DINEO was here.

We were certainly brushed by cyclone DINEO this weekend! Between Thursday and Friday we received around 130mm of rain which swelled the rivers to the point where they were unsafe to cross. The Abels from unit 2 wisely escaped the Estate at around 02h00 on Friday morning before the water levels rose too high. In fact, the staff were all trapped on the village side of the Spekboom river on Friday and were unable to get to work! The Benningtons and their guests were also hunkered down in unit 10 with nowhere to go as the waters dashed around their house and the Howards were very much trapped up in the Steenkamp's valley in unit 21.

 By Saturday, Whiskey 6 was traversable but still rather rough and the Benningtons were able to drive around a lot of the Estate. The Howards, though, were still trapped in the valley because the rock crossing at S3 was washed away. By late afternoon we managed to get them across the S3 crossing only because they were in an excellent off-road vehicle and Gary had faith in it.

The water's egress from the "Shark tank" with Spioenkop in the backround.

The crossing at Whiskey 6. I sure wasn't going to try cross it!

The crossing between K3 and K4. My vehicle was picked up and drifted a few meters when I crossed it. Phew!

K9 flowing strongly.

I could finally see the suspension bridge just North of Otter's rest only on Saturday afternoon when the water levels had dropped somewhat.

The access road between unit 24 and 25 was still a raging river even late on Saturday afternoon.

 Anyway, I am glad to say that it appears all the concrete infrastructure, including the hatchery, managed to withstand the massive amounts of water. Simon did say he lost a bunch of fingerlings but, after working through the night on Thursday and Friday, he said the loss was relatively minimal.

The roads, though, are a different story. The water levels have dropped to reveal massive damage to the roads and I am sure we will find a lot more damage as the levels drop further in the coming week!

We look forward to seeing a lot of visitors on the upcoming weekend! It sure is lush and green here!