I mentioned a while ago that I’ve been having a bit of writer’s block and that hasn’t really changed, but with 2 trips now passed and another 2 right around the corner, I need to update on the travel side of things.
This year’s South Africa trip was engineered to coincide with my dad’s 70th birthday and my sister’s 40th birthday. In the past 3 years, our trips have coincided with special family birthdays and these were the last of them for a little while. My dad's present was actually a few years in the making and I'm so chuffed that we finally got what we wanted... he was so surprised and incredibly chuffed and for the rest of my trip (and possibly still to this day), whenever a car drove towards him, he said 'Oi! Watch out! The Shark is coming!'
A few months before we were due to fly out, a few of my old primary school friends were bantering around on Facebook and it made me think of the good old days when we had so much fun with a load of people who we are still in touch with to this day. That is a really rare thing I’ve found and I love knowing that some of the girls at my wedding were also at my 10th birthday party. So I suggested having a primary school reunion – selfishly suggesting a date on which I’d be in Durban (well, why not?!). It was such a great night – the teachers even got involved and one of my old friends worked really hard to sort through old photos and create collages (thanks Sam!).
It was so lovely seeing everyone again after so long and it was a relief to find that although we’re all older, that doesn’t mean we’re necessarily more mature and we laughed the evening away with lots of story-telling and reminiscing. One of my funniest primary school stories revolves around our Std 5 tour in 1992, when the 'cool' thing was to be constantly accompanied by a tube of condensed milk (NO idea why!). I had forgotten to ask my parents to buy this for me for the tour and so I quickly asked my dad to rush out to the shop the night before we were due to leave to buy me some. The next morning, we all congregated at the school, ready to go - condensed milk tubes in hand - when my dad presented me with my very own TIN of condensed milk. Oh dear lord. I spent the whole rest of the tour slurping my condensed milk through a tiny hole punched in the top of the tin! Oh, how cool I was!
The rest of my weekend in Durban was spent with my fabulous family and my lovely friends who were really helpful in playing taxi to me, which was made necessary by the fact that I’d left my drivers’ licence in the UK and therefore was not able to pick up my hire car! What a dork.
This trip revolved entirely around family, which is the way we’d engineered it. For the past few years, we’ve taken friends and family out to South Africa with us, which has been absolutely fantastic. This time I just wanted quality time with my family and so that’s exactly what I did. And it was 3 and a half weeks of bliss! I’m always really sad to leave and I don’t think there will ever come a day when I don’t cry at the airport... I’m such a softie. But I felt ready to come back to England this time, which is a rarity for me.
The family gathering in Cape Town for my dad & sister's birthdays was a hit with lots of great catching up and hats off to Charly's Bakery for creating this beauty!
In terms of things we did, the list begins with overpriced (but delicious) dinner taster menus at fancy restaurants in Sea Point to wine tastings in my favourite areas of the Cape, Franschhoek, Stellenbosch and Noordhoek...
... to sunset photography...
Watching my brother-in-law diving with Sharks at Two Oceans Aquarium and 2 smiling sting rays...
.... to the gorgeous Cape beaches and a sneaky golden retriever...
From the District Six Museum, which made me angry just standing in there, but is such an important part of South Africa's turbulent past, to the beautifully colourful and vibrant Bo Kaap and Green Market Square...
And it ended with (but was not limited to) great catch-ups with friends, a trip to Butterfly World with psychotic birds and the most delicious seafood in Hout Bay and Fish Hoek, accompanied by waving seals. Not to mention an albino squirrel named Frank (who was very camera shy!) and my discovery of Wakaberry.
I could write an entire internet full of stuff about my trips to South Africa – I love my home and that never fades, so I just enjoy every second of my time there every time we go. And Dave genuinely looks forward to our trips too, which makes me feel better about dragging him out there every year!
We said this time that we’d include a trip to Mozambique, Namibia or Botswana, but didn’t get the time nor have the money to do it, so we are planning now for our Christmas trip next year and will definitely be broadening our horizons a bit on our next trip. One of my fondest memories from when I was growing up is a family trip to Kariba in Zimbabwe where we all stayed on a houseboat – 9 of us all crammed onto one houseboat with a cook and a dog! Yip, we had a cook! There have been murmurings about us all doing that again, which would be absolutely amazing! I’d love it if we were able to get all 16 of us together on a trip like that again. We’d need a much bigger boat though.
So an all-round brilliant trip, as always... it never disappoints. Until next time my gorgeous mountain!
For the full photo album, click here.
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