kickthehorse.com- We’re kicking it hard!

One of the best things we have done so far is visit this game park - and it’s not far from PE. You pay approx AUD $6 each and then drive through the park around all these bumpy dirt roads, peering eagerly to see whatever may be hiding in the bushes or if lucky, sunbaking on the plains…. and we were so lucky!! We managed to see just about everything the park boasts of - and were even luckier that there was a new crop of babies who had just made their appearances - among them we saw giraffe, white Rhino plus baby, Burchell’s zebras plus baby, ostriches, waterbucks, duikers, bushbuk, nyalas, bontebuks, Vervet monkeys, warthogs plus cute babies, impala, wildebeest, met some very scary buffalo - they had 2 brand new calves and the 3 men of the family stood on the road and would not let us pass until the calves had gotten away to a safe distance - that got a bit scary as they were VERY large and had HUGE horns !! Most of the deer had a group of young, which were hidden in the grass or behind a mound - it made finding them a challenge. Leon and Savvy are pretty savvy(he he) about animals and managed to spot some that were so well hidden that I’m sure others would have missed them.

They also had an enclosure with a tame cheetah called Tsuma - I got to go in the pen and stroke him and be licked by him. He was quite gentle really - they say that cheetahs are the only wild cats that can be really tamed, they are the only big cat that can purr and they do it on the “out” breathe, not the “in” breathe, their tail is long and flat and used to change direction when running and they can’t retract their claws. This fellow had eaten a donkey ass for brekky so wasn’t keen on eating me thankfully !

Leon and Savvy(Leon’s friend) cooked a lovely braii (BBQ) for lunch but I didn’t get to eat any as I have picked up a tummy bug - man, this week I have been sick for more of the time than well !!! Last weekend, I had Sinusitis with high temps and this week it’s gastro!!! The men were going to take me out fishing today but I think I will have to stay home as I need to be close to the bathroom…. shame. (another SA saying - if something is sad, doesn’t work out -it’s “shame”.

Another occurrence this week was that my bag with reading glasses etc in it, was stolen from the toilets when we went to see “the Bee Movie”…I asked if they had been handed in but no - so I guess someone else is now wearing my nice Prada frames !! Hopefully, we can claim them on insurance as they were quite expensive. Carly gave me a pair of her sunnies to keep me going…and I will try to buy some cheap specs at the chemist so I don’t have to keep borrowing Glenn’s…

We also went out to the farm that Patrick’s father (Jades’ boyfriend) owns - the occasion was Patrick’s 25th birthday and he cooked a marvelous braii - he loves to cook !! and it was really yummy - he cooked lamb with lemon juice, rosemary and olive oil on the BBQ - delicious - gonna try that at home !! It is a beautiful place - so peaceful and stunningly green. Jade rode her new horse, Roan into the dam to show us her skills !! They spend a fair amount of time out there but we will see her again before we leave as Patrick has to go back to work in early Jan (he is a lawyer) and so they will come back to town then. We have planned to go shopping for the girls when she gets back - look out, Mr Price(cheap clothes shop here) Here we come !!!!

I can’t believe that we only have about 10 days left before we head home - it has been a long time away but it has also gone so fast…I am sure we will be reliving it for years to come !! We have lots of great memories - even some not so good ones - to chat about with each other in the months to come…we also have some lovely things to remind us of this once in a lifetime trip. We are so grateful that we were able to take it(thanks Mum) and that we have both remained well (mostly)… but it’s not over yet so I shan’t write my epilogue yet !!!

Just a few things that I thought I might mention…..

Helen & Leon have 2 pets - an 8 year old Boxer, with a cute scrunched up nose, called Brindy…she makes the funniest noises and gets SO excited when we suggest a walk…can hardly get her lead on as she can’t stand still..she drinks her water from the pool… and searched through the Chrissie presents looking for hers… and has thoroughly enjoyed being fed all the tidbits over the last few days…

They also have an African Grey Parrot - grey with vivid red tail feathers - called Popeye. He is so amazing - he copies all these different sounds and can talk so clearly.. he imitates everything - so far he has learnt my name, but with Helen’s accent - confusing me quite a few times !!! He also takes off my laugh and cough. I find him very entertaining and am spending a fair bit of time trying to teach him to say “where’s Leon? Leon’s gone running ” I have a few weeks left so we will see if he can master that…

A few funny Afrikaans words -

Telephone box - Tickey box. Named after the small coins that were used to make calls

Broekie lace - the wrought iron lace on houses Broekie means underpants(pron. Brookie)

Bakkie - ute or trailer (pronounced Bucky)

Robot - traffic lights

Hectic - something a bit scary

Tekkies (pron. Tackies) runners or sneakers

Oke (pron. oak) man - you can have good okes, black okes, and just plain okes !!

Bru (pron.brew) male friend

will add more as I think of it………………….

Leaving Capetown early on Tues morning, we drove through the city and made our way around the other side of False Bay…so thanks to Leon, we had driven around the entire bay and seen it’s beauty from all sides. We stopped along the way for morning tea and then for lunch, arriving at Ootshorn by dinner time. We had a very spacious B & B to stay in and decided to have a quick nap before tea whilst Leon headed out for a run. At 64, he is still running daily about 15km, does regular marathons, mountain bike rides, fishes and generally makes the rest of us look like slobs !!! He is going in a ride just after we leave called the 21 passes - he showed us part of the bike route as we came through - these are mountain passes on gravel roads that he is going to conquer in this race….I am totally impressed by his fitness.

We went out to a Swiss restaurant for dinner and the boys had Ostrich steaks - not bad flavour and very low in fat. We girls stuck to chicken….we all slept well that night. After a huge brekky, we headed out to see the Kango Grotte(caves) like Jenolan but the chambers were really large. Our African guide even sang and drummed for us in the Music Chamber, playing the drums of a stalagmite…the sound was great. We then went to an ostrich farm and learnt all about these unusual fllightless birds. Sadly for me, I found a dead baby chick in one of the pens and had to get soemone to remove it. It was a really hot day - 40 degrees so perhaps heat was the culprit here. Glenn got to stand on ostrich eggs and sit on a full grown ostrich but was not able to ride it as he was a tad heavy…I wasn’t game enough !!! H & L had seen both places so they found cool spots to read whilst we went through… after this, we grabbed some lunch and headed off again, stopping at Knysna, a seaside spot with some lovely views, saw a family of baboons on the side of the road, complete with baby…bugger it, if my batteries decided to die at that moment !!! I bought an intricate wooden walking stick in Knysna which I am hoping I can get back into Oz…the old guy we bought it from was so funny and kept hugging me and slapping me on the back when he laughed…..

We have found that things are much cheaper here than in Europe and so our $ are going much further. ie Glenn bought some new sandals and they only cost about aud $14. After Chrissie, we will hit the shops and try to get some new clothes, leaving our worn out stuff behind……

We got into PE quite late after all our stops - about 9pm and tucked into some dinner and a few glasses of wine to help us relax. We decided that we would take the next day quietly to rest up a bit. Well, Leon didn’t stop all day !!! doing chores and trying to get the pool working again - it had broken down whilst they were away and was rather green… the rest of us pottered through the day. The house is huge and uniquely has a thatched roof….giving it a cool and spacious feel with the very high vaulted roof line with solid beams - actually the rooms upstairs do not have ceilings !!! We’ve done a bit of Chrissie shopping, reading, sleeping, swimming since we arrived - mostly taking it easy. We hadn’t realised how tired we were after so long travelling and moving beds so frequently..so, it will be nice to chill and have a relaxed type holiday now…

We met up with our other niece Jade after a day or so in PE. She had been down on the farm with her boyfriend Patrick. She was quite upset when we met her as her boyfriends’ father had been attacked on the farm the night before. J & P had been out at at Braii and so were not hurt but the dad had serious cuts on his hands and a stab wound to the back, had been bashed and tied up tightly by the 2 black thieves, who stole his car, computer, dvd etc etc…the car was found the next day in a deep water trench - quite written off and it is still unknown if it got there by accident and if the guys were injured or drowned in the crash. All very shocking stuff for them all. As a result, they are beefing up security at the farm !!

So, tomorrow is Christmas Day - our first in South Africa and the first without any of our kids with us….but we know their love is with us as ours is with them. We hope they all enjoy whatever they will be doing this Chrissie… Kirstin is working both days, Shells and David are having family times with both the Smith and Nichols, Luke & Sara are in Regina with her folks, Jess, Em & Shadreck will be cathing up with S & D….and Buddy and Tipsy will enjoy all the leftovers !!!

Who knows what the next year will bring for all of us ?! Anyway, time for another snooze…our love to each and every one of you… Glenn & Heather xoxo

So, what makes a person a hero? I have been pondering this for a while, since watching the CNN Heroes awards in Paris. They awarded lots of hero tags to people like Christopher Reeve for efforts to research stem cell stuff, another little boy for his work to get more people to register on a bone marrow donor database….I think what they did was helpful but at the same time, their efforts were still motivated by self gain …I mean, their efforts would help themselves too.

There was another guy who won a tag - he had jumped down on a railway track, as a train approached to save a guy who had suffered an epileptic fit and fallen onto the track. He couldn’t move the affected man so rolled him over and lay on top of him whilst the train passed over them….now, that is what I call a hero..someone who risked their life for the sake of another.

Another person I call a hero is a lady  I saw in the queue at the station in Paris…she was about 80 + years old…and held the hand of a 50 + woman, who was affected with Downs Syndrome. Seeing the love and tender care this older woman gave to the younger really touched me and I found tears in my eyes…here was a woman who really needed to be cared for herself, looking after another and it was SO obvious that it was not a chore to her..in my eyes, people like that, are heroes…..

Vivid blue skies greeted us and warm to very warm weather. We scrabbled to find the sunnies to cope with the glare but as mine were broken, I borrowed some from our beautiful niece Carly, with whom we stayed for the 5 nights. She has a lovely ground floor apartment that looks out on the mountains and a veritable Botanic gardens… complete with wildlife…I started feeding a family of Egyptian geese…Mum & Dad and 14 chicks - Soon, every time I came out on to the patio I had a fan club…then a family of 3 squirrels - yes, more squirrels - came up on the patio to be fed…I had a lovely time with all that. Carly could easily pass for one of ours - she, Kirstin and Jess are out of the same mould.

We saw quite a bit of Capetown thanks to Helen & Leon - Leon drove us up to the Table Mountain one day and we caught the cable car up to the top - it was very windy and we were lucky to get up there as they closed it just after we took it up the horrendously steep slopes. It was amazing being amongst the clouds and have them skidding over and around you - and the view is rather breathtaking. The way the clouds make a table cloth over the mountain is totally stunning too, as are the bays around the coastline.

We then took a double decker bus around the city to get a better perspective of it, ending up at the Wharf and having a beer or two with H & L who had spent the day shopping.

The next day we headed out to tour the “Castle ” an old military building, walked into town and through their gardens, saw a few weddings and heard the blacks singing for them, did a quick look at The Slave Lodge / Museum  - it was really hot that day and we found it quite exhausting so home for a lovely sleep and a quiet night home by ourselves. Glenn very happily went out to buy KFC for dinner and we watched the first of the Hobbit series.

The next day we drove all around the bay with H & L & Carly - it was a public holiday and we ended up at Hout Bay for fish and chips - my fish was called a Schnookie - huge bones but nice flesh.

We also were invited for dinner at Paul & Glenys’ place  - where H & L were staying - it was great fun and the company very interesting. I really enjoyed seeing the friendship that Paul and Leon share - it is very special and quite amusing too. Paul saves up all the chores for handyman Leon to do when visits Capetown about once a year, so they have a bit of fun together doing the list.

After a full and very enjoyable time in C’town we left on Tuesday morning for the 800km drive along the Garden Route to Port Elizabeth….stay tuned for all that news next time… bye for now, Love me xox

We managed to catch our next train from Gare de Montparnasse down to Tours, with too much hassle but getting our hire car was another story. On the internet, it said their office was located in the terminal but in reality it was over 6km away. After searching, we found which bus to catch out there but were dropped off about 2 km short of the office….so those lubberly bags were dragged again…I’m close to hating those bags by now !!! In typical French style, when asked about the misinformation, the girl behind the desk shrugged her shoulders and asked ” it is my problem why ?” meaning she didn’t give a …… Oh dear… this is all the stuff that adventures are made of, eh ?

Now driving on the wrong side of the road, with no map… the car didn’t come with one and we were warned that if we did not “live” the paperwork in the car we would be fined 20 euro…anyway, we made our way to Chambray les Tours situated south of the city, where we were staying for the night. It was quite a pleasant surprise actually so we were happy with our choice there. We dropped our bags and made our way back into town and had a few hours wandering around the city - getting quite disorientated and well, lost…. but we saw some great markets, with antique musical playhouse and merry go round…had some mulled hot wine as the temps plummeted and then went home for dinner. We went to a small restaurant next door which specialised in German foods - but we declined the hogs feet and sauerkraut and had steak….our waitress was good fun and that made the night fun.

Up till now we’d rarely had a fine day for weeks - since that memorable day in Switzerland on the train really… but on our last full day, France put on a beauty for us…. actually this was another memorable day - driving around the French countryside, finding all sorts of castles, big and small, intact and not, having the best baguette ever, seeing troglodite buildings, the River Loire which is wide and runs strong, met some Aussies in a shop in Azay de L…. will get the name…..and had a good laugh at Glenn trying to order a lemon tart in  French …we ended up with cake…we were enthralled to find a castle called Clos Luce in Amboise, where Leonardo lived and died and where some of his many inventions have been built to his specifications - he was an amazing man - absolute genius…. by the time we had done all that, it was getting dark and we had to find our final resting place for our time in Europe. I had booked us into a restored Castle -called Chateau des Ormondes- run by 3 gay guys so it is beautifully decorated etc. We were the only guests so they upgraded us to one of the swankier rooms… wow is the best way to describe it… with great views from our turret, heated floor in the king size bathroom, full breakfast and all luxury. They suggested another castle for dinner - de Noizay and it turned out to be THE VERY VERY BEST meal we have ever eaten… we  can tell you all the gory details if you ask but it was simply outstanding and the chef seemed to be focused on serving us double the courses we ordered !!! We were very happy campers.

The next morning we went for a walk with the resident Lab, Big Vick up through the hillside behind our chateau, finding some new vines and generally enjoying the crisp air. We reluctantly set off back to Tours to return the car and get the trains back to the airport. Easier said than done… firstly, we couldn’t find our way through the city and got thoroughly lost - so difficult with one way streets etc, then trying to find the petrol station to fill up with, then the taxi not showing up, then the bus not stopping, having to drag the bags another 3km, running down the main street of Tours with our bags in tow, to arrive breathless at the train at 13.18..it left at 13.20…whew !!! that was close and we had allowed hours to get that all done - so thankful we made that train…or we would have missed our flights from Paris to Frankfurt… and then from Frankfurt to Johannesburg…

It was a long day and night and the food on Lufthansa was great and the staff pretty kind. I didn’t sleep much due to restless legs again and they swelled up rather badly again - I find myself standing up the rear of the planes for most of our flights these days as I just get too uncomfortable in the cramped seats.

We arrived in to Jo’burg but our bags took so long to come out and the domestic terminal so far, far, away, that we missed our connection to Capetown..” sorry madam, there are no flights to Capetown today - they are all full. Please sit down and wait.” ” Madam, please run a few km down to this plane and see if you can get on - maybe some one will not show up ” “Oh dear, there is no room… no wait, we can take one of you” Don’t know what you will do now madam ” ….a long story cut short…. Glenn got on that flight and I managed to get on the next after that…Helen & Leon also had a long wait at the airport wondering where we had got to !!! We were all relieved when all persons and baggage ended up at the right place ……but I think it was a good example of TIA for us (this is Africa) Again, the attitude seemed to be that it wasn’t of any concern to them if their company didn’t function well….”it is not my job madam “    hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

We woke early and made our way up to the Roma Termini to catch our train to Paris. We got their early as we wanted to be stress free and have time to get on board etc…we found the platform and waited with some other travellers. The train was at the station and we walked almost the entire length of the platform to find our reserved carriage but the train was locked, so we waited patiently. All of  a sudden, the train started moving out !!! what the ???? There was no nothing !!! oh my ..what shall we do now ? Then we noticed the  other guys were heading back down the platform… so we followed, moving faster and faster as we finally figured out that the platform had been changed.. we ended up running, lugging those bags, with me straining to breathe all the way down one platform and then up the next one…we never made it to our carriage but had to throw the bags and ourselves on board as the train started to move…. man were we exhausted after that. It took ages to find and move through the train to our seats, lugging the bags through the carriages..hmm , not happy jan !!! We collapsed into our seats and tried to cool off and get the wheezing under control….we didn’t move again till we reached Milan, some 4 hours later. Here we were to change trains for the Milan - Paris section. Wary of the system now, we waited near the signboard and waited and waited…as the time slipped by and the train was delayed again and again….hmmm…we then realised that we would not get to see any of the snow covered mountains we had so wanted to see, as it would now be dark as we went by…bugger !!! This was the bit of train travel that Glenn had raved about for the last 30 years and now…. hmmmm - but there was nothing we could do about it, so we had to chill. The train finally left Milan but we arrived in Paris 1 1/2 hours late and all the other local trains had ceased running…so another taxi but this time, we hope to get some refund from the Eurrail. Thankfully, it was cheaper than Italy and we finally got to bed about 2pm. Our room was so small and one of the most expensive of all our rooms - New York, Paris and London are all so expensive !! but it was clean and the shower hot. What we didn’t realise then was that the trains ran right under our room every 10 mins or so and we were soon woken by a deep rumbling and shaking…. groan….mostly we were able to sleep through it but I found it quite a pain and won’t stay there again. We also won’t stay there again as they tried to charge us 46 euros for using a phone card in our room !!!!

Glenn actually got stuck in the shower too as it was so small - that was funny !! We took it easy the next day and then began to explore the city - lots of walking in miserable conditions, which didn’t help me get better either. Glenn actually got over his cold really well, in a few days - not me !!! We found it very tiring fighting the wind and trying to keep warm, so we cut some days down and went home and watched the one english channel CNN… boring !! We did learn a lot about other European countries though from the advertising on tv….he he … like it is easier to set up a business in Georgia than Germany - bet you didn’t know that ? ! CNN repeats its news so often we could go out and see the same story again when we got home the next day !!!

We found the Notre Dame, the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower (we hadn’t seen it by the last night, so we set off from our hotel in the rain and walked the 8km there and back - it was well worth it with the twinkling  lights on it..) lots of other places - some intentionally and some not…overall, we enjoyed Paris more than Rome - maybe it reminded us of Buenos Aires ?? We did the eat at home caper with a few nice meals out…the fridge in our room didn’t work so we toleerated warm wine a few nights before we got desperate for a cold one, and went to a restaurant - only to be served a warm rose !!!!

One special day was when we went out to the Palace of Versailles - this was on Glenn’s wish list so we decided to risk the weather and go. Luckily for us, we had a clear morning…after getting our train there and buying tickets we decided to see the gardens first. They would be magnificent in spring !! as they were still wonderful in winter.. we took a big walk around them, found the temple of love and then walked back to the palace. We made it just in time as they were closing the gardens due to a “meteorological event” that was coming - in other words, a huge storm !!! timing is everything !!!

The palace was magnificent and the audio commentary really good - we did the whole thing almost but you do get all “palaced ” out !!! it is so lavish and we found we got a bit sick of all that indulgence but we really enjoyed our visit… it was a great day.

We went out for dinner that night to finish our time in Paris and got to bed early as we had a train to catch down to Tours in the morning.

I’ll briefly run through Rome and France to get back on track…..the weather in most of Europe was pretty harsh…wet, very windy, cold and not ideal for walking but most days we ventured out, rugged up and ready for a trudge or two. We saw a  lot of Rome but didn’t get to go in to some things as we had no cash money. The ATM’s were down for a few days and so we decided eating was the priority. We checked out the Colosseum, Plaza de Republic, Panthenon, Palatine Hill, Trevi Fountain, Tiber river and its many bridges, St Peter’s Basilica - we climbed 340 steps to the top… YES, I DID IT !!! and then down - don’t know which was worse as it was narrow and sloped and quite claustrophobic…Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel - no photos allowed and it wrecks your neck trying to look at the ceiling for long periods…. I think of all of them, the Trevi Fountain was the best spot.

A couple of highlights was when we ran into Ray Martin on a street corner.. he and his son were as lost as we were !!! We had a chat and shook hands and headed on our ways.

We tried a few new foods - LOVE their pastries and cakes… we had one called a Viennese slice - so light adn smooth - we both loved that one and managed to tuck a few away whilst there. We mostly bought stuff at the local supermarket and ate it in our room. I managed to communicate to a pharmacist what my cough symptoms were and got some medicine… which helped but at times, I thought I was never going to stop coughing and bringing up crap… juicy eh ?

Rome is quite difficult to navigate as it has many funny angled roads, alleys and the maps - well, they aren’t great… on one of our side trips(ok, when we were lost) we found a cute little shop that sold leather items and we both managed to get a new belt each - cheap and great leather. It was fun trying to communicate in our crappy Italian too. We also bought some lovely pieces of Italian glass jewellery - it is quite unique and famous and often has gold in it - we hope the girls like what we got…too bad if they don’t ‘cos we aren’t taking it back!

We had a bit of bother with our B & B as they decided they wanted to be paid in cash but as I mentioned, no atms were working so we stood our ground and only paid them one night in cash and the rest on credit. We had a really annoying lady downstairs who kept tapping on her ceiling with a stick and ringing our bell. Apparently she doesn’t like the owners using the apartment for tourists as so causes lots of nuisance.

Sadly, the umbrella Shells and Dave gave us died in Rome - it got so badly bent and broken in the strong winds we had to relinquish it to the bin…shame… but it served us well. We could have made good use of it in Paris as the windy wet weather continued there too but that is another blog…

Well, as I mentioned in my last post…we were off to Sorrento to celebrate Glenn’s 55th birthday…I had booked and paid for a lovely hotel up the top of the mountain, witha  magnificent view of Mt Vesuvius and dinner at their restaurant. when we finally arrived at the end of our train journey - it took us 7 hours and 2 trains to get there - it was dark, wet and windy so I suggested that we catch a taxi to the hotel… we found a guy who spoke a bit of English and way we went… I watched the meter anxiously as we climbed and climbed slowly up the winding road… we finally got there and the thing said we owed 40 euro.!!!! wowsers… but the “best ” was yet to come… the hotel seemed quite dark and the driver laughed and said that maybe it was closed for the winter… and guess what, IT WAS. We finally found a note on the door that said we had been transferred to another hotel back down in town..so we had no alternative but to catch the taxi back down the hill, so we paid 80 euro to travel up and down. The new hotel was quite lovely but I was feeling rather upset by this time, as I had planned such a special time for Glenn and it seemed to be unravelling.  We had also been told that there was a transport strike the next day, so our plans to visit Pompeii and Herculeum were also ruined, as we only had that one day to do it.

When the new hotel people took us to our room, with no view and with twin beds, that is when I let a few tears slide down my cheeks. The guy noticed and asked what was wrong… he left and then returned and said our room had been changed… yeah … a room with a view !!! much happier tourists now. It was now quite late and Glenn wasn’t feeling great - he had a runny nose and sore throat and I was also worried about that, what with his low white cell count. We decided to blow the cost and have dinner in the hotel and not worry about trying to find another cheaper place. Suddenly there was a knock at the door and in walked a lass with a bottle of champagne, some nibbles and glasses. Happy Birthday she says !!! more tears… but this time with gratitude for their kindness.

Dinner was lovely and we relaxed and enjoyed ourselves as the only clients in the restaurant…. off to bed with both of us now feeling physically unwell…sore throat, coughs and splutters…. by the next morning we were both feeling like very sick puppies !!! and decided to simply stay in bed and sleep and rest up. Surpringly, Glenn recovered far faster than I - I am still not 100 % and it is weeks later. I think mine developed into Bronchitis, as usual when I get a cold. We had all our meals in the hotel - which cost us a bit - but we didn’t really care by that time.

On the day we left Sorrento, the sun finally came out and we got to see some views. We caught a taxi to the station and got the train to Pompeii - figuring we’d walk around for just a short while, dragging those bags. As we left the station, a guy offered to mind our bags whilst we did the ruins. I was a bit suss but he obviously does it regularly as he had tickets etc. so we were then free to wander for a few hours through the old city before collecting the bags and catching the train back to Rome and finding our B & B. We didn’t like the trains in Italy - totlaly covered in graffiti, dirty, nosiy and they cahrged us for trips, even though we had our Eurail pass. In fact, by the time, we paid all the reservation fees, we figure it would have been cheaper to just pay for what we used… we will do that next time.

So, Rome……