Beach fun at "The Rock"

When we were small one of our favorite places to go on a Sunday afternoon was "The Rock".  The Rock refers to the rock below Something Good with the gap through which the waves wash into the little natural tidal pool.  Today we spent a couple of hours on the beach and Miggie and her friend Dinky had a great time leaping off the rocks into the swimming hole.

For some reason I forgot my camera at home but luckily I had my phone.

It's not just always out and about with me

Some people think I'm always out and about, traveling all over getting to explore, experience, have fun and take photos.  Well, let's just say I put in way more office time driving my desk than being out there.  It just looks the other way around.  Today is such a day and with no photos in stock to post for today you will have to bear with me as I post a picture of my desk.  Right now I'm busy with a little social media on the Experience Our Eastern Cape page, sorting my registration for next month's SATSA conference, dealing with some promotional video stuff and a little financial admin.  Why is my coffee mug empty?    

Fun with science

When it comes to fun science, everybody becomes a child.  It's no difference at the NMB Science and Technology Centre in Uitenhage.  There are so many fun and fascinating things to try.  Things like lying down on a bed of nails to just name one.  Another one that always fascinates me is the floating ball.  How do they do it?   

Croc on the beach at Lauries Bay

The wild Croc is not endemic to the Eastern Cape so I was very surprised to find one basking in the sun and taking a rest between the rocks at Lauries Bay on the Wildside.  It wasn't threatening at all so I got nice and close to get a photo before leaving him alone.  He probably would have left at the next high tide.  

River pool foofy slide

After spending two days going down the slippery slide with the kids at Sleepy Hollow my Boet and I decided to go and try out the foofy slide (zipline) at the main swimming hole.  Now I'm not one who is very comfortable with heights and I get nervous if I have to lift my feet anywhere higher than mother earth herself.  That coupled with the unknown speed of the zipline, submerged rocks next to the bank and... the worry of how long I could actually hold my own weight meant that it took a bit of time to get the guts  gather my wits.  Then there was the need to calculate the wind speed and direction, zipline angle and everything else that I had to be sure of before zipping down the cable and letting go over the black (and very cold) water of the swimming hole.  So in the picture you can see a flying Firefly just before the big splash.  Oh yes, I just want to mention that I kept on going long after my Boet had decided to stop.  My inner child crawled out again.

Sleepy Hollow slippery slide

I may be in my mid thirties, but I am very much in touch with my inner child who, every now and then, forces himself to the surface and refuses to crawl back in.  So it happened at Sleepy Hollow where I went down the slippery slide before the kids even got their costumes on.  After the kids had to stop and stood shivering I kept on going (and had the aches and pains the next day to remind me).  One of the other campers said that it looked to her that I was really enjoying myself.  You know what, when I'm sixty one day I hope I would be able to still do things like this with my grand kids like my grandfather did with us and I will still enjoy it as much as I do today.

A throne with a view

Today may well be April Fool's day, but this is no joke.  Visitors to Amakhala Game Reserve situated about 75km outside Port Elizabeth have the option of booking a boat trip on the Bushmans River which, depending on the time of the cruise, can coincide with high tea.  This toilet with a view is the pit stop you can use when nature calls while down by the boat's jetty.  Guests just have to make sure that they use a coordinated queueing system otherwise it may just lead to ... an awkward moment. 

You spin me right round...

We spent the evening at the Boardwalk the other day and I was busy taking a photo of the Merry Go Round when it started moving.

I've never tried to take one of these "movement" pictures at night so I decided to put the setting on night shot and try it.  It would have been slightly better if I had my tripod and didn't have to balance the camera on a bench, but still very happy with my first attempt.

Newton Park fun run

This past weekend we took part in Newton Park Primary School's annual fun run.  A day or so before the event I was asked by one of the organisers if I wouldn't mind taking pictures as their regular photographer wasn't available.  As a parent who doesn't always have the opportunity to be too involved in the school (plus the excuse to take pictures) I jumped at the opportunity.  I had a marvelous time running (well, actually racing on my scooter) up and down the streets to get the pictures I wanted, going from the leaders to the stragglers and then back to the leaders to catch them cross the finish line. 

Wagon Jungle Gym

*mumble mumble* years ago when I was still in primary school, my mom used to have a stall at Art in the Park at St Georges Park every first Sunday of the month. I remember us playing all over the park, exploring the gardens, running down the paths and climbing on the jungle gyms. The ox wagon play structure has been there forever. When we went to Art in the Park the other day I was glad to see that it got a new coat of paint before the World Cup and brought back memories while the kids were climbing on it.

Footnote: For those who follow The Firefly Photo Files as well, this is where this pic was supposed to come. Its just that when I did the Random theme... Ox Wagons the other day I realised that it would also fit in very nicely there.

Leap

A little while ago we went to the giant sand dune at the Maitland River Mouth. I climbed to the top with Chaos Boy and on the way down I experimented a little bit with him leaping into the air.

If you enjoy looking skywards, visit Skywatch Friday for more sky pics.

Bumper boats

One of the activities at the Boardwalk for kids (and sometimes big kids as well) is bumper boats on a separate section of the Boardwalk lake. The Rugrats went to a birthday party at the Boardwalk the other day and one of the things they did was the bumper boats. Chaos Boy is a bit scared of water and Drama Princess is still too young to go alone, so I went along with them. The boats have little water canons which meant that I came off the water soaked.

Floating balls

One of the new features at the Boardwalk complex this summer are the floating balls. You get into the deflated ball which gets inflated and velcro'd closed before being pushed onto the lake. It doesn't look like the easiest thing judging on the fact that the kids doing it were more flat on their backs than on their feet. It did look like lots of fun though.

Fun walk

On Saturday morning we went to participate in a fun walk at the Westering Pre-primary school. It was a fund raising event for the school and was very well supported. Young and old, big and small, all had fun tackling the 4km route before heading back to the school for breakfast which was a choice between bacon and eggs or Halaal.

Remember we recently showed to a really eccentric tree? Well it just got odder....

A flock of Guinea Fowl have taken up residence in its branches!



I really love driving down a street and coming across something quirky like this, it puts a smile on your face.

You want me to do WHAT?

The last place one would expect to find an invitation to a naked frolic is on the back of a van, but then this is a special van, it carries a whole new substance called chemicials!