SA Part 7: Joburg

So after a month of holidays we spent the next 7 weeks in Joburg. Dad was lucky to get a project there but unfortunately he had to work really hard. For us, however, the holiday continued. After spending two luxurious weeks in the Hilton we moved to a equally luxurious town house in a great complex in Sandton which had 3 swimming pools, a gym, a spa, playground and pond. Best of all was the fact that children were always playing happily in the streets. I wouldn't like to live in a place like that but it suited our temporary situation perfectly. The big plus points were that we managed to see a lot of family and friends, we swam nearly every single day, did some different activities and got up close and personal with some wild animals.

It was great being able to see the local-yokels regularly. Thanks to all of you for making us feel at home in Joburg and involving us in your daily lives and activities. Needless to say it made all the difference. Unfortunately I don't have photos of our get togethers with people like Anton, Warren, Gareth, Marthie and Phillip, Danie and Lisa etc etc. Thanks also go to Oupa and Marlene, Monique and Tyler and Gogo who made the effort to come and visit us. It meant a lot to us.

Oupa and Marlene

Cousin Tyler (and Aunty Monique)

Gogo

Great Uncle Bull

Aunty Annphia and Uncle Brian
Debbie and her boys Andrew and Mark
Jackson (and Rebecca)
Jordyn and Ross (and Deanne and Grant)Mikaila and Ayden (and the rest of the Van der Bijl gang)

It was great spending so much time in the pool with the boys. Besides the swimming lessons that we went to twice a week we spent a lot of time just playing different pools which made a huge difference to the boys' confidence in the water. Nicholas reached the point of swimming about 5m on his totally unaided and Daniel happily went under the water, humpty-dumptied off the side and clung on to the edge for dear life. We miss pool life a lot now that we are back in London. On more than one occasion Nicholas said 'Joburg is better because it's got more swimming pools that are outside in the sunshine'. For now Putney Leisure Centre twice per week will have to do.

One of our favourite regular activities was the Clamber Club. Besides the singing and learning the outdoor play area was awesome and worth the membership alone. The next set of photos was taken at the messy play day. Nicholas and Daniel was the stars of the show and attracted quite a crowd of supporters. Nicholas started off by covering Daniel in custard, and who knows what else, and then rolled him in rice crispies. They both thought it was hillarious and so did everyone else.

I was never a big fan of zoos but having kids made me take a step back and looked at it from their point of view and there's not denying that it's fun, interesting and adventurous. The Joburg Zoo is great and well worth a visit. In addition to all the regular animals one hopes to see it has some weird and wonderful animals too and it also feels spacious. We spent a lovely day there with Monique and Tyler and even lost track of the time and were the last people there.

While Oupa and Marlene were visiting we went to the Military Museum followed by a feast of, you guessed it, ribs and chips. The military museum exceeded my expectations by far with its a fine selection of aeroplanes, tanks, jeeps and other military paraphanalia. As you can imagine Nicholas thought it was totally awesome. I better get used to going to places like that since I have two sons.