Lovely photos from Cape Town

Thanks Jo!

Well done, Sam!

Sam is flying once again in her acedemics.

Spiritual moments (2012)

Being

• Start meditation - start yawning
• Mindfulness (walking)
• Incense

Wisdom

• Eckhart at Jilly
• Geraldine's lessons
• Behram workshop
• HAI workshop

Cape Town, Orange River, Kruger 2012 Highlights

A super 6 weeks spent in South Africa including the amazing Kruger National Park by myself and paddling the Orange River with the family.

Date

• 26 Sept - 5 Nov (6 weeks)

Cape Town

• Fun with Matt round the pool
• Dinner with Ivor and Janice
• Seeing Julian

Orange River Adventure

• Fish River Canyon
• Orange River
• Cute doggie
• Leaping with Jo

Kruger National Park Adventure

• Exploring The Kruger
• Birds of The Kruger
• Leopard in the Kruger
• A close shave in The Kruger
• Meeting Jo at Emperor's Palace in Joberg

All posts from this visit

• All posts from South Africa 2012 visit

Spending time with Jo in Joberg

I was really lucky to spend a day with my wonderful sister at Emperor's Palace in Joberg on my way to Sydney after my Kruger trip.  It was great to spend some quality time together.  We watched a movie (my first movie in over a month), had a scrumptious steak (orgasmic after all my tuna in the Kruger.), played games in the game arcade (didn't manage to win a bear, despite my best efforts!) and had some good chats. All in all, it helped me forget my holiday was over.  I liked this statue of David - he looks good in shades!

Russell grows a moustache for Movember

Doesn't he look cool!

Partying in The Blue Mountains

The theme of Dani's 40th party was The 80's. I went as a punk rocker with a huge mullet.  It was a wonderful experience having so much hair!!

Highlights of the weekend

• The great house that we rented for the weekend.
• Going up on the Friday afternoon and buying alcohol for the party.
• A lovely meal at a lovely Italian restaurant we'd been to before on our previous weekend here.
• A short walk with a couple of Dani's friends on Saturday morning.
• Setting up the house for the party with streamers and balloons.
• Playing tennis with glasses of Pims in the afternoon (great fun.)
• Having a big laugh putting on my costume with a mullet and skin tight leopard pants.
• Everyone arriving for the party - a lovely group of people as you'd expect being Dani's friends.
• Seeing everyone's costumes; lots of great ones. 
• Barbecuing for the whole group.  I've never cooked so much meat in one go before, challenging with all the different varieties with different cook times!
• The party itself, lots of fun with lots of 80's music.  I had a long stint at being the DJ.
• Dani's great cake that her best friend an made her - a rubik's cube!
• Helping to clear up the next day. Many hands made light work.
• A nice walk on the Sunday with some of Dani's friends.

Walking in The Blue Mountains

We did two shortish walks on the weekend of Dani's party. On Saturday, a small group of us went off for a nice walk to admire the views of Pulpit Rock.  It always fills me with awe.  Then on Sunday, the day after the party, another group of us ventured a bit further.

Saturday walk

Sunday walk

A close shave

I had 20 minutes to get to the camp before the gates closed for the evening (and I didn't want to arrive late and get fined, as they do in the Kruger) when I came across this formidable character.  It had just knocked a tree over part of the road and was munching on its leaves.  When I edged forward to try to pass, it stopped eating and glared at me. I edged forward in another attempt, and this time its glare was even fiercer and its ears flapped, a sure sign of aggression.  I've never felt so indecisive in my life!  I could have reversed my route, but that would have taken over an hour to drive.  After much gnashing of teeth, I reminded myself that fortune favours the brave and I went for it, making it past the bull - to it's considerable annoyance. I could swear it feigned at me with it's tusks as I past, but I can't be sure as I was too  busy accelerating.

All the time this happened, I kept wondering what the insurance company of my rental car would say about a tusk wound through the right rear door.  Thankfully, I didn't need to find out!

Needless to say, I took a photo of the elephant for memory's sake.  Doesn't it look scary?

Since returning home, I've discovered that several motorists in The Kruger were not as lucky.  If I'd known at the time, I might not have been so assertive!  Here are some photos of past encounters.

And some You-Tube videos of close encounters!