Chapter 4 - Three weeks left...

Look at this...more on this later.

February 18th: I got a bit of home(sickness) today when I talked to the whole school in Hoekwil. (Last time I spoke to Zoya's class.) This time I had a computer projector so I could show a slide show with pictures from Yellowstone, Yosemite, San Francisco, Seattle and of course Port Townsend. I was also able to show the recently completed "A Knight's Tale" video. That was particularly cool since both Arian and Zoya were in the audience.

And of course I sang a few songs.

I learned more about the school. It is in fact a kind of private school with only 9% of the expenses coming from the government. Students pay approximately R350.00(about $35.00)/month and the balance of the expenses, about 40%, come from donations. I've decided to sponsor one student for a year for about $300.00 hoping to get two friends help me make the donation. There are some schools that are free, including one not far from this school. But they have very large classes (80 students) and very limited money for educational supplies.

Yesterday Amy an old friend of Edda's and a new friend of mine drove (she drove...I still don't want to drive on the wrong side of the road) to Oudtshoorn. The pix above is the north side of the mountains...the hot side, though yesterday it was cool.

Amy suggested we go to an Ostrich farm

An ostrich race! And yes...I too rode an ostrich!


I'd been to Oudshoorn early in my stay but didn't have a chance to explore the town.

There are a lot of houses from the late 1800's...just like Port Townsend.

Amy and I enjoyed a delightful dinner in one of these old buildings, having ostrich of course!

Turns out the Choo Choo does still run, though it now starts in George and runs to Mussel Bay for about a two hour trip. Amy and I went on this last week.

Unfortunately the Choo Choo train wasn't pulling us...the fire hazard is too high for a steam engine. This is a pix of a pix that was in the Railroad museum in George.

There were also a bunch of old cars in the museum. What year and kind of car is this? I can remember when they were new!


I had one of these...an MGA. So did my friend Jock.


'aboard!




Looking down from one of the train bridges!

In the Maritime Museum in Mussel Bay there was a model of the ship Bartolomeu Dias the first ship to the Cape of Good Hope.

(another pix of a pix)

It was built in the '80 and actually sailed from Portugal to Mussel Bay. It was then put in the Maritime Museum. Here are a couple more pix of the boat.

A very cool old beach house.


We had lunch at a restaurant with this great view.

So the adventures continue...don't know if I'll do another blog before I get back to PT, but I'll do a "wrap" then for sure.

Here are a few more pix.

Brus on his new horse Rein.


Visited the beach again and made friends.


Here's a combo toilet/sink. Of course the sink drainage goes right into the toilet tank. Clever!

Dinkum mowing my lawn.

A friend has an old wagon.


Evening in the pasture.