Sunday, December 28, 2008

Finding my Dream Farm!

Dad took Gags and her friend June, Aunty Lorraine, Corbs and myself on a beautiful holiday in the Freestate, to the Kiara resort nestled at the base of the Maluti mountain range connecting Clarens and the Golden Gate Reserve. We were also lucky enough to be situated next door to Bergwoning adventures; a farm providing horse rides, quadbiking, abseiling, mountain trails etc. Oh and did I fall in love with that farm?! I never thought I would say this in my lifetime but I really want to return to the Freestate! Clarens is very quaint with too many art galleries to count and the Maluti mountain range is just majestic! Our holiday was a very relaxing one though at the same time physically exhausting - if that makes sense?! You must see from my photo's just how much I loved the terrain haha they are pretty much all landscapes.. It's a great area for hiking!























Meeting Karen








Chris and Ivonne invited me to spend a weekend with them in Alpine Heath. It was there that I met Ivonne lovely colleague Naioko and her husband, and their adorable 16month old daughter Karen. As you will see Chris and I really seemed to bond with dear Karen, Chris even trying to illustrate how to eat when we were feeding her.

It was a lovely road trip for Chris and myself for we had to go up early and be the welcome committee, so we took a casual drive through the Drakensberg countryside instead of the freeways. Spending the weekend with our Japanese couple was just so culturally interesting! I hope to see them again in this lifetime.

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Alexandria Hiking Trail

My first overnight hike! 35km of beautiful though hectic inclines. However gruelling it may have been, it was so resting for the soul.

We started out in the outskirts of Addo Elephant Park (forest), walked to the coast, along the shoreline, and through the thickets to our secluded cabin where we stayed the night. It was such a warm lovely night that we moved all the mattresses out onto the deck so we could sleep below the stars. We were up and gone again the next morning by 6.30 walking through the thicket once more to reach the biggest sand dunes in South Africa (felt like you were walking on a treadmill - one step up, three steps down), after roughly 4kms we entered forest once more and headed back to our starting point. What a stunning journey!

I didn't know many people in our group, only Bridgette, and was the only first year among them: they were all masters students. But wow they were lovely people and couldn't have asked for better company.