Waaaay the net is working again!!

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Hey guys!! Currently at Qwantani, and the internet is down… total bummer!! Gunna save this and stick it up when I can :p

So after last time, I braaied at the Boma night!! Was awesome. Spoke to my Roy, was falling asleep by that point though!!

Sun (17th) - hoyed the handwash, it’s the most annoying thing ever, sitting rubbing clothes!! Managed to find a group rope, and made my own washing line away from the cows :p went for a walk with Iona and Natasha to solo valley, was nice - I’ve not laughed that much in a while, we had some funny discussions, they came out with stuff I’d never expected!! I can’t write it here though :p walked back, bumped in to Maricelle and Henk and Jeff’s group, had tuna for lunch, discovered Archie and Sifiso had nicked our bar ones and tempos!! Me and Iona went for a run to Qwantani and back, nice and relaxed, ran continuously for an hour and 5 mins!! Saw Eeyland (sp?!) as well. Made meatballs and pasta for dinner, I think I was the only one that ate any though, the meatballs ain’t nice. Hoyed tunes on my phone :D and nearly soiled myself when the cows tried to come in our tent that night. So glad I woke up!! Iona chased them away with a water drum :p

Mon - woke up tired after the cow fiasco!! Went in to town with Sifiso and Archie - went to Qwa’Qwa (I think its an abbreviation though) to the cash n’ caryy to look for tuna and stuff, but they didn’t have any!! We got totally stared at ;p went in to Harrismith after that, went to a lovely little coffee shop!! They had body cream and everything :p hoyed an oreo milkshake!! :D went to the library, got totally in to reading February’s National Geographic, was sad to leave!! And they had pianos there (2!!) and I wasn’t allowed to play that as folk were studying. Was rubbish. Met Arch and Sifiso again, went food shopping, they are so incompetent at it!! Eventually got the instructor’s cheese :p and I got haddock!! :D ran to Qwantani and back again, Sifiso had already started cooking the haddock  was still good though.

Tue - we sinrise-summited Mount Baba!! Got up at before half 4, it was awesome, the sunrise just beat us before we got to the summit, but it was still an awesome view. Cold up there though!! Was frustrating, cuz everyone else hikes faster than I do and has legs twice the length, but its just one of those things. Got some awesome photos!! Met Ted’s group as we were about to come down, and Sifiso showed me Little Cave and an awesome old car abandoned in the middle of a field on the way down. It really was beautiful, the view from the top. Hoyed a big brekkie when we got back, and hoyed it to Qwantani to use the net - but it was down  walked back and we made dinner for Maricelle’s group (their half-way point) - chicken and veg mix, was lovely I must say!! They didn’t like it though - not enough salt for their liking :p we had a massage session in the kitchen, awesome banter!!

Wed - awesome day!! Did PT with Jeff and Maricelle’s group, I had to demonstrate burpees :p hoyed bacon and eggs for brekkie, then I went with Sifiso and Archie to Big Abseil to see the set-up, so I can do it in future. Was interesting, found out that it’s a shameful thing to admit having step-parents in the African culture, which is a shame. Ted and Gladwin’s group were doing it abseil, it was a lovely morning!! I sorted out everyone’s gear, and clipped everyone in. Chatting to a couple of the guys, was interesting, they’re so hardworking and motivated about life. These folk are from the Joshua Foundation, they try and give hope to those that are underprilivaged, and do it through their faith (Christian). It’s a kool thing, I kina of wish I believed in God and suchlike, it really does give people a lot of hope in life. Hiked back with the group, after helping Gladwin down with the stuff. Had an ‘argumen’t with Archie cuz he thought I was getting a lift back with him, oops :p hoyed tuna for lunch (what else) :p and went for a run to Qwantani and back - struggled this time though, for some reason. The group (Ted’s) decided to make us dinner - was awesome!! They were singing some African songs as well, was pretty special. Tried to fix Iona’s sim card, didn’t work (it turned out, in the end. That it was Ted’s sim card, which is why we ended up blocking it - oops) spoke to Roy  was nice, ten spoke to Chris!! Was awesome, not spoken to the trainees in a long time. They thought they were coming up to Harrismith for the next course, but it turns out they’re not  sucks.

Thurs - up early again for PT with Ted-s group - wasn’t as hardcore as yesterday, lots of dancey exercised and frog-jumping :p we put Natasha on her solo (she did a voluntary 72-hour solo, the maximum you can do) then archie drove me and Iona to Island Bay to pick up a kayak - was a nice long drine, we saw Eeyland (sp?!) and Wildabeast and various buck, was awesome. He dropped us at the gate to Qwantani, and we walked there and used the tinternet, didn’t have time for a blog though, cuz Sifiso was taking aaaages to make up the programme for the next course!! Much deliberation about which instructors will co-instruct together, right now I’m with Maricelle, Ted and Lulu, but no doubt that will change… the Outendweni (sp?!) course is notoriously rough, should be interesting. On the way up, we chilled at the harbour for a bit, was nice. The toilet there is nicer than our entire base, it had a mirror, soap, towels, pictures and everything!! A well luxurous portaloo :p had a shower, first time I’d shaved my legs in a while :p wrote some postcards :D and hoyed a lift back with the Qwantani crew, was funny!! Checked on Tas, then cooked sausage and pasta for dinner, and chatted to Sifiso about family in his culture, there are definitely some things that we’ll never agree on!! Chatted to mum and dad, was nice to speak to dad again, hardly get to!!

Fri - woke up and took our phones to the gate to get charged. Came back, checked on Tash, and hoyed brekkie. Me and Iona decided to go for a walk along the route to Gorge, made it to a body of water (not the Stenkfontein Dam, not sure what it was) chilled and chatted and did feedback for Natasha, was nice. Did feedback for each other as well, was interesting!! We’d taken a packed lunch of provitas and tuna and salad :D walked back, I went for a run to Qwantani but struggled cuz I had a massively sore stomach, couldn’t keep going at the top of the massi hill!! Though had my iPod again (we’d managed to charge it through the Qwantani computer) :D and hoyed Guns N’ Roses :D checked on Tash, she’d hardly drunk any water!! Made bacon to add t our salad and egg-mayo mix, and made French toast :D

Sat - crazy morning!! Woke up in a not-so-fanatstic mood, neither was Iona, so I was listening to music, and we ended up having a MASSIVE fight. That’s the first girly fight we’ve had, it was bad, but it was bound to happen at somepoint, I think we’ve done pretty well to have lasted over 4 months without it happening so far!! Not gunna go in to details, it was stupid anyway, but we talked about it for ages afterwards, and it was pretty emotional, She was pretty angry and I was angry and upset. But after talking about it, we sorted it all out and talked about what had been upsetting us in the first place, and we had a really close moment, was nice, its funny now this actually brought us even closer, so it’s a good thing we did argue I think. Its proved that we’re always going to be there for each other, which is awesome. We checked on Tash, and did washing (ugh I do hate the handwash so, gives you a sore back!!) and fixed the solo-tarps and counted the ratinos store (again) :p Sifiso and Archie and Archie’s gf (the sound receptionist at Qwantani) came back, and we chatted to them and had good banter. Made paup and a green salad, got to know Connie (I think that’s her name) she’s really nice, seems so young for a 22-yr old though!! We went up to boma night after we cecked on Tash and checked out the little hill beind base - its really nice, me and Iona got the Scottish dancing on the go!! I jumped over a fence in crocs, nealy killed myself again :p nah only joking. Had a bath at Connie’s flat, the water was grey/brown in seconds!! :p we do get that dirty here. She had teen-mag posters all around her room, was so funny!! Zac Efron and everything. Hoyed the meat, chatted to a guy called Chris who works at Qwantani, he was entertaining the table, was funny. Spoke to my Kieran!! For the first time in a looong time. Was good, but the reception was a bit rubbish  then spoke to my Roy :D love speaking to him. Hoyed it back to base, me and Iona chatted for aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaages, then went to bed.

And today, got up and hoyed brekkie, read some of my (very old now) international express :p took Tash off solo, total respect for her for doing it!! She said it was hard, so if she found it tough it damn well must be!! We gave her feedback, she gave us some of the stuff she’d thought about over the 3 days, and we made her a big brekkie of tuna, bran-flakes, banana and rasins, her favourites :p then we headed up here, after getting very annoyed at Sifiso/Archie for not taking us in to town yesterday, when they knew the place we wanted to go today would be shut today!! So annoyed. So now I’m here, typing this up on Microsoft word Good times :p going in to town tonight though to pick up James and Maria, I really hope James remembered to bring up my mail!!

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(they didn't, unfortunately, will get it at the end of June!!)

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