Travelog for: Pinky Bear

We were all invited to a party today and the theme was 'The Olympic Games'. We were all quite excited to represent our countries!



First up were the equestrian events. Whoa Nellie!



We sat out the sprinting as we stood no chance against these fine athletes...



I gave the javelin a go though, don't worry, the car was just fine!



All four of us, together, could not make the weights even budge. Natalie showed us how, declaring "they are not so heavy!" Show off...



We were so quick at throwing discus that the photos were blurred! No point in showing you!

Next up was boxing... I had a little problem with my gloves at first...



After all of that physical exercise it was time for a drink and sugar boosting snack...

This was the only swimming going on today, this is the Winter Olympics!



I stand corrected, here are the synchronised swimmers...



We sang a rousing chorus of 'Happy Birthday' to the birthday boy and tucked into some scrummy cake.... cutting that cake was also an Olympic event!



Finally it was prize giving...

The bronze goes to Canada! Represented by Synapse.



Joint silver to Australia and England! Represented by Jubilee Bunny & Fiona



And the winner is.....ta da! The most superior athlete, me, Pinky Bear from Germany!




What a fabulous day!



But now I need to go home for a hot bath and a muscle relaxing massage...

Ha ha ha...all those extra ToyVoyagers stayed at home and I went on another adventure!

Fi's friend Amanda took me on holiday with her and I had an amazing time. Let me tell you all about it...

Well I sat about at her house for a few days until it was time to leave. It was exciting packing everything to get ready for the journey. This time I knew exactly where I was going because Amanda has two young boys and they could not stop talking about the trip!

Finally the day dawned that we all got strapped into the car and left for the Kruger National Park!!!! Yay! At last, I get to see African animals, after all this time....

So off we set...man what a lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng journey. Amanda told me to stop asking if we were there yet or she was going to feed me to a crocodile...I THINK she was just joking....

First thing I did when we got to the camp was go for a wee...it was a bit weird because the bathroom had a glass front so you could see the view!!! Seriously... this is me washing my hands; that is a glass wall behind me.



We stopped at the Crocodile Bridge Rest Camp...

Here is the Crocodile Bridge...



Here is the Crocodile River....



Here is me....



And... gulp...Amanda, you WERE joking right? Right?



So, let’s not sit around here any more...how about we go see some animals...that aren't crocodiles?



Is that a rock? That fuzzy thing over there...



Oh no it is a rhino!



Well, it WAS a rhino, he has walked off down the road somewhere.




Next, next, what's next? I am so excited! Real African animals, all over the place!

Look! Elephants!



Nosey giraffe...



Okay, back away monkey...don't even THINK of snatching me...



Zebra...



...and more zebra.



Oh look! More giraffe...wow they are really tall!




Time to head back to camp for something to eat I think.



Oh dear, the restaurant is CLOSED for reservations and nobody bothered telling us. Luckily we had some snacky stuff because it is an hours drive to the nearest store...I had a look around the garden while Amanda's mom and dad went to buy supplies

Aren't the Srelitzias pretty?



Hmmm these flowers smell heavenly...



Look what I found; the children will be pleased with this...





I'll just lie here for a bit on the lounger in the warm sun and... and... and... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...



What? Huh? How did I end up in here? Pesky children, it is not nice to move a sleeping bear!!!




I sure hope there are no crocodiles in this river!



Well we waited THREE hours for Amanda's parents to get back, so no more game drives today... we had supper and went to bed...

We woke up early the next morning and off we went. We saw lots of the same animals and we stopped at the river again..




This time we saw a hippo...



Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha !!!!! She has a few terrapins on her back... they must have thought she was a rock...they must have got pretty confused when she stood up and went for a walk!!!



Can you see the warthog behind me? I didn't want to turn around and frighten it off so I sat still for a photo first...



Now I really feel like I have been to Africa...bush, animals and an African sunset…What could be better than this?




I tell you what! On our last day, after spending all that time driving around looking at animals we got such a nice surprise...

Look! Elephants with riders...I wonder what it would be like to ride on an elephant...



OH. MY. GOODNESS. Amanda's husband spoiled us with an ELEPHANT RIDE!!! Look carefully... I am up there in Amanda's pocket...



Wow! That is all I can say... I don't think anything will EVER top that. I am happy to go back to Jo'burg now...I have seen and done it all...



Hang on... I never saw lions!!! We need to go back! What do you mean 'No'?

Thank you Adam and Amanda for taking me to the Kruger Park with you and helping me achieve one of my life's missions, and then bringing me home safely!

We have been all sitting around the house lately not really doing much and we were all starting to get bored of reading books, and doing puzzles, so Fi packed a picnic bag and piled us all into the car. The children asked where we were going and she said -"wait till we get there then you'll see!" Ooohhh ! I do like surprises...

It wasn't a very long journey, about 10 or 15 minutes. None of us needed to read what the sign board said, we could tell by the picture! Yay! Yay! Yay! Now I get to see lions….



We stopped at the ticket office to get our tickets and a map - that was for the children to look at; Fi said the place wasn't that big that you needed a map... We also bought some jelly beans and postcards (of course - what else?). Then we stopped at the loo because you can't get out the car for a pee unless you want to be eaten for lunch. That made me nervous and I had to go back in for another little tinkle.

Fi said we would not see anything from the front seat so she put us on the dash board and told us not to mess about - as if!



Oops... NormaNikkers got so excited she fell off... Fi gave her a cross look and said that we had to calm down or we would be in serious trouble. The two children in the back laughed hysterically, because that's what they usually get told.



You might have heard about all the terrible fires across South Africa lately. In winter it is so dry that the grass catches fire so easily; add a strong wind and it is a recipe for disaster. Quite a large part of the Lion Park was burned, luckily this happened before all the wind started or the animals would have been trapped. The fire was stopped as it could not cross the dirt road; in high winds that is no obstacle at all. You can see the new grass is growing through already and it must be very sweet and tender; those greedy buck never lifted their heads once the whole time we watched them.



This zebra was standing right next to the road!



Wait! I need a photo taken with it...



Oh, they are so far away I can hardly see them...looks like sable antelope and zebra...



And the wildebeest are so far away you can barely see them either.
I suppose the lions will be even harder to see...



Talking of which! There are strict rules: windows are NOT allowed to be opened. You have to stay IN your car at all times. Do not feed the TOYS to the lions. Okay, I made the last one up...but don't okay?



Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! THAT is the king of the beasts? No, no,no! That is a giant pussycat!




And um....HE would be the king of the beasts...thank goodness he is sound asleep...shhhh! Don't wake him up...



Okay, now we sat back and watched an African soap opera unfold:

That is it! I have had enough! I am going to find another pride of lions to live with - you all take me for granted!




Yes, especially you Lioninna! I could get my claws out and have a real cat fight but I just couldn't be BOTHERED!



What are you lot looking at?



I am NEVER going back. NEVER! They can beg, they can plead, it is too LATE!



We huddled together hoping she would not spot us... Synapse slithered off the dashboard and took NormaNikkers with him...



Just then there was a little whimper...then a wail MOM! Where are you going? Come BACK...



That of course was too much for her... her maternal instincts kicked in and she turned back. Synapse stayed on the dash but so flat and heavily camouflaged that he may as well have stayed on the seat!



Oh dear... I sense trouble... look who just got up to see what was going on.



Just what do you think you are doing!? How dare you leave my pride without my permission? I am the KING!!!!

Ummm...I'll never do it again...now just let me get to my baby



Mom? Where did you go? Can I go too? Pleeeeeease? Can I have rollerblades and a skateboard? Huh? Can I? Mom! I'm talking to you...




Then we drove on to the next camp. We were playing a game to see who could spot the lions first. NormaNikkers nearly wet herself with excitement when she spotted them.



Boring, they are asleep...



We started driving by.... she was quite sound asleep...Oh hey! These are WHITE lions!



Oops, our squeals woke him up....



Time to move on I think.... may I have some jellybeans?

We stopped at the picnic area because we were all feeling pretty peckish by now.
We found a table under a tree because it was also very hot.

And then we had a visitor.



She got REAL close...



Shane showed us that she was very gentle.



So I got a little closer to meet her.





Well that's not something you do everyday!

Time for lunch, oh my head is burning I need a hat. Oh thanks Fi! Now, what is there to eat? Boiled eggs, cheese sarmies (sandwiches), fruit, crisps and Swiss roll... where do I start?



This is an African Coral tree. They bloom at this time of the year. The leaves only grow a little later so the red looks quite spectacular against the blue sky. There is one of these trees on every block, such a nice way to end winter...



Well lunch was good! Time to see the other animals in the enclosures. Most of them are hiding because of the heat; mid day is not the right time to look for animals!

But she is cooling down on top of her hutch... she acknowledged our presence with a flick of her tail but she wouldn't turn around. Come on cheetah, smile for the camera!



We all stayed away from the ostrich!



And we wisely stayed away from feeding the giraffe... the children's arms were covered in slobber eeeeuuuwww!



They had to wash their arms three times to get it off!

Hmm what does this say?  Lion cubs... yadda, yadda, yadda entrance yad...what? Surely you are NOT taking us in there!?



Oh! So sweet... so sleepy.... lets leave them that way shall we?





Well that's more excitement than I can handle in one day... time to head home and have a nap!

Well here we are in the car again! Fi and Vicki decided to take us to Museum Africa so see what it was all about...



Wow! It is pretty huge in here, three open plan floors... the building used to be a fruit and vegetable market in the Old Days (you know, when Fi was a kid!)

Well we found some old suit cases, guess we are going on a journey...



The Museum has all sorts of interesting thinks about South Africa on display, like clothing from the REALLY old days (ie. even BEFORE Fi!) like this...



Here is what it says about that display:



There is a huge hall dedicated to the 'Treason trial' that was held in the 1960s at the height of Apartheid. There are pictures of all the accused. One of the most famous:

Nelson Mandela



This is what he said about it in his book...





Each of the accused has a little red book under their photo that people can write comments in... Mandela's is handled so much that it is falling apart... it is filled with words of love and admiration.



There was a lot more to that section but it was all very political so I won't bore you with it.

Next up: life in Johannesburg, before it was Johannesburg...



This is a replica of an Iron Age Tswana house, impressive...but hey they were smart enough to smelt iron (iron melts at 1100°C / 2012°F) over half a century ago!




This is what the smelt looked like, it was made from mud. It was quite a mission to melt the iron and required the efforts of at least ten people just to make one spear blade. It was always done outside the village because it was considered spiritual and mystical.



From the Iron Age to the Gold age! Johannesburg is a gold mining town, still to this day and the mines go down several kilometres/miles.

The managers lived in fancy big houses and ruled with an iron fist. (we are talking late 1800’s to early 1900’s)



The mine workers lived like this...






Pretty shocking, hmmm? They worked long hours in terrible conditions, way underground, then came up and lived in quarters that were almost as cramped as the mines. They were not allowed to leave the property without a 'pass'. Because the miners came from so many different tribes and even other countries, and the bosses all spoke English or Afrikaans - they had to develop a new language called Funigalore so they could understand each other. It is still spoken in the mines today.

Also around this time, shanty towns were developing. One of these was called Sofiatown - it was the birthplace of modern South African music. Sofiatown was raised to the ground; all of the people who lived there were forcefully evicted, to make way for new developments.



Here we are in a replica of a Sofiatown Shebeen (house where alcohol is sold illegally)





This is the back room - see how it is lined with cardboard? This is still how it is done today, I'll show you in a bit...



This is what the outside would have looked like...



Then we moved on to a section which shows you how the shacks look today. THIS is how MILLIONS of people live in this country; often there is no running water or electricity.

The shack is built from 'found' items, usually corrugated sheet metal. Sometimes it is plastered with mud or old boards. It is then lined with cardboard from packaging boxes for insulation. Sometimes this is decorated with 'wallpaper' - old newspaper, adverts, sheets of uncut food canning labels... Cooking is done on a primus stove (fuelled by paraffin). These shacks are TINY and Fi felt very claustrophobic in them. Often you will find the whole place crowded with people living in there...











The good news is that government is (very slowly) building houses for these people, with running water, electricity and other amenities. There is a huge, huge housing project just up the road from Fi called Cosmo City - proof that it is happening.

Now I am sure you have heard of Ghandi (kind of the Nelson Mandela of his day...)



Well he lived in Johannesburg for a while, and the terrible suffering he witnessed and suffered from led him to start a movement for peace, called Satyagraha, which had a massive influence in India, the USA (with the African American Civil Rights movement) and locally.



There were a lot of other exhibits but we were running out of time as it was a long journey back to fetch children from school. Also housed in the museum, is another museum! Called the BenSusan Museum of photography - Fi said that was for another day, but she did let us have a photo taken...



Here we all are signing the visitor’s book...

Well, after we left the museum, we went across the road to the Gauteng Tourist Information Centre (Gauteng is the province that Johannesburg is in).

Fi went to pick up some brochures of nice places to take ToyVoyagers...

Look who had also popped in! Hi Madiba! (Madiba is the nick name Mandela is known as in South Africa) He has shrunk a bit since I last saw him in Sandton!



And that is the president, Thabo Mbeki, in the middle photo.

Threadbear and Eloise managed to keep a secret from us all until the last minute... Fiona and I had to be told earlier than everone else as we had a special role to play...

The other TVs thought they were just helping keep all the bears in order for a group photo before they left for the Teddy Bear Clinic...



There was much giggling and chatting as everyone jostled for good positions. Threadbear eventually managed to get them all to calm down and then made an announcement.

He welcomed all the guests and thanked them for travelling from both near and far to help me him on his quest. The he said that he had some good news, he and Eloise had recently gotten engaged! There was a ripple of excitement through the crowd and a few whistles and cheers from the rowdy section...”but”, he said, “we wanted all of you to be guests at our wedding before you leave for the Teddy Bear Clinic so... if you look at the end of the aisle, you will see the most beautiful, kind hearted bear I have ever laid eyes on...”

There was a very loud gasp as they all realised that they were at their wedding!



Buttons walked Eloise down the aisle to give her away, Fionaand I were bridesmaids. Hector did the honours of best man.



I could tell how happy Threadbear was as we walked closer and closer...



The officiating bear asked who gave the bride away, and Buttons stepped forward to do the honours.



Then they exchanged vows...



Eloise said 'I do'…and Threadbear said 'I do'. (I heard a few sniffles in the crowd...)

The ring bear-er passed over the ring... well really it was a bracelet as bears have paws not fingers...



The crowd gave a collective sigh...



Then it was time for him to kiss the bride!



Oh….that was lovely!



They walked back down the aisle as bear and wife...



We showered them with petals...



Oh that was amazing! Everyone congratulated them
We went inside to have some wedding cake - Vicki brought a chocolate cake because that is way nicer than fruit cake....



The bears preferred to have honey and large pots of it were provided. We had a whale of a party, we danced and chatted most of the night away...it was quite a whirlwind of an evening.

Soon, however it was time for them to leave. They climbed in the car...we had snuck out to decorate it…



We gathered around to wave them off.



Eloise threw back her bouquet...



I caught it!!!



And they were off...sigh…that was so romantic…

Fi said she was taking NormaNikkers somewhere really special today and that we could go with, so in the car we got…



We were heading for the Magaliesburg, a mountain range just past Johannesburg.



After a long winding drive through the beautiful hills of the Magaliesburg, and an unintentional detour (yep, we got a little lost), we stopped to turn right...now what does this mean?



This is looking very interesting...







Oh we seem to be going into the woods...lots of little streams and bridges and woven sticks...Norma went crazy!



LOOK! Little people! I wonder if there are any more of them?



Trust her to find them!



We decided to stop off for a drink and a snack.... Norma was way too excited she went to go explore...Bye! We’ll save you some milkshake...maybe...



When she came back she told us we had to have a little look in the room full of fairies…we were a bit big to sit amongst them, so if you want to see more have a look at her travelog.



She found another little house...



...with some family members inside!



Look what we saw in the woods...pretty hmm?



Norma went inside the restaurant, but it was a bit busy to take photos.
She said it was so cute in there! Lots of little nooks and crannies. Some rooms were only big enough for two people and some were big enough for twenty or more. There was a very large upstairs, open air part but it was rather full so she never went for a look. Some of the doors were so tiny Fi had to hold her breath to squeeze through!

The gardens outside were very pretty too, but it has only just turned spring. I am sure in summer it is a lot greener and more lush.



Ahh, what a dreamy place...Norma hasn't stopped talking about it! We should have maybe left her behind....

Fi has a whole box of silkworms. It is spring in South Africa at the moment, which is silkworm season.

These silkworms were rescued from a little girl who was tired of looking after them. Luckily Fi has a mulberry tree near by because they never stop eating... they have already grown since she first got them a few days ago.



I wonder how big and fat they will get before they start spinning cocoons. It seems that I won't get to see because Fi's brother and his girlfriend were here today and they are taking me on holiday somewhere exciting and I will be gone for quite a while. 

Hmmm, I wonder where it can be...we are going on an aeroplane so it must be somewhere far away....

I am so mad, that I am shaking with fury! I don't want to even talk about it!



Okay, I'll talk about it...

Fi's brother said he would take me to Romania - I was so excited! What he really meant was "you are going to remain here. Right here, in my flat, in a bag full of important documents that should be going with me."

So the documents and I sat in that hot itchy bag for weeks on end. And did he take me straight back to Fi when he eventually got home? NO!!!!! He left me in the bag.... and only brought me back tonight. I was too upset to even be happy that I was back.

Then the other TVs in the house, Hector and Shaggy Bear told me if he was that unreliable it is just as well I got left behind - imagine I got lost in Romania! What a horrid thought...

They managed to convince me to play a game of basket ball with them. I am glad I did, it was such fun!





Then it started raining so we went inside. I forgot it rains a lot here in summer.

Tonight we went to Carol's by Candle light at the children's school.

The entire playing field is covered in people having picnics and the children sit up on the stands and sing and dance. It was lovely...

Heh heh, we ate Reindeer eggs! And sausages and carrot cake and...ooh, my tummy is grumbling with hunger just thinking about it....



...and chocolate hedgehogs too! Yummy!





The children were to far away to get nice photos of, so you will just have to imagine them all in Santa hats, or reindeer antlers waving big green shakers around.

Once it got dark we lit our candles.



Luckily the rain held off until it was time to go home, but it sure cleared the field fast!

I could not understand why Fi was running around like a nut, moving stuff and setting up tables and while her husband was reeling out metres and metres of cables....

Before long the gate intercom was buzzing and strange men drove in with...their entire PC strapped in their cars!

The War Geeks had arrived. Usually they play a game called Battelfield on line. They have a forum too and they have funny nicknames like 'Useless' and 'You are toast', Fi's son is called Shrapnel (cause he is small and annoying? ). Today however, they were having a network session and taking over the house!



When I say taking over the house I mean it!

Upstairs… (Wow! That is a massive screen!)



In the garage!!!! Two teams...






In the dining room...oh, umm... that's me having a turn!



They were in the lounge and someone even commandeered Fi's PC. Aha! It was Shrapnel - that's okay then. He plays quite well for a kid (though his mother would prefer he didn't play at all!)



Could someone send out for pizza? The troops are starving - an army marches on its stomach you know!

Fi and her friends formed a book club for their children called Bookworms. They meet once a month, share books, read stories, have lunch and play. They have been doing this for about three years now.

Today was the Christmas meet up as most of them would be on holiday in December. We all met at the Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens.. Oh, I have been here before! No locusts this time!



Each child gave a book present to another. The children also gave their Dads a small gift to thank them for attending Bookworms for the VERY FIRST TIME! One of the Dads took the children down to the waterfall to see it. (We had to stay behind because Fi had just found out that her Grandmother had passed away after a very long and happy life) We wandered around the area and found a tortoise! There was another, bigger one but they move faster than you think!



After a picnic lunch, we all sat down and listened to Christmas stories... and 50% of the Dads fell asleep 



I had some left over pudding that Fi made - oh it was yummy!

There is always something going on in this house. Every year Natalie and Shane take part in an international Christmas card swap. The rules are simple: the children have to make ten cards by themselves and then they get sent to other children who are partaking and whose names are randomly drawn.

Well, we really wanted to help so they let us! As you can see we went with an 'African Christmas' theme.



We helped with cutting, gluing and glittering (and we stayed clean and glitter free!) and then popped the cards in envelopes.

Tomorrow is the last day of school. Fi had decided to give the children's teachers a platter of home baked biscuits as an end of year gift. Nice, but she only started baking once the children were in bed! We got roped in to help - to speed things up, but all the posing for photos actually slowed things down  We ended up going to bed at 4 in the morning!  We had an extra pair of fins to help. A little turtle called Squirt arrived from Okinawa today.

First up: Pistachio and cranberry biscotti (if you want any recipes just ask Fi)



Looking good, but a bit too big...



That's better!



Pop them on a baking tray and in the oven they go!



Shall we mix the next batch while that bakes? Good idea!



Okay, we need butter...



Chopped nuts... Fi wouldn't let us help here; she said the knife was too sharp and dangerous.



Oooooohhhh! Treacle sugar! Yummy!



Now that made me thirsty!



Now that it is all mixed up we need to add the nuts and chocolate chips... it is very hard working with all these yummy things and not being allowed to eat anything - my tummy is grumbling... 



Tada! The first batch of choc chip cookies!



The biscotti comes out the oven and the choc chips go in...



The loaves get sliced...another big sharp knife!



...and put back on the baking tray... biscotti means 'twice baked biscuit'.



The choc chips are done! The smell! My tummy is EATING itself....




The biscotti are done! There is a hole in my stomach...I think I am digesting my own stuffing...



Fi says she usually uses the ends of the loaves as 'testers'. She gave us one to taste (heavenly - what a relief for my poor starved tummy) it got passed around and we all had a nibble...



Going….



Going….



Going….



All gone! Next up: gingerbread! Ooohhh...molasses!



The dough was all mixed up and the counter cleared, ready for rolling. Can you make out the time on the clock behind us? 23.20! We'd better get moving.



Good grief! What a lot of cookie cutters! And these in this jar are JUST the Christmas ones...



We tried to get Fi to use these bear shaped ones but she said no...



Rolling out the dough was such hard work we had to take it in turns.





Oh my hat! It has just gone mid-night and Fi is starting on fudge...it takes almost an hour to make... yaWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWn



I can't keep my eyes open any more...I need to sleep now... fudge is setting, gingerbread is decorated...what more?



Ah, trays! Fudge is till to warm - Fi says she will get up early to sort it out  she hasn't even gone to sleep yet and it is four in the morning! I bet she will have a mid morning nap!




Bed time!

Today we all packed into the car very excitedly as we were going somewhere that was a surprise...

As we set off it became apparent that we were driving into a massive storm! Fi and her husband looked a little worried as the surprise was outdoors.

We finally drove into the parking lot of the Montecasino...which was mostly flooded because the rain was bucketing down... We went upstairs to the outdoor arena to be met with a solid sheet of water and hundreds of sad looking children and grumpy looking parents.

We had come to see 'The Beautiful Creatures' concert and it was the very last show and it looked like it would be cancelled. After much milling about and unhelpfulness from the ticket agents, we went to have some lunch. On the way back we saw that all the children were still hanging about with their even grumpier parents, so we went to ask what was happening...aha, if the rain stopped by 4 the concert would go ahead!

At quarter past four we took out our tissues to try and dry our seats! The children eventually just moved to the front and sat on the wet floor because they were so excited to see their favourite African animal songs come to life...



The children did all the actions and sang along (actually, so did most of the parents - once you have heard the CDs a million times in the car, you pretty much know all the words!)



Oh it was lovely! Worth the rain and the wait and the damp seating...and I was right up front to watch it!



After the show, we queued up to buy the new CD and had it autographed by Ed Jordan who created the series (and Alan Glass, but we never got a photo of him) and sings on the CDs.