South Africa...week 1

Our countdown to our holiday was finally over and we arrived in South Africa on Saturday the 17^th December.  We spent the night with our friends, Bruce and Kate, in Johannesburg where they welcomed us with our first good old chicken Weber.  We were well and truly back in our homeland!

On Sunday we flew to Port Elizabeth to visit my family for the first week of our holiday.  The week was filled with lots of family get togethers, partying and good food!

My parents

Some if the highlights included:

Seeing my sister and her husband - It was only for 1 day as my sister had to work over Christmas, but it was short and sweet as always.

Mom and Sister

Dad, Sister and Brother-in-law

The King’s – Our aunt, uncle and cousins were also staying at my parents for the Christmas period. We had a great time with them especially at their wedding anniversary lunch.



The Kings

The braai that turned into a party – All the family were invited for a braai at my uncle Derrick’s place.  What started off as a relatively calm braai (and I say relatively because with such a huge family things are never quite calm) turned into a sing along party, with shooters, guitar playing brothers and a chorus of singers. Definitely a family night to remember.

Hubby and I enjoying the braai

Uncle Derrick

Christmas – Christmas was held at my parent’s house and we set up tables and decorated them in a Christmas theme.  Due to the warm weather we decided on cold meats and salad with all the family allocated specific dishes to make. As usual it was a feast! 

Some of the girl cousins

The feast

Other SA food – My parents took us for a lovely breakfast at Vovo Telo (http://www.vovotelo.com/main.htmland) we enjoyed shopping at the stores across the road.  We also went for delicious pizzas at Leonardos at the boardwalk.

Coffee at Vovo Telo

Family!

Our week with my family flew by way too quickly but then we were off to Knysna for the second week...

Looking back at 2011...

Happy New Year!

Well it’s been a while since I have made a blog entry, with all the excitement of going to South Africa to visit our family and friends for Christmas and New Year and then getting settled into 2012 there is a lot to tell. But I thought I would take the opportunity to look back at 2011.

The years really seem to fly by and I can’t believe we have already said goodbye to 2011. One night lying in bed I thought back to 2011 and what an epic year it has been for us, with so many big and life changing events.

Here is a recap of some of the highlights:

January – The year started on a great note with the continuation of our holiday in South Africa. We spent a couple of months in our homeland (starting with my sister’s wedding in December), travelling and spending time with family and friends.

Nic and Al

Sisters

In Franschoek

Wine tasting by horseback

Hiking in the Drakensberg

February – Our Wedding! Followed by an amazing honeymoon. This has to be the highlight of the 2011! On the 5^th of February 2011 we had a magical day getting married and celebrating with our family and friends.

Then a couple of days later we left on our honeymoon in Tanzania, starting off at the Ngorongoro Crater and Serengeti and ending with a week on Zanzibar island.

June – Officially moving to Geneva!  Hubby had come over a couple of months earlier while I finished work in England. Then at the beginning of June I officially made the move to Geneva to join him and our exciting Swiss adventure started!

July - SA again for our friends, Gareth and Jess’s, wedding.  And another great opportunity to see family and friends.

Jess and Gareth

August – Another wedding, this time in England.  And welcoming a new nephew to the world (although we did not meet him till December)!

Keagan, too cute for words!

November  - Our first trip to Paris!  What a lovely city, we fell in love and will be sure to go back a few times to explore and experience the culture further. To read about our trip you can read my previous blogs (http://www.keep-calm-and-eat-cake.blogspot.com/2011/11/i-heart-paris.html, http://www.keep-calm-and-eat-cake.blogspot.com/2011/11/i-heart-parisday-2.html and http://www.keep-calm-and-eat-cake.blogspot.com/2011/11/i-heart-parisday-3.html).

December – Our holiday in South Africa! Be sure to read the next blogs as I will be telling about what we got up to during our 2 week stay.

So all in all a pretty busy and eventful year for Hubby and I.  Definitely one we will remember forever!

Bring on 2012 and the exciting adventures that lay ahead…

This was a trip of a lifetime and I will never forget the amazing experiences we had.