First time at Kwena

All packed and ready to go

Kwena dam is situated just outside of Lydenburg on the way towards Nelspruit. A very under developed dam and camping is pretty rough. Our group of friends, whom i will mention later, decided late on friday afternoon that we are going for the week end. We packed with a great speed, this time I remembered the tent pegs, and eventually we left on saturday morning. Nursing a serious hang over I left the driving duties to my mate Hendry.



Drinks in Orighstad



Our first stop was to load the trailer and then we hit the road and headed towards Orighstad. We had decided to go this way around so as to avoid the stop and go road works and the mountain pass to Lydenburg. We had our first drinks break in Orighstad and waited for the rest of the folk to catch up. Leaving Orighstad we managed to get about 15km and then disaster. A water hose clamp had come loose and the Landy started overheating.



Wessel was "chief mechanic"

Not the way i like to see Suzy Q. After struggling for about an hour, due to excessive heat and lack of tools, we finally had her filled with water and ready to go and then discovered that she wouldnt start. Another hour of "fault finding" i found that the coil was not getting power. We made a plan and pulled a wire directly from the battery to the coil and off we went. Managed about 20 km and the clamp came loose again. By now we were expert in the repairs and this time only delayed about 20 minutes.


We got underway once again and reached Lydenburg in a record time of 4.5 hours. Last minute shopping was done in Lydenburg and then we stopped at the Fisheries to buy fishing licences. Friendly warning if should ever find yourself fishing in this area make sure your licence is up to date. The inspectors love coming to this dam and confiscate ALL your equipment if you do not have a licence. BE WARNED.  Another two breakdowns between Lydenburg and the dam saw us eventually arrive there late afternoon.



Mandi(christo's wife), Chantelle(Hendry's wife), Renate (Wessel's wife)





Jared's first ever bass and first catch of the weekend

Camp was set up in record time and rods were assembled and the weekend official started. in no time at all the spirit in the camp become jovial and rods were cast, drinks were poured, stories being told and jokes made. of course, as per every trip, something had to be forgotten and this time i was bright enough to forget to charge the batteries on my camera. This lead to no photos on the sunday but still a good time had by all. My son Jared was the first to land a fish and it also happened to be his first bass ever. he was very happy about that and this got us all in the mood to catch the next big one. fishing was slow and the rain was undecided. but we carried on trying.


Off loading the gear

A wager on the the first person to catch a carp saw all the men getting their "secret" mutis out and prepare lines with utmost care. The fish were shy and slow in biting but I eventually managed to land the first(and only) carp of the weekend. And guys.... i am still waiting for you to pay up..... Once the fire got going, this was a lengthy excercise because we did not have fire lighters (real men dont use firelighters), we got the music going and the "shooters were passed around. After a fantastic meal braaied by Wessel, jared and Gideon we gave up on fishing and concentrated on visiting instead. One by one our group got smaller as the night grew older and at about 1 o clock i found myself hanging onto the gazebo as the winds started picking up. A freak wind scooped up the gazebo (with me hanging on) and flung us about 4 meters across the grass. Not alot of fun.... especially since Renate couldn't stop laughing at me. We quickly put away anything that might end up in Nelspruit with the wind and hit the beds... Sunday saw a glorious morning and the boat was finally put in the water and everyone had a turn to take a ride.

 

Some serious fishing being done

The fishing was tough and the sun was deadly. We left the water at about 1 o clock and quickly knocked up camp as it looked like a bad storm coming over the mountains. i had spent a good part of sunday morning doing decent repairs to the offending water hose clamp and i fely confident that Suzy Q was ready for the road. We left the dam just as the rain started and Suzy Q was not dissappointing me this time. We managed to drive about 30 km and got the phone call that Wessels bakkie had broken down. a burst turbo hose saw Wessel and his family crawl to lydenburg and have to wait till late that evening to be towed back to burgersfort. all in all a very bad week end on the vehicle side but brilliant on the fun side. Agreat group of people and you will certainly being seeing alot more of them in my future posts.

 

Renate, Hayley and Mieke

Mandi, Chantelle, Hayley and Gideon

two of the most well behaved children i have ever met. Little Hayley was unheard of the whole week end and was an absolute pleasure to be around. Mieke is to cute for words and very interested in "the worms and things" in our fishing bags. To Wessel and Renate.... Well done guys... you have a fantastic family.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All in all it was a fantastic week end considering that it was all arranged in a matter of hours. The weather was not ideal, the vehicles broke down, the fishing was slow but even today, almost a month later, we are still talking about that week end. i think that proves that it is not always the place but the people that make the week end worth while.. We are currently planning a trip to Kruger park and i will keep you posted.

 

 

 

 



Suzy Q wasn't the only one to spring a leak.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Within the next few days i will post about my trip to Alldays and the water melon festival. A unique experience in a tiny town way up near the Zimbabwe border.

 

Until then, keep safe and enjoy your travels

 

Cheers

 

George