On Fréjus, St-Raphaël, Ste-Maxime, St-Tropez…

 

Look at this map. Do you see St-Raphaël? Do you see Fréjus?

It’s not just a map with names. It might mean nothing to you, but to me, it’s my entire childhood, right into adulthood!! This is where we are going in exactly 9 days!!!!

**happy face**

 

And then zoom out…. and you get this:

In the foreground, the harbour, in the background the cathedral and all the intricate pedestrian streets where I have so many fond memories!

Now I thought I was excited at the idea of going!  But what I see in my children’s eyes when we start talking about the imminence of our trip is the delight of their own memories and what France means to them: the walks to the beach, Marineland, Luna Park, Mamie’s apartment and the big garden downstairs, the ice-creams, the evening outings, the plane trip (!!)…

And I’m excited at the idea of building more memories this year, with new places to enjoy. This time we’re even going to camp…

And I look at the countdown roster that they each made,

…and I know that we are ALL ready to go. Countdown 9. 8. 7. 6….

Winter in July

                                                                            

Freezing times, falling times, quadbiking times, hiking times, picking-up-sticks times, laughing times, stuffing-our-faces-with M&Ms times, fighting-like-Ninjas times, resting times…

And these were our holidays in Klein Kariba

On the 6th of March…

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One of the special moments we had during my mum’s visit (which was now more than a month ago!!! Hard to believe…) was her birthday. I can’t remember when last we were all together to celebrate it. I remember a few years ago baking a cake for her birthday and sending pictures of it with the kids around.

Ah ah! But this year we were all together to celebrate her 29th birthday

The obligatory gift was a handbag. We, women, always ALWAYS need a new handbag. (Kerry, are you owning a handbag by now??) But not any handbag! My friend Kirstin designs beautiful bags with her unique style and label Button Mushroom (the site hasn’t been updated for a while and her new range of bags is even better). She’s always been there for me, never failed me like a true designer friend, and always provided me with handsome-looking original and unique gifts

My mum was very chaffed with hers Another birthday, another opportunity!

A friend of my mum and Claude had told them about a wine farm in the Cape area. It turned out to be Morganhof . So my mum decided to treat everyone and go there for lunch on that special 6th of March!

Morganhof!! What a lovely place! A (triangular!) table was awaiting us, under the trees, outside, surrounded with the most beautiful landscape. Peacoks roaming free, fishpond in a distance… Excellent food and a free bottle of wine – apologising for the wait… My mum and Claude were astonished by this gesture – so were we! If you know me, you know how much I love free stuff and although I don’t drink wine, I was almost tempted to, just to make the most of the gift

The most treasured moment was probably when my mum’s three grandchildren (that would be my children) sang happy birthday to her. And if technology works with me, what follows should be the short video clip of THE song.

Amazing how all three of their personality shines through these 23 seconds: the People-Pleaser, the Contrary-Mary and the Clown!

That was a well-celebrated birthday, à la sud-africaine…

Ratelfontein – Day 5 (Part2)

Well, day 5 was a long day! After we all recovered from our emotions, we went for another drive in the afternoon with Eugene as our driver. We saw some roads that only had the names of it, because they were not made to be driven on it. On those roads, you had to really hang onto anything that is grab-able if you didn’t want to fall off the wagon!

Lea managed to spot a leguan ( not sure of the spelling but I’m talking about that BIG lizard). We stopped the car and came closer to take pictures. As we did so, its neck started to swell; it’s a tactic to try and scare us. Me, in the middle of the Karoo, with my little flip-flops, scared that a snake would come and tickle my toes, I wasn’t too reassured. I tried to get closer but as I did so, the reptile started to hit its tail vehemently, again in an attempt to scare us. Well, it worked with me so I handed my camera to Ali, who, fearless, went closer and closer.

We saw some more magnificent creatures,

Killian opened the gates for us, taking his job very seriously,

And we drove towards awesome sunsets in the horizon,

And that was day 5!!! Pfew!!

Ratelfontein – Day 5 (part 1)

Today, it’s decided, we’re going to town! We put on our high heels and our beautiful hats and we go to the big BIG town of Richmond!! The girls are on an outing. We need groceries – especially chocolate! It takes us 30 minutes on the dirt road and an extra 15 minutes to Richmond, and there we are. Richmond is a dorp but it has its charm. We found a supermarket – ‘ Percy se plek’, a liquor store (which consists of a small entrance and a counter behind bars), a not-great looking school, a very nice looking correctional facilities, a public library, a beautiful church.

The funniest part was the road signage with this unusual sign,

…and low and behold, 15 meters further, what do we see? An old granny walking with her stick (not crossing the road though!)

But Richmond is becoming famous for its bookstores. In the 1800s Richmond was a popular resort for European aristocrats but it was overlooked by tourists. Nowadays, Richmond is becoming Africa’s Booktown and holds every year in September a book fair. Most of the books are second hand, sometimes twinned with a coffee shop, or an antique shop or an art gallery… We only had time to go to the one – which tripled as an antique/craft/art and book shop.

The owner told us that the guy that started the trend now owns 11 old buildings that he transformed into unique bookstores. We unfortunately did not take the time to go and visit all 11 of them as I was starving. We stopped at ‘The Blue Lantern’, a coffee shop/restaurant. We were the only customers. We ordered pancakes with water as they did not make muffins, scones or any kind of cakes nor did they make cappuccinos. The menu said to give them time as they prepare the food with love. I think we never had so much love in pancakes – but it was worth the wait!!!

Us at ‘The Blue Lantern’

Back to the farm we went – not without a little adventure of our own. We got stuck in the mud at the hottest part of the day with Ali’s long dress, Bec’s black pants and my white pants. There is nothing like a crisis to bring people together!!! Here we were, on our knees, digging this 1000 kg car out, trying to put stones underneath the wheels. Ali was the only one with a small cellphone reception but could only leave a short message onto Mervyn’s phone. Enough to give us hope that we shouldn’t die there but not enough to just sit and wait! But girls are tough and strong and after ruining nails, knees and hairdos, we DID manage to get the car out!!! Our plan B was to walk to the manager’s farm to get some help – but a few days later, driving back I realised that it would have been a very very long walk!!! After getting over their worry – due to a confusion in the time of the message and an inaudible voicemail – the men, deep down, were proud of us!!

The car stuck,

In the end, it was a silly adventure but one that brings a smirk on my face whenever I think of it. We faced adventure with laughs in our hearts and smiles on our faces. It’s a good thing though that the only game on this farm are springboks and the likes, and not lions!! The smiles might have been on the lions’ faces…

Ratelfontein – Day 4

Today we decided to do nothing – and then we went and did just that! (Winnie The Pooh)

Well, almost. In the morning, Phil and I and the kids went for a walk up the surrounding mountain. Amazingly, we didn’t meet any snakes, not even one!

We walked as high as the low mountains of the Karoo allowed us to go!

The kids felt very proud that they climbed this mountain all by themselves!

Little Matt’s backside,

Boys being boys (throwing stones),

Girls being girls (cuddling and chatting)

Which way down?

The sliding way,

The I-carry-you way,

and the I-lead-you way,

Back at the ranch – I mean the farm – we went back to doing nothing.

It was very hot and sunny and relaxing on a lounger on the front lawn – and moving it according to where the shade was moving – is all we did for the rest of that day.

A little bit of arm wrestling,

…in spite of the appearances, Rebecca is the champion!

Some dead bat watching. These little creatures are so cute. They were flying just above our heads in the evening and in the morning we sometimes found some dead bodies.

And some half asleep children on some half asleep parents (don’t be fooled by the appearance of reading!)

Day 4 was a really lazy day!!

Ratelfontein – Day 3

We woke up to a chilled yet sunny day and were greeted by deers. A few adults and some babies were playing by the puddles of water in front of the main house. One have to be as quiet as a mouse so as to not frighten them, which turned out to be difficult.

Here is just one, before it ran off.

So we went and fed the geese instead. They are much more tame – food helps!

Then Killian went exploring the surroundings, very slippery surroundings with mud everywhere and the result was this with a very unhappy Killian.

But after a change of clothes, we went out for a walk and stopped at every little – and not so little – insect that one can imagine.

We saw giant ants, rice ants and anthills, looong black millipedes, dung beetles, toc toc beetles, locusts, dragonflies, chameleons, fresh water crabs, scorpions, bats…

Who knows what lives in this hole but the ranger told us never to face the hole in case it comes running out…

This poor chameleon has been touched, moved, passed, stroked… and by the time we were finished with him, it probably felt totally spent

These two crabs were quite funny. the one was the non adventurous one, safely staying tucked away in a hole. The other one was the Stanley Livingstone of crabs (ou pour les francais, le Nicolas Hulot des crabes!). it wanted to come down these rocks where water was pouring down and it was – literally – hanging by one pinch!

  

It looks like it’s falling but it isn’t! It made it to the safe hole where it wanted to go

I couldn’t get a picture of the blue dragonfly so i got a picture of Rebecca taking a picture of the blue dragonfly. her zoom is much better than mine!

And these two looking at something very interesting,

Two big tortoises

In the afternoon we had another storm – I know, the Karoo is supposed to be a desert but it rained 32 ml in two afternoons!! Nonetheless after the sky lightened up a bit, Eugene and Celia took us for a short drive. In fact shorter than expected because Celia who was driving the one ranger got stuck in the mud. Properly stuck!! She went aside of the road to avoid the mud and to avoid ruining the road but didn’t realise that the side of the road was like a swamp. Knee-high deep!

Ok, maybe ankle-deep …

Fortunately Eugene is very well equipped and went to fetch THE car, the big double cabin land rover with the winch and took Celia’s car out in two moves. Killian thoroughly enjoyed this and Eugene is definitely his new hero!

On our way back, Mervyn tried to take us to see the wet land but the roads were too muddy and he didn’t want to damage them. So after a three (maybe four ) point turn, and after ‘fixing’ our tracks, we went back home for another lekker dinner by the calm sunset of the peaceful Karoo…

Ratelfontein – Day 2

Waking up in the early hours of the morning to a complete peaceful environment is bliss. One can hear the sound of the rustling wind in the leaves, the delicate sound of the birds chirping, and of course the noise of … well noisy children! The manager of the farm – who is a professional hunter, ooooooh – is coming at 8.30 to initiate us to shooting. Killian is jumping up and down at the thought of it already!

We first had breakfast in the traditional farm kitchen, so rustic and beautiful!

Then Eugene and his wife Celia arrived. In my mind I pictured a very traditional older afrikaans couple, but Eugene and Celia are young, expecting their first child, with warm and friendly personalities. Eugene is also quite good with kids and Killian and him got along very well.

We went for target shooting just up the road from the farm and we each had a turn at hitting different (non-living) targets. Rebecca and Alison impressed everyone and we dare not cross their paths since then

Killian was also quite good considering that he hit the target every time without taking too much time looking into the sight.

Eugene, professional hunter,

Killian, wannabe professional hunter,

And the rest of us, having a good time and getting satisfaction at the great bang,

The rifle makes a noise, not too loud but loud enough for this,

and eventually this,
  

Those ear-muffs are quite amazing in that you can’t hear the shot but you can hear a whisper.

Comfort after the shots,

In the afternoon, God answered the many farmers’ prayers by sending us a great storm. There is nothing like sitting on the veranda – without being cold – and enjoying the splash of the rain on your toes. Summer rains (here at least) are incomparable: lightning, loud thunder, heavy thick drops, dry rivers coming to life within minutes and the delightful sound of rain falling on the corrugated iron roof.

That’s Phillip enjoying the splash of the rain on his toes

Running in the rain is as much fun for children as it is for adults. Proof:

This much water in a very short space of time. When it rains, it rains.

But by the next day, the ground is already almost back to dry… except on the road where it stays muddy. Then it’s trouble – but more on that on a different day!

Ratelfontein – Day 1, after the journey…

After we all went for much needed afternoon nap, we went exploring a little bit. Only looking from the veranda, this place is photographer paradise. Nature is so beautiful. I usually prefer taking pictures of people but here, I can identify with Nico when he goes on long walks to take pictures of landscape. Here, I can’t get enough of it!

Stepping stones,

Chasing tortoises,

Petting tortoises,

Rusted utensils,

Between the trees,

Along the path,

Late afternoon, we went for a ride in a game viewer,

and saw geese (ok not game!) but in a beautiful setting nonetheless!

Three of my favourite people on two of my favourite pictures for the day,

And giraffes (there are only five on the farm so that was a great bonus)

And miscellaneous carcasses,

Life slows down here. We went back to the farm for a well deserved night in a bed!

Towards The Karoo – Day 1

Departure…

We’re leaving for the Karoo!!!! We are so excited!!! The afternoon, we managed to squeeze a nice lunch with some friends of ours, so that we too can say that we celebrated new year’s eve!!!! But now, the packing is not really done and we’re aiming to leave at 3 in the morning!! So far, its’ the most exciting part for the kids: we are going to wake them up in the middle of the night to leave!!!!

Of course, Matty woke up at midnight for some obscure reason and my stressed and anxious husband couldn’t go back to sleep. After walking around the house, he decided to shower and loudly exclaimed that I should get up because we’re leaving earlier than expected. Up at 1.30am, with the party next door still going, in the car by 2am and good bye Cape Town! We have an 8 hour drive to get to Ratelfontein, close to Richmond. We’re going to a game farm in the Karoo!!

Happy and excited yet tired-looking children at 2 in the morning. The excitement quickly wears off when you realise you’re going to sit for a loooong time!

Driving on new year’s eve, we were wondering about people driving drunk but the only (very) dodgy car that we saw, was on the M3 still in Cape Town, almost in our neighbourhood. But once we were out of the city, there were actually very few cars. It was pitch dark!! It is almost spooky to go up these mountains, and down and through them, it’s definitely a real reminder of how majestic God is!

We respected all the road signs,

…even those we couldn’t understand,

The kids woke up to this,

and they were happy,

but tired,

Then the magic sign,
  

The brown colour of the sign tells us that it’s going to be that kind of road, (loose children, half standing on a dirt road)

The welcome sign,

The first gate,

The second gate,

The tortoises,

And the farm!!!

Journey finished, thank you Lord for keeping us safe, may the holidays start