January 2009 - South Africa

My husband (Marc) was offered a "too good to refuse" contract in Finland. At that time we were living in Antwerp, Belgium, so he finished up his contract and headed to Helsinki, Finland on 1st December 2008. I, on the other hand, still had another month to complete on my contract in Belgium. (More about that in my December 2008 - Belgium Blog)

After my contract had completed, I flew out to South Africa for a (well deserved ;-) month's holiday! Unfortunately, as Marc's contract was still new, he couldn't get the time off work to join me :-(

Left Antwerp, Belgium 9am on Christmas morning, train to Brussels, caught flight to Heathrow, London. After a 5 hour transition finally flew out to Johannesburg, South Africa, landing at 10am on Boxing Day. Then after renting a car, drove another 4 hours to Newcastle on the most horrendous roads.... some dirt and some just covered in potholes!

Don't try this at home... driving while taking photo's!



This is "My" mountain - When I just know I'm home!!!

Seeing the look of delight and surprise on my parents' faces made the trip so worth the effort! This is Cuddles... isn't she just the most adorable little dog ever! Such a sweet nature. She was so excited when I arrived the moment I opened the car door she just leapt inside and became a walking shadow of mine.

It was also the first time we have been together as a family in over 6 years! Such a pity Marc couldn't be there. My sister and her family are ex-pats in Nigeria and had also flown out from Nigeria to spend Christmas with the folks. Such an amazing and precious time together.

After a few days, drove up to Witbank to spend some more time with my sister. They stay in an area called Mpumalanga – roughly translated means “Place of the rising sun” . On the way there I took a detour - but never saw the ending - so what should have been a 3 hour journey took me 5 hours!

After 4 days in Witbank it was time to say goodbye and head to Cape Town...

This is Johannesburg...

shortly after takeoff.

I met up with a friend of mine from Belgium, Saarke. We had met and worked together for the last 8 months at Johnson & Johnson's Pharmaceuticals in Belgium. As she was flying in on an international flight and I was on a domestic flight we decided to meet at a hotel.

Which had a huge balcony overlooking the V&A Waterfront.

V&A Waterfront in the distance. The apartments in the forefront are prime property and people like Elton John and Madonna (according to our taxi driver) own a few. After a quick shower and short nap, we headed over to the V&A.

Saarke at the V&A, with Table Mountain in the back ground.

And would you believe it - here in the South of Africa...

we found a Belgium Restaurant - how ironic! So we decided to have some lunch while we waited for a very good friend of mine, Meridy, to join us.

We found a lovely little Ferris Wheel which had great views of CPT.

Me on the Wheel - quite windy and just a tad cold!

Saarke, enjoying her first time ever to South Africa!

And of course, the stunning Meridy! Mel and I met in Durban our first year post school; we also lived in London together till she left for sunny Cape Town 6 years ago.

After a good night's rest, Saarke and I packed our bags and headed over to Meridy's where we would be staying for the next 10 days.

Steep climb to get there! I felt like I was back in San Francisco again!

So with a quick change into the bikini's

and a lovely drive to Camps Bay we were set for a day at the beach

Meridy... looking all tanned! Shame babe, must be a stressful life!

The view from Camps Bay was amazing... these are the Twelve Apostles overlooking the beach.

I will be the first to admit, that although it is impressive - it doesn't come close to the Twelve Apostles in Australia!

Saarke and I... gee I'm short!

Saarke, Meridy and I... (Note to self - need shorter friends!)

While at the beach we decided to organise some tours and events for our time in CPT. And after seeing some para-gliders... I couldn't resist but book a jump! Unfortunately, although it's paid for, we could only jump when the winds permitted. So we continued with our holiday and waited for the phone call...

Then it was back to Meridy's apartment.

What a stunning view - made the walk there with our bags - SO worth it!

After a quick shower, it was off to the New Year's Party!



This is the view from the party, the house was stunning - over looking Clifton Beaches...

Mel and Julian (one of her many admirers! :-)

Saarke, me and Sven - some random guy from the party

All fun and games splashing around in the pool, until...

Mel was dunked! We call this the Porno shot! Sorry princess - it was after all one of the highlights! It had to happen to someone... hehe

What a great night for a Braai (Bbq), dance, swim and seeing the Old Year out!

The next morning we woke up to a delicious breakfast prepared by Viv (Mel's flat mate) - the perfect way to start the New Year!

Later that day, Mel and Viv took us to Franschhoek, a stunning Dutch colonial town.

Stunning views on the way







This is the Huguenot Memorial

Lunch with the gals! Viv, Saarke & Mel

Exquisite views of the vineyards

Mel & Viv... as pretty as the scenery!

Honestly breath taking!

You really have to be there as photos just cant do it justice!

Then the drive home again - what a stunning day!

The next day was a girly day... off to get mani-pedi's and catch up on gossip magazines. Then indulge in some great chick flicks!

Mel, Viv, Me and Saarke

Mel, Viv and Cindy who spent the night as well.

Then off to meet the In-Laws. Now I must confess this is only the second time I have met them. BOTH times I have been on my own! eek

But what a stunning family! So privileged to be part of them!

Luke, Justine, Mom (Gaynor) and Dad (James)

Little Hannah... too cute! Quite the independent little lady!

Justine and I at the V&A where we had a scrummy lunch! mmmm
Suddenly feel so tall! hehe

Had an early night as the following day was: Tour dè Cape. Woke up early 8am - well that's early for holiday! A minivan collected us from the bottom of our street. Joined by 5 others before we hit the road... first stop: Table Mountain

Now you would have thought the tour included a trip up to the top of Table Mountain - but no. It didn't even include a stop at Table Mountain - just a drive through. We were told it's a privilege to stop here... while actually we were waiting for the 2 missing people from our tour. They had decided to see the top "before" the tour began. Unfortunately they both weren't wearing watches! Ah well you have to laugh.. there is an old saying: There is time... then there's African time. And it's so true, in Africa time does stand still!

View of Cape Town CBD area

We drove through Simons Town and Fish Hoek, then stopped in Hout Bay. This castle was built for a Dutch lady who said to her husband she would only ever move to South Africa if he built her a castle.... Bru - you were duped!

Buying some memorabilia - I hate bargaining on price as everything is so inexpensive, and some of these people are living on the border line.

A very excited me... They sell Currywurst here! It's basically a curry sausage, and my fave snack food in Belgium!

Then a short cruise ride to seal island. These Cape Coloureds are well known for their "zest for life" music and festivities! They were quite entertaining.

Some penguins in the distance

Seal Island

They were just so cute - could stare at them for hours. But was pretty excited to be heading back to shore though, as the winds were picking up somewhat.

Then about 2 hours later we finally arrived at Cape of Good Hope... It was amazing!!! One of the most surreal surroundings I have ever found myself in



This was the view from our picnic spot... unbelievable! Almost like living in a different world!



The ocean is an amazing blue... very different to Durban seas.

There she is: The most South-West point in Africa

From there we headed off to Boulders. Well knows for all the penguins... these beautiful walk ways were so environmentally friendly - no signs of hideous concrete anywhere.

Too cute!



That dude looks like he's going to have a stiff neck tomorrow!

I loved the way they waddle... kinda reminded me of an old boss of mine! hehe

What a great tour. We also stopped at Kirstenbosch Gardens, as I has been there so often I decided to treat myself to tea and scones while the others went on their botanical excursion.

Back at Meridy's we just chilled out and chatted... till the wee hours! "God is great Saboo"

The following day it was time for a bit of.... Sand Boarding. It was hot perhaps about 35, the wind was blowing slightly which made it tolerable, and I was EXCITED!!! After a 2 hour ride we arrived at the sand dunes. They were way above my expectation!

Amazing - so clean

and simply

Stunning!!!

After we got kitted up... we headed off. Geeeeeeeee it's rather trying walking to the top of the dunes. I thought they may have beach buggies to drive us to the top...

After brief instruction, I took the punge

It seemed so steep when walking up the dune...and pretty steep when looking down the dune

But once the initial push was over... it was plain sailing. I tried to turn a few times but there was just not enough speed. Quite unlike snowboarding

well, still a good experience and great fun!

As Saarke had never skied or snow boarded before she love it!

Saarke and I posing... there was sand EVERYwhere... for days! :-)

On the way back we drove via Bloubergstrand as some people were going kite surfing. I couldn't believe the amount of kites there were

And what a stunning and famous view of Table Mountain. Usually when the clouds come over the mountain top, it's called the table cover. What a brilliantly fun day!

The following day, as we still had not received the phone call to say we could go paragliding (becoming a little anxious at this point as I really REALLY wanted to go, and our time in Cape Town was drawing nigh), we decided to chill out at Camps Bay again... This time with a picnic on the beach and a little wine as we watched the sun set.

Meridy & Saarke

Lisa, a friend of Mel's

You can see the sun was dipping quite low now

But with the vino to keep us warm and the use of my calf muscles - all was good!

This was funny; Lisa said she couldn't get us all in the frame, so Saarke stood in the front. However as she towered over me I asked her to bend down a little... as Lisa took this picture I tried to knock Saarke over with my knee... it's such a natural shot - just love it!

We really had a great time... and it wasn't just the wine! hic *

FINALLLLLLLLLYYYYY!!!!!!!!!

I awoke to hear my phone ringing - it was them - could we get to Lions Head in the next hour...
Now, those of you who know me, know I am NOT a morning person - but this day, don't think I've ever leapt out of bed that fast! Ran through to the lounge to wake Saarke up... within 15min we were packed up and in that car! Now just hoping we didn't get lost trying to find the place...

We parked at the base of the mountain (where all the trees are on the rt half way up the head), then we were given our chutes and had to hike up the mountain. You can see part of the dirt road in the photo.

The views were gorgeous... made me want to live in CPT!

It really is a pretty city - and not many cities you can say that about

The back side of Table Mountain.

We were finally here. I was the first to go, so Saarke managed to capture my "take off". Well I'm pretty scared of heights and the instructor said when he tells me to run I must run as fast as I can till he tells me to stop - or else we'll fall. So when he told me to run, run I did... till I was running on fresh air... eventually he says - you do know you can stop running any time you want now! Felt like such a plonker! But what a rush....

The views were amazing

It was so worth the wait

I couldn't believe I was actually up there!

Yeah baby!!! Me with the instructor

Touch down!

Saarke and her Instructor

Saarke

This says it all!

Well after an adventurous day, we had to end it with Cosmopolitan sundowner's!

Saarke and I at the Radisson

Viv and I - where are those drinks!

Then off to Geishas for a lovely evening meal. Viv and Mel

Lovely restaurant! I don't like incense... but they had something nice going on there!

Tsk Tsk Texting queen - keep it together! hehe another porno shot!

Me, Viv & Mel

Then to top off a lovely evening it was off to a Cuban bar for a night cap. Had a quick drink then left - BUT as we were walking out the door the waitress came running up to us... some guys had just bought us a round of drinks - so back we went.

Why oh why do guys think woman like tequila?!?! Well bottoms up....

Or bottoms out... if you look closely - I couldn't swallow mine so I spat it back... gross!

Then threw it on the floor under the bar... me looking very guilty and embarrassed! Mel liking that a bit too much! Ah, all good fun!

Well the following day was the Robben Island Tour. To be completely honest, I really didn't want to go - I thought here we go again - oppression oppression oppression...


Robben Island from a far

We sailed across in a boat that was used to transport the prisoners to the island

The front gate to the "Political Prisoners" ward

This is the quarry the prisoners worked in for years. It ruined their eye sight. Nelson Mandela also worked here.

Whenever there was a prison inspection, the prisoners were told to work in the court yard and given easy work to do for that day. But once the inspections were over, they were to go back to the quarry.

The quad where Nelson Mandela buried his manuscript (under the vine) before his book was published - The Long Walk to Freedom

The view from Nelson Mandela's cell

where he slept

Nelson Mandela's room is third cell from the end on the left side

This must have been an amazing day!

Well I can honestly tell you my opinion has changed 180 degrees! WOW!!! I so want to get my hands on that book: Nelson Mandela's Long Walk to Freedom. So glad i went and would highly recommend the tour!

Well today was our last day in Cape Town :-( but what a way to end it with Robben Island! Afterwards I rushed out to the V&A to buy his book. Then we went back to Mel's packed up the rest of our things, said our sad goodbyes and hit the road - all by 3pm, now that's a productive day!

Our first overnight stop was Hermanus. A quaint little village that's famous for whale watching. Unfortunately we were there out of whale season and didn't spot any!



There was this lovely walk way along the coast...


So naturally we went on it - not the best shoes! Anyhow, that built up an appetite... so off to dinner

We found this great restaurant and after dinner shared a shisha pipe with apple tobacco. yum!

no no... it's just the camera out of focus - we were fine! Really we were!

Just loved Hermanus and would definitely go back next time I'm in South Africa. After brekkie we headed on down the coast to spend a night in Mossel Bay

However, upon discovering that this is the only thing Mossel Bay has to offer, we pressed onto George. Although George was quite stunning it was also small, so we took an executive decision to head on to Knysna. First had to call Russell (a friend of Marc's) he was organising us some accommodation in Knysna. As it turned out... we could arrive a day early. Knysna is stunning and I'm glad we are here for 5 days.

After a good night's sleep, we headed out to Plettenberg Bay for a day's excursion.

Now Plett was DEVINE!!! I mean really lovely... the beaches were phenomenal

That's me enjoying one... notice the tan is still missing. That happens when you've lived abroad for 12 years!

And the scenery was also quite diverse - but always stunning. Very clean town

Another stunning landscape

And me thinking how much I miss the cold.... NOT!

The guy we met at New Years, Sven, told us to look out for a place called Nootsie. When driving back to Knysna from Plett we saw a sign for Nootsie. I have never hit the break so hard - nor reversed back up a freeway (ok maybe this was the second time)... but it was worth it. This is Nootsie Beach

After driving for a few kilometres on dirt roads and dodgy neighborhoods... we came across this walk you HAD to take in order to reach the beach.

How exquisite! Made Plett seem pretty bland!

There were 3 or 4 houses facing the beach - all looked like castles. Wouldn't mind having one of those as a beach home!

The walk back was lovely too and the steps really helped. What a lovely diversion. Thanks Sven for recommending this place. It's so well hidden and such a treasure!

The following day was family day! I have an aunt and uncle who live in Knysna and I havn't seen them in about 18 years. So decided it was time to meet up again. We drove over for a lovely braai (bbq)

This was their view of the Knysna Heads. Their home was breath taking - WOW!!! And they're related to me!!! hehe

Really lovely view of Knysna

Me, Helen & Garth, after a very scrummy lunch that was finger licking good!

That's their home, the one in the middle of the photo. Knysna is beautiful and green - as you can see. The following day it was time to visit the other side of the family. My aunt and uncle from Mauritius have a holiday home in Knysna and were here at the time, as well as my Aunt and Uncle from England who happened to be visiting at the same time... Howz that for coincidence!

So we met up for a very filling breakfast.

From the left: Mike & Lynne (from England) and Brian & Bernie (from Mauritius) then me

After Breakfast, I drove back to the house to collect Saarke. We were going on a boat cruise to the Knysna Heads.

This was a house we noticed from the river - really gorgeous with glass all around! With views like that who needs curtains... especially if you have such a great camouflage surrounding you!

Feather Bed Bird sanctuary... Well I'll just admire that from here!

A view of the heads

Some caves at the heads

Saarke and I on the cruise. There have been many ship wrecks here and insurance companies won't cover any ships that want to sail into Knysna. With all the rocks around - you can see why!

The following day Saarke and I spent at home lying by the pool trying to catch some rays (Trying being the operative word there!) we also caught up on all our washing. Then had an early night as tomorrow will be hectic!

At the crack of dawn - woke up, packed car, grabbed a bite to eat, cleaned house, dropped off keys etc... we were impressed to be on the road by 8am! Off to Oudtshoorn.

Now Oudtshoorn is in the middle of nowhere and today was sweltering!!! After a LONG drive we finally made it to the Ostrich farm. We had read that this was one of the best in the region. We quickly booked ourselves on a tour, locked the car and we were off.

The baby ostriches were just too cute! So soft!

They can grow to be quite tall

And this little fella had the hairiest face!!! But still cute!



I couldn't believe how strong the eggs were, they had grown men standing on them too - with ease!

And then it was time - what I had really been looking forward to...

The Ostrich Ride! Be warned... my scream is LOUD!

Told you! Well that was GREAT FUN!!!!! You have to do that at least once in your life!

Now for all those animal rights people out there. This is how they make their money to keep sustain their ostrich farms. They only have a single central nerve running through them and therefore this does not hurt the bird. This is what the guide had told us. I'm VERY anti animal cruelty!

Well after that it was time to head for Kango Caves. Just half an hour away.

These caves were amazing and I can guarantee you these photos don't do it justice.



Look at the formations that have built up over the centuries

Really stunning



I would tell you the names of these - but I've forgotten... oh well! They're still pretty and to quote Dee-esq Shakespeare - "What's in a name anyway!"



I do remember this one - called the devils face! next to it they had angel wings.

Then we had a quick bite to eat - Ostrich salad! It was quite nice - a bit like Reindeer, you need to have a good sauce to go with it. Not my fave meat, but you have to try all things at least once!

Back on the road again - we needed to get to Jefferys Bay before sunset... HOWEVER... didn't realise Bloukrans Bridge was on the way. It's the world's highest bungee jump. This time I ended up making a U-Turn on the freeway / highway - there was no way I was going to pass up on this opportunity!

Bloukrans Bridge. You can see the people under the bridge getting ready for the next Bungee!

Bleakness!!!!! We missed the last jump by 20 min!!! I couldn't believe it... however I truly am a firm believer that when a door closes another one will always open! As we were walking back to the car a man pulled up beside us and asked why we weren't bungee jumping. I told him we had just missed the closing time... he introduced himself as John and he could see how disappointed we were - somewhere from the goodness of his heart he said - "well I can't help out there, but how about a helicopter ride over the Tsitsikamma National Park?"

I nearly screamed with delight - YES YES YES PLEASE!!!!! Fantastic! Result! So we drove further up the road to his helicopter, as I was so enthusiastic (Saarke didn't want to go up) he asked if I would sit in the front. Without hesitation I was there! And off we went...

John, taking off

Saarke not all too happy about it

Gee it was amazing - even although the mist was setting in.

THEN...

John said - "do you know how to fly one of these? Let me teach you." WOW.... he let me fly the helli all over the National Park

John teaching me the basics

I was STOKED!!!!



Stunning National Park - think I'll come back here one day... besides I have to still do the bungee jump!

Simply gorgeous!



Saarke beginning to enjoy it

Then it was time to bring her in to land...

Back to Bloukrans bridge

The round patch is the helicopter launch / landing pad. That small white car in front is our rental.

Very happy indeed! And just when I thought it was all over John upped the game...

"Well Denise, do you want to come on a REAL ride?" my eyes lit up... I had no idea what I was in for, but up for anything! Saarke didn't want to go up again, so she drove the car to where John said we would land. 2 Workers climbed into the back of the helli and off we went again... this time John flew the whole way

He took a sharp right and a steep left then straight up and asked us which way he should turn. By this stage it seemed the helicopter was going to stall - one guy shouted "right" the other "left" I just went pale and shouted "Just turn the damn thing!" as I saw my life flash before my eyes! It was like being on a rollercoaster with nothing to hang onto - just brilliant!!!

That said, I was most relieved to be back on land again. Thanks John for a GREAT experience!

By this time it was getting a little late and we needed to hit the road - fast! However, on John's recommendation, we decided to pay a quick visit to Storms River. The roads had been washed away in this area a few weeks prior. The detour was completely worth it.

Storms River

Saarke and I playing around

Having a great time! It was magnificent and I wish we could have spent more time there - however the clock was ticking and as time waits for no man, we were back on the road again. Off to Jeffereys bay.

We arrived late at night and thought we could easily find accommodation as it's a surfing town. But alas - NOTHING! While looking for a place we accidentally ended up in a township. eek. Two girls on their own at 10pm is just asking for trouble! Eventually we managed to find a small room - a little dirty but safe.

Saarke - love this picture
We awoke to these views - magnificent!

Jeffereys Bay is lovely, a real surfers paradise! After a scrummy brekkie it was back on the road again. We had to be at the Amakhala game reserve by 1pm.

It was the cheapest reserve we could find as we were still on a budget - and boy, did we stumble on a GEM!!!

Our faithful little car

The lovely cottage where Saarke and I stayed - had the whole place to ourselves!

Gorgeous swimming pool in the middle of nowhere

So we had to take a dip before the first drive. Me with Nelson Mandela's book: Long Walk to Freedom - EXCELLENT!!!

Me on the 4X4 with our Ranger - before our dusk safari drive

The reserve was really beautiful and hardly any tourists - in fact the entire time we were there we did not see any tourists.

Enjoying a nice glass of wine as the sun sets, listening to some amazing stories. This guy was brilliant!

Off to bed early - 1 because there is NOTHING to do once the sun has set and - 2 Reading was NOT an option as the light just attracted mosquitoes. So we just lay in bed wondering why Noah didn't kill those damn things on the ark!

Up early 4.30am, ready for our dawn drive...

Got to drive the 4X4 - albeit just a short while. Great fun!!!

Saarke enjoying the ride

He showed us how to track elephants. One way it to test their dung, the more moist the closer the elephant - Saarke was brave enough to try this!

This dudes name is Nelson

This was a young bull at the beginning stages of breaking away from the herd of elephants, he was so arrogant and walked extremely close to our jeep

This is a white rhino - very rare to get this close

even more rare - sighting a black rhino on the same day!

Amazing

This cheetah was just chillin out, maxing relaxin... in Fresh Prince of the Jungle style!

A cheetah is different from a leopard in that it has "tear" marks on its face, a very distinct feature.

They are also a lot smaller than Leopards - so beautiful! And VERY rare to see this close in the open. That said in the Kruger national park, we were stationed looking at a buck of some sort when a cheetah jumped onto the car in front of us and just sat on their boot for ages. Amazing!

Searched ages for a lion... and were so blessed to find both a Lion and Lioness together!

We only had a few hours left and had searched high and low for some buffalo. I REALLY wanted Saarke to see them. Although I had grown up in Africa and seen wild life dozens of time, there really is nothing quite like it and to be honest I also really wanted to see them for myself.

Our guide stopped the vehicle and told us about this game that brings good fortune. He picked up a hand full of Kudu dung or Bokdrol (as it is known locally by the Afrikaans community), although it had dried out, was still pretty gross. Anyhow, we each were given 3 and had a spitting competition. The person who managed to spit the bokdrol the furthest would have their wish come true.... so here's the proof

Picking up the courage to actually put it in my mouth...

Finally...

Hucking back a breath ready for the spit...

WHEN..... horror of horrors....

I almost swallowed the damned thing....

Trying to spit it out and not laugh at the same time...

Sometimes you just gotta laugh at yourself!

And it was so worth it... cos what do you know

We found Buffalo

So cute - hard to think how vicious they really are!

This cute little buck chillin out!

These two male WildeBeest (Wild Beast) fighting over pack dominance

It was amazing to see. Very dry though

Zebra and her young

Giraffe and her young

Such graceful creatures!

Then another dip in the pool to get rid of all that dirt, before a quick lunch and drive back to Port Elizabeth (aka PE).

Now PE it a rather big city, however, Saarke and I were talking so much that we completely bypassed PE without realising it! It was only when we noticed signs for Jefferys Bay that bells started ringing! hahahaha

So after yet another Freeway / Highway U-Turn it was back to PE. However this time we managed to actually drive into the city - but took a wrong turn into a dodgy neigbourhood! We found out the next day that people were throwing fire bombs at passing cars in a taxi strike. And we were driving in that area. Thankfully we were protected - so blessed!

After about 2 hours we finally found the waterfront and a hotel for the night!

Happy to be settled in at the hotel

Which even had a pool - goodness knows why as PE really is "The Windy City"! Way too cold to swim - in midsummer too!

PE Waterfront, this place was rather cool - a shopping mall surrounded by water!

We decided to watch the movie, Australia here; unfortunately about 30min before the ending there was a massive power cut. Apparently due to the heavy winds a tree had fallen on some power lines and caused a down town electrical failure which lasted the entire evening.

Such a pity as Saarke was flying back to Belgium first thing in the morning. So it was an early night. We decided to wait for sunrise before we packed our bags.

After dropping Saarke off at the airport and returning the car, it was off to the in-laws again. They collected me from the airport and off we went to their place. This was the first time I had met the rest of Marc's family - again, on my own!

As it turned out it was "Oupa's" birthday!

Matt, Luke, Sam, Hannah & Oupa.

Spent the day and evening with the family. Great fun. The next day it was my turn to fly to Durban. They dropped me off at the airport and we said our farewells.

Now, I don't drive at night as I suffer from quite bad night blindness. And it just so happened that the flight was majorly delayed. So by the time I landed in Durban the sun was beginning to set. My best mate moved back to Durban last year, so I gave him a shout... but alas he had changed his mobile number - bleakness. I managed to drive to Pietermaritzburg before it was completely dark and had begun to rain heavily. So I pulled into the Hilton hotel and crashed there for the evening.

The next day it was a 6am start... and another 3.5 hours drive to Newcastle. Where I spent the next 10 days with my parents. Then it was the long ride on the bad roads back to Johannesburg for my flight to Belgium.

Fantastic holiday!

Oh, my Cr Card was duplicated in Jhb when I first landed and as there were large fraudulent transactions they cancelled my card - this sucked as it's really difficult hiring cars etc. without one in SA. That was the only damper - but on a brighter note within 48 hours they had fully refunded me! I love my bank!