LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL

MARIA, CLAUDIA, JOHAN AND MIGUEL


JULIE & PIERRE



ME & NATASHA



HERMIEN AND NATASHA

SOME MORE OF THE GOOD STUFF

DAY 12:

It’s Saturday again, which means it’s a day where we get to see familiar faces! Natasha and Johan were going to camp with us for one night, at the foot of the mountain. When I spoke to her though, she said that my friend Julie, her husband Pierre and kids, Miguel and Claudia were going to join us. We were exited to see them all, but we only packed up camp after it got a bit warmer outside.
They were going to meet us at the bottom, but as of yet, we didn’t know where at the bottom. We couldn’t see a clear way down, as there were a couple of gorges, that all ran down to the bottom, and not easy to get around. At the bottom, there were too many bushes and trees, to even consider going through.
We had about an hour left to get to the bottom. We decided to go up, and walk on the escarpment, till we got to the other side of those gorges, in the hopes that there will be an easier, quicker way to get down. As we got round this ridge, we found a 4x4 track that was going down. It was heading back towards the gorge, but then turned left, and around again. It took us a while to get down, and it was difficult to explain to everyone where we were, because we couldn’t see where they were, and our directions from way up here, just didn’t seem the same on the ground.
Hectic miscommunication! After about 2 hrs, we all managed to find each other, and what a sight for sore eyes. We decided to check into a friends place nearby, because we desperately needed to freshen up a little, and needed to charge mobile, camera & desktop batteries. It was fabulous to see everyone, but I could only relax once I had a shower, a fresh change of clothes, and something cold to drink.
We’re beginning to look forward to these little get togethers, because we get so spoiled every time. We rented 2 chalets at a place called West Hadden, owned by Lettie and Chris Hoeksema, a lovely retreat, near the Buffelspoort dam. My mother came around for a quick visit, so sad you couldn’t stay longer! We listened to the Bulls & Crusaders match on the radio, and what a game! Well done Bulls! They’re through to the Super 14 Final!
Hermien and Scalla were also there, and Hermien, you made a killer seafood soup, thanks! God bless your soul, you brought your map of the area with, so we could actually see where we are, and where we might find water, and where all the cool spots are. Everybody gave us useful tips on what to look out for, some more history, and a very good idea of where to come down when we need to.
The kids loved it out here. Johan and Miguel were like two angels, you hardly ever knew they were there, and they made the best barbeque ever. Love you boys. Claudia precious as ever, just came by to weave some of her magic. Love you my girl. Maria went to bed early, and Natasha was next to fall, so Julie, Pierre and I kept going for a little while longer. I had a great time, and thanx you guys, for being here, and making it special.
What a nice way to end the day, surrounded by good energy, love and magic.
Night, night

COULDN'T RESIST, ANOTHER BEAUTY!

HARTBEESPOORTDAM TO WOLHUTHERSKOP

SHOWING US THE WAY FORWARD

CHRIS & PIETIE HATTING



WHERE CHRIS DROPPED US OFF, HALFWAY UP THE MOUNTAIN





DANTE & KATRYN HAVING A REST

HARTBEESPOORTDAM TO WOLHUTHERSKOP

DAY 11

I had such fantastic dreams, I simply didn’t want to wake up! We had coffee in bed, and Pietie made a lovely traditional South African breakfast, consisting of pap (porridge like substance), sauce, and sausages. Delicious! It was such a beautiful morning! We spent some time with Lelanie on the phone, who is organizing the event on the 26th, and everything seems to be moving along smoothly. For those who haven’t received an invitation yet, or who wants to book exhibition stands, please contact Lelanie immediately at go4gud@gmail.com, and be there!
We packed up, this time with at least 4lt water each. Chris couldn’t believe the weight of our bags, and had every guy in the vicinity try and pick ‘em up. It was funny. He took us back to the spot where we initially got a bit lost. It was amazing to see how easy it is to just drive up the mountain. When we hike, it takes about an hour to the top, but this time, 5 minutes, and we’re almost on top. We said our good-bye’s, and walked.
Above us, vultures were circling way up high, and at first we thought there must be a carcass that they’re after, but I think they were just showing off, because they were visible all day. My pack felt so heavy, that eventually it felt like the rocks were making imprints on the soles of my feet. It was a challenging hike, all the way, up and down, around, again, and again, and…
Our surroundings are becoming more and more spectacular every day. We hiked from the vicinity of the Hartebeespoortdam, just past the elephant sanctuary, to Wolhuterskop. The terrain is very rocky, and for the most part, there was a footpath, but the rest of the time we were roughing it. There were a couple of times, when the scene below us, was so breathtakingly gorgeous, that we had to take a break, and just admire where we are. I feel so small surrounded by all this, and grateful that I have the opportunity to be here.
We didn’t stop for a proper lunch, as we were keen to get ahead, so we just snacked on some energy bars, plenty water, and walked till just before sunset. We found the only flat spot around, but it wasn’t smooth at all. It had to do though, because we were exhausted, and couldn’t look no further. We set up camp, had a quick dinner consisting of tuna and provita’s. I listened to music for a while, and I must’ve fallen asleep like that, because when I woke up, my ipod was dead, no more power. Pity.
It is awfully quiet up here, and below, there are lights as far as the eye can see. Pretty spectacular.

DAY 10: Befriended a sheep at Chris & Pietie Hatting's place

She's cute as a button. She came running down to greet me, and acted like a dog with her wagly little tale, but once Katryn came closer, she got a little spooked at first. They became friends in the end.

DISORIENTATION & SALVATION

We woke up bright and early, but it was so cold out, that we waited for the sun to properly shine, before we got out of the tent. The wind was freezing. Spent some quiet time, had breakfast, and packed up. We were running low on water, and didn’t quite know where we were, so I called Hermien, who knows this mountain range quite well, but she reckoned we were a long way away from the gorges where she knows we’d find water. We decided to head up, and hopefully we’d be able to see more clearly. There were so many footpaths, leading in different directions, so we initially thought, up is better, and headed that way.
Once we got there, we couldn’t see anything that might suggest that there was water. We started to go a little lower, and walk on the side of the ridge, but here, it was very difficult to walk, and the bushes more dense. We still couldn’t spot anything other than a house on a farm not too far away. We managed to get the number of the people who live there, and contacted them, just to be sure we were allowed on their property. Pietie Hatting answered the phone, and told us we were welcome. She suggested we head back towards the mine, where we came from, and walk around, but seeing as we have a rule never to cycle on the same road twice, and figured the same applied for hiking, we headed down the gorge, which formed a straight line to their house.
Not such a good idea! It took ages to get through all of that! There were so many thorn trees, all of which scraped, and scratched me to shreds. We had to climb over huge rock formations, and I slipped a couple of times, fell hard, got back up, and all the while, fighting to get through, to get to water. There are so many spiders and goggos, and one must still be wary of snakes, it eventually becomes a bit creepy.
When we finally broke through, we got to a road that leads to the home of Chris and Pietie Hatting. I can’t even imagine what these two people must’ve thought when they first saw us. We were all scratched, filthy with dust and branches sticking out everywhere. Must’ve been a sight for sore eyes. They invited us in, we had some coffee and sandwiches, and said that we should stay the night and head out again early next morning. They have the most spectacular property, and so many animals around. I love it! Pietie is a real estate agent in the Hartebeespoortdam area, and Chris doesn’t divulge much about himself, but we figured he must be retired. They used to own the mine which is on a neighboring property, but sold a couple of years back. They are warm, beautiful people, and we had a brilliant time. We even had time to catch up on soapies, 7de Laan no doubt! Pietie made supper, and we sat around chatting for a long while.
They are such excellent hosts, and when we asked if we could sleep outside on the porch (which is beautiful, thatched, and all round much more comfortable than the tent), Pietie didn’t want to hear of this at first. I know Katryn though, she wouldn’t let anyone sleep if she had to be outside alone. Comfortable of not. Pietie gave us mattresses, extra duvet & pillows, and so we were snug as bugs in a rug.
I stayed up late, did some postings, and chatted with a friend online, until I lost my internet connection, which forced me to go to bed.
Another day gone by.
Good night & sweet dreams

Maria, catching up on History lessons

We've packed up camp, but clearly Maria thought today was a good day for history. Reading through some material we got along the way. We had a lazy morning, as you can see, and once we got going, found ourselves to be a little disorientated. We hiked up and down the same ridge, 3 times, but merely because our water supply was running out, and we had to start thinking about refeuling

TOUGH TERRAIN

WE WERE ALL BATTERED AND BRUISED COMING DOWN HERE

RESORTS AND DOGS

RESTAURANT @ THE HARTBEESPOORT HOLIDAY RESORT

RESIDENT CHIHUAHUA @ RESORT

SHORTLY AFTER WE SET UP CAMP - GORGEOUS!
DUST FROM SILICA MINE, EVERYWHERE, NOT A PLEASURE TO HIKE THROUGH THAT

BACK TO THE BUSH

I had arranged to meet my mother around 8am, to pick up our supplies, at Damdoryn. When I spoke to her first thing in the morning, plans have changed, and she could only meet us on her way back from Pretoria. So we had until 3pm before we could head back up to the top. I packed up, and went down to the kiosk, chatted with Martie for a while, and then wondered around the Resort some more. It’s so beautiful and peaceful here. I could stay here longer, but I’m becoming restless, and want to get back to the Berg.
Martie prepared us lunch consisting of sandwiches and coffee. She is such a cool lady, she makes me laugh. She has the cutest little Chihuahua named Nula (a dog), and even though she’s tiny, she makes a big noise when you enter her bubble. Then there was also a big Doberman, but I still don’t know his name. He seemed fine with Dante & Katryn, but Maria was paranoid that he’d eat them or something, so we didn’t see much of him.
Karel offered to take us to Damdoryn where we met my mother, and then to drop us off nearer to the foot of the mountain. I had a quick coffee with my mother, while Karel and Maria went ahead. She’s fabulous, and I always enjoy every minute in her company. She wasn’t so happy once we got to the place where we’d go up. It didn’t seem safe enough, and she gave me a mouthful about letting her worry. She reckons if she didn’t see where we are, she’d be fine, but now that she’s familiar with our surroundings, she’s freaked.
Sorry ma, don’t mean for you to worry, but it’s all good, right? It was getting late, which left us with little time to get to the top, set up camp, and settled in before dark. My pack suddenly felt like lead again, maybe it’s the fresh supplies, but I was suffering a little in the beginning. We were slow getting higher, and once we saw a flat enough spot to pitch the tent, we set up camp. There were no smooth surfaces, mostly rocks and so we pitched the tent on top of a heap of pebbles, which managed to get somewhat even.
Both Maria and the dogs seemed uneasy and a bit scared, so she tried to sleep a.s.a.p., but Katryn felt the need to stand guard most of the night. It was a beautiful night though, I lay awake for hours, just staring into space, listening to music, and loving every minute of being here.
Good Night.

DAY 9: Must be thinking they're Cats

Something underneath the bark of the tree got them exited. Dante was a little scared to go too high though. He's not too enthralled with hights.

WALTER BROUGHT US SOME LOVELY BILTONG TREATS, WHILE WE'RE WAITING FOR SUPPLIES

Thanx Waltie, we owe you one!

HARTBEESPOORT HOLIDAY RESORT

DAY 8:

We woke up a little later than usual, knowing that we were getting some more supplies to continue on our journey. We are running behind on our blogging, but, there seems to be technical problems on Vodacom’s side again, and we can do nothing about it, other than wait another 24hrs.
We spent a long while wondering around the Resort, enjoying the tranquility, and the dogs went crazy after the monkeys. Animals are so much in sync with each other, that I am sometimes awe inspired. People seemed to have lost their ability to sync. Everybody is always in such competition with each other, it’s mad! A comment we seem to hear daily, one I heard just now in fact, is that nobody can stick together anymore, or that good people doesn’t exist. I do believe however, that we’re all on the same quest, and regardless how powerful or inadequate you might regard yourself to be, each individual’s purpose, be it big or small, is necessary in accordance to the bigger picture. I might also add, that if people could experience humankind the way that we do, experience kindness and abundance, people who give without expecting anything in return, they’d see that we’re not at all so far removed being humane.
We met Martie, who is a unique lady indeed. She made us a cup of coffee, when that’s exactly what we needed, and then I spent a while on the deck, pounding away on the desktop, doing some catching up.
The 26th is just around the corner, and we still have so much that needs to be done before then. A little awkward considering we’re hiking around in the mountains, and do not always have access to communication. It’s an amazing feeling when everything you’ve worked towards is finally being realized, and I hope we could do such a mission justice.
It was a fabulous day spent at Karel’s Resort, and thank you guys, for taking some time off to interact, and especially for spoiling us rotten.
I thought to pack in the morning, as we had no idea what time we’d pick up our supplies before we continued. I spent the rest of the evening catching up on emails, and afterwards, I was soaking in the tub for at least an hour – super fantastic! Oooh those little luxuries…
I finally went to bed around 12pm, and slept like a baby.

WE FIRST GOT TO MOUNT AMANZI, WHERE A LOVELY LADY GAVE DANTE & KATRYN SOME WATER AND MEATY BITES

DAY 7:

DAY OR NIGHT, WE HAVE THE MOON AS OUR GUIDE

BREATHTAKING VIEWS AT DUSK, OVERLOOKING THE HARTEBEESPOORTDAM

Beautiful Landscapes, Lions Den, and Relaxation

We woke up really early, and it was amazing to watch the sun rise and set the landscape alight with beautiful colors of red, orange and pink. We each went in our own direction for a while, because when you're in the presence of God, you need to be quiet.

At around 7.30am, we were geared up and ready to go. We followed a 4x4 track down, but this track was heading all the way down, and we needed to get on the next ridge. In front of us there was a game fence, all the way up to the escarpment, and all the way down to the bottom, so we were in a fix. Thought we'd follow this track down, but it was leading back to the suburb, and we needed to stay on the mountain. Maria climbed to the top of the escarpment, and saw that it would be fine if we hiked along the fence, although we couldn't see if we could hike all the way. We were just a bit scared to climb over the fence, as we didn't know what kind of game was kept behind it. These areas are known for their lion camps, and we weren't sure, so we hiked on the escarpment, along the fence. There were times where I had a bit of a crisis, because there wasn't enough room between me, the fence, and the escarpment. All of a sudden, I'm not so brave anymore, but we got through those. We also got lost a couple of times, as there were many foot paths leading somewhere, and we took the wrong ones a couple of times. Eventually, after some frustration and bundu bashing, we got to the Hartebeespoort Holiday Resort, and though it would be great to just have a proper bath and bed for a change. It's a lovely establishment right at the foot of the Magaliesberg. I want to say thanx a million to Martie and Rina for all their trouble in making this a super stay.

You know what's amazing? When one can appreciate the things you take for granted, like taking a bath. Bliss. I cannot thank everyone here at the Resort enough for making this possible.

Well, I'm off to bed now. Sleep well everyone, and sweet dreams.

SOME MORE GORGEOUSNESS

The white building on top, is where the cable cars used to be, and we slept nearby






Still a long way to go before we're on top

NATASHA & MARIA - Always sad to say goodbye

The Most Beautiful Sunset, & We Grow Silent

Like Giants Waiting Silently 4 Night to Fall

Up, up, & Away! Beautiful Dude!