Forest flowers

You should know better than to ask me the name of the flower in the picture cause by now regular visitors would know that I am pretty useless when it comes to identifying flowers.  All I know is that I found it next to the river in the Knysna forest at Jubilee Creek and it made for a pretty picture.

Knysna yachts sunset

As I have said in a previous post, I tried to get a different sunset pic each night during our stay in Knysna.  On this specific evening I headed down to the Knysna Quays to see what I could find there for a sunset scene.  The yachts at anchor in the little harbour made for the ideal foreground.

This one was taken a minute or so before the first one.  Both ideal to post as my contribution to Skywatch this week.

Knysna forest graves

What would an expedition into the Knysna forest be without looking for some of the graves that belong to the woodcutters and miners from back in the days?  My map of the forest showed "graves" close to Millwood and I ventured down a short narrow dirt road to have a look.  The small sign at the gate called it the Old English Cemetery and it contained graves of both woodcutters and miners and their families.

On the information board there were 34 names ranging in ages from 1 and 4 days to old age.  The amount of ages in the 20's and 30's was actually astounding which just shows how harsh it was living in the conditions that these people lived in.  The grave yard itself only had three or four graves with grave stones while the rest where nothing more than humps on the ground.

I noticed another spot on the map that had graves that were accessible.  It turned out to be on the property of Forest Edge which is an award winning accommodation establishment.  The land that the property is on was part of the land that were given to some of the woodcutters to settle on after they were moved out of the forest and logging was seized.  They were more than willing to allow me in to go and have a look at the graves which is on the edge of the forest.  Again the graves was unmarked till the owners of Forest Edge marked them with white crosses.  Although there are no records of who were buried here, two elderly ex-woodcutters who live close by have given them some indication of who some of the people may be.

Pink baby unicorn

I heard the rumours but nobody had photographic evidence.  Very much like the Knysna forest elephants, just more elusive and mysterious.  I knew the pink flowers only appeared in autumn after good rains, which is something that doesn't happen much.  I prepared, checked my camera, checked my batteries...  Arriving at the location there wasn't any trace of it.  I crawled as quietly as I could through the flowers and found a spot to make myself comfortable. Waiting... Watching... And there it was, a fleeting glimpse, a flash of pink in the pink.  I pointed my camera in its direction and got only one picture before it disappeared.  But now I have it.  The only evidence that pink baby unicorns do exist.  

Just for those confused visitors used to my regular posts, I felt like posting something a bit different from my usual today. 

San Ambrosa Church

One of Daleen Matthee's books, The Mulberry Forest, tells the story of a group of Italian silk farmers who where brought to Knysna to farm with silk worms and start up a silk spinning industry.  They were settled at Gouna in a forest clearing occupied by a headstrong Silas Miggel and his daughter.  When it was clear that the Italians weren't coping, they the father and daughter came to their rescue.  The daughter because she cared and Silas because he wanted them off his land and on board a ship heading for Italy ...

The book was based on the true story of 30 Italians that were brought to Knysna in 1881 to farm with silk.  Unfortunately the dream never materialised due to a failure to produce Mulberry trees to feed the silk worms required to spin the silk.  When they were brought to Knysna it was with the understanding that there were mulberry trees in the forest, but it turned out what was referred to as a wild mulberry by the forest people wasn't related to the real mulberry at all. 

The Italians were forced to live out a meagre existence by means of agriculture and small scale cattle farming at Gouna.  The San Ambrosa Church in Gouna was built for them by Rev Rooney ten years after their arrival in 1891.  The church was built to remind them of their lives back in the foothills in Italy and give them a closer connection to home.

Unfortunately over the years the church has been vandalized and looted of its original valuables.  Some restoration has taken place and a fund has been started to restore the rest of the church.  Visitors to the church on a farm in the middle of the Knysna forest is asked to make a donation towards the fund.

The descendants of these Italian pioneers still live not just in Knysna, but all over South Africa.  In the back of the church there are two rooms that act as a museum with a lot of information, old photos and implements.  There is also information on the more recent achievements of their descendants in both the sporting and business fields.  It was amazing looking through the museum and seeing the real photos of the people I read about in the book.  Suddenly I'm in the mood to read the book again... for the third time.

Knysna Lagoon Sunset - "Great Ball of Fire"

I really like sunrise and sunset pictures, but don't get out nearly enough to shoot them.  We spent 5 days in Knysna and I made it my mission to find a different spot every afternoon for sunset.  The first picture is just a straight forward "sunset over the water" picture and unfortunately I had no subject to put into the picture... 

... but for the next picture the Paddle Cruiser was going by and I zoomed in to get the pic.  The result: "Great Ball of Fire!"

I haven't linked a post to Skywatch for so long and I'm nearly a day late, but here goes.

Bendigo Gold Mine

Just up the road from the remains of the Millwood mining town outside Knysna is what is left of the old Bendigo Gold Mine.  At the height of the gold rush in Knysna in the late 1880's up to twelve vessels per month docked in the harbour, bringing in mining machinery for mines like Bendigo and taking out timber.

The path from the parking area passes several mine tunnels and shafts that date from those days.  Although you can follow the path unguided, it's recommended to organise a guided walk if you want to know more and perhaps even venture into some of the tunnels.  The tunnels of the Bendigo mine is by far not the only ones in the surrounding forest and hills, but not many of them are as accessible or visible as these.

Even though most mining operations had seized by then, mining in the Knysna area was officially deproclaimed in 1924 and all prospecting became illegal.  Most of the mining equipment was just left scattered and abandoned in the forest after the miners left and some of it was retrieved and brought back to Knysna.  The Millwood Goldfields Society was founded in 1988 and keeps the memory of the gold industry in the area alive.  At the Bendogo Mine they have a display of restored mining machinery, most of it found deep in the forest, in gullies and ravines.