March 2008 Archives

Hi Everyone,

I'm back on the farm after a 10 day trip down to see my friends and family in Pietermartizburg, Bulwer and South Broome. 

Firstly let me show you a photo of my mum's house on the farm.  We have orchards behind the house and masses of Oak Tree's filled with the cheekiest squirrels in front of the house!  They taunt my mother's kitty's regularly.  Cheeky little so-and-so's!

It is very beautiful but as we are in the middle of picking season we have large trucks filled with fruit driving past the house night and day. 

I went to the farms wine tasting centre (as they produce their own wines - prizing winning ones I might add) and had a marvelous tasting session.  I bought loads on the friends and family account AND got to take home the open bottles since it was Friday afternoon!  I LOVED THAT!

I flew down to Durban  to visit my friend Claire and her children one of which is Thomas my godson,  who I might add has grown into quite the young guitar playing soon to be rock star!  They currently live in Bulwer and I took this photo of the countryside while driving from Bulwer down to PMB (that's Pieter-maritzburg) to do some shopping.  It is really beautiful down there with the mountains, the valleys and the rivers.  We then drove  down to South Broome to visit her mother, brother and sister and stayed in a beautiful lodge surrounded by tropical vegetation. It was so relaxing although I got sunburned just sitting on the terrace eating my breakfast!  But how could you NOT when faced with sun, sea, sand and good weather (although HOT HOT HOT)!  I stayed with Claire, Thomas and Nikita for 5 days and then headed to my Aunt and Uncle's place for the Easter Weekend.  My mum flew down to join us for the weekend which was wonderful.  It's always great to get the family together.   My cousin, her husband and her two gorgeous children joined us.  It was the first time I had seen her children which should give you an idea of when last I was in South Africa.  The photo you see is Vanessa (my cousin), Thane (her husband), Caleb their eldest son and Gabriel their newborn!  It was a great family reunion and we had a BRILLIANT Easter lunch with family and friends.

Well, I think that's enough of an update for now.  The rest of this week will be taken up with continuing the booking of my exciting round the world trip (flights, hotels and tours) and seeing friends)!

Till the next update.... cheers for now. Dx

It's the 13th of March 2008 and I'm in South Africa.  I arrived on Saturday the 8th after a somewhat emotional flight.  Knowing I was about to embark on an amazing adventure was exciting but also knowing that I wouldn't be seeing friends and loved ones for the next year was a lot more emotional than I had first thought.

The day I arrived the weather was phenomenally hot (although thankfully I apparently missed the 41 degrees a few days before).  However, the last few days have been filled with rain and wind and I feel remarkably like I should be in London, with the exception of the fact that I am surrounded by vast farm lands, lots of oak trees, squirrels and two gorgeous kitty's (Rusty & Tigsy - my mum's baby's).

I would like to extend a HUGE THANK YOU to the Pugsley's who so gallantly put me up for 8 weeks between the time that I moved out of my little matchbox and I stepped onto the plane.  I had a gorgeous room, an en-suite bathroom and two friends who really looked after me - THANK YOU AGAIN!

Blog's while in SA may prove to be far and few between as internet connectivity is rare (at present I am logged onto the Wine Manager's PC on the Farm to update my blog etc.).  There is no such thing as Wireless on the Farm :-( and I am most definitely getting technology withdrawal symptoms.

On Saturday I fly down to Durban to visit my Godson (who incidentally does not know that I am arriving).  So it should be a great surprise all round!  My mum is flying down to Durban on Good Friday and we will be spending some good old fashioned quality time with my Aunt, Uncle and other family members until we head back to Cape Town on Easter Monday.

Well that's enough waffling from me!  Photo's of my mum's farm house etc. to follow when I have a little more access to a USB port ;-)