The Reunion Sandy Bev Katie and Linzi

[SandyB]

Firstly  again a big thanks to Mike and Michelle ..I think Dalenes words say it all and I second them ..
As you all know it was touch and go with Bev making it ..  from touch and go it   turned into at the last minute  Bev  and her two daughters   Katie and Linzi . they arrived at CT  airtport at 10:40  on wed night ( talk about cutting it fine )  got through customs etc finally at  about 11:50 .. got home  just after 12:00  had some nice minestrone soup ready for them .. cracked the bottles of vino raised a toast .. chatted and  supped wine and when we looked around again ..  it was 2 am  our intent was to  try be on the road at  06:00 .. when my alarm went off at 05:00  I woke up and realised that  this would  be a hard act to follow  and be possibly downright dangerous  travelling tired .. so lay in for an hour extra  also gave the girls the time to get a bit more shuteye after their long journey  .. got later and  made coffee .  got myself ready  and then woke up the girls ..  we then got ready to go .. left the house just after 8   driving along  got to  century city and realised i had left my passport at home ..  drive back thrugh the early morning traffic jam , collect passport so we  ended up leaving CT  at about 09:00 ..  and hit the road ..  we stopped quite a bit  to stretch and have tea or a light bite  and also I cant sit still for too long , used to  moving around ..  we stopped at  Clanwilliam dam ,a beautiful stop  that i always used to do   many years ago .. the dam nice and full after our  rains .. the girls took the opportunity  to change into  more summery clothes .. as they looked like abominable snowmen  when we took off in the morning  cold .. ( damm  where is summer ?? )  took off again ..  did refuelling stop at Bitterfontein .. ( penalty for keeping up good  speed with 4 up plus luggage) .. then  through to Springbok .. where we had a snack and Bev  looked for sunglasses ( result of panic packing at last minute ,, no adaptor plugs for  hairdryers etc ,, no  cellphone chargers  etc )  On the road again .. Can  someone  explain the  ridiculous speed limit of 100 K  from  springbok  to  Steinkopf ???  anyhow I  did a good job of ignoring it ( hope i dont get any letters in the mail )  Stopped in at  Mc Dougalls bay  where i had so much fun  so many years ago , drove  around there ..   I cannot believe how much  it has grown !!   walked a bit in the icy water there .. and  then the last stretch ..  got to  SA customs at 17:00 What a gauntlet to run !! SA then other side of the river then final security where one gets the tags .. ( thats where Kaye saw me standing outside as she got in from Rosh Pina ) .. it was by now 17:30  my phone rings .. a worried voice  Richard Opperman .. " where are you guys ? you should have been here ages ago)  ..  apparently there was a head on collision  along the way and they were worried it was us . Got to Op my Stoep a few minutes later .. settle into rooms .. take a short   lie down  to get rid of journey .. freshen up ..  took a drive through town past mine and Bevs old houses , memories flooding back  .. and off to POH .. boy did we have difficulty finding  it  out in the boondocks ... found out my gravel road skills still ok .. got there  to be greeted by  Mike and Richard ..  then the fun started .. I will post some pics  .. more later ..

[SandyB]

In order

Arrival  wed night
Next morning leaving all wrapped up
Piekenierskloof pass .. Bev was enthralled with the scenery .. Girls  fast asleep in the back .didnt see a thing
The beautiful clanwilliam dam
Change time .. digging through bags ..

[SandyB]

More pics of the journey up .. Bev was fascinated with the long never ending stretches of road  , taking pics  as we went along ... last one in Mc Dougals ..  I did not bother taking too many pics as there will be repeats of  entrance to town etc ..more relevant to the mood or the moment ..

[SandyB]

Well  Thursday night was  the first of many nights of partying and greeting familiar faces ..   POH  was basically my best night , maybe the hype  from travelling overcame any feelings of tiredness  so I just carried on till early hours  ending with the skinny dip in the pool  ...  I was first over  the wall to show it could be done without  injuring oneself ..  well I used to skinny dip regularly in the pool after wild nights partying , so this was just a revisiting .. and a good start ..  again there are dozens of pics of all of us so avaoiding repeats ,,

[SandyB]

Friday  afternoon was the school tour .. some good memory blasts , plus the pleasure of seeing how the school has grown ..  a very emotional moment when the  school choir  while practicing  sang our old school song  .. Bev was with me , the girls went to the pool .. after that a drive around  town including the graveyard  , and more looking at  friends old houses .. my how things have changed .. must say I'm pleased with the condition of  E 35/11th .. garden still looks good  . and somebody  new built another pondock on the site where our old one was .. why waste a good concrete slab ??  a bit of lie down and off to the Moth club .. I found myself really not in the mood  for a late night , after the long journey and  being up  till 03:30 ..  the girls so too , till the drinks flowed  and persona reckless kicked in ..  I ducked out at 11:00 before that persona got to me ..  left them in the care of Eddie , went back to  bungalow .. sat outside had a quiet drink looked at the desert and drank in the sound of silence , very good .. and off to a good nights sleep .. the aftermath follows ...

[SandyB]

Saturday morning I wake up fresh and rested , no sore head or wilted lettuce  lying in the back of fridge feeling ...  Try to raise the girls ..  only croaky voice .. " cant make it to the little theatre tour , will do the bus tour later "  I left them to sleep  their  something like 03:00 coming home  off ... had fun at the little theatre , again impressed how the entrance has changed  and the  cosy foyer  ..  wandered around .. climbed up into the projection room and  through to the  stage along the walkways , now I know how the phantom of the opera felt ...  spent a lot of time chatting ..  time flew .. rushed back to  lodge at about 12:15   to find the girls  just woken up drinking coffee outside looking  sort of sorry for themselves ..  tried to  get them moving for the bus tour .. they opted to go to the pool  instead ..  me ready for an afternoon of  bar hopping .. off we went dropped the girls at pool ... we did our shortened tour   and ended up back at  the  darts and snooker club .. went to pool to collect the girls .. nowhere in sight ??   Oh well  back to  darts club .. have a drink or so out again to look for them ...  find them wandering around .. Bev I'm really impressed .. Our Bev  did a memory lane walk .. from the pool to  her old house in 2nd ave and back to the pool  to retrace steps ... only problem is the  mad dogs and Englishmen  syndrome .. no sunscreen , they all got a bit of sunburn ...  anyow we went back to  darts club .. they sipping carefully .. still a bit liverish i suppose ??

[SandyB]

PLAYING LIKE CHILDREN .... I mentioned earlier about moods or moments  and worthwhile pics ..   we left the  Dartsand snooker club did another small drive around town . then on the way out  saw the rocking horse in the  one park ... " dam I'm sure that's the same rocking horse with the cast iron head that used to be in the  park in  center of town ..   stop .. run to  it .. yes I'm dam sure ...  so we proceed to  play like children .. on the rocking horse .. to  the maypole like thing . No  witches hat to play on but this will  do ..  then onto the merry go round .. Bev took a tumble or two but was back like a flash ..  enjoy our  childish moment ....

[SandyB]

Had a hoot in that park .. left  laughing  like a bunch of excited kids .. the girls looking a lot more chipper ... back to the lodge .. but I have a surprise in store for them .. seeing as we did not go to the  top of  swartkops hill  on the afternoon tour ..  we going to do our own tour ..

[SandyB]

We  get back to the  lodge  and I suggest going up to the top of the hill .. so I take the car a small distance .. pretend it cannot go further .. so  lets walk up ..  well that's what we  did ..  the girls now wrapped in towels .. pulling them around faces and looking like Bedioun women in the desert ..  up we go , me egging on ...  get to top .. me and Bev  do a sprint  for the last section  and I climb up on  the  white  beacon post ..  Bev  regrets not going up there  now  but she was afraid the wind would blow her away like a leaf ... took some pics of the brige and  river mouth as well but wont post for fear of repetition ...  Enjoy ...

[SandyB]

The summit ....   the girls now looking  fresh and recharged ready for another night of partying .. only thing I  said was .. " IF THERES A NEXT TIME  GET A PAIR OF  SENSIBLE  STRAP ON SANDALS FOR  MOMENTS LIKE THIS ,, FLIMSY  THINGS WITH HEELS DONT DO .. " downhill is tricky in those things ...
added pic of the hill from the lodge ...

[SandyB]

Back to bungalows .. a short lie down ..  then  to freshen up for the bowling club ...with the promise of not stayin out too late ..    who we kidding ??  more later ...   

[pam spackman]

Sandy
   Great pics of you guys,what park was  that in?

Would have loved to have been there!

[SandyB]

@ Pam .. new park in 5th ave near the old X ray  the park in town central does not exist anymore . its a creche ...   yes we had fun and  revisiting of childish moments ...   Sandy X

[georg ruf jr.]

Great pics Sandy. Hope you've got more.

[Bertie Horak]

Thanx for sharing the experience with us, Sandy!  Great pics, lovely memories....