Harley-Davidson Sportster For Sale

SOLD! 

Sadly, I have decided that it is better to sell my first Harley than have it standing in my garage, While sentiment says I would rather hang on to it, it isn't doing the Milwaukee machine any good to just stand and get ridden once every couple of months. So, here it is!

This pic was taken in 2006 on the Durban beachfront.

The Specifications:

Harley-Davidson XL883 2002

Colour Black

Extras fitted:

Touring seat - R5 000.00

Sissy bar - R4 500.00

Screaming Eagle II exhausts - R2 500.00

Bikini Tank protector - R350.00

Chrome Clutch & Brake levers - R900.00

Kuryakin mirrors - R950.00

Motor upgrade to 1200cc - R12 500.00

more extra's will be shown.

Taken in 2011

This is a Harley with history. It has been to many HOG rally's and Harley rally's (Richards Bay - 2006, Montagu - 2007, St' Lucia - 2008, Colesburg 2008, Wild Coast - 2008, Black Rock East London - 2009) and served as Road Captains/ Safety Officers on Durban Chapter breakfast runs for a couple of years (2006 to 2008). It was used to win two prizes at the 2007 Montagu Rally in the riders competitions. It is a much loved and well known member of the Durban Harley community.

If you are interested in providing a good home for this Sportster and willing to pay R27 500.00 for it, contact me by email at halfblueape@gmail.com or post a comment below and I will get back to you a.s.a.p.

Wildlife in St. Lucia

Here we are with another beautiful morning in St. Lucia.

The estuary is over THERE!

We decided to explore a bit (can't explore too much, St. Lucia is quite small) and found that there is a boardwalk, about a kilometer long, linking the estuary on the South side of the village to the beach. Winds through trees and alongside the estuary - just beautiful.

This short trip allowed us to see about ten hippos in shallow water, two buck crossing the road, a few monkeys swinging in the trees and some meerkats looking for food to swipe. Just awesome.

Bring on the FISH!

Staff singing and dancing at 8.00 am

Which made us hungry too. One of the highlights of the trip to St. Lucia is going to the Ocean Basket Restaurant for fish and chips. We have tried lots of the branches of this franchise, but what is presented at the St. Lucia branch is The Best! It also adjoins a Portuguese restaurant called Braza which is owned by the same guy. With mommy being Portuguese, and St. Lucia being quite close to the Mozambique border there is always a waiter to speak Portuguese to, who comes from the same area Mommy was born. Braza does Portuguese, Mozambican and Brazilian food, with Mommy having Sardines with vegetables done the Mozambican way, and Daddy the Prego Steak Roll, accompanied by a bottle of Graca to celebrate their first wedding anniversary. Another pleasant surprise, was the staff at Perna-Perna getting together at 8.00 in the morning to sing hymns to start the day. The staff make the difference here as every effort is made to make ones stay pleasant, with a welcoming cool glass of juice and popcorn, smiles and pleasant greetings from all. A lovely stay at a luxury chalet. Flatscreen tv's upstairs and downstairs, aircon, granite fitted kitchen with all utensils and equipment. Even a lock=up garage for the Harley.

More tomorrow.

Save The Rhinos - St.Lucia.

Just before we arrived at St. Lucia, we found this little roadside shop, which has taken the Rhinos plight to heart, something which we fully sympathise. Have a look at Mommy's Rhino movie on YouTube at this link -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsZp-aUotm8&list=PLntU6lvo66YUXITEwNjkj9cRTI7gQw6XD - We had to stop and investigate.

Valentino and Mommy at Save the Rhino Site.

The shop collects funds by having members of the public who are interested sponsoring a cross for R100.00 (about $80.00). There are also collectibles inside, handmade by the local population, of which a portion of the sales price goes to the fund. Currently most of the funds are going to pay for the helicopters used which hunt for poachers who are killing the Rhino's. Positive feedback is that recently three poachers were shot dead from the air in this area, and this has reduced the poacher activity somewhat. YAY!!

I got to sit on this exhibit, which was great fun.

Valentino on "Rhino"

The Rhino didn't move at all. I have heard the phrase "a bull in a China shop", but this beats that easily. It's a Rhino in a souvenir store. This is a full size fibreglass copy, and it usually stands outside the shop behind all the crosses, but the local schoolkids throw stones and sand clods at it, and have managed to break its tail recently. Some of us seem to just know how to break and destroy what is around us, while others make and create what we believe will take us forward. Like Daddy's motto says, "be part of the solution, not part of the problem"!! I suppose there will always be those who are a problem, but we can work to change as many of those as possible, to make a better life for all of us. It just is demoralizing to seem to be fighting upstream when the leaders of our society seem to be supporting the problem. So sad. Remember to make your vote count.

This St. Lucia story is going to be continued tomorrow.

Daddy seems to be giving the "Save the Rhino" site the thumbs up!

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St. Lucia - A Return Adventure

Valentino, Mommy and Daddy are visiting St. Lucia again. The 18th of February 2013, is their first wedding anniversary, and Daddy said this is certainly cause for celebration and adventure.

We all like St. Lucia with its relaxed outlook and animals all over that seem to behave a lot better than people in the cities. The tension in the cities means regular visits and Harley rides to places like St. Lucia are a necessity to remain in a positive frame of mind.

So, here we are.

The ride from Durban was really nice, we managed to avoid rainy showers on the way, and just saw some wet roads. The further from Durban we got, the sunnier it became. About 160km's from Durban. is Richards Bay, with it;s bayside suburb of Meerensee, an ideal half way spot for a snack. The Mustang restaurant next to the harbour provided fresh good food in a lovely location. This was also where Daddy had his first Harley Rally with the HOG Durban Chapter, back in 2006.

Getting back on the road, it was a pleasant 1 hour ride to St. Lucia, with the Harley thundering along the roads without missing a beat. We saw a roadside tourist shop near St. Lucia that is doing a lot to support the "Save the Rhino's" movement. The next post will show that.

We arrived at our holiday home at Perna Perna, to a great welcome and a lovely flat. No time was wasted getting to the swimming pool to cool off. February in St. Lucia is HOT!

More on this adventure tomorrow.

Poem For Late Grandpa - Valentino

The 5th February 1923 - the day J. J. Swanepoel was born, Father to Johan and Robin, Father-in-law to Lila, Grandfather to Robyn and me - Valentino. He was a man whose life was one of serving others: his mother, brothers and sister when his father died in a coal mine accident in 1931 (when Grandpa was 8 years old), his country when he went to war in World War II (his story of the war is on the internet - click here to see), and his wife and children once he got married, in 1947.

Today we post a poem dedicated to this good man.

For My Grandpa

© Ilona Blake

Grandpa Swanie,Grandma Elsie and Valentino

I know we are all feeling a little bit sad,
That we've lost our Grandpa, our friend and our dad
Together we have cried an ocean of tears
As we feel so empty and hold many fears

But Grandpa would want us to know he's in a good place
And that he watching us all with a smile on his face
As we have made him so proud, as proud as can be
That he has raised such a beautiful and special family

Thinking back now I really must say
I feel lucky and privileged to have known Grandpa to this day
For in my life, you have played a special part
The memories I will treasure and keep close to your heart

For me I am sad my little baby he never got to meet
And for all of us, be grateful, his life is now complete
To each one of us he has loved and cared
And a family, be thankful for the good times we shared

Although he has gone we will always be together
And his spirit will live on each one of us forever
When you look to the sky, look for the brightest star
As that will be Grandpa looking down on us from afar

And now I would like to thank the good Lord above
For blessing us with our Grandpa with his kindness and love
Dear God, if it is not too much fuss
Take extra special care of our Grandpa as he is very dear to us

Grandpa if you are listening say a prayer for us every day
Be sure to protect us and guide us on our way
We know when God called you, you had to go
But we want you to know Grandpa we miss you and love you so

Grandpa Swanie, Grandma Elsie and Valentino.

Riding in Mist, Rain and Heat.

To finish the story of our bad ride from Malelane to Durban, Valentino is going to let Daddy tell the story of the ride. We take off from the Cradle of Life stop near Badplaas in Mpumulanga.

Ready to Ride

My hope that the rain would disappear while we had a warming cup of coffee was not to be. It wasn't raining heavily, but the dark clouds looked threatening. It was now 10.30 a.m. and we had only travelled 124 km's, with more than 600 still to go. We took the Barberton turnoff just before Badplaas and rode steadily and easily to Barberton. The next section of road required taking a couple of turnoffs before finally getting on the road to Piet Retief if we wanted to return on the same road we had travelled up on.

The mist became so thick that we had to ride in second gear riding on the yellow line on the side of the road to avoid faster traffic travelling in either direction. Visibility was down to about a cars length, and riding was very dangerous. A car came past us from behind doing at least three times our speed, and would have had no chance of avoiding us if we had been in the middle of the road. While riding on the yellow line, which disappeared from time-to-time due to road works repairing pot-holes covering where the lines were, we missed the turn-off to Piet Retief. Eventually emerging from the mist safely, I soon saw a signpost indicating that we were well on our way to Ermelo. This meant we were probably about 20 km's past our intended turn-off, but I wasn't going to ride into that dangerous situation again, and decided it would be safest to continue on to Ermelo, then go via Newcastle, Ladysmith and the National Johannesburg/ Durban freeway on home.

Croc on Rock in Crocodile River

Get a pic of the Croc - not ME!

With the clouds rapidly giving way to hot open blue skies, we stopped in Ermelo to ask which road went to Newcastle from a woman stopped outside a cafe' in the main road. "Just turn left at the next robot, then go straight on..... straight..... and watch out for the pot-holes." 20 km's down that road, I took note of the signs saying we were now 80kms to Piet Retief (the long way there). 20 km's back to Ermelo, swearing at that stupid woman, wasted time and petrol. I had been on the right road before I asked her.

We had lunch in Ladysmith at 3.30 p.m. and eventually got safely home to Durban at 7.15 p.m. An 11 hour trip. While there was a degree of skill involved in dealing with the dangerous road conditions (my sweet wife declared me the best Harley rider in the country - an exaggeration by a large way, but her sentiments are appreciated), it has to be acknowledged that a degree of luck always plays its part.

Monty Munstermann in HOG Office - Durban Chapter.

What positives can be taken out of the ride? My safety kit was fully stocked and on board. I had checked out three possible routes each way on the trip. The Milwaukee iron was in tip-top condition when we left on the trip. Concentrating on having a safe trip and using the experience gleaned from my good friend Monty Munstermann on previous trips in misty conditions, I believe made the difference between an unpleasant ride and a disastrous ride.

I got my precious wife home safely, and love my Harley even more. Never missed a beat, roared past slow traffic quickly and safely, and carried myself, my wife, Valentino and lotsa luggage safely, but making the trip a life experience that will not be forgotten.

Malelane to Durban - Long ride!

This is the story of the second half of our Christmas holiday ride from Durban to Malelane and back.

All ready to roll

We packed the shining Milwaukee Harley like this on the trip from Durban.
The ride back from Daddy's family in Nelspruit on Boxing Day was a short pleasant 60km's, made more enjoyable by the pleasant feeling of sharing time with family that has not been seen for a long time.

Maybe if I ignore it it will go away.

With a long ride back to Durban ahead of us the next day, we decided to have lunch at one of the restaurants near the Malelane entrance to the Kruger National Park. One was still cleaning up from Christmas Day, another was fully booked, so we found ourselves at the very nice restaurant called Hamiltons. The meal was really unexpectedly nice, in pleasant surroundings, and some unusual residents waling around freely. While chicken was on the menu, we were surprised to see them walking around our table and then jumping up onto one of the other tables and chairs. It must be a regular occurence as the waiters ignored them and carried on with their duties in a very relaxed and friendly manner. Fortunately, the monitor lizard in the garden stayed well away from the dining tables.

The rest  of the afternoon was lazed away around the bungalow, looking at the buck, hippo's and birds in front of us.

Mommy, me n Palmira.

Rio Vista Lodge only starts serving breakfast at 7 a.m. unless you specifically make different arrangements if you want to leave earlier. Not wanting to make a fuss, we decided to pack, have breakfast, go say goodbye to the family, and be on the road by about 7.45 This would get us home about 5.00 p.m. No such luck! Breakfast was late, and then we bumped into Palmira, the owner of Rio Vista and a good friend of Granny Maria when handing the keys in. With the pleasantries over we went to have a long farewell with Granny Maria.

Entrance to Rio Vista Lodge

We eventually got riding at about 9.00 a.m. and rode into overcast threatening weather. By the time we got to the mountain pass near Barberton we had to stop to put on raincoats because of the fine drizzle coming down in misty conditions. This just got steadily worse until we pulled in to fill up with petrol at Cradle Of Life tourist resort near Badplaas. The temptation of a soothing hot cup of coffee drew us in to the restaurant before we got back on the road.

The rest of this bad days ride tomorrow.