Blue Crane Route: Chief’s Log, Day 10

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Day 10.

The last day.

The day I like least of any journey.

A journey that does not end.

An explore which is infinite.

That is what my heart desires.

It is our 3rd day at ‘Die Lapa‘.

We arrived on day 8 of our journey, exploring the Blue Crane Tourism Route.

We’d seen and tasted so much.

PJ & Lynette and Hockley Cottages, Cranemere & the Palmers.  Marianne, the first internationally acclaimed author we’d meet.  PJ, the first exporter.  All on day 1.

Chris Wilken, Lincoln & the immense work of the Blue Crane Development Agency.

Stephan, Vega, Somerset House & Janet.

Stunning Janet.

The second renowned author of a recipe book whom we met on day 2.

Alan & Annabelle Hobson.  Hobson’s Choice Deli.  The Angler & Antelope. Karoo Flyfishing, with intricately made ‘flies’, not ‘lures’.

My & Theunsie’s first fly-fishing catch.

Day 3.

Day 4 filled with Glen Avon & Avon Heights & that 80 meter waterfall.

With tough pioneers & history & nature.

Esther & her nursery and tea-garden and guesthouse.

Liza & Kokskraal & empowerment rooted in love.

The 5th day of our journey well spent on meeting more beautiful people.

The 6th day of our explore spent on visiting places that carry our names.

‘Theuns se Winkel’.

‘KuZuko Lodge‘.

Seeing ourselves in them.

Or something of ourselves.

Day 7: a bit more of Kuzuko Lodge, amazing big-5 game, stunning food and then Dafre & Natie & Mountain View Inn.

A family larger than our own.

A feast.

An instant friendship.

Hearts connecting.

Laughter.

Understanding.

Loss shared.

Hope expressed.

Sense made.

On day 8 we arrived at ‘Die Lapa‘.

The last leg of our 10-day explore.

But first we discovered Walter Battis.

Geritwyn.

Ros Turner.

Festah & Die Kaia.

We discover the resilience of the human soul.

Its unseen & unrecognized radiance.

We had the entire day 9, enjoying the adventures of this eccentric world.

Jannie & Wilna’s little village created from Karoo dust, rock & wild imagination.

Today we say goodbyes.

Not only to Jannie & Wilna & Wilmarie.

We say goodbye to this experience.

A memory.

A moment, never to be forgotten.

Wilna serves a hot breakfast.

Jannie takes us to see the Honeymoon House, this romantic soul’s expression of the beauty of shared solitude.

The children of our Tribe enjoy the exuberance of Wilmarie & Die Lapa’s horses.

A last bit of exceptional.

Lunch is served.

As if this place also does not want to let go of us.

We talk about how life is never what we expect.

It is never painted in the easy on the eye pastels of cultural conformity.

It is energetic.

Filled with the opportunity to be creative.

To find ways.

Of making sense.

Of getting beyond.

We talk of the wonder of filling your life with the things you enjoy.

Making that your work.

I increasingly hope.

We talk of doing something in which you find meaning.

Something you value.

Doing it in every moment of every day.

For Jannie & Wilna & Die Lapa it is helping people to connect.

With themselves.

And each other.

And their creator.

Through playing.

Like children.

Then lunch is over.

The Chrysler Grand Voyager is loaded.

And as we make our way home I think about doing what we enjoy.

Making that your life.

I think about an immense experience.

Something beautiful I’ll cherish into whatever age I receive & into new life, again & again.

I think about hope.

Beyond fear.

Beyond being consumed by living for tomorrow.

Hope in this moment.

In living.

In being.

Together.

Becoming.

More.

In each other.

And this I ask.

For me.

For my Tribe.

For everyone we met in these few days.

And everyone who share our journey.

Which does not end.

In eternity.

For you.

Blue Crane Route: Chief’s Log, Day 8

WIN! a weekend’s accommodation at Mountain View Inn, including a guided tour of the Walter Battiss Art Museum & The Somerset East Museum AND a private evening performance by renowned musician Gerrie van Wyk, the complete prize valued at more than R3500.

This is how:

(1) read this post

(2) Find out what artist Walter Battiss called his imaginary island.

(3) In the comments section on this post leave your answer to this question: ‘What did Walter Battiss call his imaginary Island-Republic?’

Entries close Monday 20/08/2012 at midnight.

Winner announced on Tuesday 21/08/2012 on Kingfisher FM‘s Big Breakfast.

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Breakfast at Mountain View Inn is a festive affair, much like supper was.

Dafre, the owner joins us.

Her pharmacy is right around the corner.

She came earlier to say good morning, attentive to all our needs & comfort.

Conversation is easy.

Warm.

Authentic.

Leaving Mountain View Inn is slow.

Unhurried.

After breakfast we pack our bags & load the Chrysler Grand Voyager.

We’re off to ‘Die Lapa‘ at Skietfontein, later today.

But first we’re going to visit Festah & her family at ‘Die Kaia‘.

We want to see what she has on offer in terms of accommodation & activities.

Beautiful bush tents.

A huge caravan & camping site.

On the river’s edge.

The little Fish River.

What we discover is a beautiful woman with a love of nature & a deep creativity, explored amidst many other things.

Festah shows us where the eagles nest.

And the ducks.

She talks of how ‘Die Kaia‘ developed into a popular picnic spot for locals.

Of the camping site & bush tents & how she hopes they’ll be enjoyed by city dwellers who desperately desire to get away from the city bustle.

A tasty biltong ‘potjie’ is lunch.

We walk along the river’s edge.

Earlier we visited the Walter Battis Art Museum.

We learnt of this eccentric artist’s imaginary ‘Fook Island’ & the children beg Festah for empty pages they could fill with Fook-writing.

They’re inspired by his eccentricity.

His ability to retain his childhood deep into old age.

I’m impressed by Geritwyn.

She’s been with the Somerset East Museum for 23 years.

She takes the children from room, explaining every little detail with care & excitement.

She shows Pippin her rose-leaf jam.

She takes me to the ‘Slachtersnek Exhibition’, explaining the history of failed ‘Afrikaner Rebelion’ against the English.

Of hanging.

Perceived Devine intervention.

Death.

How filled our history is with strife, disappointment & battle.

How immense our future could be if we were to learn from it, embracing & enabling each other.

We say our goodbyes to Festah & her Kaia.

Make our way through stunning farmland to ‘Die Lapa‘.

The Karoo is wet & green from uncommon winter rains, each little river crossing flowing slowly, taking life to natural life not known in many places.

It would be a pitty if Fracking takes this away from us.

As the Chrysler Grand Voyager bring us over a rise & we start a slow decline a brightly colored ‘Windpomp’ (wind operated water pump) greets us in the distance.

And then a village, hidden amongst the mountains.

Little wooden cottages scattered around the ‘town centre’.

A large shed with a massive fire-place.

Smoke reach for the sky from chimneys.

The muddy obstacle course, paintball field & horses beckon our children & fill them with excitement for the next day’s adventure.

We find our rooms.

And then the fire-place in the middle of this village’s ‘city hall’.

Jannie & Wilna talk of how ‘Die Lapa’ came to life.

A caravan under a tree.

A first wooden cottage.

A handful of hunters seeking respite from the relentlessness of life in winter fires & warm black coffee poured from a blackened pot boiling in orange flames.

There are other guests as well.

Hunters from Cape Town & the Swartland.

Visitors from Gauteng who love the Karoo & desire to create something they do not understand yet.

Supper is simple & exquisite all at the same time.

Jannie & Wilna’s love for this part of the world translated into meat & salad & potato dish.

The children laugh from the room next to ours.

I hear them talk of what they’ll do tomorrow.

Paintball.

Obstacle course.

Horse ridding.

The excitement is contagious & throughout the night my dreams are filled with us, our weird Tribe, doing stuff together.

It is in the doing together that we become.

In the experiencing.

In the tasting of life.

Together.

And then it is morning.

Day 9 of our ten-day trip exploring the Blue Crane Route.

Wow!

What an experience.