Waterwiel Lodge Northern Cape

... presented with such an awesome sunraise to welcome you into the new day?

Rony pulled me aside to suggest they don't patch up the bike. It would take a fair amount of effort, and also there are no guarantees that it would be perfectly rideable. I could see myself making a few more falls in the process, possibly hurting myself, but probably would just add to my frustrations. Instead, Rony suggested that I pillion with him on his bike. At least I didn't have ...

... before loading and strapping up your luggage. I had been ready to hit the road for ages before I realised that, excuse the girl terminology, the chain tightener/wheel aligner thingies at the back of the bike were loose. And then it was that I realised I needed one a torx key which was in the toolbag below my seat, thus requiring me to unstrap all the luggage to unclip my seat, to get to the tool, to tighten the thingies and put it all back again...

We followed a short ...

... Of course it takes the girls longer what with the squatting and all, so when we get back the guys are always playing with a ball, throwing it around happily. Along the side of the road someone spotted long-haired brown caterpillars, they looked bizarre.

Back on the road we had begun teaching the group how to play Hearts and pretty soon we had six or seven people playing. Apparently while we were ...

We travel along the N14 all the way to Springbok. I thought the Spar at Vryburg was good, it's even better here, it's massive. We buy our poikkie pot here.

On to our stop for tonight. What can I say it's a lovely spot, good ablution block ...

... warming of the blood was also necessary after our first frigid evening of camping. Keeping in mind that it is Africa's winter at the moment, I still could not even fathom just how cold it would get at night without a decent sleeping bag. Needless to say, for our second evening in the great outdoors, I was much better prepared. Armed with four layers of upper body garments, pants tucked into 2 pairs of socks, a ...

... sanparks standard. The chalets look out of this world and the campsite is really good too!! Great facilities, the coffee shop and the camp shop are good too.

Walk along to the Falls and there is some water coming over the rocks and down the gorge. The weather is warm and sunny and we do the Dassie Hiking Trail. Must admit the scenery here is absolutely outstanding. We see dassies, baboons, birds of prey, swallows, egyptian geese. On Wednesday we ...

... with the usual suspects involved, namely Jay, S&M, Barsby and Jamie. Believe Linds and Mum Kate were also there for a bit although not nearly as drunk. Linds at one stage having to take Jamie outside to be sick... ahh the kids of today. The lads were later joined by some Dutch ladies followed by some Frenchies and ended with a few, if not all of them, not making it back to their tents but opting instead to pass out on the couches in the bar. The friendly hospitality of ...

... for most English speakers. There are many deposits of alluvial diamonds along the Orange River and legend has it that the biggest cache of diamonds in the world lies in the swirl-hole eroded into the granite at the foot of the waterfall by the thundering waters. We did not find any diamonds, but the day was well worth it!

... in our own skills...predominantly the one i didn't study for...dumb luck. Another day, another early start. apparently animals like the early mornings....mmm. At 9:37am (not very early) we'd been coasting through the park 3hrs already. Our dumb luck cashed in. Lounging around a waterhole was a male black-maned lion. He was being tended to by four lionesses only meters from the track. This is what we had been dreaming of. We pulled over sat mesmerized. To be fair ...

... more books but I wish she would right another one. It was a great book. It is sad sometimes and happy sometimes and it made me mad sometimes, too. Jim was my favorite character because he is nice and good to his kid sister and he is very athletic and brave. We talked about it is a little like what happened to the Khoimani people in the Kalahari, and they are still trying to get all their rights now. I am glad I met Bruce and his friends here.