July 2010 Phone 044-620-3338 Fax 044-620-3176 Email: [email protected] www.greatbrakriver.co.za

Editor3B Rene’ de Kock

Dear Museum Friends Issue 7 of 2010 During July and August, the th Museum is open has its first snowfall this year, 14 June 2010. The photo shows the Outeniqua mountain peaks behind the ‘Brak’ covered in Snow. from Monday – Friday between 9 am and 4 pm only.

The Department of Water Affairs and Forestry reports that during the last week in June 2010, our Wolwedans dam is 21.50% full. The bottom 12% layer may not be suitable for purification.

Whilst our Wolwedans dam water level continues to fall, the good news is that the five million litre sewage retreatment should come on line at the month-end. After many changes it looks like is to get a fifteen million litre desalination plant by the end of November (the largest in ). The world weather patterns are Great Brak River’s certainly changing either to more flooding or worse drought conditions. Wolwedans dam wall. At a recent regional meeting of the Southern Cape Museums we were invited to The only other dam celebrate the World Soccer Cup of importance in the th and Youth Day on the 16 June Wolwedans so we decided to embrace both catchment area is under ‘Soccer Art’. the very small The local pre-schools and Ernest Robertson nursery schools were contacted dam which due to and we received a huge response the light rain is near from our village. Vlinderland 100.0% full. Nursery school sent us 53 drawings, Outeniqua Montessori Do not Forget! School sent in 20 drawings, Pre-owned books Wolwedans Kleuterskool sent in available from the 40 drawings and Vorentoe pre- Museum Book school sent in 16 drawings. Shop. Congratulations to you all. Both English and The exhibition will be on until the end of the Soccer World cup in July so all interested persons can view them at the Museum. books available from We are also close to launching our first official Great Brak Museum education R4.oo each. programme. This will be on the use of local herbs for the grade sixes. GBR Museum News Letter July 2010 Page No. 1 The Museum Shop has been reorganised to hold most of the pre- owned books which will now be available on all open days. Hopes fund raising “Hands On” crafts The Museum will be closed on Saturday Mornings workshop in July during July and August only. on Simplified Painting It would seem that there are no unemployed school leavers in Great will be held at the Brak River. The museum is offering to teach unemployed persons how to Great Brak River make a living out of making crafts, learning to sew, creating your own Museum and will business etc. and what’s more they get paid for attending training start on Thursday classes and for work done. All materials are provided free of charge. 15th. This month’s Do you know of anyone who may be interested? workshop will be unusual in that it will be held over Nico le Roux has produced a collection of twenty dazzling pen and three days. ink sketches of Great Brak River’s “Island”. Please call Hope de Kock on 044 The high class collection is available on special order. 6205124 or 083 Details to follow 378 1232 for full details.

Guess what? New sandwich creatures visit the crafts workshop.

Last month’s very successful craft Banks are advising us that drawing monies at an ATM are no longer class project. secure and that you need to be extra vigilant and ensure that there are no miniature hidden cameras to capture your pin number. Youth Day. Use inside ATM machines wherever possible. Place a daily limit on cash withdrawals. Exhibition of Link your card with your cell phone to ensure that you receive instant Paintings by our notification of all transactions. youngest villagers Even these measures are proving unsuccessful. Consider telephone online banking for payment of accounts. Until 11th July This is much safer.

GBR Museum News Letter July 2010 Page No. 2 Football has been on every one’s mind this The museum would like to thank all those month but did you know the vuvuzelas is not a who have donated books to the museum. South African invention. The fund raising project is very successful and books will now be on sale in the museum shop everyday and not just on special occasions.

Many organisations including Museum Services have been assisting the Museum and Info office both financially and with other services during the past two years and as our readers have asked, we would like to specially mention and thank those contributors.

1) Mossel Bay 2) Mossel Bay Municipality 3) Bolton’s Footwear Pty Ltd. 4) Casino 5) Neels du Plessis, Computers

If you are not on the list perhaps your company would like to assist by donating funding, transport or assistance? We help in promoting you and the town. Why not help us?

There are many individuals who have also provided assistance and we thank you. Full details are shown in our 33 page annual They have been annoying us since the year report (2009-2010) and a pdf copy will be 1660. provided by the chairman on request. BEST LOOKING SOCCER STADIUM “The Pumpkin” > BEST SOCCER QUOTES

Your journey has molded you for your greater good, and it was exactly what it needed to be. Don't think that you've lost time. There is no short-cutting to life. It took each and every situation you have encountered to bring you to the now. And now is right on time.

Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do. - Pele

Some people tell me that we professional players are soccer slaves. Well, if this is slavery, give me a life sentence. - Bobby Charlton

Football is an honest game. It’s true to life. It’s a game about sharing. Football is a team game. So is life. - Joe Namath

Every kid around the world who plays soccer wants to be Pele. I have a great responsibility to show them not just how to be like a soccer player, but how to be like a man. - Pele

I eat football, I sleep football. I breathe football. I'm not mad, I'm just passionate - Thierry Henry

Soccer is how I learned to live; it’s how I found my way through life. - Reid Sipes Pressure? What pressure? Pressure is poor people in the world trying to feed their families. Working from dawn till dust just to feed their young. There is no pressure in football. - Jose Mourinho

To be the ultimate team, you must use your body and your mind. Draw up on the resources of your teammates. Choose your steps wisely and you will win. Remember, only teams succeed. - Jose Mourinho GBR Museum News Letter July 2010 Page No. 3 DID YOU KNOW?

The South African Anthem has a number of treasures that are very important to us.

1) The first African language used in verse one is also one of the three official languages of the . (Remember we have eleven official languages) 2) The language used for verse two is Sesotho which is the main African language spoken in Great Brak River. 3) The third verse from the poem of C J Langenhoven contains two lines “Oor ons ewige gebergtes, Waar die kranse antwoord gee, were inspired by the Red Hills. See last month’s photos.

ENGLISH (Xhosa) Nkosi sikelel' iAfrika God [Lord] bless Africa Maluphakanyisw' uphondo lwayo, Raise high Her glory (Zulu) Yizwa imithandazo yethu, Hear our Prayers Nkosi sikelela, thina lusapho lwayo. God bless us, her children Sesotho) Morena boloka setjhaba sa heso, God we ask You to protect our nation O fedise dintwa le matshwenyeho, Intervene and end all conflicts O se boloke, O se boloke setjhaba sa heso, Protect us, protect our nation, our nation, South Setjhaba sa, South Afrika - South Afrika. Africa - South Africa (Afrikaans) Uit die blou van onse hemel, Ringing out from our blue heavens, Uit die diepte van ons see, From our deep seas breaking round, Oor ons ewige gebergtes, Over everlasting mountains, Waar die kranse antwoord gee, Where the echoing crags resound, (English) Sounds the call to come together, And united we shall stand, Let us live and strive for freedom, In South Africa our land.

During the past few months we have been placing some of the remaining photographs we received for last year’s photo competition.

Nog ‘n foto uit ons dorp se 150 ste verjaardagsviering kompetisie

“Reëndruppels”

Deur: Anna Mary de Wit

GBR Museum News Letter July 2010 Page No. 4 Neighbouring Towns – Still Bay

Another interesting village an hours drive from Great Brak River is the little village of Still Bay ().

Stilbaai is situated at the mouth of the Goukou (Kaffirkuils) river, some 26 kilometres off the main road to . Its history goes back to 1894 when the first residential stands were surveyed. It has long stretches of white sandy beaches, mild weather and a river which is navigable for some fifteen kilometres. At the estuary mouth, there is nearly three kilometres of surfing beach. The fishing is good and there is a small harbour for fishing boats.

Nowadays tourists can see remnants of the ancient fishing culture at the many viswywers (fish traps). These are near circular stone structures that the Khoi–San created to catch fish at low tide. Some of these traps are still used and maintained today. They also have a brilliant archaeological exhibition at the moment. For further details, please contact Reon Meij at [email protected].

The hamlet has a population of about 4000 permanent residents and also has two villages, and Melkhoutfontein, within its boundary. Melkhoutfontein, about seven kilometres inland from Stilbaai, is a friendly community consisting mainly of the descendants of the original fishermen of this area and is today largely involved in the fishing and building industries. Another coastal village Jongensfontein, is ten kilometres down the coast and offers a spectacular view of the ocean.

One of the highlights of the year is the game of Touch Rugby that is played on 26 December.

GBR Museum News Letter July 2010 Page No. 5 At the Palinggat Homestead, tourists can see the only tame eels in South Africa. The eels at the fountain near the Tourism Bureau are fed every day at 11 am except for Sundays.

Still Bay also has several great hiking routes.

To find out more, please visit : www.stilbaaitourism.com or Tel 028 754 2602 or e-mail [email protected]

Another view of Still Bay river mouth showing the attractive aloe succotrina which is at its best during June and July. The simple flower spikes grow to a metre and appear during mid-winter. The racemes grow to 350 mm. The tubular flowers are shiny, dark orange red and striking.

Individual flowers are about 40 mm long. This aloe is pollinated by sunbirds (our Orange Breasted and Double Collared Sunbirds). The fruit ripens during spring when it releases small black seed. Aloe succotrina is a true Cape species always associated with the quartz sandstone of the Cape’s folded mountains. It is distributed from the to Mossel Bay where it can be seen in profusion. Its habitat is road side verges, sheer cliff faces and rocky screes and outcrops where it is protected from fires.

GBR Museum News Letter July 2010 Page No. 6 Evolutionary leap found at SA’s First Published: 2009/08/29 10:45:14 AM

MAKING HISTORY: At the Pinnacle Point site an international team of researchers discovered evidence early modern humans employed pyrotechnology to increase the quality and efficiency of their stone tool manufacturing process.

BASED on the latest research, South Africans initiated the beginnings of the use of fire in engineering, the origins of pyrotechnology, and the bridge to ceramic and metal technology. The first evidence for the controlled use of fire appears about 79,000 years ago, when fire was used for simple tasks like cooking, heat production, light and protection from predators. Then, about 10,000 years ago, people began to use fire to make ceramics, and about 5000 years ago fire was used to produce metals. The bridging technology between the basic use of fire to advanced use was a process called heat treatment, where stone-age people used heat from fire to improve the ability of stone to be flaked into tools. Prior to the recent discovery in South Africa, heat treatment was widely regarded as first occurring in Europe about 25,000 years ago. The latest unearthing and analysis pushes this back by at least 45,000 years and places it at Pinnacle Point, a suburb of Mossel Bay. There is no global consensus yet as to when modern human behaviour appears, but by 70,000 years ago there is good evidence for symbolic behaviour. Many researchers are looking for technological proxies for complex cognition — and heat treatment is likely one such proxy. Heat treatment technology begins with a “eureka” or a genius moment — someone discovers that heating stone makes it easier to flake. This knowledge is then passed on and, in a way unique to humans; the technology is slowly ratcheted up in complexity as control of the heating process grows in sophistication. This creates a long-chain technological process that requires complex cognition and probably language or another way of communicating to teach and learn. The Mossel Bay discovery shows that early modern humans in South Africa had this complex cognition. About 60,000-50,000 years ago, these modern humans left the warm confines of Africa and penetrated the glacial environments of Europe and Asia, where they encountered Neanderthals. By 35,000 years ago, Neanderthal populations were mostly extinct, and modern humans dominated the land from Africa to Spain to China to Australia. An example of unheated silcrete can show dramatic changes in colour and texture after heating and flaking (right). (From the Institute of Human Origins at )

The command of fire, documented by the study of heat treatment, provides a potential explanation for the rapid migration of Africans across glacial Eurasia. They were masters of fire, heat and stone — a crucial advantage in cold lands. Researchers involved at the Pinnacle Point caves near Mossel Bay recently revealed the foundation of this technological leap. The archaeologists and a global multidisciplinary team of scientists show that early modern humans 72,000 years ago, and perhaps as early as 164,000 years ago in SA, were using carefully controlled hearths in a complex process to heat stone and change its properties. This heating transformed a stone called silcrete, which was a rather poor for tool-making material, into an outstanding material that allowed them to make highly advanced tools.

GBR Museum News Letter July 2010 Page No. 7 The team that made the discovery includes researchers from and Arizona State University; other specialists from University of New South Wales and Wollongong University in Australia, the Council for Geosciences (SA) and France, and a team of technicians and support staff from Mossel Bay. They have been working at sites in the area since 1999 on the South African Coastal Paleoenvironment, Paleoclimate, Paleoecology and Paleanthropology Project. Two years ago, the scientists documented the earliest evidence for the exploitation of marine foods and the modification of pigments. Prior to that, the oldest ochre was thought to be that found at Still Bay, to the west of Mossel Bay. Between and is the Klasies River mouth, the location of one of the oldest early modern human fossils, dating back 120,000 years. Combined, these results sharply advance knowledge of modern human origins and show that something special in human cognition was happening on the coastline of South Africa during a crucial final phase in human origins. The genetic and anatomical evidence shows that biologically modern humans arose between 200,000 and 100,000 years ago in Africa. This is , long after the Sterkfontein caves and Mrs Ples about 2,8-million years ago. The latest analyses of the human genome suggest that everyone in the world today is descended from 600- 700 people who lived in a single region, and the Mossel Bay coast looks a likely origin point. The Southern Cape’s early modern human ancestors were people who benefited from the brain-enhancing food of shellfish and the bulbs of fynbos as early as 200,000 years ago. They were also the forefathers of the residents of Mapungubwe (1,250 AD) which created the golden rhino and had strong links with the people who lived at what we know as the Zimbabwe Ruins. This discovery should help citizens of the world celebrate our common heritage and place less stress on our diversity. We may also ask the question of whether such technological advances also contributed to our path from hunter- gatherers to harvesters, herders and hoarders? Or did it just help our forefathers hone their hunting tools? Presented by Dr Curtis W Marean of the Institute of Human Origins, Arizona State University.

What’s on at the museum and Great Brak River this month? Month & Description Supported Contact person provisional date by Pre-owned book sale in the Museum 9.30 am to The museum Shop….Every week day. 4.00 pm 044-620-3338 July For museum Both English and Afrikaans books available funds from R4.oo each 18th July Mandela Day Nisde McRobert 044-620-3783 7th August Celebration of Woman’s Day with the Committee Nisde McRobert Local Clinic Ladies 044-620-3783 For more details on what’s on in our area email Hennie & Rene with a request for their news letter: [email protected]

GBR Museum News Letter July 2010 Page No. 8 Tourism Information SA Tourism and Other Snippets by Ina Stofberg

An evening photograph of the new 50 metre giant wheel at Cape Town’s V&A Waterfront. It will remain on site until December 2010. TOURISM SNIPPETS DID YOU KNOW?

The historic Hout Bay Manor Hotel is believed to be Rondebosch, a Southern suburb of Cape the first hotel in South Africa to give guests the Town, was named after the grove of thorn option to make a reservation via its new Facebook trees (Ronde Doorn Bosjen) and used as a page. landmark in Jan van Riebeeck’s time. The Entries are now open to the Imvelo Responsible Common was first used by the Dutch as a Tourism Awards; this programme has become the military encampment. In 1855 the rector of leading responsible tourism project and has made a the St Paul’s Church obtained permission to significant impact on the industry. The awards are in use the land as grazing for his cattle. There line with the responsible tourism guideline for the was, however, a stipulation that the land South African hospitality industry and the UN World remain open for public use. The common is Tourism Organization’s code of ethics and are nowadays home to as many as 200 species of supported by the Heritage Environmental Rating indigenous plants. programme. Awards will be made in the following categories: Simon’s Town, an important SA Navy base, 1. Best social involvement programme has three important Museums 2. Best overall environmental management i.e. the South African naval Museum, Simon’s system Town Museum and the heritage museum. 3. Best practice- economic impact Visit the grave of the town most famous 4. Best single resource management sailor, Just Nuisance, the Great Dane who programme for water, energy and waste was the darling of the Royal navy and the 5. Most empowered tourism business and only dog in history to receive a rank! investor in people. 6. Overall Imvelo winner Jan Smuts, the South African statesman, 7. Chairman’s award- made at the discretion of was born in a whitewashed cottage in Fedhasa’s chairman. Riebeeck West in 1870. GBR Museum News Letter July 2010 Page No. 9 PHOTO’S AND TEXT; OUR NATURE CORNER SALLY ADAM The fastest growing plant in the forest must be the Asparagus africanus - every morning there seem to be new

tendrils clutching at my legs with their wicked spikes as I jog along the bush trails. The flowers and berries make an attractive show at this time of year.

Another plant which brightens up the winter foliage is the parasitic mistletoe (Viscum rotundifolium), here using a Buddleja saligna (mock olive) as host.

Left Viscum rotundifolium

Since we're on a berry theme, I spotted these berries of the wild grape (Rhoicissus tomentosa) high up in the canopy along the river. The berries turn purple when ripe and are a favourite of the Turaco (what we used to call the loerie).

Left Rhoicissus tomentosa

The leaves exhibit the phenomenon of guttation very well, when glistening drops of clear, watery fluid collect on the margins. This is best seen in early morning after humid windless nights. These drops of moisture are not dew (which is water that has condensed from the atmosphere onto the plant surfaces), but are drops of liquid forced out of the plant. When soil moisture is high and atmospheric conditions are not good for transpiration (evaporation of water via the leaves) root pressure builds up and the plant cannot rid itself of water fast enough so the liquid is pushed out of the tips of the veins in the leaves. GBR Museum News Letter July 2010 Page No. 10 THE CURATOR’S CORNER Nisde Mc Robert’s Page

DID YOU KNOW that it is now legal but not preferable to use the old imperial unit system?

“What must have caused Napoleon a bitter headache when he faced the 'stiff -necked Wellington, was that the opposing artillerymen did'nt know a metre from a hole in the ground, and it must have seemed pretty improbable that a bunch of ignorant Englishmen who laid their guns for a range of 1,760 yards instead of a neat 1,600 metres could have hit anything smaller than the municipal gasworks at Puteaux.

Today, of course, the ancient ones among us who still remember the days when we were quite properly fined for going through a speed- trap at a decent 85 m.p.h. and none of your 130 k.p.h. have a vague feeling that it is a pity that Napoleon didn't conquer the world as he once showed a promise of doing. Napoleon’s practice, whenever he conquered a territory, was to bring with him the wonders of the metrication system, so that chaps who had quite happily been drinking in quarts suddenly found themselves having to cope with the more seemly litre.

To those of us who are only recovering from the wounds suffered when South Africa went over to the metric system of currency ‘Nappy's’ failure to march into London, is now beginning to look like a very great pity indeed.

There is a science and a precision about the metric system which is completely foreign to the somewhat eccentric system of the English in which the yard, for example, was determined by the whim of a monarch who simply extended his right arm, hoisted his thumb then said: “Now just take a piece of string, mark of the distance between the top of me thumb and the end of me snout and well call that a yard or summat”.

Determining that the world was round the French projected an imaginary line from the North Pole, through Paris and to the equator. This line was then divided into small segments which became metres and which in turn, to the puzzled amusement of the English, became something like 3.2808 ft. "Of course, they're' all barmy over there", said the English and shrugged the whole thing off, a fact for which we are now suffering.

With the metric system the science didn’t end there either. One gram was originally the weight of one cubic centermeter of pure water, a system which seemed widly improbable to the ale-swilling Englishman who continued inscrutably with a system that included wonders such as the perch, the gill, the rood, the cord, the central and the long ton.

FOR ALL OF US IN SOUTH AFRICA, ALL THAT IS NOW ENDING AND WE ARE GOING TO HAVE TO LEARN THAT WHEN WE ORDER PETROL, IT’S NO GOOD ASKING FOR JUST ONE LITRE BECAUSE ALL YOU WILL GET IS 1.7 PINTS WHICH IS HARDLY ENOUGH TO START THE MODERN 8-CYLINDER ENGINE, NEVER MIND ACTUALLY RUN IT.

Questions: Will the -July continue to run over so many FURLONGS? Will James Bond still be called a lean six footer? (or a 1.8 meterer!) What about the hero who inches his way along a narrow ledge high above the streets of a city-now he will be 2.54 centimetering his way along the self same ledge! Will we still be pounding on doors, or will we spend our time 0.4536 kilogramming on doors? Will we still say “Give him 25.4 millimeters and he’ll take 0.9 metres”, just doesn’t seem the same somehow? En wat dan van die SPAN PRUIM TABAK???

From an article in ‘Brak Waters’ circa 1970.

GBR Museum News Letter July 2010 Page No. 11 BUILD IT OF TIMBER

Timber is the building material that man has known the longest. In spite of the fact that timber has proved its worth throughout the ages, we in South Africa are still wary of building in timber. Although we are quite prepared to build a timber holiday house at our favourite , we hesitate to build a timber house in town or on the farm. Why?

Timber framed houses are being used throughout the world. In countries with a high standard of living such as North America, Australia and New Zealand, four out of five houses are timber-framed houses. These houses also show a saving of between 25 -30% in the cost of similar houses constructed out of other materials.

We in South Africa are even at the moment experiencing a tremendous demand for houses. The large backlog cannot possibly be cleared or even eased if we should continue by "conventional" means. Builders are already complaining about the shortage of bricks. One shudders when one thinks what the effect of this, together with the increasing shortage of skilled labour could be.

Does the solution not lie in timber-framed houses? at many of our most popular seaside resorts dozens of elegant and comfortable timber houses have been erected. why restrict this to seaside resorts? Timber is a basic material in the building industry. We have this basic material available in South Africa.

In 1910 there were 235,000 acres of land artificially afforested in this country. By the year 2000 it is planned to have over 3,000,000 acres planted with trees. In 1910 South Africa consumed, for general use, fifty-five million cubic feet of timber. By the year 2000, it is hoped that this figure will reach 420,000,000. The wider use of timber would give South Africa’s R500 million industry a tremendous fillip. There is no reason why this cannot be done. The advantages of a timber-framed house should by now be well-known.

Let us join the home lover's new concept - let us say "Build it of Timber”

Frank Lloyd Wright once wrote: "Wood is a friend of mine. The best friend of man on earth is the tree. If man is going to live, he should live with wood.

Mr. H.J. Wessels.

Afterthought – We might as well get used to living with wood, we are certainly going to be in wood when we die.

In 1963 Searle’s started the timber housing division. The estimate that there would be 3,000,000 acres of trees planted by 2000 is pretty accurate. In 2008 we had 1,257,341 x 2.471= 3,107,000 acres of planted trees.

From an article in ‘Brak Waters’ circa 1970.

© The content of this newsletter is copyright and it may only be reprinted by request from the Great Brak River Museum Association. Compiled & Distributed by the Great Brak River Museum. The Museum Association cannot be held responsible for any inaccuracies or omissions in the text. If you no longer wish to receive this e-newsletter, please will you reply to this email address /with the word “unsubscribe” in the subject box.

GBR Museum News Letter July 2010 Page No. 12