Lots of December activities

 After two weeks of hill climbing and a lot of activity in the Seychelles in November, I hit a wall in early December with a sinus / allergy / cough kind of thing. Initially I wasn't sure whether it was viral or an allergic reaction to something around at the moment. It seems like it is the latter and after two weeks of doing not much more than dog walking, I jumped into activities and making up for lost time.

During late November / December, we have a bunch of local activities on the go. The weather is summery, the evenings are long and there is so much to get out to do. 

November ended with a Social Paddle, one of the monthly activities that I organise for the Kingfisher Social Paddle Group. The Social Paddle group has been going for almost two years now and it really is something quite special. There are a number of regulars and some that come through occasionally plus newcomers. Once we hit winter this year, I lost the plot with the group and didn't organise paddle outings for a while. Then we had some weird weather patterns with lovely week days and awful weekends. I'm back in the saddle errr... kayak seat now.

End of November Social Paddle at the Garden Route Dam

On 9 December I enjoyed a lovely garden party with friends. Although the weather was cool and drizzly, the afternoon was warm and festive with friends, good picnic-style foods and also fun games.

With my mom Liz

Girls in florals with Talita, Tanja, Zelda, Jolene, me and Liz.

Johann, Otto and Jacques rocking the florals.

A bunch of us headed out on bicycles, on a Wednesday night, to see the xmas lights. Oewer Road in George has a xmas lights thing going with houses in that road and a number in surrounding roads putting on a wonderful display.

Next up was an introduction by friends Otto and Talita to Laser Run, which I wrote about. I'll definitely give a try in the new year.

The laser gun. You have to shoot single handed.

In George we have an awesome trail running community that centres around the George Trail Running (GTR) group, the MountCo trail running store and Trail Kiosk at GroundZero . The efforts of Mountco's Jacques and Clare Mouton with GTR really pull the community together. This year they have coordinated a fabulous holiday programme with a variety of local activities and events. 

I'd missed a few activities with my sinus / cough thing but I wasn't going to miss out on the Sox Xmas Lights Pyjama Night Run - a social run from the Botanical Gardens to see the Xmas lights on Oewer Street on the 20th. It was a treat to do this with my friend Tania who visiting George for the holidays as well as Talita and her daughter Nicky. My Rosy-dog joined the fun.

With Tania and Rosy dog.

Rosy really enjoyed the lights and festivities.

Then, an 'Xmas around the World' concert at the small Market Theatre, a community theatre venue in George on the 21st. It is in an old building, built in 1855, that was previously a church. The guy singing was fantastic, the guy on keyboard was fantastic and the lady on violin was fantastic. The programme was diverse and charming and efficient. A lovely evening of music. I took mom and the dogs to see the xmas lights after the concert.

As luck would have it, the timing on the 22nd was perfect for me to do a kloofing/canyoning trip with

Marthinus Esmeyer from Paradise Adventures on Friday, 23 December. Marthinus knows pretty much every waterway from source to sea in the region. While many rivers around here are no good for paddling, they are superb for canyoning. Marthinus offers a number of canyoning tours within 15 mins of George / Wilderness.

The trip this afternoon was spectacular. I knew the canyon would be pretty, but it was so much more. Swimming through pools, stepping from rock to rock, a few jumps into pools and two belay descents. From my interactions with Marthinus over the last three years, I had no doubt that he was a competent and experienced guide. He is even better than this. He knows these canyons like the back of his hand at all kinds of water levels. His setting up of the belays was smooth and efficient, moving us safely down the bigger drops without fuss or delays. His knowledge of the area and nature is extensive. This trip stands out as a highlight experience of my time living here.

Bombs away!

The water started off mild but got cooler deeper into the canyon. The 4mm wetsuit provided by Marthinus makes the experience all the more enjoyable because you do not get cold.

Friends Tanja and Jacque were on this trip plus two South Africans who live in the UK and are back to visit family for Xmas.

This canyon is spectacular!

The two belay sections were spectacularly run by Marthinus.

I joined the Wimberleys for parkrun in Mossel Bay on the 23rd and we also walked a section of the hiking trail from the lighthouse.

At the new Mossel Bay parkrun with Sarah, Tania and Paul.

It was really hot out on the hiking trail. With Tania, Sarah and Paul.

I love my AR Gaiters

Striking scenery from the hiking trail.

The 23rd was a wonderful triple-whammy as I had been sufficiently organised to coordinate a year-end Kingfisher Social Paddle Group outing on Sat, 23 Dec and made this one in the afternoon. We paddled on the Goukamma River from Blackwaters River Lodge and it was fantastic! A highlight for me, aside from sharing the paddle with my friend Tania, was seeing numerous Giant Kingfishers and having a close-up experience with a Malachite Kingfisher.

Paddling with Tania. She had photo duty.

All types of kayaks - and canoes, SUPs and surfskis - are welcome.

A Malachite kingfisher. 

On the afternoon of the 24th, I ran the December GTR FKT Challenge route. The route this month combines a bunch of trails that I really enjoy. I run some regularly and others less often and I had been wanting to get out there. But coughing and spluttering, I had stuck to dog walks and light jogs. This was actually my greatest cause of feeling that I was missing out. I had also wanted to do something special with Rosy. Off we went. I had such an enjoyable run and cruised in a better time than I expected. Strava says 1h10 moving time but real time was around 1h15 to 1h20. I did stop a few times as Miss Rosy had to swim in every swimmable body of water. It was fabulous. I followed this with two rounds of short dog walks with the others before going out to friends for Xmas Eve celebrations.

After a lovely Xmas Eve dinner with friends, Xmas Day brought its own adventure with an outing to an old forestry area behind Hoekwil with our friend Nics and her dogs. Liz and I took our hoard and we all had a blast with the dogs running all over the place and all of us taking a dip in the stream.

Dogs dogs dogs - Snow and Canada at the back, Nics' Nunzi front centre and Rosy front right.

My sweet Rusty girl.

Riding a dragon... and my mom Liz with her Bella dog.

Dec 26th was another GTR outing with a run at Glentana. I've actually never been down to the Glentana beach so I didn't want to miss this even though it meant being out the door just after 6am on Family Day... The weather was overcast with soft drizzle, but not too cold or windy and well worth doing. The route headed east but as the tide was still up, it meant a lot of scrambling over rocks. We gave up on this, turned around and ran the other way down the beach, which was lovely.

Running east toward the rocks.

With my friend Cliff. He has done exceptionally well this past year with his running. Steady progress.

With Zelda, Udo, Johan, Cliffy, Etienne and two guys in the back (don't know who they are but they were part of the greater group).

Rocks, rocks, rocks.

And this brings us to the present and the Big 5 O Week of orienteering. Where I felt like I was missing out in the early part of December not being in top-top health, I've certainly made up for lost time. 

I am thankful to be living where I am and that there are so many opportunities to get out to do activities and most do not cost a cent.

I am thankful that I have friends who like to do activities.

I am thankful that I have dogs that love activities and ensure I am always out and about.

I am thankful that when I do activities without dogs that I have my mom Liz who gives the dogs love and care.

I am thankful that I am in good health and fitness so that I can do any activity I choose.