Wedding bells and Safari...

...Congrats Ian and Helen

So the main reason for us going home now was for Ian (my newly acquired brother-in-law) and his fiance, Helen's wedding.

Considering the weather the day before (where the wind howled - since winter is actually on the doorstep in SA), the weather was absolutely spot on (so much so that the pashmina and jersey I had brought along for the evening never even left my chair).

Inkwenkwesi was a fantastic venue. The abundance of food was delicious, the decor looked fab and the minister was superb.

The groom, was cool as a cucumber, even although his beautiful bride was fashionably late.

My lovely hubby did a fantastic job as MC (even if I say so myself), and the DJ/ Bestman/ Groomsman did a great job in 'easing' the grooms nerves for his speech with the microphone joke...'Chipmunk' sounds good on you Ian! :-)

Once the formalities were out of the way, the party kicked in...the DJ was fantastic in reading the crowd and really knew how to keep the party going. Mark and I haven't danced as much in ages, not even at our own wedding, which I thought had been quite a record in itself!

Then before we all turned into pumpkins the party came to a close and we headed off in our awaiting carriage...a landrover...to our luxurious tents.

Well done Ian and Helen on a fantastic wedding!

We hope your married life together is as fun filled and memorable as the big day itself.

The next morning we had a delicious family breakfast before heading off on our safari drive. Something I was really looking forward to, considering I had never been on one before (besides the Addo elephant park when I was very much younger) and we weren't disappointed.

Our guide was great, and we saw a range of different buck, giraffes, elephants, zebra, buffalo, ostriches and worthogs. This time we too got up close and personal with the lions (which were again in their own enclosure, but this time an extremely vast enclosure), who hadn't quite been fed as yet!

Something I hadn't known before, was that lions only really see shapes, so provided we didn't stand up, put our hands out or hang out of the landrover (which was completely open and had no protective mesh on the sides), all the lions would see is the large shape of the landrover. At the time though, that didn't seem quite comforting enough considering how close we were...

Fortunately we still around to tell the tale, and we couldn't have asked for a better spot! If you can believe it, no zoom was actually necessary on the camera to get these incredible photos. Besides for the huge mouth and big teetch, how cute and cuddly do they look? The Big Pops' mane looked so soft and fluffy, it looked like it he had had it specially washed and dried just for our visit!

All in all the game drive was very successful, with the only animal we unfortunately didn't get to seeing was the rhino...so not bad going for a first time experience!

With the safari at an end it was time to make our way back into East London, before heading off to the airport for our last stop of the holiday....one last night in Jhb with my sister and co.

The time in Jhb was nice and chilled although very brief, we presented Claire with her ring, which had managed to be finished in time before we left East London (I wasn't allowed to see mine, as it's only for my b-day...so I shall just have to wait a couple more months!)

Claire and I spent the following morning shopping, whilst Mark and Grant went off to see Grants project sites and the girls were at school.

Not before long it was time to fetch the girls from school and I got to see Chesney at the tale end of her modern dancing class (too cute!)

When we were home I helped Tayla with a bit of her homework...reading and writing... It's still amazes me just how 'grown up' she is already...the past 7 years have just flown by!

Then before we knew it was time for the airport yet again and our lovely SA holiday had come to and end.

More family, friends, and a beautiful goddaughter...

...Slummies and Haga Haga

We arrived in EL on Monday, 24th...picked up our hire car before heading to Mark’s family home, where we kicked off the week with yet another delicious braai with the family and yet MORE eating (not to mention peacan nut pie)! The weather was great and we sat around the fire catching up.

Tuesday started off as nice lazy day for me, having a little lie in while Mark and his dad headed out to look at houses. Mark, Sue and I then headed to the jewellery store in the hope of designing rings for myself and my sister (with the semi-precious stones - our birthstones – which we had acquired whilst on honeymoon in Sri Lanka). After much deliberation we decided on a design and set the process in motion in order for the rings to be ready for us to pick up on Thursday!

That evening we headed out for dinner, to East London’s hotspot (and Sue and Giff’s favourite place)...the CASINO! I think PE’s casino needs to get on the bandwagon with all the deals/discounts the restaurants and movies have to offer at Hemingways. We ate at a nice curry restaurant before trying our luck at the casino...but the 10c machines just weren’t paying out!

The next morning we headed out to pick up our friend Shaz (she read the poem at our wedding) and their new addition baby Kayla! Kayla obviously knew The Woods were coming to SA for a visit, and arrived a little early into the world to ensure she could meet us! Shaz and Kayla were at the clinic, getting Kayla (just 2 weeks old) weighed (she had picked up 220g since her birth on 11 May). Within the first 5 minutes of meeting Kayla...Shaz handed her to me to hold while she got her goods together...no time to over think it, and after a few minutes of holding her I finally relaxed as I realised there was nothing to be nervous about, as she was obviously on her best behaviour for her nervous Aunty Lu!

All packed up and ready to go, we headed out to meet her proud Pops Baz (our Bestman from our wedding) at Haga Haga. A couple of toots, some pizzas and a good old chinwag at Ninky Noo’s, we headed down to their house near the beach. Honestly you couldn’t ask for a better spot...the Rice’s definitely have it made when it comes to places to live! Absolutely beautiful!

The boys got the fire going for the potjie, which cooked through the afternoon while we sat around catching up. The presents from all the London Aunties came out, and even those items of clothes that were specifically for premature babies, we discovered after her bath, were still too big! She is just so tiny!

Before we knew it, it was food time yet again...the potjie was absolutely divine! With Kayla in bed while we ate and chatted away, the baby monitor on the coffee table, we kept hearing a few little baby noises throughout the evening...and at first nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary...until at one point a noise, not too different from Kayla’s little noises came from a direction not even remotely in the direction of her room or even the baby monitor. Craig was however out of the room at this point, so we just put it down to him. Not too long after the first noise we heard it again. Craig was yet again out of the room when it happened, so didn’t quite believe us, but nevertheless turned over a basket of shoes near the door in the direction it was coming from, looked behind and in the kist that was next to the shoes to see if we could find anything that could possibly be making the noise...but nothing! Quite some time later, the noise happened again...and yet again Craig was out of the room when it happened. I grabbed the baby monitor to make sure it wasn’t coming from there and Mark went to check on Craig to see if it was him...it wasn’t! So yet again we tipped the basked of shoes and shook each shoe out...and there it was a FROG... trapped in a takkie!

The next morning we awoke to the sound, this time of crashing of the waves and even although it didn’t look sunny outside it was absolutely boiling - a berg wind had blown in overnight! The boys kitted up to go fishing and at the last minute I decided to join them. Some rock climbing later they finally decided on the ‘perfect’ spot and I just watched as they made their way out to the edge most point of the rocks...after a couple of unsteady footings getting themselves in place to cast, the water came crashing through almost knocking them from their posts...so the spot was short lived! We packed from there and moved in search of a new spot...a bit of back tracking and soon enough another ‘good’ spot was settled on. Not even 2 minutes after the first cast off and Craig had hooked his first fish of the day. However, not quite big enough to feed the 5 of us for lunch, he decided to throw it back. A few more uneventful casts and a couple of lost hooks and sinkers later I decided to make my way back to the house leaving them to do their thing!



Kayla and I had a good few successful holding sessions...before the boys came back empty handed. Once they were all cleaned up, the next fire was started in preparation for yet more food...lunch! Another delicious braai, but not before Uncle Mark held little Kayla for the first time.


It was at this point that the Rice's asked us if we would be godparents to little Kayla Ann Rice, which we gladly accepted.



Our time in Haga came to an end and we headed back to East London were I met up with an old friend of mine Clair for a quick catch up and who is halfway through her first pregnancy (it is definitely baby season) with a little boy, who will be named Riley Broedelet.


We then headed back to the Attwood Family home for yet another braai with family and friends.

Friends, family, baboons, the Lion Park and other animals

... Jozie

Where has the time gone this year!!

May has now come and gone, which means our latest trip to SA has also come and gone.

We arrived in Jhb on Saturday, 22 May and was fetched by Tim (if you remember from earlier posts, one of our groomsman/MC) and spent the day/evening with him. The weather was very kind to us and we spent the day relaxing and sunning ourselves like dassies in his garden...chatting and catching up since the last time we had seen him almost 6 months before. Later we were joined by Michelle for dinner a typical South African braai (meat overload as always!)

Sunday morning the weather was again very kind and Tim took us Aloe Ridge for breakfast...it's a combination of a hotel, wedding venue and restaurant on a large piece of land, with wild animals and a deck overlooking a beautiful ravine. When we arrived, there were signs all over saying ‘Watch out for hedgehogs’...not a hedgehog in sight we disembarked from the car where we were greeted with the sounds of baboons ‘barking’ at each other. They were rather large and seemed to be fighting/playing near the rubbish bins. Nevertheless we made it inside safe and sound, where the receptionist imparted her wisdom...should we come across a baboon not to look it in the eye...no cause for alarm then! Not really thinking about it any further, we walked along the path out the back to the deck, where we settled in to a delicious buffet breakfast. The views were amazing with ostriches, buck and baboons off in the distance.

Tucking into our second helpings of breakfast, a very large, curious and hungry baboon decided to grace us with its presence! Firstly, just by sitting on the railing of the deck...about a metre or so away from us...so far enough away, but still a little too close for comfort. Before we had time to raise the alarm (i.e. catch the waiters attention), it had made its way to our table...it grabbed 2 pieces of toast from Tim's plate, a butter (with the silver wrapper still on it) which it proceeded to shove into his mouth, paper and all, before scraping half of the food on Tim's plate into its mouth and on to the toast it had already grabbed (quite clever really!). Since it was standing directly in front of me (if you can picture a table which seats 4 people, Mark and Tim were opposite each other with me in the middle of them, but no one in front of me, well until the baboon joined us)...all I could think was not to look it in the eye! So I grabbed the camera (no not to take pictures...but just in case it decided to run off with it) and a turned my back to it whilst we all jointly got up from the table and quietly moved away. Finally we managed to get the waiters attention who bravely proceeded to come at it with a stick, which did the trick in scary it off (well for awhile). Feeling a little unsettled, the table was cleaned up and another helping of food was served. For the remainder of the time we were there, the ‘friendly’ baboon tried its luck a few more times around the deck area, but the staff were on red alert with sticks and cattys.

Welcome to Africa! :-)

After we had finished over indulging, as one always does with a buffet, we headed off to Fourways to meet my sister and her family. We were greeted with the warmest of welcomes with big bear hugs from Tayla and Chesney for their Aunty Lu, and as always they were a bit shy of Uncle Mark in the beginning.

We had planned to go to the Lion Park, so Claire was busy packing a picnic lunch when we got there. We weren’t at their house long before we all piled into the car to head off to the Lion Park to get there in time for 'feeding time' at 12h00.

There are various packs of lions in different enclosures within the park (4 enclosures in total), some with white lions, and some with the usual golden coloured lions and some with a mixture of both. We paid our entrance fee and after teasing Chesney that she had been picked as dinner for the lions we drove off to find the first enclosure. We parked our car waiting for the food truck to arrive, not quite sure what to expect, the lions were all around the enclosure and we weren’t quite sure where the best spot would be to see the most lions. It turns out we had a good spot! We saw the lions all start moving from the spot they were in, and realised they smelt the food truck which was on its way. The gates opened and a bakkie (with an open back) loaded with animal parts came speeding through...and much to my amazement there was a live person (dressed in white as if he were a butcher) on the back of the bakkie too, with all this fresh meat!! That poor guy has got to have the most unfortunate (and unsafe) job in the world! Throwing the parts of meat out along the way to the hungry lions. The lions were all over the place, following this bakkie around which had to keep moving (for obvious reasons), scattering the meat. It was quite exciting watching all this unfold, although I think my nerves at seeing the poor man on the back of the bakkie got my adrenaline pumping more than knowing there were hungry lions on the other side of the car door! From there we drove around the other 3 enclosures and snapped away and the beautiful (well fed and content) lions.

From there we went to the picnic area, safely away from the lions and Claire laid out her delicious picnic spread of homemade goodies.

Refuelled yet again and ready to go, we headed into the park where they have other animals to look at like foxes, porcupines, hyenas and cheetahs. They also had 2 friendly giraffes and some ostriches which you could feed and 2 lion cub enclosures for petting.

One of the lion cub enclosures had the really small cubs, possibly just a month or two old. The other had the slightly bigger cubs, possibly about 6 months old. The queue unfortunately for the little ones was ridiculously long, so we decided to brave it and went into the older cubs enclosure. Some were so sleepy and just lay around on each other sunning themselves. Others were incredibly playful and cheeky...and you had to be on your guard at all times, as they liked to jump on you the minute you bent down to scratch one of the others. One got very 'up close and personal' with Tayla and managed to hook his claw into her leg, whilst trying to play with her (meanwhile it was probably twice her size) but it wasn’t too serious, as it didn’t go through her jeans and no blood was drawn. They were very cute, but even although they were small (their paws where HUGE) their strength was amazing!

Mark went off with Tayla and Chesney (who were by now not quite as shy around Uncle Mark aka Jungle-Gym) to buy the food for the Giraffes and Ostriches and came back with 3 packets, one for each of the kids (Tayla, Ches and Me!) :-) We all had a great time feeding the giraffes, they

have to be one of the cutest (although hugest) wild animals! They were very gentle in licking up the pellets from our hands and there were lots of giggles of delight from Tayla and Chesney as the Giraffe's slobbered all over their hands. We then went on to feed the Ostriches, which are unbelievably accurate in pecking each pellet out of your hand. There was however one cheeky one, who decided my hand looked like one great big pellet and managed to get all 4 of my fingers into its mouth, which I quickly retrieved (thankfully they don’t have teeth!). :-)

Once the pellets ran out it was time to bring our adventure filled day at the Lion Park to a close and we headed for the car. En route out of park, we were surprised to see yet another friendly giraffe, who decided the car looked tasty and proceeded to lick it, before sticking its head through the open sun roof!

The evening followed with yet more delicious food...a lovely roast followed by yummy creme brulee dessert (I had given Claire a blow torch (for cooking) for Christmas and she decided it was time to put it to work!) Definitely worth the effort!

Before we knew it our time in Jozie was up and we headed for the airport the following day, to make our way to good old East London!