The Lake District

Last weekend we travelled up north to the Lake District and stayed in a B&B near Lake Windermere, in the little village of Rydal. We'd never visited the region and were keen to explore the mountains and countryside. On Saturday morning we walked away from Rydal, up into a dense fog and onto the summit of Nab Scar. The Fairfield Horseshoe (the walk we'd picked) is an 18km trek that apparently gives you a fantastic perspective of the landscape. After walking for around an hour we weren't sure if we were going to see our shoe-laces, let alone the rest of what was around us. Suddenly, as if someone nice had flicked a switch, the fog vanished and we could see again. We continued on for another few hours, up to Fairfield and then back along the ridge down to Ambleside, surrounded by awesome views the whole way.

The afternoon was spent exploring Ambleside and then driving off around Derwent Water and into the village of Coniston, where we forced down some grub.

On Sunday morning we drove passed Hawkeshead and parked in Near Sawrey. We walked off along a farm road for a couple of kilometres and arrived at Moss Eccles Tarn (2nd from bottom), a small dam famous because Beatrix Potter frequented it's waters and enjoyed it so much she ended up buying it in 1913.

The long drive back down to London was a small price to pay for spending a weekend in a truly special part of England.

Leicester

Jacks has been really busy on a project in Leicester for a while now and is occasionally even spending the night there. I will admit that I had been getting a bit jealous, so I decided to go and have a look. While she was busy at work I skipped through the city streets, exploring the modern shopping centres and exposing myself to a surprising kaleidoscope of cultures. With more curry houses than Delhi and traffic lights that have an accent, I spent a few hours with eyes wide open. The highlight for me was the fact that I somehow managed to secure 2 free Starbucks coffees.

Shoreham

On Sunday morning, for our usual fix of fresh air and relative calm, we visited the quiet and delightfully pretty town of Shoreham (pronounced shorrum). It's amazing that almost all of these unknown little places have some sort of unusual attraction. This village, for instance, had a cross on the hillside, a bird of prey sanctuary and the ruins of a castle nearby. We walked up and over the 'famous' crossed hill and did a loop of about 11km out into the surrounding countryside and back into town along a river, stopping for a quick bite to eat along the way. A top way to spend a warm weekend morning.

No ordinary braai

On Saturday we visited Gerrod, Kristy, Julian and Shelley at their great place in Putney. We braaied, they barbecued and in between we played a couple of games of croquet. Gerrod had provided optimum refreshment in the form of ice cold James Boag beers and we took along a big bottle of Amarula to sip on at the end of the evening. The food was fantastic and somehow, after tucking into a wave of wonderfully prepared offerings, we managed to find space for a perfect pecan pie.

Mom and Tess playing golf

I love the backswing. I thought that watching the ball was a fairly necessary part of the sport.

Muti

A painting by Steve Bull, a friend of my folks who lives in the Central Berg. The dog's name is Muti.

Sandals and the Berg

After our brief stop in Johannesberg we flew down to Durbs to stay with my folks in Umhlanga and to visit some family. Sandals has somehow managed to become even better which is remarkable considering that it was perfect the last time we saw it. I'm obviously slightly biased on the matter but in my opinion the breakfasts make anything else, anywhere in the world, look pathetic. Well done mom and dad!

We spent a night at my sister and Fabrice's place where we got a chance to meet Humphrey, their golden retriever. He's a real character and besides being preoccupied with digging a tunnel to China he seems to have an appetite for anything, especially things not really designed for animal consumption. Lisa has been busy with a play at her school for some time and we were lucky enough to attend one of the performances. It was really good but the highlight was an unexpected interruption. The curtains were closed and we could here kids quietly getting ready. The music faded and all of a sudden a loud fart came from centre stage. As the curtains opened there were 6 little kids trying their best not to laugh. They were dressed in gum-boot attire and the funniest thing was that they were all squatting.

Jacks spent a weekend with her dad on his new farm in Plett and I went off with my folks to spend a week in the Drakensberg. On the way we popped in to Pietermaritzberg to see my 94 year old gran. We went off to Ocean Basket for lunch and she reminded me how much she loves prawns, but more importantly how much she loves garlic. Each grilled queen prawn receives a dollop of approximately 30 grams of garlic paste.

The Drakensberg is a very special place for my family and for Jackie and myself. We've been having holidays there since I was a little nipper and our wedding was there 2 and a half years ago. Lisa and Fabrice came up for the weekend and Mac and Tessa spent the rest of the week with us, which is the reason we went through so much wine (they drink a huge amount of wine in Darling). We had a few great walks and I played what occasionally looked like golf. A great 2 week break and a reminder of what a special place South Africa is.

Happy 59th

Yes, that's correct. It was actually my dad's 59th birthday. Quite funny that.

The first braai

The sad thing about quick trips home is that you never have enough time to do everything you hoped to. This was especially the case in Joburg where we only really had 2 days. Enough time for a braai and a catch up but thats about all. One thing that was especially noticeable was the fact that all of a sudden we have a lot of new short friends running around.