Bathurst and the Featherstone Kloof (October 8 & 9, 2006)

All right, people! Here is the third entry into my hopefully entertaining blog. The building here is the High Court in Grahamstown which has jurisdiction to hear pretty much all matters other than petty claims (disputes under 100,000 rand are heard in the magistrates office) and land claims (which are heard in the land claims court).


This building is pretty much right next to my office, but I will never have a chance to argue anything, since I am considered to be a solicitor here - as opposed to an advocate. I typically will deal with a client, prepare affidavits and pleadings, and then the work gets sent out to an advocate who will then argue the matter before the judge. It is possible for people to be both, but you have to be an advocate to be both, and even then, it is rarely done.

On Saturday, I was snooping around Grahamstown during the shopping hours of 9 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. trying to scout out some cheap goodies. All I came across was a 10 rand Ostrich feather duster, which I purchased off a street vendor, only to be approached at the same time I withdrew my wallet by a man munching on bread asking me for 7 rand so he could buy some milk, since his bread was very dry. At around 2:00 p.m., I went to the liquor store to purchase somewine for the evening, and when I found out that the owner of this liquor store had to make a delivery of booze to a town called Bathurst (approximately 40 km south of Grahamstown), I asked if I could join for the scenic drive. He consented. So, off we went, with a backpacker/hitchhiker in the van as well. Below is a picture on the way to Bathurst.
Bathurst is a pineapple farming village. I had never seen so many pineapples in my entire life. Everywhere I looked there were pineapples. And, to be quite frank, I hadn't the slightest clue what a pineapple plant looked like until I had been to Bathurst. So, for all of you who also do not know what a pineapple plant looks like - I have attached a picture below :)





















So, on the way back from Bathurst, the liquor store owner had to drop by a buddy's farm to make the final delivery of a 24 of beer. The farm owners were a young couple who were doing their masters at the University of Rhodes. They bought the land and had no clue what they were going to do with it yet. Smart thinking! Below are pictures of the ruins that they had
standing on the land. They slept in a tent....




















Well. Enough of Saturday.


On Sunday I went for a hike to the Featherstone Kloof which was not far from Grahamstown - about a 5 minute drive up a mountain. I signed up to be a member of the hiking club at the Makana Municipality Tourism Office last week sometime. So, we met at 8:00 in the parking lot by the grocery store and I was shocked to realize that I was the youngest one. It was run by 3 ladies who were approximately 60 or 65 years old and were buff and dead serious about hiking. They had specialized hiking sticks that could be adjusted in length, spandex shorts, hiking boots, hiking hats, fleece zip ups, crazy suntan lotion on their faces and a million bottles of water. I introduced myself and they immediately began fretting and twittering over me and the fact that I had no suntan lotion on, I only had one bottle of water, my socks were too short in length... yadda yadda yaddda! So, we march off.
About an hour and a half into the hike, I am huffing and puffing, and have finally succumbed to the constant reminders that I will get burned if I don't apply the hike learder's factor 30 sun lotion on my chest and face. I am thirsty as hell at this point, and all the ladies twitter that "I will learn the hard way" blah blah. We take a tea break at 10:30 by this waterfall, and the ladies inform me that the water from teh waterfall is potable!! Yes! I can actually drink the water from the waterfall and not get incredibly sick. So, I fill the water bottle up, terribly grateful that I don't have to learn the hard way this time... on the left, you will notice the smile on my face as I fill up my bottle from the waterfall :)

Below is a picture is everyone sitting on their perch during tea-time while I was frantically refilling my water bottle a little further below.

The hike was absolutely beautiful. It was about 5 hours long, and there were 12 people in total, so I got an opportunity to meet other people, including a masters student at Rhodes from Vermont, USA, who was doing her masters in environmental something or other.






A SPECTACULAR view! Well earned :)

















Below is a picture of a King Protea - a magnificent flower that grew in lonely spots. It was quite large (about the size of a burner on a stove top).












A patch of brightly coloured flowers growing in a lonely spot next to a termites' nest.











And finally, a few pictures of the end of the hike where we hiked across the top of a hill / mountain to return to the vehicles.















I arrived home around 2:30 and ate the remainder of my home-made curry - the roommates don't cook for me on Saturday or Sunday - and it was so delicious, that I went to bed straight after dinner after massaging my poor aching feet.

Next Sunday, they are doing a hike along a river where there dwells one hippo that will not leave. Normally, they canoe on the river instead of hike, but given that the hippo is there, the plans got changed. They also have an all-weekend canoeing trip that same weekend, which I signed up for. It is about a 2 hour drive from Grahamstown and then we canoe all Sarturday, stay overnight in a cabin on a game reserve and then canoe back to the vehicles on Sunday. I thought that sounded good, even though I am sure the hiking ladies will again fuss over me 'til no end. Maybe I even like it :))))