My Roots Blog Ends

So we are back home, our journey back was reasonably uneventful apart from a short unplanned stop in Rotterdam due to Fog in Amsterdam. it meant that our bags decided to have an extra days holiday at Schipol airport.... as we had to run to catch our flight to Norwich.
I am struggling to try and sum up the trip as there were so many memories. I have discovered a new Family and a new Continent, the first so very much in tune with me that we even sneeze the same! and the second so different to anything I have ever seen before. Both discoveries were fantastic.
As a family I feel that we have all come away from the experience feeling enriched and cherished. I went to South Africa with an open mind and my fingers crossed!! We have come away with more than just holiday memories and a sun tan. We know that there are people the other side of the world, who care for us and want to share in a future with us.
So for the future we can look forward to keeping in touch through the powers of the Internet and the occasional visit (Lottery wins permitting!) plus I am looking forward to finally meet my other two sisters who live closer to home, Sanchia in Ireland and Charlie in London. So lots to look forward to.


Thank you to all who have left comments and messages, it was great to know that you were with us to share the experience.

Jonty xxx

Table Mountain Wildlife

We were very impressed and surprised by the wildlife on top of table mountain.
These Raccoon looking mammals are called Dussies, this one allowed me to get quite close.



These Lizards also had no fear of Humans









These black birds are about twice the size of our ones and have brilliant red wings


There are also small Deer but they were too shy.

They get water from dew that collects in little rock pools, when the famous cloud or blanket forms over the mountain.

Table Mountain

Our flight back to the UK was on tuesday evening, so we decided to do the tourist trip and see Table mountain. We were very lucky as the sky was clear






We took the cable car, which rotated as we went up, it gave us a great view of Cape Town but did feel very strange.












Top of the world!

Happy Days!

I couldn't resist putting this picture on the Blog. It is a lovely photo of my sister Alexi and her daughter Nolea and son Aiden, taken at Jacobsbie.

Last Supper

This was our last meal out together, as we were heading home the next morning via a trip up table mountain (more on that later) Fred was taking these pictures and was determined to take LOTS of them despite my efforts!!

Moules for lunch!

I have finally managed to recharge my phone and get these pics.

I woke early on Sunday morning and it was low tide so went foraging for Mussels. There was loads! They needed a lot of cleaning but were worth the effort as they were very good, nice and plump and juicy. Why is it that free food always tastes wonderful?

Smarty Towns

These photo's were taken outside Vredenberg, they are called Smarty towns because when the government built them the houses were all painted different colours. They have been added to by the residents as there has been a huge influx of Nigerians in recent years. The additions have been built using any scrap materials available such as old doors, but mostly corrugated Iron. This one has expanded enormously from the original and is a no-go area for the Police and is rife with alcohol and drug problems

Roadworks

These interesting roadworks were on the road north of Riebeek West going towards Moorreesberg. They close off the whole of one side of the road for about 5 miles and you have to wait ages to take your turn on the single track. I quiried why there was logs lying on the repaired side, it was to stop people driving on it before the top coat of Tar was laid. Only in Africa!!
Here we are waiting again, if you click on the picture to enlarge it you will see that it requires 3 workmen to move the red cone when it is clear for us to go forward. It made me feel quite homesick!

Wildlife

This western granulated thick tailed scorpion was nearly driven over by me as we left the beach house.
This Geometric Tortoise I found walking along the path to the beach, it was walking surprisingly fast. They are endangered and only 2-3000 remain

Life's a Beach!

Huge apologies for my absence but we were very kindly invited to stay for the weekend on the Beach and they did not have internet etc
We stayed almost directly west of Riebeek, the nearest large town was called Vredenburgh. The place we stayed is pictured left, it is in a very isolated area with just a few houses all built in a similar style, but not identical. We had to drive down a dirt track for miles (ish) through heathland that reminded us of Thorpeness except for the wildlife we saw huge black scorpions, Tortoises and Mongoose, More on them when I can get the Pics off my Phone.
The sea was very, very cold as the Tugella current runs past here from the Antarctic, the Sun more than compensated though despite some fairly brisk breezes. It was good surfing weather but a wetsuit was definately required.

Sue's Party

We had a lovely evening meeting some of Sue's friends, the ladies are part of a group called the PETALS which stands for Painting, Eating, Talking, Art and Listening Society. It sounds like they have a great time and they are a huge support for each other.

Poorly Boy!

Poor Fred has been suffering from a 24 hour Tummy Bug! He was sick several times yesterday on the way back from seeing the Lions and was up most of the night. He is feeling much better now, thank God!

Sue's Home

I thought it would be interesting for you to see where we have been staying, This is the view from the front garden across the Riebeek Valley. There is a Red bottle brush tree in the foreground.
Here is a better shot of the valley showing the range of mountains on the other side. These photos are only taken with my camera on my phone, so not very good at showing how big they really are. They tend to change hourly depending on the light etc.

This is the view of the front of the house with it's Stoep.

Party Time Again!

We are having a party tonight for a load of Sue's Friends, she wants to show me off!! Sue was given a Leg of Karoo Lamb, it is huge! so I decided to start it off by cooking it on the BBQ before finishing it off in the Oven. All very mouth watering.
Maria has done a lovely job of preparing the Table for the Party, the bowl of sweet peas smell and look fantastic.

Fairview

We had Lunch today at this Goat farm cum winery, They had a very good selection of Cheeses and Cured meats. We were all fascinated by this very unusual Goat house/tower

EHO Nightmare

I took this Photo of the kitchen of a Restaurant we had lunch in yesterday, from a distance it all looked clean and shiny but on closer examination I noticed that instead of cladding the walls with Stainless Steel they used Corrugated Iron roofing sheets!

Raptors

This very strange looking bird is a Secretary bird, it reminded me of Buckbeak from the Harry Potter films. It's main diet in the wild is Snakes
Fred with a young Buzzard
Aidan with the same bird
Baby owls that had been brought in by someone that thought they were lost as they were on the ground, sadly she was unaware that was where they are supposed to be and should have left them well alone. The centre will rear them and then release them back into the wild when they are old enough to survive.