Yellow Sands Caravan Park was our home for August 2023
Yellow Sands Caravan Park near Gonubi and East London was our home for August 2023 as I had to see the dentist, collect a new credit card, and wait for the Suzuki’s license disc to be delivered.
Being on the move from caravan park to caravan park sometimes needs careful planning, and Wifey had to do some serious emailing and calling to get what we want.
I must say, I don’t understand why businesses refuse to publish their prices and rates on their websites.
All the excuses such as “we don’t want the competition to see our rates” or “we want people to call so we can sell them” are all nonsense.
The receptionist at your competitors can phone and ask for your rates posing as a potential camper, and if people call to ask for your rates or prices, your staff have not been trained to “sell” them.
I have yet to encounter someone at a camp site who try to “sell” me an alternative or better deal.
Publishing your rates on your website enables potential campers to make quick decisions and book while on your website. They don’t have to leave you site to send a message or call you.
And it saves time when a camper does not have to call only to find out that the rates are higher than what they are prepared to pay.
Yellow Sands maintenance
While we were at Yellow Sands they were busy with some serious maintenance and we expect the December visitors to be impressed with the grass cover on the sites.
On our first weekend we visited Tea in the Trees, a delightful tea garden near Yellow Sands where we had tasty burgers and a great fresh salad, which tasted great with sweet chilly sauce.
A week of observation and insight
The week of 14 to 19 August was a week of observation and insights.
I saw a number of things and gained some insights into the difficulties campground owners have to deal with and how a one-minute observation becomes a general view.
During the week we had a groupd of school boys on tour that stayed over at Yellow Sands.
One evening I walked into the ablution block and it was a mess. Dirt and mud tracks and water all over the floor and a beehive of boys showering and walking out of the showers before towelling off.
I wasn’t upset as we still get it right to not judge but to cope with what comes our way.
When I returned a few hours later, the bathroom was shining clean.
The next morning another camper encountered me as I came from the ablution and questioned whether the bathrooms were usable.
I explained to him that the boys cleaned up after they used the bathrooms. My explanation obviously did not fit in with this prejudices and he went off about kids who mess up ablution facilities and have no proper upbringing.
Two nights later I encountered the same but as I was a bit later than the previous time, I found one of the senior boys directing junior in mopping the floors and cleaning the showers and floors.
It was then that it occurred to me that we often observe something for a fleeting second, and the observation then becomes an encompassing and long-term view of everything related to the event.
Life is not fair, because people are not fair.
During the same week a pipe under one of the basins in the male ablutions started leaking.
The staff of the resort opened it to inspect what the cause was. I don’t know if they could not repair it or could not find the necessary spares, but the second morning we walked into a flooded building.
Some campers used the ablution facilities before the cleaning staff arrive and we obviously had a wet, muddy, slippery floor. I did not hear loud complaints or indignation by any campers.
By about the third day, the cleaning staff were very unhappy with every morning’s flooded floor.
The Monday after this week, a staff plumber installed a new pipe and we were back to normal.
This event and some people’s reaction to it juxtaposed perfectly with the reaction to the children who made a mess on the floor earlier the week.
I couldn’t help but observe the different reactions (mine and other campers) to similar events although created by different circumstances and people.
We sometimes wallow deep and happy in our own prejudices.
I reminded myself that one should not let events or other people dictate your emotions and views. Allowing that to happen takes away your satisfaction with your own situation.
Today is Monday 21 August. This day is the reason why we booked for a month at Yellow Sands.
It is the day of my dentist appointment to complete work done when we passed through in April.
I find it interesting how we have to adapt.
I found a doctor in Scottburgh, KZN, a dentist and auto electrician in East London and I and the Wifey both fetched our new credit cards at Nedbank in Beacon Bay, East London.
You learn to use what is available to you. The tricky part is not when to make appointments like at home, but when and with who to make appointments.
It is sometimes quite difficult to decide which service provider to use as you get as many suggestions as you ask people.
It helps if the medical aid has a list of network doctors from which you can choose in any area, but you must still choose whether you will use the family clinic in the mall or the one-person dentistry in the suburbs.
We are getting used to the idea that we don’t have to plan to be home by a certain time to service the car and caravan or to see the doctors. If we are lucky, we can pick good service providers wherever we are.
Meanwhile, I sent the insurance company my representation about the solar system at home which they do not want to pay out.
I don’t think we will succeed but it was an eloquent and impressive presentation if I must say so myself!
Campsite 29 Yellow Sands
A short report on the stand we camped on, stand 29.
When we camped at Yellow Sands in February, March and April, we camped on site 32 right on the seafront.
It gave us the opportunity to really test the Maxcons spring pegs.
I am satisfied with the performance of the pegs and I have a good idea about their quality and potential.
We will now camp away from the seafront to also have that experience.
Stand 29 is a very private site surrounded by trees, shrubs and a dune on the sea side.
It will be a great site in summer because you only have direct sun for a small part of the day. I found it a bit cold for a windy August but the vegetation protected us from the extreme winds.
What was most enjoyable were the many birds that live in the undergrowth.
The variety of birds and sounds is quite surprising and I enjoyed just watching them all come past our tent on their daily trip in search of food.
Stand 29 can be found on the Yellow Sands park map.
The way forward
In any case, we have decided to rent our our house for another year, partially thanks to the fact that we have good tenants and a good agent.
But, as we have learned in the first 8 months of camping, much can happen in a day, so we’ll see.
At this stage, we will move on from Yellow Sands at the end of August.
We have already booked September at Medolino in Port Alfred, October at Big Fish near Gamtoos River Mouth in the Jeffreys Bay area, and November to January at Harkerville Forest Lodge near Knysna and Plettenberg Bay.
We camped at Medolino about 15 years ago when they won the title of Best Caravan Camp in SOuth Africa for a number of years in succession. It has new owners and we’ll see what we find this time.
We also already booked tentatively at Midwest in St Helena Bay for February, then March, if we don’t change our mind, at Kalahari Water near Keimoes.
The only thing we are sure of is that we are not sure of anything!
In the last week at yellow Sands the insurance company let us know that my eloquent submission did not impress them and that they would not pay for a new solar inverter and battery.
I called a number of electricians I was referred to, but ended the week convinced that solar must be so popular now that you only find electricians who want to sell you a new system. They are not interested in helping you solve your problem.
So many false promises of “I’ll call you back” and “send us a WhatsApp” I haven’t seen in a long time.
I grew up with the value set that your word is your honour, the days when contracts were closed on a handshake.
Those days are gone forever.
It also taught me that there are some things that are hard to do if you are not near your home. I believed that you could do virtually anything from a distance because there are always someone who will provide a service as long as you can pay.
If you plan on doing long-term camping, arrange your matters differently, because there are quite often nobody who will help you – not even if you are prepared to pay.
That was our August 2023 Yellow Sands camping stay.
Information about the facilities appear in the blog post I wrote after our previous camp at Yellow Sands.
The Web Chef
While at Yellow Sands, I had the opportunity to help neighbour create a website for his new business.
It was fun and interesting to learn more about a trade I know very little about.
If you are interested in hospitality or come across a hospitality business that needs advice, send them over to The Web Chef.
To Medolino via the R72
If Google Maps tells you to take the N2 to Port Alfred, don’t.
That route takes about 40 minutes longer and takes you through the rural areas and Qonce (King William’s Town).
We used the R72 through East-London and along the coast.
It should have taken us 2 hours for the roughly 169 km. But that was if we did not turn off at Nature View Farm Stall and met Pieter and Doffy!
At this stage, I must just warn you to be on the look-out for the stall as the signs were blown down when we passed and we had to turn around after we missed the turn-off. The best is to enter it on your Google Maps or GPS, because it is one of the rare experiences you will have in this part of the country.
We bought the most tasty and delightful Pineapple and Granadilla jam which you can use in many more ways than as a jam.
You don’t have to ask Pieter, he is going to tell you in any case!
We plan on going back and I will write more about Nature’s View Farm and Nature View Farm Stall while we camp at Medolino.