In March 2015 we made the trip to South Africa to visit our South African family! We were welcomed in Cape Town by Mario, Theresa, Trevor and Esther, and Len and SuDonna who showed up with a bus and whisked us away to Stellenbosh! We went to several vineyards for tastings including Ernie Els' place with stunning views and excellent white wine.
Prosecco tasting paired with sweets
After visiting Stellenbosch we met up with the rest of the family and drove to George to Mario and Theresa's house near George. We had a lovely meal on the patio and had a mini birthday celebration for Lloyd, then we all went down to the beach to watch the sunset.
Can't believe he ate that cupcake in 1 bite!
Making friends with MacDougal
Theresa and Mario graciously offered to take us around the Garden Route using one of the busses from their tourism company so we were able to travel together (all 16 of us!) and do lots of exploring. Theresa and Mario live very close to Mossel Bay which has a great breakfast spot right on the beach with tidepools to explore and a swingset/swim area for the kids.
Another day we took a trip to a strawberry orchard where we all picked strawberries and then relaxed and ate them in the beautiful, lush grounds. The strawberries were fresh and sweet, and it was a relaxing afternoon spent in the sunshine.
Proud strawberry pickers
Kevin, Mariette, Bubbles, Andrew, Tess, Theresa, Len
Another day we spent the afternoon at another beach, the water was warm
and the waves were fun to play in, as you can see from the pictures
there's no shortage of laughs from this family!
Len, Bubbles, Sandy, Nick
Look at the family resemblance!
In this picture everyone is saying 'kaas' which is 'cheese' in Afrikaans!
The family: Tess, Bubbles, Nick, Sudonna, Theresa, Estelle, Fritz, Kevin, Jennifer, Gerry, Lloyd, Sandy, Mariette, Andrew
Another day we took a trip to Oudtshoorn which is located more inland, just over the mountains from the coast. The weather there is dry and sunny, perfect for Ostric farms, of which Oudtshoorn is well known. We were able to learn about ostrich from a tour of the farm and saw the adorable babies in incubators to the large adults outside.
Painted Ostrich eggs at a local market
Ostrich riding arena
In the viewing area they asked for volunteers and Tess offered to be the
first one to ride the ostrich! I was very impressed at her bravery and
she got the ride of her life on the back of that poor ostrich! She was
a great sport and it was fun to watch.
I volunteered to help feed the ostrich, but little did I know, that meant backing up to a fence of 4 hungry ostrich holding a giant bucket of food! It was a frenzy of pellets and beaks and necks as they vied for pecking position to grab the food. It was such an uncomfortable and strange sensation, clearly they were really getting into it!
Gerry also agreed to be feeder and we captured some pretty funny shots of the feeding frenzy.
Ostrich head girl?
Later we went to another wildlife park where we did ziplining, camel riding and had a delicious lunch with traditional South African fare.
Traditional South African fare, Bobotie: spiced meat cooked with egg and vegetables
The day of the family photos we got all gussied up and headed to Knysna, a beautiful and quaint town on the coast with a lovely harbor and shops and restaurants all around. Tess, Lloyd and I took a catamaran cruise around the bay and through the Heads
Knysna sits on a lagoon with two rock 'heads' with sheer cliffs leading out to the ocean. The Heads have been infamous due to the loss of boats and fisherman passing through their treacherous and unpredictable waters and before we went through the Heads we all had to put life jackets on and ready ourselves to go out into the open seas. Luckily it wasn't too rough, despite the fog and wind and after a short ride we turned around and headed back into the lagoon.
On another evening we went to our favourite beach bar at Pili Pili beach. We ran around and played in the sand, enjoying yet another fantastic sunset with our family and friends.
<3
Theresa, Gerry and Sandy
We took another trip to a nearby fishing town and walked along the boardwalk, admiring the beautiful scenery.
Delicious kingklip fish...ek dink?
One of my favourite events was our photo session at Noetzie Beach in Knysna with the family. Lloyd and I wore our wedding outfits and had fun running around the beach while our photographer captured some stunning photos.
Tess, Estelle, Mariette
On our last day Mario took us for a ride in his plane! It was a beautiful day and we were afforded beautiful views of the amazing South Africa coast.
Picture with Pilot Mario
Aerial view of our favourite breakfast place, where we played on the swings
The beautiful, dramatic coastline of the Garden Route
We had a great week with our family and friends, until next time, Garden Route! Can't wait to visit again soon.
After leaving George we headed back up to Johannesburg and made a trip over to Santon to see Ashleigh, Andrew, Ronin and Baby Damien! We really enjoyed our visit and had a great time enjoying some fresh sangria and playing with the kiddos.
We had a few days left in Brakpan with the family and were able to relax by the pool and enjoy the last few rays of sunshine. Well, I say relax...we also helped Fritz and Estelle rip out their entire kitchen before brand new cabinets were installed. And Lloyd stayed busy busting tiles in the bathroom to prepare for the new bath and shower area.
