Not quite so cold this morning as the previous day in Volksrust, and another brilliantly bright blue sky day. After a sumptuous breakfast we dressed appropriately (four layers on top for me, two on bottom, using my Skins as bottom half long underwear) and meandered west in the car toward Giant's Castle. This prominent geological feature, which includes a World Heritage listed Park, stands starkly and spectacularly on the western horizon, but is only about 25 km away.
The westerly wind stood at about 15 knots, bending the grasses and chilling the bodies of anyone exposed to it. Inside the car we were cosy with the heater going while outside the indicated temperature was around 9 Celsius. Then we came across Victor. He was walking in the same direction as we were travelling and held up his arm in the universal signal "How about a lift?" so we pulled up and he hurried over and gratefully climbed into the back seat. "I'm very tired," he told us, and then explained how he'd been trying to get work and and walked many kilometres only to find that the machine he was hoping to operate was broken down and so there was no work for him. "No work in South Africa", he told us, and asked if he could come to Australia to do maintenance on our house. How do you explain to a person such as Victor the difficulties involved in such a proposition? We dropped him at his home "village", a collection of small huts on the side of the road.
Now gloomy about the prospects for Victor and millions like him, we continued the 15km or so along a road becoming quite potholed and for a small fee were admitted to Giant's Castle Reserve. Our main intention here was to hike up the gorge, following a crystal clear stream to Main Cave, some 40 minutes, where a guided tour of the caves and their early human artworks was available.
The San people occupied this cave and lived off the surroundings for millennia before being displaced by other, more forceful, humans. They decorated their rocky habitat with beautifully executed art, examples of which can still be clearly seen today.
A visit to the Park shop was of course essential after our return from the cave. Mary charged in, credit card at the ready, and helped to contribute to South Africa's economy by buying a colourful locally-made table cloth. Look out for it on our verandah table in the near future.
By now it was time to retrace our steps toward Mooi River, the town near which we are temporarily domiciled. Our trip this time was more leisurely so we travelled very slowly along the narrow roads which held many school children, colourfully and uniformly dressed, walking home from school along the road. This slow pace allowed us more time to take in our surroundings and before long we spotted several lammergeyers, a very large and rare vulture, circling above the road.
As we travelled we were struck by the simple beauty of the mud walled homes, with either thatched or "tin" roofs, of the people of the area.
On the way home we deviated to the local pub, the Argyle Arms, established by a Scotsman, as you'd guess, in 1898. The present owner, a South African of English extraction who has owned the pub for many years, came over for a chat while Mary and I sampled his excellent draft beer, and his equally excellent pub grub. Everyone here is interested in discussing with visitors from other countries the prospects for South Africa and it's a very enjoyable discussion that ensues, with opinions on both sides being freely given.
I think we'll return to the Argyle Arms for dinner tomorrow evening.
Technical: A fast connection on 3G is available in the town, and a much slower one once you're about 3-4 km away.
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