More Adventures with the Munchkin - we continue to have fun together

Wow, it's been a hectic couple of months. I have been away on 4 weekend trips over the last 6 months - 3 have been with Electra. In November 2014 we drove up to a game farm between Bela Bela and Thabazimbi. The Munchkin was only 3 months old and our search and rescue training adventure was only starting. That was an epic trip both from the distance we drove to get to the game farm and what we learnt that weekend.

In March 2015 we went to Swinnburne for some high altitude training. While we sat on the side of a mountain watching the clouds gather over the Drakensberg mountains, my son David was setting out on his Grand Traverse of the Drakensberg. He was climbing the chain ladders above Sentinel car park to get up onto the top of the escapement. Of course I did what good mom's do - I pondered (and tried not to worry) how much mist was swirling around him while climbing the chain ladders. The photo shows how much. David was climbing the chain ladder at the top of the photo. I'm not sure who took these photos - it was one of David's hiking partners.

The next photo is of David standing somewhere on top of the Drakensberg escarpment.

Two weeks later, in April I went down to St Bernard's Peak to collect David at the end of his hike. Unfortunately the Munchkin had to stay at home this time - there was no space in the car for her. However, I organised for the lodge owners to phone me when they have lots of snow - we are going to play in the snow. That should be fun, albeit cold.....










Our latest adventure was a trip to a cattle farm just outside Standerton. I was visiting very close friends. Early Sunday morning we went for a long walk through the farm. The Munchkin flushed a rabbit, quail, guinea fowl, longclaws, pipits and various other small brown birds. I was very pleased to see that she didn't chase any game. I know she doesn't when we are working but it was good to see that she isn't really interested in chasing them when we are out walking. She did decide that it might be a good idea to investigate a cow at close range. Fortunately it didn't take long before she realised that it might not be a wise idea. So.....off she ran again. There are a couple of very big, beautiful Beefmaster/Bonsmara cross bulls on the farm. We gave them a wide berth.....

 I sat on a thick branch of a dead tree overlooking this dam. I enjoyed the view and the Munchkin played with sticks in the dam....

The question that most people might be asking is, what has happened to the search and rescue training? The trips away to different parts of the country are a very important part of her training. She needs to be comfortable in any environment, in any part of South Africa, and even possibly the world. So, one of the aims of our trips away are to expose her to all the different environments in our country. We still do our normal SAR training a couple of times a week but that is a story for another time.

In conclusion it should be noted that trips to the beach are considered part of our daily lives. We are fortunate to live just outside Durban.

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