GANSBAAI VAN DYK
FAMILY WEEKEND
AUGUST 2007
A few years back, Kallie, one of my dad’s
brothers from Boksburg, Gauteng, started a ‘family day’ tradition.
We are quite a few cousins in Gauteng and
Kallie manages to keep us in touch with one another. We usually braai on that day and 9 out of 10
times we have been surprised by a Cape guest – usually one of Kallie’s sisters.
After attending a few of these gatherings,
Kallie’s 2 youngest sisters, Esmé and Lorraine,
decided to have a Cape family gathering. In Gansbaai, at the old Van Dyk house.
ooo0ooo
Karel Albert van Dyk
(my dad’s dad) was born in 1911. He
married Susanna Elizabeth Smith (known as Suzie) in 1937. They lived in Napier (Overberg) and had 11
children. 6 Boys, 5 girls.
In 1960, Karel &
Suzie bought a big house in Gansbaai – right on a hill overlooking the
harbour. As their holiday home. Later the whole family moved to Gansbaai,
where one by one, the children grew up and left home, got married, had kids …
and started to come back to Gansbaai for holidays.
One of their boys,
Freddy, died at age 45. Wilnand, Esmé, Lorraine & Rita stays in
Gansbaai. Sarene and Marlene stay in
Napier. Bertie in Paarl, Smitty in Bellville, Audrey in Graaff-Reinet and
Kallie in Boksburg. 10 of 11 children
still alive! Only 9 on this photo though.
Going to Gansbaai for
holidays, meant I grew up with crayfish, ‘viskuite’ (fish roe), galjoen,
perlemoen (abalone) and shark biltong.
The house has a kitchen, dining room, ‘spens’ (pantry), lounge/TV room,
5 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, guest toilet and enclosed balcony with outside
stairs. It also has a huge (probably
about 80 – 100m2) garage. Although the
house is sometimes used for holiday rental, it’s still the old Van Dyk family
home.
ooo0ooo
On the 7th of August, invitations
were sent out for a Van Dyk Cape family gathering – in Gansbaai, at the old Van
Dyk home, for the weekend 28-30 September.
Esmé and Lorraine
started to gather family details (birthdays) to create a family tree. With their help, I created a family
tree-calendar, menus were drawn up, sleeping arrangements were made and the Van
Dyk family garage in Gansbaai was dusted and ‘furnished’. I will refer to it as ‘THE
GARAGE’.
The shelves were marked
with each family’s name to store snacks, handbags, drinks.
Photos were on the wall of those who cannot attend the weekend.
Carpets, comfy couches and chairs, even a cot, transformed ‘THE GARAGE’
into a party place!
Hein and I arrived in Gansbaai on
Thursday, 27 September, around
5pm. We unpacked at Esmé’s house, had
coffee, showered and went to Mike & Lorraine’s house for dinner. Some of the family were already there - Audrey,
Alta, Helet, Trevor, Dewald, Darius, Attie, Marlene, Lizette, John, Riaan,
Maryka, Anuskha & Makayla. Some I’ve
never met, others I haven’t seen since high school.
We had chicken, galjoen, a fish
they called “Roman Oil Fish”, salads, fresh baked bread, cheese, jams … Alta has baked tons of rusks for the
weekend. The party has started!
Friday, 28 September
While Hein and I had coffee, my
parents arrived from Paarl. We showered
and went to ‘THE GARAGE’. There were
still a few things to be moved and unpacked.
Slowly, slowly the rest of the family arrived. Most of them at least. Quite a few only pitched on the Saturday.
It was quite a challenge to
remember names, especially since I’ve never seen some of them before. The weather was a bit choppy, but we managed
to braai some scrumptious Gansbaai boerewors.
We had bean soup, pea soup, pap
& sauce, custard cake and chocolate bites.
The rain prevented the chefs to braai ‘roosterkoeke’ (griddle cakes), so
instead they made ‘vetkoeke’ (Apparently they are called dampers, but I’m sure
everyone knows a vetkoek.)
We enjoyed
them with home made jam and cheese.
Halfway through the evening, we handed out the
calendars. We have kept it a surprise
and every family received one. It made
it so much easier to remember names and to identify the family.
After quite a few shots Jaegermaister, Marlene
entertained us with a dance, Arno (Esteé’s hubby) played a masterpiece on a
wire guitar, Wilnand was the Idol & Megan (DJ’s wife) did the
‘leeuloop’.
We went to bed at 11pm, but the young ones kept
their cool and Gansbaai’s local clubs were tried, tested and approved of!
Saturday, 29 September
There were a few tired-looking people on
Saturday morning, but after a hefty breakfast of tomatoes, onions, mushrooms,
sausages, eggs (Breakfast Paella), buns, cheese and a beer (yes, somewhere in
the world a plane has taken off) everyone was right and ready.
Sarene, Helet, Esme & Marlene inspecting
the paella.
After breakfast, most walked to the graveyard
close by. Fresh flowers were put on the
graves of Freddy (only son of 11 who passed away), Jan (Rita’s husband) and
Frikkie (Esmé’s husband).
The rest of the flowers were taken to Napier
for the graves of my grandparents, Karel and Suzie.
A photo session was scheduled for 1 o’
clock. It was a sight for sore
eyes! 9 of the 11 children with some of
their families! 51!
Photos were also taken of:
1) individual families
2) female cousins
3) male cousins
4) couples
5) the 5 brothers & 5 sisters
6) mothers with sons
7) mothers with children …
The photographer had her work cut out for
her!
Fortunately, it was an amazing day! Blue skies, no rain!
Quite a few disappeared for a few hours … or
took advantage of the comfy beds and chairs in ‘THE GARAGE’.
A chocolate cake was specially made for the day
– decorated with scrumptious choc icing, strawberries and white chocolate. Decorated with chocolate shards and red
ribbon.
Loads of chicken pieces were marinated for the
evening’s braai.
Johan (nicknamed
‘Takkies’) helped Esmé with the daunting task!
Lizelle, Maryke (Takkies’s wife) & Esteé made an interesting salad …
in an interesting bowl.. or square?
‘Lagieslaai’ (layered salad). To be made few hours before serving.
Crisp lettuce, carrot strips, butter lettuce, half-frozen
peas (will be crunchy and keep salad cold), fried bacon, grated cheddar cheese
and mayonnaise on top.
There was also potato salad, pasta salad and
‘slaphaksteentjies’ (cooked baby onion salad).
Dessert was small pastry shells filled with yummy stuff and chocolate
bites.
Although quite a few people partied till late,
we went to bed early.
Sunday, 30 September
Quite a few family members wanted to leave
early, so breakfast sandwiches was officially skipped.
Instead, we had (around 8:30 am) – Kudu pie,
mince pie, left-over braaied chicken, buns, cheese, jams, pink sago pudding
& malva pudding with ice cream! That
is SO my kind of breakfast!
Hein downloaded all the photographers’ photos
on his laptop and cut a few cd’s. He
certainly was the man of the hour!
Everyone started to greet – and hug – and kiss – and then we also said
goodbye.
It was a fabulous weekend. Old memories were rekindled and relived, new
memories were made …
‘THE
GARAGE’ gave a contended sigh – he has made the Van Dyk family proud.
And we hope he will
continue to - for many more years…
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