Neil Uys Blog Site

Australia Day 26/1/2010

I think I hear the sounds of then,
And people talking,
The scenes recalled, by minute movement,
And songs they fall, from the backing tape.
That certain texture,that certain smell,

To lie in sweat, on familiar sheets,
In brick veneer on financed beds.
In a room, of silent hardiflex
That certain texture, that certain smell,
Brings home the heavy days,
Brings home the the night time swell,

Out on the patio we’d sit,
And the humidity we’d breathe,
We’d watch the lightning crack over canefields
Laugh and think, this is Australia.

A few of the lyrics to a tune I like by a Ozy band called GANGgajang. Here is a link to the song

It was exactly that, a warm and humid day that started at 25 degrees in the morning and just got warmer and warmer during the day. We started as always at 5′ish with Mr.’s morning bottle and then an extra little snooze until around 8. I got the 2nd half of Jake’s cold and woke up with a thick head, blocked nose and the always accompanying cough. I rallied the troops and a very ill prepared ( no pun intended ) Uys family head down to the beach to join in on this important day of festivities.

Luckily I remembered the beach tent and something soft for Jake to sleep on. After 5 min in the sun Anne remembered that she didn’t pack her swimmers and decided to go home and get them. I took the opportunity to get her to bring back the cooler bag with some beers a bottle of sparkly and the camera. Jake and I went down to the waterline and he played in the sand for the best part of the morning. He loved chasing the water withdrawing into the ocean and then tried to out run it back to me – over and over.

Got home at about one after we gave up the battle with the sun and spent the rest of day in the pool with some tunes and a few cold ones. Great day with my family !

This year, luckily, I didn’t see or hear any stories of the few bogan idiots that use the day to force immigrants to kiss the flag or do other demoralising things in public to prove their allegiance. Funny how un-Australian that actually is since everyone here come from somewhere else.

I know it probably sounds silly and I am not sure if it was simply my subconscious at work, but by 6:30 on Australia day I found myself sitting at the movies with a few mates watching Invictus, smiling from ear to ear remembering running through the streets in Jozie with painted faces screaming at the top of voices Ole, Ole Ole Ole, Ole Ole when we won our first rugby world cup in 1995.

A few photos of the beach.

Adventure grows here…

It took me a good couple of years to decide which bike is the one for me. There are many theories and stories about all the usual suspects, many are factual and most are completely subjective (Iv’e bought it, so I have to punt it!).
My first was a Yamaha XT 500 ‘82, a classic thumper which after all the work, love and atttention it needed became an extention of myself. This is not just a bike, it is a way of life and a culture on its own, to me anyway. A good friend once told me that when he sees me riding it I looks like I’ve seen and experienced everything and the comment is not far off, from going to the corner café for cigarettes to dodging a heard of Cape Buffalo on the way back from work. My wife says that when I ride it, it looks like we came into this world together, which is partly true as we are the same age…

I then realised that it might not be such a bad idea to conform to technological advances made over the years to things like electric starters and digital instrumentation. There began the gathering of info that took many years, which I had at the time seeing that I still needed to save up for it. At the end after reading almost every article on the manufaturers and models it boiled down to 2 bikes, the BMW GS 800 and the KTM 990 Adventure. Both have pro’s and con’s and at the end I based my decision on my own personality, who I am and how I see myself! Obviously you’ve seen which one I took at first glance so you’ll have to decide for yourself as I am trying to keep my story as objective as possible, the performance of this machine will be a story for another day. All I can say is that BMW’s are for the faint hearted…

untill next time… Andre

Picnic in Winnererreny Bay

Thanks Graham and Lisa , great idea – Good to start the new year outdoors in the sun.

December 2009 Holiday

There goes 2009.

Seasons greetings and all the best for 2010. We hope you all had a great Christmas and enjoyed your new years eve parties.

We had Christmas at home with some of the usual suspects. The food was great. We had turkey, roast lamb and a fish potjie as mains with a wide range of starters dips and salads. On Boxing Day we departed for our first camping trip with Jake to the Central Coast. We stayed at Dunleith Caravan Park at the Entrance. It was challenging, but we loved it.

Here are some GPS coordinates : =-33.338201, 151.50243

Google Maps : Link