The Bonnivale Hot Dog

At the start of February 2006 Luke attended a school camp at Montagu, for two nights. Carol and I assisted with the transport to the camp some 250 klms from home. We took the opportunity to rent a small cottage in the mountains outside Bonnivale, about 20 Klms from Montagu.

The cottage was best described as remote, not TV, not stereo, not telephone and no cell signal, in other words paradise. There was a great outdoor fire pit on which we cooked steaks in the dark and lay on the picnic table to stare at the millions of stars in the clear night

We took the dogs with us and Noah seemed to be particularly interested in the safety precautions we had in place regading open fires, or was he just interested in the smell of the steaks being cooked.

During the day the temp hit 43c, which in any bodies book is flipping hot, most dogs like to curl up in front of a fire but Noah liked the idea of lying on a cold tile floor in front of a massive fan. He was the Bonnivale Hot Dog.

This trip was also the first in our new vehicle, the Range Rover signed its death warrant over the New Year period and has been replaced with a silver Toyota 3.0 KZ TD HILUX double cab, or a backkie as they are known around these parts.

The Bonnivale area is a good place to visit, and its very close to the Robertson wine valley with some great vine yards to visit. The area is wild and has some fantastic scenery, but to make the most of the area a Backkie is a must as not all the roads have tarmac surfaces.