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Requirements:Camping, and digging for bait
--- Later ---
Well, we're back - all sunburnt, full of cuts and nicks, tired and
hungry! We had a lovely day - no wind and lots of sunshine. It must have
been around 30 C - just warm enough to make it enjoyable.
We took the rubber duck along and pumped it up for a joy ride on the
river. It was at the river mouth really, so the water is salty. Had a braai
(or barbie as you call it) and took some raw bread dough along - we buy
it at a shop that bakes bread - and made roosterkoek. Translation? Some
cakes you put on the grid and on the fire. With lots of butter they taste
divine!
Then we took the duck and the four of us went to pump mud prawns -
do you know what they are? They look like normal prawns, but live in the
mud near river mouths. You pump them out - it is against the law to dig
them out. So, you can use either a special pump or a strong jam tin. Our
tin was too weak, so we just jumped on the mud and the prawns would spill
out of their holes. Great fun for the kids!
(Here's John with a question again! : (Re getting the boat out...
your boat?? Or are/were you going hiring one on the river or something?
)
About the boat - we call it a rubber duck. It is made of rubber with
a small engine (8 horse power). It folds up completely. (John pipes
up with a typically male statement: Fascinated by the thought of an 8hp
engine that folds up completely :-) ...)
The boat looks like two thick pencils joined by a flat piece. For the
deck a piece of flat wood is joined so that it can fold. You take a pump
along and pump it up. Some of them are bigger with bigger engines. This
one is just for a bit of sport on the water. But it still has to be licensed
at an exorbitant cost!
The mud prawns - how can you say it sounds revolting? Good clean fun (apart from the muddy toes and fingers!) Now, Arno is a lot taller than I am. So, I would make my holes, digging as deep as I can with my feet for the boys to catch whatever I miss. Then Arno comes along with his long legs and makes deeper holes. On going back, I ended up thigh deep in lots of holes that I didn't make! I am sorry I didn't take the video camera along to show how it works. Maybe later when we go again.
To illustrate the point, these pictures were taken at the Sunday's River Mouth, just outside Port Elizabeth on the road to Grahamstown.
Pumping prawns
The prawn pump is designed to suck mud and water along with the prawns in their holes out of the bank and then onto the shore. It is against the law to dig for prawns as it destroys the banks.
(Explanation by Marlene to John) "While reading this information, I thought people might also be confused about the prawns. See, Boet, they are used for bait!!! I mean, you can see they are MUD PRAWNS; not SWIMMING or PINK prawns! What would people think of us pumping prawns for lunch like this??? Unlike you, who eat all kinds of strange things you call "tea" (yechh! lumps in my tea!) I prefer my prawns pink instead of greyish-white, thank you very much!"
(Everybody clear now? Arno and Marlene do NOT eat these revolting creatures - they just stick hooks through them and dangle them in the water, ok? - Thanks to Marlene for clearing that up. - Boet John)
Jaco (then 7) and Theo (then 6) proudly show off their captured prawns, very dirty and as happy about it as only little boys can be!
Back up to the reading matter you scorned before .....
(Picture taken at Woodridge College and Preparatory School, Feb.
1996.)
Jaco started school there in January 1996 and Theo joined him in
January 1997. Both were extremely happy at this private school, set as
it is on a farm and with very personal attention to all pupils. Children
from as far as Taiwan, Hungary, England and Germany, as well as from African
countries are proud to call themselves Woodridgians.
Back up to the reading matter you scorned before .....
Thank you to 
for this space.
(URL: http://boozers.fortunecity.com/bridge/251/)
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KIBANA-SHAKUNAGE (Rhododendron aureum): One of the Alpine Rhododendrons.
Its pale-yellow color is expressed in both the Japanese and the Latin name
(image).
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