We've just
returned from a weekend trip to Vleesbay. We'd only been here in George for 3
days when we packed a suitcase again and enough food for a weekend away, and
headed West. Dieter's parents own a Nissan Lavina, a spacious 7-seater, and
there is more than enough room for them and us together. The route we followed
to the National Highway was past the strawberry and potato farms and then past
the airport. It was so relaxing to be able to just sit and look out the
windows. Every thing we saw was a new discovery. The Highway meanders and
curves through the hills and its not long before one can see the sea. And its
beautiful! We don't ever get tired of seeing the sea! Over the Great
Brak River, and then the Little Brak River and the little villages that have
grown around their lagoons, we travelled past Hartenbos and then to Mosselbay.
I was amazed at how the suburbs along the highway have grown, especially closer
to Mosselbay, and at the new Mall at Langerberg. We spotted a gas-tanker and a
few smaller fishing boats in the quiet bay.
We stopped
briefly to see Ouma Malan (Dieter's grandmother) and his uncle Gert who both
live in Mosselbay. It was wonderful to see them again after so many years, and
obviously the first time they have ever met Ethan and Aimee. Ouma Malan was
very sick in ICU when we left South African in 1995, and it was wonderful to
see her strong and healthy again.
Uncle Gert
and his family own a holiday house at Vleesbay, which is where we were going to
spend the weekend. It was another 30 minute drive to the holiday house, driving
out of Mosselbay on the N2 towards Cape Town. Just past the Mossgas project
(where they are working endlessly to turn gas mined at sea into petrol for
local consumption) we turned off down towards the sea.
Vleesbay is
the Geographical name of the entire bay, which we could see perfectly from our
verandah. Along the bay are various smaller settlements like Danabay,
Boggomsbay and then where the holiday house is. It is an enclosed community
which can only entered through a remote controlled gate or a security entrance.
The houses are all of various shapes and sizes, depending on the budget and
taste of each individual property owner. The house we stayed in is a 8 - 10
minute walk from the beach, and uphill all the way home! The house can be
divided into 2 sections, one has 3 bedroom and sleeps 6 and then the upstairs
section of the house can sleep about as many people. Its a lovely spacious
house and we had fun using the indoor braai facility!
We all had a
nap on the afternoon we arrived and then headed for the beach. From the house
it looked windy and foggy, but down at the beach the wind was not cold or rough
and it the waves were perfect! We are very used to the calm waters of the
Meditteranean so these strong and constant waves were a wonderful treat! Even
Aimee wasn't put off by them and wanted to go farther in! We borrowed a
'boogy-board' and the boys had so much fun riding the waves back to
shore over and over again. Jed decided that diving under the breaking waves was
much easier than trying to jump over them, and Ryan was swimming like a
dolphin! Ethan took a break from the rough waves after a while, he was learning
first hand to respect the sea.
In the
evening Dieter and his Dad braaied some
boerewors indoors which we ate with some mielie pap and tomato-and-onion gravy.
It was so yummy! (Boerewors is a traditional South African sausage, and
mielie pap is maize meal that has been boiled up in salt and water to a
thickish consistency). That night we didn't sleep too well as the wind howled
outdoors! There were strange noises all around and at times it felt like the
house was going to be ripped apart by the strong wind.
Sunday was
not a good day to go to the beach! The wind was howling and coming off the sea
at an Easterly angle and anything not nailed down was blown away! We took a
late morning drive to the tip of the bay, known as Fisherman's Corner. It must
be a fisherman's paradise: huge rocks protruding into the sea bearing the full
brunt of the waves. It was beautiful to see and the boys felt like they were on
an expedition of sorts as they climbed up and down these huge rocks.
We had a
wonderful lunch together with Ouma Malan and Uncle Gert that afternoon. Oupa
braaied some snoek, basting it with Apricot jam, garlic and butter. Ouma baked
some fresh bread and roasted some butternuts in the oven ......... oh, what a
treat! It was also good to see that Ouma Malan loves watermelon just as much as
our family does!
Knowing it
would not be good to swim, we went down to the beach prepared for a walk. The
tide was high and the sea was rough, the wind still wild! The beach was
littered with dead bluebottles (Portugese Man-of-war) and jelly fish that had
washed ashore. It was quite an experience for us to see. At first we had to
work really hard to dodge the incoming tide and avoid the bluebottles on the
beach, but it only took a short while before we looked less amateur! It was
very interesting to closely inspect the bluebottles and pop the little
balloon-like sacs. Some of the tentacles were incredibly long! The jelly fish
were also very interesting to us. Shaped somewhat like parachutes with the
short tentacles floating at the bottom, they really did look like a flavourless
jelly - something the East-Asians might use to make a soup.
We also
picked up numerous shells during our long beach walk. We just meandered along,
keenly looking for shells we could pick up. The most beautiful were a Violet
Foam-shell, home to a snail that feeds on the bluebottles. Many of these
actually had bluebottles inside, and it took a while to find a couple of empty
ones to take home. There were also thousands of little snails running on the
beach, desperate to feed on the bluebottles, but they too were fighting the
incoming tide and the sand that washed over them on each return of the water to
the sea. My favourite shell was an open mussel-like shell, white on the outside
with faint grey on the inside, and the shells were open and looked like
butterflies. We thought we'd bring them home and paint on them and then hang
them ....... watch this space!
Yesterday was
our third and final day at the beach house in Vleesbay. The wind had calmed
down considerably and it was a scorcher of a day. We headed down to the beach
after breakfast armed with umbrellas and sunscreen and were so looking forward
to a swim. As soon as we arrived at the beach Jed and the 2 little ones started
playing in the sand immediately. Once everything was out of the car and the
umbrellas were up we stopped to put sunscreen on everyone - and they ran into
the sea for a swim! Even I ventured into the water (I really don't like cold
water!) after working on our fort in the sand for a while, and found the water
to be nice and refreshing. The waves were really forceful but with enough of a
break between them to get our balance and stand firm for the next set of waves
to push past us. It was low tide and quite scary to see all the rocks everyone
had swum between just 2 days before.
We returned home after a
lunch of weekend left-overs, tired but content. It had been a lovely weekend
away and every day brought a brand-new experience our way, especially for the
children. I can't remember how many sheep, horses, ostriches, birds we saw
along the way, and how many fascinating things we found too.
