Safari Time.

Our few days in Cape Town and been nice and rested, filling each day with one or two activities. Then returning home early to crash out hard for the night. Yesterday we went out to Robben Island for a tour, which was really good. A mix of everything has happened out on the island from colonial supplies, to leper colonies, military bases and of course maximum security prisons. Was interesting to be driven around the mini roads  all over the island, spotting a few penguins along the way, then led through the grim prison that still remains very in tact. Was a really good tour overall. We had plans to do some other tourist stuff, but the safari planning is taking over instead.

The time is here. After 5 days of jet lag after the long long flight from Sydney, we finally got a good nights sleep (helped a little by a few drinks) and are now in town just hours away from our pre-departure meeting back at the hostel. Our big safari truck is parked outside and the crew are loading lots of supplies into it ready for the morning. We are pretty sure we have bought everything we may need in the last few days, with a watch for me and pillows for comfort being the final few things. We are ready. If not, we will quickly find out and learn to adapt.

Six weeks will be a long long time, but there should be many cool sights along the way, and plenty of film used. Since we have traveled this far it’s best we take the time to make the most of it. Not sure how many potential future companies would ever give 6-8 weeks off to do this ever again.

I’m expecting the internet along the way to be slow and painful, but I’ll try and put any updates here when possible. Watch this space..

Jetlagged in Cape Town

After a cleverly placed break in Sydney, we got on the plane and after 16 hours of flying time, plus transits, waiting and taxi rides on top of that – here we are in Cape Town. What can I say, it’s a long long way to fly and is hard on the body. I’d personally like to thank Qantas and their brilliant In-Flight entertainment for making the trip a lot less painful than it could have been.

We managed to get in 9 hours good sleep before being wide awake at 6am. Tonight will be the catchup sleep. Spending the day wandering the downtown streets, exploring and buying up some supplies for the safari ahead which starts on Sunday morning. Ever tried going pillow shopping in a foreign place? Where to start…

Looking forward to catching up with some old flatmates while we are here. It’s been a good 6 years since the Pennard Road days. Off to grab a smootie, then back to the room for a nana nap

Sunny Sydney

We decided rather than checking in at 3:30am and flying for 19 hours last friday, we would break it up a little and now have a little weekend for ourselves here in Sydney (again). It’s bright and sunny for once, since it usually rains when we are here. Been pretty good so far, just getting used to moving along again, taking in some more sights around the place, and catching up with friends who have decided to settle down here. Been great fun so far.

Tomorrow we have our biggest flight day – 14 hours to Jo’Burg, then onto Cape Town shortly after which will all lead up to the best complete exhaustion sleep I’m expecting for a long while. This time next week though we will be officially on Safari!

Zorbing!

Here is the video me me going for my zorb. Ignore the fact that it’s sideways, unless you view it as an artistic take

What’s going on?

Well, it’s been ages and ages since my last post but everything is sweet. It’s actually been great fun being back in NZ, driving around and catching up with everyone that I could. Seeing new houses, wedding photos and even a baby or two, it’s nice to know that everyone else’s life is cruising along as well and all seem to be having fun.

We made a trip up to Auckland for a great catchup weekend where everyone slotted into place, then out to Tauranga to catchup with other’s and celebrate a new engagement. The finale was down to Rotorua with Mum and Dad for some tourist stuff, heading out to a Maori village in the forest (re-enacted, they do not still live out there), and a spot of zorbing – which for those who don’t know is rolling down a hill in a giant ball with a bit of (warm) water added to help you slide around. Like being in a giant washing machine, and is great fun.

Our Irish friends from India stayed for the last 2 nights, so was good fun swapping stories once again. Now that they are gone, we are packing our bags, posting a few items to Canada, and doing some internet before our flight off to Sydney tommorrow afternoon. Spending the weekend there, then onto Capetown on monday to prepare for our 6 week safari. Gonna be a good one.

Our time in NZ has been wonderful, but we are ready to venture out into the wilderness