Climbing a Mountain by Tractor

I want to share with you something exciting we did a few months ago.

We went up a mountain by tractor and really enjoyed it. I am confident you would enjoy it too.

The tractor ride started at the foot of Langeberg mountain on Protea Farm about 29 km from Montague in the Western Cape of South Africa.

I will put some pictures below.

Make sure you phone first. When we arrived we paid and climbed aboard the trailer which is pulled up the mountain by a very powerful tractor (four massive wheels). The road to the top twists and curves.. The views are spectacular. Halfway up we stopped and were given delicious fruit. At the top is a large hut with a viewing platform More refreshments. The air is bracing .Cameras don’t stop clicking.

The mountain is 1500m high so from the top we could see for miles around including Robertson and beyond.

Then it was back down the winding and twisty road to the bottom where we enjoyed a delicious potjiekos. For those of you who are not from South Africa, a potjiekos is a mouth watering stew cooked in a large pot over a fire. The potjiekos definitely called for a second helping.

Here are three pictures. Please scroll down. Thank you.

Mighty wheels!
On the top
The viewing platform

Flowers – Some Wonderful Flowers from around the World

Click on the link below and see posts with inspiring pictures of flowers from:

  • The West Coast of South Africa
  • North Devon – England
  • Surry – England
  • Sydney – Australia

Click here

From South Africa

Just Four Beautiful Reasons to Love Manly in Sydney, Australia- October 2021

Please scroll down. There are 4 pictures. Thank you to LB and MB for the photos.

Look at the rainbow!
A beautiful strelitzia enjoying the view.
What a place to stroll!

Italy? No! Its Manly!

Memories of Bulawayo and the Falls

Visiting the Victoria Falls

Photo by Jonny Lew on Pexels.com

1953

On strip roads. Bulawayo to Wankie. On “the Falls Road” Mom driving. My great uncle from New Zealand with us. Half way house. Dusty. The car not going well near Wankie as we pass a notice warning about elephants. Exciting. Arriving in Wankie. The car needs fixing. Staying at the hotel in Wankie and waiting for a part to come for the car. Car fixed. On to the Falls. Seeing the spray from the falls – “the smoke that thunders”. Trying unsuccessfully to catch a tiger fish from the bank in the Zambezi just above the falls. Rod way too small. Then, back on the strips. Going home. But first have to cross an angry swollen river using a low bridge with no side rails. Mom will not drive over the bridge. She asks a chap who turned up in a truck, to drive our car across. He does. Home at last. What an African adventure for a nine year old.

Yesterday- A Gorgeous Mauritius Beach – 7 October 2021

Yesterday, my son from England, took this video of a gorgeous beach in Mauritius. Covid is slowly losing its grip. Enjoy the view. Please turn up the sound and hear the waves.

The Salutation of the Dawn

This is a repeat post. I am repeating it because of the number of people who have looked at it. I hope Kalidasa’s poem helps you as it has helped me. John 7 October 2021

No, this is not a recently discovered painting by Turner! It is a photo taken by our friend, artist Professor Estelle Marais. The picture is of sunrise over the harbour in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, on 7 June 2020.

Silhouetted against the rising sun is a harbour crane, affectionately described by Estelle as “The Harbour Giraffe walking into the sun this morning”.

Estelle always finds the welcoming dawn encouraging and inspiring.

This wonderful photograph is a powerful reminder of Kalidasa’s greatly loved poem “Look to this Day”:

Scroll down below the picture to read the famous poem:

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Picture Estelle Marais

Look To This Day

Look to this day:
For it is life, the very life of life.
In its brief course
Lie all the verities and realities of your existence.
The bliss of growth,
The glory of action,
The splendour of achievement
Are but experiences of time.

For yesterday is but a dream
And tomorrow is only a vision;
And today well-lived, makes
Yesterday a dream of happiness
And every tomorrow a vision of hope.
Look well therefore to this day;
Such is the salutation to the ever-new dawn!

Thank you Kalidasa and Estelle

Please do this now

Magnificent Kudu Bull Feeding – Addo – Port Elizabeth – South Africa – 4 October 2021

A very lucky video taken this morning.