Day 8 – Johannesburg to Kruger

Today we were in the bus almost all day. We left the hotel in Rosebank about 7:15 and have just arrived (17:15) at the Umbhaba Eco Lodge in Hazy View which is about 15 minutes or so (plus or minus as they say in Africa) from the gate to Kruger National Park. The drive is […]

Day 7 – Cape Town to Johannesburg and Soweto

Today we were up early (we woke up far earlier than we needed to) to get ready to transfer from our hotel to the Cape Town Airport. We have been staying at the Portswood for the last 5 nights. It has been a lovely hotel, the staff were excellent, the food was lovely (breakfasts were […]

Day 6 – Stellenbosch

This morning we had a slightly later start than usual but it was still a big day of travelling. we went out to the Stellenbosch wine region today to do some wine tasting. The whole region is named after the Governor of Cape Town Simon van der Stel and means Stel’s Bush. The Stellenbosch region […]

Day 5 – Cape Town, Penguins and Cape of Good Hope

Today we start the formal part of our holiday. We met the gang on the G Adventures tour last night, had our dinner, and we start the “tour” piece. Most of the days are going to be long so I may not be able to post the blog over night. I am writing this on […]

Day 4 – Cape Town – Pre-Tour Day

Today is the final day before the G Adventures tour starts. We meet our Chief Experience Officer (CEO) and the others people on the tour at 6pm tonight. We have tickets to go up to Table Mountain on the cable car. For those of you that know me this is a big thing for me […]

Day 3 Cape Town – Continued

We went out to dinner last night to a restaurant called Karibu. It serves authentic South African and Malaysian fusion dishes. Peter and Jayenne told us that Cape Town has a strong Malay influence with a fusion between Malay and South African flavours. I decided I was going to choose a dish called Denningsvleis which […]

Day 3 – Cape Town (Robben Island)

We had hoped to have a late start today as it was about midnight by the time we checked in and got to our room and set up etc. I was awake at about 4:30 so I’m pretty tired as I write this at 6pm. We have been out all day today so no rest […]

South Africa – Travel Day 1 and 2 (Friday and Saturday)

There isn’t really a “direct” way of getting to South Africa from Brisbane. The most direct way at the moment is to travel via Sydney on QANTAS. The flight leaves early in the morning (9:30) which means you need to come to Sydney the day before so that you can guarantee your connection to […]

day 11 temples and coffee

Today has been designated as a tour day. It started as just going to coffee to including temples and rice paddies. The morning walk this morning included the whole Wise family and Stu and I. It was another beautiful morning and the mountains were all visible as we walked through the rice paddies behind the villas. We […]

Day 10 – Boxing day

We started today with another walk through the rice paddies. This morning we were joined by Christopher and Stephanie. The weather has been absolutely spectacular other than a couple of late afternoon showers. We could see Mt Agung and Mt Batur very clearly this morning. After breakfast Christopher, Stephanie, Stu and I caught a grab […]