It has been a week since Christine flew back to Switzerland. We enjoyed hers and Stefanie’s visit so much. A beautiful experience was the Plettenberg Game Reserve, where we did a long horse ride, saw giraffes, zebras, black and white impalas, rhinos and even a baby rhino. This was such an amazing experience, because the animals aren’t afraid of the horses. It was also so peaceful without the noise of an engine.
That same day Martin and Stefanie drove down to Cape Town and Christine and I stayed in Reebok, where we took a long and beautiful walk on the beach. We found lots of different shells, listened to the waves and enjoyed the broadness of the sea. In Cape Town they took the cable car up Table Mountain, visited the largest shopping centre of Africa and enjoyed this beautiful city.
When Martin was back we went to the Redberry farm, drove to Oudtshoorn again to show Christine the amazing Cango Caves, Martin and her went on the famous Choo-Choo train from Mosselbay to George and we spent lots of time on the beach. We who live here all the time had gotten used to the sea a little bit and Christine opened our eyes again to realise how beautiful and special it actually is!
Since Monday everything is back to normal again. I am spending the mornings at the playschool, where a new girl called Liezel started. The two of us get on so well and have started to become really good friends. Martin is so happy that he could fly in the simulator every day for about three hours and has made such a big progress.
On Friday we were invited to Nita and Cobus. Martin took his pilot’s gadgets along to give their son Cobus, who is very fond of flying an insight into planning a flight. This boy couldn’t get enough of it and was keen on picking everything up. He asked questions and keep wanted to know more. Martin had actually planned to take him for a flight, but the weather in George isn’t so great at the moment. We had a good time at their place and felt so honoured because Nita got us really delicious vegetarian schnitzels.
Yesterday we went to the movies in Mosselbay and on our way home a terrible storm started to build up. Just after we had parked our car safely in the garage it started to pour down. About half an hour after we had gotten home this storm cut a power line somewhere and we sat in the dark, our room was only lightened by a lightning every once in a while…
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Cape Town, Margate, Stefanie's Visit
It’s really high time to update our blog. There was so much happening during the last two weeks and I never really got the time to sit down quietly and write a text about it.
I will start with the 27th of January. In our rented Golf Chico we drove of to Cape Town at nine o’clock in the morning. We had this car, since Martin’s 1969 BMW was in restoration. It was a beautiful drive through vineyards, orchards, eucalyptus forests, and a huge dam just before we reached a lookout point with the most breathtaking view of Cape Town one can ever experience! And breathtaking it was also, since the wind was so strong we could hardly breathe. At around 2 we reached the Portobello Place, the B&B we were going to stay. Martin had stayed there during his exams in December already. We relaxed at the beautiful pool with the little waterfall. At around five I went to meet my host mum for a cocktail in town. We caught up on the last couple of years. Meanwhile Martin was going through his summary of the exam stuff again to be really prepared for his last exam.
The Tuesday morning started with a delicious 4 course breakfast. A huge bowl of fruits, then pan cakes with maple syrup, muesli with yogurt, an then the main course, which was egg, avocado, a potato cake, tomatoes and fried mushrooms. Along came toast, jam and butter. Strengthened Martin left for his exam, while I still sat for a while having my tea. When he cot back at around eleven we drove to the biggest mall of Africa, called Canal Walk. It is a really beautiful mall with palm trees lining the road to is, nice balconies inside, glass windows, marble floors and you could really find every shop and every food you want to. Our next stop on the way was Cape Agulhas, the southernmost point of Africa. That’s a magnificent place to be. The sea is turquoise blue, the sand white and the waves clash onto white rocks. One can really only see ocean all around.
On Saturday the weather was beautiful, so we decided to go to Diaz Beach. The sun was really hot and the sea as always breathtaking with its turquoise colour. We had seen posters of an old car show in George which we didn’t want to miss and we are glad we didn’t. On a huge school campus hundreds of oldtimers were exhibited. Martin was so excited to see a Capri. Some of the cars had their steering wheel on the left side as in Europe.
On Tuesday we painted worms at the playschool, before I left for the FTC (Flight Training College) to meet Martin and accompany him for a ferry flight to Margate. (A ferry flight is if a plane is being delivered to somebody who bought it. Which means that Martin didn’t have to pay anything and got free flying hours as he was doing them a favour.) The plane he had to fly to Margate was a Cherokee. It was so exciting to sit in this big machine. It flew so smoothly and we had a really great flight, until we saw thunderstorms building up. We stopped to refuel in Mthatha, but since thunderstorms are so dangerous, we couldn’t fly any further and had to find a place to stay in Mthatha. I phoned several hotels and B&B, but they were all fully booked. We begged the security guards to stay at the airport where we slept on the floor. Early at 5 o’clock we took of again and landed at about 7 in Margate, where we rented a car, because we thought it was the quickest way to get back to George. That day Stefanie was arriving in Cape Town and Martin had planned to drive down there, pick her up and do some sightseeing with her in this beautiful town. It got midday and we still hadn’t arrived. We asked Stefanie to take a flight to George. But when she let us know she was there, we were still on our way. The road was taking forever. The petrol slowly ran out and we had no cash money at all. And South African petrol stations usually don’t take credit cards. In Port Elisabeth Martin spotted a huge truck stop and luckily we could use the visa there and got rid of our biggest worry to be stuck because we ran out of petrol. Finally at about 11 p.m. we reached George. This is only a short version. A lot more things went wrong on this trip!
It has been so great to have Stafanie stay with us. On the first day we went to pick strawberries at the Redberry farm, before we drove to the point in Mosselbay to meet Dassies and enjoy a beautiful view over the ocean from the cliff where the lighthouse is situated. On the terrace we shared a fish bowl, which is a funny drink, served in a plastic container with plastic pipes. Because of the many ice cubes and a little red fish it looks like an aquarium. We chatted and made plans for the coming days. Finally we decided to go to our favourite Italian restaurant Panarottis. The food was as always great!
Yesterday we slept in. Our destination was the Elephant Park in Knysna. We could feed the elephants through their … but we could also put the food directly into their mouth, which was quite scary. But these huge creatures are so gentle. We could touch their skin, which is extremely hard and spiked with little hair. They have beautiful eyes with long lashes. These elephants are all orphans from National Parks, taken into care by this park. If an elephant mum dies, no other mum in the herd would look after the baby and it would be tossed away until it dies.
On our way back we stopped at the Knysna heads. The houses in this area are very upmarket and to us it looked like Italy. There are palm trees, flowering bushes and the houses are built in a Tuscan style.
At the Garden Route Mall we stopped again and paid Steers a visit. This fast food restaurant has about 5 different veggie burgers! We enjoyed our chips and each a different burger, before we checked the cinema schedule and went to see 27 Dresses. A very romantic movie that renders everyone happy.
I will start with the 27th of January. In our rented Golf Chico we drove of to Cape Town at nine o’clock in the morning. We had this car, since Martin’s 1969 BMW was in restoration. It was a beautiful drive through vineyards, orchards, eucalyptus forests, and a huge dam just before we reached a lookout point with the most breathtaking view of Cape Town one can ever experience! And breathtaking it was also, since the wind was so strong we could hardly breathe. At around 2 we reached the Portobello Place, the B&B we were going to stay. Martin had stayed there during his exams in December already. We relaxed at the beautiful pool with the little waterfall. At around five I went to meet my host mum for a cocktail in town. We caught up on the last couple of years. Meanwhile Martin was going through his summary of the exam stuff again to be really prepared for his last exam.
The Tuesday morning started with a delicious 4 course breakfast. A huge bowl of fruits, then pan cakes with maple syrup, muesli with yogurt, an then the main course, which was egg, avocado, a potato cake, tomatoes and fried mushrooms. Along came toast, jam and butter. Strengthened Martin left for his exam, while I still sat for a while having my tea. When he cot back at around eleven we drove to the biggest mall of Africa, called Canal Walk. It is a really beautiful mall with palm trees lining the road to is, nice balconies inside, glass windows, marble floors and you could really find every shop and every food you want to. Our next stop on the way was Cape Agulhas, the southernmost point of Africa. That’s a magnificent place to be. The sea is turquoise blue, the sand white and the waves clash onto white rocks. One can really only see ocean all around.
On Saturday the weather was beautiful, so we decided to go to Diaz Beach. The sun was really hot and the sea as always breathtaking with its turquoise colour. We had seen posters of an old car show in George which we didn’t want to miss and we are glad we didn’t. On a huge school campus hundreds of oldtimers were exhibited. Martin was so excited to see a Capri. Some of the cars had their steering wheel on the left side as in Europe.
On Tuesday we painted worms at the playschool, before I left for the FTC (Flight Training College) to meet Martin and accompany him for a ferry flight to Margate. (A ferry flight is if a plane is being delivered to somebody who bought it. Which means that Martin didn’t have to pay anything and got free flying hours as he was doing them a favour.) The plane he had to fly to Margate was a Cherokee. It was so exciting to sit in this big machine. It flew so smoothly and we had a really great flight, until we saw thunderstorms building up. We stopped to refuel in Mthatha, but since thunderstorms are so dangerous, we couldn’t fly any further and had to find a place to stay in Mthatha. I phoned several hotels and B&B, but they were all fully booked. We begged the security guards to stay at the airport where we slept on the floor. Early at 5 o’clock we took of again and landed at about 7 in Margate, where we rented a car, because we thought it was the quickest way to get back to George. That day Stefanie was arriving in Cape Town and Martin had planned to drive down there, pick her up and do some sightseeing with her in this beautiful town. It got midday and we still hadn’t arrived. We asked Stefanie to take a flight to George. But when she let us know she was there, we were still on our way. The road was taking forever. The petrol slowly ran out and we had no cash money at all. And South African petrol stations usually don’t take credit cards. In Port Elisabeth Martin spotted a huge truck stop and luckily we could use the visa there and got rid of our biggest worry to be stuck because we ran out of petrol. Finally at about 11 p.m. we reached George. This is only a short version. A lot more things went wrong on this trip!
It has been so great to have Stafanie stay with us. On the first day we went to pick strawberries at the Redberry farm, before we drove to the point in Mosselbay to meet Dassies and enjoy a beautiful view over the ocean from the cliff where the lighthouse is situated. On the terrace we shared a fish bowl, which is a funny drink, served in a plastic container with plastic pipes. Because of the many ice cubes and a little red fish it looks like an aquarium. We chatted and made plans for the coming days. Finally we decided to go to our favourite Italian restaurant Panarottis. The food was as always great!
Yesterday we slept in. Our destination was the Elephant Park in Knysna. We could feed the elephants through their … but we could also put the food directly into their mouth, which was quite scary. But these huge creatures are so gentle. We could touch their skin, which is extremely hard and spiked with little hair. They have beautiful eyes with long lashes. These elephants are all orphans from National Parks, taken into care by this park. If an elephant mum dies, no other mum in the herd would look after the baby and it would be tossed away until it dies.
On our way back we stopped at the Knysna heads. The houses in this area are very upmarket and to us it looked like Italy. There are palm trees, flowering bushes and the houses are built in a Tuscan style.At the Garden Route Mall we stopped again and paid Steers a visit. This fast food restaurant has about 5 different veggie burgers! We enjoyed our chips and each a different burger, before we checked the cinema schedule and went to see 27 Dresses. A very romantic movie that renders everyone happy.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Power Failures continue...
On Thursday we drove to Oudtshoorn for Martins "Night Rating". Oudtshoorn is only an hour away from George, but the weather is extremely different. It is much hotter und there are less clouds. When we were just a few kilometres away from the town Martins instructor called him to let him know that there is a power failure, which means they had to wait for the runway lights, thus the power to turn on again before they could take off. So we sat there, Martin did some preparations and I read magazines. Just after eight the power was back on and they left. Suddenly at half past nine everything switched off again. I got such a fright. How were they supposed to find the runway and land when it is pitch dark. They phone rang and it was another instructor who asked me whether they were back yet. A few minutes later there were about 15 people from the flight school there with me. We called them, but neither of them took their cell phone. We tried to reach them on the radio, but they didn't answer... These were long minutes with hallucinations of a green and a red light flying towards us. Suddenly we heard them on the radio. Thank god they were fine! Soon after that we saw them flying over the airstrip where we had lined up five cars to lighten up the airstrip. I was so relieved when I finally hugged Martin! Inside they had to fill in papers and while they were busy with that the lights were suddenly back. Can you believe it!
If you would like to find out more about these power failures, which Eskom (the South African electricity supplier) calls "load shedding" please visit: www.eskom.co.za/live/index.php
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Power Failure
This is a topic which came up a lot during the past period. Yesterday after I came back from work, Martin surprised me with the idea to go to the cinema. So off we went wanting to get to the 17:30 show. The lady at the desk informed us that there is going to be a power failure from 6 till 8 o'clock. That's how it works in South Africa; if too much power is used it is just switched of for a whole region! We went to have woodfired pizza, because this place was practically the only one that wasen't struck by this incident. It was lovely and we sat there for a long time chatting, before we went back to the cinema. Precicely at 8 o'clock the power was on again and we sat in our confortable chairs watching the beginning of National Treasure! A great movie staring Nicolas Cage. Very interesting if you like unsolved mysteries...
Here is just a picture of some of the kids from the playschool I took during the last week... They made me laugh a few times and surpried me with their inventiveness.
Here is just a picture of some of the kids from the playschool I took during the last week... They made me laugh a few times and surpried me with their inventiveness.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Back to work
I started work at the playschool on Wednesday last week. This is actually a week before the actual school starts, wo it was optional for the kids to come and I was the only adult there. I had about 12 kids during these past 5 schooldays and enjoyed the time with them, eventhough they can get quite naughty and for some of them it was difficult at first to be away from their mum after such a long break. We played, did puzzles, had lunch... as usual.
From George to Mosselbay and back rides an old Choo-Choo-Train. Once we heared it coming and stopped at a bridge, but couldn't take a nice picture, because it was so fast. We then raced to the next place where we hoped to catch a glipse of it and as we were waiting for it the train came from the other direction.
As you know Martin and I are big fans of Pizza and Pasta and when we came back we had to go to our favourite restaurant in Mosselbay called Panarottis. They have such mouthwatering Pizzas and the staff is extremely friendly.
Monday, January 07, 2008
Pictures of our trip...
All these photographs were either taken by Martin or me. The animals you are going to have a look at live absolutely freely, without a fence and they depend on themselves, thus are not being fed by humans.
The airplane we did our trip with is a Cessna 152.
Enjoy!
A Happy New Year to all of you!
The airplane we did our trip with is a Cessna 152.
Enjoy!
A Happy New Year to all of you!
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