Strong- Weekly Travel Theme

http://wheresmybackpack.com/2014/09/19/travel-theme-strong/

A Caterpillar is strong! Even this abandoned one, surviving in the wind and weather for so many years. Taken in the Drakensberg mountains of South Africa in 2007. And Cat has such lovely clothes as well, I have a pair of boots, and 2 pairs of black shoes made by Cat, and 3 pairs of blue jeans that endures for years and years… really strong clothing. So my thoughts of Strong is the CAT brand…

Ailsa has such beautiful quotes at this week’s travel theme challenge:

The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places. – Ernest Hemingway

Promise me you’ll always remember: You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. – A.A. Milne

Noise- Weekly Travel Theme

http://wheresmybackpack.com/2014/09/12/travel-theme-noise/

Ailsa- so let me think a little. What would a Rider know about noise… thinking, thinking… ah…

That annoying habit of some bikers at the South African rallies to mess up a pool…

Sorry- I am so predictable…

Merchandise- Ailsa’s Weekly Travel Theme

http://wheresmybackpack.com/2014/09/05/travel-theme-merchandise/

Ah, an opportunity to share some more photos of yesterday’s Church Fete… 

Orange: Ailsa’s Travel Theme

http://wheresmybackpack.com/2014/08/22/travel-theme-orange/

I have been so missing in action around here I will be greeted like a stranger! Hi all you people! I do have some orange photos! Being a Biker, people will immediately assume it will be KTM photos, but no, I am a Beemer fan… but here is an orange bike to satisfy the first impulses:

I think it is a custom Suzuki Boulevard, but Cruisers is not my scene yet, so I might be totally wrong, in which case I sincerely apologise. Seen at the Poison Rally in Kroonstad, South Africa a few years back. But it is a beauty!

Then, living in a rural town of South Africa, we do like agricultural shows around here. And veteran tractors usually gets a lot of attention…

A Minneapolis Moline, far far away from home…

Next on the orange list: a Sunset silhouette- I should have entered this one in last week’s Photo Challenge!

Nature at it’s most beautiful orange best at sunset…

A foreign country, no, not Holland… in Ireland, in the harbor town of Kinsale:

An orange art shop…

A favorite South African flower, the Namaqualand Daisy, comes in two colours, one being…

To finish off: another Bike of legend- the Original Bullet 500

And there is my take on some of my orange moments in life.  A last one- me, a few years back and a bit heavier than today,  in one of my favorite sweaters- this one I use when hiking in the Drakensberg Mountains, so that the helicopter can see me and rescue me if necessary…  camping on the rugby field at Jeffreys Bay, one of THE surfing beaches in the world…

And there you have my Seven Shades of Orange for today’s challenge!

 

Decoration- Ailsa’s Weekly Travel Theme

http://wheresmybackpack.com/2014/07/11/decoration/

Ok, I know I am stretching it a lot today… but I wanted to share this with you guys anyway. Just outside our town there is this venue, Castle de Wildt,  where a yearly Exotic Game Auction is held- it is going on at the moment.

And when I and some friends walked through the pens where the game are kept, we came across the most beautiful of all the antelope in Africa, in my eyes…  Just look at the decoration in the form of horns on this Kudu bull!

Now THAT is decoration in my eyes. I don’t know yet for how much this bull has sold, as I had to leave early, I am marrying a couple in two hours time.  A friend let me know that a Sable bull just sold for ZAR 800 000, that must be about US$ 75000!

But dear friends, relax- these animals are not sold to be hunted. They are worth so much more as breeding stock- they will have a very safe and relaxed life ahead of them, just eating and sleeping and breeding… now that sounds like the life to have!

PS- I would have preferred to see this bull in it’s natural habitat, and shoot it… with my Canon 400D and a 55-250iS lens!

Got to hurry now to get dressed and get out to the wedding venue…

Round- Ailsa’s Travel Theme

http://wheresmybackpack.com/2014/04/18/travel-theme-round/

As a Christian I would love to post the round stone of an empty grave in Jerusalem this morning.  But I have never been there yet… Don’t have such a photo of my own to post (yet…)

So here are some round objects as captured by my lens…

The wagon wheel played a big part in our country’s history, just like the USA…

The tail light of an old Ford (1958?) standing in a barn in our region…

One of my sons just played with the camera at our pool table… 
Three round objects for your consideration!

 

Gorillas in the Mist- Travel Theme…

Ailsa has really set a difficult challenge this week.  We don’t often have misty days around where I live. And sorry- no Gorilla’s either, the nearest would be the vervet monkeys… http://wheresmybackpack.com/2014/04/04/travel-theme-misty/

Most of my misty experiences happened on hiking trails. There was this beautiful morning on the Camino de Santiago in 2011! We walked through the misty layer to high above it, It was so beautiful looking down the mist covered valleys…  (nearly reminds me of my favorite song from Dire Straits… These mist covered mountains,… !)

Where is the mist? Look down there!

A year before my Camino experience, our family hiked the Blyderivierspoort Hiking Trail in South Africa. And the weather was really extreme. We got lost in the first 2 km! When you are lost in the mist, without a GPS, sit and make tea…  The boys loved it, my daughter didn’t…

Teenagers and Misty Hiking days… pure memories from hell… (for them…)

And that is all I have to say about that…

Ancient Dodge- Ailsa’s Weekly Travel Theme

http://wheresmybackpack.com/2014/02/28/travel-theme-ancient/

South Africa is a young country, we don’t have many old ruins yet… So I had to find something else that is ancient, relative to me…

So I present, for your consideration (sorry Quinton Tarantino and Django…) an ancient old Dodge that me and my daughter found for her project at the Design School.  This is purely my version, my daughter takes much better photos than me!   I would also love to know if any petrolheads out there know more about this car? I think the right front light was used to spot German Bombers in WW II…

 

 

How do I know it is a Dodge at all? The only reason is the wheel’s hubcap!

 

NOW I am running out of old wreck photos…

P.S. Congrats to the Australian Cricket Team for their victory in the 3rd test match at Cape Town, thereby winning the series.  David Warner is a world class batsman, and Mitchell Johnson a world class bowler. But Ryan Harris really hurt us in the end!  Well done, all Aussie fans. Now let’s enjoy the Twenty/20 games!

Work- Ailsa’s Weekly Travel Theme

http://wheresmybackpack.com/2014/02/21/travel-theme-work/

While Ailsa is asking about work, let me share a small view of my work with you…

Well, I once had the chance to visit Turkey on a work related trip. I love your country, Uncle Spike!  Here I am hard at work… (or not…) at the ruins of Ephesus, near Selcuk…

Sometimes we get to dress funny in my work…

I even get to ride my Bike in the rain sometimes as part of my work!

Sometimes I preach…

My office on a Sunday…

Sometimes I give people bread and wine…

Sometimes I marry people…

 

Sometimes I cook for them…

Sometimes I drive people around in a bus…

Finally, sometimes I have to bury people…

And so it is really hard to define all the different parts of my work, being a rural country pastor in a church… I love people, and love serving them in so many ways…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Romance- Ailsa’s Weekly Travel Theme

I have the wonderful privilege to be a marriage official as well. And one of the most beautiful things for me remains when romance grows to a wedding…

At the end of November I had the honour of marrying my young colleague with his beautiful bride… I snapped a special moment between them on that special day…

And Romance in my own life blossoms still- going for 24 years of happily married life, here is my bride on our 20th anniversary…

http://wheresmybackpack.com/2014/02/14/travel-theme-romance/