Hello Mr. Reindeer

No, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth but it does feel like I've been underwater for a good long while.  I'm still here...working very looong hours, battling 2 hours of traffic every day of the week, and just trying to hold it all together.

 

But in-between the chaos of my everyday life, I have managed to get moving on Christmas stuff - yep, I'm more than halfway through buying gifts for the people on my (short) Christmas list.  And I found a lady who hand makes these magnificent stuffed Christmas ornaments.  Man they are so cute!!

Hello Mr. Reindeer

Walkabout

The weather turned cold on Saturday night while at Mountain Sanctuary Park, and the wind was howling on Sunday morning.  Despite the weather, we went for a walk down to the rapids before packing up and heading home late morning.

 

Reflections on MSP : I'm 15 years older now so I didn't enjoy 'roughing it' as much as I used to.  We deliberately booked huts without bathrooms as an introduction to camping for the girls, but the lack of bathrooms irritated the adults more than the kids, so next time, we'll book chalets with all the amenities.  It's really hot at MSP so I think it will be better to visit in Autumn when it's a bit cooler.  I loved being with my family and it worked well having Boo and Bridget with us; we really enjoy their company so we will definitely arrange another getaway together in future.

Entertaining little people

While at Mountain Sanctuary recently, we all worked hard to keep the little people entertained.  On Saturday afternoon, I provided fabric painting kits for the girls, and Tonia organized a treasure hunt.

Katy 

Boo 

Elizabeth 

Mountain Sanctuary Park

Our visit to Mountain Sanctuary Park was a walk down memory lane.  We used to come here a lot many years ago to camp and relax.  We haven't been to MSP for about 15 years, so decided it was time to bring the little people for a visit.

 

We stayed in 'cosy huts' - in reality, just wooden zozo huts with a window, but the layout was great and very well equipped. 

 

My friend Bridget Sutton and her daughter Boo joined us for the weekend.  We went for a long walk after breakfast on Saturday morning, and the girls swam at Fountain Pools.

 

Settling down around the fire on Friday evening after arrival - the girls were very excited to rekindle their friendship

Boo and Elizabeth

Miss Katy and her dad Robbie 

The water was icy so the girls warmed up and dried off on the rocks

 

 

Tonia and Bridget

It was a good day in Africa

 

Love the mountains

After working in our Cape Town office recently, I took a drive to Barrydale to visit my friend Wendy.  It's a long 3 hour drive on the N2 out of Cape Town, but totally gorgeous.  There were many raptors and blue cranes along the route, and the mountains...I really love being near mountains.

 

After turning off the N2, I made my way up the gorgeous Tradouw Pass.  The Tradouw Pass (which means Womens Path in the old Khoi language) is a 16 kilometer drive through an altitude range of 219 meters through some of the most beautiful and rugged mountain scenery on offer in the Langeberg. This pass is undoubtedly in the Top 20 tarred passes in the Western Cape.  The pass joins the towns of Barrydale and Swellendam and was originally built by Thomas Bain in the late 1800's. Extensively revamped in recent times, the engineering teams did an outstanding job of preserving the environment and retaining Thomas Bain's character in the design and supporting stonework.

The town square with the beautiful old NG Church.  As with most small towns, everything closes at 1pm on Saturday

I stayed over at Sorgvry B&B 

It was very comfortable but probably one of the ugliest rooms that I've ever stayed in - gold wallpaper, very dark furnishings and a black floor (the Orient room)

Yep - there are vineyards in the middle of Barrydale

 

My friend Wendy's daughter Linda and granddaughter, one year old River-Rose 

 

Wendy joined me for breakfast on the patio at Sorgvry on Sunday morning before I headed back to Cape Town to catch a flight to Johannesburg

Love those mountains!