Knysna Rocks Festival

The Event: Liz and I spent a day at the Knysna Rocks Festival on a sports field at the Waterfront. The line up included Sleep in Transit (a young local band), Die Heuwels Fantasties, Elvis Blue, Holiday Murray, Johnny Clegg and Prime Circle.
The festival started midday so had a bit of time to spend just wondering around while the pre-acts played, picking up promo items, drinking beers and playing croquet and a bit of swing bat set up by the sponsors.

Felt nostalgic when listening to Johnny Clegg belting out the old hits - O Siyeza and Impi, the type of nostalgia you feel in London hearing old iconic African songs - even if they weren't your favourite when living in SA!

Prime Circle were great as the headliner and it was good to hear a new cool band, Holiday Murray, from Cape Town - we made sure to buy their CD before heading back to London.

The Great Karoo - South Africa

The Place: On a road trip through the Karoo, we stopped along the way at Karoo National Park, Klaarstroom, then through Meiringspoort pass to De Rus and Oudsthoorn.

Some Features: We took a game drive by night at the Karoo National Park and spotted a family of African Wild Cat (strangely similar to the domestic house pet!); and a game drive by day spotting the impressive Red Hartebees, Birchell and Mountain Zebra, Ostrich, Springbok and Steenbok.

Walked a 10k hike with a ranger the next morning, the ranger being required due to the presence of Lions (which unfortunately we didn't spot). We did however, see the Black Eagle, klipspringers and more Red Hartebees.

Following the National Park, we stayed over in a cozy log cabin, just outside of Klaarstroom, a town nestled within an amazingly green valley in the sparse and dry Karoo. The cabin had a balcony overlooking the valley and cool little boma where we braaied at night.

From Klaarstroom we drove through Meiringspoort pass and the town of De Rus to get to Cango (via Oudshoorn) where we toured the impressive caves.

Liz and I had a run in the morning (12ks) which was really really hot, not surprising in the Karoo, however it was 8 in the morning before breakfast, and still felt like a good 30 degrees.

After breakfast the owner took us on a short game drive, before we set off for Knysna.

Kimberley - South Africa

The Place: Kimberley, the beginning of the Western Cape, when driving from Joburg.

Some features: Kimberley's Great Hole, the largest man-made open cast diamond mine - dug to a depth of 240m before being using machinery and mining to a depth of 1097m (De Beers mining company - with Barney Barnato and Cecil John Rhodes). The Star of South Africa (48carats) was found in Kimberley, not to be confused with the Cullinan I (Great Star of Africa), at 530 carats, cut from the Cullinan diamond, which was the diamond mounted in the Sceptre of the Crown Jewels.
Interesting Fact: Kimberley was the first town in South Africa to make use of electric street lamps.

Dorset - England

Took a trip to Dorset on the South West coast of England for the weekend where we competed in another of the Endurancelife Coastal Trail Series. Again Liz and I piled into a big house where we stayed with 7 other friends also down for the challenge. This time we attempted the half marathon (turned out to be 14.6 miles) trailing part of the Jurrasic coastal path of Dorset, famous for Durdle Door (top), and recognised as a World Heritage site. The scenery was spectacular along the run but the hills were immense. Adding to the difficulty was the fact that it had poured the night before so it made for some really muddy, slippery running. I think my time told the story as I finished in 3h15. Liz smashed it coming in at 2h36! The scenery was so good we returned the following day to take the photos.

Zavala - Croatia

The Place: Staying 80m from the sea in Zavala on the island of Hvar, Liz, Danel, Dave and I spent a good few days around the beaches and neighbouring towns of Pitve and Jelsa.
Some features: Long swims along the coast line, fishing from the rocks, cliff jumping into the ocean, and soaking up the sun on the pebble beaches was the general vibe of the holiday. Popped in to a local house one eve as they had a sign up advertising their wine, Bozji Dar (Gift from God). The couple made a variety of wines and spirits from grapes and believe it or not lavendar, or 'Lavanda'. It was like something out of the twilight zone as they offered taster after taster of their wines and spirits keeping us there for a few hours. Due to their hospitality (shrewd business skills) we were back on 2 more eve's to eat out on their tiled veranda high up on the hill overlooking their own orchards, the sea and a view of the next island. Their menu included local fish, full squids and black risotto (flavoured with the ink of the squid). On the 3rd night the couples' friends were over and we ended up joining in their party and dancing with the couples, was very weird but good fun.

Hvar - Croatia

The Place: The town Hvar on the Hvar island is a great town to explore with its winding alleys and steps that head up between old houses and restaurants towards the huge Spanjola castle. It's a great little port town with the usual plaza, and church and in the intense heat it was nice to be able to head around to one of the small beaches/ anchoring point for small boats and have a swim.

Split - Croatia

The Place: Split in Croatia (Hrvatska), beginning and ending point of our trip in Croatia, out to the island Hvar.
Some features: The old town sits within the ruins of the palace of Diocletian, a Roman emperor of the fourth century. It features old churches, venetian-style towers and statues, and bustling markets of fish and vegetables. The city is packed with tourists, but was still good to walk around and sight see, particularly good was hearing local singers sing their traditional Dalmatian music under one of the domed ruins. Had sundowners at a local bar overlooking the port and prominade lined with palm trees and later tried a pašticada (stewed beef and gnocci meal) at a traditional Kanoba, delicious!

Norfolk Broads - England

The Place: Spent a long weekend on a narrow boat with friends in the Norfolk broads.
Some features: It was so relaxing to just wander along the tributaries at no more than 5 knots passing quaint houses, small towns and natural wilderness. We all got a good dose of reading, fishing (none caught tho), and just chilling out in general. Though we passed some cool little pubs on the river we decided it was more fun on the boat so cooked all meals on board - and had legendary cooked breakfasts on board (thanks to Tim!). All-in-all, a great British way to spend a weekend!

Cornwall - England

The Place: Competed in a 4 mile endurance life swim in the Helford Estuary which starts in Gweek near Falmouth and heads out till it almost meets the sea.
Some features: Liz and I found a great campsite - we were the only tent there! There was a farm stall close by so we woke up to fresh coffee and sticky buns for breakfast. Headed in to Falmouth for a wander through the old town before heading to the swim in the afternoon. The swim was exhausting - I enjoy a good swim but felt this one stretched me beyond my comfort zone - I came in 35th (last) with a time of 2:21 but at least within minutes of the rest of the pack without falling too far behind. Despite the difficulty the surroundings were awesome. Liz and I took a trip the next morning to Lizard Point (not far from Lands End) which gave us a chance to see the rough sea and cliffsides of Cornwall and Liz got to bite into a true Cornish Pasty (the size of the plate).