Nelspruit Innibos arts Festival 2012

We left Randfontein to travel to Nelspruit for the Innibos arts festival.We have been going to this festival from it's start nine years ago.We are always exited to go to Nelspruit because we have family there that we visit and it is so much warmer in the Lowveld.We arrived at Nelspruit at 8PM and it was so nice to get rid of all the warm clothes like jackets and jerseys.
My cousin Rieki made us feel welcome and we sat up talking till late, before we retired to the motor home for the night.
Monday morning we all went to the registration office to get our stall.And Allison, the lady in charge of all the stalls met us at the office and everything went well with the allocation of our stall.After we left the office we went to look at our stall.Because the festival is held at a school and the sport area of the school is protected by Palisades the organisers must take some of the fence of so that we can put our stalls up where they removed the fence.At our stall thy took of only three meters and we need a opening of six meters in the fence.Luckily we know the caretaker of the grounds and he was very helpful and took the rest of the fence of him self, we are so grateful to him.

The next day we spent getting our stall ready for the festival.Anita really puled it off this time and we received so many compliments from the public and fellow traders.We had a tuff day and all most did not go to the traders dinner.Nobody felt like cooking so we went to the dinner but we did not stay long.
The festival started on Thursday morning and from the start we where reasonably busy it is always a goon sine.

The festival ended Sunday night 8:00PM and not a minute to soon because we where beat and couldn't be more thank full. On Monday morning we packed our stall away and head off to Riki our cousin for a well deserved rest.

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Today I looked at the stats page of my blog and it was very interesting.Of all the posts I wrote the last year the posts about traveling to the different areas are the ones that gets the most attention.
As from the end of this year the team and I will be traveling full time again.At this stage of our lives we are building our new home on wheels.We previously travelled with a caravan and a Iveco motorhome that I all so converted.
We searched for three years to find the right bus to buy.We looked at many buses in the search for the one for us.
I had certain must haves in our search for the bus.First it had to have a gross weight of less than 16 tuns dew to our license limitations both mine and that of Anita's.I wanted a bus with the engine at the back of the bus it makes for a much quieter ride while travelling and suits the layout we wanted in side bus the best.The bus had to be automatic, our Winnebago was automatic and I loved driving the Winnebago.I all so wanted the bus to have air suspension,we spent many hours on the road on a full-time basis and a air suspension makes traveling so much more enjoyable.And then ther is the small matter of our budget.
The bus we bought last year from a Primary school in Krugersdorp fit all our needs and fit in to our budget. Our new home on wheels will be a 36 foot{11m} 1976 Mercedes bus that we are converting into a motor home.
As we will be travelling full-time next year we will be trying to avoid the very expensive caravan parks.Caravan parks can eat into your badged very quickly if you are not careful.I have nothing against caravan parks thy are good for the family's taking weekend breaks or their yearly holidays.We don't have any use for them anymore.I can not bring my self so far to pay hundreds of rands per day for a sower and a toilet and electricity.I much prefer to park the motorhome somewhere at the beach watching the tides come and go.And to take long walks on the beach with my wife and children.
To be able to free camp comfortably we need to also spend a lot of money.For instance I need to install solar panels on the roof of the bus and deep cycle batteries so that we can operate normally without being plugged in to shore power.Water is also as important,to be self sufficient I need to install a big enough water tank to last us at least a week before refilling.Refilling our water tanks is not to much of a problem.Most public parks have water taps so do graveyards.We need to refuel with diesel any way and while doing so refill the water tanks to.
Free camping or wild camping does not mean that you must forfeit all the comforts of parking in a caravan park as long as you are prepared for it.

Work on the bus goes on.

Taking off the inside panels of the bus.
We spend the weekend working on the bus. After we took off the inside panels, to put insulation in the walls. I was amaze to see that there was so much dust and sand in the walls. I cleaned the dust out using the vacuum cleaner to get the dust and sand out of the walls around the wheel arch. That is when I found that the outside wall separated from the frame around the wheel arches. This is where the dust and sand entered the walls. To fix this problem I filled the opening with expanding foam. The foam seals and fills the small openings between the outside panel and the frame.

The next step in the building of our bus is to lay the electric cables for the 220-volt electricity and for the 12-volt lights. After the electricity is in, we can start with the insulation of the walls. We decided to use polystyrene in the walls and the roof for insulation, partly because it is cheaper but mainly because it does not get so could in South Africa as in Europe.
I have decided that the insulation of the bus will consist of the 40 mm polystyrene in the walls and on the inside of the walls, we will use 8 mm knoty pine. In the roof, we will use 40 mm polystyrene and 5 mm plywood with a wood veneer finish.
The floor is 25 mm marine plywood already fitted and covered with a 3 mm rubber lining on the inside. The final layer of insulation we will use is 10 mm hard wood tiles in the lounge and kitchen areas. The bathroom floor and walls and the shower cubical we will cover with ceramic tiles. The floor of the main bedroom and the passage that leads to the front of the bus we will cover in carpet. The carpet is for noise insulation as well. The inside walls of the bus can be build by using Meranti wood doors thy are strong and cheep.

Pilansberg National Park South Africa.

ON our way to the park we could see that the park was burning and we where concerned that we chose the wrong time this year to visit the park.A few years ago a out of control  veld fire did major damage to the the park.Apart of the buildings that burned to the ground there was major concern about the animals that where lost and injured in the veld fire.  We arrived at Pilanesberg National Park Friday  at 15h00.After registration and paying our camping fees of R130,00 per night including electricity for 6 people we found our self a very nice spot to camp.We have been here at Manyane camp many times before and we enjoy the stay every time.We normally camp on the edge of the camping area in the bush but dew to the veld fire I chose a spot in the inner circle of the camp ground.Lucky for us because the veld fire burned through the night and burned right to the edge of the camp ground to where we normally camp.

Veld-fire near our camp.

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This is what Africa is all about, unspoilt Bush veld doted with Wildebeest,Rhinos and Elephants. 

The veld fire came close to our camp during Friday-night.

This time the veld fire was a controlled fire.The Game Rangers starts veld fires to burn off the bush to stimulate new grow when the summer rain starts.

Vlakie the Word-hog looking for a cooked meal.

A hot-air balloon ride to watch the game what a wonderful idea, but at over thousand Rand a person,no thanks.

The Wildebeest was liking the ground,that may seem strange but is perfectly normal.In winter the grass thy eat lacks some of the minerals thy need in there diet.In the ground thy are liking there is minerals and salt.

This Wildebeest gave me the stink eye for disturbing him.

We found this Jackal on his way to the waterhole.

The stripe pattern of Zebra is like the fingerprints not one is the same.

This Hippo was grazing during the day something thy only do in cooler weather.

A Kudu bull.

Our camping spot on the inner circle.

Our visit to Makouspan.

                 We visited Makouspan the cattle farm of our friends Buks and Susan.

We left Christiana diggers festival on Sunday morning after we pack the stall away.We were invited to the farm of dear friends Buks and Susan.Thy are cattle and sheep farmers in the district of Vryburg.Their son Kassie is the fifth generation farmer on Makouspan.On their 4000 hectare farm it feels like paradise to me,I feel so at home there.If only it was possible I would love to stay on the farm, I would work for food only,Susan feeds every one very well indeed.
We bought a lam from them at a very reasonable price and as I'm posting here Anita is preparing lam chops for supper I can't wait.
                                                                      Buks and Susan

Kassie their son.

Some of the cattle.

                                                                           

Christiana diggers festaval

We arrived at the Christiana diggers festival from Hartenbos Mosselbay on Wednesday afternoon.We have done the festival for many years on our way to the north.It is nice and warm in the South African bush veld in the winter .
The Diggers festival is in the North West Province where diamonds are mined by land owners and small mines.
When diamonds were discovered in the Vaal River in the 1870s the former Transvaal Government established a settlement on the banks of the river in 1870, in an attempt to control and alleviate land disputes over diamond discoveries further down the Vaal River. This town was established on the farm Zoutpansdrift (salt pan drift) and named Christiana, after the only daughter of President Pretorius of the old Transvaal. The first residential stands were sold in 1870.
Two years later diamonds were discovered in the gravel of the Vaal River close by and the inevitable manic rush followed. As usual the initial rush petered with the diamonds. In 1997, diamonds were rediscovered along the banks of a farm on the Free State side of Christiana. This led to a new diamond rush and diggings that continue to this day.
The town contains one of the biggest diggers' bells ever to exist in the world. The bell is currently under water in the Vaal River as it once sank and ended in the drowning of several diggers. There were a few attempts to get the diggers' bell out, as it is said that there are diamonds still in it, but it was in vain as it is surrounded by too much mud.
                                      

The festival is in it's tenth year.The surrounding schools participate by playing rugby and netball against each other and all the parents come to the festival to support them.

Meiringspoort.

                             Beaufort West to Mossel Bay via the wonderful Meiringspoort

On our way to Mossel Bay we stoped for coffee in Meiringspoort.

Entry to the poort is via Klaarstroom, 55 kms east of Prince Albert en route to Oudtshoorn and the coast. Following spectacular floods which caused great damage, the road has been reconstructed at a cost of R70 million. Meiringspoort was officially re-opened by the Western Cape Premier, Gerald Morkel, on 20th October 2000.

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The first road through the poort was constructed between 1856 and 1858. by Adam de Schmidt. On the morning of 3 March 1858 a colorful procession of about 250 mounted men and 100 distinguished guests in "spiders", carriages and wagons departed through a triumphal arch decorated with flags for the journey to Klaarstroom - where a deputation of important guests from Prince Albert and Beaufort West awaited their arrival under another triumphal arch.

The first freight of wool from the interior was dispatched to Mossel Bay through Meiringspoort in "twaalf lange wolwagens" (12 long ox-drawn wool wagons) on the same day.

The road through the poort is a remarkable engineering feat, but the overwhelming features of a drive through Meiringspoort are the wonders of nature. The folds of the Table Mountain sandstone strata tower above the road, constantly changing colour as you move through sunlight and shade. Hardy plants, including indigenous pelargoniums, cling to the precarious rock faces while birds, baboons and smaller fauna abound in the protected kloofs and crevices. Among the most scenic spots is the Skelm tumbling into a dark pool which, legend has it, is bottomless. (In 1938 it stopped flowing for the first time in human memory).

A beautiful mermaid was said to live in the pool at the foot of the waterfall. During the 1996 floods a story circulated that she had been washed out of the pool, down the Groot and Oliphants rivers and out to sea. She had been caught in a fisherman's net and taken to the CP Nel Museum in Oudtshoorn, where she was preserved in spirits! The Museum was overwhelmed with telephone calls and visitors keen to see the mermaid!

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Look out for Herrie's Stone - there can't be much graffiti that has been declared a National Monument. C.J. Langenhoven carved the name of his famous elephant on a boulder in Meiringspoort in 1929.




                                             The info center in Meiringspoort

Karla and Connie

Taking a nother coffee break in Meiringspoort.

Our camp at Hartenbos camping grounds

Connie is colouring in.

Karla and Connie posing for a foto.