AFTER HOURS

 It is not all work at Heavin Forge as you may notice if you read the last line of text on our business card, “please visit by appointment as we may be fishing, 4 X 4ing or horse riding!”

 We love fly-fishing and our area is very well known for its excellent trout fishing.  They are not natural to South Africa and can only survive where it is cool enough.  The altitude of our town is over 1 800 meters (nearly 8 000 feet) above sea level and the weather quite cool.  We take part in all our local fishing competitions and Heather fishes for the Limpopo Ladies A-team.. Occasionally we try our hand at catching Yellow Fish who only live in very fast moving water in the warmer areas of South Africa and are a great challenge to catch, as you have to wade into the rapids to get to them.

4 x 4ing is also high on the list of fun things to do and we own a Nissan Sani, 3l,V6, 4 x 4 vehicle called “Blue Yonda” which we have kitted out over the last few years, exchanging knives for accessories!  We love to head off on “the road less graveled” in search of beautiful landscapes and adventure.  Due to us having a long-range fuel tank, we can escape into the “outback” of South Africa and its neighbouring countries where we may not see another car for days. We have a rooftop tent, which comes in handy when there are wildlife, bugs and snakes in the area.

We own 7 horses and a miniature mule, so a lot of our fun time is taken up working with the horses.  Aside from riding and carriage driving, Heather also loves to trick train the horses.  Bowie the Brilliant can do over 40 different tricks and loves to play soccer; she can even hold a soccer ball!  Our pony, Black Assegai, pulls a cart and we love driving him through the forests in our area, or down to the local pub for a beer.

 Our friend Marty De Kock (hot-air balloon pilot and cowboy) owns a beautiful farm outside Belfast called Wattle Creek where he has built an entire “frontier town” which is used for movies and corporate launches.  He added in a small blacksmith shop for us to use to entertain visitors, so occasionally we dress up as cowboys and forge away at Wattle Creek. We have attended two “cowboy style” weddings there and just love feeling like we are back in the Wild West.

Heather collects anvils, hats, sidesaddles, antique horse bits, spurs and stirrups. Kevin enjoys shooting with his many different firearms at the shooting range and reloads some of his own ammunition.

A few of Bowie’s tricks.

A few of Bowie’s friends.

 www.fishingowl.co.za  Our friends, the Babich’s have the best fishing web site in South Africa (maybe in the world!) Check it out.