Photos from Amsterdam

Amsterdam for New Year? 

Best Idea Ever!

Pilansberg National Park

One of my favourite things about South Africa are the national game parks!

 This weekend I joined my family on a whirlwind trip to Sun City. Even though I was only there for  a night it was great to get out of Joburg. This morning we went for a drive through the Pilansberg National park and while we didn't see loads of animals, we saw a rhino, lots of elephant and buck.  

I took a few photos while we were in the park, if you have never been, it is a must see! My favourite is  the Kruger Park and I am planning a trip where I travel from the bottom all the way to the top of the park.

Pilansberg National Park

Elephants

Hippo

Kingfisher

Lillies

Rhino

Tsessebe

I've decided that I need to add another place to my travel bucket list: The Serengeti... definitely need to get there sometime soon!

Cape Town #2

The last weekend I spent in Cape Town was rather busy! My mother and brother came down for his half term and I tried to pack as much into the weekend as possible!

Morning tea at the Mount Nelson

Wine Tasting at Meerendal in Durbanville. I really enjoyed their  Heritage Block Pinotage and Pinotage Rose.

I took my brother and cousin on a boat trip around the Simon's Town Harbour

Finally, we went through to Kalk Bay for a seafood lunch and walk through the harbour

My not so baby Baby brother

Cape Town is a beautiful city with loads of interesting places to see and experiences to have. That said, I am thrilled to be back in Johannesburg - life just happens here at a faster pace! 

There doesn't always seem like there is as much to do as there is in the Cape, but my friend El is on a mission to prove that wrong! But I'll keep my "Jozi" adventures for another day! 

Sights from Sedgefield Beach

My aunt, cousin and I have come down to Sedgefield to visit my gran for a quick weekend break before I head out on my next adventure.

Sedgefield is a tiny little town about half way between Knysna and George on the Garden Route and it is the perfect place for a relaxing weekend away from the stress that comes with working and living in a vibrant city such as Cape Town.

While my Gran was making her famous roast beef for dinner, cousin and I went for a quick walk on one of the lovely beaches. Maxine's mission: pick up pebbles for a DIY project she wants to do. Mine? Not to let the sand sting me too much (it was windy!)

The beach was beautiful as the haze coming off the ocean gave it almost a grey scale appearance as if we were in a scene from Pleasantville!

Maxine's pebble mission was not so successful -- as soon as she found some, the waves seemed to want to reclaim them and nearly knocked us over!

Unfortunately, I only had my phone with me (my camera is 1,500 km from me) and this is the first time I am trying to email a blog post through! So hopefully the photos express the beauty of the Garden Route surrounding us and you can see them in the first place!

Cape Town!

The past few months have been quite busy! Christmas, New Years in Amsterdam, packing my London flat up and moving back to South Africa. Once back in SA,I spent a week in Johannesburg before I packed my bag again, heading back to the airport for a 2 month stint in Cape Town! 

We have been on a few adventures and tried to do different things such as going up Table Mountain for my birthday (FYI: South African citizens go up for free on their birthdays); Maynardville Open air theatre to watch the Shakespeare play "Comedy of Errors" and a trip to the planetarium! I even ventured onto the beach... it was windy and sandy, but the view of Table Mountain and the kite surfers was fantastic!

We spent a day in the wine lands, tasting wine at Laborie in Paarl. The wine tasting itself was R15 for 5 wines and you could choose from a wide selection of whites, reds, sparkling and fortified wine (they also have a brandy that you can taste)! My favourites of the day were the Merlot Cabernet Sauvignon '10  as well as the Pineau de Laborie. The Pineau de Laborie  is a fortified wine made from Pinotage grapes, which I imagine would be amazing served chilled accompanied by a cheese board containing a mature cheddar. After Laborie we headed through to Under Oaks for lunch at their Pizzeria.

The Planetarium at the South African Museum and was only R25 for a show! I went to see the "The Sky Tonight" which was really fascinating and a cheap alternative to going to the movies!

My camera is unfortunately in for a service, but I have taken a few photos on my phone - so please excuse the quality! I should have some photos of a higher quality to post at a later stage. I also have some photos from Amsterdam that I would love to share - but that will have to wait till I have more than 150mb of internet a day and time to tell the story!

Within in the next few weeks I should be travelling back to London for 3 months, and as much as I love being home (and warm!!!), I am really excited to get back!  I am really hoping to get tickets for the Christian Louboutin exhibition at the Design Museum - One of my resolutions is to buy a pair of Louboutins!

Hope you enjoy the photos :)

Kite Surfers on a beach near Tableview

Sunset from the top of Table Mountain

Maynardville Open Air Theatre

Table Mountain covered in clouds

Planetarium

Table Mountain