Long weekend of 18 - 22 March

The first long weekend of a bunch in March and April this year has come and gone. David and the team of labourers deserve a big pat on the back for managing to repair most of the water damage in time for this one.
Besides Saturday and Sunday, where we had 4mm rain and gusting winds, the weather was fair and fine. We were quite busy with a dozen houses occupied and keen fishermen dotting the river banks, and yes, the fishing was great according to all the anglers I spoke to.

Here's a little gallery of some of the pictures I took between Friday and now...

Finsbury Estate viewed from the base of Mount Prospect

K18 on the Kliprots. Among the weirs where Ralph Ririe caught seven trout in his first 90 minutes on the Estate

Marsh Tibouchinas proudly on display between the staff village and Whisky Cottage.

Introducing the new Managing couple, Don and Anne MacCrimmon (1st and 7th, seated, from the left respectively) during a sundowner at site 26 in South Valley.

A spider waits patiently in it's jewel laden web in the early morning.

How's the situation of these Marsh Pokers!

The rivers are flowing beautifully again after the good rains.

Fly fishing at the "shark tank", W3.

A Gladiolus varius showing off in the mountain grasslands!

This Scarlet River Lily, Hesperantha coccinea, is blooming rather late on the banks of the Steenkamps Stream.

A colourful caterpillar in the grasslands.

A weekend wouldn't be the same without a sighting of the majestic Eland!

The fishing was great this weekend.

Jissis! That is a spectacular bloom! Only the second time I am seeing the mind-numbingly beautiful Gladiolus elliottii.

The serine view of M2 with it's picturesque White Stinkwood, Celtis Africana.

This was only the first of three long weekends in the next six weeks so get yourselves here for Easter time. We look forward to you visiting and remember, I will be offering mountain walks everyday for those adventurous souls...

It keeps raining...

Further to Jimmy's recent posts on the rains, we thought members would be interested to see the Finsbury rainfall stats in something closer to real time than we have had in the past. We have captured the historic data for the last 7 seasons including this one, and have devised a system where Jimmy will keep a log of the daily rainfall. This then 'automatically' feeds through into some graphs which are on the new 'Rainfall data' tab at the top of your screen (as per the screen shot below).

Let us have any thoughts, feedback or suggestions in the comments section below, or via email.

Nick

A sea of Pokers!

The river levels have dropped again although they remain fast flowing. The roads have been repaired well enough for one to traverse the entire Estate. Most footpaths along the rivers are still under water and many footbridges have been washed away. So far, I have managed to locate 6 of them and these are far from where they originated! Believe me, they are extremely heavy but I'm sure all will be in order (barring no further floods!) for the long weekends in April. Of the annual total, so far, of 981mm, 336mm fell in the last three weeks since cyclone Dineo hit land.

Note: The top right thumbnail on this page gives all rainfall information until the day. I update it as it rains - thanks Nick Moore.

Saw a massive colony of more than 200 Common Marsh Pokers, Kniphofia linearifolia, today! Never seen so many in one place before. While I stood in among these striking flowers I had six Sunbirds fluttering around enjoying the nectar these flowers provide!

There is a smaller colony pretty close to the Kliprots road just south of the Solitude junction and another on the northern bank of the Shark Tank left of the crossing to the staff village.....

The striking inflorescence of the Kniphofia linearifolia, Common Marsh Poker

Hard to appreciate in a photograph but there are more than 200 individuals in this colony of Common Marsh Pokers just above K9. The Sunbirds where having a ball!

A smaller colony of Kniphofia linearifolia on the bank of the Shark Tank (W3). You can see "Elsmere" in the distance.

The flowers turn a soft yellow when the bracts open and the stamens extend. Sunbirds perch easily longitudinally on the robust stem and insert their long bills from the bottom to get to the nectar.