Sea and Ski Holiday

We escaped a freezing cold Joburg and headed off to Selborne, on the KZN South Coast. Happily KZN enjoys mild winters, so while everyone at home was complaining of the cold (and anyone watching a soccer match in Gauteng during that week nearly froze to death!!), we were in shorts and T-shirts and swimming in the sea. OK, let me rephrase that - we were in shorts and T-shirts and the kids were swimming in the sea!

A highlight of the holiday was a new passion for Carl and Ali - sea fishing. After several false starts, they finally caught some Shad (3 one night, and 2 the other) which we cooked and enjoyed for dinner. Even me, and I am not much of a fish person!

We also had Selma and Bruno join us for one night which was lovely. Especially seeing 3 generations of van der Riet fisherman on the beach. For those who don't know, Bruno's father (Ali's great-grandpa) was a Springbok fisherman, so it clearly runs in the veins!

Then, from Selborne, we headed up to Howick for one night, where we got to spend sometime with Carl's sister Sarah, and her children, which was super.

From there we headed up towards Harrismith, through the Golden Gate Nature Reserve, a quick lunch stop in Clarens, and finally down into Lesotho to Afri-ski. It was not nearly as cold as it has been in previous years which was a relief! Our chalet was so comfortable and warm and fitted all 10 of us in easily! The 10 of us comprised of the four of us, Roland and Caron, Caron's sister Kim and her daughter Sage (6), as well as Caron's other sister's two children, Samuel (15) and Hannah (13).

Megs and Ali really enjoyed the company of the other kids. We skied for 3 full days and had a blast. Megan and Hannah were ski-buddies, and Ali and Samuel spent a lot of time having snow-ball fights! We ate like kings (pigs actually!), but with all the physical activity of skiing, we were allowed to! Lesotho has become a favourite annual Pilgrimage for our family and we love it! We're already planning out next trip!