Waterfront - part 2

This is so cool - a siren sounds and then this bridge swings open so that the water traffic can cross over. Watch carefully how it moves...

I love these things! Singapore - I miss you!

Here are the hordes of people who had to wait while the bridge swung open.

these guys were so good!

Harrie's pancakes - all the way from Mphumalanga (whenever we're in Graskop, we go there)

Waterfront - part 1

Cape Town - 1 November 2007

Dion's work banned all of them from taking leave for the whole of September and October so in typical Dion style, he decided to take leave on the next available opportunity!

We decided to make a trip of it and fly to Cape Town for a long weekend.

I was not impressed by the cold, sterile atmosphere of Imperial Car Rental, especially after Avis's wonderful, warm service the last 5 years. Anyway, here we are in the rental car driving out of the airport.

on the way to the hotel

After we checked in, we decided to drive down to the waterfront and have a coffee. It was getting a bit chilly and you can see the mist rolling in from the sea...

After this, we went back to the hotel to change and then headed out for supper to Chef Pon's Asian Kitchen. If you're in Cape Town, go eat there - you won't be disappointed. Their telephone number is (021) 465-5846. Their business card says, "best Thai and Asian foods in Cape Town" - I must say, I totally agree!

back to PE - Plettenberg Bay & Monkey Land

Driving back to PE, we stopped at Monkey Land.

and before that, at Plettenberg Bay

I thought this one was also taken in Plett but Dion says it's also from The Heads at Knysna

George, Oudtshoorn and the Cango Caves

After I sent off my monthly newsletter at the internet cafe (it was all prepared and in my drafts folder on my blog - I just had to publish), we set off for George.

It took us over two hours to get to the Cango Caves and fortunately, we made it in time for the last tour at 4 pm.

On the road... beautiful view and I quite like car shots

Mountains in George - beautiful!

We took this picture of the cows firstly, because my sister LOVES cows (why, I don't know) and secondly, because they were totally surrounding our car...only in SA

Caveman and his woman (can you see this is Dion's caption?!)

inside the Cango Caves

they call this stalagtite formation "organ pipes"

On the ferry and around Knysna Heads

Taking a boat trip on a body of water is definitely our thing. It's the one thing we can always agree that we want to do - like the Yarra River in Melbourne, trips to Phang Nga in Thailand, etc.

So because the weather was good (this is a relative term; I mean that it wasn't raining), we decided to get in our ferry trip before the weather worsened. This is the John Benn; it was lovely and warm inside the cabin and we also had great views.

Dion's pretend holiday home

This is the left part of the Knysna Heads. I don't know how true this is but the tour guide (again, a very loose term) told us even Lloyds of London won't insure any boat wanting to traverse through this point. Apparently very dangerous!

After the ferry, we took a drive to the top of the Heads where Dion took this picture.


and this one. Can you see how cold I'm getting here? I'm like, "get this over and done with so I can go have some tea?"

We went to a place called Paquita's for supper. Dion says the waiter was "off" with me - I don't know why. All I asked was for my food to be warmed ;)

The anniversary

After putting first things first (going to church), we socialised for a bit with some Zimbabwean people who were Very Excited to hear that Dion was also from Zim and then headed for the waterfront.

We wandered around a bit in the very-welcome sunshine, snapping away wildly like the tourists we were. Although we didn't wear khaki.

Then after we bought our ferry tickets (R90 each in case you're interested), we took a drive on Leisure Isle.

One of my Most Favourite Things to do is to look at beautiful houses and if the owners aren't looking, take pictures.

I LOVE this house. It is exactly the style I like with the cottagey look, lovely garden (although we do not have a green finger between us) and look. That little balcony is just gorgeous. When I see that, I already imagine sitting out there with my book and a glass of water with lots of lemon in summer, or a nice big mug of tea in winter. Either way, the book and I are there.

Oh, and it's called Dieudonne.

Here's another house I liked. More modern but also beautiful.

And yet another. I love these windows and the balcony going right around

This is my attempt at an arty shot. Look past Dion at our shadows on the ground. Cool...

Where we stayed in Knysna

Dion was tasked with finding us a place to stay so he narrowed the numerous options down to 3 and then sent them to me. I happened to like the look of one particular room (yes, that's all I made my decision on) and so we booked Protea Guest House.

D and the landlady were chatting away and they mentioned church and would you believe it? She goes to the church of a pastor, Ps Jerome Nel, who often visits our church. So when we confirmed our dates and what-not, I emailed her and told her we'll be coming with her to church on the Sunday.

Anyway, aside from the Christian connection, it was a lovely place. She was extremely hospitable - I'll give you one example. After the first night, she saw how cold we were (not used to Knysna cold) and had an oil heater sent up to our little house.

Look at this view - is it not stunning???

So of course we took breakfast outside the one day when the weather was not too bad. That's me in the picture - I told Dion that he was not allowed to take a picture of my face looking horrible from sleep.

Storms River Mouth & highest bungee jump in the world

When we left Port Elizabeth, it was cold and rainy. Not unusual weather for the time of year, but unusual for us, being used to Jhb's cold, dry winters.

The rain eventually cleared up about an hour outside of PE so we decided to stop and take some pictures at Storms River Mouth.

My Dion - isn't he gorgeous

As you can see from my ice-cold face and my hair blowing in the wind, it was absolutely freezing.

This was taken on the one side of the bridge...

and this was taken on the other side

This is a picture of Bloukrans bridge. At 216m, it is officially recognised by the Guiness book of world records as the highest bungee jump in the world.

I saw all the signs but I must admit that I wasn't sure if they were just saying that as a gimmick so of course, I googled it. And it is correct!


It is much more impressive in real life. And we amused ourselves there (still in the cold) watching about 5 or 6 people "face their fears" as the poster dared them to do. There was actually a lovely vibe because they play loud thumping music; I suppose it's to get the people in the mood.


A 5-year-old watching with us said, "Daddy, they go like this" and she demonstrated beautifully how they free fall. Hmmm - I'd keep a close eye on her.

Ready, steady, go

There - my bags are packed and we're ready to set off on holiday.

We'll be married 12 years on Sunday and we're heading off to Knysna (after flying into Port Elizabeth) to celebrate at the coast.

Stay with us as we take you along for the ride...