Almost Easter and the children are anxiously awaiting the visit from the “Paashaas” – to BK it just means that this year is flying faster than a BMW with a number plate that reads “Faizel” on the Ben Schoeman. You blink and the Xmas songs start playing on the radio. But there’s still a bit of summer left, even though it gets a bit colder in the mornings and evenings and we get to work when the sun is still touching the horizon.

Ja, jong, the snow has already fallen on the mountains and when the wind blows it has that icy edge like a cold Karoo morning. But you want to hear about the camper trip, and BK is not someone who lets people down, so here is the low-down, so to speak:

Arriving in Cairns it felt like someone was pointing a hair dryer at you, on full blast and the hot setting. BK thought “Ja, wragtag, so moet mens mos leef!” and promptly switched on the car’s aircon.

The trip on the cable car over the rainforest was “pragtag” – all the different types of trees and shrubbery – ferns growing in the fork of bigger trees! But it also meant there wasn’t a lot of time left to explore the metropolis of Cairns and Townsville was still a few hours away.

The camping ground at Townsville was just opposite the beach, and the giant hairdryer was blowing till late that night. BK heard two mosquitoes talking: one said “Shall we eat him here or take him away?” The other one said “better to eat him here otherwise the big ones will take him from us.”

Mackay and Rockhampton was very plain, reminded BK a bit of Zeerust, you know. The strange things was the signs on the door of Sizzlers advertising breakfast from 7:30 to 10:00 right next to the sign showing opening times from 11:00 onwards. So BK walked to the place with the big “Now Open” sign, only to see the smaller “Sorry, We’re closed” sign on the door.

Then came Agnes Waters and 1770 (that’s right – the town is called seventeen seventy) and let me tell you, a beer has never tasted better! Cold as a woman’s heart… BK sat overlooking the lagoon and trying the local beers – not that BK drinks a lot, you know, but to be able to better recommend to visitors which ones are good, and which ones should best be avoided.

Noosa was busier than a flea market after payday, and BK understands that it is always like that. It’s a pity, it looked like a nice place, but too busy for BK’s “plaas” taste. So on to Caloundra again, having been there before, and enjoying the visit as much as the first time.

But of course the trip had to come to an end far too soon, and there was still a little visiting left to do with friends on the Gold Coast, which BK will tell you about next time.

Bosveldgroete!