Adventures in Cape Town

On our first afternoon in Cape Town we made the pilgrimage up Table Mountain which is an absolute must.  The view right over Cape Town, to Robben Island is just amazing and breath taking.  It wasn't even as cold as we were told to expect...well I didnt think so!!

We met some of the dassies which roam freely over the mountain and down the sides.

 The view over Devils Rock out to Robben Island in the distance.

The Football stadium built for the World Cup in 2010

Feeling a long way from home!!!

On our second day in Cape Town we met with people who were family of a friend of Deborah's, they looked after us so well and treated us to a wonderful day.  Kerrie came and picked us up in the morning and drove us right round the coast which gave us a chance to see the beautiful coastline.  We went right round to Betty's Bay were we seen the African Penguins.

 Having a wee snooze in the sun!

 Amazingly the bigger puffy penguin here is actually the baby with all his fluffy baby feathers!

 The waves coming in to the coast were just fantastic... i certainly wouldn't want to be out there!  No wonder the boats in years gone by had problems getting round the tip of Africa!!

 Maybe this one thinks he's at the North Pole!!

When we left the Penguins, we were invited back to Kerrie and Gale's home for a homemade lunch - beautiful bread and soup - with their family.  One of their daughters lives in America so she and her children come back to SA during the summer months. Another daughter just lives out the back.  we had a great afternoon enjoying good conversation and company.  We then took a short dander to their local beach, which of course was just beautiful.

 Paddling in the tea river where it meets the Atlantic.

 Sunset from their upper deck.  Pringle bay is such a beautiful, unspoilt and quiet place, it must be a beautiful place to live.

Kerrie, Gale and their beautiful family.

 Kerrie then delivered us back to Cape Town and we watched the sun set over Table Mountain as we drove back along the coast.

 Our final day in Cape Town was spent on the hop on -hop off bus tour.  We spent some time in the Botanical gardens, passed a remnant of the countries Dutch history and spent some time at a vineyard.  we then stopped at Hout Bay a little fishing village - the Kilkeel of Cape Town!!  Here we had lunch then hopped back on the bus to follow the coast back home.  A short couple of days but we managed to pack quite a bit in...even some shopping to keep the other ladies happy !!  :)

Remembering...

Well i've had a few days to get acclimatised and i'm getting used to the heat(!) humidity(!) and the food.

This morning was the first I have ventured out of the College complex and I was really looking forward to going to church at Kollupitiya Methodist Church as it was one of the churches we had worked with back in 2000. Ivor picked us up shortly after 8.00am and we made our way into the heart of Colombo.

It was great to see areas that were starting to look familiar and I recognised the church straight away. We were welcomed by Rev Duleep Fernando while the Tamil congregation left, as their service is before the English service (and the Sinhalese service is held shortly after the english) then I went off to find a seat.

The worship was led wonderfully by a young woman whom I think was a member of the choir and the Message was brought by Rev Dr Derek Tidball who spoke engagingly on Psalm 103

"Bless the Lord, Oh my soul and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, Oh my soul, and forget not all His benefits..."

I was however a little disappointed by just how traditional and reserved the service was - I found that I have actually no recollection from all those years ago as to what worship was like and was expecting it to be a little more lively, I guess with my most recent overseas experience being in Africa. But none the less it was a wonderful act of worship and as Derek reminded us we are not alone in worshipping but join with congregations across the globe and with the Angels and Arch-angels worshipping around the throne in heaven.

We had a chance to chat for a short time after the service and as per ususal the Irish connections were made...Duleep spoke of Rev George Good and his grand daughter Tara, who was of course on the team with me back in 2000, so we chatted about them and of course Rev Norman Taggart and Rev Stephen Skuce...Methodism really is such a small world! :)

Myself, Derek and David Griffiths, a field worker for CSW were then wisked off by Mano a member of the CTS (college) staff for drinks at the Galle Face hotel before lunch. This is a beautifully grand old colonial building situated right on the coast and it was wonderfully cool sitting chatting in the shade with a fantastic view of the Indian Ocean (I think!!) and the sound of the powerfull waves crashing against the rocks.

David, Mano and Derek by the Beach

The Galle Face Hotel

The hotel is extremely proud of its heritage and has many plagues stating the names of famous people who have stayed and even boasts a small museum containing Prince Phillip's first car!!! I have one memory of the Galle face from my last visit and that was of coming for drinks one evening with the team, and that is of Raymond sitting with a rather large King Coconut with a straw sticking out of it...strange the things you remember!

Mano then took us to the Chinese Dragon Restaurant (the first restaurant we ate out at back in 2000!!) for a wonderful meal.

On the way back to CTS she stopped off at the side of the road to buy some fruit to let us try...sadly i cant remember the name of it. [NB: Just discovered they are called Rambutan and are indeed realted to the Lychee!!]


To me it looked llike one of those odd bouncy ball type things and when you open it you get something that looks like an eyeball!!! But it is very nice indeed, almost like a cross between a grape and a lychee, so very tasty and quite refreshing.

This afternoon I thought I would take some photos of the college so you could see where Im actually talking about...so here they are.

The main college building
Me outside the College Reception

Beach...

Another stunning day...I could not have hoped or imagined that the weather would be this good and I have definitely picked the right time to come away!

So what did I do...I went to the beach of course!!! Murlough to be precise...



It was a little windy and chilly even though it was so sunny but you gotta take every chance you can get living in Northern Ireland!!! Here I played around a little with my new mini tripod but it was too hard to see anything as the sun was just too glaring...but I don’t think I did too badly!!




When I couldn’t take anymore of the chilly beach I just made my way back through the sand dunes!!




Then back to the homestead via Mauds and the library!!!

Back at the house I tried out some more tripod shots, so here’s my rock where my nightly star gazing took place!!

Time to Retreat...

I‘ve decided to spend the next few days staying at our little house in Newcastle, on the coast just past the Bloody Bridge. The weather was amazing today and I’m looking forward to just relaxing, chilling and taking some time out.

Right from the moment I drove into Newcastle I could just feel myself relax. I just love the view you get of the Mournes as you approach the town from Murlough. I don’t think I will ever get tired of that view – it takes my breath away every time and today was no different, it was stunning with a slight heat haze hovering over them. Any time I’m away and I think of home that is usually the image that comes to mind first, there’s something almost steadying or grounding in that view...for me anyway, a little piece of my homeland.



Although it does still make me a little bit sad when I drive past our old caravan park which is now covered in house's...so many memories of fun times there all dug up and covered in bricks and mortar...but they still remain where they are important in my head and in my heart.

Then as I drove through the town out towards the harbour with the window down there was a briny, seaweedy smell that was actually really fresh...maybe different...or else the sun just makes everything seem so much better!!

I love looking at the stars in a clear night sky and here the sky is so so clear at the minute. At home you can’t get the full effect of the stars because they are dulled by the street lamps, so when I went and sat on my rock staring up at the black night it looked like there were thousands more stars than usual. It was awesome. Sitting there on my rock with the distant sound of the waves crashing on the rocks, the wind idling in the leaves of the trees beside me, the occasional bleating of a nearby sheep and the vast expanse of the starry hosts above me. I could see the odd aeroplane pass over silently obviously miles above, the constant flash of the lighthouse at St John’s point, the plough...the only constellation that I can recognise and even a shooting star. Brilliant!

SNASS weekend - the real story!!

On friday night SNASS headed off to the North Coast for our annual weekend away. We were staying at Sheep Island View Hostel in Ballintoy. We arrived without an hitches and settled in to the accomodation.

Our theme for the weekend was FREEDOM and our speaker Hollie led the first session getting us to do some word association around freedom and there were some interesting ideas that came out. Some recurring ideas were that of chains being broken, release, running through fields, birds flying and eh...nakedness (thanks for that one Jules ;) )

Worship was led throughout the weekend by or resident SNASS band, who are so good at creating an atmosphere of worship and praise leading us into God's presence as we offer our song of praise to Him.

Our activity for the evening was to recreate a famous movie in a different genre with a specific prop. An example was Cool Runnings, filmed as a musical using a saucepan. There were definitely some interesting and very amusing results. My favourite had to be The Lion King filmed as a horror...certainly an interesting take on the Disney film!!!

Then it was time for bed and apparently for my music collection to be ripped apart - thanks for that Jules and Michael. At least I had Pete to back me up with some things!! What can I say I have a wide range of tastes!

Saturday started all too early...granted earlier for some....

The oldest and the two youngest (also the cutest!!) SNASSers who were at the weekend!! Sorry Pete but I couldn't resist.

Events soon got underway and SNASS hit Ballintoy with an interesting Photo treasure hunt and 'Egg dropping' competition at the harbour. There was an evil forfeit thought up by Jules for those teams whose egg was broken on contact with the tarmac!!

A bowl filled with soup...flour and strategically placed jam...containing 4 mini mars bars which were to be found by memebers of the losing teams. Great fun for those watching...but not so much fun for those having to do it...hehe!!!

Our first 'victim'!!!...delightful

The last victim...and what the mixture looked like after 4 people had been rooting around in it!!!...Yum!!

But don't worry our 3rd challenger found something a little tastier to eat not long afterwards!

While the crew had been out, Jo and I had stayed behind to try and get dinner ready...cooking for 28 people ain't that easy...

I don't actually have any pictures of Hollie speaking but she did help to clear up the saucepans...a true servant!!!!

Saturday night began with a further session on Freedom and a panel to answer questions posed by the young people. This gave a chance for a few of the leaders to talk a little bit about their own christian experience and how they cope with issues which the young people are facing. Also showing that even though they are leaders they also have to face these issues and the young people aren't on their own.

Saturday night seen the airing of mine and Helen's big quiz with a difference, including a play dough round, a sports round, a picture round - guess the 'baby' leader and a music round with a difference.

The star of the night had to be Steve and his 33 press ups in 30 seconds helping his team to victory.

The night was rounded up by a late night walk to the park and then a round of Mafia...a game I always beleive brings out a persons true self...hehe!!

Making friends with the Hostel's statue!!




Jules monkeying around!!!

I had a short sharp intro to motherhood on Sunday morning when Jo appeared in our room at 3.15am saying her and Pete had to go to casualty (nothing serious and everyone was ok!)...so could I look after the boys until they got back. So I got some back up in the form of Julie and we went in and slept in their room with the 2 boys. The first thing I did before I went back to sleep was to pray that they were so worn out from their busy day with their 'big friends' that they would lie in a little later than their 5.30am saturday morning!! And well they did...till 6.30!! Amazingly both boys awoke with a giggle and a smile on their face, not too bothered about the 2 strange girls they woke up to find in their room. Although it was a little disconcerting when the older pointed at me in my bed and said daddy!!! But we got nappies changed (well Julie did!) when we eventually worked out which one went on which child, without any problems...hehe...well just a bit of a close call!!!! Then we headed off to get breakfast and bobo! At this point we had to try and remember Pete's hurried instructions for making a bottle, and once it was made we discovered they were actually back so parental supervision was handed back to them. But I reckon Julie and I made a fair attempt!!

Just before lunch on Sunday we all piled in to the mini bus and headed off to the beach for a quick walk and a time to take in the peace, chat, take some more pictures and even play some rugby!

We tried to get a jumping shot...not very successfully...but eventually got one of Julie...better than nothing I guess!!

All in all it was a great weekend which everyone enjoyed, good fellowship and teaching, great worship and praise, much banter and many many laughs. They are a great group of young people and leaders and it was my privilege to be able to share with them this weekend and every week on a sunday night.