26 – 28 November 2021
What a super bunch of members who attended the Christmas weekend at the lush and grassy green Leeuwenboschfontein campsite near Touwsrivier! Even the weather threats of lots of rain forecast for the weekend couldn’t keep the members away from what turned out to be a lovely weekend – there was some light rain about 6pm and some rain overnight after everyone had gone to bed but not enough to dampen anyone’s spirits! Friday evening everyone socialised and kept warm in and next to the lapa with big fires being fed by Andy and Hilton!
Saturday dawned cloudy and cool and any thoughts of having a dip in the pool were quickly banished! Although there were some youngsters with Gilbert, Ferryl and Anthony who clearly didn’t feel the cold and braved the swimming pool anyway! With such a big group, there was a variety of activities going on such as a morning run, or hike or coffee + chat happening at any moment! It was great to watch everyone getting along so well and enjoying themselves. While the hikers were away from camp, the skies opened and it poured down for a few minutes – of course, the main thought was that the hikers would arrive back drenched from the downpour but low and behold, when they arrived back at camp after an hour 46 minutes, they said that they hadn’t had much rain at all on the hike – quite incredible actually! During the afternoon, while the spitbraai was being prepared, everyone chilled out at camp or treated themselves to a well-deserved nap. Later on in the afternoon, everyone gathered at the lapa, socialising, while eagerly awaiting dinner! Much entertainment was had commenting on the various Christmas hats and even some that had been created during the day!
The dinner was quite yummy with bread, butter and jam for starters, spitbraai lamb done to perfection, coleslaw and Andy’s homemade garlic breads for the main course and “Jan Ellis” pudding + custard (thanks to Dieter’s daughter, Michaela Mylo) to round off the meal. With full, satisfied tummies, we decided it was time to do the prize giving. The first prize was for the member with the best Christmas hat and it was a tough decision. We had 2 new members and their wives attending the weekend and it was a toss-up who would win the prize – eventually, we awarded the prize to Victor Rademan! Well done Victor! The second prize was for the member who had attended the most outings this year – all in all there were 10 outings (11 including the Christmas weekend) and it was Ken and Shona Sturgeon who walked off with this prize – they attended 7 of the outings during the year (8 including the Christmas weekend). Again, well done Ken and Shona – you are both a huge inspiration to everyone in this club! Their prize was a tyre deflator, so that we don’t have to hear them counting while deflating again!
Sunday morning the group started packing up and saying their goodbyes – hard to believe that Christmas is in a few weeks time and that the next time we see many of the members, it will be a brand spanking New Year!
On two special notes, we got to spend Louise Astbury’s 70th birthday with her on the Friday night and it was Gilbert and Ferryl’s 39th wedding anniversary on the Saturday. Thanks guys for choosing us to spend your special days with!
All in all, a superb and fun weekend spent with delightful people who are the backbone of this club!
Here’s looking forward to the next outing! Cheers!