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| Hike reports: |
| REPORT
ON THE SILVERMINE RAMBLE LED BY ROSEMARY PAUL |
Narrator – R Paul
Lee, Jeff and Rory plus 5 visitors joined Rosemary
What a
perfect day to hike in Silvermine – no wind at all. Only a small
turnout because of the soccer on at Green Point. But
the 9 of us enjoyed the not too strenuous ramble. One of our
visitors had to turn back half way as he was still weak from a tummy
bug. Even my slow pace was too much for him LOL!!!
We left from the Silvermine Gate House parking
and went down the Old Wagon Trail to the last big
hairpin bend and there took the footpath off to the right up to the top
of the ridge. This is a lovely lazy long slightly
sloping approach and one not often used. We cameout on the gravel road
above the dam and turned onto the Ampitheatre Path. This is where our
visitor left us, walking down with a kind gent who was going past.
Because of the long delays in waiting for out unwell
hiker we stopped at the rock overhang for our tea break
and not further along as planned.
After tea we
continued along the path and stopped often to admire the spectacular
views in both directions one gets from the top. We
turned down towards the dam and connected with the
gravel road which took us to the dam. I love walking through the trees
and plants that the various hiking groups planted after
the forest round the dam was removed. Who can remember
going there in the blazing sun and trying to find a bit of soil to make
a hole in and plant their tree?
We returned down the river path to the cars.
Finished at 5.30 because of our many stops but it was
still sunny so we all got home before dark. Rory thinks we must have
done about 10km.
I tried to
find ‘my’ tree the other day and took a photo of it but
when I got out my album to compare the two spots my
original one did not have a rock next to it. So unless the rock grew
there recently I had the wrong tree. Never mind, will just have to go
back and try again.
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| The Mystery of the Lost &
Found Happenings on the Noordhoek to Kommetjie Walk” |
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First of
all, on this gorgeous sunny day, 6 of our group disappeared for a good
3/4s of an hour while they shuttled cars to our lunch pub in Kommetjie.
Meantime, while awaiting their return, Mary and Anthony set off
literary and vanished in a haze of coastal mist – never to be
seen again! Actually they hot-footed ahead of the pack as
they has planned returning via the 9.5km beach (19km in total!). The
rest of us finally set off at a gentle pace, both our leader and I
having hiked the previous day.
We soon faced our first obstacle – a
fast flowing river to cross, something none of us had come across
before (pun?). We walked almost to Hout Bay in order to find a suitable
“boots on” boulder hopping spot to cross. As we pressed on,
we overtook and were overtaken by many dog-walking
families. Then another disappearing act. A dachshund
retrieving a tennis ball which his owner had thrown into the swirling
waves. The poor dog was completely swept under, only to surface moments
later with the ball in it’s jaws, then swim like hell back to
shore and his delighted owner. Both Anthony and Bafana Bafana would
have been impressed! I wasn’t. There are sharks in those
treacherous seas and I would never treat my Rosy like that!
Later at the wreck “Kakapo”, 3
rangers or “Observers of Muggers” were found to be fast
asleep inside the rusty shell remaining of the wreck, but awoke at our
presence. They pretended to be very alert while on
“anti-muggers” duty, so obviously their hiding and sleeping
tactics worked as no muggers made an appearance. As is customary, we
stopped there for tea. No sooner had we set off again when Carol lost a
lens from her sunglasses, but after a short search Leah found it.
The cherry on the top was when Tommy admirably
carried me across the south end river (also fast flowing and deep), and
I landed safely on the opposite bank, he forgot to put the other
“bag” back on his back. I only noticed the absence of it
about l/2 a km. down the beach – back he had to go! We
finally arrived at our pub at 1pm for a well deserved lunch and drinks
where we also caught up with Anthony & Mary. Thanks Tony, so lovely
doing something different every once in a while, and without the
huffing and puffing, yet we still had the exercise and fresh air. So
nice being able to chat to new found friends Bea, Colin and Leah too.
Margarethe and Vasco were the other members of our party.
Report by Yvonne.
PS
In 1780 this beach was known as “Het Lange Strand” (the
Long Beach) (J. Burman). |
| Boss 400 – 28/3/2010 Leader:
Anthony Sneath |
A perfect
day dawned and to begin with, we always warm the limbs up slowly, as we
set off over the sand dunes towards the jeep track above Sandy Bay.
Once there, a breathe-taking view of the coast appears, from the
wrecked barge southwards to Llandudno in the north and Oudeskip in the
middle. Then a slight descent to the contour path, facing the wreck,
which, at that point, only looks 20 minutes away! The path
although hemmed in on both sides by thick bush, is very well defined.
Kind hackers (I think Meridian Hiking Club) had cleared the bad patches
we had endured a few years ago. In a couple of spots we had to do the
“bum shuffle” which was quite good fun as it was on soft
dry sand, covered in leaves. The ladder (which rather disappointed me
last time), had thankfully vanished, so we could all practice our
scrambling skills!
I do rather repeat myself, but each time we do
this hike, I always call it the Peninsula’s mini Otter Trail
– very picturesque. A great assortment of coastal fynbos had
Vasco collecting samples as usual.
Maintaining an easy pace, we reached the wreck
at 11-30 for an early lunch. Unoccupied this time, except for a variety
of sea birds, it has completely broken in two halves. The sea is
washing right through the lower sections and she is looking rather sad.
Yet cruise boats and hikers continue to find her fascinating to gape at.
Always a great hike, thanks Anthony. We
got home early enough for a long soaking bath, supper and our second
outing to “The Last Night of the Proms” – maybe we
could include the latter as a club social next year. Stirring stuff!
Report by
Yvonne. |
| DASSIES
KASTEEL TRAVERSE |
|
Nerina led a
group of 11 – Tony, Yvonne, Marjolain, Rosemary, Val, Vasco, Sue,
Ron and 2 visitors – on this interesting hike on Saturday 17
April. We left the parking area at 13:30 and enjoyed a pleasant stroll
past Kleintuin Kop.
Nerina warned us that, once we started going
across the traverse, there would be no turning back. At this stage Ron
chose rather to meet us at Bertie’s Balcony via an alternative
path.
The scrambling took a bit longer than planned,
as some of it was not short person friendly. Yvonne and Vasco were
excellent guides as tail-end Charlies.
The view from the top of Dassies Kasteel made
it all worthwhile. It was a perfect autumn day for hiking with crystal
clear views of Table Bay, Gordons Bay, Noordhoek and Hout Bay. We
thought that Ron would have a long wait at Bertie’s Balcony. He
had, however, headed for Bertie’s Balcony from the Amphitheatre
but, after an hour, found that he had circled round and was back at the
Amphitheatre so he was also somewhat delayed. We saw a rare Erica
flowering at Berties and this was special as it only grows in that
vicinity.
The hike ended at 6:15. Many thanks to Nerina
for leading a hike that was adventurous and fun. Tony was able to
update the notes for his book.
Reported by
Rosemary Davis |
| Snake bite - the fauna fights back! |
U3A Climber bitten
by a
puffader near Sir Lowry's Pass airlifted by helicopter more...
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| The
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