back home

i know tony and barb will probably read this so i want to say a big thanks for looking after judith and me for the 16 days we were there, it was one of the most relaxing times we have ever had, and tony and barb certainly know how to make you feel at home, and those of you that know them wont be suprised to know they have a stunning house in a stunning location, and within a shortish drive you can watch whales , walk through forests, see incredible coastal views or walk along largely desereted beaches, is it any wonder they are adament that they wont be coming back.
my last fishing trip was to target ragged tooth sharks in the lagoon at the bottom of there road, but unfortunately again the weather was against us with a gale force wind howling up through the estuary, we gave it a couple of hours but with not even a tug we decided to knock it on the head and go home to drink some wine, at least we had managed to avoid strictly come dancing(sorry barb but the gay on the right wants shooting).
the last couple of days were spent at the addo elephant reserve, its a 350,000 acre nature reserve, and bard had managed to book one of the lodges overlooking one of the floodlight water holes, as it is a prime spot for seeing one of the three black rhino which live in the park , and we werent dissapointed as just as the light was fading 2 of the buggers came down the hill had a quick drink , then they were gone just as quickly, but also there were kudu, buffallo and lots of birds and with tony,s expertise on the braai(barbie)it made for a good evening.
its a nice reserve as you can drive around yourself spotting wildlife at your leasure, considering there are 450 elephants in the reserve they are still difficult to spot , on the first day we saw about 50 , but on day 2 we only managed 4 god only knows where the other 446 were hiding.
to be fair the air temp on the second day was only 12 c so we werent expecting to much, there are a couple of places where you can get out of the car to look around but its not really recomended as there are signs telling you to be aware that lions could be close by , but as none had been seen we thought it would be safe , so after a leg stretch and a look around it was back into the car, i did joke as judith was last back to the car we should lock the doors but mr harding wouldnt do it, which was just as well as about 150 mtrs down the road we came upon 4 lions , judith wasnt really to impressed especially as i just happened to have our personal insurance documents with me,(just kidding dear). we spent the next 30 mins taking photo,s and video,s of a lioness and her 3 10 month old juveniles playing and watching us , no more than 30 ft away. there are only 8 lions on the reserve and one of the guides has been there for 9 years and not even seen one let alone four. there are far more things i could talk about but i would be here all night , when i have got the pictures sorted i will put a few on , but i cant do it and there is no one here to do it for me.
any way back home now and its off to landsend fishery sunday and after looking at the forcast it dont look good. and back in the shop tomorrow.