T5 and the Mountain Sanctuary Park

I sort of had a vague idea where I wanted to go (or thought I wanted to go) - a nature reserve in the Magaliesberg. I ended up taking a scenic back road - the T5, a small dirt road that goes up from the town of Magaliesberg (near Krugersdorp) and over the mountain towards Buffelspoort (near Rustenberg). It was certainly not a road that I would drive after rains, and I was glad I had 4 wheel drive. But the scenery on top of the pass was well worth it.



The lack of rains made much of the park uninteresting - the landscape was largely yellow, and the rivers were mostly dry. That said, there are some awesome rock formations, and I could have spent a lot longer in the various nooks and cranies. The reserve also has camping and cabin facilities, and it was only when you reach the rest camp area, that you realise that this is actually quite a popular place; and there is a reason why the brochure (from the reserve) says you should book.

Model Exhibition at Sci-Bono

I heard an ad snippet on the radio about a model exhbition somewhere in Newtown - models being model trains, cars and aeroplanes. I decided to investigate yesterday, and found the exhibition at Sci-Bono.

Sci-Bono is a facinating science and engineering museum/activity centre with some really impressive hands on displays on all sorts of funky things. Supported by a number of corporate sponsors, displays such as details on how a car works (from BMW) featuring not only cut outs and detailed information but also great exhibitions on fundamental engineering concepts such as pulleys and gears. Other displays include a section on electricty, lasers, magents and radios. It's a hands on exploration centre, and the kids definitely seem to enjoy it. It is also danm cheap - free after 2pm on weekdays, free on weekends and public holidays and a nominal charge of R10 (IIRC) otherwise.

As for the exhibition, the stand out display was the Model Train section by the N-Gauge Guild of South Africa. The landscape modeling was spectacular featuring cliffs, glaciers and even a crashed train in a tunnel - and there was also a great variety of trains on show.