Blog Update – 4 January 2013 – 7 January 2013

Natures Rest is exactly as it says – in Nature and Restful.  We found a really nice site, other than one other campervan, we were the only residents.  Our van faced the river and a sheer rock face.   A willow tree sported a host of male weavers getting their nests ready so as to invite the females in to inspect their handiwork.  What a noise they can make, busily competing with one another, but a sight to behold.  We were also privileged to see a Knysna Lourie and a brown hooded kingfisher.  What an amazing abundance of bird life, it was equally rich just to sit outside our campervan and watch the bird life.

We asked our hostess how to get to the beach from Natures Rest, as we could hear the pounding of the waves and the dogs were just itching for a walk.  We were anxiously told to ‘be careful’ as they had, had several incidents of muggings and holdups from their campsite to the beach.  In fact our hostess even suggested that the Security Guard, follow us down and back again (bg), what with our two lions…don’t think so…he took one look at Quince and started shaking.  Apparently that is what his sole job was during December/January was to follow guests to the beach and back, ensuring their safety.  How horrible to have to spend your holidays like that L.  We decided to take our chances and walk with the dogs, obviously wary and watchful.  The path to the beach was across the lagoon and along a dirt road, very secluded and dense with bush on the one side.  The beach itself wasn’t really anything to write home about, it was rocky and deserted, apart from a few fisherman further up, but it was a wonderful beach for the dogs to romp and play on.  We spent a really lovely couple of hours just walking and watching the waves.  Because we were so far out of East London, we were content to just be and enjoy our surroundings.  Natures Rest has a trampoline for the kids, a swimming pool and TV lounge, for those wanting to be kept up to date with current issues.  There are also quite a few rondavels, which upon closer inspection are really basic, not very clean and run down.  I was quite horrified when I heard what they charge.  Our neighbours Connie and Guido from Germany, also in a rented campervan joined us for a sundowner and chat.   It is always so nice to meet people from different countries, bonus for me as I can still speak a semblance of German, well, at least they could understand.  As with all our new friends, we exchanged business cards, email addresses and promises of writing to each other.  Guido and Connie left early on the Sunday, we were leaving Monday morning and heading to Port Alfred, AT LAST.