Stunning South Africa Part II

Hey all,
Well... this blogging thing isn't working so well for me at the moment. I seemed to have slowed down dramatically... I think it's due to the fact that finishing my blog means the end of a really huge chapter for me... I will get there!

At the end of my first week in South Africa Adrian had a day off work so we headed out on a road trip. We planned our route to include some of South Africa's finest scenery and entertainment :) hee hee! It was up on time, a quick breakfast, throw an overnight bag in the car, fill up with petrol and head off, toward the Great Karoo area of SA. Twas brilliant!

The rest of my time in SA flew by, filled with plenty of adventuring, plenty of good company and plenty of laughs. Oh, a wine or two featured somewhere I think.... :)

Enjoy the photos!
Love Sarah xxx

The start of a trip filled with loads of amazing South African scenery.... I just can't get over it!

Bottling my own wine! On the way we stopped at a winery (ahem) or two, just to get the full Karoo experience. At Excelsior you are allowed to create your own blend, so cool! They have a 'tips' sheets with a series of blends that work really well - I tried a few different ones and also developed one of my own, which unfortunately was not as good as I had expected it to be! I then chose my favourite to bottle. It's such a fantastic idea! Super fun for tourists like me. That bottle is one I took home to share with my family on the night of my arrival back in Tasmania - too special to drink in a hurry :)

Can you think of a better way to spend a Friday afternoon?? Enjoying a glass of South Africa's finest while taking in another amazing view

Pretty sweet driving conditions!

The most useful gate I have EVER seen!

This was found in Montagu, the little town where we stayed for the night. We stayed in a guesthouse that we found on hostelbookers.com - I'd had withdrawals from the website so we thought it was the best way to find our accommodation :) It turned out to be a gorgeous place, run by the nicest English couple who gave us heaps of local tips. And the breakfast was really good too! We were stoked with our 'hostel' - another win for hostelbookers!

The hot springs in Montagu, during the day - it also opens at night time so Adrian and I headed there after dinner on Friday night. We spent a glorious few hours paddling around and enjoying the spa (that you can see under the thatched roof). It was such a relaxing night; needless to say, we slept very well! (my night shots weren't clear at all)

Along our walk through the back of Montagu on Saturday morning

Can you see Adrian up there???!!!

We travelled back to Cape Town via the coast road in the hope of seeing some whales! We did see some but they really were just specks of black in the water and very hard to distinguish with the naked eye. My camera zoom gave me a tiny idea though! Spot it?

This view certainly made the drive worth it!

After arriving home we pretty much headed straight back out to go ice skating with Danelle and her friend. Here's Danelle showing us how it's done!

And me... rather pleased that I could still do it! The last time I ice skated would have been when I was about 13 I reckon. All was going brilliantly and after about half an hour on the ice I thought, 'This is going incredibly well, I'm pretty good, I think I'm going to get away with this without a fall! WAHOO!' About 15 minutes after this cocky moment it all went rather wrong :) My skate got stuck in a ridge in the ice and I went splat on the ice that hard that I winded myself! One of the marshalls had to help me off because I couldn't breathe. I did have a pretty sore chest for the next few days and every time I coughed/laughed/rolled over in bed etc I felt it! Like an old granny..... It was lots of fun though :)

Table Mountain

What a view! Aunty Gwen and I went for a walk along the beach to make the most of the glorious weather and to catch a glimpse of Table Mountain at its finest

Danelle at her weekly horse riding lesson - I took the chance to take some pictures of her in action

Mmmmm... time to start planning my next trip.... Rio de Janeiro sounds pretty tops to me :) Anyone in?!?

A view across the V&A Waterfront - I explored there with Uncle Andre and Aunty Gwen

Out for some delicious lunch

Absolutely love it!

On Friday night we went to Stellenbosch to listen to Simone playing in her orchestra - they were brilliant! Flute is just one of Simone's many talents :)

I went into Cape Town a few times to explore. Here is a picture looking across towards the city from the Castle of Good Hope. Can you see the little peak in the background? That's Lion's Head, which I climbed with Adrian later on in the day

The Humpty Dumpty canon that I saw exploding at the Castle. Do not let its size fool you. The BOOM was massive!

Some girls I saw dancing/busking in the mall

Views over Cape Town from Lion's Head

Adrian and I at the top with that famous mountain in the background :)

Looking out across the Twelve Apostles

The peak of Lion's Head

Good walkers deserve a drink so we headed down to the waterfront to enjoy a cocktail before going home :) Perfect ending to a fabulous day!

On my last full day in Cape Town I went to Robben Island. The tour was fantastic, I loved it so much. Definitely one of the many highlights of my trip

The school on Robben Island that is still in operation. Unfortunately there aren't any vacancies...

One of the cells that housed 80 prisoners. It would have been so cramped. The rugs you see on the ground are the extent of the bedding the prisoners received

The cell Nelson Mandela spent 18 years in

With one of my tour guides. All of the guides on the Island are ex-prisoners. The fact that they happily tell tourists about their experiences, which were horrific, is so unbelievable. I was amazed at how open and comfortable the men were talking about the worst parts of their life. That wouldn't be easy, but it made the tour so real and so powerful.

The table all set for my last dinner

One last shot with the family! Aunty Gwen, Adrian, meeeeeeee

Rob, Simone, Danelle (Uncle Andre was away in Barcelona at a medical conference)

Two very special events have been omitted from this post... they were so much fun that they are worthy of a post of their own... stay tuned for more South Africa!!

Stunning South Africa

Hello everyone!

Yes, it's been a while in coming... but it's here now! Another blog instalment :)

After adventuring in Wales, swinging by London and catching a multitude of undergrounds, buses and planes, I headed off to South Africa. A long awaited journey! I couldn't wait to get on the plane because that meant I was heading off to see family and friends. YEE HAA! Excitement plus!

Thankfully the plane trip went incredibly well and the time also passed relatively quickly - relieved sigh - which meant I arrived in the wonderful country of South Africa 'incident free'

Enjoy the photos and keep an eye out on this blog for the next few days... there's a few more posts to come... this journey isn't over yet :)
Love Sarah xxx

Gate 203 in Dubai - the departure lounge for flight EK763 to Johannesburg - where I almost fell asleep on the tiles...

The Emirates plane all ready to take me there. On the other end I was greeted by two smiling faces :) An amazing feeling after months of arriving in new places and having to find the best route to the hostel

Jo-Ellen and I, early the next morning, about to go back to the airport so I could catch my flight to Cape Town - hence the slightly 'are you awake?' look :)

My dear friends, Jo-Ellen and Reinier. I had such a wonderful time catching up with you both! Jo, it felt like we hadn't skipped a beat since the last time I saw you, all of those years ago. Thank you for a great evening together. It was an absolute blast!! I can't wait to see you again!! Hopefully sooner rather than later :)

Stunning views on the way to Cape Town - look at those mountains :) :0) :-) :-D

The sprawling city of Cape Town, with a first glimpse of Table Mountain!

Another fantastic airport arrival :) Two more smiling faces and lots more smiling faces when I arrived home. It just keeps getting better!

Day 1 in South Africa took me to Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens with Aunty Gwen and Rob. This photo gives you an example of the beautiful weather Cape Town turned on, just for me (!), and the gorgeous gardens that make up Kirstenbosch - which has a very impressive collection of native flora

Stunning proteas

The King Protea - they were HUGE! Such beautiful flowers, no wonder Opa Kroeze loves them so much, it's very easy to see why

Birds of Paradise - I really, really love these! I wonder if I'll be able to grow some... going to give that a burl

Danelle and two of her friends. After spending a glorious morning at Kirstenbosch, Gwen, Rob and I headed to school to participate in Danelle's Entrepreneurs Day. Danelle's stall stocked sweets, a variety of knick knacks and a 'guess my weight' basket. I couldn't resist having a go at guessing the weight as I figured that I'd be fairly brilliant (!!) at estimating weight after carrying a backpack around Europe for 5 months. My theory was that I'd had to keep my backpack below the 20kg mark and I'd managed to do that fairly well so all of that practice would have resulted in some kind of developed skill. I challenged Rob to a contest and you'd be ABSOLUTELY RIGHT in guessing that I won (hee hee!!). Only 5 grams off. Not bad, hey! And as a bonus I received a basketful of goodies. Needless to say, Danelle's stall was a real hit and she sold every single item. Good on you, mate!

Rob, about to kick for goal. It must be noted that he is MUCH BETTER at soccer than me. So we were even! I put this photo in for a few reasons: 1. So you could admire Rob's technique 2. So you could be reminded of the South African flag (South African's really love their flag, it's flying everywhere!) and 3. So you can see what an amazing view the teachers and students have from their school - I wouldn't mind some mountain views like that for when I'm on duty :)

And now for THE BEST (or should I say THE WORST?) fashion tragedy of my whole trip... Shocking stuff

Enjoying Saturday lunch with Aunty Gwen, Uncle Andre, Rob and Danelle in the Franschhoek region - Adrian and Simone put some hard study yards in while we were off enjoying all that South Africa has to offer. We spent the day exploring Stellenbosch, Franschhoek and the surrounds. I was spoiled with impressive scenery, gorgeous towns, fantastic food and wine and fabulous company.

Some African penguins at Boulders Beach on the way to Cape Point

Breathtaking scenery at Cape Point

Rob and I in front of the Point - we had a brilliant day touring Cape Point, stopping at lots of points of interest on the way

The particulars

A South African animal called a Dassie that lives amongst the rocks. We saw so many running around; they were really cute. This one is soaking up the sun's rays while enjoying amazing views over the Cape of Good Hope :) Pretty good life!

The Cape of Good Hope - around the corner from Cape Point - the most southern point of Africa is Cape Agulhas - further east along South Africa's southern coast

My first sighting of an ostrich - I was rather excited!

Absolutely amazing coastline. I could look at this for hours - Rob and I drove back to Cape Town along the coastal route that took us along Chapman's Peak, one of the most impressive coastal roads I've ever driven on. Now I'd like to do the Great Ocean Road again to compare South African coast to Australian coast - they are very similar in a lot of ways

Looking across towards Cape Town - which is behind these mountains - just spectacular!

A stop off at Groot Constantia Winery on the way home! It's the oldest winery in South Africa - 325 years of wine making has resulted in some of the best wine I've ever tasted! I was so blown away by the quality of South African wine in general - I'd be tempted to say it's the best wine I've ever tasted... The prices also blew me away. Wine is ridiculously cheap in South Africa compared to the prices in Austalia. That made it easy to buy quite a large number of bottles! It was a good thing I had some fellow wine drinkers on hand :)

I brought his particular bottle back home with me- and it's not going to be opened until I have some good South African company to drink it with - HINT, HINT!!!!