Badplaas

A series of slides and mini-rapids, with overhead waterfalls - great fun ride. Not really for kids who can't swim as occasionally one gets overturned.

The long, fast, twisting slide.

Yvonne's kids

Ah, it's great out here.








A Boer War detail... These walls are all over the Magaliesberg. Some easily spotted, like this one. Lots were to hide behind while shooting or waiting., This one was more likely to stop Boers on horses from getting to the top.










Thomas.
.

These 'multiples' photos were fun, and the kids love them.




Alex.

Hey, this kid makes me laugh.

A few pics over the past few weeks.

2 of my pics of Robert Plant (was lead singer of Led Zeppelin), at UK Womad festival 2005 with his new World Music band: The New Sensation. Great stuff.

These klipspringers are surprisingly relaxed with humans in sight.

My favourite little pool on the way to Cedarberg Kloof.

The dung beetles were working like mad. While I watched two beetles rolled up balls and ran off with them into the veld (backwards). Dung seemed still fairly fresh but don't know what laid it.

Rita and me - Cedarberg Hike, with Yvonne and kids.

Fabulous pools on the way to the main pools of Castle Gorge.not too cold.

Trying to entice Yvonne's kids in.

Nice dip in a pool at the end of the kloof (gorge), near bottom of Cedarberg and Tonquani; too deep to stand near waterfall.

This Rhino Beetle flew in the house the other night.

Nice photo of Rita..from last year, we spent a weekend away, not camping.. for a change.

New Year's Day hiking

Strolling around an open area. I'd been camping in a very rocky area.












These buck, 'Klipspringers', are normally very skittish and bolt at the mere hint of a human.
When these first saw me they hid behind a small tree, I was in full view, I just waited in case I could get a nice shot. Eventually, they crept out and walked off, and I followed quietly and slowly, probably for over half an hour.
Despite my being in full view they didn't panic. I tried to hide my eyes though, maybe that helped.
And I was patient. These photos have not been cropped. Optical zoom only, of course. Still, I've never been so close to these critters in 22 years.




The buck were eating the fruit on the stems of this 'Stem-frugt' plant; these plants are all over, and I've never seen so much fruit on most of the bushes. Good rains recently, I guess.











































I've been hiking around here for 22 years and this is the first grass nest I've seen.









Some nice rock formations. The ripples are from shallow waters laying down layers of sand... about 2,200 million years ago. This continued for 300 million years.
Between 1,800 - 2,000 million years ago there was an igneous intrusion covering 65,000 sq km, very mineral rich, solidifying over the next 30 million years. The covering rock was, by then, tilted causing the angles of the cooked quartzite layers of the Magaliesberg Mountains today - kilometers thick. Then much erosion happened as did climate changes, pole reversals, continental break-up, ice ages...normal stuff.
The ripples shown seem to run all over the place - This one is unusual. Most others are very distinctly one direction only, and the size of the ripples vary. Some places have dried mud crack marks.



New Year's Day photo project.













Work: I don't get out as much as I used to.
But this was a nice little job... an emergency leak. First of its kind I've done, but pleased with the result... so is the client. There were two holes : one in the elbow (in photo), and another in the pipe next to it. Now to fill the hole and patch the tarred surface. The top joint is straight now.

Work.

I was asked to leave the lintel in place. "May as well." The biggest job was finding the right brick, as this factory is 20 years old.














Complete. Now to do the one next-door.

a few pics

Portrait of Dad; in cement fondue.


















Clay portrait of friend Stuart. A plaster mould was made of this then it was lined with a high Alumina cement.

















one painting from last year

We had a braai this evening (barberque) and as we cooked it gently rained. Not too bad, until it was all cooked, then we had to eat it indoors as it really came down.