Friday, May 2, 2014 Palmiet Caravan Park, Kleinmond, Western
Cape, SA – 97 km
Last night turned out to be the
noisiest night yet. Even the crashing of the waves couldn’t drown out the
drunks and loud music. It seems the camp manager doesn’t stay on site so Doug
politely asked them, at 11 pm to shut it down. A bit of profanity from their
part but it did get quieter. Needless to say we have moved to the other side of
the campground where we seem to be the only ones but as we finish dinner more
are moving in around us and our hopes for a quieter night may be dashed. Later:
we moved spots again to lessen the noise from the partiers. We did find out it
was Workers Day, similar to our Labour Day yesterday, which explains why it was
so busy.
Today was the mushroom course in
Elgin (there were about 20 people in the class). The morning started with
coffee and rusks (biscotti in our language) then a power point and talk by Gary
Goldman, the SA “Mushroom Guru”. He is self-taught and fairly knowledgeable. He
did really well until he started on the medicinal properties and how no cancers
are found in some people who eat certain mushrooms and how some varieties are
the best cure for breast cancer. Doug and I were stoic regarding this
misinformation even though we know it is a money making scheme preying on those
that are desperate and may interfere with conventional treatment.
Two small vans had been arranged
to transport us for the next part. The walk was in a locked forested area where
Gary had to apply for a permit to enter. This area has not had the rain we
experienced a few days ago so it was very dry and there was virtually nothing
to see, except a cute little black SA frog. At least we got out for a walk in
the woods and Doug did find one species he has never seen before. It sure made
us realize we live in a mushroom mecca with all our varieties and abundance.
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| Mushroom Course Leader Gary |
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| The Foraging Group |
After our walk we returned to the
Platform 1 eatery which is situated on the rail tracks and houses a winery. We
were given some lovely mushroom appetizers and wine tasting. Doug didn’t take
part in this piece but instead spent time with Gary trading slide presentations
and giving Gary some dried pine mushrooms we had brought from home. Lunch was
then served starting with mushroom risotto balls, lamb shank and mushroom
shortbread, which were actually shortbread shaped like mushrooms. We will need
to try this at home.
We were able to use the free internet at the restaurant to post in the blog and check emails. We then decided to just come back to the campground and relax as we have been having late days and it was nice to cook dinner and eat in the light.
Not sure when our next internet
connection will be as we start to head up the west coast. It may be awhile!
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| Praying mantis |
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