My Cell Blog

4x4 Outing at Brakkeduine

2012-02-19T07:48:00.000+02:00

And what a day it was :-) I can't wait to get my own 4x4

Picture near my field landing.

2012-02-13T17:51:00.000+02:00

A few weeks ago I did run out of fuel, while returning from a epic flight at a nearby water dam. It was only 3Km from 'home' but the terrain was so difficult and remote, it took me hours to get any help. The fact that it got dark while walking with the motor on my back, did not help either. Anyway, while looking over my old track logs, I saw the one flight from last year, which had a similar return path. I quickly checked for pictures I took during that flight and guess what: One single picture was taken and it was at the exact spot (+-150m) from where I was forced to land. The only difference was the altitude :-) Should I have had this height while my engine cut off, I should have easily glided the 3KM to home. WTF This is life :-)

My Police patrol bike :-)

2012-01-27T15:48:00.001+02:00

Why do people eyeball me? I am only doing my job. Ok Ok, is Friday afternoon and the 4.2 Liter V8 has a bit of a intimidating growl on it but really, there isn't much else to see, or is it?

Paramotoring to the Impofu Dam and back (almost)

2012-01-19T20:44:00.004+02:00

Here is the GoogleEarth track file.

Impofu Dam

Impofu dam, wall and water control tower.

Impofu dam wall longitudinal view.

Impofu dam and Tsitsikama mountains.

At a friend - Cape StFrancis.

2012-01-15T18:44:00.000+02:00

While visiting a friend in Cape StFrancis, I saw this rather magnificent sunset. Once again it proves: a average camera with you is much better then a super camera left at home :-) Thanks to my Nokia n8, the pic is geotagged However, the height is a bit out. Instead of 37,5m it should be 12,5m. I could have waited a bit longer for the gps to get a more accurate fix but really . . . this is my cell phone after all.

New year party

2011-12-31T21:15:00.001+02:00

The pic is geotagged, as most of my pics are. 2011 is closing off in styl. A bit warm outside but there are aircons in the house. Bye,bye everybody and see you in 2012. A new year a new story.

Last barbecue for the year.

2011-12-31T11:10:00.002+02:00

Half of Humansdorp SAPS Court Services Unit.

For the last working day of 2011, my colleagues and I decided to take it easy work-wise. We worked a bit more during the week and on Friday we call it a day by 11:00! After that, I quickly made a fire and we got to some serious stuff. To you all - have a prosperous new year and see u in 2012 :)

Our local Airfield is underwater.

2011-12-18T09:46:00.004+02:00

For almost 6 months now the Paradise Beach airfield has a huge problem. During August 2011 we had good rains. At first people were happy but when flooding became a issue, the mood changed quickly. Worst of all areas was Paradise Beach. There, a huge dune of about 30-40m high and 300-500 meter wide, has cutoff the low lying inland. Therefore, every time it rains more then normal, the rain water is stuck. Unfortunately the local airfield is regularly submerged. Depending on the amount of water, it can take up to a year before it dries out and by that time the following rainy season is here. I am fortunate though. Very fortunate I don’t need an airfield at all. A car park will do. I fly a paramotor

The pic I took hastily with my cell phone (a oldish Nokia N8) while paramotoring up and down the coast. If you are interested, there is a short youtube video. However, the quality is not that good. My helmet handy-cam is rather "skinny". Mind you, it easily fits in a standard sized match box with room to spare.

South of South Africa.

2011-12-11T14:33:00.001+02:00

This morning a old buddy of mine ask me to come visit him at his vacation house. I know him for years but somehow forgot about that place. He fixed it nicely and from now on it will be put to 'good use'.

Another amazing Paramotor flight.

2011-12-10T16:00:00.000+02:00

This morning the wind was a bit erratic and I was late too. Usually I don't bother with flying if I am not up 1hour after sunrise at the latest. This time of the year (summer), thermals are bothering fairly early in the morning. For paragliding is a 'wish come true' but for a paramotor thermals are just another issue to deal with. Another issue was the fairly wet grass onto which I had to takeoff. The wing I am using is a pretty heavy/oversize one and the extra water just makes things worse. After a so and so takeoff I had to fight the wing a bit. After a few minutes it must have dried up because it did not hang back that much anymore and was more responsive. I set course for St.Francis Bay and after reaching 500ft/150m, I ate my BarOne. Did not finish though. There was a bit of unnerving turbulence and I hate it when the wing is not sitting nicely over my head. The 15Km/h wind was coming from the East and I was flying dead South. After about 25 minutes I reached my first turning point and took the picture below :-)

St.Francis Bay as seen from North looking South.

After St.Francis I set course 040deg and flew along the beach towards Jeffrey's Bay. The laminated sea breeze made the flight a pleasure and now I took some 'time off' and played a bit with my cell phone's camera. Not much to see down below (just bush field) - so below is a picture of myself having a good time.

Mario flying between St.Francis and Jeffrey's Bay.

After 20 or so minutes I reached Astonbay, a suburb of Jeffrey's Bay, my destination. Astonbay has e relatively new housing development called Marina Martenique, and a renown starshaped low-rise building with a million dollar view.

The building above is the only one with more then 3 levels in the entire area!

Another 7-8 minutes and I was looking at the Jeffrey's Bay police station, a place where I worked for exactly 12 years. Thanks God, now I have been transferred closer to home (Today I work at the Humansdorp Police Station)

Jeffrey's Bay main beach and town center.

Here is a friend's house, just before my landing place at the Kabeljous lagoon.

Final destination :-) With my petrol tank almost empty I descended to 30-40feet (10-15m) and had a good time scaring the fishes in the lagoon below.

Kabeljous Lagoon north of Jeffrey's Bay.

This was a very nice flight. A bit bumpy at first but very exciting. A pity I only started with a bit more the 4L fuel, otherwise I should have flown back to Humansdorp. With the 10-15Km/h wind from behind, I should have covered the 15Km in 20-25minutes to complete the triangle. At least I have a challenge now :-)

Michael and his friend.

2011-12-08T19:20:00.001+02:00

Michael with his friend Willem from Jeffreys Bay,watching tv.

How many of you use Windows Live Writer ?

2011-11-29T19:01:00.000+02:00

A few days ago I have installed Windows Home and Student 2010 on my PC. I was surprised to see it comes with a blog writer application. They call it “Windows Live Writer”. It is rather nice but really, how many people actually use it to publish on their blogs?

Nokia N8 in action.

A few more pics from Buffel's-Bay

2011-11-27T17:35:00.002+02:00

Buffel's Bay - Main beach and parking area.

Daddy and Emi canoeing on Buffel's River.

Our last day was rained out. Yet the N8's camera did a rather good job at taking this final pic.

Another Buffels Bay pic.

2011-11-26T20:34:00.001+02:00

Just have a look at Google earth and at my picture. Technology is wonderfull. One can sit all his life at home yet still see the whole world !

Buffels Bay beach.

2011-11-26T17:15:00.001+02:00

The picture quality of my old Nokia n8, never stops to surprise me. Over the years I've learned a few things about pictures and cameras however, on many a occasion I find it difficult to see which picture has been taken with my canon and which with the cellphone :-) Thank God there is such thing as a exif data in a Jpeg picture. And yes, all the cell pics are geotagged. (use Picasa and have Google earth installed)

Weekend outing.

2011-11-26T16:53:00.001+02:00

Finally, I made some time and took the family out for a well deserved weekend. We decided not to drive more then 2h and to go to some place we already know. After all, one weekend is to short to figure out a new surrounding. After a short deliberation we all decided to go to Buffels bay.

Murder suspects at the court.

2011-11-18T12:45:00.001+02:00

Is sad to hear of 7 year old children been murdered in Jesus's name. The police man in the small picture at the left is none other then myself :) I only hope the suspects will be found guilty and will rot in jail.

Went Paramotoring on Saturday.

2011-11-13T07:24:00.000+02:00

My friends house in a nearby valley.

Impofu Dam from 2Km NE and 300m up.

On Saturday afternoon I had a quick (1Hour) paramotor flight. My wife went to a friend's birthday and I was supposed to fix the roof. Guess what, as soon as she left, I left too. And no, I did not go up on the roof - I went somewhat higher, much higher :-)

The takeoff was a bit dodgy due to my chronic unfitness. Once in the air I realized the speed bar was still locked behind the leg straps. I guess I was to keen (hasty) to get up. I wanted to fly to the Impofu dam for a picture session but the wind was coming directly from the said dam, which meant I reeeeally needed that speed bar. To deploy it though, I had to undue my leg straps. Not a wise move considering the air was a bit rough at times. However, all went well and on half bar I was doing about 28-30Km/h against the wind. At that speed I will be at the said dam, in 20 or so minutes. The Impofu dam is only 10Km from my TO. However, the closer I got to it, the stronger the wind got (and rough). I did not want to push my luck twice on the same flight and about 2KM from the dam I decided to get out of there. I flew to a friend's house where the air was much calmer (and warmer). After that I got low over a nearby wildlife sanctuary where I saw some bush buck. A pity the camera's battery did not hold up. Never the less, a nice 1hour flight. And yeah, it was much better then fixing the roof :-)

P.S. The landing was much better then the takeoff.

Stulting school - End of year Certificate award ceremony.

2011-10-29T09:24:00.000+02:00

Emerei improved a lot in her school-work over the last few years. Now, at the end of Grade 5, she is 1st in her class and 3th in her Grade (out of just over 100 pupils). Well done Emi. You've really earned that Samsung tablet you want so much. Christmas is around the corner :-)

Pixelpipe test post.

2011-10-27T02:34:00.001+02:00

This post will be deleted. It is ment for testing purposes only regarding the validity of my enabled pixelpipe accounts.

Paramotors and Safety Chutes.

2011-10-16T19:11:00.002+02:00

I see, most reserves in PPG have the bridles connected behind the karabiners, closer to the cage. The idea is, in case of a deployment, the pilot will be 'forced' into a standing position and the legs will absorb most of the force from the (imminent) landing impact. That's at least the theory. In real life things are a bit more complicated because a paramotor pilot can not apply the PFL technique, as easy and meaningful as with a paraglider. Personally, after destroying 2 props and hurting my back a bit, during 'rough' landings, I decided to have a closer look at the issue. It quickly became clear, even experienced PPG pilots have little understanding what it means to land under a safety chute with a 50pound+ and 5feet+ steel/aluminum cage on your back. Fortunately, unlike paragliding, paramotoring is done in less demanding flying conditions, which means a safety chute deployment is less luckily. I was not satisfied though. I wanted a passive system (kind of safety belt in a vehicle), which really does something in the case of a emergency landing. Eventually I came up with a carbon-fiber 'add on' skid, which is mounted/bolted at the base of the cage. Further, a fairly thick (15cm) Hi impact absorbing foam under the seat. The system looks pretty neat and (unfortunately) it did not take long before it did shown its capability.
On a fairly rough Sunday afternoon I was desperate for a flight. But shortly after TO I realized I was better on the ground then in the air. My wing is a very safe one. It is the only wing on the market, which has a factory recommended C-Line (not B!), parachutal stall rating. It even has specially mounted tabs (red color), which the pilot can activate by pulling down to initiate the procedure. On that particular day, at around 100feet above ground, I did just that. In turbulent conditions my wing turned into a (fairly stable) parachute and according to my vario I was descending at 5-5.5m/s. As expected, within 5 or so seconds I was on the ground. To my huge surprise (and relief), the feathering system worked as planed and the fairly hard landing (on grass mind you), resulted in absolutely no damage to the motor or myself. It reminded me of jumping in my swimming poll while hitting the water with my bum. Now, I expected the landing to be cushioned but not by that much. I am not a good pilot, however I know a thing or two about physics and maths (applied maths is my other hobby) and I must admit, even I was surprised at how good the system worked. This needed further investigation.
When a paramotor lands under a safety chute, the movement is almost entirely vertical and a fairly fast one at that. The legs hit the ground first and then we are supposed to do a PFL to dissipate the remaining energy. But here is the problem! The big cage and weight does not allow that and we end up falling on our bums hitting the ground hard while the cage basically falls on our backs, on top of us! Not good.
It turned out that in my case, the movement was spread over three stages, each absorbing a chunk of the impact force. First the legs hit the ground (obviously I get out of the seat but DO NOT hang out with the cage high on my back as you would if the bridal/safety chute was connected much further back then the usual karabiners !) Secondly, the cage hits the ground - it basically slides down behind your back. Here the fiberglass attachment (tested to 10G's before bottoming out), absorbs most of the motor/cage's impact. Then the cage bounces back a little. And because it is strapped to our backs it basically pushes the body in a forward motion just as the bum hits the ground. Here, the Hi-impact foam absorbs what our legs could not absorb during the initial impact. It is of note that the engine/cage actually helps with the landing, by forcing the body in a correct, spine protective, forward leaning position, mere milliseconds before the bum hits the ground! It took me a while to figure out all this and come up with the right amount of flexing in the carbon-fiber skid. Now it works rather nicely as long as two things are happening before the impact.
1.Have the correct skid and Bum protection in place as a passive safety feature !
2.After activating/deploying the safety chute, get out of the seat as you would normaly do before landing. DON'T lean too much forward!
From here on, nature takes care of the rest. I hope this helps someone out there.
Greetings,
Mario ☺

Some more pics from our Capetown vacation.

2011-10-11T13:50:00.000+02:00

Wine tour - the end. (note the slightly blurry bottle in the background! I am shaking a bit. Or is it the ground shaking?

Club Mykonos on the west coast. Believe it or not, I won this round :-)

Clanwilliam dam is 100% full. Looks much better in reality then in this pic.

Eating pora's "fish and chips".

And buying the "Fish and Chips" from the one and only - Pora's fish market :-)

Marina just before going on the famous "Cobra" roller-coaster at Ratanga junction in Capetown. The Cobra pulls a bit more G's then my paramotor when I fly tight spirals, but it only lasts for a second or so. Mind you, that was enough for Marina to slightly hurt her neck :-(

Michael (right in the front carriage) on the "snail train" at Ratanga pleasure park.

Michael watching the Orix antelope on the slopes of Cape Point.

Table Mount seen from Water front - what a sight -

This pics have been taken with my cellphone (Nokia N8) and are geo-tagged!

Use the program Picasa + Googleearth to see the exact location.

Welcome to the 21-st century :-)

Capetown Vacation pics.

2011-10-10T18:16:00.000+02:00

Emerei. Michael, Marguerite and Marina at Hout Bay.

Hout Bay - Panorama picture.

Old ship in the dock - Capetown.

Unknown butterfly at the Butterfly farm.

Wild dove at the Butterfly farm.

Cape Parrot at the Butterfly farm.

Marina with friend at Morgenhof Winery.

One more wine tasting to come . . .

Marina, Marguerite, myself and Michael on Table mountain.

Emerei, Marguerite and Marina on Table mountain.

Marguerite, Marina and Emi on Table mountain

The whole family on Table mountain.

Myself with Emerei on Table mountain.

On vacation in Capetown.

2011-10-03T19:56:00.001+02:00

After almost a full year, I went on a well deserved vacation with the family. The picture you see, I took while driving around in the Cape peninsula.

At Shaunda's Farm

2011-09-25T18:23:00.000+02:00

At the old bridge.

Happy hour.

Emerei's first public apperance.

2011-09-25T10:27:00.000+02:00

Yesterday evening (Saturday the 24th), my daughter Emerei made her debut on stage at the renown Pooter's Place local, in Jeffrey's Bay. She looked stunning and performed just as good. Keep up the good work Emi :-)

Getaway weekend photos.

2011-09-15T20:20:00.000+02:00

On the way to the Beach.

Resting before entering the Dunes.

Sand, sand and more sand.

Final destination.

Look at my son.The waves are further away, yet they appear bigger. This is roughly average size. On occasion the waves reach 10-12 feet + (4meters high)

Michael is SEVEN years old !

2011-08-18T19:40:00.000+02:00

We are the hunters

In the bush

Ready for action

Target practice

And some more practice

Shooting for fun

Huh, I freaking can't believe my little one is seven years old. Theoretically speaking that makes me 44 :-( What a thought. But then again, theory was never my strength.

At McDonald Jeffrey's Bay

2011-08-18T16:27:00.000+02:00

Here is a pic I took in haste with my N8. The camera of this cellphone does amaze me with its quality - time and again.

Got a Bushbuck.

2011-07-17T20:36:00.000+02:00

With this year's hunting season coming to a close, I decided to go for one old bushbuck ram, on my father in law's cattle farm. Bushbuck eat mainly browse but supplement their diet with any other plant matter they can reach. They are active around 24 hours a day but tend to be nocturnal near human habitations. Bushbuck tend to be solitary, though some live in pairs. All bushbucks live within a "home" area. Normally they will not leave this area, which is usually around 50 000 square meters on the savannah and much larger in the forest. These areas usually overlap other bushbuck "home areas". Bushbucks are basically solitary animals. I am not much of a hunter although I own a beautiful Brno rifle in the .270 calibre. 15 to 20 years ago, I used to hunt quite a lot but nowadays flying is my top hobby. I like my .270 very much and I am very confident with it. I prefer shots at 200-300m. This time around I had to shoot over a small stream full of impenetrable vegetation. I did aim for the upper left side chest area. The bullet exited further back on the other side, as you can see in the picture. The 130gr bullet did considerable damage to the left lung and liver. The buck died within a minute although I took almost a hour to reach it.

While dragging the carcase thru the bush with the help of my son and brother-in-law, I thought the buck weighs in at over 70KG. However,back home the scale showed only a modest 64Kg. Nevertheless a big animal, with horns pointing straight up, at just over 15in.

Here is my son Michael with one of the helpers in the background.

Michael and the frogs.

2011-07-11T09:24:00.001+02:00

Today we went to visit my in-laws cattle farm and while walking around with my son, I remembered I had the Nokia N8 camera phone with me :-)

Cape St.Francis

2011-07-11T09:23:00.001+02:00

The white 'tower' you see in the background is none other then the famous Cape St.Francis light house.

Party Time.

2011-07-06T17:55:00.000+02:00

This is the Party our unit planed for 3 months. It was nice.My problem was, I don't drink :( Therefore, my enjoyment was somewhat limited :-)

Is nice to be on vacation.

2011-06-28T13:49:00.000+02:00

Ok. I am a bit drunk and my hand is shaking :-0 Under the circumstances - not a bad pic as a self-portrait though.

Our Dam is full :-)

2011-06-23T20:08:00.000+02:00

Loerie Dam at 100%

How nice. For a change our nearest dam is full. This dam is fairly small at only 3100Megalitres and function as a ballancing dam to the much bigger Kauga dam (126000Megalitres) Nevertheless is a nice sight to see a dam overflowing.

Flooded road !

2011-06-11T14:24:00.000+02:00

While transporting prisoners, on my second last day at work, I come across this :-( How on Earth am I supposed to cross the Gamtoos river ? Well, about 85KM further and a hour later I was on the other side :-)

Drinking alcohol and driving . . .

2011-05-30T09:37:00.001+02:00

Normally I don't post work related stuff on my blog. However,I thought you have to see this. Yesterday night a truck stopped on the interstate and our police vehicle stopped behind the truck to warn the other vehicles. Not long thereafter, the VW Golf you see in the picture, stopped behind the police vehicle. Fortunately the driver got out just in time. Moments later, a Opel sedan drove into the back of the Volkswagen, at full speed (150km/h or almost 100miles/h)! Needless to say,the person driving the Opel was drunk (4 times over the limit). Fortunately no one was (seriously) injured. A miracle if you ask me.

Missed opportunity!

2011-05-25T09:20:00.002+02:00

After the epic flight I had on Friday afternoon,I did some 'engine fixing' which I wanted to do for quite some time. However, during the power-run (just before takeoff),the accelerator cable unhooked itself from the carburator hinge. I managed to reconnect it but something was not quite right because it came out once again. It had to be properly secured in the workshop (at home). Sadly I had to pack-up. I believe in the say: 'Better safe then sorry'. - Sunset in Humansdorp :-)

Michael the Cheetah

2011-05-07T13:20:00.001+02:00

The 'Cheetah Boy',

Last weekend, we have been to a nearby game sanctuary, which is mostly dedicated to cheetahs. Michael, my 6 year old son decided, from now on the cheetah is his preferred animal.

Cheetah wildlife sanctuary.

2011-05-04T11:13:00.001+02:00

For the Easter holiday we decided to visit a nearby wildlife sanctuary. My kids enjoyed very much the 3 days outing. They took lots of pictures of the animals we saw while driving in the park.

Baviaanskloof South Africa.

2011-05-04T10:25:00.001+02:00

Such a beautifull place. Very isolated though. The road is quite bad. But that's exactly the place I am looking for :-)

Baviaanskloof Trip.

2011-05-04T08:06:00.001+02:00

I love my VW Caravelle mini bus, my family and the outdoor life. Put this 3 together and here is a GPS tagged picture i took with my trusted cellphone while driving deep into the Baviaans Creek.

At the Beach.

2011-04-23T20:54:00.000+02:00

Emerei and Grieta on the way back.

Michael playing on the sand dune with his friends.

Michael at Oyster Bay beach.

Mirco's visit.

2011-04-23T09:04:00.000+02:00

Wow, after a long time my bud Mirco came to visit. Not only that but today starts our 2 week holiday. The only bad thing is, my Paramotor is not 'start ready'. This morning my pull-start rewind spring, broke. It can be fixed but it must wait till Tuesday :-( And finally, wish you all a Happy Easter weekend.

MyHome Pic for Google Earth

2011-04-16T12:26:00.001+02:00

To see this Picture in Google, Earth you have to DOWNLOAD the .kmz file first.

Kruisfontein Picture for GoogleEarth.

2011-04-13T20:02:00.001+02:00

This picture has been taken with my Nokia N8 cell phone. Although the phone takes beautiful pics, my hand was shaking a bit because of the wind and it came out blurry. Nevertheless, the quality is good enough to improve the Google Earth resolution. If you have Google Earth installed on your computer, you are welcomed to DOWNLOAD the description file and open the picture GE. Note the development which took place between the original Google Earth picture (2004) and my picture (2011).

Emerei before the presentation.

2011-04-02T11:58:00.000+02:00

Emerei.my eldest daughter,posing in our garden, shortly before the start of the school theater competition. She not only designed the dress but actively helped in making it. :-)

20KM bicycle ride.

2011-03-27T11:32:00.000+02:00

I never thought my two younger kids (9 and 6) can ride for 20KM +. The day was quite warm but not hot. Notice the small bicycle the little boy has. For every 8-feet of ground he must pedal once around. And that for 20KM of fairly flat terrain! No kidding if you ask me :-)

Herald or Red-lipped snake.

2011-03-13T16:51:00.002+02:00

Hey, I have quite a few of this in my garden. They are all juveniles and only about 30cm long. Some have already been killed by my dogs. Two I managed to save though :-) They are Crotaphopeltis hotamboeia. They are mildly poisonous and their fangs are right at the back of their mouths. Not dangerous at all but because they put up such a fight when molested, few people have the guts to grab them. Here is a YouTube video clip.

Michael and his Tatoos :-)

2011-03-13T16:34:00.001+02:00

I work with inmates on a daily basis. (Yeah, I know, I have a stupid job.) Most have tatoos all over their bodies.

However, when they get out of the prison, some want to leave the 'ugly marks' behind. Is not so easy though - unless you have tatoos like this :-)

I hope he get's enough of them now so that he won't bother as an adult.

Our new TV.

2011-03-02T16:41:00.000+02:00

Right on my eldest daughter's birthday (11 years), my 11year old Samsung tv decided to go :-( I could not believe my bad luck. A few days before that, my 150litres hot water boiler busted and 11 days earlier my wife's car (the starter) broke. I did explain to my children, unless a miracle happens, we won't get a new tv until April,when my wife receives her yearly salary bonus. Well, more or less a miracle did happened. Our insurance paid out for the water boiler and TV! They even offered to buy me a new TV at a very reasonable price. I did pay 5000 Rand back in 1999 for the old one and I was prepared to pay the same amount this time around. Now here it is. A 55in lcd logik tv set :-) Yeah baby, just believe in miracles . . .

My 'new' job - nothing has changed . . .

2011-03-01T10:13:00.001+02:00

Ok,today is one full month since I work at the court. At first I was happy and looked 'forward' to the new challenge. However,I begin to realise although I work in a new environment,I am still a police man :-(

My Home from 250m up.

2011-02-20T20:44:00.001+02:00

This is what my house looks like from about 250m up. While paramotoring this morning I gave a try my cellphone's camera. And the pic did not came out too bad :-)

My work place.

2011-02-07T08:56:00.001+02:00

Here is a pic taken with my N8. This is panorama picture. This cellphone takes such pictures all on its own.

Picture test via Picasa.

2011-01-29T21:28:00.001+02:00

picture has been taken and resized with my N8 cellphone.

Huh . . . I badly need a holiday :-(

2011-01-21T16:44:00.000+02:00

A few more pics from our holiday.

2011-01-17T11:14:00.005+02:00

And finally, here are a few more pictures from our Buffel's bay holiday. What a nice time I/we had there.

Our Guest House as seen by Google Earth.

Buffel's Bay beach.

My self with Marina and Michael.

Emerei at the "wheel" of John Dorry.

I and Marguerite on the boat.

Yeah, I do watch TV, once in a blue moon :-)

Michael at the "wheel" of John Dorry with his friend Rudolf and the Captain.

The Family :-)

Paragliding at Buffel's Bay.

2011-01-15T17:30:00.004+02:00

This is our second last day in Buffel's Bay. A few paragliding buds from C-Town (South Africa), demonstrated some fine ground control while taking of from a perfectly level beach. OK, they used the dune as a 'wind elevator' but they never walked up the overgrown dune. The wind was way to strong for paramotoring. How bad (for me). I have try to paramotor earlier but the 20+Km/h wind kept me on the ground.I have decided to wake up at 06:00 tomorrow morning, hopping the wind will not be too strong.

The long walk . . .

2011-01-13T13:58:00.005+02:00

This pic is GeoTagged. See if you can locate the exact location in GoogleEarth.

The long walk . . .

2011-01-13T13:58:00.003+02:00

This pic is GeoTagged. See if you can locate the exact location in GoogleEarth.

The long walk . . .

2011-01-13T13:58:00.001+02:00

No one did believe us but my son and I, did walk/run along the beach, from Buffel's Bay to Brenton on Sea and back! On the first leg the wind was from East, right in the face and slowed us down a bit. On the way back it was 'all downhill' and we did the 6km, soft sand beach, in 45min. The first leg took just under one hour. Not bad for a 44 year old couch potato and a 6 year old kid . . .

On vacation in Buffel's Bay.

2011-01-12T16:00:00.001+02:00

Wow,finally we've made it. Once again we come to visit this beautifull place. Its not only beautifull but is safe too. And that says a lot because we are in South Africa after all.

Michael at the Kabeljous lagoon.

2011-01-02T09:59:00.003+02:00

Keep in mind, my cellphone has a build-in GPS and most photos in here are location tagged. Using PICASA (or any other suited program), you can see in Google Earth where exactly the pictures have been taken !

Michael at the Kabeljous lagoon.

2011-01-02T09:59:00.001+02:00

Michael's friends went fishing and he stayed home. Not for long though. While searching the beach for his buddies we stopped at the lagoon to watch the flamingos.

Day after Christmas stroll.

2010-12-30T19:49:00.005+02:00

I and Michael at our local paragliding takeoff site (Oudebosh)

Day after Christmas stroll.

2010-12-30T19:49:00.003+02:00

On the way to the Oudebosh takeoff site. (Paragliding and Hangliding)

Day after Christmas stroll.

2010-12-30T19:49:00.001+02:00

Michael looking over his grandfather's cattle ranch from our Paragliding take off site.

Christmas Service at our Church.

2010-12-30T19:36:00.001+02:00

This year we had a new preacher. He did something different, out of ordinary. And for a change, the children were involved too. How nice.

2010/12/22

2010-12-22T11:50:00.004+02:00

This pic has been taken by Allen from Capetown with a 'proper' camera while flying tandem with a RedBull replica owned by his buddy.

2010/12/22

2010-12-22T11:50:00.003+02:00

Here is a 'closeup'. Nice toy if you ask me :-)

Capetown just after Sunset.

2010-12-06T15:24:00.001+02:00

How do you like this one. A bud of mine took this pic while paramotoring around the 'Mother City' earlier this year. It was just after the sun has set and the colors came out a bit funny. Nice nevertheless. The picture is a snapshot out of the movie his HiDef helmet camera recorded. The thing is no bigger then a chicken egg, yet it records at a very good quality.

Michael's first fish :-)

2010-12-04T18:31:00.007+02:00

Michael's first fish :-)

2010-12-04T18:31:00.005+02:00

Michael's first fish :-)

2010-12-04T18:31:00.003+02:00

Michael's first fish :-)

2010-12-04T18:31:00.001+02:00

My 6year old son Michael,managed to catch his first fish ever. It is a spotted grunter ( http://www.south-african-game-reserves.com/fish/spottedgrunter.htm ) He was sooo suprised, he could not belive it.

Beautiful Nyala female.

2010-12-02T09:16:00.002+02:00

While walking on a friend's cattle ranch not far away from my house, I came across a small herd of Nyalas (3 or 4). At first I was a bit stunned because I did not expect to see such game on that farm. But then I quickly got my cell and snapped this pic. Unfortunately the big Nyala bull was already out of view. Only the one young female hesitated for a second or so before she too disappeared into the bushes. Fortunately I had just enough time to take the picture. At first, the owner of the farm did not belive me when I toled him about the encounter. Only after seeing the picture and figuring out where exactly it was taken, he accepted the fact :-)

Michael - the Photograph :-)

2010-11-27T09:11:00.001+02:00

This is one of the first pictures taken by my 6years old son Michael. He 'borrowed' his sister's camera for the 'occassion'.

Tuning my Paramotor.

2010-11-21T21:29:00.001+02:00

"Don't fix it if ain't broken!".In hindsight I should have listened to that old saying . . . To cut a long story short, during my last engine service I did a "carb job". After buying a carburator kit, I disassembled,cleaned and replace all seals. No amount of tuning got the engine to run as smooth and powerfull as it did before the "job".

Ciskei

2010-11-20T21:48:00.003+02:00

I suggest to visit Wikipedia if you want to know more about Ciskei.

Ciskei

2010-11-20T21:48:00.001+02:00

I took this picture while driving at over 100km/h. The camera from my Nokia 6220c never stops to suprise me.

My son Michael graduates from preschool :-)

2010-11-16T12:05:00.015+02:00

My son Michael graduates from preschool :-)

2010-11-16T12:05:00.013+02:00

My son Michael graduates from preschool :-)

2010-11-16T12:05:00.011+02:00

My son Michael graduates from preschool :-)

2010-11-16T12:05:00.009+02:00

My son Michael graduates from preschool :-)

2010-11-16T12:05:00.007+02:00

My son Michael graduates from preschool :-)

2010-11-16T12:05:00.005+02:00

My son Michael graduates from preschool :-)

2010-11-16T12:05:00.003+02:00

My son Michael graduates from preschool :-)

2010-11-16T12:05:00.001+02:00

How not to jump in the pool.

2010-11-09T02:42:00.001+02:00

My buddy from Bloemfontein, (Freestate Province) came for the weekend.

Pictures from Maputo

2010-11-02T10:16:00.001+02:00

Flying between the palm trees in Maputo.

Pictures from Maputo

2010-11-02T10:10:00.001+02:00

Flying over Maputo's beach.

Pictures from Maputo

2010-11-02T10:07:00.001+02:00

Flying over the lagoon.

I am 44 years old :-)

2010-10-25T14:32:00.001+02:00

I don't mind getting old . . . if only my hair won't thin out like that . . .

Signal Hill - Capetown

2010-10-17T10:09:00.001+02:00

I and my friend Nelu from NewYork. Believe it or not, last time I say Nelu was in 1981. I was 14 and he was 17 or so. But then again - what is 29 years between friends . . .

Last picture from Addo.

2010-10-02T18:48:00.001+02:00

My family on a outing in Addo Elephant parc,Eastern Cape,South Africa.

Our day trip to Addo Parc.

2010-10-02T08:23:00.005+02:00

A heard of buffalo was waiting nearby for the elephants to finish at the watter hole. However, I noticed this one huge buffalo approaching the watter with elephants and all. He never quite got into the watter but he wasn't showing much respect for the elephants either.

Our day trip to Addo Parc.

2010-10-02T08:23:00.003+02:00

This is what the frame looks like without to much zoom.

Our day trip to Addo Parc.

2010-10-02T08:23:00.001+02:00

Elephants at the watter hole in Addo sanctuary. It was hot and the animals were sort of fighting for the watter. I took this picture from some distance using my old Sony handycam. Not bad for a 10x zoom,2MP, 2003 MODEL.

Nice outing . . .

2010-09-29T16:17:00.002+02:00

What a nice vacation day. I am blogging this right from Addo Elephant Park. My cell phone has barely 'contact' to the world. I hope this pic will be uploaded. After 2 or so hours of game viewing, we decided to stop at the main camp and have a barbecue. I couldn't believe my eyes . . . We searched for elephants and guess where we saw the most :-)

Capetown vacation Sept. 2010

2010-09-28T14:46:00.022+02:00

Last picture I took of Nelu at the Cape Town airport.