This is another delayed transmission.
Our stay in Henties Bay was short but pleasant. Fordjie Snr took us fishing early in the morning. We drove North from Henties along a salt road (these roads are very good – very smooth), until we came to an old tyre in the desert. We then turned left and drove across the sand until we got to the sea – very few landmarks in that part of the road.
It was cold, damp, and windy, but the fish, at last, were cooperating. The surf was heavy and the current strong, meaning that heavy sinkers had to be hurled out a considerable distance.
After a while the handle of Sean’s Penn reel fell off and he had to resort to his Scarborough. Now a Scarborough, to the uninitiated, is a plain, gearless, brakeless reel which, in S.A., seems to be confined to the Natal coast and used by all the Natal fundis.
You cast by placing your back to the sea, taking a jump to the left, and with a Nureyev pirouette, fling the rod over your right shoulder and brake with the palm of your hand. Very graceful when done by the experts and bound to bring gasps of awe and wonder from incredulous West Coast fishermen.
On the other hand, the reels have been known to lacerate fingers, maul knuckles, and create vulture size birds’ nests of irretrievably tangled fishing line.
With this in mind, Sean decided to have a few practice casts up the beach, and Jean very tactfully mentioned to the interested observers, that he hadn’t used this reel for decades.
So far so good, and the first couple of casts went in the right general direction into the sea. To be fair to Sean, we would mention that it was very cold, and his hands were both wet and numb, which was obviously the reason that the third cast – the one that was really going to impress the Namibians- went somewhat astray, resulting in a 5 oz sinker hurtling off parallel to the beach, a red faced Sean clutching aching knuckles, the biggest bloody birds nest imaginable.
Jean suddenly became very interested in her book, and the observers showed great interest in the cloud formations, whilst whistling between their teeth such tunes as “Sarie Marais” and “Bobbejaan Klim die Berg”. Thank God, after that fiasco, Sean actually did catch a couple of fish and regained a little bit of his dignity.
The rest of our stay in Langstrand was pleasant but lazy. Our main exercise being the gathering of white mussels – an invigorating sport!
To catch a mussel, one waits until low tide, finds a likely spot – usually signposted by the number of gulls -, and wades into the surf (av. temp 13/16 deg C). One then does the “White Mussel Shuffle”, similar to the “Natal Sea Lice Tango” or the “Twist” (for those of you who remember Chubby Checker), thus digging into the sand with one’s feet until a mussel is felt.
A quick duck down to grab it, and the unfortunate mussel is placed into a bag. Unfortunately, the duck down invariably coincides with an incoming roller.
The sight of a very wet and bedraggled Jean (not normally a lover of cold water), emerging from the sea. clutching a bag full of mussels, is a vision to behold.
Jean, by the way, not once, not twice, but 4 times, made the error of mistaking a mussel for a crab – with painful consequences.
Apart from the fun of catching them, white mussels are also very good to eat.
Dunes between Walvis Bay and Swakopmund
The scenery between Walvis Bay and Swakopmund is really rather beautiful with golden sand dunes against a clear blue sky – once the fog has lifted.
Mile 14 “Resort”
North of Swakopmund it tends to be monotonous, with flat gravel desert plains, and the beaches are not very exciting. Camping is permitted at various spots all along the coast, and the shore is dotted at regular intervals with little brick “long drops”. Apparently, over the Christmas holidays, all these camp sites are occupied, and the beach is like Blue Lagoon when the Shad are running. The sites were very basic and not at all pleasant, and we cancelled our plans to move North.
The Camel Corps.
We had a very pleasant weekend with the Greens – down from Windhoek – and they introduced us to Camel riding and also took us deep into the desert to view a 1500 year old Welwitschia plant. It was pretty ugly which, at that age, is not surprising.
Welwitschia
We left Langstrand on December 1st and made our way back to the RSA border via Grunau. Grunau is a tiny village and a Shell garage, which has recently opened up a small caravan park to serve people in transit. The facilities really are excellent.
Sunset at Grunau
Each site has its own bathroom, braai, and washing area – all for R 60 per night. They also have rooms for non-campers. We would really recommend it to anybody coming through as an alternative to Keetmanshoop.
Currently, we are at Die Mas in Kakamas. This is a little camp at a vineyard on the banks of the Orange River. Tomorrow we leave for Kimberley, then Bethlehem, and back to home base Glengarry. This afternoon, on the other hand, we head for the Kakamas Hotel to watch the Bokke knock Hell out of the Poms.
Later – Back at Durban.
Well, as they say, pride goes before a fall. The Kakamas Hotel was filled with gloom and despair on that Saturday night. Never mind, though, we’ll knock Hell out of them in the World Cup instead.
Overlooking Kakamas
After a few days at Kakamas, with Jean eating the grapes straight from the vine, and Sean sampling them after they had been processed a bit, we headed off to Kimberley. Our otherwise uneventful journey was perked up a bit by the Landy’s left rear wheel coming adrift whilst we were bowling along in the middle of nowhere in the Northern Cape. That certainly produced a few adrenaline charged moments! Out came the high lift jack again, and not much damage done other than a sheared stud. When we were at Langstrand we had managed to repair a puncture without the help of a garage. This of course was a big milestone, reminiscent of Trekkers forging their own wheel rims in the middle of the bush. As with the Bokke, however, pride comes before etc. We obviously hadn’t tightened the wheel bolts properly, and after 1500 k, they decided to wander off on their own.
Our short stay in Kimberley was very pleasant. We went to see the Big Hole – which is just that- but we were very impressed with the museum which is in the form of the old town. Refurbished and reconstructed buildings, from the mortuary to the chemist shop give one a clear insight into the past. it is very well done. The fact that we visited it first thing in the morning and were able to enjoy walking around without thousands of other people, made it even more pleasant.
The Big Hole Kimberley
We got home in plenty of time for Christmas, and now that New Year is over, we are catching up on our chores and getting ready to head off again in a few weeks. Sean, over the past couple of months, had developed rather a fine beard. It made him look, he felt, very distinguished, rather like a young King George V. Unfortunately, as soon as he got home, his wife, his daughter, his daughter in law, and, worse, his granddaughter (et tu Brute?), ganged up on him and made him shave it off. A natural jealous reaction to the attention his new image was receiving from the nubile young lasses thronging Durban’s beaches.