Year 12 Sutherland Trip

From Wednesday 7th to Friday 19th of February, some of the year 12s set off for Sutherland bright and early in the morning. Armed with star maps, binoculars and snacks for the road, we hopped on the bus for the 4 or 5-hour trip.

Barely a few minutes into the drive, we were greeted by a shoutout to Mr Hillebrand on Fine Music Radio! We also marvelled at the enormous wind turbine blade being driven up the hill in front of us. Around lunchtime, we made a stop in Matjiesfontein. Although the hotel and restaurant were closed due to power outages, we were still able to wander around the grounds and check out attractions in the area. The museum was a particular highlight, with many old items, gadgets, posters and interesting things to look at.

After some confusion due to a newly painted wall, we made it back in one piece to our base camp at Rogge Cloof. We swam; we rode bikes, and we had dinner. But then, the real stunner: stargazing outside, with clear, unpolluted Sutherland skies above us. We learned about various constellations and celestial bodies and took turns looking through the telescopes. My favourite was Jupiter – we could see distinct stripes, plus its moons!

The next day we were up and about for breakfast and a fascinating fossil drive around Rogge Cloof’s never-ending grounds, seeing ribs, vertebrae and other bones from the Permian age. In the afternoon, we set off into Sutherland and popped into the planetarium for a fascinating video show, but admittedly sent a few of the more sleep-deprived to sleep in the very relaxing chairs. Then we were off to SALT (the South African Large Telescope). Oohing and aahing, we all watched the giant rotating mechanism and hexagonal mirrors, admiring the engineering and learning from the guides about the work done at SALT.

After a delicious supper at Ou Meule, it was stargazing round two, at the planetarium. We saw even more stars, planets and clusters through the telescopes. Entranced (and exhausted – but not too exhausted for ABBA) we drove back to Rogge Cloof.

Before leaving the reserve, we had one final hurrah – a short walk down to a cave. And then it was time to say goodbye to an amazing trip and glance up at the beautiful skies.

-By Ruby

Photos by Mr H