Jo Grindley

 So I last updated just before I travelled to South Africa for 3 weeks. It was great, all I could have wished for. I even got my highveld thunderstorm that I had craved for months that first day I was there, a few days later there was another that was an awesome and spectacular show of lightening and eardrum-ripping cracks of thunder! That first weekend we, after a little bit of hassle from the guards and caretaker of the complex, had a lovely braai…on our small balcony.  There weren’t that many of us so it was just perfect. Chatted and caught up, laughed and made fun of each other…it was like I never left!

 That week, suzi started Varsity again so I had the mornings mostly to myself – which I preferred spending catching up on unneeded sleep. Sleeping late had sort of become a rarity for me so this was bliss! I know I didn’t travel all that way just to sleep, but the only way to enjoy yourself on holiday is to be true to oneself! Don’t worry, those that are, I did other things as well. We went bowling one evening, were I was slaughtered! I’m terrible, it’s like I have my direction finder tuned to ditch. We went to restaurants, bars, movies another, rented movies another, went into Wits one day to sort out Suzi’s unpaid parking fines that were in my name from a year I wasn’t at wits! It was nothing spectacular, but I didn’t want spectacular I wanted friends and family…which is what I got.

 The long weekend before Easter I travelled down to Natal with Kelly. The main feature on our itinerary, ok to be honest the only feature on our itinerary, was to drive up Sani Pass.  After one night at her place we drove to the bottom of the Drakensburg in the evening; we took the back way along a dirt road rather along the highway so it would have been amazing, and what little I saw was staggering, but night comes fast and we travelled mostly in the dark. We stayed at an awesome little backpackers, that I might just stop at again if I’m ever in the area. The next morning I’d like to say dawned bright and clear but to be honest, it looked like it was going to be rainy and dreary. Thankfully my assessment was wrong, or maybe it did stay that way and we just drove through it…I think that might be it.

 We were travelling with Kelly’s parents, not for safety, or economic reasons just because they wanted to come along…and they had the 4X4 (Div lock, whatever). We got to the bottom of Sani Pass and had to go through Passport Control. I got 4 stamps in my passport from this trip alone, whohoo! It was still drizzly and overcast but we were having fun, it’s not every day you get to do this. Well maybe if you a taxi driver…but we aren’t! We set off and at first it was fairly easy going, then the div lock came in handy!

 The views were amazing, even with the cloud and rain. It actually gave it a bit of magic. I’ve always loved the drakensburg, thanks to the parents for dragging me and the rest of the family not to unwillingly through them when we were younger. I kept an eye out for lost water bottles and cups but sadly I couldn’t see down to the valley bottom so couldn’t see much in that regards. Next time, we will find that damn cup! Once we got to the top we had to go through another border crossing. It seems the actual pass is no man’s land and it’s actually a surprise that the road was in such a good condition if you think about it.

 Once through the Lesotho border we went to the highest pub in southern Africa. It was freezing up there and the wind didn’t help, so after a brief stint of standing in shorts and thick jackets being blown away by the freezing wind we hurried to go huddle inside and look at the view through the large windows. Ahhhhhh, nice and warm and a friendly atmosphere to boot. Do you know that some people actually walk up the pass? We passed a couple of youngsters on the way up and offered a lift (mainly because we wanted some weight on the back of the truck) but they declined. They arrived just before we left. We could have driven straight back down but it had only taken us 2 and half hours to get to the top so the decision was made to drive through Lesotho. I’ve never been happier to agree!

 It’s an amazingly beautiful country and there is a staggering amount of water flowing. I have tons of photos of all the towering black cliffs, quick running streams, white waterfalls and flat lands. I decided the rivers were schizophrenic because they couldn’t decide which way they were flowing. We would be following a river and round a corner and suddenly what we thought was the same river was flowing in another direction. We drove through the black hills and then into farmland. Well they call it farmland, it’s more like fields clinging for dear life to the sides of a steep mountain side, even the cows were all up the mountain where you never thought to see fat stupid cows.

 Once though the first bit of farmland we then drove through an apparently empty landscape. If anyone is ever looking for a new film location for an epic landscape, I’ve got the perfect place for you – move over New Zealand. Stony, low flat rounded hills, with hardly a vertical dimension to be seen. We hardly saw anyone for hours besides the odd car – and I mean about maybe 1 every half hour?! The amount of water flowing over the ground was staggering, it’s no wonder South Africa has an agreement to use their water, albeit one-sided. The landscape was starting to get a bit confusing so we offered a local a lift and good thing too or we would have missed the turning we needed. It’s also lucky for the local, because we didn’t see another car for ages! I guess African time has a whole new definition in Lesotho. We snacked on hot cross buns while we drove.

 As we drove along the flat empty mountain top the sun at last showed herself and we got back into farmland with the sun shining making the landscape friendlier and more inviting. It also helped that it was a more built up area. Lol, meaning there was more than one hut in a square km. The rivers that used to run quick and clear were now a muddy force to be reckoned with. Most of Lesotho is over farmed and therefore you could say that most of Lesotho is in their rivers. We dropped off the local man and drove through the two border posts at the Clarans River/Sproot. I’m pretty sure I’ve been through that border crossing before, it looked awfully familiar.

 We headed for Clarence for a late lunch/early supper.  A real Afrikaans region, what with being in the Transvaal, we listened to a man play Afrikaans trefers on the piano while eating. He wasn’t a bad player either and in the end he was playing a ‘noot vir noot’ sort of game. It’s amazing what you pick up while growing up without even realising it.

 To get back to natal and the pretty river which Kelly lives next along, we had to drive through the Golden Gate National Park. It was late afternoon when the air gets that golden glow about it from the setting sun. It was, for lack of a better word, beautiful. The setting sun, the reddish rocks softly sculpted over time reflecting the golden light and the green fields made for the picture perfect landscape. I thought it was amazing, stunning, awe-inspiring, and completely understandable why people have settled there, I’ll definitely visit the area again. After 12 hours in the car (except for a break for lunch/supper) we eventually made it home. I just want to thank Kelly’s dad for driving all that way! We offered, well again I have to be honest, Kelly and her mom offered, to take over from him but he was more than happy to do it himself– it’s not often he gets to drive that truck!

 And that’s pretty much my holiday summed up. 2 short paragraphs encompassing 3 weeks and the rest all about 1 weekend, 1 day actually! Lol, I enjoyed every minute of every day of those three weeks. All right there was that time where suzi gave me her nasty cold within 5 minutes of seeing me, she offered me the last of her contaminated bottle of water, that wasn’t that great! But that is what sisters are there for, to make your life …different!

 Next time, we delve into the mysterious world of Jo to find out just WHAT she has been up too these last few weeks?

 Toodles