Back to Brittany

 Sunday 23/01/22

Early morning walks are the perfect way to start the day

Our home for the next three months, hidden behind the trees

We've moved Bokkie out of the hangar so she's getting some fresh air

After a fantastic but busy trip to South Africa we managed to scoot across continents into France just as travel opened up.  

We're back in familiar surroundings in our winter sit for the next three months. Our tans are fading away fairly quickly, or maybe they're being worn off by the many layers of clothing we're wearing.  We miss the heat that we had in SA but are loving the slow pace of life in rural France, this really has become a home-from-home for us.

Three of our favourite things in the world - The fireplace, Jess...

and Jasper, relaxed as ever.

We've spent the last week in the garden with the owners so it's been great to get their input and ideas for the property.  They handed over the two cats this morning and headed off to cross the channel - now we will look after things here until April.

Although less diverse than in Kruger, the bird life here is absolutely fantastic!

The Robins are always around in a frosty garden.

Greater Spotted Woodpecker

Great Tit (L) and Blue Tit (R)

Nuthatch

We will blog as and when we do some interesting stuff: until then assume we're hibernating and winter gardening!

 

Olifants rest camp

 Friday 07/01/22

The mighty Olifants river, usually much more sedate, showing the effect of heavy rains

We've been out of reliable internet range for a few days which we spent at Talamati bushveld campsite and are now at the larger, main camp of Olifants.

European Roller

Lilac-breasted Roller

Sand Grouse

Knob-billed Duck - who would want to carry that around on your nose?

Red-backed Shrike

Immature Bateleur Eagle

Long-tailed Paradise Whydah

We were thrilled to spot this Carmine Bee-eater with its youngster

And it seemed quite excited to see us as well!

We've had quite a few amazing sightings including a wild dog kill right outside the camp fence at Talamati.  We heard the commotion and arrived as the dogs were tucking into the newly-killed impala ram.  It was a frenetic affair and it was awe-inspiring to be so close to these animals in action.  We must have been 20m away from them with only the fence protecting us - utterly amazing.

It was quite intimidating to be so close to these predators in a feeding frenzy!

We've also had quite a few huge thunderstorms and very heavy rains which luckily have also kept temperatures down.

All the birds were drenched after the storm and trying to dry off

Even the Ground Hornbill climbed a perch to get off of the wet grass

With the holidays almost over it was back to school for some

Unfortunately our time in Kruger and South Africa is winding down now; it's hard to believe three months have already passed. Although travel restrictions to France seem to be lifting, we're unsure of our status and will have to see where we travel to next.

Bonus elephant photos:-

If you have a headache...

And a blocked nose.... it is probably just a cold, not COVID

This dung had barely landed on the ground before being covered by bluebottles.
Fast-food for flies?

Belated HNY from Tzaneen

 Sunday 02/01/22

We left our house-sit yesterday with a twinge of sadness, as usual, as we had fallen in love with the four dogs, but we are always looking forward to another adventure.  

The day started off with a bit of excitement. We were busy with our final clean up when I went to the shed to investigate the dogs barking madly.  We were still on edge with all the snake problems but this time they had cornered a monitor lizard. I am not sure who would have won the fight but jumped in to get the monitor out of harm’s way.  I got a good whipping from its tail for my trouble but managed to carry it the main gate and let it loose - hopefully it will have learned to go and hunt elsewhere, away from the dogs.

Our pool with the most amazing view

A lovely way to chill after the long drive.

The view from the stoep outside our room

We’re spending two days on an avocado farm in Tzaneen in a lovely guest house called Die Stoep and are the only guests here, which is wonderful.  It has been as hot as anything but now the weather has broken with an almighty thunderstorm and torrential rain.  

We watched as the heat of the morning built up to a storm.

And then the wind, thunder, lightning and rain came.

Tomorrow we meet my parents in Hoedspruit and join them in Kruger for a few days before we try to fly out. At the moment we still can’t travel to France so we are watching with some trepidation to see if that changes before our flight or if we will need to re-route.

Bonus pic:

This is the first guest house where, not only do we have rusks and biscuits in our room but complimentary Sherry as well. It feels very colonial!

Old world charm

Three-year update while in Hartebeespoort

 Thursday 30/12/2021

We’ve been on the road for over three years now (it will be 1,150 days tomorrow) so we thought it was a good time for an update.

In spite of Covid and Brexit being added into the mix, we have still been able to travel, albeit not always when or where we wanted to.  We have spent two thirds of our time travelling outside of the UK.  The bulk of our time has been spent in France (497 days), the UK (370) and Portugal (133) followed by SA (92) and Spain (51) and whistle-stop tours of Belgium (4) and Germany (3).

We’ve covered 18,690 miles (29,904 km) in Bokkie and 5,437 miles (8,700 km) in Bakkie, my Dad’s Pajero in SA, and spent almost £4,300 in diesel.  Our biggest single cost is, as expected, groceries which has been £9,703 for the three years but this actually works out to only £8.35 per day.

Bonsai with a view

We’ve managed to keep our total annual spend below our target for all three years which is very encouraging.  World markets have performed well, which has meant our investments have also grown well and this, coupled with our lower spend, has put us in a better position than we had estimated when we set out.

This is a real win for us and means we feel comfortable enough to keep on with this lifestyle for as long as we enjoy it.

We've made so many good friends along the way.

For some reason, bats come and visit us when we are watching TV.

We’ve loved being in South Africa, seeing family and friends as well as seeing many of the sights, but miss Bokkie and the lifestyle she offers us. It's also been tough being away from Charmaine so long, and we are missing her a lot - somehow, being on another continent to her makes the distance seem real (in spite of FaceTime).

We’re ready to head back to Europe as the next twelve months are already mapped out and we are keen to stick to our plan.  

Walking the dogs - seconds before Streep surprised a spitting cobra.

Streep came off worst in the encounter, now nursing a very sore eye.

Bonus video:-

We learned very early on that we need to give the gate a head start when we go for a walk...

We're coming to the end of our sit and, as we will be on the road for a while, would like to wish everyone who's been reading this a Happy and Healthy 2022- we'll keep you posted on our travels 

Merry Christmas !

 Saturday 25/12/21

Merry Christmas everyone, we hope you have a Peaceful day, a lovely break and a fantastic year ahead.

Lots of love from Bokkie, Bakkie, Toni and Andrew

Living in Harties

 Wednesday 22/12/21

The Proteas are flowering in the garden and all over the mountains

As with many of our house-sits, we've settled into an easy routine.  The dogs are generally well behaved and very little trouble.  They can be a little barky at times but, as they are guard dogs, one can't blame them.  

These 4 Jack Russels have oodles of personality and have accepted us into the household very quickly - they are very easy to love.  We've had one emergency trip to the vet with suspected snake venom in Bella's eye but she's made a full recovery.

The house is fantastic, perched on the hillside, and has loads of character

The views are lovely - Pelindaba, visible in the distance, has an interesting history

We've been treated to wonderful sunsets

We've taken longer walks with the dogs now that we've built a bit of a rapport with them, and have more confidence they will come back when called. They tend to pick up a scent and go haring off into the distance but, so far, we've always managed to return with four of them with us.

Heading home - with four dogs, always a relief!

The owners have built a rustic braai area on top of the mountain

It even has a 'loo with a view'

The elevated position of the house gives fantastic views and the birds, both at the bird baths and stealing the grapes, make for some lovely bird watching.  We'll do a bit of gardening and mowing now that the gardener is on holiday but are generally having quite a relaxing time.

The birdbath is constantly busy.

There is even a Barbet nesting in the garden

More unusual grasshoppers

Toni managed to get a shot of this lovely butterfly

We hope you all have a lovely, safe, peaceful Christmas.