Koos Kombuis....

On Saturday night, Ruth and I went to "Die Blou Hond" (The Blue Dog in Afrikaans) in Linden (a suburb of Jozi that used to be called the 'Afrikaans Sandton'), to see legendary Afrikaans Musician, Singer, Songwriter - Koos Kombuis. The venue was very intimate, only seating around 100 guests.
When I was younger, English speaking South Africans never used to listen to to Afrikaans singers like Koos Kombuis, probably because a lot of them were banned in the old South Africa because of their political lyrics. Anyhow, Afrikaans music was not regarded as being 'Hip' to English speakers.A few years ago, a friend of mine introduced me to Koos Kombuis' music and I have been listening to him ever since. Koos Kombuis is heavily influenced by Bob Dylan and Neil Young, but his lyrics are contemporary South African, all of which are sung in Afrikaans.....

For more info on Koos Kombuis, please follow the link below:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koos_Kombuis

Easter Weekend in Mpumalanga

An old school friend of mine, Ian was over in South Africa from the UK on a holiday with his partner Emmanuelle. We arranged to meet up over the Easter Weekend in a town called Sabie, which is situated in Mpumalanga and is a fantastic base to view the wonders of the Lowveld.

Below is a Boer canon called the "Long Tom". Germany sold many of these guns to the Boers during the Anglo Boer War from 1899 - 1902. This canon was photographed in the Long Tom Pass situated between Lyndenburg and Sabie.
Ruth and I left Jozi at around 4:15am on the Friday morning, to try and miss the traffic. Traditionally, Joburgers depart the city in droves over the Easter weekend and try and enjoy the good weather before the winter sets in. Unfortunately, rain normally spoils the weekend.

the trip took us about 6 hours from Jozi to Sabie. On the way we stopped at Lydenburg for breakfast and then on to Long Tom Pass which is a magnificent pass over the mountains, but unfortunately it was very foggy and the views were not so spectacular.

We eventually met Ian and Emmanuelle in Sabie where we had lunch on the Friday afternoon. We had planned on doing some hiking, but seeing as we had not seen each other for around 3 years and Ruth and I had never met Emmanuelle before, we decided to extend the lunch with copious amounts of grog.

Early the next morning (Saturday), Ruth and I went for a walk which took us to the hills above Sabie. We found an old train track to walk along. Fortunately the track hasn't been used for the last 4 years.

Once Ian had wiped the sleep from his eyes and we all had breakfast together, we clambered into the car and headed of to the Forest Falls hike. The hike to the falls only took around 45mins each way. As you can see, the falls are quite spectacular.

Ruth kneeling and posing on the edge of the Forest Falls.

Emmanuelle and Ian. And here is a picture of yours truly and his darling wife, Ruth.

After we had finished the hike around Forest Falls, we headed to another magnificent viewpoint called "God's Window". Situated high up in the mountains

Halfway between Sabie and God's Window is a rock formation called the "Pinnacle". Yet another wonderful scenic area.

No visit to the Lowveld is complete without going to Pilgrim's Rest. Pilgrim's Rest is an old gold mining town popular with visitors to the Lowveld. Unfortunately over the Easter Weekend, Pilgrim's Rest is full of bikies, so it was a bit busy, so we headed off to Graskop for lunch instead. Every town in South Africa has a Royal Hotel by the way.

On the Sunday, we drove out to the "Blyde River Canyon". I haven't been there for nearly 20 years and had forgotten the awesome beauty and vastness of the Canyon. The photo below of the "Three Rondavels" does not do the Canyon justice.

Ruth and I with the "Three Rondavels" in the background.

Johannesburg Zoo

The Johannesburg Zoo was established in 1904 and encompasses 54 hectares of beautiful landscaped gardens and over 2070 animals and 365 different species.

The last time I had been to the Zoo was in 1978 on a family outing to Johannesburg when we lived in Vanderbijlpark. This was Ruth's first time at the Zoo. The Zoo is only about 3 blocks from where we live, so we thought it was about time we went for a visit.We arrived at about midday on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. The carpark was packed and the streets outside the Zoo were full of cars. Still a very popular destination for Joburgers...The Cheetah enclosure was the first destination. Unfortunately the male was separated from the females as they only put them together during the mating season. the Cheetah above is one of the females.The Wild Dogs were quite cute too, but I wouldn't trust them with a 3 year old....

Above is a stunning example of South Africa's national bird....the Blue Crane.
The The South African National Museum of Military History borders the Zoo and the above monument is to the Anglo Boer War Memorial. I see this monument every afternoon on my drive home from work.
The above statue is a memorial for "Max the Gorilla". In 1997, an escaping burglar jumped over the Zoo wall and into the Gorilla enclosure. The burglar was promptly attacked by Max. Max was shot twice by the burglar and was taken to Millpark hospital where he was successfully operated on to remove the bullets. The burglar in turn was shot and arrested by the police.

I remember it well. The newspapers had a field day, as at the time, crime in Joburg was at its peak and everyone was applauding Max for doing a better job than the local police in fighting crime.

Sun City

Ruth and I decided to visit my Niece Tanya and her boyfriend George in Rustenburg which is about 48km from Sun City.

The last time I went to Sun City was around 1993. The Lost City and the Valley of the Waves didn't even exist then.

We left Jozi on Saturday morning at around 11:30am and took the slow and meandering R24 to Rustenburg.

Just as we arrived in Rustenburg, we decided to stop for a bite to eat at the roadhouse pictured above. Ruth has never eaten at a roadhouse as they don't exist in New Zealand. So, it was a first and novel experience for her. The food was really good, which we washed down with a wonderful strawberry milkshake. This is the kind of roadhouse I remember from years ago. Today, people suffer by eating the likes of shoddy 'food' at Mcdonalds and Steers.

We had a great 'braai' at Tanya and George's place in the evening. Lordy, Rustenburg gets hot. It must have been around 35 c that afternoon.

We left Rustenburg at 08:30 and headed off to Sun City on the Sunday morning. After parking your car, you jump on a monorail which takes you to the main hotel. There are around 3 hotels at Sun City and also the self-catering 'Cabanas'.

Ruth and I would like to go back sometime and stay for a few days. Fantastic place to relax and enjoy all that they have to offer. Gambling is huge here, but we are not really gamblers, so there is no interest there.
After we arrived, we headed straight for the the Valley of the Waves. Man, this is really impressive. Waterslides, wave pool, more waterslides. There is a waterslide called the "Temple of Courage". Not for the feinthearted. George didn't blink and eyelid before plummeting down this near vertical slide. Apparently you drop for around 17 metres before rejoining the slide. Took me a little while to build up the courage, but after a little while I thought "what the F$%*" and just did it. Was quite quite a thrill and ended up with my swimming trunks nearly slicing me in two!

We left Sun City just before 3pm, parted ways with Tanya and George and headed back to Jozi.

Only in South Africa

Not far from my parents in Umkomaas, there is a train station which has this sign erected on the platform. For years I have been meaning to take a photograph of it, so over Christmas I did just that......

Cape Town

Before I carry on, here's wishing you all the very best of 2010. I know 2009 was a good year for Ruth and I. Let's see if we can make 2010 even better. I was listening to the radio the other day and they were discussing intelligence and learning. The main jist of the discussion is that we as Human Beings have to keep throwing challenging situations at ourselves all the time. Put ourselves into different circumstances. Travel is one of the best ways to challenge yourself via different peoples, cultures, languages, food and climates. For me it is all about growth. If you don't learn, you don't grow. If you don't grow, you die....

So seeing as 2010 is here and you have always wanted to learn a new language, learn guitar, learn how to knit, bake, cook or whatever. Start it TODAY. Even if it is just a small start. Google the subject that you want to learn. Get enthusiastic about it. If you do what you have always done, you will get what you have always gotten. Do something different today. Just get out of your comfort zone and you will be amazed at what an incredible world we live in!

Right, I have had my new year rant. I feel better now.

My Nephew Stephen landed back in SA on the 26th December. He was heading down to George to meet up with my Niece Tanya, so on the 27th we all headed off merrily to O.R. Tambo International airport (formerly Jan Smuts International, formerly Johannesburg International). Ruth and I were catching a plane to Cape Town.

I won't go into the journey details as flying is a-boring....

We arrived in Cape Town and met friends of ours: Bill, Melinda, Carys (our God-Daughter), Jo and Wynand at the airport. One of reasons for heading to Cape Town was for Bill's 50th Birthday on the 29th December. He had been trying to plan it for the last 2 years so eventually, Cape Town it was....

We all jumped into our prospective hire-cars and headed off to Simonstown where Ruth, Jo, Wynand and myself were sharing accommodation on the hills of Simonstown overlooking Simonstown Harbour and False Bay.

I must say, I was very impressed with our rented holiday accommodation.

Perched high up on one of the hills facing north east, the views were spectacular. We could see the three frigates berthed at the naval base which purchased by the South African government. These frigates were part of the huge arms deal corruption scandal. Apparently these frigates have never left the naval base as they are too unseaworthy....On the 28th December Heath, another friends of ours from Oz arrived for two days. That night we had a party and braaivleis of note.
Boulders beach was only a stones throw away from where we were staying. This beach has been made famous beacause of the Penguins that live and breed there. We saw loads of Penguins and Porpoises as we were walking along the boardwalk which is perpendicular to the beach. There is a beach adjacent to Boulders Beach which is great for swimming, which Ruth and I did a few times whilst we were in Simonstown. On the 29th about 20 of us meandered our way to Simonstown Yacht Club where were spending Bill's 50th birthday with him. Bill is the one with the blonde wig on in one of the attached photos. My, what a wonderful birthday party it was too! Weather was awesome, the setting was fantasic. Food and drink were in abundance.....what a life.... Hope my 50th is well attended as well! To finish the lunch off, a few of us went for a sail around Simonstown Harbour in Bill's brother Andrew's 34ft yacht...Ruth and I also took a drive from Simonstown across Chapmans Peak and into Cape Town proper. This is a spectacular drive. Once again the weather was fantastic. There is a photo with Ruth looking out to Hout Bay.

On our way back from the Chapmans Peak drive, we stopped in at Kalk Bay for a quick cocktail at the Cape to Cuba restaurant. The last time we were there was in 2002. We took a quick walk around Kalk Bay and stopped at the fish sellers who get their catch from the fishermen who go out early every morning and come back mid-day. As we were walking along the warf, a huge head popped out of the water! Lordy, I got a fright. It was a huge seal. A young lad started throwing fish heads and guts for the seals who Started jumping up onto the steps. I wonder what was going on in his head...probably "bloody Tourists"...

Before we knew it, New Years Eve approached. Ruth and I took the day in it's stride. Went for an early morning swim at Boulders Beach. Said good morning to the Penguins.... In the evening, we headed off to where Bill and Melinda were staying. Bill started off with a round of extra-strong G&T's...Lordy, nearly blew my head off.... I got a bit messy once Bill started pouring Margueritas.......a lot of them. We had a fun night of dancing and watching Zelda and Melinda 'Langarm' (traditional Afrikaans dancing, almost like a fast waltz). At the stroke of midnight, there was a fireworks display over Simonstown Harbour. Not quite Sydney Harbour standards but great nonetheless... At around 2am Ruth had decided that she had had enough so went home. Lordy, I drank so much that I crashed out at Bill and Melinda's at around 3am.

Woke up on New Years Day at around 11:30am feeling like a bear with a sore head. Ruth was up and dancing and rearing to go for our New Years Day hike up to the very top of Table Mountain!
At around 12:30, we drove to Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, one of South Africa's premier botanical gardens, situated at the backend of Table Mountain. The day was grey and the Mountain was covered in heavy cloud. I still felt a bit rough, but seeing as I am a 'Livens', I couldn't let a mountain whip me!

We headed towards Skeleton Gorge, a rough climb on the best of days, but with a hangover.....Yoh! After the first 20 minutes the sweat was already pouring off of me. Ruth as per usual, was steadfast and sure with her climbing. Seeing as the cloud was the low, the condensation was high, which made the rocks as slippery as hell. An hour later, we emerged on top of "Tafelberg" or Table Mountain for the English readers. The mist was thick and the wind was howling, so we didn't hang around too long before descending down another route called Nursery Ravine. Table Mountain can be treacherous when it is misty. Many have been wandering lost for days in the mist. Very dangerous.
Going down was just as bad as going up. By the time we got back to Kirstenbosch, our legs were like jelly. Hangover was gone though.

We raced back to Simonstown to shower and get changed as we had a dinner arrangement with one of my old school buddies who had recently moved back to Cape Town.

On the afternoon of the 2nd January, we flew back to Johannesburg after an absolutely fantastic stay in Cape Town. I was really missing work and couldn't wait to get back to it on the 4th.........NOT!

Christmas 2009

My oh my, I can hardly believe it has been nearly two months since our last posting on this blog..

On the 23rd December, Ruth and I left home at 4:30am to start our drive down to Umkomaas (Place of the Whale) which is about 50km south of Durban on the east coast of South Africa. My parents have retired down there and have been there since 1993.

South African roads over the December holidays are a nightmare as hundreds of thousands of holiday makers head off from up-country to holiday next to the sea. Incidentally this Christmas holiday death rate from motor vehicle accidents was just over 1000 souls. That was for December alone!
We stopped a few times on the way down to swap drivers. Fortunately, seeing as we left home on the 23rd, so we did not experience too much traffic. After 6 1/2 hours drive, we arrived in Umkomaas. We had rented a self-catering cottage in a small guest lodge for 3 nights, seeing as we were leaving back for Johannesburg early on Boxing Day. We went straight to my Parents home to say hello. The weather was really humid and hot and we were both pouring with sweat before long, seeing as Johannesburg has very little humidity. After the visit, Ruth and I headed of to the supermarket to purchase some Christmas fare, which included a turkey. Lordy, can't remember the last time I have had turkey for Christmas, let alone sitting around the dining room table with my parents eating the said fowl!

Christmas day arrived and Ruth and I sprang out of bed in search of the elusive bag from Santa, but alas it remained elusive! Ruth did however present me with a book on African travel and a small backpack....In return, once I had the said gifts in my possession, I gave Ruth a very interesting book on facts of South Africa. Aaaah, the joys of extravagant and lavish gift giving.

We got dressed and headed for the beach which was about 1km walk down a steep hill. After walking along the beach for a while I decided to take a swim and seeing as I didn't have my swimmers on I thought I would do it in my birthday suit! Lordy, the water was being in a bathtub it was so warm........
We headed back to the guest lodge to grab a small breakfast before heading off to my parents place for Christmas lunch.

After arriving 30 minutes late and meeting the wrath of my Dad, we settled around the dining room table for a sumptuous feast of prawn cocktails ala Ruth hastily followed by turkey with all the trimmings ala Alan. Dinner was delicious, but man oh man, why do we always eat so much?

Ruth and I went for a walk down to the beach to try and help digest dinner. Weather the last few days has been a bit grey and wet. Apparently it has been like that for nearly 2 months. I suppose it is better than the UK where it is like that most of the time...

We had to leave early on Boxing Day to try and miss the traffic, so we left the guest lodge at 6:00am sharp. The drive back to Jozi Town was pretty uneventful, but at least there was hardly any traffic going our way. Traditionally, a lot of people leave Jo'Burg on Boxing Day to start their holidays on the coast, so we saw a lot of traffic going in the opposite direction.