Waterberg Hike - Train - August 2015

Hiking in the Waterberg with Thomas and John.

Our fireside seats at the huts. Evening, of course, gathered around a nice log fire - all night.

Me and John.

Once a year we visit the Steam train maintenance yards. Transport there is, of course, by train. Here's Janine pulling in to Johannesburg station.

Thomas, Emma and John. These trains are kept in tip-top condition.

Emma (John's sort-of daughter - well: he's her 'Daddy'; she's his ex-girlfriend's daughter, and they both still live with him (complicated); anyway, she's delighted at the experience.

Waterberg Hike and Steam train - August 2015

Sneuberg trip (Snow Mountain) April 2015

Sneuberg - so called as it's possible that it could snow any day of the year.

So we spent a few days trying to get up it, but it looked like this every day: drizzling most of the time.

 

Camping was nice but quite cold: Bernie and me.

 

 

Halfway up was this lovely old wreck.

 

As we left the clouds parted enough to get a shot of it.

Visited some rock engravings on the way back.

 

Goats inspecting our equipment as we arrived at one campsite.

 

Northern Cape has lots of these Social Weaver nests. The telephone poles have wire frames to support the nests. purely to help the birds.

 

Also on the trip was a visit to Driekops Eiland (Three Hills Island). These Petroglyphs cover quite an area.

 

 

Another place had these pre-dinosaur footprints which were exposed after a major flood a few years ago.

Our UK winter holiday - Dec/Jan 2014/15

Dear 'Aunt' Mary and 'Uncle' Bernard, with Dad. Close friends as long as I can remember. We all went to Quarry Bank Cotton factory - now a museum. Well worth a visit.

Prof Brian Bradshaw (93 here), my prof at Art School, with his wife Madeleine and Rita. He produced an impressive output of amazing paintings: not quite Fauve, but colourful, almost Expressionistic, mostly landscapes - definitely his own style.

Dad and Rita in Stamford.

Shoe shops galore. Impossible to walk past.

Outside Austin and Sally's house: Sally, Rita, Gunny, Evie, Dad, Keith, Austin.

Rita's first experience of falling snow.

Holding each other up on the very icy pavements.

Cool hiking around Grantham fields.

Tobogganing on the grounds of Blenheim Palace; surprised at the speeds we reached even on a gentle slope.

London somewhere near the palace.

Piccadilly Circus - only empty as it had just rained.

Wonderful sculpture in Trafalgar Square.

Trafalgar Square.

We walked along the Thames.

Rita, Roy and Yvonne - in Winchester.

Further pics of Fish River Hike

Decades ago this old Vespa got washed into the canyon by floods. It's had a paint job since I was here last.

Some interesting geology.

We did see a few birds on this trip, they came really close.

Taking advantage of a bit of shade after lunch.

Nearly at the end of the hike.

The Canyon Roadhouse. And yes, it is a real fire in the car behind; it gets really chilly at night in these parts.

Namibia; lots of open spaces and no traffic.

Fish River Hike - Namibia

The Fish River Hike, Namibia - 85 kilometers through wonderful scenic canyon. 8 of us casually walked for 6 days camping on the sand.

A typical spot for a campsite. Most of us didn't use tents, there are very few insects. It was very comfortable.

Saw a couple of these Klipspringers near a hot spring, which was hidden in grass and rocks.

Friend Yvette, a biologist, spent lots of time examining the flora,

All 8 of us: Mac, Sylvia, Dave (me), Yvette (sitting), Aussie Annette, John, Annette and Mike Thompson.

Although the water had stopped flowing by the time we started, it was still perfectly drinkable and here's John cooling down. Temperatures usually got to around 45° so we'd rest a bit after lunch. We certainly didn't want to rush the hike, it was so nice just being there.

The rings indicate each day's evaporation. So I reckon the water stopped running 22 days before this photo was taken. Sometimes the water is 2/3 metres deep after heavy rains but I've not seen that.

After the hike. A Quiver Tree: Aloe dichotoma.

The journey is also part of the holiday so we drove about a bit.

Some Namaqualand flower displays as we got back into South Africa.