Final Post !

After some careful thought, I have decided to discontinue this blog, and instead send out a weekly newsletter to our immediate family members, as well as several close friends who have been regular followers of our blog. For anyone else who would like to receive our weekly letter, please send me your email address to bunk@infowest.com.

A big thanks to all our faithful followers.

Bunk & Dian

Whales !!!

As I'm writing this, I'm sitting out on our deck looking out over the ocean. It's a beautiful bright sunny day, not too much wind, and we are being treated to a circus performance of whales. There must be several dozen, maybe even more, breaching, jumping, rolling, flipping, and just having fun. People have been telling us ever since we arrived in Port Alfred to watch for the whales in October. Up till now, we've had our doubts, but today, they're here. There are humpback, sperm, southern wright, and even bottle nose dolphins. I'm not expert enough to tell the difference, but that's what we're told. What a treat! We hope they stick around for a while.

Water, Water everywhere and not a drop to drink !

As I've mentioned before, South Africa is a first-world country with third-world problems. Maintaining the infrastructure here has become a major challenge for both the National government, as well as municipalities throughout the country.

Water is an ongoing challenge here in Port Alfred. Most cities here I South Africa actually have very good water systems that provide excellent tap water....... certainly better than St George water. It's a bit of a different matter here however. The water here is full of a variety of noxious minerals which makes it very bitter. On roof that, the system of pipes is very old resulting in numerous "water outages".

Its the only water available in the township here, but most of the Port Alfred resident have large, 1,000 gallon "rain barrels" that they use for culinary water. Many homes have two or three rain barrels. It does rain here enough to keep the barrels full nearly all the time.

Unfortunately the water here in the complex where we live has only the municipal tap water, so it's off to the water store each week. Yes, that right....... the water store. That's all they sell. We go through about 20 gallons of filtered water each week for cooking and drinking. At first it was a bit of a drag, but I quickly realized that this was giving me for great exercise. You see....... everything has it's plus side.
Below is a picture of a typical rain barrel that you would see adjacent to most houses here.

Wednesday Walkabout

Our dear friends, Ruth and Tim Cockbain have a regular weekly practice of going on a "walkaout" every Wednesday. That could be a hike into any one of th many beautiful back-country spots here in the Port Alfred area, or along many of the pristine beaches, or maybe a visit to a museum, game reserve, etc. Last week, they invited us to spend the morning hiking the vast beaches south of the Riet River mouth. The beach is quite flat and several hundred yards wide, bordered by immense sand dunes, and punctuated by three huge rock outcroppings that jut out into the ocean called the Three Sisters. Tim and I climed to th top of one of the "Sisters" for a specutacular view of this magnificent shoreline . As we all climd around the front side of one of the Sisters at low tide, at a time when we tought we'd be safe, a couple of waves caught us by surprise and absolutely drenched us. Later we found a warm spot out of the wind to dry off and have a light lunch. We then made the long hike back befor the entire beach was reclaimed by the rising tide. What a day!

Pictures below: Dian through the hole in the rock drying off; Just befor we were all drenched by an unexpected wave; Dian with our good friend, Ruth Cockbain (our Relief Society President), and those majestic sand dunes.

Western Night

One of the first things we did when we arrived in Port Alfred was to attend the local Rotary Club. Having been Rotary members at home, the Port Alfred Club decided to make us honorary members during our stay here. We have enjoyed the friendships we have developed through our association with the club, and we feel we have helped to develop a more positive image of the Church within the Port Alfred community.

In addition to working with some the the club's community service projects, we have also enjoyed some fun times with them. The attached picture shows Dian singing "Those Boots Were Made For Walking" at their annual Western Night party. Needless to say, she was a big hit.

Row, Row, Row Your Boat

Big weekend in Port Alfred........... its the Inter Collegiate Rowing Championships this past weekend on the Kowie River here in Port Alfred. And of course, college kids from all over South Africa were here in mass to cheer on their favorite teams.

African Winter

The one thing we will miss the most when we return home next spring will be the wonderful friends we have made throughout South Africa, Botswana and Swaziland. One couple that we have enjoyed emensely is Pat and Albert Whitfield. We became acquainted with them through our association in the Port Alfred Rotary Club. I mentioned Pat in an earlier post regarding her efforts to develop stronger literary skills here in the Port Alfred schools. Pat and her husband, Albert retired here in Port Alfred two years ago after fourty years of ranching and farming in the Free State Province in the central high plateau of South Africa. They gained a reputation and great respect for being outstanding stewards of the land. Pat is a beautiful watercolor artist, but also writes very touching poetry. We are just now coming out of winter here, and although we here in Port Alfred do not have the bitter cold of the central highlands where the Whitfield's farm was, I was still very touched by her poem, African Winter, which she has given me permission to share with you.



AFRICAN WINTER


Find a road that runs up to the sky

Find a randjie where wild winds blow

Find a landscape wiped of colour

Where the grey sun tips the fading hills,

And the rolbossies and the mealie leaves

Blow in the empty lands

See the sheep dust lift in clouds along the road

See the cattle hunched against the fence

Pause where the wind can catch your hair

Hitch your shoulder against the cold

Then open your palms and feel God’s peace

In the aching beauty of this high land.