We arrived back in South Africa on 25th June to surprise Matt for his birthday on the 26th. He had no clue that we were coming back.
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| On our way |
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| Cape Town |
After two flights and one layover in Johannesburg, we arrived in beautiful Cape Town. Anthony, Andrew's brother, picked us up from the airport as he was in on the surprise for Matt. We also stayed with them for a week or two before moving to Fisantekraal.
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| Welcome home |
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| The family reunited at last |
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| My boys! |
The day after our arrival was Matt's birthday. He had fortuitously taken the day off so we decided to head to a lunchery for a treat! His favourite haunt was closed so we decided on steaks at Forries. That evening Kay's parents came around to Matt's house to have supper with us and celebrate.
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| Ice cream cake |
Amazing what makes one happy when one owns a house!
We didn't choose the best time of the year to visit, slap bang in the middle of the worst winter the Cape has had in 40 years. Once we became acclimatized, the cold was a nice change from the ever present heat and humidity that we had become accustomed to, and fires were a necessity.
We spent a few days doing all the things Matt and Kay have done without us. The Oranjezicht farmers market in the Waterfront is a must.
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| Delicious fresh fruit and veg |
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| Beautiful colours |
Even though the weather was terrible and it was freezing, we still braaied outside.
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| It's winter, so it's puzzle time |
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| Wine and Avo! Just the best |
I celebrated my birthday on a beautiful winter's day. The highlight was presents, which I missed out on while away!
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Presents!
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The yacht club became a weekly haunt as the place we were staying in had borehole water and no washing machine. It was lovely to bump into old friends while indulging in a lovely breakfast.
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| Still cold |
We spent a week in Plettenberg Bay in a wonderful house with the most stunning view.
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| Road tripping |
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| Barringtons |
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| Methinks this needs replacing |
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| Lookout Deck |
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| Saturday Market |
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| Bumping into old Woolies colleagues |
We drove through to Knysna to have lunch at the Heads. We didn't realize that a lot of places are closed on a Monday! We ended up at Red Bridge Brewing Company.
Andrew celebrated his birthday in Plett. We had lunch at Enrico's which was lovely. The weather didn't disappoint and we had beautiful sunshine all day.
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| Happy birthday |
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| Family time |
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| Watching the whales |
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| Whales |
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| Dolphin spotting |
On our return from Plettenberg Bay, we moved into the farm house in Fisantekraal where we stayed for the next three months. It is just passed Durbanville so we spent a lot of time on the N1 commuting to the southern suburbs to see Matt, Kay and family.
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| Still cold! |
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| Stunning views across the field |
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| Sunset views when the weather was good were beautiful |
Loadshedding in South Africa is a regular occurrence, usually at night for a few hours. We filled the time with games.
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| Mexican train in the dark |
Matt had only just moved into his house when we left in February last year, so Andrew spent a lot of time helping his doing the odd jobs that he hadn't got to.
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| Cleaning mould from the ceiling |
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| Supper and games |
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| And of course Abby cuddles |
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| Early morning walks |
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| Visiting Wag-a-Lots |
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| Hot air balloon drifting over the farm lands |
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| Look closely at the mountains - this is why it was so cold |
July went by too quickly. Before we knew it we were heading into August.
