Leaving the Berg

Some of us have to work, and so I had to return early on Tuesday morning. All the valleys were filled with fog as I left the farm.

When got to the higher ground near Bulwer behind me I could see the mighty Drakensberg rising out of the mist filled valleys at their feet. In front over towards the east was the Umkomaas River valley and this too was filled with fog.

As I approached the valley I took these photos.

Monday Flying the Umzimkulu River

Monday morning dawned clear and calm so Jeff and I headed out to the Himeville airfield armed with the video camera to try to film the starting point of the canoe race on the Umzumkulu. We took off and headed up over the Sani Pass hotel then turned left parallel to the Drakensberg and flew over Cobham camp site. The air was so still we headed towards the Bushman's Nek area and landed on a new farm strip out that way.

On the way back we headed up the valley to the bridge where the race starts and got some good aerials. Back at the farm I edited those shots onto the start of the material I'd filmed the day before and now the race organisers have a nice aerial tracking video of the river.

Our province is so lush and green at this time of the year. Other parts of the country are experiencing lower rainfall than usual and do not look this good.

See the videos here.
(Update: the video has been removed because it was reported by somebody as being inappropriate and misleading and I had my youtube account suspended for 6 months. I was furious about the incident and appealed against the decision stating that it was no more inappropriate than some of the junk one finds on youtube. I explained the reason for the video i.e.as a guide for canoeists but added that it was very old and no onger needed and if they really felt like it they could delete it. I complained that I had not been given any chance for an explanation and was treated like a naughty child. Youtube reinstated my account but I was unable to upload videos for 6 months.
Shame on you youtube.com

Last Underberg Adventure

Well, this may have been my last Underberg Adventure for a while. My friends at Pevensey Jeff and Brigid are moving back to their town home soon. I drove to the farm early on Saturday morning to spend the weekend.

On Sunday morning we finally had good flying weather to video the Umzimkulu River for the Drakensberg Challenge Canoe Race organisers. We headed up towards Drakensberg Gardens, but the Bantam fix winged microlight encountered nasty turbulence at the entrance to the large valley where the canoe race starts on the Umzimkulu River. We turned round and concentrated on filming from a bit further downstream where the air was more calm and would make low level flying safer. The 2 day race ends at Umzimkulu River Lodge about 60 kilometres from the start.

After flying the Umzimkulu, Brigid packed a picnic lunch for us and we headed up Mahwaqa mountain behind the farm on the quads. Low cloud was starting to roll in from the Bulwer side of the mountain, so we didn't stay up there all afternoon. We stopped and looked at waterfalls in deep ravines, flowers and skittish buck. Lunch was at a small stream. We were looking for 

one waterfall in particular, but didn't locate it because the mist was getting thicker. We turned round and went exploring on a lower stretch of the mountain, before heading for the farm house.

That afternoon a very mean thunder storm came up, but passed in the distance.

Happy New Year!

First of all, a very Happy New Year and may everything you wish for in 2009 happen.

Secondly, the neighbour's dogs saga ended well this morning. The tennant next door contacted me after reading the note I left stuck to his door and we managed to get all 3 dogs home. They just need to block the hole in the fence where the dogs got through and hopefully they'll stay home.

I didn't go flying because it was overcast and a bit misty earlier on. We'll have one day with perfect conditions soon.... I hope... it's been over a month since I last flew. The summer weather's not conducive to microlight flying.