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
