National Rally at Oviston
March 19-22, 2010
(By Ross and Brenda McSweeney)
We arrived early (we thought) on the Tuesday to find that early birds Peter, Charmaine, Bernd, Tinka, Hannes & Annatjie were in place. To the envy of some later arrivals we found the second last tree.
As a National rally it was fairly successful with 17 Motorhomes attending, 3 from
Quite by accident a couple from PE arrived in their newly purchased Autovilla and it did not take too much convincing before they were asking how to join the Club. (I loved this; she took pictures to show her family that out of all the motorhomes, they chose theirs!)
A very big thank you to Bernd and Tinka for their unflinching efforts with regards to the catering and general arrangements to make the weekend enjoyable for everyone. They were ably assisted at various stages by Elsabe, Annatjie and Charmaine (who claimed she was the dishwasher). We were treated to delicious goulash, pork on the spit with salads and boerewors rolls. Thanks to Alan Hatch for supplying an extra Weber. Annatjie was once again a star with her pannekoek and vetkoek. We were really spoilt and unfortunately had to do our own cooking on the Monday. Letters of complaint will follow.
We also need to acknowledge Lappies for his part in getting the spit up and running. He even cooked the pig for us and delicious it was too. He is a superb host, greeting everyone each morning – nothing is too much for him.
Unfortunately there is always a downside to every good time. Ron and Shirley were unable to join us as Shirley had to go in for tests followed by an operation. Shirley is coming along slowly and we wish her a speedy recovery.
Annatjie and Hannes survived a horrific accident which wrote off their new motor home
three weeks after they bought it. We are pleased to say that by the end of the weekend both were looking a lot more relaxed and less stressed out. Take care.
We were mostly a lazy bunch except for a swim, even though the water was so cold, the odd walk (and chat) around the camp and people like Liz and Jim who went for a short 11km walk. Tony and Bets’ bicycle rides came to an end with punctures.
The weather man was pretty good to us for the most part, except when a storm approached and awnings, tents and gazebos were quickly stashed away. However this resulted in some spectacular sunsets, enjoyed by the many photographers.
With regards to entertainment, the group unfortunately declined an historic walk by Ron, Norvalspont’s raconteur on the Monday as most were due to depart that day. Not sure what happened to the cruise on the dam, but it was heard that too many people had seen Titanic.
However, Liz and Jim organized a “quick” game of 30 seconds, always good fun and a Memory Test which was very interesting. Then we were also given a wonderful slide show on Wildlife by Derek and Jacqueline. This had to take place in the communal kitchen, thanks to the rain.
No weekend would be complete without our animal friends. Brenda spotted a beautiful big owl at something like 3am (we believe it to be a Cape Brown Owl). Cuddles Williams (the parrot) talked to himself (and recited Humpty Dumpy mixed with a pail of water!) He talks to himself because he has to compete with Jim. Shambles was fairly quiet as was Tinka’s long haired sausage dog.
On the way back we stayed at “
on Monday night. No wooden spoon was awarded, but for the second time out of three it should have been awarded to a Motorhomer’s dog, namely Benjie (
May we add that
Most of the motorhomers left on the Monday for various destinations en route home having enjoyed a wonderful weekend of fun, laughter and fellowship. And that is what it is all about! We certainly look forward to the same time, same place next year.
The tentative or suggested date is 19/22 March 2011.
