I had a bit of a drive about yesterday. I stopped in at Southbroom. It was still looking pretty festive on the beach there. There are still a lot of holiday makers around. I drove to uMkobi Beach which is at the southernmost point of Southbroom, separated by a river from Marina Beach. I got out of the car after parking it behind a snazzy X4. I walked toward the beach , stopping off at the ablution to relieve myself. The ablutions needed some work but were clean. When I reached the beach I realised that I had walked here from Marina Beach on a previous occasion. I had been to this place a number of times by car. Having walked there made a difference to my perspective of it’s place on the coast. I was feeling more at home. I drove on further south to Trafalgar. I took the turn off to Mpenjati nature reserve where I found myself in a car park with locked ablutions. There were ablutions on the estuary a few hundred meters to the North which I had visited on Saturday when I got so burned. I took a look at the beach. It was very hot so I buttoned my shirt over my head. Feeling like an Arab I checked out the beach that I had recently traversed on foot. It was a bright sunshiny day with two umbrellas in sight and four groups of beachgoers. When I started to sizzle again I headed back to Dylan’s Atos and took a left past Ernest Oppenheimer Road and the backpackers to Palm Beach. What a nice shady picnic area with braais and clean ablutions ! I spent some time there in the shade of the coastal bush. The blue sea and its white foam sparkled in the bright sunshine. I thought that, should I ever have the opportunity, I could bring the family here for a picnic under the trees.

 

Heading back I crossed the N2 to explore the area to the west. There were a few big houses and quite a few moderate sized homes on the fairly large stands. Some of the roads were tarred but most were still dirt, serving about 100 stands.

 

Back on the road I stopped at Selsdon Park Estate. The horses which had made tracks on the beach came from here. There were large Grey horses and smaller dark brown to black horses. This explained the difference in size of the hooves in the sand. The Estate was closed but they were taking bookings for Thursday afternoon. An hour to hour and a half ride would coat R550 per person. I took a copy of the Southern Explorer magazine which details the coast and points of interest from Durban to Port Edward. Details of the many businesses and resorts offering services are also available in the colourful brochure. I was struck by the number of exciting venues in the Oribi Gorge area.

 

As the Estate coffee shop was closed, the Buck Farm Stall was recommended for a light lunch. I had thought to stop there on a number of occasions. I was delighted to find that, apart from the delicious smelling pies and a wide range of delicious looking cookies and meringues, they had banana milkshake one the menu. Realising that I was in banana country and the shake would be made with a real banana I did not waste time ordering one and found myself a table on the lawn. The wind was blowing quite hard and blew some of the fine leaves, like confetti, over me while I took in the dam where I could fish from grassy banks, the tree house which looked as if it had been made for bigger children and the young woman reading a book at a table nearby.

 

The friendly hostess brought me the shake which was refreshingly cool and delicious. As I slurped my way through it I wondered if anyone was watching. Apparently not. The hostesses were quite busy. Both women had purple and blue sarongs twisted around their waists. As I watched them they disappeared from sight and I wondered where they had gone.

 

My milkshake done I headed back into the Stall to pay for my drink. At this point I was still feeling thirsty and would have liked some nice cold bottled water but the older woman was busy so I decided to make it easy, so I paid and left. I was curious about the store as it was well advertised. Walking around to where I thought the store was I met the gaze of the younger woman who was taking a smoke break. I asked her about the store but she seemed to be more interested in me. In hindsight I could have been friendlier but I dislike smoke intensely. Having smoked for many years the urge to remain smoke free has become something of a passion. I am diabetic and acutely aware of the damage that smoking has caused in my throat and mouth. There is not a day that goes by that I do not feel the pain and discomfort of what can only have been caused by smoking. I hope that by maintaining an adequate exercise program the damage will not progress.

 

The woman showed me the way to the store. On entering I was approached by a friendly assistant who asked me if she could help me. I indicated that I was simply curious and wanted to browse.

 

There were about eight rows of shelves between the two walls, the outer rows up against the walls, the inner shelves standing back to back in three columns forming four rows. The shelves were laden with a variety of gear one would expect a farmer to find useful, from light implements to five litre jugs of liquids I would presume to have been cleaners or poisons. They also had some interesting camping equipment the likes of which one would not necessarily find in a usual store.

 

I have been looking for an implement to remove mussels from the rocks. I haven’t got a licence yet but will see if I am satisfied about the activity before I bring my other gear from the boat. I cannot afford to simply buy new gear even though this is reasonably cheap. Money seems to run through my fingers.

 

I saw three possible devices which I could use for the purpose, these being a small spade, a full sized cane knife and a smaller bush cutter which would be useful to chop bunches of bananas from the trees. Now I know that I am more interested in swinging the blade like some evil warrior intent on doing someone grievous bodily harm. Like a Viking.

 

As a child I took an interest in my grandfather’s activities. One of these interests was working with metal. Handy off the shelf welders weren’t available. One would be lucky to get something welded electrically. The method of heating the metals to be joined to white hot, putting the two pieces to be welded together on the anvil and bashing it with a fourteen pound hammer until it was one was still in use. To do this one needs an anvil, a fourteen pound hammer and usually an assistant to handle the hammer while the other holds the work piece in a vice or with some tongs. Our gardener, Alfred, would fashion tools of his own by heating metal rods in the coal fired boiler and striking them with a two pound hammer to shape the tips into implements for removing weeds or other plants. The anvil was delivered to our backyard and placed near the coal fired boiler which gave us our hot water at home. When it was clear that I took an interest in this activity, the fourteen pound hammer was substituted with a four pounder as I was still a bit of a lightweight. This kept me busy for a few months. Someone brought me a few lengths of 10mm reinforcing bar which I heated in the boiler and bashed away with serious intent. Some of these bars became swords which were put to use by the local gangs to settle territorial disputes. I suspect there were other sword makers as I heard of a fight with someone I had not made a sword for.

 

All this bashing affected my wrists permanently. When I find something like a big knife, or get my hands on a sword, it is with great pleasure that I swing the metal implement as though it were a baton. A baton with a sharp edge !

 

Having been through all the shelves and some of the equipment lying in the back of the store I had had enough. I saw that they had bottled water in the fridge behind the counter. I could only see the smaller 300ml bottles but asked for one anyway. A friendly smile from the cashier came with, “Would you like a big one or a small one?” I couldn’t see any big ones but accepted that I would be able to pay for it ! As it was there were 750mm bottles hiding behind the smaller ones in the fridge. I paid the R6 and slipped back into the blazing heat.

 

By this time it was already past 12 so I hurried home along the N2. We live on a connecting road between the N2 and Marine Drive so it was a quick drive and Mikel was just waking up.

 

Next on the list is Munster, Ivy Point, Glenmore Beach and Leisure Bay.