Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Durban Christmas 2012

Durban produced a roasting hot day for our Christmas 2012 which we spent with family and friends. It was Llewellyn's sister and her husband Matt's first Christmas in their new home in Durban, having made the intelligent move from Johannesburg and we all brought something to the table for a fabulous feast.
 
My kids arrived in the afternoon so we had more present opening and joy with the brats before they woke us up again at 2.30am to pack the car for their trip with mates to Mocambique for New Year.
 
 
My kids Mark and Kate-Lynn with their Holmes Brothers' Durban shirts

The Christmas table with the Quinns


Father and son.. best!

Kate's new rad sunglasses


The brats


Me horizontal and stuffed after Christmas lunch

The kids are packed and ready for Mozam at 3am on Boxing Day
 

Monday, December 24, 2012

The Barrys visit from Ireland





It's crazy how your kids make friends at school, then the parents become mates too. So with the Barrys who then emigrated some 15 years ago and left for the shores of Ireland. We regularly see them when we visit Dublin and their village of Navan and they paid us a visit last night on their trip with their 2 girls Shannon and Kirsty to show them something of the land they had left.
 
There were 15 of us for a braai at the guesthouse. Although Mark's friend Steven did not join his sister's on the trip, it was a chance for the kids to catch up.
 
 

With Mark and Dain to Kloof Gorge






I grew up in the Kloof area and this spot was just around the corner from my school and a frequent cross-country route. My gran also lived around one of the flanges of the gorge and had a 2 acre property which went down to the river below. Mark and his friend Dain, whom we have know since they were pre-primary kids, took us on a tour of the part of the gorge near his home yesterday. Amazing rock formations and with the recent rains fast-flowing river.. perfect for sliding, river rafting just with our bodies and perfect weather.
 

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

12h12 on 12.12.12

I know it's pretty corny but we paused at work at 12h12 to consider the time and date. We missed the 12secs past 12h12 though. It only happens again in 2112 and I won't be around then.

I remember sitting in University in 1978 and waiting for my digital watch then to show me 12:34 4:5:78 - that was also pretty unique.. must have been 2nd year BA degree! Now we waited for the moment on my cellphone and computer clock.. and there was some argument as to whether Vodacom or MTN had the correct time. At New Year last there was a 5 minute time difference between the two... you could see which half of Durban was on MTN and which was Vodacom. I thought we were all on the atomic clock now so how come the difference?

Anyways, back in 1978 we didn't have computers either in South Africa or cellphones, and had only just got TV!


Sunday, December 9, 2012

Galway clan

Audene, Tatham, Sandra, Gary, Stacey, Wally, Kate-Lynn, myself, Richard and Tammy (l to r)

Dean and Bryce

Tatham and Gary



We had a delightful gettogether today of the Galway clan.. 2nd, 3rd and 4th generations... my cousins Debbie, Dean and Gary with our kids and even grandchildren can you believe!!
 
I don't know why we havn't done this before but was super to see the cousins and nephews/neices and enjoy a catch up braai and drinks. Thanks Debbie and Wally (Fry) of the famous Fry's vegetarian foods for opening up your fabulous home and letting us all have a pre-Christmas chin-wag.
 

Kate-Lynn's 24th birthday





Kate-Lynn celebrated her 24th Birthday and brother Mark arrived home from Cape Town in time for the fun. We started with breakfast out in the uShaka area, followed by the I Heart Market, flapjacks with Nicci, collected Mark from the airport, lunch at home then New York for supper and drinks with friends... who then followed home for a late night swim in the pool and coffee and rusks!! Yeha!!
 

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Cape Town

The view from the Devon Valley area towards the Stellenbosch mountains

Mark's mates enjoy a braai

Stunning Christmas tree in Cape Town Airport

A beer with my boy whose hair has become a mop.. and we're both sporting Movember moustaches. We watched the Boks beat England.

The view waiting for breakfast along the R44

End of 3rd year for Mark at Stellenbosch and I made a quick trip to Cape Town to check on my boy who has just had his wisdom teeth taken out. I met up with his mates and sorted medication for him and even managed to party till 4am with the students having their last jol before returning home for Christmas.
 

1000 days of Summer


Couchsurfer Thomas stayed with us 2 nights on his 1000 days of summer world tour... hitchhiking around the world skipping winter and only having fun in the sun... while being sponsored by MasterCard. What a life!
 

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Fun weekend




It was a fun weekend with the wedding of a former staff member, Debbie Weldon, then a Saturday flight with a group of 5 planes to the Oribi Gorge for breakfast. Saturday afternoon was spent pub-crawling with our fellow pilots and a braai for supper.
 
Sunday we just chilled and enjoyed the fantastic Durban sunshine and de-toxed!!
 
 

Saturday, November 3, 2012

Cycling across Africa


Our Couchsurfing guest Rene from Switzerland arrived in Durban after crossing Syberia from Moscow to China on a bicycle and then making his way to Bali where he joined a yacht for a 3-month cruise to Reunion, Mauritius and Durban.
 
Rene's life is contained in 5 bags straddling his bicycle and he has been on the road for 427 days since leaving his home town. He leaves Durban today and is cycling to Lesotho and then Cape Town where he meets up with his sister for Christmas. After that he is aiming north to travel through Africa back to Europe. Sjoe!!!
 

Monday, October 29, 2012

Action-packed weekend

A courtyard scene, similar to the Al Shabandar Palace Hotel we stayed at in Damascus Syria just before the violence escalated.

We had an action-packed weekend finally putting up our Damascus wallhanging in our middle east corner of the house, and celebrating the arrival of 3 Sling aircraft in Durban. On Friday we partied at Ayre Aviation whose new training plane arrived, our Sling ZDL also being delivered by Mike Blyth of The Airplane Factory, and our friends Marc and Lee whose Sling SAA flew back to Durban the same day too.

Fellow lecturers Tarryn and my daughter Kate-Lynn with Llewellyn at the Ayre Aviation celebration

Around-the-world celebrity and owner of The Airplane Factory delivers Sling ZDL to Dave

Getting back into the pilot seat after a 2 1/2 month gap

Llewellyn has the camera on zoom as we take to the skies

Friends celebrating the arrival of our two planes with instructor Brad

The new rainbow colours of ZDL
Click on the link to see more photos and my flying blog here.

 

Monday, October 22, 2012

80th Birthday party

What a celebration - my mom's 80th Birthday on Thursday 18th October, dinner at home, followed by a birthday bash with family and friends hosted by the Galways at Alverston on Sunday. Mom was surrounded by probably the biggest gathering of the Galway family clan since "pa fell off the bus", and we enjoyed a lamb on the spit, drinks and scruptious salads and puddings.
 


The "old ducks" - mom, Val, Jean and cousin Marie at the party

Birthday dinner at our home

Mom and son, Dave

Granddaughter Kate-Lynn (my daughter) and Llewellyn tuck in



The Galway family clan


My Mom and Kate-Lynn