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Posts Tagged ‘adventure’

Weltevreden Weekend and Warwick

Posted in South Africa, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 19, 2018| Leave a Comment »

It’s the weekend! Truthfully the days of the week matter very little to us right now but the weekend does mean that all of our friends are free to kuier!

Friday we took the kids to Weltevreden to the “trampoline park”. This has been at the top of Charlie’s list since we told him we were coming back to SA. The weather was a bit cooler (28 instead of 38) so we decided to take advantage and head out.

This place is amazing. The kids have the greatest time – not surprisingly since there are two huge playgrounds, a race track with bikes and cars (complete with speed bumps and roundabouts), two trampolines and a sand pit. Plus you get to make your own pizza and there’s a slushie machine. Jacob and I also had the greatest time since there’s wine, nachos, coffee and a place to sit where you can watch the kids.

We ended tbe day hosting Abri and his partner as well as Anlia and her new hubby for dinner. It was great getting to see Anlia again as we haven’t seen her since Korea.

We spent Saturday lazing around at the cottage and brunching at Doodles before heading to Janelie’s place for a braai.

Janelie just moved into a new place right on the beach in Melkbosstrand and the view couldn’t be more perfect. We eventually got two of the three kids to fall asleep and enjoyed some time with friends. Madeline somehow managed to stay awake until we ate (at 11 😂).

Today we headed to Warwick Wine Estate. This wine estate made every single “wine farms with kids” google result I read and it did not disappoint. The grounds are gorgeous. They have this beautiful lawn where if we had had our act together we could have booked an umbrella bean bag chairs and a picnic. Instead we scored the perfect table between the play structure and the water feature turned kiddie pool.

The kids had an absolute blast running around in their underwear, splashing in the “pool” and climbing the beautiful wooden playground. We had fun eating and drinking. Seriously guys I’m going to have to buy bigger pants to fly home in.

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Monday Funday

Posted in South Africa, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 13, 2018| Leave a Comment »

Today was a great day.

We started the morning slowly. Everyone got up, got their breakfast, and did their own thing for a while. The kids played together inside and out while Nora napped. Charlie is finally over his jet lag and change of routine and is back to his normal self. Thank the Lord. Once Nora woke up we headed down the street to Doodles Restaurant for a coffee with some spectacular views.

After lunch we headed into the city to meet up with Abri. We spent the afternoon at Clifton 4th beach catching up with our dear friend. The water is quite a bit calmer at Clifton than it is here at Blouberg so the kids were pleased. It’s still only about 12 degrees which is just uncivilized if you ask me.

We grabbed some pizza for supper before we left the city. The restaurant had a bouncy castle for the kids to play on and a staff member to watch them 👌. Nora dozed off on the way home while the two big kids reminisced on their day. Life is good.

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Shit Happens (Vomit too)

Posted in Parts Unknown, South Africa, tagged , , , , , , , , on February 25, 2016| Leave a Comment »

So remember how I said this trip isn’t just sunshine and roses. Ha! That’s an understatement.

After a great day in Swellendam we headed out for dinner with Dene and Jaco (NO KIDS!). Don’t worry we didn’t forget them, we left them with Lienke and her sitters. M safely tucked away in bed and C settled very happily in front of the tv with junk food (it is his vacation too). We went back in to town to De Vagabond. They had a table outside just next to the fire, we had great wine, lovely food, great conversation (remember, no kids) then we headed back home.

We collected the kids got everyone re-settled and sleeping then all hell broke loose. Well at least our bellies. Turns out prawns weren’t a great choice for an appetizer and both Jacob and I got food poisoning. Seriously, so much vomit this trip.

We had intended to leave Swellendam today and were actually considering heading further east (not part of the original plan) to a place called Knysna from Dene’s recommendation and because it looked spectacular. Instead we spent the day attempting to manage the children between bathroom breaks. We have clearly survived and lived to tell the tale, but probably wouldn’t have without the amazing help from Dene.

These folks could not have been better hosts. Kam’Bati has been spectacular on its own without all the added hospitality of braais, treating us to brunch AND dinner (we tried to pay but it just didn’t seem to work out). Laundry service, babysitting, and lasagna brought to our door tonight since we were in no shape to leave. Incredible. We have some baie lekker friends here.

 

 

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Kam’Bati

Posted in Parts Unknown, South Africa, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 23, 2016| Leave a Comment »

We are staying with our friend Dene now at her beautiful resort Kam’Bati River Resort. This is seriously some of the most spectacular scenery I’ve ever seen. Our chalet is right next to the river. There are geese walking along the lawn in front of me (at a healthy distance) there are mountains behind the trees. Out of this world amazing.

Dene and her husband Jaco with their little girl Lienke hosted us last night for supper – as if us staying here wasn’t enough. They have probably the most jaw dropping breathtaking view I can imagine from their house. Seriously, if our house at home sells we’re not coming back.  Their house is at the top of the hill overlooking the resort, the river, the mountains, the sunset. There’s a fire going that will eventually cook our supper. Idyllic.

After a great sleep – both children managed to make it through the night now that we have two rooms (hoorah!) we headed into Swellendam proper for some brunch and a quick tour around town. We had a huge meal at the Old Gaol a nice chat with Dene, some great cappuccino.

I’m now sitting on our porch looking at the geese (again at a healthy distance away) sipping a beer while BOTH children nap. Life you are currently a dream.

Note: for those of you that read this and think this trip is nothing but sunshine and roses or you think it sounds easy and you’d like to try it yourself (I still think you should!) you should also know that C cries in the car after about 45 minutes saying that everything under the sun hurts. So in a true ‘boy who cried wolf’ fashion, we did not believe him on this trip and he threw up all over everything the minute we arrived at Kam’Bati. We make a grand entrance.

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Get Outside, Get into Nature and Make your own Discoveries!

Posted in Parts Unknown, South Africa, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 23, 2016| Leave a Comment »

For our final weekend in Cape Town we decided to make it as family friendly as possible. IT’s been a bit of a tough balance between choosing things C would like (and M might enjoy too) vs seeing what we really want to see and experiencing the things that make this part of the world special. We hopefully struck that balance this weekend.

Saturday we headed in to Green Point Park, Cape Town’s “new” green space for families. It sits alongside the Sea Point Promenade and the same grounds as the stadium built for the soccer world cup. The park was lovely, C especially enjoyed the spinning bowl. M had her first ride on the swings.

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We attempted to head to The Grand Beach Cafe for lunch, but were turned down because it was holding a wedding. We had visited The Grand the last time we were in Cape Town with Zanelle – it’s a restaurant set right on the beach – but instead we were pointed towards the City Market held basically overlooking the beach. The market was well done – open air, great food, same community sitting as home. It was a bit more hectic with the kids than I would have liked but we all survived.

After lunch we headed to the Kirstenbosch gardens. In a pro tip from our friend Dene we found out that the Kirstenbosch gardens have a dinosaur exhibit set it in Cycad ampitheatre. Now for those of you who know us, and really, that should be all of you, you should know that C LOVES dinosaurs. It did not disappoint; C loved it. He spent the better part of an hour (basically eternity in toddler time) walking the paths pointing out all the different dinosaurs tucked away in the plants.

Zanelle met us at the gardens and strolled through them with us before we all headed to the restaurant for some dinner. Not bad for day one, if I do say so.

Sunday was a bit more relaxed (as its should be). We stayed closer to home instead of heading into the city. We started our day at the Giraffe House – which is more or less a low security zoo. We got to take our pictures with Gerry the new Giraffe, C got to feed a zebra (well kind of) and see some snakes and crocodiles. He seemed pretty enthusiastic about the whole thing and M didn’t scream, so we’ll call that a success.


After the Giraffe House we headed a little farther down the road to the Spice Route Wine Estate. I can’t say enough good things about this place. It has it all – wine tasting, micro brewery with tasting, chocolate factory (also with tasting!), home made ice cream shop, a kids play area and one hell of a view.

This place was packed. There were families and friends everywhere. The kids were running around on all of the open green spaces, the adults are all relaxing with great food and drinks. This is my kind of place. Again – why don’t we live here???

Janelie joined us and we spent the day enjoying what was on offer. We stayed until they closed down at 5 before heading home with overfull bellies and tired children.

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Windhoek

Posted in Namibia, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 9, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Today we traveled from JNB to Windhoek, Namibia. The kids did fantastic on this flight – let’s hope they’re getting the hang of it. Charlie fell asleep before we got in the air and we woke him after landing.

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We arrived at our guesthouse, took a quick swim. Both of the kids are part fish. C stays in the water until he turns purple and M is just as enthusiastic.

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We headed to Joe’s Beerhouse for supper where Jacob and I had a sampler of Springbok, Oryx, Zebra, Crocodile and Kudu. I don’t recommend the Zebra.

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Off to the desert tomorrow!

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Africa: You’re always worth the trip

Posted in South Africa, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 9, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Well we made it. Both kids did amazing on the longest flight of life. It feels as if we have been traveling for at least a week.

Turns out Charlie may have slept too well en route and therefore figured sleeping at night was optional. Our first night in JNB ended at 3:00 when Charlie decided he was rested enough to start the day.

We spent our first day putting kids and ourselves down for alternating naps. Charlie hung out in the pool where we were staying (Wendy’s lovely friends Elizabeth and Jakobus put us up for the weekend). We ended the night with a braai for Jakobus’ birthday. Charlie made a new friend Altie.

Night two was moderately more successful. We headed out to the lion and rhino park eventually. It took us two hours to wake Charlie in the morning 🙂. We had lunch with the giraffes before heading to visit the Rixs in Pretoria.

We had a great time for our couple of days in JNB. It never ceases to amaze me how welcomed we are here, often by total strangers. The weather has been hot and sunny. The company incredible and the wine and food never ending. What more could you ask for?

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Are we there yet?

Posted in Parts Unknown, tagged , , , , , , on February 9, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Day 2 of transit. Phew. We are on the plane to Johannesburg. All of us. Barely. Charlie is starting to feel the effects of being out of routine. I’m tired. Jacob is sick. Madeline is perfect. 1 out of 4 isn’t bad. Right?

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