Oh the heat!

Now I may have lived in Queensland for all bar 6 months of my life, but I have never EVER gotten used to our unique mix of heat and humidity.

The past couple of weeks have been particularly awful, so there have been frequent trips to the beach, out for gelati and to mums to avail ourselves of the complex pool. Thankfully our house gets a lovely cross-breeze, but I don't think I'll last too much longer without buying an air conditioning unit!

Anyway, last week it was lovely to spend some times with the Mergards again on one of their visits to the Sunshine State, and hung out with them, the Moores and the Unicombs at Redcliffe Lagoon for lunch.

This is the life!

Bussing about and heading home

With the Muppets having left on Friday morning, I decided to spend the weekend utilising the Hop On/Off sightseeing bus.

It was the best idea I could have ever had. This bus goes all over the cape (Kirstenbosch, Houts Bay, Table Mountain, etc) and over the Atlantic Seaboard (Mouille Point, Bantry Bay, Camps Bay, etc) so it's a great way to get around Cape Town and see what the Cape has to offer.

On Saturday I did both buses - the one down to Houts Bay and then the one that goes through the city and up to Table Mountain. Due to the wind, the Cable Way was closed (it had been closed most of the week due to the extremely high winds), so I was praying that on Sunday the cable way would be open.

Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens

Houts Bay

Atlantic Seaboard - the Twelve Apostles

Another shot of the Twelve Apostles

Inside District Six Museum

View from the Lower cable station of Table Mountain

Saturday night I booked myself onto a sunset champagne cruise around the bay, and had a beautiful time.

View from the sailboat

Amazing sunset!

On the Sunday I had a great sleep in and then headed down to catch the bus back up to Table Mountain. On the way I saw the gondolas going up, so thankfully I was able to go up and spend about three hours on the top of the mountain.

Yours Truly on Table Mountain

Monday was the start of my very long (24 hours) flight home via Singapore, and there was nothing better than going through the arrivals gate and seeing my husband waiting there for me.

I absolutely adored Cape Town, and I can't wait to go back. Not surprising to everyone who knows me - but I was quite mopey for the first couple of weeks I was back in Brisbane. Just like every time I leave Africa!

It was a fantastic time away, and it was such a blessing to be with Bek & Dion and just relax.

Heading out on Safari

FIGO had organised a bunch of touristy activities for us to choose from (at an additional cost), so early on I decided to book in for the day tour to the Aquila Private Game Lodge. Mum Harder had given me birthday money this year, and so I made this my 'present' from her.

After a spectacular drive down the national highway, full of vineyards and amazing alps and mountain passes, we finally made it to Aquila at 9am and indulged in an elaborate buffet breakfast before heading out on the game tour.

It was an amazing day out, and so worth the little bit of extra money to spend time with the wild animals in Africa.

Day Tour to the Cape

Whilst we were in CT, we decided to do a half day tour down to the Cape of Good Hope. Bek organised it, and we were able to get a private tour for the three of us for the same price as doing a big bus tour.

Looking back onto Chapmans Peak Drive

One of the highlights of our trip down the Cape was the chance to drive through Groot Constantia, the oldest and most historic winery in South Africa. The views of gorgeous vineyards as the clouds rolled over the mountains were just gorgeous.

Vineyards in Groot Constantia

The views as we drove around were just beautiful. Towering peaks and craggy cliffs down to brilliant blue ocean - it was just like being in Europe for a lot of the time.

Typical Scenery on the way to the Cape

Finally reaching the entrance of Cape Reserve!

Scenery inside Cape Reserve

Once we were in the Reserve, it was a very pretty drive around to Cape Point. Often mistaken as the most south-westerly point, it overlooks the Cape of Good Hope, and a short furnicular ride up the mountain later takes you to Cape Point lighthouse.

Cape Point Lighthouse

Looking down from Cape Point Lighthouse

"Exhibit A, Your Honour"

Close up of the Lighthouse (yes, Sasch loves them!)

From the Lighthouse, we headed back down and around the corner to the Cape of Good Hope - where the two oceans 'meet' and what is known as the most south-westerly point of Africa. It was absolutely CROWDED with tourists, but it was nice to at least get there and take our own photos as evidence.

Can you see me?

The oceans meeting

Due to the early hour, our tour guide Brian drove us around to Boulders to see the African Penguin parade. Like the Fairy Penguin parade on Phillip Island back home, this was lots of fun and they very cute (although loads bigger than the penguins we are used to).

They don't call the area 'Boulders' for nothing!

Nawww... so cute!

Two girls hanging out with the penguins!

As you could see from my photos, the day was mainly a very wet and windy one. However as we started heading home to Cape Town the clouds parted and the sun just came out and left us with some gorgeous shots of the Table Mountain precinct.

Just stunning!

As this was going to be our last full day together before Bek and Dion headed back to Chivhu, we headed out to the Waterfront for dinner and decided to splurge a little at Meloncino Italian Ristorante.

My best friends for ever!

Gorgeous sunset ending a perfect day

Conference - heck of a lot of knowledge in such a short period of time.

Amazingly, I did still get to a lot of conference sessions. As I'd said earlier, I developed bronchitis during my holiday, so I was sick in bed for one day of conference, but I still got to see a lot of great sessions on a plethora of different issues.

With my passion for the developing world, especially reproductive health in those countries, I sought out sessions that were specifically to do with caring for women where resources are scant; The Millennium Development Goals; and how to deal with traditional practices which are harmful to reproductive health (ie. female genital mutilation, early marriage & myths about HIV & AIDS).

It was an amazing conference. I saw people from all over Africa, as well as the Middle East, Asia, India, South America, as well as the obvious countries like the UK, US and Canada. Apparently over 8000 delegates were registered, and the Cape Town International Convention Centre was a superb venue from which to host such a massive congress.

Obviously in the realm of reproductive health, we touch on some pretty sensitive issues. And with people from areas of the world where certain topics would never be discussed (even to the point of death or at least jail if they do so), it was interesting to see the conversations that came out of such sessions. I admit that sometimes in our developed world we can look at issues through our own little lense of what happens in our developed nation, without realising that this is a life and death issue in the developing world. It was fascinating to see the differences between western and eastern viewpoints on certain topics!

One of the major perks of the conference was the fact they had free wi-fi for all the conference delegates - which meant I could use Skype to call home whenever I had a break. For free!

Cape Town Holiday - Settling in

Twenty-eight hours of flying (and one forgotten chapstick, bag of face cleaners and journal later) lead to finally getting off the plane in Cape Town and getting a sudden understanding that there is not just ONE mountain in the Cape - there is one 300km line of mountain range!

I decided to wait around until Bek and Dion's plane landed (they'd flown into Johannesburg earlier in the day, and their domestic flight was about three hours after mine); and I remember sitting there thinking 'geez I hope those two got flights here okay - it'd be just like me to sit around like an idiot for four hours for nothing!'.

But arrive they did - and after six months of having my best friend over the other side of the world (especially at the times I've probably needed her the most), there was FAR too much talking and laughing and carrying-on happening for one small African airport to handle!

The guest house we were staying in was just divine. A beautiful pool, great fish pond, amazing room and bathroom, and the cutest two dogs you'd ever meet (unless you've met my Vox, of course).

Me outside the guest house, Signal Hill behind me

It goes without saying that sleep was all but forgotten as the next six hours involved us catching up with six months of news, joys, disappointments, frustrations and forgotten titbits that hadn't been shared via the brief phone calls and newsy emails that had bounced back and forth.

Bek and Dion during our first trip to the Waterfront

The next day we were up bright and early and here was the first of many forgotten treats for Bek and Dion to enjoy. Cheese platters on the table, all the coffee you could handle and one very memorable fruit bowl - Bek actually cried when she saw the Rockmelon!

But the fun didn't stop there - one trip down to the Waterfront later (one of the more famous tourist areas of CT), and Bek was in heaven. Gloria Jeans had made it's appearance, and it would take more than one attempt to get Bek out of the place. Thus it made a daily showing during their visit, and if I couldn't find her at our allotted meeting points after the conference - GJs was the place I'd head.

Bek with her first GJs 'coffee'

One place we had all determined to visit during our stay was Robben Island - the place where so many political prisoners had been held during the Apartheid years. This tour was fantastic, and you would be mad not to go if you ever happen to be in Cape Town. We were quite fortunate in that we could go on the same day we booked our tickets - we were told by a lot of people that in peak periods there is often a three month wait list!

It was quite humbling to go through the Maximum Security Unit of the prison and observe where Nelson Mandela had been kept during his stay on the island. This tiny little cell with only a sheet of carpet to sleep on and a bowl for meals - it really hit home to me how it must have been to be kept there for over thirty years.

Nelson Mandela's Cell

This was a great start to our holiday together - and it could only get better from here!

Me on the boat, cruising past the Waterfront, Table Mountain and Lion's Rump

Welcome back Cougher!!!

So, I am home.

And I'm sad (always sad when I come back from Africa).

And I have a cough (it's now diagnosed with bronchitis, which has given me at least one more day off of work).

And - I loved it. Every single second of it. Even when I got really sick, I still thought it was the most amazing place I'd been in in a long time.

And yes - I did cry when we hit the African mainland. But, in my defense, 'Circle of Life' was on my iPod (pure fluke), I was drinking rooibos (oh how I miss it!), and it had been about 25 hours travel at that point!!!

I will eventually do a couple of posts to talk about what I did, how Bek & Dion enjoyed their break and how much fun we had together - but this post was just to say hello and to explain my lack of postage until now.

Bronchitis is a mean old thing!