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 !!  :)

im truly back home...

I had quite a surreal moment this morning...

Tomorrow is Janet's wedding so I have been doing some last minute preparation type things. This morning that involved getting a spray tan...to fill in the white bits!!!...and a french manicure on my nails. As most of you will know i'm not exactly the girly girly type so this was an interesting experience. I quite enjoyed getting my nails done, it was very relaxing and i was nearly asleep, especially with the calming music in the back ground.

Then at one point it just hit me...hold on a minute...whats going on here??!!

This is such a complete and utter world away from where i was last week...and for the past month. Who would have even thought of getting a fake tan or getting their nails done in Eppawella?? There are so many different priorities in life! Like feeding your children, making sure they have clothes to wear and putting them through school. And yet this is the culture I live in where fake tans and getting your nails done is an ever day occurrence for some people, so its about finding your own priorities...what are the really important things. What are you going to spend your time doing and spend your money on buying?

Saturday morning shopping...

I feel like such a westerner this morning!!!

A lovely couple called Lallita and Chris took me out this morning. Lallita works in the library here at C.T.S. and was worried that I wasn't leaving the college so offered to take me out today. So I asked her to take me to ODEL which is a big western style department store selling all sorts of things from clothes to books and dvd's, homewares and souvenirs. It was nice just to wander around for a while to see what was on offer and it was full of white people who were clearly tourists.

They then took me to a food court at a local supermarket which had a huge range of food from Asian, to Western, which included Italian and British, and Australian!! Having this opportunity I went for something British!! So a burger and fries it was :) I then felt i could not turn down the offer to try a traditional Sri Lankan dessert - curds and honey, assured that it was just like yogurt. So when it arrived i gave it a go and it was actually not too bad just like a natural yogurt smothered in honey, it was then that Lallita told me it was no normal curds, from a normal cow but rather they were from a Buffalo!! Well sure its something different!! We had some very good conversation over lunch which ranged from their children and grand children to religious issues, thoughts on church and the much debated anti-conversion bill.

So all in all its been a lovely morning with some lovely people...now to relax and enjoy the rest of my saturday afternoon :)

New growth and a spectacular sunset...

Another sunny day after a slightly worrying start!! Yet I was able to spend all afternoon in the garden reading and making the most of the rays!!

As the afternoon progressed I suddenly realised that the big tree at our gateway which had been bare that morning now had some very big and quite prominent buds.



A little later I moved to sit under the tree and looking up I could see a few little green leaves starting to appear.



This just amazed me that I had been able to see the progression actually happening...from bare to buds opening and leaves appearing in the warm spring afternoon sun...quite literally God’s handiwork in creation in action.

In the early evening I thought I would take a drive into the Mournes visiting some of my favourite places along the way. I drove out through Bryansford, past Tolleymore, past the Trassey track, up on to the road leading to Spelga Dam past Fofanny Dam. As I drove along here I couldn’t help but smile as if I’d been in a car with my Dad I would have heard that usual tale of how my Grandfather had transported all the electricity poles out along this stretch of country many years ago when they were first putting up the lines. A little piece of family history! As I got closer to Spelga the sun was starting to go down behind the mountains, blazing gold out across the countryside...just stunning.




Parking up on the road I walked for a few minutes up the slope to try and get a better view...I found me another rock and took a seat to watch as each moment the Greatest Artist changed the magnificent picture before me.

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!

And why not...

Well, everyone seems to be doing it...so I thought I might as well give it a wee go...so here's my album cover!!!!!

Follow instructions exactly:

1 - Go to "wikipedia ." Hit “random... Read more”
The first random wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.

2 - Go to "Random quotations "
The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.

3 - Go to flickr and click on “explore the last seven days”
Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

4 - Use photoshop or similar to put it all together.

snow...woohoo...

Tonight...there was snow...yay!! I love the snow it's just so fresh and pure.

But it can cause so much hassle for so many people. As a country which doesn't get very snow we are totally unprepared when it comes and everything just seems to shut down.

Which is why I was even out in it in the first place! To be fair when i left the house there was none in sight but when I arrived home a few hours later this was the scene. I had been babysitting for Janine as Clifford had been stranded in England...airports closing down because of the snow!


As much as I like the snow I'm glad it didn't even last the night...its nice to look at but it's not much fun to drive or walk out in!!