Christmas at the Vaal

To say that Christmas this year was hectic would be the understatement of 2010. Let me elaborate...

Heidi and Darrell came out from Abu Dhabi for their first Xmas here in 4 years and it was so wonderful for us all to be together.

I mentioned in a previous entry that we moved into our new house at the Vaal, which is in the same complex as our other house, but is right on the water's edge. Sadly for our bank balance, but happily for the family, we have not yet sold our old house and hence we had enough accommodation at the Vaal for 17 people!! My folks, Bruce and Charmaine and the 5 boys all slept at the 'upstairs' house, and we, the Bergesens, Jeanette (Darrell's mom) and the 3 girls were in the 'downstairs' house.

The Bergesen's arrived on the 22nd and we had a wonderful day and night with them before the real chaos began.

The rest of the family descended on the 23rd. We organised that each house would do its own breakfasts, but we would have lunches and suppers together (naturally at the new house because of it's drop dead gorgeous view!). Yes, this photo IS taken from my new patio!!!!

The weather was very kind to us and hardly rained at all. Eskom was not so kind. The power went out at 11am on Thursday and did not come back on for 24 hours. We start to panic by Friday morning - ALL our Christmas day food had been brought down and we were very concerned about it going off. By 10am, I was so worried that we went off to the local store (which had power) and bought some bags of ice to put in the freezer and fridge to keep the temperature down. We also bought a 2 plate gas stove. Naturally, this purchase was enough to get Eskom to turn the power back on!! I'm not complaining though. That area has a bad habit of power failures and I think that the little stove will come in handy at some stage.

Christmas day arrived with MUCH anticipation from the kids. The kids opened their stocking presents from Father Christmas (the real one) bright and early. Then we went off to the local church and had a very pleasant service. After church, Roland and Caron arrived (making it the grand total of 19 people) and we opened the presents from under the tree (our gifts to each other). We gave Grandpa the job of being Father Christmas, but we all know that he isn't the real one. Hey Stef?

After the mound of gifts was decimated and the kids were happily playing with their new toys, we got onto the business of lunch. We had delicious snacks for our starter (thanks Caron!!), and then cold meats and salads for the main course. We ended off with yummy ice-cream for pudding. We were bulging by the end.

Everyone kept themselves very happily amused the whole weekend - paddleskiing, windsurfing (Megan's new passion), swimming, cycling, j-boarding, fishing (no whoppers this time), reading and relaxing. We hardly took out the boat because of the wind, but I don't think it was missed very much at all.

At first Carl and I felt very obliged to be 'hosts' and make sure all our guests were happy (we put that pressure on ourselves, everyone else didn't care!). It took us a while to realise that everyone was so busy doing their own thing, that we didn't really need to worry! That being said, when it is your house(s), the burden does naturally fall on the hosts, and to be honest, I was EXHAUSTED when we left on Sunday!

a true fishing story...

Yes really, this one is true!

After fishing at the Vaal Dam for two years, and always catching a decent, yet small sized catch, the secret to big game fishing has finally been discovered. And not only discovered, put into practice - successfully!

Two weekends when we were moving into our new place at the dam (more about that later), we witnessed a young guy catching a whopper of a Barble (or Cat Fish) right where we normally fish(by we I mean the boys - I personally hate fishing!!).

The secret (yes, we are sharing it!)....

SNAILS for bait!

So, this past weekend, Carl and Ali tried it out.

Very pleased with the first catch - the biggest yet.

Then came this one which Carl caught.....

Carl thinks it must weigh 10 - 12 kgs.

Then Ali had his turn to shine...

This one we weighed on our scale and it was a 7kg whopper.

The next day, Carl had gone to work, and Ali was so inspired that he went off and fished all on his own (while we kept the occasional eye on him from our new patio!) and blow me down, he caught another two fantastic sized fish. And what was more amazing is that he baited his hook, cast, reeled it in and landed it all by himself! I was SO proud of him! What a kid. Perhaps he has his great-grandfathers genes (paternal), who was a Springbok fisherman.

The 94.7 cycle race

This seems to be an annual entry! Although this year's race was very different to last year's one.

Instead of Carl aiming to break the elusive 3 hr mark, he took one for the team and raced as a group with my brothers, Roland and Bruce, and... wait for it...., my septuagenarian father!!!

Yes, at the ripe old age of 74, my father did this gruelling race for the first time. Carl managed to get dad a start time with the Deloitte group, so the four men started at the same time and did the whole race together. It was a looong way (97.4kms, to be precise), in the blazing heat, but they did it - and did it well. In 4hrs 34 mins. Which is mighty impressive indeed! Carl and Roland put their hands on dad's back and helped him up some of the hills, and the three of them became this mean hill-riding machine. In fact, they even left a colleague of Carl's behind who's done Iron Man (who hasn't trained for a while, but who's counting?)! At the end of the race, the 4 guys enjoyed the Deloitte hospitality tent before heading home to clean up and crash!

Megs and Ali were meant to ride a leg of the race on an 8-seater tandem. We invited Austin and Liam (Bruce's boys ) and Jeremy and Jonno (Dion, Carl's first cousin's boys) to make up the 6 kids, and an experienced adult rider was at the front and back. This was all done in aid of CHOC, a charity which raises funds for Childhood cancer. We named our team CHOC-lets, and I fabric painted team T-shirts. However, the back wheel of the bike collapsed at the start of the race, and sadly the tandem ride didn't even get going. At least it collapsed in a safe spot, and not when it was barrelling down one of the hectic hills in the race! I'll save the shirts for next year!

In fact, one of the amazing things about this race is how many people did the race to raise money for charities - CHOC, Reach for a Dream, Breast Cancer (a man rode the race in a very racey pink bra!); and a host of others I can't even remember. I have heard that CHOC raised R3.1 million rand from the race! Now that's impressive!

In the late afternoon, all race participants and their families (from our family that is, not the 26 000 riders who took part!) came over to our place for a most pleasant celebratory dinner.

Madikwe River Lodge

We have recently enjoyed a luxury weekend at Madikwe River Lodge. Madikwe is a Private Game Reseve in the North West Province, on the border of Botwsana. It covers 75 000 hectares, is malaria free, and is home to the Big 5. All which make it very attractive, except for the fact that the only accommodation is in Private Lodges, most of which one would have to sell one's body to be able to stay even one night there. Lucky for me, I didn't have to because, through a series of fortunate events, we were lucky enough to stay at a massively discounted rate (no prostitution required!!).

The lodge was ever so comfortable, the food ever so plentiful and the game viewing was amazing. Each day we were woken at 5am (groan!) to go on a game drive in their open game viewing vehicles (and went again in the evenings). We easily saw 4 of the Big 5 (excluding leopard), but on top of that had 2 amazing sightings of Wild Dogs (very endangered), and all sorts of other interesting things - a spring hare, a martial Eagle, a leapoard tortoise (so we did actually see leopard after all!), and amazing birds. I think in this case, picture will speak louder than words, but what you won't see in the pictures is the HEAT!!!! 38 deg on Friday and Sunday, and 42 deg on Saturday. Luckily the rooms had aircon, but we didn't spend much time there. The lodge also had a lovely rock pool which the kids loved, and even I spent the time in and out of it, just to cool off.

On our way out on Sunday, we decided to take the longer route out of the reserve, and on our way we had the most thrilling time of the whole weekend. We got to a water hole and Carl swore that the animals we looking edgy. I was less than convinced, but checked things out with my fabulous bionoculars, and there I saw a lioness under a tree, just next to the water hole. Which did explain why the Zebra, Giraffe and Wildebeest were on on edge and not coming down to the water (36 deg, did I mention that???). The lion moved to a spot just over a ridge so we couldn't see her, but we (and the animals) knew she was there. Eventually, they couldn't stay away from the water anymore and they started coming down. Within no time, the lioness made an almighty charge for the Zebra, but didn't catch anything. We pulled the car forward, once things had settled and we realised that there were actually 4 lionesses!! We moved back out because we were bothering them, and sat still (in the blazing heat) and watched the lionesses make two more attacks, but each time coming up empty. It was just the most exciting and tense thing to see! We were rather sad that they didn't manange to catch one, but the thrill of the chase was quite something. Interestingly, had we been on an official game drive, there is no way we would have been able to just sit for an hour and a half and watch. So, lucky us! By then, the kids were BEGGING to go, and it was pretty unlikely that the lionesses would've actually caught somthing until the day had cooled off (did you gather it was boiling??).

What a thrilling end to a marvellous weekend!!

0 to 3222m

At last! Something exciting has happened in our lives, so for those who do occassionally check to see if there is an update, you must be suitably surpirsed!

After our wonderful holiday in June, we decided to tackle Lesotho again, this time entering Lesotho via Sani Pass. Sani Pass a well known pass open only to 4 x 4's, so for those of us who own one, it is a challenge waiting to be ticked off!

We (our family, Roland and Caron, and my folks) left on Thursday afternoon and descended en mass on my very hospitable and generous in-laws, Selma and Bruno, who stay in Howick. This gave us the perfect location to begin our trip to Sani Pass, via Underberg. What I have not yet mentioned is that SOMEHOW Roland persuaded Carl that they had to try and CYCLE up Sani Pass. Yip - cycle!!! It is a 22km long pass, with an ascent of 1100m. Despite my best efforts to dissuade them from such madness, they left at 7am with Caron and my dad and drove to the Sani Pass Hotel and began their intrepid cycle from there, while Caron and Dad seconded in the car. This meant that mom, the kids and I had a far more leisurely start to our day because we gave them a 2 hour head start. The big bonus about Carl having accepted the challenge of riding meant that I got the opportunity of driving up Sani Pass. If Carl had been in the car, there would have been no way in hell he would EVER have let ME drive! Despite the fact that we both have a 4 x 4 course under our belts. Mom was very encouraging and we crept our way up slowly but surely. There were enough cars also doing the Pass, so I was hopeful that if something had gone wrong, a true gentleman would've helped the damsels in distress.

Our timing was perfect and we met the other group at the pub at the top of the pass only about 15 minutes after they arrived.Did they make it? I know you are all asking! They did about 16 kms, but the last 6kms got so incredibly steep, and energy was flagging, so they loaded their bikes onto the car and drove the last bit (naturally, Roland snatched the wheel back from Caron who had been managing just fine up until then....). Once in Lesotho we drove another 160kms or so to Afri-Ski (which took about 4 hours, the road is so awful). It was a big relief to arrive at the relative luxury of the Chalet at Afri-ski (no snow this time, sadly!). Despite the length of journey, it was absolutely beautiful as my pics will testify. Saturday was spent reading, relaxing, eating and sleeping (girls and Ali) and cycling (Roland, Carl and Dad - did they not have enough the day before, I ask you???). On Sunday we went home the usual route via Calendonspoort. We all stopped off for lunch in Clarens, a lovely quaint, but very touristy town in the Free State. Seeing as our whole weekend had been about the drive and not the destination, we went through the Golden Gate Nature Reserve, yet an0ther spectacular part of the world which all South Africans should do before they die! This lead us to Harrismith, at which point Carl joined Roland, Caron and my folks to go back to JHB, and I headed South again to Howick for the night.
On Monday, I went with the kids down to Selborne, and this time was accompanied by Selma and Bruno, as well as Carl's sister Laurie and her two girls, Anna and Erin. The weather wasn't fabulous - very windy, but at least not raining. And being real Vaalies (well, we are, Carl's family aren't) we still went to the beach, and spent the rest of the day picking sand out of unmentionable places. The house at Selborne is looking lovely, but the golf course is looking so dry - they are in the middle of a drought there. A real crises for the normally sub-tropical South Coast.

On Friday we packed up and I did the mammoth 670km drive back up to JHB.

All in all, we did 2100kms over the 10 days, of which I drove a big chunk of that. If I don't get behind the wheel of a car for a few days, that'll be fine by me.

2010 Soccer World Cup!

KE NAKO........

I simply COULD NOT let an event of this magnitude, which happened right on our door-step, go by without an entry in my blog!

We South Africans have been anticipating this since we were announced as the Host Nation in 2006. There were many who thought we could never do it, and certainly there were a few hiccups along the way, but 11 June arrived and we were READY!!!

The build-up was amazing: this whole year we have had 'Football Friday' where every Friday people go to work/school wearing a yellow shirt in support of our National Team - Bafana Bafana. A few days before the Opening Ceremony, there was parade of our Soccer Team through the streets of Sandton where an estimated 150 000 people came out to cheer on our team! Perhaps one of the biggest differences between us and other Host Nations, is that we never really expected to win, we were just all so jolly proud to be having it here and to welcome all the visitors to our beautiful country!

Also, as the time drew near, homes, shops, roads and businesses decorated themselves with flags/balls whatever to get into the spirit!

Finally the BIG DAY came and the country was electric with excitement! We had my whole family over to watch, which is a fair crowd! We were wearing yellow and blowing our Vuvuzela's. Anyone who does not know what a vuvuzela is, where have you been for the past 4 weeks?? It is a long trumpet type thing that sounds like the droning of angry bees during the matches, and individually are so loud they can wake you from your sleep! The Opening Ceremony was fabulous, and when Bafana scored their first goal, the Vuvuzela's in the whole neighbourhood went wild! Even here in the normally quiet and sedate Northern Suburbs of JHB, where it is usually rugby that people watch, not soccer! I can safely say that there has NEVER been such a spirit of excitement, community and camaraderie in this City! Hosting the World Cup had so much less to do with the actual Soccer, than about the feeling of Pride and togetherness that has never been felt before. Everyone of us was PROUDLY South African - Black, White, Indian and other! No money in the world could buy what this world cup has done for us as a Nation, and I think the foreigners felt that.

I honestly had no idea of the magnitude of this event, and how much it would grip us all, and I really regret not getting any tickets to watch a match live.

Carl was privileged enough to be invited down to Cape Town to watch the Quarter-final between Argentina and Germany. He said that it was an amazing atmosphere, but in truth, you get a better view of the game on Telly in your own (warm and cosy) home. I think he was just saying that to make me feel not so envious!

However, we had our own fun and we went a Fan Park at Innesfree Park in Sandton, where there was a huge screen and thousands of people. It was one of the free venues, and quite close to Alex, so I did have my doubts about going, but the security was excellent and the vibe was awesome! It did help that we were supporting Germany, not Argentina (unlike Carl - ha ha!!), so it made it a very exciting match!

Because we had such fun at the Fan Park, we went again in the evening (yes, BRRRRRR!!!) for the semi-final between Netherlands and Uruguay. Of course we were supporting Netherlands, and happily they won!

One of our favorite places to take the kids is Sci-Bono in Newtown. They put on a Soccer Theme so we all went and enjoyed all the activities/displays there. They also had displays of a Lego competition for some schools where they had to build a Stadium out of Lego. Some were very impressive!

For the Closing Ceremony and the Final Match, we opted to have the whole family over again and enjoy the match in the cosiness of our lounge with the big-screen TV and a fire. With Soup & Rolls for supper.

We are all feeling somewhat bereft now that it is over - like someone has died! Many of us still have our flags on our cars/homes but gradually they will disappear. No longer are there flag/scarf/mirror sock sellers at every traffic light. Being here, in SA, for this, was something to be cherished and remembered, and something we will tell our grandchildren about one day!
So, while life returns to normal, each one of us who was here is somehow changed.

Now that's AYOBA!!!

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!