The day started early with Chris going out the gates at 6am. He didn’t have much luck but did with the help of Olivia’s (Gary and Ashleigh’s daughter / Karls cousin) keen eyes did find a Hippo for Karl. Chris returned to camp to collect Karl to see “his” hippo and a day out exploring.

After the Hippo we travelled north via a few side roads seeing 30+ Giraffe. A quick stop for morning tea for Karl, breakfast for Chris and a few snacks had us set for a 4 hr round trip looking at animals. Karl was really good keeping himself amused with a water bottle that was both a plain, runway, telescope and my favorite, a camera so we would both wind our windows down and each take photos with our respective cameras.

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Dan’s day…

Dan and Isaac remained at camp for the day to have more of a R&R day, We went for a walk along the buffalo walk in front of the units through to the reception area and the waterhole where we found more deer and then back.

Issac had a nice long sleep during the middle of the day and Dan had a nice relaxing time sitting outside listening and watching all the wildlife pass by. 3 different herds of elephants went to the watering hole, there were plenty of squirrels (or what counts for squirrels here), plenty of lizards and one very persistant bird that kept trying to get into the unit by flying into the window.

After Chris and Karl returned from their day trip all kids went for a swim in the camp pool (it was very cold) before a sleep over with Reghard and his parents. The adults went out for a Bush Braai.

A Bush Braai is literally that, a Braai in the bush. First we are driven around in one of the camp buggies hunting out animals while the food is being cooked. 5 minutes from camp we found a Rhino. We didn’t see too much on our travels, but did see some Bush Babies, Warthogs and other smaller animals. We drove around for about an hour and a half. It is quite different being out with the animals after dark, much different than during the day with others around.

We then arrived at the Braai location, a lovely flat area lit with candles, complete with drinks table, a dinner table elegantly set for 7, roaring outdoor fire and a very long table laden with food. Oh, and the ranger with the big gun to ward off any unwanted animals. We had a lovely dinner underneath the open sky with more than enough food and a very nice dessert. Dan was quite nervous being out in the open, but Chris was quite relaxed.

Back to camp, we managed to pass Issac off to his Nana and Poppa for the night, so a good night sleep all around!

Chris, Dan, Karl and Issac

After a decent nights sleep, and catching up with family, we hit the road to see what we could find. 

In Kruger Park you are on the lookout for the Big 5, the five hardest animals to hunt/kill. These are; Lion, Buffalo, Rhinoceros, Elephant and Leopard. Day one and we crossed off three of these, Rhinoceros, Elephant and Leopard.

We also saw plenty of Bok (which are like Deer) Giraffes, warthog, and a moving rock (which turned out to be a tortoise). We drove up the park for about an hour (plus animal stops) and met up with the family for lunch.

We then went chasing some of the bigger animals and managed to find a rhino, but not the lion or leopard that were supposedly nearby. 

Just before camp we found a traffic jam and a Leopard! 

Back to our camp for a traditional Braai of meat and more meat and time for Karl and Issac to bond with their cousins.  

The internet is very poor here at the camp inside the park, so there will be limited photos until we leave the Park.  When we get the chance, we will do a dump of all the decent photos of animals taken from Chris’ camera

Chris, Dan, Karl and Issac

Ok so Danielle will hopefully resume her regular blog updates which are clearly richer with family life etc. Today we got up at 5am after a rough nights with the kids and an evening of packing our life back into something that would get past Fly Safair’s rules and hopefully not get stolen.

We set out the gate at 6:45am from our ‘Farm’. We diverted of the GPS plotted track for a refuel stop that Danielle recommended and landed in the most crazy Cape Town traffic where I needed to push across ALL the lanes! We made it to the airport with heaps of time to spare, went back to the Police station to get the police report number and checked in. A quick breakfast then on the plane to Kruger. Flight was uneventful. Karl liked getting to be on the tarmac.

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Rental car was a bit of a mission because we were a day late but after much work we were on the road… a LOT of roadworks and a grocery stop and we pulled into the park around 4 pm.

We are all shattered so it will be a very early night. (spoiler the Kids DID SLEEP THRU!)

Chris, Dan, Karl and Isaac.

Ok another Chris update for Day 12 which is a little confusing as im writing this at the end of Day 13 trying to catchup a little bit. Day 12 was a lot of driving between Vicki & Hugh (collecting Isaac, taking Vicki to see Danielle etc) our accomodation and of course hospital. Basically the day was waiting for tests to be run, results to be read and a game of will they or won’t they let Danielle go home. Long story short by 6pm she was able to come back to the accommodation with me!

We are able to restart our trip and have the alarm clock set for 5am. I hope the kids sleep through the night… (spoiler… they did not)

Big thank you to everyone who has got in contact with me to check on Danielle / me. And a very VERY big thank you to my sister Vicki and her husband Hugh who have provided us all with massive support and have looked after Issac overnight.

Chris, Dan, Karl and Issac

Most have you will have gathered Danielle does most of the writing of the blog so it’s Chris this time with a short update. In the early hours of Day 11 Danielle suffered a medical incident and has been admitted to hospital in Paarl. We are awaiting some test results today and are hopeful that she will be discharged and we will be back on our way however a fair bit is up in the air presently. We were due to fly north tomorrow (Day12) but have changed flights until Day13 however this may need to change further.

Vicki and Hugh were able to divert our way and fly into Cape Town which has meant they have been able to look after Isaac.

Thanks,

Chris & Karl.

This morning started off with an online patrol meeting for Chris with NZ while Dan tried to keep the boys quiet (ish) for an hour. There was a bit of a storm last night which had the internet out for a few hours so Chris was happy the connection was strong enough to have a teams video call. The backup plan was to drive 20 mins down the road to a mall. After this, we packed up and hit the road.

First we tried to visit a local dam, but we weren’t allowed past the entrance gate (sorry mam, no). Then we decided to see how far over the Franschhoek pass we could go (we are aware it has been closed for a while) but the checkpoint was just outside of town. By now the rain had set in, so we took the scenic route through to Paarl (but we did get to see the green Franschhoek wine trail train on the way.

Over in Paarl, we went to Mini Ninja. This is an indoor playground made especially for kids 0-7 years old, and so perfect for our boys. We purchased a two hour pass and let them go.

Issac was a little overwhelmed and so didn’t take to the activities so much. But he loves climbing up stairs and there were plenty to climb and so up and up he went (he needed the help getting down).

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Karl got a little more into the activities and so had a good time. There are different obstacle courses, two ball pits, trampolines, an adventure course up high and lots of other ares to explore.

Karl found Issac and I in the ball pit. There was a big screen on the wall which depicted different scenes; zombie, under water, jungle animals, Wild West etc and you threw the balls at the screen to knock the characters out. One round we all got into it as a family and we think we got one of the best scores. But one by one we dropped off, except of the toddler who has endless energy of course!. The same ball pit also had a very big slide (Karl was brave enough to climb this once) and the machine where the balls were blown up into the air. This one kept Karl amused for while so Dan could continue to help Isaac climb the same set of stairs again and again.

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Chris took the kids into the trampoline area and up a longer and more difficult set of stairs (for Issac’s benefit) but it also included tunnels and extra area for Karl to explore. We easily used up 3/4 of our allotted time just exploring all the different parts.

The place was really well set out for kids, so a quick lunch break before our two hours were over. We finished the time in the other ball pit, which also included a big screen with other images to through balls at. We also discovered this screen was a slide, and so had fun going down a couple of times at the very end (you have the most fun right at the very end).

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When we arrived our room was not ready yet, so Karl went to feed the chickens and say hi to the goats again.

Back to our room for another soak in the heated tub before dinner and bed.

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Oh, and by the way, Isaac has learnt to balance standing on two feet over the last couple of days. So very close to walking now (then we will be in real trouble!).

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Chris, Dan, Karl and Issac

This morning we went into Paarl for breakfast and then Dan and the boys attended a local Catholic Sunday service, Although the order of the mass was the same as that in NZ, the songs were very different and there was a lot more music and extra responses.  But Dan is glad she made the effort to go.

Then a quick trip to the local supermarket to gather supplies and then back to the farm.  We spent the rest of the day hanging around the farm.  While Issac has his first decent daytime sleep since leaving home, Dan and Karl wandered around the farm, visiting the playground (and then moving on very quickly as there were wasps everywhere) walking around the man-made lakes to throw stones in and watch others fly fishing, visiting the Rhino statue, and seeing the animals.  The owner came out to greet us and Karl go to feed the chickens and the goats.  He found throwing the chicken food at the chickens hilarious, but was a little afraid to let the goats eat from his hand.  Instead he gathered leaves and branches from the neighbouring trees and fed the to the goats through the fence.

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We again had our soak in the hot tub, but the temperature was too warm today and so we didn’t last long.  Karl was happy enough to jump in when it was much too hot, but after a while his face was all red, and so we thought he had better get out (he was not happy about this!).

While eating a not so nice dinner (Chris’ words) the owner came to our cottage to explain that the internet was out, and that they were working on it.  We asked if they sold ice cream at their local shop (they did not) but they went back up to their house and brought us down some ice blocks instead for the kids.  This was so very kind of them.

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Thats all for today.  This post is a bit later than usual due to internet troubles.

Chris, Dan, Karl and Issac  

We started off this morning slightly later than usual (the kids managed to sleep in until after 6am – thank goodness!) and had breakfast again in the hotel (Chris had another foam face on this coffee). Then a quick pack of the bags and we hit to road heading north west out of Cape Town City.

An interesting view of the clouds falling down off Table mountain on our way north

We reached Franschhoek where we intend to stay for the next couple of days, and dropped off our bags at the ‘Farm’. Then we headed out for lunch. Google maps provided us with a suggested option on a side street off the main road. Driving along the side street we became concerned with the state of the buildings and the people hanging around the street (not an ideal place to be), then google had us turn right into a gated community. We thought we were going to be denied entry, but we weren’t and found a lovely place to have lunch. The staff were very welcoming and there was the big lawn out front for Karl to run around on (in between rain showers). The food was also excellent. It also had an excellent view of a ‘Humma Crane’ which is what Karl is calling cranes on this trip (no idea why!).

Lunch in a gated community, security scanning car, licence mobile number address etc

After lunch, we headed down the road to the Winelands Light Railway, which is a miniature railway train and tracks hand built by a train enthusiast, We managed to time it right with the weather (that had been showers on and off all morning) as we had ok weather the whole time we were there.

The small electric train pulls 6 carriages and everyone from kids to adults can ride. The loop takes about 7 minutes and it goes past animal status, over the bridge, through a tunnel of plants, and through a real tunnel which is long enough that for a moment it is pitch black and you cannot see the end. Both boys really enjoyed the train ride, and we went around 6 times. The builder has really put a lot of work into the trains and tracks, there were even train crossing signs, train signals (complete with tiny ladders for a miniature person to climb to repair).

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The place also included a playground and a sheltered area with lots of kids activities, including colouring, story books, naughts and crosses, toy bikes and the ball pit. We spent some time just chilling out here between train rides. Nearby was also a museum of old trains, cars and tractors to look at. And there were animals all around (chickens and goats and lots of birds).

Our visit to this place was really reasonable and we would definitely come back.

Back to our new hotel, which includes a wood fire hot tub which we spent an hour or so relaxing in. The place we are staying is about 15 minutes away from Franschhoek, right out in the country, so there are no houses around and it is very quiet. We plan to enjoy a few relaxing days here (especially as the weather is set to rain for the next week). Our room includes complementary farm fresh laid eggs, a bottle of wine and snacks. Oh and the possibility of a wild animal or two coming onto the property from the reserve next door.

Bye bye for now now

Chris, Dan, Karl and Isaac

Today had a slower start to the morning, which was quite nice after a few busy days.

We started with breakfast at the hotel. They had a pretty good spread with plenty to choose from, so we took our time and had a fairly relaxed start to the day.

One thing that was a little different was Chris’s coffee. When it arrived it had a face printed on the top of it! We have never seen anything quite like that before and still aren’t really sure how they do it, but it was very cool.

After breakfast we sorted out some life admin by dropping off some washing to be done then headed down to the V&A Waterfront. We had been past the Waterfront a few times already, but today we actually had some time to wander around and have a proper look through the mall.

It is a really big area with lots of shops, restaurants and things going on, so we spent a couple of hours just wandering around and seeing what we could find.

There were plenty of things around to keep the boys interested as well. Karl spotted a rhino and, of course, had to point it out.

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One of our stops was the Lego Store. Karl had a great time looking around and made himself a little Lego creation with wheels. He was very pleased with what he had made.

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While wandering through the shops we also came across a store called Karl.

Naturally, with a Karl of our own, we had to stop for a photo of him pointing at his name on the sign.

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We did a little bit of shopping while we were there as well. We bought some Crocs and also found a Christmas ornament to take home as a little reminder of our trip.

After everyone had finished looking around the shops, we met back up again for lunch. Karl enjoyed the playground but was being a little bit bossy with the other kids.

After lunch it was time to try the Cape Wheel.

The Cape Wheel is a big Ferris wheel at the Waterfront, and we ended up going around four times. Each time we came around we pointed out something different to the boys and tried to work out what we could see from up high.

Karl particularly enjoyed watching everything below us. At one point one of the big cranes started moving, which was obviously very exciting.

Isaac was a little bit unsure when we first got into the cabin. He seemed quite nervous to begin with, but as we went around he slowly got more confident. By the end he was standing up and banging on the windows, so we think he decided that the Ferris wheel was actually pretty good.

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We did try to get a nice family photo while we were up there.

Unfortunately Karl wasn’t looking at the camera and Isaac was crying, so that idea didn’t really go to plan!

After we had finished at the Waterfront, we headed back to the hotel.

We didn’t have anything else planned for the afternoon, so we spent the rest of the day by the pool. The boys had a swim while we relaxed in the sun, which was a pretty nice way to finish off the day.

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It was definitely a much slower day than some of our other days in Cape Town, but it was nice not having to rush anywhere and just spending some time wandering around and relaxing.

Today started very early, so we were up and had hit the road by 7am. First stop was breakfast, which was much harder than it sounds. The first place didn’t have parking, the second was in the not-so-ideal township we found yesterday, the third didn’t feel right, and then we were on a toll road going round the side of a mountain. Finally we found an interesting coffee place which had ok coffee and decent food. It was co-joined with a nursery/ flower shop but at least it felt safe and wasn’t too bad. A nice little place to rest and rejuvenate.

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After this, we headed further south to find the penguins. Down to a place called Boulders Beach, we parked at the beach carpark and walked the boardwalk back to the penguin place. First up was a local penguin just hanging out in the carpark. Then along the boardwalk there were penguins behind a mesh fence, and Dassie’s running all over the path. Someone mentioned that a Dassie was the closest relative to an elephant, which doesn’t seem right as it has no trunk or tail. We felt they were more like Australian Quokka’s, and so started calling them as such inadvertently. There were older penguins and baby penguins (these are more fluffy) and we even saw one penguin sitting on its egg, and babies hiding in their houses. And this was even before we reached the proper area.

We then followed the path down to over the beach, where you could watch the penguin’s in their natural habitat. There were families of penguins all huddled together and some sleeping. Penguins were going in and out of the water and some were hanging out on the beach. Two even got into a fight. The boys really enjoyed watching the penguins.

Back along the boardwalk and down to Boulders Beach, not for a swim but for a paddle in the water (it was still a bit chilly, although other children were paddling in their togs). The sand is quite stoney, but it was nice to be on the beach playing. Karl spent his time running away from the waves, Isaac spent his time splashing in the shallow water..

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We then moved on to the most southwestern tip of the Africa continent, Cape of Good Hope. This is a national park, and while driving along the roads we saw ostriches and antelope. At the end of the track you have two options, Cape of Good Hope point to the west and New Cape Point lighthouse to the east. At Cape of Good Hope point, which is right near the edge of the water, you can climb the mountain to look out to sea from up high. we didn’t do this, but we did take the obligatory photo with the sign, and did see seals hanging out on the rocks just out to sea. Over at the lighthouse, we took the shuttle up and climbed the last 50 odd flight of stairs up to the lighthouse. This is near the edge of the land, so you can see the full 360 degrees, and most of it being open sea. Now we have been to the bottom of the world at NZ and SA.

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A different scenic route back to Cape Town, and a nice dinner with Dan’s family finished off the day. As expected, the boys were very tired, and both fell asleep almost instantly. The grownups are not far behind them!

Chris, Dani, Karl and Issac