Autumn camping !

It's always risky going away in April. Usually Easter weekend is sure to rain. Lately the weather has been on its own course, and even though camping over Easter was so hot DD's nose bled, it had no reflection on what to expect 2 weeks later......

We watched the weather all week, and sure enough each day a storm seemed more and more imminent. A few campers cancelled for various reasons and only the die-hards were left. Wednesday it seemed another family might cancel due to bad flu. Thursday night DH got ILL ! Hectic ill ! He was in pain and ended up in hospital. But he was home by 12am and ready to leave the next day !! I had hoped he would back out, I had earned my bad-weather-camping badge already - I didn't have to go through it again !

Rivierzicht was beautiful! The wooden cabins were like honeymoon suites ! The campsites were BIG and right on the river ! The ablutions were a bit of a walk, but clean. Once again complete bathrooms, so it was spacious. We set-up just before the rain came. Having people in the cabins made it easy to get shelter, but we were all tired and retired pretty early.
The next morning was wet - but a beautiful rainbow greeted us and encouraged me to get out of the tent. The kids were fed and dressed quickly as there wasn't much place to keep them locked in. They were thrilled that they were allowed to play outside! DS went all out - splashing every puddle he could find ! He even rolled in it and got terribly muddy! Since he had brought his car with, he took it on a 4x4 course, dragging it through the wet and muddy terrain!
After breakfast the rain poured a little harder and we took shelter under our canopy. Water would gather on top and then come splashing down - this was great for washing and rinsing the dishes ;-) , but then DS realised he could walk through it too !! Eventually we decided to load everyone in the cars and go to Robertson.
They have lots to offer. We went to the farmers market - which was really great for olive oil and olives ! Good fudge too ;-p We delayed the bird sanctuary for when the Harris boys joined us so went to the Toeka se skou (?) or something like that. It was a fair with people dressed like they were on their way in the ox-wagon in the Great Trek ! Bonnets and all! They dragged out any old machines and cars they had and it seems the guys had the best time! When we returned to the camp, the rest of the campers arrived and that was the start if the camp....
The weather cleared Algamdulillah, I was running out of clean clothes for the kids! We played games, sat around and ate, chatted, bird watched .... our usual lamming and at the end of the weekend we didn't go to the bird sanctuary! But the kids had a great time, there was a boat so they went out on the river. Those left behind started reshaping the coast and used the mud to build a village, with dams, bridges, waterways etc. Eventually it all collapsed !

A definte return, perhaps many more returns Insha'Allah. And of course going to the bird sanctuary.

Oh highlight : I literally crawled out of bed for Fajr salaah. It was pretty cold too ... Shakes called out and asked for a good torch. When I came out he pointed to the top of a tree - there sat a HUGE owl. "woo hoo woo hoo " - it didn't sound like a bird at all - I thought it was a human voice! As it got lighter, he turned and took flight - seeing his wings spread out - he was magnificent to watch! Mash'Allah!!! These moments, these signs of Allah's creation is what it's all about!

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