I'm going to take you on a little tour through our latest adventure ~ a visit to Jubilee Creek picnic site in the heart of the Garden Route National Park. This National Park has three distinct sections - Wilderness, Knysna and Tsitsikamma and this lovely picnic spot is in the Knysna portion, about 30kms north of where we live.
Because of the location of Knysna, the area is home to the most beautiful tracts of Afromontane Forest and Mountain Fynbos. The National Park was expanded in 2009 and now covers 121 000 hectares.
Source: SANParks
A large portion of the road is a dirt track which is in good condition if you own a 4x4. Our 2x4 wasn't that impressed.
The Jubilee Creek Picnic site was part of an old gold mining area and some of the old mines you can still visit and explore. I dont think there's any gold though, so don't base your visit on that. As we were far more interested in having a picnic braai (barbeque) we decided to leave the gold prospecting for another day.
I was quite excited to break out my DSLR and give it a warm welcome back. I haven't used it for a while and it felt good in my hands again. My macro lens made fine work of the smaller attractions - this pretty Lobelia flower is only 7mm long.
The creek that runs through here is fed by underground springs and rain water which is potable. The colouration is from the tannins of the surrounding vegetation that leech into it. It is also home to many little amphibians (we found two species the Clicking Stream Frog and River Frog) and is frequented by both dragon and damselflies. I've read that the endangered Redfin fish are also found in this stream, but we couldn't find them where we were.
Being out here reminded me of how much I love photographing wildlife. There were quite a few subjects that gave me some challenging opportunities to work on my trigger finger and breathing. Might sound crazy, but it makes a huge difference when taking photos without a tripod.
We hadn't been there for 5 minutes and Lory wanted to be in the stream. She had such a good time walking, sitting and splashing in it, she's such a water baby. She even managed to catch a Clicking Stream Frog, but she wasn't quick enough to get the tadpoles.
The greens and browns of the vegetation are vivid - typical of the forests I've come to know and love here. Some of the Yellowwood Trees are more than 1000 years old- majestic and worthy of conserving.
It didn't take me too long to get the firewood chopped and the braai on the go. We ate our food while chatting about the river and the animals and then the thunder started rolling in. We had spent about 3 to 4 hours here and it had flown by so fast!
A little way down the road back and little Lory was fast asleep in her car seat, tupperware on her lap full of leftovers.
I am eager to go back and perhaps next time do the hike up to the waterfall!
All photographs are mine and may not be used or reproduced without my permission.
