Back in Ballito we had an early night and then went for a walk on the beach the next morning. The weather was great but as so often before our experience was marred by the litter on the beach. It is very strange that people go to public facilities to enjoy the outdoors but think nothing of leaving the place in a mess. Roger picked up a shopping bag full of plastic bottle tops, broken glass, flimsy plastic packets, etc. The hazard is that the colourful bits are collected by albatross parents and fed to their chicks, causing their death! Turtles mistake the flimsy plastic packets floating in the ocean for jellyfish, which is a part of their diet, also causing their death.
Anyway, on a brighter note: we had lunch with Steve McCurrach, the region’s coordinator for the Bateleurs. He is an aerial photographer and has the most wonderful portfolio! Check it out on www.airserv.co.za . He kindly presented us with a photo of Durban; you know the one where ‘on a clear day you can see forever’? I have taken a photo of the photo to show you…
Steve has also offered to help us get Buzz to Ballito and beyond. We need an altitude encoding transponder to be allowed into controlled air space (a prerequisite to come close to King Shaka International). Then of course we also need hangerage. It will take some organisation but it seems as if Steve knows all the right people to get things done. We will keep you updated of progress.
After our lunch and some shopping we headed back to Mt Moreland to see if we would be lucky enough to spot the swallows coming to roost (apparently the previous few evenings did not have good shows at all). Well, we were lucky! Unfortunately the visibility was not too good as it was overcast. To find out more you can visit http://www.mountmorelandconservancy.co.za/
Wednesday was spent replenishing stocks and trying to get parts for our reverse osmosis water filter system that suddenly started playing up. After much investigation and cursing, thinking that the high pressure pump was faulty, the problem was solved by replacing the sediment filter and the ‘taste and odour’ filter.
Besides that we also had a problem with our Ctek battery charger that suddenly stopped working while we were in False Bay. After some troubleshooting and a few phone calls we were referred to Battery Centre in Ballito to have it tested. They confirmed that it was faulty and promptly replaced it as it was still under warranty. Thanks to Peter from Ctek in Johannesburg for the great service!
On Thursday we finalised all the outstanding issues and spent the rest of the day just chilling, going to the beach and having dinner at Mo-zam-bik, a restaurant that has the most wonderful peri-peri chicken, amongst many other delicious items on the menu! It is also only 2 minutes’ walk from the campsite!
Tomorrow morning it is pack up and go; next stop will be at Charles and Moira’s farm, somewhere between Durban and Pietermaritzburg…
Even with all the repairs, it still beats working. Just pour yourself a double G& T and relax xx
I could not agree more!
Hello Guys
Having been to mount moreland and seen the swallows just before the opening of the new airport there was some concern about what effect the Jet traffic would have on the swallow population in the area (the subject of the carte blanche story as you mentioned). But what i found amazing was how full the air was with the swallows and just after sunset how quickly they all went to roost, its truly beautiful yet so difficult to explain, i still look in the evenings on final approach as we fly over the area and if you know what you are looking for you can quite clearly see the parking and viewing spots. Haven’t seen swallows though but we may be going a tad too quickly.
PS – that 737 photo looks suspiciously like an Airbus, perhaps your metal bird book needs updating 🙂
Hi Steven. Glad to see someone is still following! Oops, quite correct on the plane ID -slipped up there. Sorry for not replying earlier abort the monkey episode with Buzz. Luckily we got to him soon after the monkeys had departed so the battery was still good.
Hope all is going well at Comair, I have lost touch totally.
Regards, Roger.