THE visit from my younger son, daughter-in-law and two grandsons from Australia, was coming to an end.
We’d joined them and my elder son and his family, who live near us on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast, for a family excursion to Hluhluwe Game Reserve and Richard’s Bay. After that we had spent quality family time together back home on the South Coast, where both my boys grew up.
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What had made the time together very special was seeing how our two Australian and two South African grandchildren, aged between one and five years, had bonded. They would miss each other when it was time for the Australian contingent to go home but with modern technology they would be able to build strong family ties on the foundations of friendship that had been formed.
Rocky road – along the Tierkloof route.
Although it was nearly time to say goodbye we had a couple of adventures ahead of us before the final farewells. The Australians were heading back to Durban for an overnight visit night with friends then they wanted to spend a day wandering around the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, doing some shopping.
After that we would join them in the mountains for a couple of days before they drove to Johannesburg, from where they would fly home. When they left for Durban, we headed off as well, with the intention of spending a night at Weenen Game Reserve and a night at Spioenkop, before catching up with them in the Champagne Valley.
Although we’d been there recently, we decided to return to Weenen for two good reasons – because it was on the way and because it happens to be one of our very favourite smaller reserves.
We love Weenen and try to get there as much as possible.
As for our second destination, Spioenkop is also a lovely spot, but our main reason was its proximity to the town of Ladysmith. This year, Bill and I have set ourselves the target of doing parkruns at 20 different venues in South Africa, to become official parkrun ‘tourists’.
We wanted to send the Friday night at Spioenkop then drive to Ladysmith early the next morning to do the parkrun there.
For those who haven’t come across the global parkrun phenomenon, these events are free, 5km, timed runs or walks held on every Saturday morning at more than 100 venues around South Africa and at venues in many other countries.
Other parkrun countries include Britain, where parkrun started, and Australia, where Bill and I were pleased to be able to complete four last year. Unfortunately, these four don’t county in out parkrun tourist tally. The 20 different parkruns have to be completed in South Africa.
We reached Weenen early in the afternoon and did a little drive, ending up at the Sanctuary picnic site for sundowners. This, one of three gorgeous picnic sites in the park, is really at the heart of Weenen Game Reserve as it was the first piece of the reserve to enjoy conservation status.
It was set aside as the Centenary Bird Sanctuary as part of the 1938 Voortrekker centenary celebrations Since then it has grown into a well-established, beautifully maintained 5 000ha game reserve, administered by Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife and some of the most dedicated officials and staff members you could wish to find in a game reserve.
A major part of Weenen’s charm is the feeling that it is much loved by the dedicated and hardworking people charged with caring for it. It is also one of the best birding spots in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands.
On our previous visit we had avoided taking scenic 4X4 Tierskloof route home from the Sanctuary picnic site in our newly acquired Kombi as we hadn’t wanted to damage the paintwork.
Now we’d had time to have a protective layer applied to the vehicle, so we were happy to take this rough but absolutely beautiful route home through the thickly vegetated kloof. It is probably the most scenic drive the park has to offer and it is a real tree-hugger’s delight.
That night, a full moon rose over the acacia-sheltered campsite, reminding us that it had been almost exactly a month since we had last been there. The moon had also been full on that occasion.
Since then, we’d made good progress regarding transforming our Kombi into a camper van. We’d installed a sleeping platform in the back that provided us with plenty of useful storage space beneath it. Bill was building a rather clever ‘field kitchen’ that would eventually open outwards from inside the Kombi.
Although he hadn’t had time to complete it before this little trip, we had made sure the awning was attached to the car. We’d received quite a drenching without it in Richard’s Bay the previous week.
Somehow our visits to Weenen so often co-incide with full moon. The camp, in a grassy saucer surrounded by thorn tree-dotted hills, comprises linked ‘fairy rings’ in the long grass, the individual sites sheltered by magnificent paperbark acacias (Acacia sieberiana).
By the light of the full moon, it always seems a rather magical, mystical place. We took a short game drive the next morning and, as usual, it proved productive. There is always plenty to see in Weenen. After a leisurely breakfast, we quickly packed up and said farewell to the lovely park.
An overnight visit there had been much to short. Fortunately this wonderful and accessible little natural treasure is fairly close to our home so hopefully we’ll soon be back to watch the full moon rising over the paperpark acacias.
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