Daddy and Mommy hope you have a great day and know that you are going to get spoilt rotten.

Lotsa love

Mommy and Daddy

After work today I decided that I wasn’t going to veg out in front of my TV as I have done for most of my first week, so I decided to go through my cell phone and find all the video clips I could get my hands on.  The first one I came to was Kayden and I playing soccer while we were camping up at the Sand Forest Lodge in the Hluhluwe area.  A Good time was had by all.  Listen out for little Kyra chipping in her two cents worth.

I have put the clip in Kayden’s Video Album or just click on the pic

Cheers

Pete

Now that I have a few minutes to myself I have updated the photo albums again.  Added a few more pics of the kids.  Click on each Pic and it will take you to their 2009 gallery.

Cheers

Pete

As the heading says this has been a busy week for us again.  Kyra had her birthday party  at school and then the kids had an Angels and Shepards day.  Cutest pics you’ve ever seen.  I have uploaded them all into the gallery so have a look.

Cheers

Pete

A big day for our little man.  He has just started walking.

Click the link to see him in action.

Pete and Lau

We’ve just returned from the most incredible holiday ever! 

Our journey started on Friday, 22 August 2008.  The first night was spent in Virginia in the Free State, which allowed me a few hours with Tristan.  I’d like to say thank you to Marco and Annemarie for letting us spend the night at their house.

The following day we went through a couple of towns such as Theunissen, a little mecca in the middle of nowhere.  This was followed by a village called Brandfort and it surprised us that people still live in such isolation from the rest of the world.  Dealesville, which boasted a quaint NG church, came after Brandfort and then we drove past a gathering of houses known as Soutpan.  At this point I got nostalgic as we entered the farming community of Boshoff.  As a child, I spent many a Sunday morning on the front verandah of my Ouma’s (Afrikaans for Granny) home.  We stopped off in Boshoff to visit family of mine, whom I haven’t seen in 15 years.  The visit lasted an hour and then we set off for the next town called Kimberley.  Kimberley boasts the largest man made hole in the world, where they found one of the largest diamonds in the world.

 Our destination was Upington, which was still 300kms from Kimberley.  We finally got to a our campsite, Katakoeroe in Upington just before sunset.  After a long day in the car we were soon all in bed and fast asleep.  We set off the next morning for our next destination which was Keetmanshoop.  We reached the border at approximately lunch time and managed to get through without any hitches.  The first town we reached was Karasburg.  It being a Sunday, the town seemed desserted, but we managed to find a little shop to get some coldrinks.  The countryside started changing rapidly.  Although it was stark, the landscape held an incredible beauty of its own – needless to say that I was clicking away at the camera with great enthusiasm.  Finally we pulled into the quaint town, called Keetmanshoop.  I was beaming from ear to ear when we pulled up to our camp site at the Quiver Tree Forest Rest Camp.  We were nestled right next to the Quiver Tree Forest and my favourite part of this campsite, was the natural tables provided – slabs of stone from the area were balanced on each other to form tables.  We spent that night huddled around a warm fire singing with Kyra as she looked up into the sky singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

The following morning was freezing cold and we set off as soon as we could.  It was a long, yet interesting day as we made our way north towards Windhoek, bypassing the town of Mariental which marked the halfway point (250kms) between Keetmanshoop and Windhoek.  Once again the landscape had me blown away and the camera was being put to full use.  That night we finally pulled into the thriving metropolis of Windhoek, nestled between the mountains and with the help of Jane’s directions we were at their front door in no time.  That night we enjoyed a hearty meal prepared by Jane.  The next couple of days were spent in Windhoek taking in the city, shopping malls, flea markets, sights and scenery.

Friday, 29 August we took to the road once again, en route to Etosha.  This time we were in two cars – Jane and Rob in their 4 x 4, with Pete, the kids and I in our car behind them.  We stopped off in the town of Okahandja at a thriving little shop called Piet’s Biltong.  We stocked up on biltong (SA for beef jerky) and cooldrinks and set off again.  Our next stop was at Outjo (pronounced OO-Cho) where we took some photos of the local Himba ladies in their traditional make up.  It wasn’t long after Outjo, before we pulled into the Etosha Safari Park where we camped for 3 nights.  The days were spent driving through the Etosha Game Reserve and we managed to see literally hundreds of animals.  Our sights included dozens of bird species, a snake, lions, springbok, wildebeest, gemsbok, kudu, hartebees, rhino, elephant, jackal, giraffe and not to forget a little Squirrel that would give Ron Jeremy a run for his money. 

Pete hit the nail on the head when he said that even though Kyra had not been in school for a couple days, this was still the most educational experience of her life.

Our stay at Etosha Safari Park came to an end and the morning of Monday, 1 September we said our farewells to Rob as he returned to Windhoek in our car and we continued on our journey with Jane in the 4 x 4.  The first place Jane took us to was a farm (Otjihaenamaparero and good luck to anyone who can pronounce that), where 200 million year old dinosaur footprints had been found.  (www.dinosaurstracks.com)  After a walk around the place and many more photos, we were on our way again.  We stopped off for some provisions in a town called Omaruru (O-ma-ROO-ROO) and soon we were driving through the river beds of the Kahn river (notice I say river beds and not actual rivers…), right before we reached the gates of Ameib Ranch, our next camp site.

Ameib Ranch is definitely one of our favourite spots.  (http://www.natron.net/tour/ameib/) The boulders were extraordinary – dwarfing us like we were ants.  The scenery was breathtaking and the whole experience, just out of this world.  I came across a jackall and I don’t know who got the bigger fright.  We went to an old Bushman cave, did some hiking and took some of the most amazing photos – which included a pic of a baby scorpion who took it upon itself to crawl into our clothing bag!

Unfortunately our stay ended too soon and we were on our way to Swakopmund.  At this point of our journey I was speechless to see the endless dunes and the dramtic landscape.  It was also mind boggling to find that one moment we were in the blazing heat and the next moment when we got out the car at Swakopmund, it was freezing cold.  We did not stay at the original campsite, at Longbeach, Jane had had in mind, as the weather was too awful.  However, the alternative campsite, Alte Bruche, Jane booked us into was wonderful and totally different to all our other campsites.  This particular place had a toilet and shower dedicated to each camp site.  The following day we took a drive around Swakopmund, spent some money at the flea market, went to Walvis Bay and drove around there.  We got to see the salt works in Walvis Bay and Dune 7.

We eventually retuned to Windhoek from Swakopmund - Wow Civilisation! 

We allowed ourselves a day to recooperate and then we bid farewell to the Children, Rob and Jane.  Our drive south would now lead us to the Fish River Canyon and back into South Africa.  We arrived at our campsite called the Cañon Roadhouse much later than expected.  This had us racing to the Fish River Canyon Lookout point which caused us to burst a left rear tyre just one hundred metres from the view point.   It was a rush against time as the sun was setting and as such Pete managed to change our tyre in record time.  Attention all formula one pit crews, you have competition out here.  Thanks to Pete’s efforts we managed to enjoy a nice cool sundowner at a spectacular view point overlooking the canyon.  That evening was concluded with a nice hot cup of coffee after Pete managed to create a fire from the six logs that simply would not burn.

 The next morning we left early for our next campsite, Kamkirri, at Augrabies Falls in South Africa.  This day would take us to a town which would be the perfect setting for any number of Stephen King Horror Movies…  Not only had the town’s one horse died but the locals had probably eaten it as well and to elaborate any further on the dreariness of this small village nestled in the middle of the desert where anything can happen (and no-one would know … or hear you scream for that matter) would probably cause you and I to spend more time in therapy than is fiscally viable.  Name of town omitted for safety reasons!    To our relief, the next spot we drove into was the delightful village of Kakamas.  With Sloping wine vineyards as far as the eye could see.  Kamkirri, our next campsite, was roughly 23 kilometres from the town.  This was my favourite campsite of the trip and we had our tent pitched literally on the banks of the Orange River.  As can be seen in the photo album the sunset was a sight to behold and had us clicking away relentlessly at the camera. 

Our final day on holiday started with a breath taking tour of the Augrabies Falls.  Unfortunately the photo’s we took just do not do the area justice and the sites left one speechless at the wonder of such incredible natural landscaping.  Whilst it was not the rainy season the flow of water was immense and the mind boggles when one sees the photographs in the rest area of the river in full flood.  

Our holiday was supposed to conclude in Kimberley where we were to view the big hole and the numerous museums in the town.    As we drove into Kimberley that evening we realised a few hours would not do the town justice and decided to push through to Durban.  A drive of some 800 kilometres.  A fuel stop for some vital supplies (A Red Bull and a Roll of Bio plus tablets) and we hit the road.  Completely knackered and flat bummed, Pete put his mind to the task at hand and drove us safely home, pulling into our drive way the following morning, Tuesday 9 September,  at 4am.

We would like to say a huge Thank You to Jane and Rob for making this holiday possible for us.  God knows we could not have done it ourselves.  We rated this holiday as our best ever and for those of you who are prepared to put the 5600 kilometers of mileage on your cars, we would recommend it to you in a heart beat.  Namibia is a country that enriches the soul and pleases the eye all at the same time.  Stark beauty combined with dramatic scenery - I am only too happy to have left a part of me behind.

We were clearing out a few video folders and noticed that there were  bunch of Kayden’s videos which we had not uploaded to the web.

I have now crunched them down to internet size so have a look.  They are in the Kayden Video folder in the photo album.

Cheers

Pete

I have taken a break from bashing things down and building new ones up. So I thought I would update the photo albums.  I have started with Kyra and Kayden but the wedding are on the way.  Watch this space I guess.  Anyhoo… there are new pics in the Kyra 2008 and Kayden 2008 folders.  Check em out

Cheers

Pete

It is video time again.  Lau has been kind enough to send me a couple of videos of Kayden, so I have posted them into his folder.  Here is a little snippet.

Enjoy

Cheers

Pete

Today we are at 162° West.  We had to heave to last night.  We had some horrible weather fly over us.  Once again the wind got to Hurricane force and we were forced to just ride it out.  Fortunately for us the storm was very fast moving and by midnight we were back on heading and laying cable again.  Of course the swell had built up so we are rolling much better but at least we are still progressing.

Today, in fact, we crossed the 3000 kilometres laid mark.  Only another 2700 to go, so bonus.

Right, moving on.  The weather the last few days has been really grotty.  Not violent seas or anything but cold.  Lots of Snow Flurries coming and going.  It was during all of this that the lads managed to cobble together this little guy.    Ok give us a break, we’re sailors not sculptors!!  Anyway, as it turns out it is a good thing I got a photo of the little man as once this weather hit us last night the poor man lost his head.  Not he is just this little pile of mush!

Moving on…  A few years back I bought myself a book called "The book of Bunny Suicides – Little fluffy rabbits who just don’t want to live anymore."  That should have read, A few years back Jo and Alana bought me a book (for christmas) called "The book of Bunny Suicides – Little fluffy rabbits who just don’t want to live any more".  The book was written/ drawn by Andy Riley and it is one of the funniest things you will ever read.  Last week I was talking to some one on board and we started talking about Bunny Suicides.  So I have decided that I would dedicate a small section of the photo gallery to the genius that is Andy Riley.  I haven’t included any of his pictures as I am sure that some form of copyright exists there but I have kept his concepts and then added a little of my own.  Those of you who can find it go out and buy this book.  It is a fantastic read and the expressions the man can put on a little single line drawing of a rabbit’s face are just priceless.  My pics are stored in the Being Silly Folder under A tribute to Andy Riley.

On the Home front, Lau went back to work today.  Apparently the day was very hectic, catching up where she left off, fixing all the cock ups (my words not hers) she inherited from her temp.  Anyway I will let her tell you more about that.

Other home news is my big boy had his first day at play school today.  Apparently he was an absolute little angel.  Well of course we have to say that… it wouldn’t look cool saying he was a little shit on our own web page now would it.  Anyhoo, he was fine.  Kyra is also back at school, in fact both of them are in the same day care so that makes the car pool a little easier.  I have added some pictures into each of the kids’ albums so check those out as well.

Right that is all I have time for today so I am going to be on my way.  

Cheers

Pete