It was a shame not to be able to hit the road with the bike on such a fantastic day as today, but it was in for a quick service. There's nothing worse than slipping gears when you're "giving it" on those uphill climbs... Thanks to the good folks at Johnnie Koen Cycles in Mossel Bay for getting it back to me this afternoon (and clean, too - I hardly recognized it...). R150 for a minor service and R240 for a major service which includes dis-assembly & re-greasing (parts extra in both cases).
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If you've ever visited the Garden Route from other parts of the country (or the world), perhaps you've inexplicably felt all of your stress evaporate (particularly if you're lucky enough to have a window seat as you fly in over the Outeniqua Mountains!) and suddenly felt that somehow you were coming "home". Well, it all makes perfect sense: this is where it all began! Dr. Peter Nilssen (with assistance from Fred Orban) gave a fascinating lecture/presentation at the Pinnacle Point Golf Estate's clubhouse, followed by a guided tour of the caves where evidence of humankind's existence has been uncovered, dating as far back as 164,000 years ago (with speculation it could even be as far back as 180,000 years ago). Peter originally discovered the caves whilst conducting the Environmental Impact Assessment (as mandated by law for any new real estate developments) for the golf estate in 1997, so it was great to have his perspective and insight. Fred, meanwhile, runs the internationally-reknowned Oystercatcher Trail which has received rave reviews from the likes of National Geographic Traveller Magazine, Getaway Magazine, the BBC's Julia Bradbury in her "Africa Walks" series, and many others. Julia, who filmed her 4-part series in 2009 (occasionally rebroadcast on BBC4) and gave this interview when she was in Mossel Bay. The Golf Estate's website has a bit more information on the Pinnacle Point Caves, and the efforts underway to have it declared a World Heritage Site. Scientific American has a very interesting & informative interactive presentation (based on an article which appeared in the July 21, 2010 issue of their magazine) that is well worth a run through. There is also an earlier, Oct 17, 2007 article, which speaks about the significance of these early people's seafood diet - and of course, there are reams and reams of much more scholarly research available on the entire subject. If you are interested in a guided tour (indeed, this is the only way it is permitted to see the caves) and a highly informative, interactive talk on the context and their significance, be sure to visit the Points of Human Origin website for more information. If you're interested in a bit of a preview see these YouTube videos of Peter Nilssen's presentation and Arizona State University archaeologist Chris Marean's work at the Pinnacle Point Caves. The gallery of photos below gives an idea of the stunning natural beauty found as you climb down the stairs - (180 steps each way, but it feels like more on the way up!) - to the caves beneath the golf course (click to enlarge or view as a slideshow). Early morning cycling with the guys resumes for the season. Started out as a drizzly morning but it just got better and better (and perfect temperature throughout). Up the R102, then the gravel road to the Glentana turn off and back to The Island via Outeniquastrand, Nature-on-Sea and Botha/Pienaarstrand - probably the last chance to do this stretch before the rehabilitation work begin on Morrison Road later today and which will likely last a couple of months.
Click on the image below for the full route & workout details on Sports-Tracker. Just enough time to squeeze in the "Spar" Route and a quick shower before heading off to a meeting... Click on the image below to open the Sports-Tracker webpage with the route details and a couple of photos indicating the turn at the Dwarsweg sign (unless you want to carry on further and do the "Misty Meadows Meander").
The Pink Haus Gallery - Today is the Last Day to Catch the Incredible "Free to Express" Exhibition10/1/2014 Enjoyed the fantastic "Movie Directors" and "Free to Express" quilting exhibitions at the Pink Haus Gallery yesterday. A perfect thing to do on a rainy day.
Vivienne Holtzhausen's "Pink Haus Gallery" in the hills above Great Brak River is South Africa's only gallery fully dedicated to textile/fibre arts and is definitely worth a visit. The space is amazing, as are the exhibitions, of course. Today is the last day to see the travelling "Free to Express" exhibition before it moves on to its next destination so catch it while you can! Check out this photo gallery of the quilts for a sneak peak. Just when you thought there couldn't possibly be any more rain left in the sky to fall, it would come down again in buckets... Yes, lots of rain over the last 2 days - and lightning & thunder almost constantly throughout the day and night. The sky was lit up constantly in the wee hours of the morning - quite awesome! The rain continued again this morning.... But in the late afternoon, the clouds broke and other than the water running down hills in the village or blocking a few roads, you'd never have known there had been such a deluge - it was suddenly back to being another glorious Garden Route day. With low tide at 16:59 it meant it was time for another beach walk - two days of being cooped up inside is just too much... so down to Hersham and back up the steep stairs, along the road, back down the beach via the next set of stairs, then back up the next set before finally intersecting with the Vishoek Trail for the short descent down to the river mouth.
Click on the image below for the route details and photos from along the way. Ever been curious about the large ocean-going vessels offshore? Well, www.marinetraffic.com is a neat website where you can find out more information - just zoom in on the map to the area you're interested in (Great Brak & Mossel Bay, for instance). Or use the port search function on the left and type in Mossel Bay and you'll see some small coloured icons... Click on one of them and you'll get a photo of the vessel - if you're curious about where it's come from, just click on the "Vessel Track" on that same photo and you'll see its path to its current position in the last hour. Use the zoom in/out unction and you can see what else is happening along the coast...
It was a lovely, calm, warm morning after the rains the last 2 days. Perfect for a paddle in the double kayak at the change from high tide to low, but made a bit tougher when going upstream towards the village due to the the release of water from the Wolwedans dam so we just looped around The Island a couple of times, admiring the cormorants and dassies (on the rocks beneath Hersham) while trying to avoid getting hit by the jumping fish (one nearly knocked my sunglasses off this time...)
Click on the image below for the workout view in Sports-Tracker (a new window will open) Conditions were perfect for a ride up the hill behind the village and over to craft brewery Misty Meadows - too bad they were out of their trademark Buzzard Country Ale! They say a new batch was brewed yesterday, but as it takes 15 days before it's ready for drinking, there was no choice but to settle for a Windhoek Light (Windhoek Draught was available on tap).... If you want to do the shorter "Spar route", as mapped by Vera Reynolds of local cycling club "Big Dog Riders" (or see the map provided by the Great Brak Tourism Initiative), turn right at the sign to Dwarsweg - of course, you'll miss out on Misty Meadows but you'll also miss out on the climb up the R102 if you're a bit rusty.
Click on the image below for route info and a photo. With the particularly low tide this morning it was a perfect day for a walk to the Reebok tide pools (and to Little Brak beyond). If you only want to go as far as the tide pools, it's about a 45 minute walk. Be sure to bring tekkies or old beach shoes so you can explore them without cutting your feet on the barnacles and mussels). Oh, and if you're wondering what the helicopters are doing circling overhead - usually off Reebok - they are no doubt spotting Great White sharks (see the Ocearch shark tracker images below - but note these are just for the sharks that are tagged - and in order to "ping" the transmitting device must be at the surface & dry for 90 seconds - meaning this just scratches the surface of shark activity in the area). Click on any of the images below for the full details of the beach walking route and for more photos on the sports-tracker.com website. |
AuthorTheIsland@GreatBrak features the occasional blogpost in between braaiing and beach walks - stay tuned or drop me a line. Categories
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