Family and friends

These are my boitjies and girls

 

Lisa, Kate-Lynn, Mark and Dain

Dave with his savages

Braai at home as we gallop towards New Year 2014

Dain, Dave and Mark

South Africans at large

We know that South Africans are world leaders.. just a pity they are spread all over the world in achieving such heights... read more here
 

Time out

Enjoying some time out in the sun at home.

Boxing Day

Mark arrived home after a day drive from East London where he was camping over Christmas with Lisa's family.

Christmas 2013 at home

Always great to be home with family at Christmas. We had the kids around and they cooked the roast and yorkshire pudding, to which we added gammon, veggies and salad. Missed Mark, who arrived the next day, but we read his letter being with us in spirit.

Christmas lunch with the kids

Christmas drinks - who finished the margarita?

Representing Mark Mc, Kate-Lynn and myself

Kids on the grass - awesome sunshine on Christmas day

Cheers Dad and Kate

Christmas lights in West Street, Durban

Mark graduates

Friday the 13th has some superstitious connotations, but it was a good day as Mark graduated with his BEng (Mechanical) engineering degree. It was not without drama however as we discovered hours before his graduation that his name was not on the list. By chance I was staying at the guesthouse owned by a Professor in his faculty and we enlisted his help over breakfast, with 2 hours to graduation, to get MC instated in time to graduate. This took a few phone calls and we then visited the Engineering department to unscramble the omission. Once his missing module was found authorisation had to be obtained from the powers that be to add Mark to the graduation list, print his degrees (English and Afrikaans), get the scroll across to the graduation hall and slot MC in as number 401A amongst the graduands. Otherwise we were told MC would have to return in March to graduate!! I was fortunate to be on hand to see it happen today. Congrats MC.. 4 years of hard work paid off and now another 2 years of Masters ahead.

 

More pics on Facebook here.

 

Proud Dad with Mark (MC)

Of course the sun only sets after 7pm so post-grad beach at Koelbaai was on the cards followed by a braai with Jono and Grace and then a Stellies jol to round up an awesome day.

Cousin Josh joined us for grad and we had lunch at a wine farm the next day

Back home to Durbs for Christmas

 

 

 

 

 

 

Goodbye to a dear father

The modern father of our nation and South Africa's favourite President died at the age of 95 last night on the 5th December 2013.

Nelson Mandela will be remembered as a world Statesman who brought unity to South Africa and peace to this part of Africa and a man loved by everyone.

CNN sets out well his life history and the passage to a peaceful transition from the National Party government pre-1994 to the democratic elections and the inauguration of our first black President under the new negotiated Constitution of the Republic. The Constitution introduced a Bill of Rights and widespread new freedoms for all citizens, regardless of race or gender. We salute you dear father and thank you for your gift to us all. May you Rest in Peace.

President Nelson Mandela

Swiss travellers arrive in Durban

Welcome to Aranka and Thomas who arrived this afternoon at our guesthouse in Durban. Unfortunately the weather in South Africa is looking bad for the next week, but we hope that the friendly people you come across on your travels will make up for the gloomy weather.

Good luck for the rest of your adventure over the next number of months.

Saturday in Durban

My daughter Kate-Lynn and Llewellyn say cheers to Tipo!

We couldn't resist a jug of Tipo Tinto and raspberry juice at Taco Zulu in Durban - it reminded us of the "national" drink in Mozambique we enjoyed on our trip there earlier this year, and made a good mid-morning snack after our flying this morning.

Jacarandas Exam time

I am not studying at the moment, although I am still on a path to do my Commercial Pilot's Licence. However, every time I see the blooming Jacaranda trees in Durban my main thought is of my Varsity days - when the Jacarandas are blooming it is exam time and almost too late to be starting to study for the exams. That thought process will never leave me.

Random weekend pics

Durban's Moses Mabhida Stadium is venue once a month to the I Heart Market on a beautiful Saturday morning but by the time I was ready to do my Standard Bank golf day prize give-away flip over Durban the clouds had rolled in and it was in fact declared IMC at Virginia so we could only do a short flight to the harbour and back.

 

Kate-Lynn showing she's well anchored at Wilson's Wharf on Sunday

Beer, Braai and Bake day

We had a fabulous Heritage Day public holiday yesterday making it to the Shongweni Farmers' Market as it opened for our breakfast beers at the new Standeaven Brewery, then followed it up with a braai at the guesthouse with our mates. It was also a chance to practice my Mediterranean scones, which I picked up at the cooking class I did last week. They came out ok, although the guesthouse oven did not seem to achieve full heat and they could have cooked quicker and risen better. Great day though and best mates!!

Brewmaster Sean Standeaven shows us how it's done

Dave enjoys a "pint" of the good stuff

Biltong production

 

 

Our family friends, the Jeacocks, make the best biltong in Durban, but it's like gold getting your hands on some from their factory which supplies a range of outlets throughout the Province. So armed with a birthday present of a little home kit, I resumed production again today. I used to make biltong years ago in a home-made box, but gave up after a bad batch and the smell that permeated the garage. So here goes again. Looking forward to eating what must be my favourite snack.