Christmas Time in Kaitoke Forest

25 March 2007

The superfly is back and trying his best to catch up on some history... To be totally honest I'm like 3 months behind on this blog! :o(

Anyhow, this is a bit of a postmortem of Christmas 2006... Enjoy!

28 December 2006

It's happy season again! Before we knew it the year was on it's back and 2007 is upon us. I look back on the year past and find my mind awash with emotion. What a year it's been! This time last year (2005) I was enjoying the Christmas time with my family on my parent's farm. This year however I'm celebrating in a rainforest. There's only one thing missing in this picture, the family! John, Annelize and I were sharing this predicament and decided not too spend the day with other expats who are missing their family and friends. Instead, we decided we were going to have a HAPPY Christmas and do something fun.

We got together on Christmas eve, gave each other a few cool presents and went out for a lovely steak dinner. On Christmas day Wellington was clothed in a cloudy blanket and it was one of those days where the city really did need a blanket! Only problem was it needed a raincoat too. The day's forecast seemed a bit grim but this wasn't going to get us down! And so, at precisely half past sparrow fart (very early), the three happy expats (musketeers, stooges, not so blind mice pick one... hehe) set off for a joyride. We knew we were going to have a monster picnic but we had no Idea where. John set us on a general northerly course, all systems go! We passed the Northern suburbs of Petone, Lower Hutt and as we were passing through Upper hutt something really odd happened. It was like God himself pulled that leaky grey cloak away and let the sun shine... It was the weirdest thing, one moment wet and cold, the next pure blue sunny skies! Whoa, game on! We still had no idea where we were going though but North we went! The weather was finally playing along, it was destined to be a great day.

After driving down a few trails John made an impulsive turn in the direction of Kaitoke forest, which none of us had heard of before but I have to tell you, this little hidden piece of forest is a real gem! Apart from being absolutely breathtaking with massive trees, crystal clean rivers and streams, it was also the film location for "Rivendell", the Elf city in Lord of the Rings. We practically stormed the riverside and were dumbfounded by the cleanness of the water and surroundings. This is a popular picnic and camping site with the locals, yet there was no rubbish spoiling the scene, and what a scene it was. We stood on a white stony riverbed with azure skies covering the massive trees towering overhead. I felt small, really really small. The best thing was that the whole forest was alive with the song of sun-beetles (Cicadas) and birds. Paradise. The picture before us was a patchwork quilt of memories from our lovely South Africa. The sun-beetles reminded me of the African bush, as did the sweet smell of the forest... The trees and landscape seemed transported from Sabie, the stream was a baby version of the Tugela river in the Southern Drakensberg... The only thing that blows by mind is all of this was a mere 30 minute drive from my bed.

At this point it the day had heated up to about 27 degrees, enough to literally start melting our parking lot's tar - no jokes! I remembered seeing this same thing happen as a child when we lived in Skukuza. The tar in Skukuza only started melting at 40 degrees though... Anyhow, what was even more amusing is how unbearably hot this 27 degrees felt! (Ons het soos 'n spul softies gevoel hoor!) We had a little look around and settled down in a shady spot to have our picnic, and in good South African fashion ate till we were to full to speak! hehe But speak we did! We shared good memories, times with friends and family, and even though we missed them greatly, these memories were a great source of joy. As daylight started to retreat we returned to Wellington and found the heavens still leaking gently over her. The harbour seemed even more pretty than usual, the misty hills surrounding the city were strangely welcoming. We were home.

Please click on the photo's below to see the full version. The blog site seems to cut off the right side 1/3rd of pictures is shown here in full size, so I had to resize them a little!

This is the view that greets you as you leave the car park...

On the swing bridge...

Good friends, good food, awesome location - Now this is a picnic!

Looks like a movie scene doesn't it!?

This is the gateway the world of faeries hehe

And we cooled off a little...

Still to come... Our January road trip to the infamous coromandel, Levin River Festival, Dragon boat races and whatever else we get up to in meantime... Just a hint, Peter and I are doing another roadtrip from Auckland to Wellington next weekend!

That's all for now (The wind is blowing and I have a windsurfing itch to go scratch, check back soon for more!

Superfly

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Holiday in South Africa 2006-11

10 December 2006

Time for another road trip hey!? Well, this one is worthy of the term, “air trip” and hereby I don’t mean breathing on “medicated” air to get “trippy” at all!

I’ve just arrived back from a 2 week holiday in South Africa. Yes it’s my country of birth and I know that very rarely counts as a holiday but I had so much fun that it had to be a holiday!

(I spent time with most of the people reading this blog in those 2 weeks) Now if I didn’t get to see you in that time, be sure that I wished I could but time was very limited! Come visit me whenever you have a chance!

Here's a pic of my little home in Wellington, who wouldn't want to come back to those blue skies?

Wellington had some foul weather for the last 2 days but I awoke to birdsong and sunny skies. The heavens are clothed in royal blue and my reading corner in starbucks is bathed in sun. I’m having a tan as I am writing this and it is 7pm. :o) Smiley faces abound on days like this! The beaches are loaded with people, parks enjoyed by lovers taking a stroll, reading together or having a picnic. I am very fortunate to be here. Anyway, this post is about my South African trip so I’ll keep the NZ stuff for another time! Hehe those of you who know me have seen how easily I digress.

I was scheduled to depart Wellington on Saturday 11/11/2006 at 13:00. It was a beautiful Saturday. I spent the morning taking photo’s of the city and packing for the trip. My good friend Calvin took me to the airport and off I went. Approximately 33 hours later I arrived in Johannesburg smelling, and probably looking like a rat. :o)

I'm Leaving on a jetplane hehe Departure from Auckland...

I had quite interesting conversations with people from various countries during this journey. First I flew from Wellington to Auckland, spending 2 hours in transit. Then we flow 3 hours from Auckland to Brisbane and spent an hour down under. From here we flew 8 hours to Singapore, refueled for a hour and then pushed on for another 8 hour flight to Dubai. As for Dubai, I have to tell you, it really is an amasing place, if man made marvels are your thing. Nothing about the city is natural, except the dust, sand dunes and sweltering, energy destroying heat. It is quite well known for it’s golf course, gold markets, indoor snow ski slope, super luxurious hotels, man made islands, cheap fuel and the Dubai Rugby Sevens championship. The only thing lacking in all these things is something authentic, something natural, something that can’t be built by engineers. There was one thing that took my breath away though. As I was strolling through the airport, which is a splendid airport indeed, I stumbled across an Irish pub! That’s right. In the middle of this sweltering dust cloud, I was able to sit in my own green décor, air-conditioned booth and enjoy a marvelous medium to rare pepper steak and an ice cold pint of draft. That’s heaven in the middle of a desert I tell you. (Especially after a day of airline food!)

Sunrise over the United Arab Emirates Peninsula

Dubai from above

It was great seeing my family on the airport, the arrival’s hall is always a place of smiles and hugs. The next 12 days was meticulously planned to try and see as many people as possible. I was a little worse for wear at the end, but had a lot of fun and way too much to eat hehe.

My parents and I spent a few days in the lovely town of Dullstroom (Directly translated dull – stream), however, if you are a fly-fisherman or lady, this town is everything but dull! It plays host to the largest concentration of trout farms in South Africa with excellent stream and still water fishing. I had a huge amount of fun showing my parents how it’s done and quite proud to say that both of them landed their first rainbow trout! Well done dad and mom! Now my dad was a sport fisherman in his day, battling it out against king mackerel, marlin and the like. To be honest, those trout didn’t stand a chance! We shared beautiful African sunsets, casting amber, white and blue reflections on the several trout dams surrounding our cabin. Whoever dreamt up the old South African flag might have given many deep explanations for the orange, blue and white stipes… But now I know, he was actually just deeply in awe of sunset’s reflection on peaceful waters.

Sunset at Dunkeld Flyfishing estate

My mom feeding some feathery friends

Dad and I fitted some flies

And we caught our own rainbows (no pots of gold though!)

O yes just so you know... The Score now stands at:

Trout = 1 - Louis = 6 :o)

As part of the Dullstroom treat, we paid a visit to the Bird of prey sanctuary. If you’re ever in the area, make this pit stop a priority. They house over a hundred South African birds of prey. Those that can, are rehabilitated and set free, the others are cared for as long as they live, very noble work indeed. It was a humbling experience to sit next to the mighty eagles and listen to their haunting cries. Maybe I’ll be able to volunteer at such a sanctuary some time in the future. It seems like intensely rewarding work.

South African Bush-Owl... Better known as the cute large eyed furrball!

The Infamous BarnOwl

White Faced Owl-A pretty buggar if you can manage to ignore the nose hair :o)

Faster than a speeding bullet - The Lanner Falcon

Master fisherman and known for their heartwarming call - the African Fish Eagle

The highly endangered king of the African skies - The Black Eagle.

This place, with all its wildness and beauty is very foreign to any city dweller. I’ve lived in both of these worlds, and the contrasts they paint are astonishing. Being confronted with the absoluteness of life in the bush is humbling. The principles that are lived there, and taught from parent to child are so wise that their tutors should have been human but they aren’t. This place of wild beauty might be one of the greatest testimonies of an incomprehensible wise Creator. Close study might convince anyone of a God that made these things with a purpose, even if only to please Him or astonish us. Much of this “wowness” is lost when you live in a concrete jungle that defies the existence of any God and professes indulgence, self reliance, productivity and busyness as the answer to every need. If you live in a city you have probably heard yourself say “I need to simplify my life, things are to complicated… I hate this rat race…”

I’ve read in many books that people from America and Europe left their homelands to come to Africa in the search of themselves. Search of themselves? What is up with that!? I never got it until now. The sheer diversity of the African bush, with its rich abundance of animal and plant species moves you to a place where you understand how terribly small you really are and how ridiculously short a lifetime is. While cities try to impress with non-living, non-growing, static man made statues, buildings and shopping malls that last only a few years anyway (I say this even though I AM impressed by these man made things, and I do enjoy them!). I see now how it is possible to find yourself here. I never appreciated it in this way while I lived in the bushveld. Then all this “wowness” was normal. Now I see that it really is spectacular beyond being described with heavy handed words. I am convinced. God is an exquisite artist. This great mastery of sound and color, arranged in the throes of life and living and survival really is mind boggling in its greatness. I enjoyed every moment there!

Thanks to all my family and friends who made time to see me. I love you all! Thanks to Louise and Mom for the early Christmas, it was lovely. Congratulations to Dewald and Reinhardt on their debut album. Keep an eye out for their band “Errand of Mercy” if you’re into good modern Rock.

Hopefully you guys will be able to come to New Zealand soon! Well that is all from me for now. I deliberately did not write anything about the crime, poor service, and infringement of human rights or crap mentalities that abound in every day South Africa.

I spoke to many dejected South African’s during this trip. I had many of them tell me “I think people who move abroad are deserters, rats leaving a ship etc”. Somehow most of those told me in later conversation that there must be more to life than what they are experiencing. Some told me they were extremely tired with the way things are in South Africa. I'm sure the stories shared on this blog will give you some hope with regards to possibilities elsewhere. If stuff in South Africa cuase you to fear for your future and that of your children, and you decide to stay in SA, do something about it. Pray, but don’t stop there. Do something. Organize peaceful protests or something but don’t suffer in silence. Right, I’ll stop here. Next time I’ll steer clear of politics :o)

There are many evils in the world. Evil only prevails when good people decide to do nothing.

Love you all,

Superfly!

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