Today is our last day in Africa!
This whole holiday has been amazingly AWESOME!!! Although I can't wait to sleep in my own bed again and not have to live out of a suitcase (exspcialy since i have a new wardrobe waiting for me :P ).
I miss my mum and all my friends and I can't wait to see them all but I will also miss Africa and my family over here.
The next time I post something I will be back in Australia, the country I call home.
Monday 5 December 2011
Day 19
Monday I woke up with heaps of mosquito bites, the only time I had been bitten this whole holiday. We had breakfast at 8.00 and again it was a buffet and again we ate too much.
After breakfast we packed our bags, put them in the car and walked over to where the Canopy Tours were. The Canopy Tour was a series of 10 flying foxing zigzagging down a gorge and was awesome.
We were driven up to where the first slide was, we were in full body harnesses, and we were attached to the cable, suspended over the trees, and slid down the cable to the next platform. The last 4 slides we had to brake ourselves. Jaylin was really scared at the start but by the end she wanted to do it again. We all did.
The guys leading the tour were full of interesting trivia and bad jokes and made it all lots of fun. The worst bit was having to drive another 2 hours to get back to Johannesburg.
We didn’t do much once we got back to Jen’s all Jaylin, Jayne and I basically did was just play card games.
We had spaghetti for dinner and got back to Observatory around 8.00 and slept.
After breakfast we packed our bags, put them in the car and walked over to where the Canopy Tours were. The Canopy Tour was a series of 10 flying foxing zigzagging down a gorge and was awesome.
We were driven up to where the first slide was, we were in full body harnesses, and we were attached to the cable, suspended over the trees, and slid down the cable to the next platform. The last 4 slides we had to brake ourselves. Jaylin was really scared at the start but by the end she wanted to do it again. We all did.
The guys leading the tour were full of interesting trivia and bad jokes and made it all lots of fun. The worst bit was having to drive another 2 hours to get back to Johannesburg.
We didn’t do much once we got back to Jen’s all Jaylin, Jayne and I basically did was just play card games.
We had spaghetti for dinner and got back to Observatory around 8.00 and slept.
Day 18
Sunday morning we went to church with Jen and Jaylin. After church we went back to Jen’s for a bit and then went to the Rosebank market.
I didn’t buy much, dad spent the most though. If we had more time to walk around I probably would have brought more, but we had to get back if we wanted to get to Sparkling Waters (a resort in the mountains outside of Johannesburg, further out than the Ingwe Bush camp we stayed at, and the starting point for the Canopy Tour) before it was late.
We packed our stuff and put it in the car and drove for 2 hours to get to Sparkling Waters. We checked in, took our bags to our rooms and got into our swimmers.
The pool was like the size of a town swimming pool, and it had a diving board. It was soo hard to play marco polo because there was only 3 of us in this massive pool so after a while we gave up and started having competitions like who can make the biggest bomb, I won that one every time :P .
At around 7.00, Jen and Dad came and got us so we could get dry and changed for dinner. Dinner was a buffet and we all ate too much, the roast potatoes were sooo good!
We all fell asleep pretty much straight away.
I didn’t buy much, dad spent the most though. If we had more time to walk around I probably would have brought more, but we had to get back if we wanted to get to Sparkling Waters (a resort in the mountains outside of Johannesburg, further out than the Ingwe Bush camp we stayed at, and the starting point for the Canopy Tour) before it was late.
We packed our stuff and put it in the car and drove for 2 hours to get to Sparkling Waters. We checked in, took our bags to our rooms and got into our swimmers.
The pool was like the size of a town swimming pool, and it had a diving board. It was soo hard to play marco polo because there was only 3 of us in this massive pool so after a while we gave up and started having competitions like who can make the biggest bomb, I won that one every time :P .
At around 7.00, Jen and Dad came and got us so we could get dry and changed for dinner. Dinner was a buffet and we all ate too much, the roast potatoes were sooo good!
We all fell asleep pretty much straight away.
Day 17 - Back to Johannesburg
Saturday morning we packed our bags for the flight back to Johannesburg. We were out of Robins Nest at around 9.00 and headed round to Ivor and Cora’s to say goodbye.
We got to the airport around 10.00 and were on the plane at 10.50. The flight only took about 1½ hours and Jen picked us up from the airport. We dropped off out bag at 9inObservatory and took whatever need to be washed to Jen’s.
When we got to Jen’s, we jumped on the pool for a bit before we were told to get out and get dry so we could go to the movies. We had a small dinner and went to see Puss in Boots in 3D.
We brought heaps of popcorn and went to our seats right in the middle of the cinema. The movie was great and it was really funny. I don’t want to give anything away but it includes Humpty Alexander Dumpty who is evil, Jack and Jill who are very evil and magic beans. We all had heaps of fun.
We were back at observatory around 8 and went to bed.
We got to the airport around 10.00 and were on the plane at 10.50. The flight only took about 1½ hours and Jen picked us up from the airport. We dropped off out bag at 9inObservatory and took whatever need to be washed to Jen’s.
When we got to Jen’s, we jumped on the pool for a bit before we were told to get out and get dry so we could go to the movies. We had a small dinner and went to see Puss in Boots in 3D.
We brought heaps of popcorn and went to our seats right in the middle of the cinema. The movie was great and it was really funny. I don’t want to give anything away but it includes Humpty Alexander Dumpty who is evil, Jack and Jill who are very evil and magic beans. We all had heaps of fun.
We were back at observatory around 8 and went to bed.
Day 16
Friday was pretty relaxed. We left Robin’s Nest at 10 and headed for Somerset West where Grandads oldest friends, Derrick and Lisette, lived.
It took 30 minute to get there and there were drinks and cupcakes waiting for us. After a quick catch-up we hoped in the car and drove to Vergelegen which was built in 16th century for the first governor.
The gardens were beautiful, but the inside was amazing! There were 2 massive dining rooms and 3 ‘lounge’ rooms in the main house and then there was a bedroom wing and a kitchen wing that we didn’t get to see. There were some trees out the front that were absolutely huge!
After walking around there for a bit we went and drove up to the wine farms to have a quick look and we passed a massive strawberry farm as well.
We got back to their house and had lunch around 1 which was delicious, but desert was even better; Juicy, sweet strawberries with sugar on top and ice cream, I couldn’t stop having the strawberries they were so good.
On the way back to Robin’s Nest we took a quick detour to Pinelands to see the house dad lived in for the first 3 years of his life. While he took photos, Jayne and I played on the playground across the road.
We went back to Robins Nest for another swim and then had dinner at Ivor and Cora’s. When we got back to Robin’s Nest we had a quick clean up and went to bed.
It took 30 minute to get there and there were drinks and cupcakes waiting for us. After a quick catch-up we hoped in the car and drove to Vergelegen which was built in 16th century for the first governor.
The gardens were beautiful, but the inside was amazing! There were 2 massive dining rooms and 3 ‘lounge’ rooms in the main house and then there was a bedroom wing and a kitchen wing that we didn’t get to see. There were some trees out the front that were absolutely huge!
After walking around there for a bit we went and drove up to the wine farms to have a quick look and we passed a massive strawberry farm as well.
We got back to their house and had lunch around 1 which was delicious, but desert was even better; Juicy, sweet strawberries with sugar on top and ice cream, I couldn’t stop having the strawberries they were so good.
On the way back to Robin’s Nest we took a quick detour to Pinelands to see the house dad lived in for the first 3 years of his life. While he took photos, Jayne and I played on the playground across the road.
We went back to Robins Nest for another swim and then had dinner at Ivor and Cora’s. When we got back to Robin’s Nest we had a quick clean up and went to bed.
Day 15
We started off Thursday by going to Robben Island. Robben Island was mainly a prison and was the prison where political prisoners were sent, including Nelson Mandela.
We were on the boat at 9.30 and the trip took 30 minutes. When we got on the island, we went straight onto buses to start our tour. We drove around the island and stopped for our guide to tell us something about whatever was outside.
He also asked where we were all from so he could tell us our country’s impact on Robben Island. Australia’s impact was the eucalyptus trees, which were actually introduced by the British, and the rabbit’s introduced for food. These are both problems because there are too many rabbits, so they are now pest, and because there are so many of them and eucalyptus trees drink 30 litres of water a day, so there is now no fresh water on the island.
We were also shown these canons that we built for WW2 to protect Cape Town, but they were never used because they were completed 2 years after the war finished.
After we finished the bus tour, we were given a tour round the actual prison. There was one part where we went in a section where the stories of the inmates were on the inside of their cell and we went in and read them, it was really interesting.
We were back on the boat by 12.30 and the trip back was really rough. We had fish and chips for lunch and walked around the shops. I brought a bag for 220 rand (about $30) and a really cute gecko for 5 rand (70 cents) plus some other things.
We went back to Robin’s Nest for a swim and got some pizza before Ivor and Cora picked us up to go see Phantom of the Opera. It was great, but it was really loud at times and if I hadn’t read the synopsis of the story I probably would have got lost, so other than that it was great.
We got back to Robin’s Nest at around 11 which was the latest night we had had these holiday so we were pooped and Jayne even slept in her clothes.
We were on the boat at 9.30 and the trip took 30 minutes. When we got on the island, we went straight onto buses to start our tour. We drove around the island and stopped for our guide to tell us something about whatever was outside.
He also asked where we were all from so he could tell us our country’s impact on Robben Island. Australia’s impact was the eucalyptus trees, which were actually introduced by the British, and the rabbit’s introduced for food. These are both problems because there are too many rabbits, so they are now pest, and because there are so many of them and eucalyptus trees drink 30 litres of water a day, so there is now no fresh water on the island.
We were also shown these canons that we built for WW2 to protect Cape Town, but they were never used because they were completed 2 years after the war finished.
After we finished the bus tour, we were given a tour round the actual prison. There was one part where we went in a section where the stories of the inmates were on the inside of their cell and we went in and read them, it was really interesting.
We were back on the boat by 12.30 and the trip back was really rough. We had fish and chips for lunch and walked around the shops. I brought a bag for 220 rand (about $30) and a really cute gecko for 5 rand (70 cents) plus some other things.
We went back to Robin’s Nest for a swim and got some pizza before Ivor and Cora picked us up to go see Phantom of the Opera. It was great, but it was really loud at times and if I hadn’t read the synopsis of the story I probably would have got lost, so other than that it was great.
We got back to Robin’s Nest at around 11 which was the latest night we had had these holiday so we were pooped and Jayne even slept in her clothes.
Day 14
We first stoped at mineral world where they tumble, polish and cut gemstones. There was heaps to buy and you could also go upstairs and see the whole process. We didn’t spend long there because we had a booking for lunch and we still had to see the light house.
We got to cape point at around 12 and headed straight up to see the light house. It was a fair walk and steep so it took us a good 20minute to get up there so we could only spend 5 minutes up there because we still had to get down. It took us a bit longer to get down and we were 20 minutes late for our booking but they didn’t mind.
Now starts the interesting part. As some of you may know I have a minor allergy to mushrooms, pistachios and cashews so that if I eat them I get sick (throw up). Well I ordered some basil, spinach and feta stuffed chick and after eating it for a bit I started to feel a bit funny, so i asked whether there was any nuts or mushrooms in it and the waitress said there wasn’t so I kept eating it but then I started to feel worse so I stopped eating it.
I asked for a glass of water so I could take my tablet to stop me from being sick but she took ages and I was feeling worse and worse so by the time I took the tablet it was too late to do anything. I waited for half an hour to be sick, because I knew I would, and it wasn’t until we gave up and decided go that I was actually sick.
I know this sounds weird, but I don’t think i had ever been so happy to throw up, plus I got some cheesecake out of it :P .
We got back to Robin’s Nest around 4 and I started cooking dinner. After our delicious speedboats (basically sausages with vegies) and some cheesecake, we hit the hay.
Day 13
Tuesday we climbed Table Mountain. Well, not really, we took the cable car up to the top and walk around up top.
At the start of the walk there were these really cute animals called Dassies lying on the rocks. They looked dead until they moved and there was some really cute baby ones.
We walked for about 3 hours and in that time I grazed my knees, we took a “short cut” through mud and chin high spiky reeds that stabbed my grazed knees and got more sun burnt then I would have liked. The views were great up there though.
When we stopped for a snack, a little birdy came up really close to us and started going underneath our legs and eating our crumbs, which was really cool. It even ate some straight out of Jayne’s hand!
When we were finished walking around, we got back in the cable car and went down to the bottom station. We went and had lunch at Ivor and Cora’s and then went back to Robin’s Nest for a rest, or in Jayne and my case, a swim.
Around 4.30 we went to the St John’s Wynberg cemetery to look for some of our family’s graves. We found 5, one had Haddie and Fredrick Dowthwaite and their mother Margaret, and another had Metabel and Charles Dowthwaite, their daughter Evelyn and twins Maggie and Ernest, the 3rd grave had John and Florence Dowthwaite. Robert George Dowthwaite had a grave to himself and the last was my Great-grandfather Charles Gordon Dowthwaite with his first wife Irene.
See the thing is the only ones that actually died at the same time was Metabel and her twins who all died in child birth, the rest all died at different times and were just added to their family’s grave. I found one family that had 10 people in the one grave!
We spent an hour there and then went back over to Ivor and Cora’s for diner and crashed when we got home.
At the start of the walk there were these really cute animals called Dassies lying on the rocks. They looked dead until they moved and there was some really cute baby ones.
We walked for about 3 hours and in that time I grazed my knees, we took a “short cut” through mud and chin high spiky reeds that stabbed my grazed knees and got more sun burnt then I would have liked. The views were great up there though.
When we stopped for a snack, a little birdy came up really close to us and started going underneath our legs and eating our crumbs, which was really cool. It even ate some straight out of Jayne’s hand!
When we were finished walking around, we got back in the cable car and went down to the bottom station. We went and had lunch at Ivor and Cora’s and then went back to Robin’s Nest for a rest, or in Jayne and my case, a swim.
Around 4.30 we went to the St John’s Wynberg cemetery to look for some of our family’s graves. We found 5, one had Haddie and Fredrick Dowthwaite and their mother Margaret, and another had Metabel and Charles Dowthwaite, their daughter Evelyn and twins Maggie and Ernest, the 3rd grave had John and Florence Dowthwaite. Robert George Dowthwaite had a grave to himself and the last was my Great-grandfather Charles Gordon Dowthwaite with his first wife Irene.
See the thing is the only ones that actually died at the same time was Metabel and her twins who all died in child birth, the rest all died at different times and were just added to their family’s grave. I found one family that had 10 people in the one grave!
We spent an hour there and then went back over to Ivor and Cora’s for diner and crashed when we got home.
Saturday 3 December 2011
Day 12 - Cape Town
Monday we flew to Cape Town, this time with South African Airways. Jen picked us up and we were at the airport at 10.30.
We checked in and walked down to our terminal and got there 5 minutes before we were meant to board and then an announcement went over to tell us that there was a 30 minute delay, so we had to wait around for another half an hour before being bussed to the plane.
Because the flight was delayed before boarding, they took a short cut, so instead of the flight being 2 hours; it was 1½ hours, which was good. We landed at 2.00 and walked for ages from the arrival terminal to the rental car pickup.
Once we got out of the airport we drove to Ivor and Cora’s house. Cora is Grandad’s closest cousin. We had some afternoon tea and they gave us a list of things they had planned for us to do this week.
Around 3.30 we went to Robin’s Nest where we were staying for the week. It was really nice; there was a pool and a wood BBQ.
After unpacking and having a bit of a rest, we went back to Ivor and Cora’s for dinner, which was delicious. We stayed there until about 9 and got straight into bed when we got back to Robin’s Nest.
We checked in and walked down to our terminal and got there 5 minutes before we were meant to board and then an announcement went over to tell us that there was a 30 minute delay, so we had to wait around for another half an hour before being bussed to the plane.
Because the flight was delayed before boarding, they took a short cut, so instead of the flight being 2 hours; it was 1½ hours, which was good. We landed at 2.00 and walked for ages from the arrival terminal to the rental car pickup.
Once we got out of the airport we drove to Ivor and Cora’s house. Cora is Grandad’s closest cousin. We had some afternoon tea and they gave us a list of things they had planned for us to do this week.
Around 3.30 we went to Robin’s Nest where we were staying for the week. It was really nice; there was a pool and a wood BBQ.
After unpacking and having a bit of a rest, we went back to Ivor and Cora’s for dinner, which was delicious. We stayed there until about 9 and got straight into bed when we got back to Robin’s Nest.
Day 11
Sunday we spent the day at Gold Reef City. It’s a theme park in Johannesburg at the site of an old gold mine.
We rocked up, ready to go, and then we were told that most of the power was out. By that I mean, they had enough power for some of the little kiddy rides and to go down the mine, but not enough for credit card machines or any of the thrill rides.
We went and did the mine tour first, hoping that by the time we had finished, the power would be back on and most of the rides would be working. The tour was good, we went down the mine shaft to level 5 which is 233 meters down.
We came out and all the power was back on, but a lot of the rides were under maintenance before the holidays. We went on a few rides; the best I thought was the golden loop.
We also did this 4D ride which was awesome. It was a 3D movie except the chairs moved and air blowed down my neck.
The last ride we went on was the anaconda. We were in line for over an hour! The ride was great but not quite worth the wait. After we finally got off the ride we got a soft serve and headed back to Jen’s.
After leftovers for diner we went back to the 9inObservatory to sort out what to take to Cape Town and hit the sack.
We rocked up, ready to go, and then we were told that most of the power was out. By that I mean, they had enough power for some of the little kiddy rides and to go down the mine, but not enough for credit card machines or any of the thrill rides.
We went and did the mine tour first, hoping that by the time we had finished, the power would be back on and most of the rides would be working. The tour was good, we went down the mine shaft to level 5 which is 233 meters down.
We came out and all the power was back on, but a lot of the rides were under maintenance before the holidays. We went on a few rides; the best I thought was the golden loop.
We also did this 4D ride which was awesome. It was a 3D movie except the chairs moved and air blowed down my neck.
The last ride we went on was the anaconda. We were in line for over an hour! The ride was great but not quite worth the wait. After we finally got off the ride we got a soft serve and headed back to Jen’s.
After leftovers for diner we went back to the 9inObservatory to sort out what to take to Cape Town and hit the sack.
Day 10
Saturday was a quiet day, the first quiet day of our holidays. We slept in till 6.30, which was good because we’d been walking up around 5ish every morning. We sorted out what had to be washed and what was clean before Jen picked us up at 9.30.
We lazed around for about an hour and then TJ (Jen’s husband) took us to the transport museum. I was pretty cool and there were some weird cars like a car shaped like an orange or when the door is the front of the car. We went back to Jen’s and order pizza for lunch.
At 1.30 Jaylin, Jayne and I jumped in the back of their Ute with 2 of the 3 German Shepards and went to dog school. We were there for an hour, but that wasn’t the real fun.
It was when we were driving back to Jen’s, and we were all in the back again, and someone jump out in front of the car in front of us so we had to stop quickly and I hit my head on Jaylin’s knee. It was hilarious; we were laughing the rest of the way back.
We got back and about 30 minutes later we were in the car again to go to a BBQ with Jen’s brother and his family.
On the way there we dropped in on Margret and Hugh and had a quick afternoon tea with them. Margret is one of Grandad’s cousins.
The BBQ was good, everyone was talking together and the potato salad was really good! We got home around 8 and crashed.
We lazed around for about an hour and then TJ (Jen’s husband) took us to the transport museum. I was pretty cool and there were some weird cars like a car shaped like an orange or when the door is the front of the car. We went back to Jen’s and order pizza for lunch.
At 1.30 Jaylin, Jayne and I jumped in the back of their Ute with 2 of the 3 German Shepards and went to dog school. We were there for an hour, but that wasn’t the real fun.
It was when we were driving back to Jen’s, and we were all in the back again, and someone jump out in front of the car in front of us so we had to stop quickly and I hit my head on Jaylin’s knee. It was hilarious; we were laughing the rest of the way back.
We got back and about 30 minutes later we were in the car again to go to a BBQ with Jen’s brother and his family.
On the way there we dropped in on Margret and Hugh and had a quick afternoon tea with them. Margret is one of Grandad’s cousins.
The BBQ was good, everyone was talking together and the potato salad was really good! We got home around 8 and crashed.
Thursday 1 December 2011
Day 9
More Pics
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| Hakuna Matata - Pumba |
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| The lovely oversized ponchos we wore while on Elephants. |
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| Us on Elephants! |
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| Victoria Falls |
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| Jayne about to go flying in a micro-light. |
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| Just about to leave the school |
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| Just about to jump of a cliff :P |
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| I'm not sure whether it was the Hippos or the tourist I was taking a photo of! |
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| Couple of days old Impala |
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| Mummy, Baby Brother and Older Sister (right - left) |
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