Back from the one of the most amazing couple of weeks of my life!!

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(and better not forget, its me and Roy's 14 months today :D:D:D <3 seems not so long ago it was 13!!)

Seriously. I've had suuuuuch a good time with granny and grandad the past wee while, its has been so good, and I'm so happy that they enjoyed themselves so much. We've done some wonderful and spectacular things, seen so much beauty in the surroundings of South Africa, and its safe to say that all 3 of us have memories that will last all our lifetimes. Saying goodbye was horrible, it always is, but I hope they know that I'm thinking positively, and that I'm still making the most of every opportunity that comes my way!!

Soooo, last time I wrote a blog (on Mon 6th April) pretty much as soon as I'd finished, granny phoned and told me that she was talking to Peter White, one of the jazz guitarists at the jazz fest!! Our hotel was jazz-fest central, everyone seemed to be staying there. So I ran back and had a chat with him, he was pretty kool, very chatty!! He had his little girl there as well, she was cute. We then had dinner at a lovely malay restaurant, we all had different dishes that we shared. Then, met Leonard, and we went to the cinema, saw The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - which I'd wanted to see for a long time. It was good... was sad though, very long!! It did have some funny bits though. Glad I saw it. We bought a kids popcorn and slush puppy and chocolate thing, it must have looked hilarious, leonard (who is really tall) carrying this tiny popcorn!! We then hoyed it back to Carnival Court to see if my Lattitude mates were there but they weren't. Hoyed it to Mr Pickwicks for a mars bar milkshake, then went home. Saying bye was a little sad, cuz I'll probably never see my mate Leonard again, but hopefully he'll come and visit Scotland!!

Tuesday was travel day!! Picked up the car, a nice white polo, then droooooooove!! Views were spectacular, got some pics, so stunning. We nearly got lost in Woustecer (sp?!) though, nearly ended up in the middle of a township!! A couple helped us out though. Stopped off in Montagu (sp?!) a lovely little town on the gorgeous route 62 for lunch, the woman had lived in Scotland for a while and let me put a Scottish CD on!! Went to the tourist info, phoned a B&B in Calitzdorp, booked a night there, and went!! It was STUNNING. I had a massive four poster double bed, loads of sofas, there was a nice pool, we were talking to a nice Danish couple... the luxury life :p I swam in the little pool, then we went out for dinner to a lovely little restaurant in town, lovely food!! Had some of the free port they gave us at the B&B, then slept like a queen!!

Wednesday - we had a nice brekkie, then travelled to the Cango Caves!! Unfortunately, I was unable to go on the adventure tour, but the regular one was still awesome!! Some of the formations were just incredible. Had a white chocolate ice-thing there, then drove to the Ostrich Farm!! Got there, and were told the next tour was in an hour, so we drove in to Oudtshoorn, which was heaving with the festival. Managed to find a pharmacy and get granny medicine for her nasty flemmy cough 😞 then went back and did the tour!! Saw a video on the farm, saw some of the ostriches - they had emus as well - and I rode an ostrich!! It was awesome. They put a bag over its head though, so it doesn't move when you sit on it, lift the wings up, you get on, grab on with your legs and hands, lean back and they go!! It was so much fun, and a guy runs behind you holding on to its tail so that it doesn't go too fast. It was really kool, and I enjoyed it immensely, I just hope I didn't hurt the poor thing!! Ate an ostrich pie afterwards, nice meat, and I got a ostrich driving license :p went to the Knysna Hollows place where we were booked in, it was lovely!! Nice little cottagey thing for 3 nights, just outside the main area of Knysna. We stayed in the Hollows for dinner, had a lovely ostrich (it was sooooo good) thing for starter and some salmon lasagne (weird, I know) then we headed back to bed.

Thursday - we went in to Knysna, I chose sunglasses which granny and grandad had a coffee 😊 we bumped in to Candi and her stepmum Jo, who have been so awesome to me, especially when me and Flip were left by ourselves the other week!! Went down and found the waterfront eventually!! Took the wrong street, oops. It was lovely, as always 😊 then we drove to The Heads, spectacular viewpoint, it was unreal, so sunny and glittery, better that the last time I saw it I reckon!! Had pizza, then wandered to the viewpoint, I went round a bit, was fun drove to Buffles Bay, had a beach afternoon!! I swam a little, and sunbathed, with the iPod, yay :p drove back to the hollows, had a little swim in the pool, got ready, spoke to maw, then we went back down to the waterfront for a lovely seafood dinner!! And I ad a naughty cocktail :p was so lovely. Went back to the hollows.

Friday, the 10th, was grandads biiiiiiiiiiirthday!! Yay. And we got little easter egg things on the table!! We went for a 2 hour game drive that morning - it was amazing, though we were a bit worried when we were a bit late and saw that it was a dirt road we had to drive along!! Sooooooo glad we did it. We saw everything apart from the lions, who didn't wana come out :p the rhino came right up to our vechicle and tapped it with its horn, if I remember correctly!! The guide was informative and it was just fabulous. We saw.... lots of birds and plants, rhinos, hippos, giffafes, springbok, waterbok (sp?!) elands, gnus, zebras, crocodiles... and we got soooo close to them!! Have some awesome pics, will try and find a way of getting them on the internet at somepoint I think!! Just unreal. We had a coffee then went to Storms River Mouth, in the Tsisikama (sp?!) nature reserve - it was gorgeous, after we found it eventually!! We had lunch then did he walk to the suspension bridge - we didn;t realise it was like all stairs though!! G&G managed it just great though, they did really well. Got some photos of the bridge and the amazing views, then headed back and through Knysna to get me an Easter Egg :p but they don't really do that out here, so I got a lindt chocolate bunny :D Aunty Lesley phoned to wish grandad a happy birthday, talked to her for a bit, then we headed back to the hollows to get dinner!! I phoned a B&B in Sedgefield, and told them we'd come see it tomorrow. Spoke to Kieran on the phone, was awesome to speak to him again 😊 it had been a while!! Had a lovely dinner again, nice steak :D arranged for grandad to get a birthday slice of lemon cake with a sparkler :p yay. I gave G&G their birthday presents, they liked them a lot :D grandad's little Cape Beech clock, and granny' amythist necklace. Watched some football, then went to bed, after granny force-fed me the rest of the bottle of wine we hadn't finished!! :p

Saturday, I had a last swim in the pool, then we packed up and headed to Sedgefield, was so weird going back!! Went to the Haus Seeblick B&B, it was v nice, we chose the self-catering cottage with the added on breakfast. Hoyed it to my beloved Sedgefield Market!! G&G met some of the stall owners that I'd been talking to, and we had pancakes and juice/coffee and bought some stuff for lunch. Went to the craft part, granny bought a nice shirt/jacket thing after much deliberation over size :p and we chatted to the people I bought grandad's clock from, was nice 😊 we went in to town to try and find G&G another memory card, but their 64MB one is discontinued - its too small :p ran in to Christo and chatted to him, went in and saw Anna and chatted to her, granny bought a souveneir, and went back to the B&B and relaxed, had lunch and wrote postcards, hehe. Me and grandad went for a stroll along the Sedgefield beach, was lovely 😊 went back up and relaxed more. Anna and Christo are Chris's parents, one of my friends from Outward Bound, he's training to be an instructor - just incase you didn't know!! We played cards, had some wine, went down and phoned Margret Roberts, the lady I phoned before - her sister Anne works with Edna who is granny's friend... yea, so arranged to go see her on Mon. We went to Montecello for dinner, supposedly the nicest place to go in Sedgefield - and it was!! Lovely food, I had the most awesome steak think on a dripping garlic skewer :p Iona and Natasha dropped in to say hi, was awesome to see them again. Went back up to the B&B after posting the postcards, and went to sleep.

Sunday was shopping day - after I went for a long run and walk (from the top of the hill this time - how weird!!) we went to the George Mall, and got me a hold-all and some other stuff 😊 I'm really grateful for the hold-all, will hopefully make my travels a lot easier!! Had an energy-boosting smoothie, then went in to George to see if the railway museum was open - it wasn't - so we went back to the mall for lunch :p had a new york chicken salad, yum. Went back to Sedgefield, and got ready for the braai at Chris's, after going for a nice walk along the beach and taking photos 😊 granny used my crocs, yet still managed to get her nice shoes wet :p went to Chris's, and it was awesome!! They make lovely food, and they made G&G feel so welcome, they are just such nice people. I went with Anna to pick up Chris from La Piazza, saw Iona and Natasha and met Jeff for the first time, he didn't talk much though :p saw Candi, who has started working there!! We went back up to the Boshoffs for the food and chat, was soooo good. Maw phoned, we all spoke to her 😊 and I spoke to Ailsa, yay. We headed back, and I spoke to my Roy 😊 was amaaaazing.

Monday - we went to the Railway Museum, and on the Outeniqua Choo Tjoe trail, which runs from George to Mossell Bay and back!! Its a steam train, but was replaced by a diesel engine cuz the risk of fire was too high. The views were stunning, and it was so interesting to see and be in the old fashioned train. We enjoyed the 2hr journey to Mossell Bay immensely. I used the toilet on the train, and the flush was a foot pedal which operated the flap - and everything is emptied out on to the side of the track!! When we got there, we found internet access so G&G could choose their seats on the way back - but it turned out it was too early to do that. We went for lunch at a nice coffee place, and we bought some nice souveneirs at a little shop. We went back town the train area and saw the post office tree :p and the maritime museum, was lovely - I put my feet in the Mossell Bay sea!! Hoyed the train back, it was quicker this time, and chatted to the conductor - was interesting, as always, to talk to the South African locals. We looked round in the Railway Museum a bit, loads of old cars and carridges (sp?!) lovely oil painting of a plane flying over a steam train. Drove to Oubaai, to see Margret and Neville Roberts, nearly got lost on the way, nothing new for us :p hehe. Found their house, after passing through extra-tight security - grandad had to get his photo and fingerprint taken, and we used his fingerprint to operate the gates!! Very posh golf estate, with sutunning views. Their house is like a palace/hotel/work of art, it was stunning. Marble everywhere, and modern design. The view over the hills and river was spectacular. They offered us tea/coffee and biscuits, and they have the koolest coffee maker above their cooked - its programmed and digital and something I've not seen before in a house!! They are lovely people - still got their Scottish accents (Margret came from Stirling originally) and her and granny established a mutual friend, surprise surprise :p it was funny, they didn't realise that I was their granddaughter til like half way through the visit, even though I had told them on the phone/granny on the e-mail!! Crazy. It was lovely anyway, then we drove back to our B&B and got ready for taking Iona and Natasha out for dinner to Montecello - they were at Chris's though, which made life a little awkward, but ach well. Natasha was ill, so we had to just take her back to base 😞 had a lovely meal though, sweet and sour chicken, was fun banter, really grateful to G&G for taking her out. Really grateful for everything they've done... I'm so lucky :D went back to the B&B and I packed a bit (with my hold all :D) and went to bed, couldn't sleep well though, read Now magazine :D

I considered going for a run this morning, but decided against it. Had a shower and breakfast, was annoyed at myself for getting emotional, but it was to be expected, I am so bad at goodbyes!! Packed up the rest of my stuff (nearly forgot my fudge) :p and went back to base. Showed G&G around a bit, they were less disgusted than I thought they would be, and showed them where I kayaked, out the back on the Swartvlei. They met David, with the Beach Buggie :p then it was time to say bye... I wish I could control my emotions better!! We all cried a bit, but its ok, always happens. Its funny now though, its a boiling hot day, feels a tiny bit similar to when we arrived here. But I've been here nearly 3 months already, I'm not exactly the same person I was when I came out here, and I'm determined to try and think positive and hopefully actually get out on course soon!! I unpacked, did some washing, back to the buckets :p and came on here. Looking forward to the future!!

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Comments

[Lynni]

It was surreal!!
...and amazing, honestly, I loved it, but I totally forgot during that time though how hard it actually is to be on a gap year and especially working at OB, even though it is incredibly good for me. I'm just trying to work out how I dealt with it at the start, so I can do it again :D