Travelog for: Emil

Hello, hello! Here is the latest from us.  Juanita and Nicholas went to art this afternoon and here is what they are working on..... Nicholas is busy with a collage with chameleons...



And Juanita is drawing a picture of her and Nicholas together, for Vicki. Vicki did a bit of smudging on the photo for safety's sake. They really enjoy art!



We all got treated to McDonald's for supper, YUM!



And then we shared this great, big chocolate!! Double yum!!



I never introduced you to the family parrot, Percy. I should rather say to Vicki's parrot because he only lets Vicki go close and he gives her kisses but anybody else will get a mean bite!! He is very talkative though and keeps singing 'It's raining, it's pouring...', even when the sun is shining brightly outside!! Silly parrot! He fights with the bells in his cage a lot and makes a noise!





Because the weather has been so cold and miserable, we are all cuddled up under the blanket with Nicholas and ready to watch a movie.



Grape Ape asked if we could watch 'Hairspray' since Nicholas will be in the stage show at school. Look at the video and dvd collection! Nicholas was happy to show us his playstation games too!



Well we will update again soon, the weekend is here, hooray!
Love from
Emil

It's Saturday and we are helping Vicki to sew an outfit for Nicholas for the school Revue.



He is taking the part of 'Edna' from the musical 'Hairspray'. Vicki is also making a matching outfit for Tracy - Edna's daughter. Ooooh! This material is quite bright and glitzy! But that is what the teacher requested.



We have been rolling around with laughter because Nic has to wear a dress and a wig!! It's very funny to watch him in his outfit! Here is a photo, cunningly disguised by Vicki, of the final look.



We are going with to school to see the show. Each grade has chosen a different musical, so it should be a lot of fun, I can't wait. 

It has been a crazy and hectic week, especially with the school play on every night! We watched it and it was sooo much fun, what a laugh!!
We have had some really beautiful sunshine days. These people don't know what cold really is, there is no snow here!
Can you see me sitting in the Camelia plant, soaking up the sun?



These cranes made of metal are in the garden, I perched on their backs and took in the lovely sight.



We are busy packing for our holiday to Durban! Yay! Everyone is excited and bags are being packed as I write. Vicki has taken more photos and will update when we get back!
I am so excited, I will be able to see the view from the airoplane window, instead of the inside of the envelope.
Still having a great time, love you Mom.

Here is a quick catch up from before we left for Durban on holiday! Here are some photos of the back garden....





Hey! Don't let us fall down the slide into that freezing water!!



Here is a view of Johannesburg city from the back wall.



It was lovely to spend some time in the garden..... and then we were treated to tea and cakes. Delicious traditional 'Malva Pudding' which is a sticky sponge pudding served with custard or cream, yum! And we also had cheese cake and choc mousse cake. Enough of the sweet stuff though!!





Now for the great holiday update, keep watching.....

At last some time to update on our holiday away in Durban...
We were all excited and packing, Grape Ape and I were watching...



Wooohoo! All packed up! Off to the airport we go!

We went to the 'Mango' travel counter and checked out the flight details on their computer, Juanita is always inquisitive...



Er, help guys, where to now?



Only teasing! Juanita and Nicholas take good care of us, always ready to show us the sights. We bought a cool drink and of course... a chocolate for the trip. It is only a 50 minute flight.
Look at this huge coin! It is a Kruger Rand (chocolate!). Real Kruger Rands are made out of REAL gold and are sold for investment usually. Some people also wear them as jewelry!!



Yippeeee! Finally on the plane and I get to see out the window!



Juanita had us safely tucked under her safety belt.



This is the plane we went on. Bright orange, go man-go! Ha,ha!



We finally arrived and it was much warmer in Durban. We were staying at Vicki's mother's house. Look at this beautiful view from the front patio!

We woke up to breakfast cooking and Grandpa Mike (Vicki's stepdad) was making a delicious 'fritata'. We all ate a scrumptious breakfast.



Then we sat and admired the view for a bit, this is the Durban harbour and we can see the huge boats coming and going and the cranes moving up and down. Vicki showed us the light which shines red when there is a boat entering the harbour.



We walked around the garden and saw the beautiful hydroponics garden that Grandpa Mike has. Wow! I could get lost in here!!! Look at the lettuce and the celery, yummy...



Juanita had homework to do, she had to make a carving and it had to be ready when she returned to school. They even work when they are on holiday!! I suppose I can help her again!! What would she do without me?



Lovely to sit here, take in the view..... and what? Munching on some freshly roasted peanuts?? Double YUM! Granny Janette went and bought them especially for us.



Oh, it is lovely to relax and be waited on like this! This is the life!!

The weather hasn't been the best but we have been kept very busy. It is still warmer than Johannesburg.
Today we were invited to visit at Vicki's step sister's (Lydia) apartment in Umhlanga Rocks. It is about 20km north of Durban and they live on the beach front.
We drove past the new soccer stadium being built in Durban for the 2010 World Cup.



It is called the Senzangakhona Stadium after the father of the famous King Shaka Zulu and is costing R1.6bn to build. http://www.news24.com/News24/Sport/Soccer/0,,2-9-840_1952456,00.html. This is not the best photo but it was overcast and getting dark.

Lydia and her family live on the third floor of the Longbeach apartment block. Another stunning view...



We took a walk on the promenade and looked at the lighthouse and all the other fancy apartment blocks.



This is the view back down the coast and the lights in the distance are Durban city lights.



Juanita took us down to the beach....



Lydia was preparing dinner, whew, all that sea air has made us hungry!!! We offered to help, is that an avocado? No a watermelon, with an avo next to it.



OK, we are ready... and some tasty wine...



And so we eat again....

We woke up to a bright sunny day and Granny Janette said we could go to the beach. We drove through the city and looked at some of the old buildings.





This is the Central Post Office....



And the City Hall.....not so easy taking photos from the moving car.



This street sign made Vicki laugh! Imagine having to warn people against doing this!



The eThekwini (Durban) municipality has decided to change the road names to more traditional or ethnic names.



The beach at last!! There are many beaches along the coast, this one is the South beach or Addington beach. It looks as though there was a sailing regatta going on, there were so many yachts out there.





It was a beautiful day but the water was still chilly, so we walked along the promenade. We came to the Ushaka Marine World. Nicholas and Juanita loooove going to the Water World but with the water so cold we didn't go in and they have visited the Aquarium side a few times too, so we unfortunately missed out. We looked through the fence at the rides.



Beautiful up-market apartments are being built here with waterways running between then. There is a huge plan to upgrade the whole harbour area and the entrance to the harbour.



This old 'marooned boat' houses the aquarium and pubs and restaurants. http://www.ushakamarineworld.co.za/home.html



Hey Nicholas....what's he up to? Oh, this is a pretty banister! Just don't forget us here!

This morning Vicki woke up early to watch the sunrise. She decided that she shouldn't wake me, good idea that! It did look very pretty though.

 

After breakfast we were off to the beach, woohooo! Granny Janette decided it was her turn to hold us!



The water was 23C and the weather had warmed up. This beach is close to the harbour entrance. I was watching the life guards and making sure they were doing their duties!



Aaah, smell the sea air!!



It was good to just sit on the sand and watch the waves!



Juanita took us into the water with her..... not so sure about this....



Then Vicki decided she would hold us so we could watch, she didn't want us getting all salty.



I loved watching the people enjoying themselves on the beach.



Having fun on the beach?? Hey! What's Granny Janette up to here?



Time for a rest? Those waves are hard work.



Watching the ships come in..... this one was a motor vehicle transporter. It was huge!



Ice cream time, apparently a family tradition! Can't come to the beach without having an ice cream!! Good for me!



Another unusual ship, couldn't figure this one out? It had tall chimneys and cranes on it...  Emil?? Emil!



No, I am not coming to watch you swim... just leave me here to relax and watch the scenery.....zzzzzzzz.



This is the traditional 'Rickshaw Boy'. He takes tourists for a ride (literally and figuratively!!) up and down the beach front but they are soooo expensive.



More road name changes!! The poor Postman can't keep up!



When we got home, Vicki and Nicholas made sushi. It was delicious and everyone enjoyed it.

Our last day here in Durban.... we have had a lovely time, it is sad to be leaving... Granny Janette took us to a wonderful delicatessen. Vicki wanted to take some treats home with her. This is her favourite shop and keeps threatening to open a deli like this one in Johannesburg!!



It smelt so good in the shop, they smoke the meats on the premises.





Here I am with all the salami and traditional dried meat, called 'Biltong'. Biltong is very popular here as a snack served with drinks especially. It is salted and then dried and once ready, sliced up into pieces. They do the same with sausage which is called 'dried wors'.



Lunch was a really tasty 'Boerewors Roll'. Another very traditional type of sausage. It is usually cooked on a 'braai' or barbecue and here it was served in a bread roll.



The day was spent packing and relaxing a bit more, before getting ready to go to the airport. We were due to fly out at 5.30pm and Granny Janette dropped us at the airport and we said our farewells. Once inside we discovered that our flight had been delayed until 10.00pm!! Vicki was mad and she phoned Granny Janette who very kindly came back to fetch us! They don't live too far away, thank goodness.
I was very happy not to have to wait in the airport. Vicki managed to take this last photo of the beautiful scenery, the harbour by night. It will stay in my mind as a reminder of Durban.

Catching up at last! Vicki went to the Post Office when we returned and guess who she found there??



Another two TV's arrived! Here we are cuddled up (Whew! It is cold here! Can we go back to Durban please??) together with Purple Bun and Gilbert, on Juanita's bed having a chat and introducing ourselves...

Juanita wanted to introduce the newcomers to her friends and show them her school and we got to go along for the ride! Here we are in the Afrikaans class reading a book called 'Blinde Sambok' by Riaana Scheepers, which is their setwork for Afrikaans. This is one of the National languages and students at Juanita's school are allowed to choose between Afrikaans and Zulu and take it as an additional subject to Gr 12.




Here we are at break, soaking up the sun, chatting and making new friends!



Ooooh! It is lovely and warm here...



Juanita dropped us back at Vicki's art class and we helped the Gr 6 students to finish off their carnival masks, great fun!



Er, guys.... please mind out for that glue gun!!



As Vicki said... another busy day at the office!!

Here I am for a last update before I pack my bags and get on my way again.... Vicki has been very busy organising marks for the children's reports. The school term ends in two weeks time for the August holiday so once again things have been hectic around here!!

Last Saturday, Vicki strapped us all in with the safety belt and we were off for a visit.



First we stopped in at Mrs C and visited with all the TV's visiting her. Unbeknown to me, Vicki had told Mrs C that it was my last weekend in South Africa so Mrs C had a surprise farewell party for me!! We had a lovely time, all chatting and comparing notes of where we had been and where we were off to.





I was sad to leave but we were off on another little adventure.
We were visiting a children's home called 'Footprints'. Vicki and her children visit there often and take any toys and clothing that they can gather from anyone willing to give. All the Gr 9 classes at Juanita's school collect toiletries for the home on a regular basis. Here I am with Grape Ape amongst their toys.



The ladies who look after the children, helping with their lunch.



Some of the children playing in the garden.... they are so happy here!




Here we are all sitting on the sign.



These two were kept entertained with this trolley for quitesome time!!!

They are building up a farmyard for the children. 'Clyde' is the goat, he is cheeky and tries to head-butt everyone! And there are the cutest pigs called 'Crispy' and 'Bacon'.




We kept some of the children company while they were having lunch.



This is the back garden, the children have fun on the trampolines. It was really icy cold, so no-one was interested in being out there.



Juanita propped us on the statue of David in the front garden and the children laughed!!!




We drove back home past the Zandspruit Squatter Camp. Vicki hates to see all this poverty. Some 'entrepreneurs' are selling their wares on the side of the road.






We saw a tree full of Glossy Starlings which were so pretty but it was such a dull and gloomy day, that you can hardly see them in the photo.



When we got home, Ken had made a lovely log fire and it was so warm, we all sat around chatting and watching tv.

Sunday turned out to be even more gloomy than Saturday!!



Vicki had to catch up with marking test papers, so we hung around and watched.



And then moved on to sit with Nicholas cuddled up watching tv.



Just a relaxing day.