June 2005:

The first half of June defied all weather reports of cold fronts, down pours and presented Garden Route Trail with perfect weather for hiking though it did get a bit cold at night. Finally there was the satisfaction of seeing some whales, 2 Southern Right Whales, inshore viewed during a lunch break on the 3rd day. It was a fortuitous trip for Lynette, being the first whales she has ever seen and due to the fact that she found 3 nautilus shells on the beach, a small one of about 8cm being in perfect condition. The Goukamma river mouth was closed and over the weekend of the 18th June, the Sedgefield river mouth closed. So now instead of an enjoyable row boat crossing of the river groups will simply walk across the sand bar. The pair of Humpback dolphins still continue to delight during lunch breaks at Gerieckes point on the second day. Evidence of bush pigs on the forested sections of the trail has increased as they keep their activities close to established paths during winter.

The second half of June once again brought to question the validity of the weather department with reports of dismal weather giving way to clear and open sunny days. June also proved to be the 2005 start of the whales watching season with no less than 3 sightings between Wilderness and Knysna of a combination of Humpback and Southern Right Whales. A perfect way to start the day is being presented with a translucent turquoise wave containing surfing dolphins suspended in it and once again the group was fortunate to walk onto the beach to such a sight. But, if any anything, the month of June will be remembered for the numerous fragile Arganauta sp. shells washed up. Specimens ranged from 4 to 35cm. The flower of the month was the Dune Salvia, Salvia aurea, with plenty of Tumbleweeds that have germinated. Most astounding is that the Polygala sp. is still flowering. The common name is the September bush because of it's flowering in that month. June has also been the the tides of change month with incredible erosion occurring on the beaches. In some regions as much as 3m of sand has been removed, exposing tracts of rock (the light coloured rock in picture has recently been uncovered). As a comparison at the boundary of the Goukamma Nature Reserve the above two images show the variation of sand height in comparison to my day pack at the cable on the beach boundary.

May 2005:

May was definitely a month to be remembered. From the start the effect of the change of the prevailing winds to westerlies could be seen by the transformation of the beach. All the sand that had built up over the summer months was washed away, some times over night, with removal of 2m in sand occurring at places. Obviously the sand has to go somewhere and various regions were about 1.5m higher due to the sand dumps. The touw river also closed towards the end of the month. The fry that use this time in the river as a nursery to grow provided the flocks of cormorants with plenty of fishing opportunities.This month we had our youngest participant, Tim (7yrs old), on the trail so far, and I am sure he walked double the distance running around excitedly to inspect everything on the beach. I was also impressed that he knew the real reason why polar bears do not eat penguins. Well done Tim!! An environmental tragedy was the discovery of four dead seals, most likely shot by fisherman on vessels at sea. Having spent the last 5 years as a scientific observer on fishing vessels, it always disappoints me when the fisherman disregard the wonder of nature by blatantly destroying everything around them. Julie and Hugo educated me on a almost safe form of smoking (very low tar), namely using a Hooka with some cherry flavoured tobacco, though definitely not as portable as a pack of 20's: much easier not to smoke folks. The adolescent group of Oystercatchers which has been congregating between Oysterbay and Skimmelkrans, is apparently under no pressure to migrate as yet, though we are still keeping an eye on them in anticipation. As a bit of variation, the last group of the month opted to walk the top of the dune section on day 3, taking us to the high point of 114m for the day with some great elevated views. Fiona was kind enough to demonstrate some novel foot care methods with a bevy of salt essences and creams - and it all aided in getting her to complete the trail with pride. Weather wise, all groups had at least one day of partial rain and were thankful for the use of the great Capestorm ponchos, though the bouts of wind added to the excitement.. But most exciting of all is that two pods of whales were sighted off Buffalobay and the Knysna heads, so they are here and now they just have to come into shore.

April 2005:

April was without a doubt the month of international participation, with folk from the UK, France, Germany, and Namibia enjoying the wonders of the Garden Route. The first week was a swimmers delight with warm air temperatures and mild sea temperature encouraging swimming at every oppertunity. A real treat for Deborah.

Then on Monday 11 April the sea temperature dropped to 11Deg Celsius due to either an up welling or wind influenced current change. The impact was lethal for numerous fish species which were stunned and washed up on the beach. The group managed to collect some Galjoen and a 10 kg Musselcracker for a meal. For the rest of the month sea temperatures were down and the weather extremely variable with spells of heavy rain and fine mild days. Dolphin sightings became infrequent, though we did start seeing them from the Knysna heads. A small (approx 15cm) reptile (black with yellow bands) was found, being either a snake or a legless lizard. The Cape Chestnut and September bush both started a second floral flush, possibly a result of global warming. From the third week all local weather preciditions became very dubious, with foul weather predictions thankfuly becoming fine.

March 2005:

We have seen a great start to the month. There have been some decent rains to relieve the water shortage. Most importantly has been the great counts of Oystercatchers in the first two weeks, more than double of the November adult count. On the 13th a nest was recorded with an egg. The insect world has provided some great sightings, particularly for butterfly lovers. On the 13th the group watched a spider wasp for 90 minutes as she dragged her immobilized prey over 20m, before burrowing a nursery to bury the spider, lay a single egg on it and then compact the soil as it buried it. It was interesting to see 2 other species of flies attempt to lay their eggs in the nest. Fish poachers using a gill net in the Serpentine River were apprehendedwhen their location and activities were reported during the canoe section of the trail. The first whale sighting of the season was made on the the 14th from the eastern head of Knysna. The last of the tumble weeds are lossing their colour and setting to seed. The end of March was a time for jellyfish, some measuring 1m across, to be washed up on the beach. It was intriguing to watch the Plough shells, a carnivorous mollusk, feeding on them. There was also a great sighting of an octopus towards the end of the month. Most appreciated was the cooling of the air temperature, making for more comfortable and less exhausting walking. In the last week dolphins were sighted along the Swartvlei and Platbank sections of the beach. Most excitedly was the sighting of 3 Narina Trogens within 300m in the Wilderness forest. Well spotted Frans!!

February 2005:

This month was definitely the month of wind, strongly from the east. With it came a constant flotilla of blue bottles providing ample food for the plough shells.It also shifted the currents and pushed the warm Mozambican current into our shores making for very pleasant swimming. I was fortunate enough to be accompanied by 9 hump backed dolphins while doing some surf skiing off Myoli beach. It has also been the month in which juvinile hammerhead sharks have been migrating west. These are only about 1.2m long and no real threat. Along with the wind has been the reforming of the beaches. New mini dunes have formed and the beaches have raised approximately 2m in the last 6 weeks. The advantage of this is that the beach area has been greatly extended and the surf area has retreated further back to the ocean. It is with concern that one of the original twin fledgling oyster catchers can not be accounted for. One glimmer of hope is seeing how independent and effective at feeding the remaining sibling is, the missing one has moved to a new location and thriving on it's own.

January 2005:

January was a month of variable weather with predominant easterly winds and hot days alternating with some unusually heavy rain falls. The air was humid. On the beach the recolonisation with Ghost crabs was noted. Accompanying the winds were a masses of blue bottles washed up on the shore. A good remedy if stung by one is to smear some of sap of the broad leaf vygies from the dunes on the site of stinging. The older Oyster catcher chicks have being ringed, but it is still possible to see some juveniles still in the nest. It was really exciting to see a 2 week old chick being inspected by one of the Conservation rangers. The Black Shouldered Kites have returned and could be seen hovering over the dunes as they watched out for a field mouse or dune mole rat. The milkwoods in the Goukamma Nature Reserve were full of fruit allowing easy viewingof foraging Knysna Loeries, especially on the rainy days. The Pied Kingfishers have been more noticeable, especially on the canoeing sections. Sightings of Little Egrets feeding in the rock pools have been made on both the Kleinkrans and Platbank beaches. For those more patient, the Rooicat (Karakul) can be seen even during the day as they feed on the Franklin and guineafowl. The good rains, while not completely alleviating the water shortage, has encouraged spiders, especially the golden orbs back to the area. Good news for steam train enthusiasts, the railway was repaired on the 31st and the normal schedules resumed.

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