New Year’s Eve…together…in the rain…

The day started with a little shopping as Rebecca had work, so we figured we would head to the center and pick her up when she was done. Of course the centers were both pretty packed as it had started to rain and the beaches aren’t much fun in the rain.

On a Steers napkin

Tamara managed to find a few gifts for her family and friends. I also made them try some Steers (mainly cos I had missed it so much!)

Shopping Buddies

Tonight is New Years and we are heading to Southbroom beach to celebrate with the masses. Us girls were doing a quick-ish Hunters Dry promotion which meant walking through the crowd making sure people were drinking Hunters. This also meant that we were able to stand in our own secluded section and had unlimited Hunters (and water) supplies at our ready. Not too bad!

Promoting...not drinking :)

Ahh New Year’s Eve… Normally the American New Year’s Eve is spent somewhere indoors, so putting on a pair of shorts, flip-flops and a t-shirt to go out on New Year’s Eve was strange to say the least.  I got to join the party a little later as the ladies had to go earlier to work, after joining them for a little bit I was assigned to checking ID’s for those entering the party… let me just say, that was fun. Having a bunch of 16 or 17 year old South African kids trying to bribe me with money to enter the party… not going to happen J … After we got done with ‘work’ the ladies headed off to do the hunters promotion at which point left me alone with my own private stash of Hunter’s Dry… life is hard right? … Once the girls returned we had a fun evening of dancing and partying ‘backstage’ with all the other acts that performed that night, which was nice as the party was packed and it would have been stuffy being stuffed in with everyone else.

Fun times!!!

The bathroom situation was a little bad. They were pretty far away from us and the party was under cover, however the walk to the bathroom was not. This prompted Tamara, Rebecca and I to go the other direction and squat a pee in the bushes closest to us, inaccessible to the general public. I came away with two injuries, banana plant thorns in my hand and foot :/ Other than that the night was amazing, as was kissing my boyfriend at 11:59:59pm on 31/12/2011, to welcome in 2012!

Dirty feet after our adventure...

And one of my injuries

Little did I know that I went to go get another round of drinks to everyone, and as I was paying the bartender I heard the crowd start chanting “10…9…8” … apparently I was the only guy at the party that didn’t realize that New Years was so close… Luckily enough I have a ninja girlfriend and just as the crowd reached “2…1…” she had tracked me down and was standing right behind me as promised with an amazing kiss… lucky guy. 

I think I'm the lucky one

Night Out at the Tavern…

I decided that I needed to take Tyler and Tamara to my “famous dance spot.” We went to the Village Tavern in Margate for a drink and a dance. I even won a black label t-shirt (which I gave to my dear boyfriend.)

The best part of my night (other than dancing the night away with awesome music and lovely people) was when Tyler ordered water! I know this sounds odd, but let me explain… He asked for “wa-are-der” (which is my version of the way Americans say “water”) and the bartender said “you want what?” so he decided to “speak South African” and asked for “w-o-ta” (which is apparently how we sound) and the guy understood him. I think all these small steps help him to see how I have felt in the USA.

While I disagree with that being the best part of the night ;), I will say that it didn’t help being in a loud bar. I still firmly believe that she somehow put the bartender up to it. Further adding to my conspiracy theory, the reason I was ordering that water was because Robyn asked me to go get one… I think it was a setup. That being said, this South African vacation opened my eyes to a lot of different things and I think helped me understand a lot of different things about my girlfriend… and more than just she isn’t the only one in this world that says water funny :P

Simba, Nala and friends…

We (well I) drove to the Lion Park, ready to see some lions. What we weren’t expecting to see were elephants…up really close. To say I was molested by an elephant would be 100% correct. We saw the elephants and pulled up to the side of the road. There caretakers told us we could touch them if we wanted to, not that we had much choice…Once the elephants smelt the apples we were eating they were happy to stick their trunks in through the windows and slobber all over us. Elephant snot…yuck!

Why hello Mr Elephant...

Awfully close huh?

... and the aftermath of an Elephant encounter

After our close encounter, which was a totally amazing experience even with the muddy wetness from their trunks, we headed to the lion section. Seeing the lions out in the wild is fun but a little scary too. You realize how much wild there really is out!

I know you are signing "the circle of life..."

After these fun animal sighting adventures we headed back to the South Coast. Briefly stopping at my high school so I could show Tyler and Tamara a little of my “history.”

Me! and my school!

The elephant experience was incredible, luckily for me I got to touch the elephant, but it much preferred the ladies in the car so I avoided the muddiness. I also got to keep my apple J … The Lion park was cool, a little bit intimidating, but a neat experience to get that close… 

Yip...a little scary!

Seeing game…on a game drive… AKA a Safari…

Driving through iTala game reserve was a really fun experience. We weren’t even 1km into the reserve before we spotted two Rhinos by the water’s edge. They stood as if transfixed by us, this allowed us to take a bunch of close up pictures.  Tyler noticed the humps from the hippos in the water and was convinced he would get a good picture of them. Unfortunately hippos love to stay firmly submerged underwater during the day. So, no good hippo pictures for him.

Rhino!

We also spotted warthogs (little pumbas), impala and eland.  A little futher in the park we found herds of zebra (if you are anything other than South African let me tell you how this is pronounced…it’s ZeB-bra NOT Zee-bra.) They were really relaxed and easy to photograph.

Pumba! AKA Warthogs

We noticed some ostrich, as well as some baby ostriches. They are so cute! Although I was a little weary of getting too close to them.

Mom, baby and baby baby!

My great search was for the giraffe. After getting lost (or temporarily misplaced) in the park, and after much exploring I finally realized that Rebecca is (like me…although maybe worse) directionally challenged. Once I decided to ignore her directional “help” and just follow my African 6^th sense, I came across a whole family a giraffe. A few of them seemed a little intimidated by me, while the biggest one, just stood tall majestic as ever.

Giraffe family!

After seeing everything on our checklist we headed to the Natal Lion Park…

How cute are these ZEBra's???

I love that it’s not only Americans that refer to the African wild life with names from the Lion King. J The game drive was a pretty neat experience, I have seen all of these animals before, but never in a natural setting like this, always in American zoo’s, and let me tell you it just isn’t the same. I will however admit that I am disappointed in the hippo’s, I was determined to get a photo, even made everyone sit in the car and wait, but alas, it just wasn’t in the cards for this American man… maybe on my next South African adventure. (I guess he just re-invited himself….I told you not to feed him, they ALWAYS come back if you feed them J)

Jumping out of perfectly good airplanes…again…

Tyler, Tamara and I headed to Angel’s Way where my mom, Richard and Rebecca were waiting for us. We had planned a day of skydiving, Tamara and my second jump (we jumped together in Milwaukee) but a first for Rebecca and Tyler.

Oh the faces my boyfriend pulls...

After we suited up, which took a while as we had to try find colours that everyone was happy with as well as suits that fitted everyone? Then we were paired with instructors, watch the movie and lastly we headed out the doors. Not of the airplane, but of the hangar. We climbed on the back of the tractor trailer, which drove us to the waiting airplane. We had decided on the following order for the jump…Tyler, Rebecca, Me and Tamara. We had to load in to the aircraft in that order reversed. Tyler was the last sardine in what seemed to be an overfilled can, but we somehow managed to squish in.

Squished in!

The beautiful run way

3, 2, 1 and take off…flying up high amongst the clouds is such an incredible feeling. I love staring out the window and looking at all the expanse that lies beneath me. Finally once we had reached the correct altitude they opened the door, I think Tyler got a little freaked out at this point, as he was the one squished right next to it. When the time to jump came all of us were ready to throw ourselves out of a flying plane…seems crazy! But the rush you get from that jump (or fall) gives you most amazing rush, and then you pull the shoot and canopy down and you get to feel what the birds must feel as they soar through the skies.

Rebecca and I "practicing" our style

It is a most amazing feeling ever. Experiencing it with my best friend, boyfriend AND sister, just made my second jump even better than my first! After we reached the ground (Rebecca and I having successful standing landings…unlike the other two) we were famished and quickly ordered toasted sandwiches.

Once we landed!

Glad we survived

I think skydiving alone would have been an experience that I could never forget, however skydiving in a foreign nation is something that just enhanced the experience. As I had mentioned earlier I was blown away by the landscape of South Africa, luckily this experience gave me a bird’s eye view of the land and it was absolutely breath taking. The jump was incredible, I cannot say the same for the parachute opening as that made the situation a little bit uncomfortable (gentlemen can relate to my plight at this moment), however the view was spectacular. 

(Rebecca?) in the air

Later we all packed into the teeny tiny car while my parents packed into the “Minnie Mouse” car and we made our way to the nearest shop. We basically all ran around like kids taking pictures and finding items to buy. No, I am not embarrassed as no one in Easton knows me.

Tamara and I in the shop

We then joined the instructors for a braai and a few drinks before heading to our cottage, for a good night’s sleep.

Braai time

As fun as the skydiving was, the evening was just as fun. Being able to enjoy another braai on a cool South African night with a few drinks was the perfect ending to an amazing day. 

Chilling at the braai

Best friends are re-united…

My dad offered to take Tyler and me to the Victoria Market and the Beachfront so we could do a little “Christmas” shopping for his family. It was really cool walking around and seeing all the handmade crafts. I have seen all these things many times before but sometimes you need to take a step back to appreciate all your country has to offer, I guess that’s where I am at the moment. Looking in on everything I have been away from and using this as reflection time, to see what is really valuable in life.

(Margate) Beach front stalls 

So Victoria Market was really cool, I am pretty sure that if airlines didn’t have size restrictions on bags I would have bought one of everything available… ok… maybe not everything, I would have left the ‘slap yo momma’ spice behind… Some of the other items for sale though were pretty cool to look at, that is one thing you will definitely not find here in America, we severely lack in handcrafted items.

More craft-Y stuff

Then Tyler and I drove to the airport with my Dad to collect Tamara. (Quick re-cap: Tamara and I met in the USA in 2009 where we both au pairing in Whitefish Bay. We spent much of the year together going to the beach, clubbing and even going to Las Vegas together. She is from Germany and I have not since here since Aug 2010…) Fast forward to right now and I am standing in the domestic terminal, so thrilled to be meeting up with her soon. Until I have a brain wave that since she is flying in via Dubai she will be flying into the International terminal…oops!

The last picture taken of us in the USA together (Aug 2010)

I quickly ran to International arrivals hoping I hadn’t missed her! Thank goodness there was still a little time before she walked through the gate and I run up to her. I am not sure if we did our usual *jumping hug while talking so fast it makes virtually makes no sense to anyone else* (you’ll have to ask Tyler about that) but I remember that it was so amazing to see her again after all that time.

Best Friends together!!!

I cannot say I remember any jumping hugs, that being said I wasn’t watching for any either. As for talking so fast that nobody can understand, that is difficult to determine because I feel like that is standard for my girlfriend when she is excited, which at this moment and many moments throughout this trip she was. At this moment, Charli (Robyn’s dad) and I just sat back and chatted till it was our turn to greet Tamara.

My dad and Tamara meeting and greeting

Once we had arrived back at Dad’s house we sat down for a lovely Lasagna dinner. Tyler then commented that *this stuff is pretty good*. Yeah I thought Lasagna (from Woolworths) is pretty good, and then it was revealed that my crazy, fussy boyfriend had never tried it before. NEVER. Even though his mother makes it. (I had to add that once we made it back to the US and people asked him what foods he tried in SA…he mentions Lasagna…hmmm)

Tyler and I at dinner

So here is where I am going to defend myself, this particular “crazy, fussy boyfriend” of hers went to a foreign country and tried every item that was shoved in my face (sometimes literally by my beautiful girlfriend)…I was admittedly picky, but I told myself that for this trip I would have no limits, and I did it. I have mentioned the Lasagna to people but only as a joke, I think I walked away with my favorite things being (and not necessarily in this order) malva pudding, pap, biltong, wors, and the mielies that we got at the Margate Mardi Gras. I think during this trip I ate better than I have in any other two week stretch of my life, and for that I have two fantastic families to thank!

Tamara with Riley and Roic (after she spoilt them with German chocolate!)

Visa prepping and the hassles I faced…

After checking and re-checking (I am extremely organized, and everything I have is colour coded) all my visa documents I suddenly realized I had forgotten to take a visa picture. Are you kidding me?! It’s now close to 12am and my visa interview is at 8.30 in the morning…hmmm…

Being a way too stubborn South African girl, I decided to accept the challenge. (Ever heard a Boer maak a plan? ...) I ran into the bathroom put on a full face of make-up, and brushed my hair. Tyler saw me and had an extremely confused look on his face that seemed to question my sanity. Then I grabbed my camera and a white sheet. I hung the white sheet up and gave Tyler specific instructions on what to do. (He was still giving me *that* look.) I primped and posed then checked his handy work and once I was satisfied I downloaded the picture cropped it to specific dimensions and finally printed it out…Viola! Visa picture done, sleep time now!

Confusion doesn’t completely cover what I was feeling at this moment. It is midnight, your girlfriend just told you that it is time for bed because she has to be awake early (which at this point in the trip terrified me, if you don’t get why see previous blog entries about waking up), and after you head upstairs for bed you find her in your bathroom putting on makeup and brushing her hair looking like she is getting ready for a beauty pageant. I should have known better than to ask questions; however curiosity got the best of me, after learning what was at the root of this I asked the typical man question, “Why do you need to do your makeup and hair for a visa photo? It’s not like your auditioning for modeling” to which I received the typical woman response, “ugh, you don’t get it… your such a man” this is the point I knew to just stop asking questions or I would end up further confused. That being said, there may be a bit of revisionist history going on here, while I was thoroughly impressed with her creativity and resourcefulness, she made the process sound significantly easier and quicker than it actually felt.

Early morning wakeup call (this is becoming way too common) for my visa interview. I headed to the Embassy and waited to be called. I was really nervous (I am re-applying for my student visa, to continue studying business management at MATC.) Once I walked up to the interview window, I was ready! The interviewer was more interested in what I thought of Milwaukee than anything else…visa status approved!

Then while waiting for my dad I decided to go to the restroom. I was busy on the phone and I never noticed the bathroom was one you had to pay for. This means it has a glass door separating you from the bathroom. Yip, you guessed it…I walked *SmacK!* into the door, I immediately checked to see if anyone had noticed the embarrassing moment. I then retrieved the 2 bucks and entered then bathroom, rubbing the huge red mark on my knee. The lady cleaning the bathroom turned to me and asked “were you trying to knock on the door?” I just muttered “kind of” and then walked into a stall…UGH!

Long drive to beautiful surroundings…

Early morning on the 27^th I walked through to the lounge where Richard (my step-dad) asked if Tyler and I wanted to join him (and my mum) for a drive through some lovely scenery.  I was excited, Tyler was still asleep. So being the wonderful girlfriend I am, so supportive of my boyfriends need for sleep, I set Sam on him. So he woke up with Sam breath in his face, and my only redeeming feature…the tea that was made with love.

Sam and Tyler

At this stage in the story I would like to call out the re-occurring trend of abuse I incurred while waking up during this trip. For whatever reason, my girlfriend feels she can wake me anyway that she feels like as long as there is a cup of tea waiting somewhere for me (I blame my mom for this) … as if the tea makes me waking up with a massive dog panting and drooling in my face better. I might also add that after I calmed from freaking out over waking up to Sam I looked over to see her standing there with her cup of tea and smiling… so not only did she set out to torture me, she stayed to watch. I think next time she stays with me I will torture her and just make sure that I make tea so that I cannot be prosecuted…think it will work?

Little boys with a chicken on our drive

Once we were all set, we hoped in the Yaris (or the Minnie Mouse car as my mom affectionately named it) and headed for the hills. Driving from Kwa-Zulu Natal (the province I’m from) to the Eastern Cape, where we drove through some townships, past the Umtamvuna Gorge and finally we parked the car and walked (or hiked?) to Leopard Beach. It was so beautiful to walk in the river along the beach, toes in the water and sun on my shoulders.

Entering the Wild Coast

Now back to the real story, the hike that we took was absolutely amazing, while I made up stories of rock climbing, sharks, alligators, and hippos I got to experience some of the most beautiful sights. I was really blown away by the landscape, being from Midwestern portion of the US there is a reason they refer to us as the flatlanders. Our terrain is EXTREMELY flat. That was one of the things I was honestly taken aback by in South Africa, the landscape is pretty stunning. Luckily we got some amazing photos from the trip too thanks to Richard so I have lots to share with my friends and family. It’s truly hard to describe what we all saw, and I am sure photos will not do it justice. Then to follow the trip up with an amazing meal (despite the hour and a half wait), and some more South African beer was a fantastic finish to an amazing day.

So cute...

Then we headed to 7^th Heaven for lunch, SA cricket (on TV) and a yummy lunch! Family time is way more special than you realize, it’s only when you are apart you learn to really appreciate the little moments and all the small joys you share together.

Tyler and I (taken by Richard Nagel - http://www.williamtellphotographics.co.za/  )

The day ended with Tyler and I driving to Durban to spend a night with my Dad, braai-ing out with family. This is our last night before the “New adventures of Robyn and Tamara” begin…

(taken by http://www.williamtellphotographics.co.za/ )

The *real* Peacock story...

Once everyone had left I offered to take Tyler on a drive of the coast from Margate to Southbroom and back through Margate to Uvongo. As we entered Southbroom and headed towards the beach we passed a troop of monkeys. I stopped the car and we took a bunch of monkey pictures. A few of them even had their babies firmly attached to their tummies.

Monkeys!!!

Driving back to my house I spotted the resident peacock that lives on our block. I slowed down and Tyler opened the window to snap a few pics. Not long after that the peacock let out the loudest screech ever. While typing this post I was googled “what noise does a peacock make?”  I was unsure of what the actual description of the noise was.  This was the best description I found “something between an industrial buzzer and the bray of a donkey.” (If you are still curious…and I’m warning you, click on this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IF-UXYyilw&feature=related)

Anyway, so where were we? Oh, yeah so the peacock noticed the attention we were giving it and slowly began to approach the car window, at this point Tyler started yelling to me to drive away as he was starting to close the window. By this stage I am doubled over laughing so hard that there was no way I could have driven away. He was not impressed; I took a full 5 minutes to calm to finally drive the two blocks to my house.

The *offending* animal

Oh the wonderful peacock story surfaces again. As it pertains to the re-telling of this story I feel that she has severely underplayed the pace at which this foul (pun intended) bird was approaching the vehicle. I can attest that, “loudest screech ever” is an accurate description though. I hadn’t ever been attacked by a peacock, but I have been bitten by a goose, and they are mean birds. I was not about to tangle with this creature. That being said the story of “when peacocks attack” has seemed to have been a popular story of my visit to South Africa, one that I have been reminded of repeatedly. I am ok with that though, I know how the story went down, and I can live with it. (Screaming like a little girl…LOL)

Tyler and I