It has been almost four years since our last big overseas adventure, so it is time to dust off the travel blog again!
This trip will be a little different from our previous travels. Chris and Danielle are now being joined by Karl, aged three, and Isaac, aged one. Travelling halfway around the world with two small children will either be a wonderful family adventure or a terrible logistical mistake. Probably a little of both.
We leave New Zealand on 6 September and, after a very long day of flying, arrive in Johannesburg at around 8pm local time. Our first night is sensibly being spent at an airport hotel before we fly down to Cape Town the following day.
We have allowed ourselves a couple of quiet days at Hotel Verde to recover from the flights and work out what time zone everyone thinks they are in. After that, we will move into Cape Town itself for a few days. Our plans include visiting the penguins, attempting Table Mountain and generally exploring at a pace suitable for a three-year-old and a one-year-old.
From Cape Town we head into the Winelands, where we are staying near Franschhoek. We hope to visit the Winelands Light Railway, see some giraffes and perhaps even manage to visit a winery or two. How sophisticated the wine tasting will be with two toddlers remains to be seen.
We then fly across the country to Mbombela and head into Kruger National Park for four nights. This is probably the part of the trip we are most excited about. We will be staying at Berg-en-Dal and doing our own game drives each day.
Karl is particularly keen to see hippopotamuses, giraffes and rhinos. Isaac has not expressed a strong preference yet, but will probably be satisfied by anything large that moves. Chris will also celebrate his birthday in Kruger, which might be slightly more memorable than spending it at home or at work.
After leaving Kruger we have several quieter days at a lodge near the park. There are vague plans involving not spending quite so many hours in the car. Whether the children agree with the “quiet and relaxing” part of the plan is another question.
The main reason for the trip is a wedding near Mbombela on 26 September. After the wedding we will begin making our way back towards Johannesburg, with a few nights near Pilanesberg and possibly a visit to Sun City along the way.
Finally, we have a couple of days around Johannesburg before beginning the long journey home on 3 October. We arrive back in Auckland late on 4 October, followed by one final flight to Kerikeri the next day.
It is a fairly ambitious month away with two small children, several flights, multiple rental cars and plenty of accommodation changes. We have tried to leave enough slower days in the plan, but we are also expecting that at least some of it will change as we go.
As with our previous trips, we will try to post regular updates and photos here. You can also follow our progress on the location map.
This will be our first big overseas adventure as a family of four, and we are excited to see how it unfolds.
Wish us luck!
Chris, Danielle, Karl & Isaac