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I have been going to the Durban Botanical Gardens for many years now. But I’ve only recently started appreciating what it has to offer in the form of a relaxing afternoon with your family. I took the time to read up on the history of the gardens and summarised as follows: The Durban Botanic Gardens is the oldest public institution and the oldest surviving botanic gardens in Africa. It’s located on the lower slopes of the Berea ridge. Its existence came about when some locals met in what is now the Royal Hotel in 1848 and wanted to re-establish the Kew Gardens in England, so as to establish a series of botanic gardens across the world. They wanted to introduce plants of economic value, and which would also supply Kew botanists with plants, new to science. The site originally selected for Durban’s first botanic gardens was some 4kms from town, besides the Umgeni River, near what is today Quarry Road. In 1849, the curator at the time, Dr Charles Johnston, began work on planting out plots. Dr Johnston was superceded by a Scot called Mark McKen. In 1851the botanical gardens were relocated closer to town, to its present site. In the years that followed, few visited the gardens, with the exception of the school children who made their way across the vlei to pick mulberries when they had ripened. Despite the lack of interest shown in the gardens by the public, there was however, one time in the year when the town came to the Gardens for the annual show. All the towns folk flocked to participate in the games, agricultural competitions and to enjoy the goods on sale and in the evening a grand dinner was held at the Royal Hotel. From 1872 the Durban Botantic Garden suffered many negative events, among which was the death of the professor, surviving a drought and the Anglo Boer war. Yet fortune smiled on the gardens in 1882 and a local trade store owner, John Medley Wood took on the task of curator with quiet determination. For 31 years the gardens enjoyed a golden age and by the 1890′s it boasted being one of the greatest botanic gardens of the British empire. However in 1913 Wood retired, but not before it earned its place in botanical history in the field of indigenous KwaZulu- Natal flora. This was a time of political change, the Boer War approached and botany was not at the fore of everyone’s minds. Medley Wood passed away on 26 August 1915 and was succeeded by William Keit on 27 August 1916. An era had passed. The gardens were transferred to the Durban Municipality. The Gardens’ herbarium was transferred to the state and run from Pretoria. The gardens declined into a mere public park. Despite all odds, the botanic gardens survived and it’s largely thanks to men like Frank Thorns and Ernest Thorp, and later to Kenneth Wyman and Errol Scarr. As the years have progressed & improved, it has seen the renaissance of the Botanic Gardens, Christopher Dalzell as curator, a Trust and ‘Friends’ have ensured new hope. Today it’s one of Durban’s top tourist attractions. Families enjoy picnics, occasionally groups perform for the public and family and friends gather for a snack at the tea garden situated on the premises. We often take Tristan, Kyra and Kayden to kick a ball around and just to enjoy the outdoors. When one walks through the gardens, it’s very hard to believe that one is in the middle of a city. It’s all thanks to the people in history who took the time to make the gardens what they are today.

Today 6 years ago you were waiting for your bride to arrive at the chapel  But just when you thought your nerves couldn’t take it anymore, I arrived.

I will never forget your face as I walked down the aisle towards you. You had an expression of absolute love and adoration. We were both jittery but excited too and as Liz gave the beautiful ceremony, I just lost myself in you. We said out vows  and confirmed our union with a kiss. I was so proud to walk out of Falcon Crest Chapel as your wife, Mrs Bowen.

Pete, I love you more each year and miss you more with every trip that you’re away. But nothing can change how very much you mean to me.

Happy Anniversary,

With all my love

Your rabbit

There seems to be a yearly trend in Durban, KZN. Every year, without fail, Mother Nature puts on a spectacular show of thunder, lightning and flooding for us. This year it came a bit earlier than usual.

We’d been experiencing blistering weather making it unbearable to make contact with anything – even sitting on a chair made ones legs sticky. You end up standing with your legs slightly apart and your arms just those few inches away from your body and it’s all you can do, to keep your mouth from dropping open like a bird, in an attempt to cool yourself down. So it wasn’t surprising when on Tuesday (16/2) the skies darkened and a threatening breeze sprang up.

I was preparing dinner for the kids when ‘Mother’ announced the arrival of her latest spectacle with a profuse bang echoing across the skies. This brought upon a downfall of magnificent proportions and it’s as if the Gods had left the tap on and the bath was overflowing. The dark skies boasted a strobe light show, punctuated with piercing bangs that had the kids in a frenzy and grabbing at my dress.

Let me tell you it’s quite unusual to have an arm around each kid and then  stretch your neck to reach your fork, so as to take a bite of food, without actually strangling your youngling!

Although the storm was spectacular in Pinetown,  would seem that Durban was given a greater display.

It has cooled down dramatically since and I’m left wondering if that was thee storm for the year, or if our Mother is just toying with us and saving the best for last.

Each decade was marked by its unique style. In the 50’s it was just about indoctrinating women to look smart and to be a ‘lady’ at all times. They slept with curlers in their hair, to ensure that they looked their best the following day, in soft curls and wearing a feminine swing skirt. Men always wore suits, even for a Sunday walk in town or to the movies and the so called ‘long hairs’ were frowned upon. The political unrest, the so called ‘out there’ music and the hippie movement saw a lot of change and it’s no wonder that the 60’s brought an awareness to women of their individuality and their sexuality. What better way to flaunt it, than with the famous mini skirt and often boots to accentuate the outfit? Still encouraged to be the perfect lady and to take pride in ones appearance was still the order of the day. However, this decade soon flowed into the next and before anyone knew it, it was the era of disco. The 70’s were a combination of halter necks, platform shoes, flared pants and still the bell bottoms carried over from the 60’s. Fashions were more relaxed and although men were still gentlemen and women were still ladies, the attention on being just about perfect had shifted. The 80’s were plain and simply garish! Big hair, lots of bright make up and plastic jewelry… Need I say more? I might add, in my opinion, that this is when society started sliding. The 90’s were not much better with some strange dance sequences being seen in some music videos and not to mention some questionable hairstyles – I was there for that! And so every decade we look to the future and how we aspire to be better and more modern than the previous generation… But then came the 21st century and well to put it into one line, it just all went to sh**!

Another year done and dusted!

My darling, this is the year for new things, great happenings and more wonderful memories to make.

I know that the year will bring you all the love and success you deserve and I can only hope that you have an awesome birthday, despite being at work.

I love you so much!