Circa 12 months ago, it was not what I would consider to be the best time of my life. Through no fault of mine things were fractious at home, Through no fault of my own, the Caravan had turned a little sour and it was coming to the end of summer and the weather was starting to turn.
The biggest thing I had to hold onto was (over and above the love of Sam and Lucy) was our impending trip to Africa, South Africa.
I was fortunate to live in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1995 / 1996. I loved this time of my life, bettered only by the time I have spent being married to Sam. Following on, My parents have loads of friends out there and in early 2000’s Dad brought a place in a coastal town on the Eastern Cape called Kidds Beach.
It was always on our agenda to go and spend Christmas there one year. 2015 was that year!
We did many wonderful things there and I am going to try a recollect as much as possible in a series of posts. One thing I will say is watch out for the post on our trip to Kariega Game Reserve. Its well worth reading and seeing the Pictures
Where do I start. it is only right that I start with the thank you’s to everyone who made our trip so special……….
To The Bradley Family:
Marc, Noo, Sam, Jo, Niall, Dylan & Morgan
To the Pote’s:
Colin, Jay, Lee & Seth
To Everyone else we met ( and I am truly sorry If I miss anyone):
Jamie, Debbie, Bradley, JP, Chantelle, Chad, Katie, Scotty at The Barn and everyone else
You will read me going on and on about the people and these people are truly special. You will always have a bed and a beer in UK at my house whenever any of you are here. Thank You from the bottom of my heart for making the holiday so special.
Next I’ll move on to a bit of advice. If you plan to visit South Africa, and I certainly recommend you do, then please save up the money & fly direct to Johannesburg or Cape Town. We flew via Cairo on Egypt Air and it was truly a nightmare. Emirates via Abu Dhabi is OK I have heard but you are best on SAA or BA direct. If you then need an internal flight give yourself an absolute minimum of 3 hours to transfer as you will need to collect and re-check your bags!
On the 17th December we sat in the departure lounge at Heathrow Airport waiting to Board our flight to Cairo. 22 hours later after a delay, A missing set of Golf Clubs, A sprint through Johannesburg Airport, A few tears, a reunion with Mum and Dad, a sit in the captain’s seat for Lucy…
Lucy in Control!
…and a drink or 2 later, we are in the car at East London airport on our way to Kidds Beach with a drink in hand.
At this point I am sure you can guess the main theme of our trip!!!
I think next I will break it down into sections:
Kidds Beach:
Kidds Beach is a coastal town where the majority of residence using it has a holiday home destination, and I can see why.
Kidds beach is situated on the mouth of the Mcantsi River, about 20 miles South of East London. It is simply beautiful. The town, The Beach, the coastline, all stunning. There is a shop, and Café and the coolest pub very near the Bottle Store at the top of the road. (More to come on The Barn!).
I’ll leave it to you at this point to look at the photos and make your own mind up!
Golf:
I took my clubs with me (although they spent an extra night in Cairo and I honestly thought I would never see them again!) and we got to play 2 courses. Fish River Sun and East London.
Fish River is possibly the most stunning course I have ever played The course is part of the Fish River Sun resort and is Very Long. Hole 13 is possibly the most daunting drive ever. From the tee you have to go 145 Yards, straight over the Old Woman’s river. This is the view from the Tee………
Secondly we played the East London Golf Club. Again the was a long course but I had a caddie. A very surreal experience having someone carry your bag and select clubs. On top of this they constantly search for your ball when you hit a wayward shot. Something they constantly had to do for me. These guys do earn their money and a tip was well deserved.
I hope this has wetted your appetite for more of our amazing trip so…..
Until Next Time….
1 comment
You would be happy to hear that British Airways is introducting a direct flight Gatwick to Cape Town in November.