Chakas Rock

It was time for another weekend away, this time to further celebrate Sharon’s dad’s 60th. I picked Sharon up from the office and we headed straight for Chaka’s Rock on the old highway. It’s amazing to see how beautiful the old roads are when compared to the new highways. You pass through forests and drive over hills instead of through them. The roads wind and you get to see things other than a 300km long strip of tar.

Thirty kilometers and a surprisingly large amount of traffic later we pulled into Balito which borders on Chakas Rock. After a quick stop at the bottle store we drove the remaining 5 minutes to our chalet overlooking the sea where the relaxation immediately began.

The relaxation of course took the form of beer and the Cheetahs Bulls game. The Cheetah’s took a good lead early in the match which at first I was excited about. Down with the Bulls! That was of course until I realised that I’d placed my SuperBru bet on the Bulls. FAIL! Now I was torn…Bulls or Cheetahs? Thankfully the Bulls came right towards the end of the second half and managed to steal a win from under the Cheetahs’ noses. But what a game!

Dinner came in the form of hamburgers and brandy as we wound down way into the evening, eventually climbing into bed at around midnight.

Saturday started nice and early thanks to the company. Sharon’s dad and uncle went for a 5:30am walk on the beach. Not to be outdone I pulled on the takkies and headed out on an early morning, exploratory run of Chaka’s Rock. This involved stopping off at a few tidal pools and spending some time watching surf skiers being crushed in the bigger than normal surf. Five kilometers and a few walks on the beach later I returned home.

My run was followed by coffee and breakfast and then, before I’d even had a chance to let my legs cool down, Sharon dragged me off to the squash court. The court wasn’t in bad condition for a holiday resort except that for some reason it had skirting boards. WTF?!

After an hour of squash it was straight on to the next activity which meant walking down to the nearest tidal pool for a relaxing swim and cool off.

By now it was nearing lunch time and we had a quick swim in the pool to wash off the salt water. Lunch was a relaxed hot dog meal and was of course immediately followed by more sport. Impressive stuff!

Sharon and I headed for the tennis court where I quickly learned that I no longer have any idea how to play tennis. The fact that the court was basically polished cement and that the ball skimmed off it hardly aided my cause. None the less it was rather fun and Andre, Jason and the twins all got involved in what was arguably the world’s worst game of tennis.

The world’s worst tennis match was followed by a long leisurely swim while we eagerly awaited the upcoming Sharks match.

Having made a rather large dent in the brandy the night before Sharon and I quickly headed out to the bottle store. Sneakily we stopped off at a bar Sharon had visited many years earlier hoping to find the alcoholic slush puppy machines they used to have. Sadly we were out of luck but this didn’t stop us sitting on the deck, overlooking the beach, and enjoying an ice cold Hansa draught.

The Sharks game was promising and they managed their second win of the season, this time against the Blues. So that’s 2 from 2 for the Sharks and me hoping that this form continues.

As is South African tradition the rugby was followed by a very over the top braai complete with more brandy (no, not rum, Sharon’s family is Afrikaans). Thankfully it was a much earlier night as my body was feeling the effects of a very sporty day in the sun.

On Sunday we were once again up at 6am and Sharon and I headed down to the beach to take some photos. Sadly we were just too late as the sun had already risen higher than wanted. None the less we spent an hour on the beach firing off a few shots hoping to get something good out of it.

The photo taking was followed by another swim in another tidal pool, this time directly in front of Canelands where I had had my pervious office party. From there we headed back to the chalet for breakfast and some family time before packing up and heading home.

Isn’t it sad that at the end of a weekend away there’s always so much admin. It really is a pity you can’t do it up front and get it out of the way…