Saturday, December 31, 2011

2011 in pics - January to December

1st January 2011 - New Years Day lunch at home

January - a quick trip up to Phuthaditjhaba and Witsieshoek top of the Berg

January - Kate-Lynn flies out to Trondheim, Norway on a 3-month student exchange
January - Mark returns to Cape Town for his 2nd-year engineering

February - we visit Shisa farm and Mark for his 19th Birthday

7th February - Mark's 19th Birthday in Stellenbosch

March - We do some renovations and decor changes at the Guesthouse

March - Dave executes his first Notarial document as a Notary Public

March - Dave runs a Consumer Protection Act Seminar at his Toti law office

March - visiting Port Elizabeth for Llewellyn's SpecSavers Conference

April - Vinnie and Erland from Norway visit Durban

April - Kate-Lynn returns from her Norway exchange


April - My friend Ralphs pays us a visit in Durban

April - We visit Gold-Reef City, Johannesburg, with the kids

May - the guesthouse is full with the annual Indaba Travel Show in Durban

May - We go to Battlefields, Dundee, for the weekend and to view an RV we were considering buying.. scene of the Blood River battle and museum

21 May - Dave has his first flying lesson in a Foxbat at Light Flight Cato Ridge with instructor Brad

June - Comrades Marathon in Durban.. cheering the runners on

June - reminder of what not to do when flying an aeroplane. Wreckage of a Light Flight pilot killed with his dad on the day he got his licence.

June - Mark returns for his Varsity Winter vacation

June 19 - Father's Day lunch with my mom and kids

June - first dual cross-country to Margate, Richmond, Ixopo and Cato Ridge

June - Mc Naught and Co wins Best Legal Services award

June - we visit Johannesburg Tedderfield Airfield to meet Mike Blyth of The Airplane Factory and see our Sling airplane in production

30 June - Dave's first Solo Flight

July - we dress up for the July Handicap Races at Greyville Race Course

July - the kids chilling and soaking up Durban's glorious winter sun

July - on Mark's return to studies in Cape Town we pay him a visit and enjoy the Cape, the wines and the song..

July - Cape Town rocks!

August - Llewellyn turns 41 and the twins 11

August - the Phoenix runs around just north of Durban

August - Llewellyn organises a table at the Madame Zingara spectacular and dinner in Durban

24 August - Dave gets spoilt on his 53rd birthday

31 August - we jet off on Emirates from Durban to Jordan and Syria

September - Amman, the capital of Jordan

September - we met some awesome guys on our desert safari and enjoyed too many beers on the shores of the Red Sea

September 15 - Dave takes delivery of our new Sling Airplane from James of The Airplane Factory in Johannesburg, flying up with Instructor Brad to fly the plane back to Durban together.

September - Dave gets to fly this cute helicopter at Light Flight


September - A welcome braai for the Sling - ZDL Red Rocket at Light Flight

October - during the year we host several Couchsurfing guests at the Guesthouse

Where did the year go....

Some more highlights of 2011 in pics ...

Dave floating in the Dead Sea on a Jordan and Syria trip Sept 2011

Incredible Petra Jordan Sept 2011
Coldplay Concert in Johannesburg with Brad, Kate, Llewellyn and cousin Josh October 2011

Taking delivery of the Red Rocket Sept 2011 and getting my wings at Light Flight 

Kate-Lynn gets her graduation results B.Ed degree as we fetch Mark's car in Cape Town and head back down the N2 to Durban November 2011

Stopping at uBuntu Backpackers Jeffreys Bay en route to Durban November 2011

Taking the kids for a flight in the Red Rocket ZDL December 2011

Kate-Lynn turns 23 and we have some fun around the COP17 Climate Change Conference in Durban on her birthday 8 December

It's a Santa Sling as we fly around in good spirits December 2011

Christmas Day at home with the kids

Boxing Day fly-in to Alverstone where Llewellyn's Dad and Karin joined the Galways


Thursday, December 29, 2011

Boxing Day flight and lunch at Alverstone






Christmas Day we make merry at home. Boxing Day we usually go out to visit family. This time there were 9 of us with Llewellyn's kids and Dad, my kids and my mom, all visiting the Galways on their farm at Alverstone. There is a little airstrip which ends right at their gate on the farm across the road, so we decided to fly in while our kids drove up there with the eats and drinks. But the left-over Christmas food was aplenty and what a feast we had.

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Christmas at home with the brats 2011

Some Christmas Day photos






I have awesome kids and a wonderful family and Christmas is the one day we get together for a feast. We kept it simple this year - tried my hand at cooking a smoked gammon which turned out excellently (as a side dish) and for mains we had a braai and salads with potatoe bake, finishing off with an incredible Lemon Merangue Pie that Lynn baked and loads of sweets and things the kids spoiled me with. After lunch the kids coaxed me into the pool - what is wrong with our water that it's still on the cilled side at the end of December. Thanks Llewellyn, the kids and my brats for all making this an awesome day.

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Taking my kids in the Red Rocket




Now that the kids are on holiday and home, now was the chance to take them with me in the Red Rocket. Kate-Lynn and Mark and their friends each took a short flight and felt the controls and saw Durban from the air.

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Jeffreys Bay


Bringing Mark's car back to Durban for his holidays proved a challenge.. flying to Cape Town to fetch it, then driving back over 2 days, via Jeffreys Bay. The uBuntu backpackers we stayed in was awesome then we battled the rain, mist and dark the next day - 13 1/2 hours to Durban from Jbay arriving past midnight.

Saturday, November 26, 2011

1st stop Stellenbosch to Durban - Jeffreys Bay


This is the first time I have driven in a car the whole day and not been the driver. We left Stellenbosch this morning at 7.30am with my daughter kate-Lynn driving and ended in Jeffreys bay with Mark at the wheel for opur first stop on the 2-day trip in Mark's car back to Durban after finishing his 2nd year at Stellenbosch University. Kate-Lynn also got her final year B.Ed results in Stellenbosch shortly before we left... completing her degreee with a 91% aggregate. Wow!! Well done Kate-Lynn.