Kwa-Zulu Natal. June to October 2019.

Southern KZN - Scottburgh, Happy Wanderers and Oribi Gorge.

We didn't get away as often as we'd hoped to but did mamage 3 short breaks with the van.

1. Scottburgh. July 2019

We've been to this campsite a few times as it's only a 90 minute drive from Richmond. The site was quite full, primarily with older couples from the Johannesburg and Pretoria area staying for 3+ months over the winter. It can be very windy at this time of the year but the forecast was OK so we decided to risk a site overlooking the sea.

It was only a couple of months after Kevin's operation on his hand but, between us we managed OK with 3 hands swetting the van up.

Lovely to be avle to sit outside in the evening and have a braai.

The moon rising over the Indian Ocean.

We were lucky enough to see pods of dolphins swimming past on a couple of occasions.

One morning there were several surfers and a guy on a board playing in the waves.

2. Happy Wanderers. July 2019

6 of us from Richmond (Geoff & Paula, Terry & Ingrid and us) decided we needed a long weekend away at the beach. Terry and Ingrid keep their caravan at Happy Wanderers, which is a bit further south of Scottburgh, so that was the location sorted.

The site is next to the beach but the sites are amongst the trees behind the beach which gives shelter from the wind, which was quite strong for some of the time.

In the mornings we did our own thing - ambling along the beach, shopping, relaxing - and in the afternoon/evening got together for a braai.

Braai master Geoff was in charge. He has his own special way of lighting the fire by building up wood over the coals. Skillful cooking on 3 different levels

Time for a beer while the fire gets going.

A walk along a windy beach.

One afternoon we drove to Pennington Skiboat Club as we knew that some of our Richmond freinds would be there. We sat on the deck chatting and watching the boats coming back.

With big waves you need to be confident and knowledgible to get back, timing your run at the right moment. Look closely and you can see one of the boats heading toward the beach between the breakers.

3. Oribi Gorge.

We'd spent at day at Oribi many years ago and decided to have a few days there. We booked the campsite at the KZN Parks site but when we got there found that the site was very small, very uneven and got very little sun (fine in the summer but not in the middle of winter).

We then drove further inland to Oribi Gorge Nature Reserve and booked in for 3 nights. We drove down to the campsite beside Lake Eland.

We were the only people there on Thursday but by Friday evening the site was almost full.

As we drove around the Reserve we saw impala, wildebeest, zebra, giraffe and blesbok. We were lucky enough to see a giraffe with a youngster close to us.

From the campsite we drove to the top of the gorge and followed a track, stopping from time to time to look at the view. We walked across the suspension bridge from where we were able to get a great view of the gorge with the river far below.

There are some caves whch you can walk down to.

Despite the dry conditions we did see some flowers.

We had a great view of the campsite from the top of the gorge.

Saturday was a beutiful day with sunshine and very little wind so we walked around the lake.

Looking back to the campsite across the lake.

1. Imfolozi Game Reserve. We did a 3 day Wilderness Walking Trail and then a day driving around the Reserve at the end of August.

2. Southern KZN - Scottburgh, Happy Wanderers and Oribi Gorge. We went away with our van on 3 short trips. Scottburgh and Happy Wanderers are on the coast. Oribi is further inland.

3. Richmond. We spent most of our time here. We helped out at some of the local MOTHs events, took part in a couple of potjie competitions and I walked up th Sani Pass for charity.

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A spider's web glistening in the sun.

Oribi Gorge has the longest zip line tour in Africa. It consists of 14 zip lines which start at the top of the gorge. There was no way Kevin could do it as his hand was still healing - we'll have to bak another time!