Gerald will be running his Huskies on the main road, on Saturday 28th July at 11am. The Huskie run will start at Jikani, take a loop around the village green and back to Jikani. The road will be closed for the duration of the Huskie run, so make sure that you have a good viewing point somewhere along the road between Jikani and the Village green before 11am. We have asked Gerald to share his story about how he came to be a huskie fan. This is his story.... It started many years ago when I rescued a stray Husky in Walkerville where I previously stayed. Like most people I knew very little of the breed. I soon found out that they are high energy, extremely intelligent dogs. In the beginning I couldn't find much apart from the fact that the most common husky in South Africa is the Siberian Husky, which is also the smallest of the husky breeds. We visited Hogsback early in 2016 and I fell in love with the area and village, and decided to make the move. A chance remark by my sister that this would be a good area for huskies led me to renew my search for ways to harness their amazing energy. This led to me joining Sled Dogs in Johannesburg in 2016. Here I was introduced to a popular pastime called "sledding" in SA. (Correct term is bikejoering). This involves riding a mountain bike while harnessed to 1 or 2 huskies, who run in front. I also adopted 2 huskies in the same year from Midrand (Ice) and Benoni(Shiloh) SPCA. The following year Rusty joined my pack from Husky Rescue. At the same time I was able to purchase my property in Hogsback, so the idea was becoming real. This was when I first came up with the name Hogsback Huskies. In January 2018 I added Daemon to the pack, adopted from friends of my sister in East London. I currently have 5 huskies, but only the 4 males actively walk/run. The fifth is my oldest Husky, a little female I also found as a stray, and was never claimed. My goal is to build up to a full husky team of 12 to 14 dogs. They will be trained to pull a wheeled cart, which I was recently given by a friend at Sled Dogs. I was not able to spend the time required to learn how to run the cart for this year, so please visit next year when we will have it running with a small team. For this year, I hope you enjoy watching 2 of my pack running with the bike. They absolutely love it. I have also opened a guesthouse for dogs to come and unwind in Hogsback. If you feel your dogs need some caring R&R in a paradise location, book them into Dogwood lodge. Gerald Goosen
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Hiku HikeWrite your heart into place with Silke on a 'Hiku Hike' in Hogsback. Hear words and water and add your own to commemorate your visit to Hogsback by means of 'verbal snapshots'. The Winter Celebration 'Hiku Hike' will take place at The Bluff (The Edge) in Hogsback. En route, the poet stops to reads a couple of poems from Hogsback Hiku with commentary. While walking, you compose your own poem or reflective piece of writing, based on your visual experience of the surroundings. Feedback is given at the end of the walk. Cost: R350 p/p. Includes a copy of Hogsback Hiku. Bookings: This hike must be pre-booked and paid for prior to the event Writing workshopThis intensive workshop is aimed at all, whatever their field of interest may be, who wish to improve the precision and effectiveness of their writing and at the same time gain clarity in their hearts and heads.
The workshop starts with a talk on the "Colours of Words". Participants will then do an audio warm-up, listening to poems in English, Afrikaans and Xhosa. Everybody will then attempt writing down first jottings with a choice of pictorial stimuli and plenty of support. We then turn the jottings into a free-flowing paragraph or poem, ending with collaborative feedback. Enough time for further editing and refining in a conducive garden forest setting results in a writing experience that is unique and soul-uplifting. Duration 7 – 8 hours Cost R850 p/p includes 2 x tea/ coffee and sandwich lunch plus soft drinks. This workshop must be pre-booked and paid for beforehand. Trevor Webster is one of our beloved storytellers in Hogsback and a historian of note. His book on the History of Hogsback has been a best seller in Hogsback for years and is now in its second edition. His family has been involved in Hogback since his grandfather built a wattle and daub holiday home, Komkhulu, in 1932 and he was the first baby to be christened in St Patrick on the Hill Chapel. Five generations have been returning to Hogsback for reunions and him and Ann, his wife, are now happily retired here. He is an enthusiastic parkrunner and can leave most locals in the dust!! He is also the warden of the little chapel that he was baptised in!! The wealth of interesting stories from our heritage, not only in and around Hogsback, is sure to thrill all who will attend his talks. Last year this sessions was so oversubscribed that we decided to do 2 sessions this year and you will be able to enjoy his talks at 11am and at 4pm at the Hogsback Inn. Ever wondered if and where there is a hangman's tree? What are some of the legends to arise out of the mists and forests of the Amatholes? Come and listen to Trevor and enjoy his interactive presentation. You don't have to book for this talk , and we will be collecting donations for Jikani, an outreach that Trevor feels strongly about. The famous over 14 m long Hogsback Tapestry will also be on display all weekend at the Hogsback inn. Mae sure that you go and take a photo of it for the scavenger hunt (Hint) Hogsback's own Cape Parrot Project is working hard every day to save our national parrot. Join Cassie Carstens as he shares his knowledge of the species and what the Project is busy with as we try and save this species from the brink. Free to all. This talk is taking place at the Arminel Hotel from 9am to 9h45am.
I first had to go and look up what a twitcher is, as I at first thought that this is some kind of weird hogsbakian exercise class. Luckily this event does not require any strenuous activity!! Which brings me to Graham. He has been the birding go-to guy for as long as I have been in Hogsback. If you want to have an amazing walk through the forest, discovering all the secret hide-awlays of all our magical feathered friends, then he is the man for the job. He is not just a twitcher (see one and two), he is a seriously knowledgeable bird watcher. Like all bird watchers, he is kind of quiet, so getting him to talk about his his great passion in life, is a special event, not to be missed! Make sure that you come join him and his feathered friends on a journey through the different biomes of the beautiful Hogsback discovering who fits in where. This talk is taking place at the Hogsback Inn on Saturday morning at 9h30 - 10h30 . You don't have to book and you will be invited to make donations to Jikani if you feel inspired to do so! We are very fortunate that the SAP K9 dog handling unit will be joining us on Saturday with their canine crime fighting partners. Constable Jakavula will start off by showing us how the dogs are trained to be obedient. It is vitally important that the dogs follow instructions in all situations. Warrant Officer Brenkman will then show us how the dogs can sniff out illegal substances. Sgt Mentoor will then proceed with am explosive search and they will end of the display with a live attack by the patrol dogs. any volunteers? Please remember that these are working dogs and a safe distance form the dogs must be maintained. We will be hosting the dog team at the Crabbush field as there are lots of space. So see you there between 11h30 and 12h30 on Saterday Afternoon. Make sure that you make your way to the field a little earlier!! On the Friday night of the #hogsbackcelebrations we have a special treat in store for you.....a very edgy talk about a very edgy subject...Cannabis...and we are hosting it at the Edge on the deck of the conference room with a view over the Edge. So if you have been wondering about the debate that is currently happening surrounding the legalisation of cannabis, this is your chance to come and find out all about it, the medicinal value as well as other uses for Cannabis and what the future holds for this seemingly wonder drug...or is it the dread-ed drug?? The Cannabis discussion will be followed by a night food and craft market at the new extended courtyard of the Edge. And maybe you will run into Frostie the snowman? See you there.
Facebook Event: www.facebook.com/events/296464967566258/
If you have ever wanted to experience a once in a lifetime event, this is it!! Remember to dress warmly and Miss Shanti's tea will go a long way in warming you up as you explore the mysteries of the red blood moon and stars!!
Facebook event link: web.facebook.com/events/411448822683528/ Wanneer sneeu koors ons tref hier in Hogsback, kan ons nie onsself help nie-ons moet net dans, dans ,dans!! En hier by die Lighthouse Ranch kry jy die lekkerste van lekker ou and nuwe boere musiek vibes diekant van die Groot Vis Rivier!! As julle my nie glo nie, dan moet julle met ons speakers kom kennis maak! Dis super groot en kan tot die bobbejane bo-op die Hogs a ligte rilling gee!
Natuurlik sal ons heerlike nuwe spyskaart seker maak dat jou maag vol is en jou energie vlakke hoog bly!! Julle is welkom om te kom langarm sokkie, al eet julle nie hier nie! Ons binnehuise kaggel sal die sneeu koue buite stoot sodat die hitte in die voete die hitte in die hart kan komplimenteer! Ons musiek lys (soos ons kos) is legendaries. Dit is spesial gekies deur warmbloedige jong knaters wat al tevore die vloer aan die brand gedans het. So kom sokkie saam op die maat van egte regte boere musiek!! |
Hogsback Winter Celebration:
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