It is 17h00 on the 23rd December and I am sitting in Ufudu writing this post. We are somewhere on the N17 on a one-way stretch of road works, i.e. between 2 stop-and-go points. You have guessed it: we have run out of fuel (again!) and Roger has gone back to Chrissiesmeer with Suzi and a 25l jerry can. We are on our way from Chrissiesmeer to Wakkerstroom and were planning to re-fuel in Ermelo. With the fuel gauge reading just below a quarter and only 500ppm diesel available in Chrissiesmeer, we decided there should be ample to cover the 36 km to Ermelo for clean fuel. After all a quarter tank should still be around 50 litres!!!
Anyway, our stay at the Florence Guest Farm outside of Chrissiesmeer was most enjoyable. The owners are friendly and accommodating and we highly recommend a visit next time you are in the area. They do not have camping facilities but it is an awesome event/wedding venue and guest house. Check it out on http://www.florence.co.za/wmenu.php .
After getting Buzz back from Nelspruit we had a good night’s rest and the next morning Roger’s first task was to clean his clothes and shoes of mud after the previous day’s fiasco (refer to our previous blog). Once the wind died down Roger took Nico for a flip.
Then it was my turn. The area is stunning and from the air it all comes together in a consolidated mind-map.
There was a wedding at 16h00 so we made sure that we were on the ground at 15h00. It would have been rather disrupting to arrive while the proceedings were on the go because, predictably, all the guys immediately were drawn to the airfield.
Ursula (from EWT Crane Conservation Project) and Hessle arrived at 09h00 on Sunday and Roger took them up for aerial photographs of the area and they were also hoping to do some Grey Crowned Crane spotting. During Ursula’s flight they were lucky enough to see 5. Roger took some stunning footage with the GoPro attached to Buzz’s nose, sadly none of the cranes.
Ursula and Hessle had no sooner left than Tertia, a 12-year old relative of the owners came and asked for a flip and up they went again. The flying was eventually finished and Roger and I went into town to take another drive along Lake Chrissie for some bird spotting.
Hessle mentioned that the local pub, the Billiard Room, was open so we popped in there. Hessle and Ursula were also there and Peter and Charmaine of the Billiard Room were busy preparing table decorations for Christmas lunch. They were not officially open but ever so accommodating offered to serve us. And what a lovely meal we had; really worth a visit.
The next day we took a drive to Breyten to fetch fuel for Buzz because Chrissiesmeer did not have a 95 unleaded offering. That was fine because we wanted to see the source of the Vaal river which is close to Breyten. We just could not get enough of the beautiful surrounds!
Back in Chrissiesmeer we popped in to McCloud’s for a most enjoyable lunch. Besides their accommodation and café they also make sheep wool duvets and pillows which are hyper-allergenic and worth checking out http://www.mcclouds.co.za/products.php .
We now had to get back to Ufudu and start getting ready for the trip to Wakkerstroom. Buzz had no hangerage so had to be securely tethered and covered and we eventually left Florence Farm at 16h30.
After all the delays we got to Wakkerstroom at 20:30 and managed to find a camping spot at the Oude Stasie Caravan Park. We were exhausted and ready to flop into bed after a meal of left-overs. Sadly we did not manage to watch John’s Okavango expedition on 50/50. I guess we will have to try and find the U-Tube version….
