Robertson, First Aid and Caves.

Good afternoon from a cloudy day here in SA. Here's the latest blog update from the last three weeks...

Week 22 (Monday 4th - Sunday 10th February) - Robertson

So I had hoped to get this blog posted on Sunday 10th but a power cut, which means no phone signal, stopped that from happening. I also tried Monday and Tuesday but there was more power cuts. The BBC wrote an article about all the power issues here in SA this week (here is the link to it - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-47232268 ). Anyway, here is this week's post..,

We spent Monday packing all the gear we would need for the next course into the trailer and bakkie (pronounced 'buky', it's the Afrikaans word for pickup truck). We also did some last minute maintenance around base including fixing the gutter and drain pipe outside the DP room. Hopefully now that we've repositioned the pipe that goes underground the room won't flood when we get heavy rainfall. As we managed to get everything done we got to have the rest of the afternoon off so of course we just had to go for a swim!

Bright and early (5am early) on Tuesday morning we left Sedgefield to drive out to Robertson. Robertson is a five hour drive away and the town is very famous for it's wine with lots of wine companies using the surrounding land for growing fruit. In fact, the area that OB use here is on the Graham Beck wine estate. When we got to our base for the week we had lunch before heading out to the abseil site to leave the gear there and to set up the approach lines on the walk up. Approach lines are used when the walk to the top of the abseil is potentially dangerous for the participants. It's basically a long piece of rope that's attached into a carabiner which is then attached to a hanger in a rock surface. When the participants hike up they wear their helmets and a seat harness which means they can be attached onto the rope. The route to the top of this abseil is very steep with loose rocks and you also need to climb up in some places too. The abseil is very cool though and very high too with it dropping around 50 meters from the top! When we got back to the base we use here, me and Aphiwe were the designated chefs that night so we cooked a stir fry for everyone. I really love the base here, think safari lodge style, with amazing views of the mountains and a dam in the middle of a nature reserve.

Wednesday marked the first day of course. We all jumped in the back of the bakkie and drove out to  the community centre where we would be meeting the group and where they would start and finish their OB journey. As we went early we even got time for a quick shower as there's none at base. The group was a varsity (university) from Cape Town so the participants were all 19-28 years old. As the groups were only hiking out to their campsites that day our duties as support was mainly logistical such as dropping water in 25L containers at the campsites for the groups. Afterwards we (me, Scott, Talitha and Nthabi - who is the course coordinator for this course) headed back to the base with the teacher for the night. Nthabi taught me how to make chicken stew that night for dinner... but according to most people here, chicken is a vegetable, so did I learn how to to make vegetable stew instead?

Another early morning on Thursday saw Talitha and I head out to the abseil site to set it up for the first group arriving just after 8am. Unfortunately a participant in that group became unwell so we had to take them back to base. He was feeling much better by late afternoon which was good. We also did another water drop which was one of the most important jobs that day as not only were the groups hiking for long distances between campsites and activities but also because of the weather. That afternoon the temperature reached 44°C! It was a good thing that raft building was on the programme as it gave the groups a chance to cool down in the water, especially after a long hike with no shade to hide from the scorching sun in. One of the instructors mentioned how going for a dip in the water was really special for a few people from their group as this was the first time that they had ever gone swimming! Late afternoon, Talitha and I headed back out to the abseil site to take down all the ropes, gear and approach lines. I have to say, going down the route with the approach lines is far better than doing it without them! As it was still far too hot that night we opted for sleeping outside under the stars. This is something I'm loving being able to do here.

Friday was the last day of course so we drove back to the community centre where the groups met again. I ran the 'final challenge' which for this course was a team building type of obstacle course that we had created. Despite the scorching temperatures throughout the past few days, all the participants were so positive and full of energy - it was really great to see. Once they had left we all managed to get another shower (we were all super grateful for the cold water!) before packing up the pods (big bags that store all the gear a participant will need while on course) and heading back to the base to debrief. As it was still way too hot to pack everything back into the trailer we took a break for a hour or so. Me, Talitha and Andy went swimming in one of the dams and the views were just incredible. After packing the trailer we had dinner and started to pack our personal stuff. This is when Nthabi made the discovery of a spider in her bag - I've never seen a bigger spider in my life!

As you can tell, here at OB we love nothing more than an early morning so at 5am we were back on the road again. We stopped off in Robertson so that Andy could catch his bus (which was two hours late - no surprise to anyone here) to Cape Town as it was the end of his time here at OB SA. We're all going to miss having him around base and it was really great to learn from him and get to know him the past month. After getting back to Sedgefield just before lunch, we unpacked and washed the vehicles before finishing up for the day. Sunday was a day of leave so I spent it calling family and friends back home and then going swimming. It was also raining which was very welcoming after spending the last four days in temperatures that never seemed to dip below 30°C .

In some other news around base, I saw two bush bucks walking around, the electricity keeps going out for a few hours a couple of times a day and the mosquitoes have come back in force.

The pictures this week are all from our time in Robertson. In order we have the zebra we drove past everyday on the way to the abseil site. It was really cool to see them in the wild again! There is also photos of the base and the surrounding area and one of the spider that was found in Nthabi's bag.

Enjoy the pictures,

Rachel :)

Week 23 (Monday 11th - Sunday 17th February) - First Aid and Sleeping bags

As the subheading suggests this week we have been doing a lot of first aid. We started re-learning the basics with level 1 and progressed throughout the week onto level 2 and 3. Friday was our test day where we had to demonstrate the skills we had learned the past few days. Being able to do a field dressing, deal with an impaled object, handling fractures, infant, child and adult chocking and CPR. We also learned about environmental issues including heatstroke, drowning and snake and spider bites - all very important to know in our field of work. We also spent time making stretchers out of things we could find around base that we would have on course so my team made one out of rucksacks and rope. We also had to carry Scott around base on the stretcher we have here and that we bring on every course. Level 3 (emergency childbirth) may not be as relevant to Outward Bound first aid compared to dealing with a sprained ankle, but it's all important to know as a first aider.

In between first aid training we were washing the sleeping bags from the instructors pods. Hand washing them did take a while but since it was nice and sunny all week they dried in no time! The best way to wash them properly is to use your feet instead of your hands. We had to stomp on them for a few minutes in soapy water, then fresh water (once you've squeezed out all the soapy water from them) before putting them in a big tub of water with fabric softner. Once it's been in there for a few moments we twist the water out of them again before hanging them up to dry.

In some other news around base, there's been a DSD course running this week, we spent Saturday morning advertising OB in Knynsa mall and the spiders in our room have taken to making nests on our curtains. We were also given new OB t-shirts and an OB cap too that we can wear while on course. And there's been a monkey around base!!

The only photos I have of this week are from washing the sleeping bags and one of me down at the waterfront after swimming yesterday.

We're now on leave for two weeks as the courses that were meant to be happening up in Potchefstroom were rescheduled for later in the year. So we've got a few days out planned for this week.

Enjoy the photos,

Rachel :)

Week 24 (Monday 18th February - Sunday 24th February) - Caves and cheetahs.

So this week we've been on leave which has been really nice after a hectic few weeks. As usual we've done a lot of swimming but we've also hired a car so on Tuesday we went to Vic Bay beach and did some body surfing and ice cream eating. We also went into George and stopped at Golden Harvest which is a fresh fruit/veg shop which is amazing. I bought lots of oranges and mangoes and we even found a few cans of irn bru there! Since we were in George we had decided to go to the cinema which was really good.

On Wednesday we drove up to Oudtshoorn a town famous for its ostriches. We visited the Cango Caves which was very cool. We went on the 'adventure' tour round the cave system which meant visiting all the chambers and then climbing up through tunnels and small spaces. 'Devils chimney' was a climb that was almost vertical with not much room to move and 'the postbox' as the name suggests was a very small opening we had to slide through. We also went to the Cango Wildlife Park which has a massive focus on conservation especially cheetahs. They offer animal encounters so we couldn't pass on the offer of meeting a cheetah! It was absolutely amazing!!

We've been at base the rest of the week so we've done a lot of swimming (it's the best way to cool down) and we went to the market yesterday morning. Yesterday was also the half way mark for my volunteering year away. I've had an amazing experience so far, meeting new people, seeing new places, learning a lot of new cultures but most importantly being given an opportunity to help make a lasting impact on a wide variety of people who come through Outward Bound's door.

Photos from this week are from Vic Bay, the caves and meeting the cheetahs.

Enjoy the photos and I'm going to try my best and actually post next week's blog on time.

Rachel :)