Golden City Club Shoot

Coert in Action

Wayne on the Swing Bridge

With torrents of rain pouring down last night we thought Golden City was going to be muddy and wet this morning but due to them only having a light shower everything was good to go this morning.

8 Stages with a minimum of 175 rounds.

We shot with a detail of ten shooters which we thought was going to be too big and take loads of time but Wayne kept us on our toes as far as time was concerned and with everybody picking up and patching we did good time.

In our detail there were the Open and Standard division shooters and then there were the shooters who love their Classic guns that I feel for when it comes to so many mag changes.
You can see they just love to shoot.

Standard targets, poppers, a swing bring, plenty of hostages but no swingers today, and no

Support From The Wives

I did not bribe anybody.

Our Scorer Taking Some Timeout

Thanks to our detail - Wayne, Mark, Chris, Sean, Coert,

Keith, Alan, Mossie and Richard.
I really learn when I shoot with you guys.
All the wives that scored and supported made the shoot as well.

I just loved it again

Good luck to all at Nationals next month

Klip and Kristal - Bela Bela

Gertrud, Elize, Leonhard

What an absolutely wonderful time we had at Klip and Kristal Guest House.

Elize and her team pampered us and we even had Muffins packed for us on our departure. She thought of everything. Thanks a million you are a star.

Pool Side All To Ourselves

We had time to catch up on our reading and in between the pages and the lazing in the sun, it was in and out of the pool to cool off.

This is just what we needed.

We met a fabulous couple from Munich, Germany - exchanged addresses and when we are in Europe next year as planned we have decided to get together again.

Leonhard and Gertrud, we had super conversation and laughs last night.

It was great meeting you.

We are safely back home after some exhilarating riding and ready to plan the next Road Trip

Harley Road Trip to Limpopo

And We Are Off

I had butterflies in the tummy last night I was so excited.

We were all packed last night and had to be very careful with what we packed as space is limited, but my hair dryer had to go.

Our departure was delayed for an hour as we received a call from Jubilee Home because they were in a quandry with their babies bottles but we soon sorted it out and were ready to hit the road.

We set off at ten o'clock  and had a brunch

Klip and Kristal

at the overhead One Stop and then off again.

There is a load of roadworks on the way so we were extra weary.

Our overnight is at Klip and Kristal Bed and Breakfast in Bela Bela which is just lovely.

Aircon, extra length king size bed and a beautiful bathroom with an enormous bath.

We had a braai and spent the afternoon in and out the pool with a good Chardonnay at hand.

I love this life

Golden City and Central Cauteng Shooting

Our Squad

This was a weekend of shooting, shooting, shooting.

On Saturday I went one way to the Hand gun shooting at Golden city and Richard was off to the Central Gauteng Open at Wattlespring Gun Club.

Golden city was an eight stage shoot with loads poppers with the hostages stuck behind them. This was my stumbling block this shoot. I was so careful not to shoot the hostages that it affected my time but still, as long as I am shooting I am happy.

On My Way

Thanks Demi, Candi, Arthur, George, Alex, Peter, Mathew, Jose - super shooting with you.

I missed Richard though - it was not the same without him.

Richard went to shoot the second leg of the his Universal trials on Saturday and Sunday so that both can count and had a massive improvement on his last trial.

There was a total of 350 guns shooting the different disciplines which is a fabulous turnout for Central Gauteng.

Next on the list is Kwazulu Natal Open.

Sunday Drive to Cullinan.

Main Street

"The Cockpit"

On Saturday night we had decided that we were going to ride down
to the Vaal River on our Harleys and have lunch somewhere along the river after the church service on Sunday.
When I woke a had a real bad feeling about riding the bikes. The more I pushed this feeling aside the more it surfaced in my mind.
Eventually I discussed it with Richard and we have always agreed that if things don't feel right we would not ride so after church we decided to have lunch in Cullinan.
The last time we were in Cullinan was during the week and it was like a ghost town in comparison to Sunday.
Everyone was browsing through the quaint shops now occupying the old mine houses. You can go on a tour of the Cullinan Diamond Mine which is the only operational diamond mine in the world open

First House Built In Cullinan

to tourists. They still mine on average 80,000 carats of diamonds a month and the Hole on the mine is four times larger than the famous Kimberley Diamond Mine Hole.
There are art galleries and old bric and brack stores, Lovely little pubs and coffee shops and this time we found the beer brewery "The Cockpit" open so we popped in for a tasting and stayed for lunch.
We had a lovely day and and I am pleased we went with our gut feeling.
Even though I love being out on the road on our bikes I will always be super cautious as far as safety is concerned.

Saturday Shooting Practice at Wattlespring Gun Club

After three weeks of waiting I finally have my bike back. It is still not complete but after the first disappoint ment with the black carrier and the high sissy bar I think my bike looks good. I now just have to wait for the piillion seat that is on order and it will be done.
At least I can now carry my own luggage.
On Saturday we decided to combine our riding with Richard's shooting practice.
We made sure we could transport the Shotgun and the ammo and not make it too obvious what we were carrying and off we set.
Richard was riding in front of me and it looked like he was a musician with his flute stick out the side of his bike bag.
It is only a 30 - 35km trip out to Wattlespring Gun Club but the roads are quite busy with big trucks and taxis. Many bike riders also use this road as they visit Que Serra which is located just a few kilometers after the turn off to the shooting club.
Much of a surprise to many of the shooters we rolled onto the ground amid stares and frowns until they realized it was us.
Richard did some good practice rounds where he and Oratsio shared their tips and advise.

Richard is real determined to get back into the Universal Trench with a vengeance and I think he is on the right path

Nan's Quilts No 16

Another quilt out there to see if we can make a change in someones life.

Nan's quilt No 16 has been delivered to John Beare who is a gentleman who serves on many commitees and heads a group of people whose hearts are drawn to to helping communities.

Nan's Quilt No 16 will also be raffled to raise funds and this time it is to assist "Casa Caritas"

Casa Caritas is a residential care facility providing life-long care to physically and mentally handicapped persons who are unable to be trained or educated.

The centre is administrated by a Controlling Body which consists of Professional people from the community.

The centre is dedicated to providing a warm and nurturing environment for all our residents.

See their website Casa Caritas

We will keep you up to date with news about this project

Logan's Christening

A Feast

Isn't She Gorgeous?

On Sunday we shared a special moment with our youngest
member of the family.

Dressed up in her beautiful outfit should looked an absolute angel                                                                             
    

 We attended the church service in Pretoria and then spent the day with Warren and Chanel  where Chanel put up a stunning table fit for a feast.

Two Beautiful Sisters

May you be Blessed all your life Logan and may you live knowing we all love you very much.

Second Golden City Club Shoot

Sean, Peter and Sebella Getting Ready on the Range

Temperatures today were well above 30 deg and all shooter felt the discomfort.

Estelle, Alex,   Richard and Erwin

Seven stages today with swingers, paper targets pop ups and a good few plates.

A large percentage of the stages were set where the shooter had to work his was from the front of the range to the back.

Jose, Peter, Sean and Sebella

The 180 deg rule had to be well observed today.

This was a good test for all taking part in the Nationals in March.

Today only 30 shooters were up for the challenge as there is a provincial shoot in Stillfontein that took some of our members.

Thanks Alex and Erwing that shot in our detail - Had loads of fun.

Northern Gauteng Open - Clay Target

The Air Force Base in Valhalla, Pretoria is the home of Northern Gauteng Clay Target. The Open was held on 18th and 19th January.
Most of the disciplines where there to be entered into and I reckon more than a hundred guns participated each day.
This is part of the trials for Universal for the team that will be competing in Italy. After five years of no competition shooting it's heads down and concentrate for me.
Lovely to be back with the big guns again.

First Maglite Shoot of the Year

Making it another all shooting weekend.

Sometimes Richard does not want to go and shoot the fun shoots on his own and I get invited just for the laugh.

Maglite shoots are always super fun where most of the shooters don't take the competition too serious and just enjoy their sport and the company of their old pals.

The Wattlespring members must have been really hungry to shoot as 63 shooters turned up - more than a third more than was expected.

Richard shot a good 95 after some silly stunts to see who could let the clay drop to it's lowest point before breaking it and to their surprise I shot my personal best - wait for it - 61.

Winner of Quilt No 14 Keith Falkes on the right

We also had the opportunity to give Keith Falcke his quilt that he won in the raffle of "Nan's Quilt No 14"

Thanks fors supporting Nan's Quilts

1st Shoot of the Year at Golden City

It felt good to get back to the anticipation of a day of hand gun shooting at Golden City again.

I think most of the shooters felt the same as it was a full house shooting on Saturday.

Most of the ranges were from a previous national shoot so they were really interesting.

From standing on a swing bridge reading a book as your starting position to starting seated with your gun on one table and your magazines on another. One range required that you

 transfer a suitcase from one end of the range to the end while shooting one handed to shooting through windows.

Loads of fun and strategies all day.
Thanks Demi, Arthur, George, Terry and Alex who were in our detail for a most enjoyable shoot.

Jubilee Home Fun Day

Once again we had the privilege to visit the Kids at Jubilee Home and handed them their Christmas packs while they were having lunch.



Thank you to all that were involved in this project.



It was a great success and we enjoyed it tremendously.

"Jubilee Home Fun Day"

Early Saturday morning everyone was off doing their bit for the Jubilee Home Fun Day.

First the Jumping Castle was set up then the rolls collected for the hot dogs and of course the long awaited Face Painting Station manned by the grand kids.

From the start we kids lining up for their Face Paint and keeping us busy on the Jumping Castles.

We had to keep an eye on them at the pool as well so there was no rest for the wicked.

Midday the munched on Hot dogs until not a crumb was left and we kept the cold drinks

flowing throughout the day.

Just after lunch a very special lady arrived from Heart Filled Parties with her sweet machines and set up her station with a real Christmas feel. Christmas decorations and balloons adorned their kiosk and they even wore their Father Christmas hats while they served the kids.

The kids could eat as much as they liked - Candy Floss - Pop Corn - Snow Cones. All going down very well with people that really understand children.

We have one more surprise for them and on Christmas Eve we will arrive with a Special gift pack for each of the children.

The draw for Nan's Quilt No 14 was done and a big thank you to Mr. Keith Faulke from the Wattlespring Gun Club that supported us. You are the owner of our quilt.

We would like to say some special thank yous to the people that made this day very special for the children of Jubilee Home.

First the the Basics Group: Our main sponsor for the day. Thank you very much, without you this day would not have been possible.

Vaugh Hatting

Wendy and Trevor from Heart Filled Parties.

All who bought tickets for our raffle

May you all be Blessed - Have a wonderful Christmas - and once again, Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Due to pending court cases that the children are involved in we have had to be very cautious with exposing the identities of the children but I sure hope you get the feel of the day from our pics, it was great fun for all.

Jubilee Home & Nan's Quilt No 14

Tomorrow is our big "Jubilee Home Fun Day"
Thank you to all who made it possible, we are very excited to do this for the children.
Everything is set and all we are hoping for is good weather for the children to enjoy the day outdoors.
Jumping Castles, all the food, drinks, treats, party packs, etc are ready to be delivered in the morning and set up.
Our draw For Nan's Quilt No 14 will also be done during the day.
SO - WATCH THIS SPACE

Quad Day Ride for Sunfields Home

We have not been on a quad ride for a few months so we had to make time for this one.

It is a very special ride that Family Adventures puts together to raise funds and goods for the Sunfields Home for Handicapped People.

We arrived at Fortuna Resort near Balfour just after eight in the morning to check in and deliver our grocery parcel for the home.



Glenn Foley and his team always do a great job and everything is always super organized with tickets for lunch, making sure you have emergency numbers at hand and smiles all round from the guys that have been at work since early hours of the morning.

Once everyone had unloaded and geared up we set off on a mass ride to Sunfield Home where the kids awaited the Bikers.

They were super exited, not only for the bikers but Father Christmas was arriving.

After a few Christmas carols and a thank you from the kids we were off on our ride

Two routes today. One into the Koppies and one to Balfour, then also some fun loops near base camp in the quarries and hills.

Even the rain added loads of fun to the ride.

Lovely buffet lunch where we ate way too much.

We always enjoy this, so thank you Glenn Foley and Family Adventures for a super year of
riding. May you be greatly Blessed and have an awesome 2014.

Golden City Shooting Club

Saturday saw the last club shoot of the year at Golden City Shooting Club.

Normally we shoot both Saturday and Sunday but this was a one day shoot only so the shooters were double what we normally are.

Just a short shoot of 6 stages - 114 shots but loads of fun once again.

In our detail we again met guys that we had not shot with before.

Thanks Justin, Kristy, Grant, Alex - you were real fun to shoot with.

Salvation Army Creche

We had loads of fun again today.

We did lunch at the Salvation Army Creche in Benoni.




We loved sharing the day with all the busy little chatterboxes that had so much to tell us.








We will be seeing you again