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 :)
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!!!!
Welcome home Sarah...If you want a meal or a glass of wine feel free to give us a call and come round :) great to continue reading the last legs of your trip.....Love Yvette
ReplyDeleteLove the SHOCKING FASHION :) hehe
ReplyDeleteSarah, you've given me an epic case of homesickness! oh and you know where i live, i'll gladly drink that wine with you! :)
ReplyDeleteHey hon
ReplyDeleteLove your pics. I fell asleep at the Brunei airport- thankfully a nice man woke me just before boarding! I also have to say your fashion tragedy takes the cake. Great to see you relaxing with the family there. It seems like and amazing place with lots to see! :)