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Before telling the story of our wedding and honeymoon, I feel its important to first say a huge thank-you. For those who helped arrange, direct, organize and plan. For those who travelled far and spent a lot of money to be there. For those who couldn't be there - we know you all wanted to share it with us and really appreciate your good wishes. For everyone who said such nice things at our wedding. For the extremely generous wedding gifts we received from our families, our friends and both our respective companies we work for, pooling together to give us both fantastic kitchen tea presents. And for our parents - without them none of this would've happened. Thank you all so much!
15-17 Aug 2010, We leave Middelburg
On Sunday we left Middelburg for Pretoria where we were to stay for two nights at Peter's Guesthouse and do some last minute pre-wedding shopping. On Monday morning I went to a work "meeting" which turned into a surprise "kitchen tea" - thank you very much to all my colleagues! Rhona (Nicola's younger sister) arrived from the UK and at 2pm the three of us left to do the legal marriage bit. Nicola's parents and brother (Gordon) also joined us as witnesses and without any pomp or fanfare we said, I DO!, and completed the forms. Legally husband and wife, we shared a bottle of champagne before heading back to the guesthouse.
Nicola and Rhona had hair appointments on Tuesday and I read a newspaper in Wimpy while waiting for them. They were done at 2pm and Nicola and I finally hit the road for the long trip down to the Cape. A number of Stop/Go roadworks between Krugersdorp and Vryburg frustrated us but we arrived in Vryburg safely around 7pm and had an early night at our self-catering flat.
18-19 Aug 2010, The long drive
Leaving Vryburg at about 5am on Wednesday morning we made good time and reached Upington around 9am. Then came the three long sections to Kenhardt, Brandvlei and Calvinia. But the desolate pre-Kalahari is still very pretty to drive through and constant scanning quickly yielded some Namaqua sandgrouse right on the verge of the road. Past Calvinia on the way to Nieuwoudtville we started seeing small patches of flowers, but a much bigger delight was our first lifer for the trip - a couple of Ludwig's bustards in the green fields about 10km outside Nieuwoudtville. After the first sighting we spotted another 40-odd individuals in small groups scattered over the fields before the town. We drove down Van Rhyns pass and reached Cedar Inn just past Clanwilliam around 4pm. We had an early dinner and watched some DVDs before bedtime.
We took some pre-dawn pictures on Thursday the 19th, overlooking Clanwilliam dam. It took us a good three hours to reach Langebaan, doing some birding along the way at Velddrif. In Langebaan we bought a few food items before entering West Coast National Park. We were too early to check in so we decided to recce good places for flower pictures. We drove around to the Postberg section and found a very nice beach at the Pulpit rock which would be ideal for some beach pics. In Postberg the flowers put on a remarkable show - driving against the sun you see fields of green but no flowers. But the moment you turn around with the sun at your back, an orange, yellow and white kaleidoscope unfolds as the flowers turn their heads to the sun. Happy that we found a good place for flowers we drove back to Duinepos where Nicola's family had just arrived and checked in. The rest of the afternoon was spent checking everything was OK for the wedding, quickly popping into the Geelbek bird hides, meeting the wedding coordinator to hand over our table gifts and champagne and then we finished the evening with a braai with the family.
20 Aug 2010, The Wedding
At 5am we were up. Expecting the photographers at 08:30 to start with individual photos before the actual ceremony at 1pm, Nicola had a lot to do. Being a typical male, figuring I only had to shower and dress, I first went to the Geelbek hides to see if anything showed up in the windy but clear morning. Low tide was at 7am but as this was still before sunrise it probably meant most birds were still asleep - the hide was miserably disappointing with a lone Hartlaub's gull in the shallows!
But back to the wedding: the photographers, Peter Lambert and Aurette Burger of Cape Town Wedding Photographers, were perfectly on time and so was Nicola. We collected the bride and maid of honour's bouquets and then drove around towards Postberg. At the Pulpit the sun was still low over the lagoon and made it the perfect place for beach shots. Trying to follow Peter's instructions as best we could, we managed to get in a number of really good pictures by 10am. We then headed into Postberg itself and drove around looking for a pretty field of flowers. Since one is not allowed to walk into the fields we had to find a patch of flowers right next to the road so we wouldn't disturb the veld. An orange patch finally winked at us and trying hard not to step on anything we managed to get a few pictures. It was now getting close to 11:30 and we had to return.
Back at Geelbek, Nicola slipped into a separate room to hide away so no-one would see her before the ceremony. I walked around and met all the guests as they arrived and together with Rhona, David and our parents, sorted out all the details and made sure everything was in place. At 12:50 we ushered everyone over to the small gazebo and chairs, packed outside under the brilliant sun. It was very windy though and it was obvious the decision to rather have the reception in the marquee was a good one! With my Dad leading the ceremony, the two of us were standing under the gazebo with my Best man (David) at my side.
Then the moment arrived! Rhona walked from the front entrance of the Geelbek house, down the "aisle" formed by the chairs. Gordon started playing Watershed's Indigo Girl and in walked Nicola's Dad with my gorgeous bride on his arm. With the legal wedding behind us we wanted a casual celebration with family and friends, rather than the stodgy traditional set-up. My Dad started the ceremony by "forgetting" and then collecting his "memory aids" - a lever arch file filled to the brim. He then proceeded by mentioning some of the things Nicola and I have seen and/or done together, while "searching" for the memory aid of today. Finally "finding" 20 Aug 2010, we proceeded to the vows. Once again we decided on a more humorous touch by using the promises penned by Dr Seuss. Then we kissed and soon had dried flower confetti itching down our backs.
We moved over to the marquee where the two of us quickly posed for a cake-cutting photo before going back outside to take the various family pictures while the rest of the group helped themselves to my mom's savoury cheese cake and crackers. Three quarters of an hour later we finally sat down to some wedding cake ourselves and David announced the speeches, starting with Nicola's Dad. Then it was my Dad's turn before we all grabbed some of the fingerfood on the buffet. Then Rhona and David had their speeches followed by the toast competition. Many people had many nice things to say - we will post these as we receive them from the different people. David announced the winner of the competition - Elize's goth girl toast! While all of this was going on, the three kids attending the wedding thoroughly enjoyed their toy and food packs - Gideon kindly shared his entire complement of Smarties, mostly with the two of us! I ended the afternoon with a thank-you note. A lot of cake, chanpagne and food was left over; we gave some away to our guests but still managed to live off wedding food for almost 2 days! We said our good-byes to all the guests and headed back to our hut at Duinepos. The day was fantastic but still very exhausting. After a quick shower and a few bites to eat, we were fast asleep.
Words spoken at the wedding:
21-24 Aug 2010, West Coast National Park, Clanwilliam, Wuppertal and the Karoo
A long night's sleep was incredibly refreshing and at 7.30am we were already on our way to the Geelbek bird hide for low tide birds. Unfortunately the weather had caught up to us and it was blistery, overcast and cold. We picked up most of the regular expected birds but by 10am the cold was getting to us. We met the wedding coordinator back at Geelbek to sort out some admin and then decided to spend the rest of the afternoon back at our hut. On the 22nd the weather was looking a bit better but the wind was still blowing strong. We left Duinepos early and took a leisurely drive on the back roads towards Clanwilliam, doing some birding on the way at Velddrif and Kransvleipoort. Then we crossed Pakhuis pass to our accommodation for another 2 nights in the Koue Bokkeveld. Our first time to cross this pass, we were awestruck by the beauty of the northern edge of the Cederberg. I know the Cederberg well and knew what to expect, but this was still stunning! Our self-catering cottage stood on a wind-swept plain in the in middle of nowhere, and since the weather was still rather miserable, we spent the rest of the afternoon inside. The next morning we slept late and then went for a drive to the historic settlement of Wuppertal, famous for its Velskoen factory and rooibos tea. Another spectacular drive to get us there with views of the eastern flanks of Tafelberg and Sneeukop (part of the Cederberg) covered in snow and low cloud. We had a cup of tea (rooibos, of course) at a little restaurant before heading slowly back. By the afternoon the wind calmed down a bit and we had a braai outside our cottage.
Long before the sun was up on the 24th, we were on our way. Driving back to Clanwilliam, then on to Citrusdal, it was only when we started descending Middelberg pass east of Citrusdal in very heavy mist, that the first colours of dawn started to appear. We were heading for the birding spots of the Tankwa Karoo but the scenery over Katbakkies pass and down Skitterykloof almost took first priority. Still, we picked up Namaqua warbler in Skitterykloof and on the long gravel road to Ceres also got Karoo korhaan among a few other expected species. Back on tar again in Ceres we had a slow drive through the beautiful Cape mountains, first to Worcester (Matroosberg and the rest of the Hex river mountains covered in snow), then Villiersdorp and Caledon before arriving in Hermanus just after 3pm. We checked into our lovely self-catering flat and took a break from driving.
25-27 Aug 2010, Hermanus
The 25th dawned perfectly - cloudless and not a breath of air. We rushed down to the cliff-path running along Hermanus's rocky beach and virtually immediately spotted spray from the blow holes of whales. They were far-off though and we couldn't wait to go out for our planned boat-trip this morning. At 08:15 we were at the harbour but had to wait until 9am before we finally had a quick talk from the tour operator and then headed out on a sparkling catamaran. Barely 5 minutes into Walker bay and we saw our first Southern Right whales. What a moment! Averaging about 13m in length and weighing about 50 tons, they're quite a sight. Our boat was one of few operators allowed to get to within 50m of the whales at which point it was then up to the whales to come closer if they were inquisitive enough. After our first sighting we headed out a little deeper to where another three whales were rolling around the swells. It's mating season now and two males were obviously giving lots of attention to the female, diving after her every time she got fed-up. These three were later joined by another 4 whales and we managed to get very nice pictures before we eventaully returned to the harbour. It was still before noon and we decided to exploer Fernkloof Nature Reserve at the other end of Hermanus. We walked through the small garden and nursery at the bottom end of the reserve before taking a walk up to Lemoenkop (207m) along a very gentle path. Late afternoon saw us relaxing back at the flat and having a braai together with left-over champagne.
During the night the wind picked up and when we left still in the dark the next morning, it looked like a cold and miserable day. We drove out towards Agulhas and birded in the De Mond and De Hoop Nature reserves, also taking a walk out to the De Mond estuary. But the wind was really strong and it was decidedly unpleasant to be outside the car. Although we spotted lots of blue cranes and a single Agulhas long-billed lark (lifer for both of us), we dipped on the Denham's bustard and Agulhas clapper lark. The highlight of the day was undoubtedly when we drove a gravel track between De Hoop nature reserve and Swellendam, and arriving at the small settlement of Malagas, discovered that the only way to cross the Breede river is on a proper pontoon ferry, possibly the only working one still in existence in South Africa. We drove up onto the flat bottomed ferry with a max capacity of 3 vehicles. Three guys got on with us, slung chains onto the cable spanning the river and attached to the ferry, and promptly pulled us across! The river was only about 50m wide but our trip took 6 minutes to complete - a definite first for us! In Swellendam we took the highway and arrived back in Hermanus where we almost immediately set out for a proper seafood supper.
Our last full day in Hermanus dawned better than the previous one although still cold. We drove to Betty's Bay and spent the morning walking the Disa and Leopard's kloof trails in Harold Porter botanical gardens. A quick stop at Stony Point to see the African penguins before we drove to Rooiels and then the top of Sir Lowry's pass where we had lunch, desperately hoping for a Cape rockjumper to come say hello. But we eventually had to drive back to Hermanus without this pretty endemic on our list. The afternoon was spent packing and sorting out admin since we were planning to leave very early the next morning to start our journey back home.
28-29 Aug 2010, Our journey home
Once again the wind was getting its teeth in as we packed the car just after 4am on Saturday morning. By 4:30 we were on our way and despite wind and very heavy fog all along the N2, made good progress. We had our first Stop/Go just outside Riversdale but luckily it was the only one on this stretch and by 9am we were in George. The wind was unrelenting, even when we crossed the Outeniqua mountains and headed into the Karoo. The drive on the N9 was uneventful and pretty and we reached Graaff-Reinet at noon and bought some lunch. We spotted some Ludwig's bustards again and a single Kori bustard and a few Blue Korhaan (lifers for Nicola) but probably more exciting were the flocks of blue crane - one field had well over 150 birds! Up Lootsberg pass we went onto Middelburg and Colesberg before the last stretch to Bloemfontein where we spent the night. It was a long stretch and we went to bed early but it meant we had lots of time the next morning to quickly stop at the Soetdoring Nature Reserve north of Bloemfontein, before heading home. In the 2 hours or so we spent in the reserve we picked up 60 birds - nothing new or particularly noteworthy - and by 10am were heading for home. We picked up the cats in Pretoria and at 5am arrived safely home in Middelburg, tired, but very happy and MARRIED!!
Before telling the story of our wedding and honeymoon, I feel its important to first say a huge thank-you. For those who helped arrange, direct, organize and plan. For those who travelled far and spent a lot of money to be there. For those who couldn't be there - we know you all wanted to share it with us and really appreciate your good wishes. For everyone who said such nice things at our wedding. For the extremely generous wedding gifts we received from our families, our friends and both our respective companies we work for, pooling together to give us both fantastic kitchen tea presents. And for our parents - without them none of this would've happened. Thank you all so much!
15-17 Aug 2010, We leave Middelburg
On Sunday we left Middelburg for Pretoria where we were to stay for two nights at Peter's Guesthouse and do some last minute pre-wedding shopping. On Monday morning I went to a work "meeting" which turned into a surprise "kitchen tea" - thank you very much to all my colleagues! Rhona (Nicola's younger sister) arrived from the UK and at 2pm the three of us left to do the legal marriage bit. Nicola's parents and brother (Gordon) also joined us as witnesses and without any pomp or fanfare we said, I DO!, and completed the forms. Legally husband and wife, we shared a bottle of champagne before heading back to the guesthouse.
Nicola and Rhona had hair appointments on Tuesday and I read a newspaper in Wimpy while waiting for them. They were done at 2pm and Nicola and I finally hit the road for the long trip down to the Cape. A number of Stop/Go roadworks between Krugersdorp and Vryburg frustrated us but we arrived in Vryburg safely around 7pm and had an early night at our self-catering flat.
18-19 Aug 2010, The long drive
Leaving Vryburg at about 5am on Wednesday morning we made good time and reached Upington around 9am. Then came the three long sections to Kenhardt, Brandvlei and Calvinia. But the desolate pre-Kalahari is still very pretty to drive through and constant scanning quickly yielded some Namaqua sandgrouse right on the verge of the road. Past Calvinia on the way to Nieuwoudtville we started seeing small patches of flowers, but a much bigger delight was our first lifer for the trip - a couple of Ludwig's bustards in the green fields about 10km outside Nieuwoudtville. After the first sighting we spotted another 40-odd individuals in small groups scattered over the fields before the town. We drove down Van Rhyns pass and reached Cedar Inn just past Clanwilliam around 4pm. We had an early dinner and watched some DVDs before bedtime.
We took some pre-dawn pictures on Thursday the 19th, overlooking Clanwilliam dam. It took us a good three hours to reach Langebaan, doing some birding along the way at Velddrif. In Langebaan we bought a few food items before entering West Coast National Park. We were too early to check in so we decided to recce good places for flower pictures. We drove around to the Postberg section and found a very nice beach at the Pulpit rock which would be ideal for some beach pics. In Postberg the flowers put on a remarkable show - driving against the sun you see fields of green but no flowers. But the moment you turn around with the sun at your back, an orange, yellow and white kaleidoscope unfolds as the flowers turn their heads to the sun. Happy that we found a good place for flowers we drove back to Duinepos where Nicola's family had just arrived and checked in. The rest of the afternoon was spent checking everything was OK for the wedding, quickly popping into the Geelbek bird hides, meeting the wedding coordinator to hand over our table gifts and champagne and then we finished the evening with a braai with the family.
20 Aug 2010, The Wedding
At 5am we were up. Expecting the photographers at 08:30 to start with individual photos before the actual ceremony at 1pm, Nicola had a lot to do. Being a typical male, figuring I only had to shower and dress, I first went to the Geelbek hides to see if anything showed up in the windy but clear morning. Low tide was at 7am but as this was still before sunrise it probably meant most birds were still asleep - the hide was miserably disappointing with a lone Hartlaub's gull in the shallows!
But back to the wedding: the photographers, Peter Lambert and Aurette Burger of Cape Town Wedding Photographers, were perfectly on time and so was Nicola. We collected the bride and maid of honour's bouquets and then drove around towards Postberg. At the Pulpit the sun was still low over the lagoon and made it the perfect place for beach shots. Trying to follow Peter's instructions as best we could, we managed to get in a number of really good pictures by 10am. We then headed into Postberg itself and drove around looking for a pretty field of flowers. Since one is not allowed to walk into the fields we had to find a patch of flowers right next to the road so we wouldn't disturb the veld. An orange patch finally winked at us and trying hard not to step on anything we managed to get a few pictures. It was now getting close to 11:30 and we had to return.
Back at Geelbek, Nicola slipped into a separate room to hide away so no-one would see her before the ceremony. I walked around and met all the guests as they arrived and together with Rhona, David and our parents, sorted out all the details and made sure everything was in place. At 12:50 we ushered everyone over to the small gazebo and chairs, packed outside under the brilliant sun. It was very windy though and it was obvious the decision to rather have the reception in the marquee was a good one! With my Dad leading the ceremony, the two of us were standing under the gazebo with my Best man (David) at my side.
Then the moment arrived! Rhona walked from the front entrance of the Geelbek house, down the "aisle" formed by the chairs. Gordon started playing Watershed's Indigo Girl and in walked Nicola's Dad with my gorgeous bride on his arm. With the legal wedding behind us we wanted a casual celebration with family and friends, rather than the stodgy traditional set-up. My Dad started the ceremony by "forgetting" and then collecting his "memory aids" - a lever arch file filled to the brim. He then proceeded by mentioning some of the things Nicola and I have seen and/or done together, while "searching" for the memory aid of today. Finally "finding" 20 Aug 2010, we proceeded to the vows. Once again we decided on a more humorous touch by using the promises penned by Dr Seuss. Then we kissed and soon had dried flower confetti itching down our backs.
We moved over to the marquee where the two of us quickly posed for a cake-cutting photo before going back outside to take the various family pictures while the rest of the group helped themselves to my mom's savoury cheese cake and crackers. Three quarters of an hour later we finally sat down to some wedding cake ourselves and David announced the speeches, starting with Nicola's Dad. Then it was my Dad's turn before we all grabbed some of the fingerfood on the buffet. Then Rhona and David had their speeches followed by the toast competition. Many people had many nice things to say - we will post these as we receive them from the different people. David announced the winner of the competition - Elize's goth girl toast! While all of this was going on, the three kids attending the wedding thoroughly enjoyed their toy and food packs - Gideon kindly shared his entire complement of Smarties, mostly with the two of us! I ended the afternoon with a thank-you note. A lot of cake, chanpagne and food was left over; we gave some away to our guests but still managed to live off wedding food for almost 2 days! We said our good-byes to all the guests and headed back to our hut at Duinepos. The day was fantastic but still very exhausting. After a quick shower and a few bites to eat, we were fast asleep.
Words spoken at the wedding:
- Ceremony and Wedding vows
- Bruce - Speech
- Gert - Speech
- Rhona - Speech
- David - Speech
- Ronli - Toast
- Gideon - Toast
- Pieter - Thank you note
21-24 Aug 2010, West Coast National Park, Clanwilliam, Wuppertal and the Karoo
A long night's sleep was incredibly refreshing and at 7.30am we were already on our way to the Geelbek bird hide for low tide birds. Unfortunately the weather had caught up to us and it was blistery, overcast and cold. We picked up most of the regular expected birds but by 10am the cold was getting to us. We met the wedding coordinator back at Geelbek to sort out some admin and then decided to spend the rest of the afternoon back at our hut. On the 22nd the weather was looking a bit better but the wind was still blowing strong. We left Duinepos early and took a leisurely drive on the back roads towards Clanwilliam, doing some birding on the way at Velddrif and Kransvleipoort. Then we crossed Pakhuis pass to our accommodation for another 2 nights in the Koue Bokkeveld. Our first time to cross this pass, we were awestruck by the beauty of the northern edge of the Cederberg. I know the Cederberg well and knew what to expect, but this was still stunning! Our self-catering cottage stood on a wind-swept plain in the in middle of nowhere, and since the weather was still rather miserable, we spent the rest of the afternoon inside. The next morning we slept late and then went for a drive to the historic settlement of Wuppertal, famous for its Velskoen factory and rooibos tea. Another spectacular drive to get us there with views of the eastern flanks of Tafelberg and Sneeukop (part of the Cederberg) covered in snow and low cloud. We had a cup of tea (rooibos, of course) at a little restaurant before heading slowly back. By the afternoon the wind calmed down a bit and we had a braai outside our cottage.
Long before the sun was up on the 24th, we were on our way. Driving back to Clanwilliam, then on to Citrusdal, it was only when we started descending Middelberg pass east of Citrusdal in very heavy mist, that the first colours of dawn started to appear. We were heading for the birding spots of the Tankwa Karoo but the scenery over Katbakkies pass and down Skitterykloof almost took first priority. Still, we picked up Namaqua warbler in Skitterykloof and on the long gravel road to Ceres also got Karoo korhaan among a few other expected species. Back on tar again in Ceres we had a slow drive through the beautiful Cape mountains, first to Worcester (Matroosberg and the rest of the Hex river mountains covered in snow), then Villiersdorp and Caledon before arriving in Hermanus just after 3pm. We checked into our lovely self-catering flat and took a break from driving.
25-27 Aug 2010, Hermanus
The 25th dawned perfectly - cloudless and not a breath of air. We rushed down to the cliff-path running along Hermanus's rocky beach and virtually immediately spotted spray from the blow holes of whales. They were far-off though and we couldn't wait to go out for our planned boat-trip this morning. At 08:15 we were at the harbour but had to wait until 9am before we finally had a quick talk from the tour operator and then headed out on a sparkling catamaran. Barely 5 minutes into Walker bay and we saw our first Southern Right whales. What a moment! Averaging about 13m in length and weighing about 50 tons, they're quite a sight. Our boat was one of few operators allowed to get to within 50m of the whales at which point it was then up to the whales to come closer if they were inquisitive enough. After our first sighting we headed out a little deeper to where another three whales were rolling around the swells. It's mating season now and two males were obviously giving lots of attention to the female, diving after her every time she got fed-up. These three were later joined by another 4 whales and we managed to get very nice pictures before we eventaully returned to the harbour. It was still before noon and we decided to exploer Fernkloof Nature Reserve at the other end of Hermanus. We walked through the small garden and nursery at the bottom end of the reserve before taking a walk up to Lemoenkop (207m) along a very gentle path. Late afternoon saw us relaxing back at the flat and having a braai together with left-over champagne.
During the night the wind picked up and when we left still in the dark the next morning, it looked like a cold and miserable day. We drove out towards Agulhas and birded in the De Mond and De Hoop Nature reserves, also taking a walk out to the De Mond estuary. But the wind was really strong and it was decidedly unpleasant to be outside the car. Although we spotted lots of blue cranes and a single Agulhas long-billed lark (lifer for both of us), we dipped on the Denham's bustard and Agulhas clapper lark. The highlight of the day was undoubtedly when we drove a gravel track between De Hoop nature reserve and Swellendam, and arriving at the small settlement of Malagas, discovered that the only way to cross the Breede river is on a proper pontoon ferry, possibly the only working one still in existence in South Africa. We drove up onto the flat bottomed ferry with a max capacity of 3 vehicles. Three guys got on with us, slung chains onto the cable spanning the river and attached to the ferry, and promptly pulled us across! The river was only about 50m wide but our trip took 6 minutes to complete - a definite first for us! In Swellendam we took the highway and arrived back in Hermanus where we almost immediately set out for a proper seafood supper.
Our last full day in Hermanus dawned better than the previous one although still cold. We drove to Betty's Bay and spent the morning walking the Disa and Leopard's kloof trails in Harold Porter botanical gardens. A quick stop at Stony Point to see the African penguins before we drove to Rooiels and then the top of Sir Lowry's pass where we had lunch, desperately hoping for a Cape rockjumper to come say hello. But we eventually had to drive back to Hermanus without this pretty endemic on our list. The afternoon was spent packing and sorting out admin since we were planning to leave very early the next morning to start our journey back home.
28-29 Aug 2010, Our journey home
Once again the wind was getting its teeth in as we packed the car just after 4am on Saturday morning. By 4:30 we were on our way and despite wind and very heavy fog all along the N2, made good progress. We had our first Stop/Go just outside Riversdale but luckily it was the only one on this stretch and by 9am we were in George. The wind was unrelenting, even when we crossed the Outeniqua mountains and headed into the Karoo. The drive on the N9 was uneventful and pretty and we reached Graaff-Reinet at noon and bought some lunch. We spotted some Ludwig's bustards again and a single Kori bustard and a few Blue Korhaan (lifers for Nicola) but probably more exciting were the flocks of blue crane - one field had well over 150 birds! Up Lootsberg pass we went onto Middelburg and Colesberg before the last stretch to Bloemfontein where we spent the night. It was a long stretch and we went to bed early but it meant we had lots of time the next morning to quickly stop at the Soetdoring Nature Reserve north of Bloemfontein, before heading home. In the 2 hours or so we spent in the reserve we picked up 60 birds - nothing new or particularly noteworthy - and by 10am were heading for home. We picked up the cats in Pretoria and at 5am arrived safely home in Middelburg, tired, but very happy and MARRIED!!
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