Hacklewood Hill Country House - 26 September 2024

 

Michaels Birthday and 37th anniversary of our wedding date saw us at Hackelwood Hill Country House for the night. Such a beautiful setting amidst gardens, a tennis court all within the suburb of Walmer in PE.

We arrived and walked for a bit around Walmer and then got ready for dinner. The able was set in an exclusive lounge. We sat down and ate our entrees that consisted of cold cuts, cheeses and biscuits accompanied by a glass of bubbly.

The menu had a small selection of starters, main courses and desserts.

We chose the beef carpaccio to start, Michael had the beef and I had the fish for mains and for dessert Michael had the chocolate lava pot and had the Eton mess. Food was beautifully presented and delicious.

First day of School for Holly and Demolition day for Amy and Andrews house - Bathrooms and Kitchen 16 September 2024

 

Holly seemed happy to be going to school and hopefully Amy was distracted by the builders and going to the Waterfront to exchange Michaels friend Kevin's gift. We couldn't and ended up getting his money back. One week after purchase and there was not a single jacket left. Clearly the Bokke have some great supporters.

We had lunch at Tashas and Amy kindly took me back to the airport. Such a great time in Cape Town, I love going!!!

Michael kindly picked me up at the airport and to avoid driving in the dark back to St Francis Bay, we stayed at the Beach Hotel in Port Elizabeth. Buffet dinner and breakfast, awesome food.

Amy playing at The 12 Apostles and meeting Marta and Eduardo 15th September 2024

 

I love going to watch Amy play, as mentioned previously in many of my blog postings, I am her biggest fan, so off we went to the 12 Apostles where Amy played at the Leopard bar. Listening to Amy while drinking Jack Daniels and catching up all the news with Marta and Eduard made for a very nice afternoon.

Marta and Eduardo, after a long day of sight seeing a very cold and misty Cape Town, left to go back to the hotel and were moving on to Stellenbosch the following day. Amy finished playing at 20:00 and we went home to finish packing for the builders to be able to begin demolition of the kitchen and bathroom the following day.

Spa day for Carolyn, Amy and Ana Maria - Dinner with Marta and Eduardo 14th September 2024

 

I ran my 5km and miss timed it as per usual so it was a rush getting to the Spa but Amy did so well driving through lots of traffic in SeaPoint due to the Gun Race that was in progress.

We arrived exactly on time and enjoyed a full body massage. Carolyn and Amy had the luxury Swedish massage and I had the sports massage and wow, we came out feeling fantastic, had our toe nails done and went for something to eat.

Dying for some coffee, we stopped at Truth Coffee just opposite the Spa and then continued to find a place for a late breakfast. Kleinsky's was full with a queue outside so we went next door, disappointed with the menu, we cancelled our drinks order and went next door to that, Jarryds had awesome food and coffee, the picture above is of the wrap with salad, yummy.

We bought Holly a ball.

We visited Brian in Hospital and then came back home to get ready for our evening at Marcos African place to meet Marta and Eduardo.

Lots of venison on the blackboard with some of us having the carpaccio of crocodile, warthog and impala. There was also smiley on the menu which is a sheep's head (no one had it for dinner). The main courses included a threesome of venison, oxtail curry and other fairly normal dishes.

Great music and great atmosphere.

We ended the evening with a small altercation with the uber driver that would only accept two of us so Marta and Eduardo caught a different uber to their hotel, the Capital on Orange.

Back to Cape Town to meet Marta and Edwardo 12th and 13th September 2024

 

Late flight to Cape Town, Amy kindly picked me up and I had once again access to my room, fairly possessive of the spare room. So lovely to see Holly, Andrew and Amy again.

Slept well and ready for Friday. I had thought that Amy was going to have her hair done but instead, we spent the time together and visited Brian (Amy's dad) in hospital. He is doing so much better.

That night we ordered from Nori Sushi and ate like kings and queens. Rice free sushi for me, crunches for Terrance, spring rolls for Carolyn. Not sure what Andrew got, and Amy got the chow mien. They never disappoint.

We caught yup on all the news, drank lots of red wine and solved the worlds AI problems or not :))

 

Sutherland Day 3 - 18 August 2024

After packing, we had breakfast at the Blue Moon, for the second time as it was so good. Excellent service and good value, filled cars up with petrol and everyone went home for the start of the new week. Already miss you all.

Another photo of the hike.

Carolyn in charge of photos set the timer and missed the above photo.

 Holly bathed and happy with her 2 pony tails, home after what hopefully was a memorable, enlightening and enjoyable weekend.

Sutherland Day 2 - 17 August 2024 - The Planetarium - Star Gazing

 

We returned to the planetarium for stargazing through two telescopes.. Besides lots of others, we saw Saturn with its rings, the moon (the picture above was taken with one of the telescopes), Alpha centaury and Alpha Crucis.

It was very cold at night but so worth it.

The scorpion

The southern cross with its 2 pointer stars