Hitting the road

We’re heading off today on the road trip that I mentioned a little while back. This will necessitate several (or more) hours of driving along the national road, some of which I know like the back of my hand, some of which I haven’t driven since 2013.

We’re in no hurry: everything is booked and in order, so we can afford a fairly leisurely drive and – almost certainly – a few stops for coffee and padkos on the way.

I’m going to be sharing images when and where I can, probably mostly on Instagram, so click through and give me a follow to live vicariously through me for the next week or so. I predict horses, landscapes, wild animals and deserted beaches.

But what do I know?

See you on the other side.

Coming (going) soon

Just a quick admin style post to inform you that the beaglesitter is booked, and we’re going away for a few days from next weekend. Thus, I have my blogging work cut out pre-writing extra posts this week to cover those days, just in case there’s no time, wifi or will available to actually get stuff done while we’re away: it is meant to be a holiday, after all.

I’ve done this before on several occasions and it’s worked just fine. If there are things to share, and I can and want to share them, then I’ll simply add some “live” posts in.

You probably won’t even notice the difference. Seamless.

Unless, of course… something big happens in the news that I didn’t know was going to happen, and then I blog about it – ostensibly after it’s actually happened – but actually the post was written before it took place, and therefore fails to reference it. Or worse still, appears to make some callous or inappropriate reference to it. I used to joke that such an event might be a nuclear attack or some such. But right now, that doesn’t seem quite so far-fetched, so I’ll probably avoid that subject. After all, few have forgotten the infamous “Safest Road Tunnels Next to Rivers in Europe’s Capital Cities” post, prewritten to cover our late August trip to the Karoo in 1997.

Awkward times.

More details of the trip coming soon, and I’ll obviously remind you nearer the time to get my instagram locked and loaded on your device of choice, because sharing photos for likes and attention us to look back on in the future will surely be a huge part of our short family break.

In the meantime, the usual dross and mediocrity laughs and merriment continue unabated in the run-up to our road trip.

Stay tuned!

Looks Familiar

Back from a couple of days away and a bit knackered after a long drive. Lovely little road trip though with some great food, wine and experiences.

So here’s a quick snap taken this morning to demonstrate the power of the iNaturalist app to an interested party.

It’s an LBJ – or, if you use the app – it’s a Familiar Chat. Oenanthe familiaris.

The owner of the property on which were staying has seen loads of these birds every day for year. But he never knew what they were. A quick snap and search and now he knows.

We were also able to point a tiny, cute Neddicky out to him, perched on one of his vineyard posts.

Nice to share.

On the road

As the title suggests, I’m out on the road today, heading about 350km east (well, I can’t exactly go west, can I?) from Cape Town into the wilds of the Western Cape.

I’ve been in SA for nearly 19 years now, and I am still amazed that I can drive for more several (or more) hours a day and still not make it out of my home province. And yes, I know that Australia and Canada are much bigger, but I don’t live in Australia or Canada, so that actually means very little to me.

Incidentally, where I was born and dragged brought up in Sheffield, I could be out of my home county in about 10 minutes, but why would you want to do that anyway?

The place we’re heading to is beautiful, the guest house we’re staying in looks lovely, and we’ve even booked in for a meal at the best restaurant in town (with a choice of two), so although it’s a functional trip, it’s still going to be lovely. I hope.

Watch the ‘Gram for images and updates. T&Cs apply.