NZ Ladies Rifle Team South Africa Report 8
There is no shooting on Sundays at the range, so it was a weekend off for us to do some site seeing, and prepare for the week of shooting.
Car 2 left early to drive 3 hours to Clarence, and I will arrange a report from someone in Car 2 to be posted sometime in the next day or so. But it was a big day for them back at about 7pm.
Car 1 we had a ball, didn't want to go far - a day in Bloemfontein - just awesome.
Arriving at the car we found a present on the windscreen..........a flatten dried toad, thanks John we know it was you.
First stop for the morning was the Armour Museum at the Tempe Military Base in Bloemfontein, we'll just say that we couldn't find it and the army personnel didn't know where it was either. We had lots of laughs trying to find it.
Then it was up to Naval Hill to check out the view. Thanks Di Collings for saying there were giraffe up in the trees.............we saw two giraffe, some bok (don't know which kind they were lying down), zebra and wilderbeast. Just awesome, we were 10 feet away from the Zebra and got some great photos. Nicole and I took plenty of scenery photos and the girls just hung back in the car, the rock climbing was interesting.
The enormous statue of Nelson Mandella that looks over Bloemfontein was magical, we took photos of him with the big bright sun behind him and it looked like he was holding the sun.
We then headed off to the Mall to get our shopping done for the week, sssshhhhh don't tell but I bought some 'bling' (not the rifle kind, but some of the diamond variety).
Dinner for Car 2 was at Spurs. Thanks Owen Whiteman and Shaun Connolly for telling us stories of the Happy Birthday song sung by staff.............we were told of the lack of enthusiam. The girls hatched a plan that I would be the birthday girl and we were suprised at the large group that surrounded the table with a dessert and sparkler to sing a Spur's version of Happy Birthday to me...........didn't want to tell them my birthday was in August! The video has been posted on Facebook, thanks Nicole.
After everyone arriving back at the accommodation it was back to why we are here, and we worked on preparation for this weeks shooting. We had a great team meeting and a team debrief from our first National Park. Lots of camera team shoots.
Karyn Flanagan
Team Manager
Clarens
Meanwhile, the Millers, Helen & Coby took a scenic drive to Clarens, 3 hours away. Clarens is a lovely village much like Arrowtown with quaint little shops.
Some bargains were found and a great lunch, after which we drove half an hour into the Golden Gate National Park. Lots of camera stops for scenery & animals.
We followed a sign towards a cultural village. For 70 rands we joined a guided tour of what Besotho villages were like over the 1800's and 1900's; it was interesting to note the changes in housing, cooking methods, clothing and music. Coby took up her modelling career when a volunteer was asked for demonstration women's outfits.
Apart from the lady in the GPS system playing a practical joke and directing us to a wrong turn the day was very relaxing and we're ready to start our hectic shooting schedule.
Coby Snowden