ALTHOUGH it was June and officially the start of winter, most of the days we spent in the idyllic Champagne Valley were sunny and warm, the one frosty morning when we did the Winterton parkrun, proving the exception to the rule.
Perhaps there is something about parkrun that affects the weather but when we packed up and left the cottage on the Friday, with the intention of doing the Newcastle parkrun the next day, a cold front wafted up into the mountains from the coast.
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By the time we reached Chelmsford Nature Reserve, where we were planning to camp overnight, the wind had acquired a distinctly icy feel.
We’d never been to Chelmsford before but were pleased to make its acquaintance. Less than 30km south of Newcastle.
The 6 800 reserve is situated on the banks of what had been known as Chelmsford Dad but had been renamed Ntshingwayo Dam. Built in 1875 on the Ngangane River, the dam is the third largest in KwaZulu-Natal.
It is prettily situated on gently undulating grassland – now wearing its winter golds and bronze –with a distant view of the surrounding mountains.
Before setting up camp we took a drive through the game area. Although we saw quite a bit of general game and some interesting grassland birds, we missed the big herd of oribi for which the reserve is famous.
These antelope are endangered so, by providing a haven for them, the reserve is very important from a conservation point of view.
The camping area on the edge of the water was most attractive and the facilities, good and well-maintained. The only other campers were die-hard dedicated anglers who seemed quite oblivious to the winter chill.
I should imagine the camping area would be much busier during the summer weekends as the dam offers all sorts of boating and other water recreational opportunities.
We erected our wind break – a piece of equipment no camper should be without, and enjoyed a fairly cosy evening round the fire.
It was early to bed for us, though and we spent a pleasant, warm night tucked up in our make-shift Kombi sleeping quarters. We were looking forward to completing our camper conversion.
The next morning we were up early, packed and ready to leave for the Grey Goose Estate, where the Newcastle parkrun is held.
The temperature was much warmer than it had been when we’d done the Winterton parkrun the previous week but as we arrived at the venue, a strong, icy wind began to blow, so once again it looked like the parkrun would be a chilly experience.
As is always the case when we do a foreign parkrun, we received a lovely warm welcome from the organisers and our fellow parkrunners and, luckily, the wind had begun to drop as we peeled off our winter woollies and got ready to run.
We soon warmed up and found the paved, fairly level route run most pleasant. A section of it went through the grassy game area. A couple of ostriches stopped to stare at the runners but the zebra just ignored us.
The route also took us through a particularly scenic stretch, over a dam wall, with a lovely view of mountains. It was a great parkrun and we would heartily recommend it to any parkrunners visiting that Newcastle area.
We were pleased to have another foreign run under out belt. Bill and I have set ourselves the target of completing 20 parkruns – free, timed 5km runs or walks, lways held on Saturday mornings in park-like surrounds – at 20 different South African venues, to attain our official parkrun tourist status by the end of this year.
With Newcastle ticked off I had notched up 16 different runs, one less than Bill’s 17 runs.
We’d also enjoyed taking a look at Newcastle, an attractive town that had grown so much since we’d last visited it a few years back. It is a very neat, well laid out town and, being close to the mountains, boasts such a scenic setting.
We stopped at an attractive new mall to stock up with bread and milk before setting off to Spioenkop Dam where we were planning to spend the last night of our short, mountain break.
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