 

 Above us was the Sphinx, a landmark on another trail up this mountain

My friend, Jenny loves it when we get out onto open paths - she can then admire the view, she says 

A sign announcing Paul and Ricky's property, which is private

Natal bottlebrush already showing early blooms 

 Then it was the steep descent back to our hosts' home (just visible in the valley) 

Back at the house, Ricky had laid on tea, coffee and her trademark milk tart. What a wonderful treat for hungry hikers. 

 Ricky and Paul with Hector

 Some of the ladies resting on the patio

 Alan (88) - closest and Anthony (77) with braces - our two oldest hikers - always an inspiration to us

 Hector enjoys the rest with Dave 

Hector and Sheba (the female Great Dane) accompanied us on the hike. More about these two dogs later 

We enjoyed a 6km round hike which took us just under four hours with a tea stop and the delicious fare Ricky provided at the end. 

** Meaning of Ikhayalamafu is House in the clouds

African Fish Eagle

After finishing my Parkrun circuit on Saturday, I walked back along the route to meet Grant and John who were still walking. 

Passing the first dam and having time to do this, I stopped and photographed the African Fish Eagle sitting in a tree on an island.

The African Fish-eagle is a locally common resident, largely sedentary. It's usually associated with large bodies of water (like this dam it presides over) It eats predominately fish; it's capable of lifting 2kg weights from the water. 

I'm linking to Wild Bird Wednesday here

HAPPY WEDNESDAY TO YOU ALL!

Rugby World Cup II

Rugby World Cup is still on -  of course.

And this weekend the Springboks (SA rugby) teem had a chance to redeem themselves after last weekend's ignominious  defeat against Japan. 

The past week, the newspapers, the weekly magazines, the TV talk shows and the radio  programs were dominated by supporters giving vent to their disappointment in their team. The main moan was the many of the players were too old to play world cup rugby.

The coach made significant changes to the team during the week...

So all eyes were on the screen on Saturday night when the Springboks took on Samoa. 

  The Samoa HAKA to intimidate the Springboks 

The Springboks while the Samoans did their HAKA 

Within the first 15 minutes, JP Pietersen, (winger) intercepted a pass between the Samoans and pumped it up to the line to score his first of three tries

The SA supporters in the stands in the UK were ecstatic

The Springbok suppporters in our TV lounge in South Africa were ecstatic!

 So much so that the poor pup started hyperventilating because of the  excited screams and cheers by his yoomens

The SA coach who was persona non-grata after last week's defeat, and the butt of jokes on FB within minutes after the game, looks a lot less stressed this week

 One of the changes the coach made was to bring in the young blood (eight changes from last week) during the second half of the game. Raised in the air, is  the replacement for Victor Mattfield, our oldest player, a lock and the best line-out man in the business . The replacement lock came up trumps in the line-out and the result was another try by JPP Pietersen. 

Second try by JP

The crowds go mad in the stands

As do the SA supporters in our TV lounge!

 The Guard Dog ended up on the sofa between his two mamas 

After full-time JP scored his third try. We thought this was IT! The Brian Habana scooped up the ball and made for the try line. 

Brian Habana, who is one of the fastest land mammals on earth clinched the deal for the Springboks to win hands down! 

So the "Boks" are back in favor with their fans; they're top of the log in Pool B and we have great hopes for our rugby team for this Rugby World Cup.  

Happy Monday to you all!