Spring Flowers Trip 2022 – Clanwilliam, Lamberts Bay

November 24, 2022 Don Reid 8 Comments

The Background

With wonderful memories of our Spring Flowers trip through parts of the Western Cape in September 2021 still fresh in our minds, we decided to do a similar, but different, trip in September 2022. Our planned route was to take us to Tulbagh for one night, then three nights each in Clanwilliam and Paternoster. To round off the trip we treated ourselves to a three night stay in Cape Town’s Vineyard Hotel, in celebration of our birthdays which “book-ended” the trip,

I would recommend clicking on the images where appropriate to view in larger scale and appreciate the beauty and perfection of the flowers.

Clanwilliam Wild Flower Show

After a solid breakfast served on the stoep of the Yellow Aloe Guest House with a view over the lush garden, we set off to find the “Blommekerk / Flower Church” where the annual Wildflower show is held and which the reports suggested was well worth a visit.

Well, we didn’t have far to go as we found it was right across the road from our guest house!

The displays of living flowers take up the whole internal area of the small, historic church and are wonderfully done and arranged so that they represent different regions

A side room of ‘special’ flowers was really interesting with every imaginable, and some unimaginable, shapes colours and sizes represented. A plaque nearby had the words of the well-known Afrikaans poet DJ Opperman inscribed on it – his description of the wonder of the Namaqualand flowers is stirring (if you understand Afrikaans)

Equally fascinating was a display of unusual succulents with the cutest names that had us smiling, even chuckling, along with others around us

The common name for this one in Afrikaans translates as “baby’s bum”

*Argyroderma testiculare* – Bababoudjies – Wildflower show, Clanwilliam

And this one is – you guessed it – Thumb and finger!

*Dactyloptis doigitata* – Duim-en-Vinger – Wildflower show, Clanwilliam

Ramskop Wild Flower Reserve

After a short spell of shopping for some necessities we headed to the Ramskop Wild Flower Reserve just outside town, overlooking the Clanwilliam Dam.

Ramskop Wild Flower Garden near Clanwilliam

The gardens were superb and we spent a good hour or two wandering along the pathways, seeing new species at every turn and taking lots of photos

I haven’t tried to describe the flowers – in this case the photos do the talking. Oh, and I haven’t named all of the flowers as I am no expert in botanical matters and in any case I don’t have all my reference books with me in Mossel Bay (a hazard of living in two places)

Quiver Trees – Kokerbooms – atop a rise in the flower bedecked Ramskop Wild Flower Garden near Clanwilliam

Erica (Heath family), Ramskop Wild Flower Garden near Clanwilliam

*Wachendorfia multiflora* – Common Butterfly Lily – Kleinrooikanol – Ramskop Wild Flower Garden near Clanwilliam

*Lampranthus* – Vygie, Ramskop Wild Flower Garden near Clanwilliam

While I was photographing the vygies a butterfly flew past literally under my nose and momentarily fed on the flowers – I took a few images of which one came out showing a nice side view of the butterfly as it landed on the flower – what a stroke of luck!

Citrus Swallowtail butterfly on *Lampranthus* species – Vygie, Ramskop Wild Flower Garden near Clanwilliam

Protea compacta (?), Ramskop Wild Flower Garden near Clanwilliam

Lamberts Bay

With much of the afternoon left and feeling like a late afternoon lunch, we drove through town and headed to Lambert’s Bay about 60 kms west of Clanwilliam. Gerda had read about Isabella’s Restaurant at the harbour being the place for fresh fish (makes sense) so we went straight there and enjoyed an excellent meal – I had Kabeljou, Gerda had Yellowtail and we finished it off with a small but decadent waffle.

I was keen to see and experience the bird hide on the “island” where Cape Gannets breed and roost – the island is in fact joined to the mainland at the harbour by a walkway. Unfortunately, the walkway was closed for maintenance until December and the last boat trip was already back in the harbour so there was no way to view the Gannet breeding colony except from afar – oh well, maybe another time….

To end the day I went for a walk through the streets of Clanwilliam as dusk fell

Flowers, Holiday Trips, Land of Beauty

Spring Flowers Trip 2022 – Tulbagh to Clanwilliam

November 14, 2022 Don Reid 2 Comments

The Background (Repeated from the first post)

With wonderful memories of our Spring Flowers trip through parts of the Western Cape in September 2021 still fresh in our minds, I said to Gerda some time during July – “Let’s go see the flowers again”. She responded positively and the game was on!

First step was to decide on our route and where to base ourselves along the way – the main drivers in those decisions were to avoid travelling too far from our Mossel Bay home and to spend three nights in a couple of strategic places which would allow two full days of exploration in each without feeling rushed in any way. This is how you do it when you reach that age where the second special tax rebate kicks in ….. in fact the trip was our birthday present to ourselves, falling nicely between our two birthdays just 13 days apart.

Day 2

Google Maps suggested the 151 kms from Saronsberg near Tulbagh to Clanwilliam would take 1 hour 42 minutes – we managed to stretch it to almost 6 hours through some serious meandering and plenty of stops!

After checking out, we first visited the Saronsberg cellar and came away with half a dozen wines – two for us, the rest presents for family – and a bottle of olive oil

At the gate, on a whim, instead of heading left we turned right and travelled a few kms to Twee Jongegezellen winery where we had a walk around the historic wine farm.

It was disappointing to hear that Nicky Krone, a classmate of mine from the 60’s and one of a long line of Krones who ran the farm for generations, no longer owns the farm after losing a costly legal battle with a supplier of bottles some years ago. It seemed to us that the farm had lost its spirit when the Krones departed, retaining only the physical beauty.

Haeding back down the road towards Tulbagh, we stopped in the town at MIT (Made in Tulbagh) and bought more local wine after chatting to the owner and a friendly local gent who had popped in and knew the ins and outs of the Tulbagh wine route.

The owner also advised us against the ‘back road’ route I had in mind to get to Citrusdal, so instead we took the shorter route via Gouda and Porterville along roads we have never travelled before. Prominent along this route were the Canola fields in full bloom and when we passed some fields with a wind farm in the background it was a photo opportunity not to be missed. I stopped and clambered up an embankment to get to the high fence so that I could poke my lens (well, the camera’s actually) through the mesh.

Once we intersected with the N7 National road we headed north and soon found ourselves at the start of the Piekernierskloof Pass where, again on a whim, we pulled off at Kardoesie Padstal where we had a pleasant light lunch and bought some padstal ‘stuff’ – dried figs and peaches, home made cookies.

While having lunch I googled the name of the pass – Piekernierskloof – and came up with some fascinating information about the pass; the first known route through the mountains was a bridle path in the 1660’s; much later in 1858 Thomas Charles John Bain, the famous builder of many a pass in SA, built the first road, a gravel route named Grey’s Pass after the then Governor of the Cape. In 1957 the current route was completed and renamed the Piekernierskloof Pass.

If, like me, you are wondering about the name, let me put you out of your misery – Piekernier came from the Dutch word for pikemen, who were lancers equipped with pikes (a long thrusting spear used in European warfare) posted to the area in the 1660’s to protect farmers from Khoikhoi raids

While Gerda was exploring the padstal shop, I was exploring the surroundings for birds and spotted a Rock Kestrel perched on a pole – it took off just as I was taking some shots and I was fortunate to catch it nicely in flight with wings spread. We were to come across this species several times over the ensuing days

Rock Kestrel *Falco rupicolus* Kransvalk, Piekernierskloof Pass

Back on the N7 we stopped a couple of times to view and photograph some of the interesting roadside flowers, especially the yellow flowered bushes that we had seen along the road where it cut through the mountains

At last, we reached Clanwilliam and found our ‘home’ for the next 3 days – Yellow Aloe Guest House just off the main road through the town. Once settled in we enjoyed a rest with the sliding door opened wide to take advantage of the cool fresh air – the weather had turned surprisingly warm and just in time as it was 1 September – “Spring Day” in SA.

The abundant bird life in the garden kept us entertained for the next while, including all 3 species of Mousebird – Speckled, Red-faced and White-backed.

The garden at Yellow Aloe Guest house, Clanwilliam

We were looking forward to exploring the town of Clanwilliam and the surrounding area the next day, in the hope of finding those massed flower displays that the facebook pages were raving about

Flowers, Holiday Trips, Land of Beauty

Spring Flowers Trip 2022 – Mossel Bay to Tulbagh

November 12, 2022 Don Reid 4 Comments

Day 1

Day 1 (31st August 2022) was all about getting to Tulbagh from where we would ‘launch’ our flowers trip proper. The drive of around 350 kms from Mossel Bay was comfortable yet busy on roads which seem to get fuller with each passing year. Our route took us past Swellendam, Ashton, Robertson, Worcester and Tulbagh to our overnight stay on Saronsberg Wine Farm where we had booked one of their Vineyard Cottages, which turned out to be comfortable and well fitted out.

After arriving at 4 pm and settling in I had a look for birds near the cottage, then set off on an exploratory walk around some of the farm roads.

The first bird that caught my eye was the very common Southern Fiscal – not usually of specific interest but this individual was struggling with some sort of prey so I stepped closer and found it had caught a small snake and was busy trying to “butcher” it by hooking it on to a protruding twig and pulling – presumably to expose its flesh.

Common Fiscal *Lanius collaris* Fiskaallaksman (race collaris), Saronsberg Estate Tulbagh

Birding on the farm while walking produced the usual species for the most part, with a few specials such as Alpine Swifts, a Purple Heron and a Spotted Eagle-Owl in the tall Eucalyptus trees that line a part of one of the farm roads.

Dinner was Roosterkoek – traditional grilled bread filled with savoury mince and cheese – bought at a popular roadside restaurant at Buffeljagsrivier near Swellendam – they call them “Sloppy Joes” and are very filling to say the least!

On the way we had seen occasional signs of emerging spring flowers and on Saronsberg the unplanted fields had a sprinkling of yellow flowers, which augered well for the trip to some of the renowned flower hotspots over the days ahead

So, a quiet start to our Flowers Trip but lots to look forward to, with our next stop being Clanwilliam the next day

Holiday Trips, The World around Us

Australia May 2022 : A Glimpse of Melbourne

November 7, 2022 Don Reid 7 Comments

I have to admit that I wasn’t planning another post on our Australia visit earlier this year, but when I reviewed the photos of our brief visit to Melbourne before taking the flight back to SA, I decided to add just one more – I hope you will agree it is a worthwhile addition.

There’s a lot to like about Melbourne, based on our two short visits so far – in 2019 and now in 2022. It has that pleasing mix of features that sets the great cities apart from the more mundane ones – nicely positioned at the sea and straddling a large river, modern architecture contrasting with some beautiful older buildings, a great transport system (where else can you ride for free on a central city tram), some charming parks and gardens and just a feeling of all-round cleanliness and efficiency.

As with our previous visit, we decided to get to Melbourne a day before our flight back to SA to allow for some exploration. As it turned out Stephan and family accompanied us to Melbourne and we visited Sea Life Melbourne before they dropped us off late afternoon at our hotel in the city.

Sea Life Melbourne

After walking for a couple of blocks in light rain from the parking garage we were in the aquarium – along with half the population of Melbourne it seemed. The aquarium is impressive and spreads over a few levels with brightly lit tanks contrasting with the darkish interior.

Here is a selection of the images I took with my Iphone (my camera was far less effective in these lighting conditions)

King Penguin, Sealife Aquarium, Melbourne

Streets and Arcades

That left us with a full day in the centre of Melbourne, which we started with a breakfast in our hotel – Treasury on Collins, a beautifully maintained classical building with a long history as a banking institution, now serving as a boutique apartment hotel.

Later we ventured into the surrounding streets – destination the famous (among Aussies) Myer department store where we browsed the several levels (reminding me of Stuttafords from way back when in Cape Town) and ended up in the Brunetti restaurant for tea and a cake chosen from a long glass cabinet full of the biggest variety of tempting cakes that we’ve seen in a long time.

On the way back to the hotel we followed a route which took us through two of the arcades that Melbourne is known for – beautifully restored wide passages between the surrounding buildings.

Back on the streets we passed a few stately older buildings that caught our eye with their attractive facades, symmetry and scale

Back at the hotel we relaxed and psyched ourselves up for the two long flights that lay ahead the next day, via Singapore to Jo’burg

Cloud formations from 10,000 metres – taken from our seat during the flight from Melbourne to Singapore

Footnote : a special thanks to Sea Life Melbourne for including penguins in their displays – without that this post would have been devoid of any birds and I would have had to consider changing my Blog name to “HardlyAnyBirding” ….

Mostly Birding

Monthly Archives: November 2022