So what do you do when you've got a very bad rep. ?
You rip the ring out of it
That's exactly what Jurg Wapenar's doing.
Sutherland's reckoned to be, by far, the coldest place in the country, & when would you think it was most visited ?
Its bloody busy in the Winter… WTF… ? It's true !!
Jurg's this terrific guy who KNOWS about the night sky. He owns & runs a caravan park, no money in that, BUT, from there he does nightly, yup, packed out, every night, (Except for 3 nights a month… Hee hee,  he might be the "King of the Universe" but Rita, his gorgeous, long suffering wife, told me during an informal tour through her beautiful, private "fairy" garden (not a single indigenous tree in it… Indigenous trees don't do well in Sutherland… Actually they don't survive at all… Non existant. So it's Hawthorns & the like, or nothing)  that she insisted on having 3 nights a month to themselves… Of course, she prevailed)

Jurg's passion's astronomy, his hobby's flying radio controlled planes.
I didn't tell him about my "foray" into that.

He has 5 huge telescopes in very specialised housings, nestling in a simple, informal boma & delivers a wonderful lecture, well it's not a lecture really, he talks to you, the Man's humble,  protected from stupid questions by a deep love for our Universe.
I assume that includes people too.

But EVERY night,  even at  -15c  ? 
"It's even clearer in Winter".

Eish.

So, the bitter cold's not a problem…
It's an opportunity  !!

I like it.

You can't visit Sutherland without visiting the South African Large Telescope (SALT) at the South African Observatory.

Very cool.

Not really that much to see, it's a factual tour.
The astronomers were sleeping of course. Those're nocturnal creatures. (Not to be fed)
This international cooperation cost billions, BUT, if you're keen on a lekker, very kitsch picture of you standing on the moon… This's THE place..

I was… Check it out.

Jurg's pictures, through his telescope with my phone are better, but I still can't see myself… or Buzz.

Yup, it's a nice destination alright.
Sutherland's very clean & welcoming.

There were a bunch of guys from Pretoria riding bicycles from Beaufort West through the Karoo down to the coast,  overnighting at "Sterland" (Jurg's place)
Nice guys…
Young though.
They've still got Mothers & Fathers.

Their next stop was the Tankwa Karoo…

"Oh really  ?   Me too".

Next day…
Surprise… one of them was "not kosher".
Anyway, after initially arranging to ride along in Nyati as far as Tankwa, he, wisely, decided to call it a day & ask Dad to come & rescue him.

How LEKKER… I'm still envious.

I only saw one of them in Tankwa, although I heard that the last arrived safely, around sunset, & they all took off again at sunrise.

So now, here's a situation…
The guy who went home, instead of doing this leg in Nyati, gave their left over booze to me for the survivors to collect in Tankwa.

They didn't…

The Gypsy's already tried to peek into the bag.

Johann, the Kalahari sheep farmer, had told me that he needed about 50 hectares per animal for his sheep to be happy, & that in Tankwa, they worked on 150 hectares to support one  !!
It's a hellova barren place, & people live out here… By choice  ?
I tried to imagine coming home from holidaying in Umhlanga or Kloof & flopping down onto the kitchen stool…
"Ah well, that was nice,  but oh, it's so lekker to be home".

Eish.

Nyati backed into the only natural shade in Tankwa, & prepared for a VERY quiet night in a valley, between mountains.
Did I say how treeless this place is ?

I went up onto Nyati's roof with a pillow & a few cold ones to watch the stars swop places with the sun.
Once it starts, its quick here.
Dramatic.
Red, orange, black. Sudden… Like that.
Quiet too.
The sky's busy… full of stars, satellites, shooting stars & the moon.
It's neap tide. Easy at anchor tonight.

Drifting, dreaming, sliding in & out, constellations burning overhead, staring down, smiling, floating, dribbling……..

Oh shit, it's bloody cold.
Aaaah bugger, stiff neck. (lucky that's all)
Where's that damn ladder ?

www.rv-nyati.com