Hiya all,

What an adventure Cape Town was. Today officially saw us land back in Johannesburg, back with our animals and our own house. Thanks to Rudi, all was fine at the house when we arrived.

Let me start back in Cape Town on Monday. Remember a number of blogs back I mentioned that Mommy had passed on her shoe fetish of her shoes to me. So on our way to Camps Bay to get out of the wind of Blouberg, we headed off to Pitta-Patta for shoes. Gran and Daddy just laughed at Mommy as she took pair after pair off the stands for me. I understood Mommy’s crazy behaviour as I like these shoes too. The lady in the store was so happy at selling 7 pairs that she threw in a pair of ‘Robin Hood’ shoes for me for winter. I can’t wait to wear them.

Next we were off to Camps Bay, we did however get lost on the way, as we weren’t really paying attention, and one of the roads the Daddy was familiar with has been changed to a left turn only for the World Cup Soccer. When we did get there, it was beautiful, we put up the sun tent and just ‘camped’ out. Granny did a great job of fetching me water to build castles and moats, she didn’t give up, not until I did. There were little rock pools and nice warm water compared to the West Coast. Daddy went off to get us some water and came back with Nandos chips, Mommy didn’t get a look in with hers as I had them all. After an hour or so we decided that it was really too hot to be out so we sort out the cool air-conditioned environment of Canal Walk shopping centre.

The first thing Mom and Dad did was head for American Corndogs – they are so deprived of this junk food in Johannesburg. We ordered a round of Corndogs and sat there munching them; Mom and Dad, and even Granny (having her first Corndog), were enjoying them so much that they didn’t even chat. Needless to say, I also shared in the experience and loved it – I’m a convert! For those of you that aren’t familiar with Corndogs let me explain. It’s a sausage of your choice (cheese griller, pork, beef, chicken, or even a BarOne) with lolly-stick inserted at one end. This is then dipped into corn batter and fried. Yum! Mom and Dad serendipitously discovered them on Camps Bay 15 years ago, and apparently they hunt them down every time they’re in Cape Town to get their ‘fix’.

The food court at Canal Walk is flanked by Wonderland, a games area, where there were some rides that I could go on, and I was very excited by all the lights and noise and kids screaming and shouting with joy. However, on closer inspection, the stimulation was too much for me and I didn’t even want to ride on the rocking horses. Dad had purchased a bunch of tokens for me and since I wasn’t going to use them he tried to grab a fluffy toy for me with a crane inside a glass box, to no avail.

We then discovered another heavenly area at Canal Walk called ‘place of play’. Inside was an entire play area dedicated to little people. I was ecstatic. First I chilled in the ball pit where I got Dad to do some exercises by running after the balls I was throwing around the place. Next there was an enormous jungle gym with slides, rope ladders, trampolines, foofy slides (ziplines), and lots more. Because I was really little Mom and Dad were allowed to go with me in the jungle gym. I really giggled at them trying to negotiate through the tiny little spaces designed for little people, but they did me proud and took me through the whole experience. Mom and Dad even climbed right to the top, through tiny hatches and zigzag platforms to the slide, where they slid down with me. I loved it! What an awesome experience. Next we headed outdoors to the racetrack where Dad led me around the course on a y-bike – again superduper fun. Some time was spent on the trampoline and then had a whale of a time opening and closing the windows on a little house that Dad put me in. What a great game of peek-a-boo I played with everyone.

A walk around Canal Walk ensued and we discovered some more heaven – a Toys-R-Us. There we shopped for some small toys for me, as most of my toys were still in Jo’burg. One downside of flying is the limitation on what you can take with, so many of my toys had to stay at home. After a brilliant day we headed back to our little apartment in Blouberg. Dad was really funny as we got home – he lay down on the sofa, bathed in sunset (the sunset showered our lounge and bedroom in afternoon sun) and promptly fell asleep. Granny had to bunzy-run me.

Dad started Tuesday morning with feeding me breakfast on the beach opposite our apartment. I munched on the scrambled eggs that Dad had made me but I didn’t finish it all. We opted to feed the rest to the seagulls – they seemed very pleased and came right up to us. After the seagulls left, realising our food was finished I played in the sand while Dad made me little sandcastles. We were back at the apartment a short while when Mom got a call from Jaco, Gene’s Dad. He gave us the tragic news that Gene’s Opa (Nina’s Dad) had passed away that morning. We immediately sent the family lost of love and spared lots of thoughts for them. I felt very sad for Gene, and her Mommy and Daddy, Nina and Jaco. Please send them lots of love.

Later in the morning we drove to the other coastline of Cape Town to Boulder Beach. We travelled via Simon’s Town and Kalk Bay and I was most impressed by this different looking coastline of the Cape. We finally got to Boulder Beach where we struggled to find parking, and after we slipped a guy a twenty, we were allowed fairly close to the beach entrance. Not the first or the last time on our holiday we were grateful to be in a rental car (aka four-by-Avis, or in this case, four-by-Eurocar), as they seem to be able to get into nooks and crannies that normal cars can’t, oblivious to rocks, ditches and tree stumps. Once we’d reached the beach we where told we it was closed already as there were too many people on the beach. We told the nice lady that we were there to meet our cousins so she let us in after we paid. I was a little confused by the situation, as I couldn’t understand how a beach could be ‘too full and closed’. My curiosity was quickly resolved when I saw the beach – it was tiny, wedged between massive monolithic boulders on both sides. There were people everywhere – on the beach, in the warm water, on the boulders. It felt very European, and we loved it! We easily found Linda, Wayne, Lisa and the girls, Jenna and Erin, and we settled in with them. We were most impressed at their preparedness for the beach – they had food and drink in huge supply.

Then we spotted the best thing about Boulder Beach – the penguins. They were in water swimming amongst the people and standing on the boulders all around the beach. Two of them decided they’d had enough of the water and headed up the beach to the coolness of the vegetation (where only a penguin could fit). Linda walked ahead of them to clear a path for them, as they seemed a little perturbed by the people and all their paraphernalia scattered about in their path. Once of the pieces of paraphernalia in the penguin’s path was Dad’s leg. He was a little too slow in moving it out the way of the penguin, so the penguin simply jumped up onto Dad’s shin and off the other side and stormed into the vegetation. Everyone was most intrigued by this and unfortunately we didn’t have the camera ready for the moment, but it was very special and memorable.

Our four hour visit at Boulder Beach ended early afternoon when we decided it was too hot to stay there any longer. I was hardly in my car seat when I fell asleep, heading home. Apparently en route home we stopped in at the Scratch Patch in Simon’s Town where Mom and Dad got me a baguette cut citrine which is the birthstone for my zodiac sign, Gemini. A birthday gift was selected for Tamsin, but we can’t say what it is, as she’ll have to wait for the surprise.

About 10 minutes from home I woke up and Mom asked if we could pop into the Woolworths at Sunset Beach. Dad parked the car and Granny and Mommy went into the store. Just before getting out the car Mom asked if Dad needed some beers, to which he replied no. While Mom and Granny were in the store, Dad hopped into the back seat with me and we chatted and played. At about the same time another silver car pulled up alongside us. Mom and Granny returned from the shops and Mom got into the car that parked alongside us! Dad and I watched the whole scene play out. Apparently there were some Amstel beers on the passenger seat of the other silver car and as Mom got into the car she said to the driver, thinking it was Dad, ‘Since when do you drink Amstel?’. The other driver give Mom a sidelong glance and said ‘Excuse me?’. Mom burst out laughing realising she got into the wrong car. Once she got out of that car she still went back, opened the passenger a second time and apologised to the stranger!

Back home we had a quiet evening of cheese platter and Mom, Dad and even Granny had some red wine. We believe Granny had the red wine to calm her nerves from Mom’s attempted hijacking and Granny’s complicity in attempting to hijack a sliver car carrying a six pack of Amstels. Mom put me in Granny’s care for the night so I slept in Granny’s room. That was to give Mom a break, as the my neo-natal ICU post-traumatic stress still causes me to wake up during the night.

Wednesday I woke up in a state! I had a tummy bug of note and was throwing up every chance I got. As a result we didn’t leave the apartment at all. The day was spent watching DVD’s and playing indoors.

By Thursday I still wasn’t feeling great, but I did sleep well and the long rest was good for me. Mom kept me extremely well hydrated throughout the night – she is so dedicated to me. We did do a brief beach visit, but my throwing up forced us back home where I snoozed to recover some more. Mom and Dad were very worried about my illness, and it became so severe that we made contact with Nicoletta for advice. She suggested hospitalisation wasn’t necessary, yet, unless certain other telltale signs appeared. Fortunately I remained hydrated and managed to avoid a visit to the local hospital.

Later in the day we headed into Cape Town to the Company Gardens. Our first stop was to the National Museum, which was pretty ordinary. Next we popped into the National Gallery where we spotted some good and questionable art. Admittedly we all liked the handful of Pierneefs on the walls. After the Gallery we headed into the Company Gardens themselves and feed peanuts to the squirrels that live in the massive trees in the Gardens. A late afternoon lunch followed in the Company Garden’s Teahouse. From there we could see Table Mountain and decided to go up for sundowners, as it looked clear. We called Linda, Lisa and the girls to join us and plans were made to meet there later.

It was early evening when we started to head to the Cableway, but unfortunately the winds were extremely strong, so the plan was aborted. Instead we headed to Sea Point and at Café La Vie we met Lisa, Jason and the girls, Jenna and Erin. After a round of drinks we headed home. Back at our place we settled in for the evening. Dad headed out for some pizzas while cousin Linda and Granny bathed me.

Friday was extremely windy, and as a result the Cableway up the Mountain was closed. Alternate plans were made and we headed out to Stellenbosch to the Rupert Museum. Cousin Linda joined us for the daytrip. I had a nice long snooze during the drive to Stellenbosch, and once there we quickly found the museum. Our reason for visiting the Rupert Museum was to see the Rodin Exhibition. Unfortunately the taking of photos inside the gallery was prohibited, but Dad persuaded the curators that we needed a picture of me next to Rodin’s The Thinker and The Kiss. They relented and said we could take exactly two photos. We were thrilled.

We looked at much art and then headed into the last hall where the Rodin’s where being exhibited. I was most impressed. The entire hall had Rodin’s life timeline on the wall with relevant information about his life and art, with the art piece in question nearby. I loved the sculptures, and I even was able to touch them. They felt surprisingly warm and very smooth, and through the artwork I could feel Rodin’s energy. Mom and I posed alongside The Kiss for a photo, and then Dad and I posed alongside The Thinker.

After the awesome experience of the Rodin Exhibition we popped into The Sweet Café at Oak Corner in Stellenbosch where we had an incredible lunch. While there we established that the Cableway to The Mountain was open again so we headed back into Cape Town to go up Table Mountain. The usual rental car parking bay was quickly found and as Dad had already bought and printed tickets online we didn’t even have to queue. The ride up the Cableway was incredible, and throughout the two minute trip we got a full 360° sweep of the surrounds and environ of Table Mountain, as well as the foothills and Cape Town.

I was very impressed being on top of Table Mountain, and the view was awesome. Everything looked so small and far away, but at the same time is was great to see everything in one panoramic view. Although the wind was strong and it was cold atop the Mountain we wondered around a while looking at all the scenes. In the Table Mountain Café we had a round of drinks, and all too soon we were in the Cableway heading down the Mountain again.

We rushed back to the apartment as now Granny had caught my tummy bug and was not feeling well at all. She decided to not go out with us that evening as she was feeling extremely under the weather. Mom and Dad had also started catching my bug, but nowhere near as bad as Granny. We left Granny in bed and headed to Linda’s place where I was going to meet two other cousins whom I’d not met before – Richard and his wife Sylvia. Lisa and the girls were also there and we chatted and visited for ages. I played with Jenna and Erin, and Richard and Dad headed out to procure a round of pizzas for everyone.

Being a special night I stayed up until we left. Unfortunately the trip back to the apartment was disastrous as I had a major throw-up in the car. Mom and Dad pulled over and I was changed while Dad tried his best to clean up my car seat and the surrounds. Secretly he was extremely grateful that it was a rental and not his Merc!

On Saturday morning Dad and I headed to the beach opposite our apartment where we played in the sand. Mom rushed out for meds for Granny and joined us on the beach a little later. We spent at least an hour and a half on the beach at which point I opted for a snooze. After waking up we played indoors for a while, as the midday sun was too strong to go out into. Early afternoon we then headed to Big Bay and while Dad was looking for parking I fell asleep, so the beach trip was aborted, and we headed back home. Once I was awake again we tried for the second time to head to Big Bay for our last visit to the beach, with success this time. Being later in the afternoon was also advantageous as it was much cooler now. Dad got us ice cream cones, and as we were finishing them Aunty Birgitt and Uncle Wayne arrived. A short while later Cousin Linda and Wayne also joined us. We visited on the beach and I played in the sand and surf. Dad went for a swim in the sea but exited the surf looking rather blue from the cold artic Atlantic water. All too soon we had to bid Aunty Birgitt and Uncle Wayne farewell, and after we stayed on the beach a while longer we also headed back to the car. En route we decided to pop into Ciao Baby Cucina for an early dinner.

We only ordered starters to snack on and after our tummies were nice and full we left and bid a very tearful and sad adieu to Linda and Wayne. We were all very sad to say goodbye to each other, but all things must come to an end. Back home we started the sad exercise of packing as we were heading home the next day. After my bath and being put to bed I could hear Mom getting really busy with packing and cleaning.

When I woke up on Sunday morning all my toys and our clothes were already packed away. I had a quick breakfast and with some time to kill until the agent arrived to get the keys Mom, Dad and I headed down to the beachfront with a loaf of bread to feed the seagulls. It was a great deal of fun, but I did find myself eating chunks of bread instead of giving it all to the seagulls. A loaf of bread later, and back at the flat we were ready to leave. My small R300 pram that had served me well during our holiday was donated to the Home of Hope for abandoned babies which was directly behind we were staying, so that was very convenient.

Dad took a wrong turning driving to the airport, owing to the vast amounts of road construction taking place, causing him to get very confused. Mom fired up her GPS and pretty soon we were on the correct route. Arriving at the airport we followed what felt like a labyrinth of turns and signs to return the car to the rental company. We did the whole thing in reverse on foot then to get to the departure lounge. All the construction and renovation is making navigating Cape Town International Airport a little challenging at the moment. After check-in we couldn’t find the executive lounges so we had to slum it in the normal pleb lounge, which was actually quite advantageous, as there was a foosball table there. Dad popped me on the table and played around me and each time he scored a goal I giggled!

The flight was uneventful, and I slept for most of the journey. Our luggage didn’t take long to pop out of the carousel. We headed off to the executive valet parking which was awesome as our car was waiting for us right in front of the lifts. It had been cleaned inside and outside and looked like it sparkled. Its lights were on in what seemed like a little welcome home hallo! The guys from the valet parking packed the car for us and we where off home.

I was wide awake on the drive home from the airport, and recently learned to sing E, I, E, I O (from Old MacDonald’s Farm), Mom and Dad sang to me at the tops of their voices. Granny and I giggled on the back seat as Mom and Dad stumbled through the nursery rhymes, making up verses as they went along.

At home everything was perfectly in order. Shatzi and Sonic had hardly missed us they were so well looked after by Rudi. Jake and Roxy also came to say hallo. The rest of the afternoon was spent unpacking and settling in, and most of all, reminiscing over the fantastic holiday we all had in Cape Town.

Love,

Jarrod

Figure 1 Practicing standing at Camps Bay

Figure 2 One of the locals at Boulder Beach

Figure 3 Hanging out at Boulder Beach

Figure 4 With Cousin Linda

Figure 5 Ice-lolly on Boulder Beach

Figure 6 Munching on an American Corndog

Figure 7 Heading down the slide with Dad at ‘place of play’, Canal Walk

Figure 8 Mom and I also took a turn together

Figure 9 Watch out Rossi, here comes Jay-Bee

Figure 10 Taking some time-out to draw

Figure 11 Posing with the jaw-bone of a baby blue whale at the National Museum

Figure 12 Tea at the Company Gardens

Figure 13 Being Jay-Bee

Figure 14 Mom feeding a squirrel

Figure 15 Having a nibble

Figure 16 Table Mountain from the Company Gardens

Figure 17 With Rodin’s ‘The Kiss’ at the Rupert Museum

Figure 18 With Rodin’s ‘The Thinker’ at the Rupert Museum

Figure 19 Granny, Mom, Dad, Linda and I in the Cableway up the Mountain

Figure 20 Going up!

Figure 21 Camps Bay from Table Mountain

Figure 22 Zoomed

Figure 23 Mom and I chatting about the view

Figure 24 At the House on Top

Figure 25 The 2010 Stadium as seen from Table Mountain

Figure 26 Meeting Cousin Richard and Sylvia for the first time

Figure 27 Sandpit paradise

Figure 28 Not a well bunny

Figure 29 Our last holiday sunset

Figure 30 City lights from our balcony

Figure 31 Feeding the seagulls before we left

Figure 32 Testing that the bread is fit for seagull consumption

Figure 33 Playing foosball at the airport

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