Easter picnic at Camel Rock

 

Not quite indigenous, but a cheerful cotoneaster at the start of our Easter Sunday walk at Constantia Nek. There was quite a turnout today - Pauline, Alice and Maddie, Sue and Honey, Kate, Leanne, Mark and Sally and Florian from Germany. 

Maddie and Alice.

We decided to split the party - dog walkers to take the easy way and non-dog walkers to do a bit of cliff-climbing up Constantia Corner - and we agreed to meet at Camel Rock for tea.

A Roella with tightly closed buds.

The Easter moon was still up in the sky. 

This Common Banded Garden Orbweb Spider (Argiope australis) was waving at us to go away - just look at her very cross face. 

Sue and Kate coming up the path - with Eagles Nest and the start of Constantia Corner in the centre - but we couldn't see the other half of the party ...

they were somewhere up there on the misty crags.

The path eventually joined the Great Dog Highway which we always love. Here is Dougal terrorising an Irish Terrier. (Honey went one better than him to day and managed to bounce a Jack Russell right off the path.)

A dip in the lovely cool waters of the De Villiers Dam - which was built by our next door neighbour's (Jackie Diesveld's) grandfather - John Delbridge - in the late 19th Century.

Are you not coming in?

We all converged on Camel Rock at the same time - pretty good timing, what?

And Kate whipped out some champagne 

and we all proceeded to have a very merry tea. Champagne, chocolates, rusks, Sue biscuits, dog biscuits ...

Pauline, Sally, Mark, Kate, Leanne, Florian, Alice, The Alph and Sue. (Dogs too busy eating dog biscuits to show their heads above the fynbos.)

But Honey still doesn't quite trust us although we think she's quite cool.

Florian, Sally and Kate - with Alice in the background.

Mark - the Barn Swallow expert. 

The Alph and Sue.

Leanne, Florian, Sally and Kate.

There were lots of Cluster Disas (Disa ferruginea) all glistening with South-easter cloud mist. (This is the disa that mimics the nectar-producing Tritoniopsis to lure the Mountain Pride butterfly into pollinating it.)

Setting off after tea - Pauline leading the way.

A white Yellow Rice Heath (Erica lutea).

A wonderfully coloured (if only us dogs could SEE colour!) Hanging Heath (Erica coccinea).

The same Roella bush but this time (about 11 am) with flowers open. The Food Lady thinks its Roella muscosa.

Autumn in the air with the arrival of lots of Oxalis flowers on the path - Boksuring (Oxalis caprina).

Spot the Praying Mantis on this Indigofera cytisoides.

Back to the car park under the gums - tired but very happy dogs - despite the strange lady who thought that we were poor suffering, abandoned, struggling dogs with short legs.

Alice buying Hanepoot grapes at the Constantia Nek circle.