THE IMPACT METEORITE VIEWPOINT

Christo arranged for us to sleep on top of the mountain, that forms part of the collar of the impact. This particular spot, where we camped, used to be a Tswana kraal in the 1600s, and was used again by the Boere in the early 1900s. We are the first people to sleep here in many, many years.
It was getting dark, so Christo walked us to the top, and then headed back, before night fell.

The views from the top is a sight to behold. This is a good viewpoint to see the rings of the impact better.
Dante thought the same thing, and watched as the sun set. Quite content to just watch. It was beautiful, and the overwhelming feeling of privilege swept over me.

KOPJESKRAAL: MANY GOOD TIMES AROUND THIS KITCHEN TABLE

At lunch we spoke about paddling with a canoe along the Vaal River, and whether it was do-able or not. We thought it would be a nice diversion, and quite spectacular, but once we've spoken to Christo, it was a done deal, we were going to take on the challenge. Christo thought it was a brilliant idea, and invited us to stay as long as we needed to sort out our trip. We sat around the kitchen table until all hours of the morning, chatting about previous adventures, and Christo himself had so many interesting, funny stories to tell of his road less travelled. It was a beautiful end to a rather amazing day.

FROM LEGENDS TO KOPJESKRAAL

We were supposed to go to Christo's Guest Farm to stay for a night or two, when we stopped off at Legends for a quick breakfast. Nothing quick about this breakfast, let me tell you. Firstly, before we could actually enter said restaurant, we were stopped by numerous people, enquiring about our journey. It was rather delightful to say the least.
A bunch of girls who rode into town on their Harley Davidsons, invited us for a drink, a "Jam Jar", which is quite potent on an empty stomach.

We also met the Vlok family who sat oppisite us, and before we knew it, we only got a bite to eat at lunch time, the company was so phenominal.
Pieter from Hadeda Creek, who is also friends with the Vloks arrived a bit later, with his mate Johan. The afternoon just got better, and it was such a pity when we had to go our seperate ways. Leonard offered to give us a lift to Kopjeskraal Guest Lodge.
The Vlok's are such an exceptional family, warm, spontaneous, easy to get on with. I surely hope to see them again...

VREDEFORT DOME - METEORITE IMPACT ZONE

The next day Jacques organized an educational tour at Christo Meyer's farm Kopjeskraal. This entire area, known as the dome area, is in the process of being declared a World Heritage Site.
Danie Van Zyl from Ten3 Safaris was also here, filming todays procedures for educational purposes. The ideal is to get more schools to visit this site and learn more about the meteorite impact, an event which is believed by some to have been responsible for life on earth. The Big Bang!
Greame and Karen Addison were the hosts today, and they mesmerized us all with their account of the meteorite impact some 2023 million years ago, and I was amazed that I never knew that this had taken place in this area, or at all, eventhough it is so close to home.

They had a group of 300 kids from a school in Heilbron, not too far away, and it was quite something to see Greame relay the events of the impact.

A FUN DAY ON THE VAAL RIVER

It was amazing to be back on a river, rafting. This made me almost want to swop my bicycle for a canoe for a while. Tempting...





Dante had enough of us chicks, so he decided to abandon ship and join Skit. Much more exciting, and comfortable.
It was a truly beautiful day, and everybody was quite amazing. Lucas and Skit were insightful and brilliant guides if ever you need one in these parts. The entire group were great fun, and had no problems with the cameras in their faces all day.
We arrived at Hadeda Creek, managed by Pieter. Gert, the barman, were leaving in two days, after working here for a couple of years. They were seriously entertaining, and had many stories to tell, so we stayed for a couple of drinks before going back to The Dell.

REAL ADVENTURE: WHITEWATER RAFTING

Skit and Lucas briefed us on what lay ahead for the day, and away we went. There were two people per raft, but we were four, as Dante and Katryn came along as our navigators.




We were given a safety brief before every rapid, but we all got stuck at one place or another, or dumped just for the heck of it.
Lucas carried all the dry bins and food for lunch. His knowledge of river rafting is quite extensive, and he is an excellent conversationalist.





At Gatsien rapid, we had lunch and went for a swim.

REAL ADVENTURE - PARYS

Parys, one of our key destinations, turned out to be so much more than what we bargained for. Jacques took us in immediately, and introduced us to the area and some amazingly knowledgeable people. You have to meet Jacques, to understand, that everyone that surrounds him has some kind of magic, as he himself, is magic!

At first it was Jan who is manager at The Dell where we stayed for two days. Jan is a delightful soul, as good as they get. Then there is Skit, one of the guides working with Jacques at Real Adventures, who picked us up the next morning, for a day of whitewater rafting on the Vaal River. He had a group of 8 whom we joined for the day, mostly students from Stellenbosch, and then an extra person, Lucas, also a guide with Real Adventures.

BRIEF ENCOUNTERS, STEERS AND GOOD COMPANY

We met a fellow cyclist on our way to Fochville, chatted for a while and moved along. Just as we turned onto the highway, which we were to follow for about 4kms, we found this lovely little roadhouse/bar which was the perfect spot to hide away from the sun for a while.


From here on, the road was magic, with a long downhill into Fochville. I was so hungry, food was all I could think about. At the first thing that looked like a shopping centre, we stopped. We opted for Steers, because they make gorgeous vegetarian hamburgers and fries. We sat there for a long while, chatting to passers by, wanting to know where to and why, until a very energetic young girl named Jacquelene Somers approached us and asked if we wanted to spend the night.
We ofcoarse didn't hesitate, because she seemed an interesting fun soul. Turns out Jacquelene is an mechanical engineer at Anglo. She is full of enthusiasm about environmental change and turning sewerage into bio gas, etc. We talked for hours, but eventually fell into bed exhausted. It was one of those magical days.

FLAT TYRES AND WELVERDIEND POLICE STATION

We haven't even left the premises, when Maria had a flat tyre. It took a while to fix, because turns out, there were more than one.

Dante and Katryn loved the time to play. This is their favourite spot at Metsi Pepa.
We left about an hour later, heading towards Welverdiend. The road there was quite enjoyable and it was a hot day out. We had no idea what awaited us in Welverdiend, so we cycled along happily. The dogs were loving every second. Once we reached town, we stopped by the first house where we saw people, and asked for directions to the nearest place to overnight. There was no such thing in Welverdiend. No camping grounds, no hotel, hostel or guest house. A bit of a dilemma if you ask me, especially since the people weren't overly friendly to begin with. A lady working in one of the small cafee's pointed to a horrendously filthy piece of land with a shabby caravan parked in the far corner, and said we should squat there, everybody else seemed to.
That was the moment when we decided that the local church or police station would be our best bet. We ended up sleeping in a small little room at the local police station in Welverdiend. We had no complaints, as we had electricity, a hot bath and small, yet warm bed.

LEOPARDS AND TIGERS

We finally had our grand tour of Metsi Pepa, and thanks to Stanley, our guide, we didn't miss a thing. We saw some unusual animals like the Bengal tigers, which were an absolute delight, and two Leopards with attitude.

METSI-PEPA

We woke up tired, after another night of freezing our asses off. The hut we were sleeping in, had no furniture, because they had just built a few, and they were, I presume, scared of robberies, as there was nobody there to look after the place 24/7. As you well know by now, our sleeping bags are built for summer, which it clearly isn't, and the cold came creeping up from beneath the wooden deck which was our bed.
We spend most of the morning exploring the place, and it was absolutely beautiful
We went down to the hole, or otherwise known as 'Die Gat', which is the origin of the Mooi River. Never have I ever seen such crystal clear water.

Dante and Katryn were loving every minute and couldn't get enough of the water especially. They played for hours on end, as we waited for Francois, the game ranger, to take us on a tour of the conservation.
It was at this point that my mother phoned to say that my dad was back in hospital, for an emergency procedure on his knee, which had been operated on only a few days earlier. All of a sudden I felt nauseous, because he had been in and out of hospitals and rehabs for the last 8 months, and I didn't know how much more of this either of them could take, or me for that matter...
We arranged that my sister would fetch us early the next morning, so that I could go and see him.
The rest of the morning seemed stressful, but with surroundings such as this, one couldn't help but feel somewhat positive about an otherwise desperate situation.
Water Lilli's as far as the eye can see, and my babies playing, oblivious to the change in atmosphere.
I suddenly knew that everything would be fine, and that all is good...

DERBY TO METSI-PEPA

It was getting late, and we started to look out for a good place to camp, but we kept pushing it a little, not knowing how far Welverdiend was. Eventually we had to stop and discuss what to do, because the sun was about to set, within the next 30mins.

By now we were all feeling the strain of a long day. We've covered a distance of about 45kms, but considering that we only got moving late, it was a long way.

Dante and Katryn were also getting tired, but mostly I think it was time for all of us to put our feet up and relax.

Where we stopped was a dilapidated fence with a sign board that indicated a development to our right. There was a number on the board, which we called to confirm that we could actually camp here or anywhere near here.

Turns out that this development was at the origin of the Mooi River, which, according to the developer and conservasionist, was something really special and a sight to behold. They had already built a couple of tented huts on the banks of the river, and suggested we stay there for the night. The owner of the establishment also offered to take us for a tour around the conservation area.
We made our way to the huts, and were in awe of what we found. We weren't quite prepared for the beauty and luxury that we encountered. Neither were we prepared for the unbelieveble hospitality that we were welcomed with. Our day just couldn't get any better. It's amazing how not a day goes by, where I have to get down on my knees and say thank you for all the kindness that is bestowed upon me...

JUST ONE OF THOSE BLESSED DAYS

We woke up early, but took our time packing up, because I find that I'm still getting the hang of what goes where. The dogs don't like having to stay indoors too much, and this is a good thing, for we have a way of forgetting otherwise. We were starving, and didn't feel like preparing breakfast, so we headed out to the Fast Foods joint next door. We had the same sandwiches as yesterday - devine.















We made a couple of stops on our way out of town, and away we went. It was already pretty hot by the time we left, and there was a couple of uphills waiting for us. It was a beautiful day however, and having had a good nights sleep, made it quite enjoyable. About 10kms outside of town, we stopped to stretch a bit, and let the dogs out to play.
















We pulled into a dirt road heading towards somebodies home probably, and a little while later the most precious family stopped alongside us. It was a lady and her 3 kids, and she had just fetched them from school. We had a bit of a chat and they invited us for something to drink, but unfortunately we had to decline, because we had already taken our time, and it was just after 2pm. We had to get on with it.




















The rest of the way was magnificent, because soon we turned off to Welverdiend, and all of a sudden the heavy traffic was no more... The landscape is absolutely beautiful in these parts. Long rolling hills, the odd dam here and there, a lot of cattle and lusern and maize crops. Beautiful and peaceful. I felt like I was on top of the world, and I cycled with very little effort. I didn't even feel the uphills, on the contrary, they were a delight. Amazing how one's state of mind can alter one's abilities...

EVERY CLOUD HAS A SILVER LINING

I was exhausted when it was time to get up. We scattered around, trying to fit everything into it's rightful place, but it took a while before we were good to go. Dante and Katryn urged us on, because during all this commotion, we were kind of trapped in this barn, with a very big dog on the other side, and they were developing a serious need to relieve themselves of excess fluids.
We left without having breakfast, because the look in those eyes made me feel almost guilty. We weren't even 100m away when Katryn decided that she had had enough and so we stopped and waited while they did their thing. It was so nice to be outside again. The sun was out, and it was turning into a lovely warm day.

From word go, I was challenged with all sorts. It felt like I had nothing with which to help me up those steep hills, and they kept on coming. The traffic was absolutely mad, and there was no shoulder to the road, so when the trucks would pass, it felt like I was being sucked in underneath the never ending chassis. Everything just seemed more impossible, I guess, because I had no energy to speak of.

I soon saw that Maria had the same difficulties. We pushed our bikes up most of the serious hills, having to stop every now and again to catch our breath. We only had one energy bar between the two of us, and not so much water either. Dante and Katryn also seemed less playful. We hoped that Derby would be just beyond the next hill, but no. I soon started to imagine a coke with lots of ice, or juice, or anything, as long as it had ice. A farmer stopped beside us, and told us that Derby was about another 6kms away, handed us an ice cold juice and wished us luck, because another big one was ahead.
It took every last ounce of determination, to push/bike that last kms. Derby is a very, very small town, consisting of a petrol station, butcher, hotel, pub, liquor store, general dealer, and only the main road is tarred. All the stuff I was imagining wasn't quite possible, but what we ended up with wasn't half bad either. Our first stop was Sampie Motors, the petrol station, when a very friendly lady named Corrie welcomed us, and offered to buy us a coke because she said that we had triggered her interest, and by the looks of it, we deserved it. We chatted for a while, and headed out towards the hotel, only with one goal in mind, food, bath, sleep!
The shop manager invited us to stay over at their house if we weren't lucky at the hotel. Outside the hotel we met a very nice man named Willem and his 5 year old son George who also offered to help us out if we didn't get sorted. There was a room in the hotel, and they allowed the dogs, but warned that the resident Ridgeback was a bit grumpy and didn't like other k9 friends in his territory, so as to keep them out of harms way. The hotel is cheap, only R180 per night, but leaves nothing to be desired. Luckily we were so tired that it didn't really matter. There wasn't any food available at the hotel, so we headed out to the fast foods place next door.
There was the most delightful little girl that kept us company while we waited for some toasted sandwiches and chips. In a little town like this, there is not much else if you're vegetarian. She told us all about her life, walked the kidz, although they didn't like being dragged around very much, but entertained her nevertheless. Aaagh, the sandwich was magnificent, and just what I needed.

Once back at the hotel, I collapsed on the bed, while Maria had the first go at a bath. The water was a shocking dark pink color, which we figured must be rusty pipes. I don't know, but it sure didn't look very inviting to me. I put some of my equipment on charge, and we chatted for a while, but then I fell asleep, the sleep of the dead.

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE AT THE WATERGLEN GUEST LODGE

My mother and all the guests, who have become family, missing you already


Girls, you have done so much for us. Love you always