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| << May02, 2005 - Turtle Essays edition no 131 dated 2.5.2005 |
May16, 2005 - Turtle Essays ezine no 133 date 16.5.2005 >> |
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Turtle Essays Edition no 132 dated 9th May 2005 ** Have you ever dreamed of learning fly fishing? Learn fly casting and trout fishing techniques, how to tie fishing knots, and other great fishing secrets from pros that earn a living from fishing! It's all in our Fly Fishing Guidebook Now ? Can't you just feel the tug of that big one on the end of your line? Visit http://www.flyfishingguidebook.com/swres/brerrabbit.html get the guide book and start fishing today! ** In this edition: Editor's Blurb Greyton When crime happens to you. ** Editor's Blurb. Hi there folks! Welcome to all my new and regular readers. What a week I've had! Burglars smashed a bedroom window, sawed off a burglar bar, and then proceeded to unpack the house. Fortunately for us they must have been disturbed as a number of items that had been placed on our kitchen table were left behind when they departed the scene. They did however steal my daughters birthday presents that she had received the day before the burglary. This week we visit a small town in the Overberg. Greyton's main claim to fame is that it is situated in tranquil surroundings an hour or two from Cape Town and offers an escape from the rat race. Visiting the town you will find more 4 X 4's there than in Cape Town on a week day. As prices of property have skyrocketed in this country town only those with plenty of cash can afford to purchase there. Unfortunately I'm not one of them. Enough from me for this week. See you soon. Geoff Fairman. ** Greyton There are many small towns in the countryside an hour or two's drive from Cape Town. Most of them had humble beginnings and then someone discovered the beauty and tranquility of the surroundings and the town became an instant hit with people wanting to escape the rat race. Greyton is one such town. Before the village was established it was inhabited by a tribe of Khoi known as the ???Hessequas???, The Hessequas traded with the Dutch East India Company and supplied cattle for their ships en route to the East. In 1738 the Moravians established the first mission station which they named Genadendal to the west of the valley, Then in 1791, a young Dutch farmer named Marthinus Theunissen was granted a loan farm in the valley which he called ???Weltevreden??? (well satisfied). He built a house on the farm, and after a few years sold it to Hendrik Cloete who was also owner of the famous Groot Constantia Estate in Constantia near Cape Town. Cloete used the farm for horse breeding and also farmed fruit, grapes for wine, vegetables and cattle. In 1854 Herbert Vigne the son of a London merchant who had fled South Africa, purchased the Weltevreden farm and subdivided it into long narrow plots which all had access to irrigation channels. This was the beginning of the modern town of Greyton. In 1910 the town was proclaimed a Municipality and remained as one until 2000 when it lost its autonomy when the Theewaterskloof Municipality was established and Greyton was incorporated into it. Over the years living conditions were difficult and water created many problems. Irrigation channels were one of the main sources of household water and in 1933 after an outbreak of typhoid a proper water system was built and taken into use in the town. In 1964 the water system was upgraded and all residents were supplied with filtered drinking water. There were no modern conveniences until 1970 when electricity was eventually supplied to the town. Over the years some of the town's original old buildings have been restored to their original glory. The Post House was one of them and it housed Greyton's first Post office. In 1918 the Dutch Reformed Church was erected and stands behind the Post House. Greyton has retained some of its old traditions and today you will still find the irrigation channels in operation between the houses. The elements have also taken their toll on the town. In 1962 a flash flood occurred which caused a great deal of damage and changed the course of the river. Today Greyton has a 2220 hectare reserve, which is the third largest in the Cape, and contains plants that have not been seen elsewhere since they were first identified by Burchell in 1812. The peace and tranquility of the town attracts newcomers to Greyton. The land is arable which is not often the case in South Africa. Farming methods in the town originate in the history of the town and visitors will see horses and oxen drawing ploughs, seed being sown by hand, and lively donkey carts trotting along the streets of the town. In most towns cows are kept behind fences but not in Greyton. The cows are free to roam and often cause damage when they find their way into the local's gardens. Nobody complains as they expect this when living in the country. For visitors to Greyton there are well laid-out walks which are marked with distinctive coloured footprints. The walks vary in length from a 30-minute ramble to a three-hour climb to a viewpoint where you can see all the way to the sea . Greyton is at the start of the Boesmanskloof trail that crosses the Sonderend Mountains to McGregor. To use this overnight trail visitors require a permit which can be obtained from the Cape Nature office at Bredasdorp. The Gobos river which runs through the town has a pleasant picnic area on its banks. As the locals like eating out the town has a number of eating-houses where you can enjoy a meal. Most of the original inhabitants of the town were forced out of the main part of town and now stay in Heuwelkroon where their small houses are built. Many a local would like to swop with them as they have got the best view of the Sonderend Mountains which surround the town. Greyton has become one of the sought after areas in the Overberg with property prices shooting up. Why not visit Greyton the next time you drive the N2 near Caledon and see what all the fuss is about. You'll be glad you did. See you there soon. ** When crime happens to you. You leave home in the morning leaving all your possessions neatly packed away in drawers and cupboards and protected by solid locks and burglar bars. When you return a couple of hours later you find the house in a turmoil. Drawers ripped out and turned upside down on the floor. Clothes and possessions you carefully look after scattered all over the place and in places you would never look for them. Papers you have not seen for years spread out all over the place . The shock of discovering that your home has been invaded by some very inconsiderate people is great. This week the above happened to me and my family. My daughter discovered the burglary and her immediate reaction was to accuse me of wrecking the house. When I entered and saw the mess left by the burglars I knew what had happened. The thoughts that go through your mind are terrible. Are the people still in the house somewhere. Are they waiting to attack me. What have they stolen. How did they get in and what damage has been done in the process. One's immediate reaction is to call the police but before you can actually do that panic sets in and although you know that the emergency numbers are on the wall near the telephone you are unable to find them. A search through the telephone directory reveals the local police station's number but when you phone it it is engaged and remains engaged for a long time. After a number of minutes of struggling the emergency number which you have memorised for just such an occasion finally enters your head and you get through and report the break in. This is where the real fun starts. Your life goes on hold while you wait for the police to arrive. It can take hours for them to pitch and in the meantime you cannot cleanup or find out what is missing as you might just destroy evidence that could lead to an arrest. When they eventually arrive the first questions you are asked is how the criminals gained entrance to your home and what is missing. As if you can see without repacking your cupboards and cleaning up the mess created by the burglars. Once you have completed the required statements you are told not to touch anything as the finger print specialists will call to dust the crime scene. In our case they had already left for the day so we had to wait for them till the following day. What do you do, your bed is full of rubbish. Most of the contents of your cupboards are lying on the floor, your bedroom window is broken and the room is open to the elements. You have to use the room that night but you cannot touch anything. This just adds further trauma to the victims lives. Reporting the incident to your insurance company invokes a further round of stress. As insurance companies love to apply average to your claims you are never sure whether you are you adequately insured, or if you can prove that you owned or even had the items you are reporting missing. Oh yes, then there is an excess as well which means that your claim is whittled away even further. By the time you have negotiated with the assessors, spent hours on the phone to glass fitters to replace the windows and cleaned up you are fed up with life. The effects of a burglary go deep. One small action by the criminal changes everything. The family are now nervous to enter their own home. You are scared to leave your home unattended as it might just happen again. If it should happen insurance premiums are upped and further demands are made on your pocket as the insurance company insists on burglar alarms being installed. The freedom to leave things lying around is taken from you and you become obsessed with locks and keys and keeping windows and doors locked. Soon you home becomes a prison while the criminal walks the streets without a worry in the world. Why should we let the criminals do this to us. They are the scum of the earth and should be removed from the streets. ** Turtle Travels new blog is online now. http://turtleessays.blogspot.com There are some interesting new articles being posted today. Be sure not to miss them. * Like to have your own rose garden. Find out how to do it from an expert. Here is his link: http://hop.clickbank.net/?brerrabbit/mcplants ** For my personal details, contact address, and warnings regarding products advertised in this ezine please read the disclaimers which can be found at: http://www.turtlesa.com/Disclaimer.html See you all soon Geoff Fairman |
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| << May02, 2005 - Turtle Essays edition no 131 dated 2.5.2005 |
May16, 2005 - Turtle Essays ezine no 133 date 16.5.2005 >> |
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