Blog Update 20 April 2013

On Wednesday the 17 April 2013, packed up and ready, we hit the road, after saying goodbye to Mandy, Zillah and Kady whom we would be meeting up with again, later on in our trip. We left Coffee Bay at around 9.30am bound for Kokstad where we had planned to do our monthly shop before heading for the Underberg.  We had originally booked at Dragons Rest, but then changed our minds to Silverstreams Caravan Park.  My thought behind this was the fact that we had been warned about the Underberg weather and Silverstreams had a recreation room, which Dragons Rest didn’t have.  So, by the time we hit Underberg it was beginning to get dark.  We came to the signpost to Silverstreams, only then realising that it was 26kms on a really terrible dirt road.  After travelling along the dirt road for about 10 km, John took one look at this and decided against it, saying we would be travelling 50kms of dirt road every time we wanted to go into the village.  So out came the blackberry and up came Dragons Rest’s number. I called Kelvin while we were on our way from Silverstreams.  Kelvin was most gracious and told us to make ourselves at home on either campsite no. 1 or 2, we could then choose in the morning as by now it was dark.

On arrival at Dragons Rest, we set up close to the ablutions on campsite 1, had a nice shower and settled down to organise some dinner. Kelvin had been in town, returning round 8ish and came straight to see us, making sure we were settled in.

Early next morning, John and I had a look around and decided on campsite no. 2.  A big, grassy patch, with electricity and water connections close by. We also had a magnificent view of the Drakensberg, capped with snow.  In front of us, cows grazed in slow motion and we had peace and quiet… well for a day or so… that is.

On Friday morning, John and I, along with the dogs took a very long trip into Durban to purchase the dogs food. On our way back we popped into Maritzburg and met up with our dear friend Elizabeth for lunch and a chat.  The last time we had seen Elizabeth was when she stayed with us at Stonehurst in November 2012.  It was really fantastic to catch up as she has been in Slovakia since she left Cape Town in November.

Back at Dragons Rest, round 4ish on Friday afternoon, we were suddenly aware of many campers arriving.  We had forgotten that Dragons Rest was hosting the KZN Endurance horse race on Saturday.  John, on his way to the ablutions, that afternoon, met up with Lauren who was the organiser of the event. She had already seen on our campervan that John did photography so asked him if he would be keen on taking the pics of horses and riders as they went through their paces. Well, did John need any second invitation.  That evening we were invited to a pre-race meeting and got to meet some of the riders. Very different from the other horsey people we have met in the past, very pleasant.

I must just mention the weather at this stage… it had been raining since Friday, so with the horseboxes, riders, 4×4’s, grooms, feed trucks etc, etc, etc arriving for the race on Saturday, Kelvin’s farm road was a quagmire.  Dongas as big as small swimming pools were to be found, slush and mud everywhere… I was beginning to have second thoughts, I might add.  On the list of  ‘things to buy when next in town’ were some gumboots, for sure LOL.  By Saturday morning, the weather was no better.  John was up and ready to leave by 5.30am as the first riders were leaving round 7ish and he wanted to be in place and ready.

Shew, I really felt for them all, it couldn’t have been a pleasant experience for anyone. The dogs and I sensibly spent most of Saturday indoors, with the heater going.  I snuggled up on my bed and read the whole day, it was glorious.  By Saturday evening, the rain had almost stopped, but by that time a lot of the campers had packed up and were heading for home.  Nobody really wanted to stick around in the cold and wet.  So, along with just a few brave souls, John and I had company for Saturday night.

By Sunday morning all was quiet at Dragons Rest. As I said most of the riders had left the previous night and the few that remained had waiting for sunrise to pack up. Kelvin had his brother and wife from Kenya staying with him and a couple of his rider friends with their families too.  We were invited around for drinks at Kel’s bar on Sunday evening to meet the family and his friends.  A very sociable evening had by all.