Apr
01

Sun, sand and sea… Yay!!!

So Nick caught you up to the end of California. And so off to Mexico we went. Yippee!!! We stepped out of the airport and were instantly hit by the heat… At 7:30pm!

Our hotel was part of a 30km stretch of hotels. It made Vegas look silly! We stayed at the Riu Caribe, which was beautiful. Our room had an amazing view of the sea, which is (in really South African terms) flat as a pannekoek! :)

We spent our first two days lazing on the beach and generally enjoying not being cold for the first time in weeks. Our hotel was all inclusive and there is a buffet for breakfast, lunch and supper that could contend with the Boma! Aaah food!

On Tuesday we went and swam with Dolphins in a dolphinarium. It was incredible. We got to hug them and massage them and play with them for an entire hour. So cool! And that was just our morning! In the avi we went on a speed boat tour. You get 1 speed boat for 2 people and 3 boats follow a guide boat. We went through the lagoon into the mangroves and out into the ocean. They then took us to a reef, where we went snorkeling. Didn’t see too many fish but it was still super fun. We then went back through the mangroves to where we started for pizza and beer. By 8pm that night we were sitting at dinner holding our eyelids open. I slept so well that night!

Needless to say it’s been a tough life in Mexico :) But we’re back in the US now, and dealing with security checks, flight delays etc. Sigh! The only complaint we had with Mexico was that the Internet was slow and their 3rd world bank’s credit card machines can’t cope with our credit cards, which caused some frustrating moments, as you can imagine!

Anyway, hopefully we’ll get to DC in the next 8 hours and then it’s time for some last minute shopping before we head home. So anyone with requests better SMS me soon :) (bear in mind we’re 6 hrs behind you, so not in the middle of the night please)

Looking forward to being home and seeing you all. Not long now!

That’s all for now. Laters alligators (I’m in Florida right now, hee hee hee)

Apr
01

Delays suck!!!

So we are sitting in an airport in Fort Lauderdale Florida waiting for a plain that keeps changing it’s mind. We left Our hotel in Cancun at 12:20 and were supposed to be in DC by 18:00. Current ETA is 01:30. That’s the third change since we left today.

So let’s catch up on the past week or so. We left Vegas and headed to California in what was a reasonable bus trip. On the way into Los Angeles I got to see a lot of snow for the first time in my life. The mountains that we came through were covered in snow and it had blanketed everything but the road. By the time we got into town though it was much warmer again.

We stayed at a rather crappy hotel our first night, which was really annoying as it was called the Ritz Morgan. Who has heard of a crappy Ritz, I personally think it’s misleading naming. We bought dinner from a little supermarket in the middle of the fashion district and had a really nice dinner for the first time in quite a while though which was really nice.

The next day my uncle Fritz came and picked us up and we headed over to where he stays in a town called Westlake. He drove us up the coastal road through Malibu which was very kewl but at the same time not as impressive as I expected (I would rather have a place in Camps Bay). We stopped and got some Pizza and got a chance to settle in with Fritz and his wife.

That afternoon we went for another drive up the coast and got to see Santa Monica and Santa Barbara which are really nice holiday towns. They have the small town vibe and amazing ocean front views. We walked around the shops in Santa Barbara and had a chance to get to know Fritz a little better.

For the next few days we got a chance to see quite a lot of California which was great. We drove through the mountains and along the beach roads and learnt a lot about the area. We also got to do some shopping (Claire was delighted with the outlet shops and even I bought some clothes) and sample some of Fritz’s favorite restaurants.

On our second last day with Fritz we went to Rodeo drive in Beverly Hills and looked around at the shops there. We didn’t buy anything this time (mostly because we could afford a single thing there) but did have a cappuccino in the same hotel that Pretty Woman was set in.

On our last day we had lunch at a little restaurant on the water in Malibu. The food was great and the backdrop amazing and we got to leave California having had a great time and really having seen a lot for once.

Now I will hand over to Claire to tell you about Mexico :)

Mar
31

Hola

So this is just a quick hello from Mexico. This is our last day here and the first day we have been able to get online. We will post about our time in California and Cancun tonight when we get to Washington DC.

Have to go now because the shuttle is coming to the airport.

Later

Mar
22

Ossom Vegas

So we made our way from Dallas to Las Vegas and checked into Ballies hotel and casino. Amazingly enough it looked exactly as you would expect a Vegas hotel to look. Slot machines everywhere and restaurants and bars a plenty. There where people everywhere when we checked in and we soon found out it was because of March madness.

It took us a while to figure out what exactly March madness was but apparently it’s because of all the basketball games going on at the moment. It’s the college finals and their are hundreds of games happening over a few weeks and this past weekend was pretty much the busiest of the lot. So there were thousands of people throwing money at every game it seemed, the betting bars were packed full of people. It made Vegas seem even more insane than I’m sure it really is.

We walked up and down the strip and went to all of the famous hotels and got to see a lot of the typically Vegas TV attractions. We also got stopped at every street corner by people trying to get us to hire strippers and hookers. It was kinda crazy. They hand out these little business cards with the girls on and then you can call them, but they are sneaky sneaky and you don’t realize what they are giving you half the time so you end up throwing it on the floor. So this means that half and hour after they come out the floor around them is covered in naked girl business cards. It’s quite odd.

We went to see The Celine Dion show which was pretty keel actually. The show is really well done even if you aren’t a big fan. I think Claire appreciated it more than me though and she can tell you all about it. We also went to see a Mentalist show which was very well done. He did some really keel tricks and freaked out a lot of people.

All in all Vegas was probably my favorite place to visit so far. We are now sitting in our hotel room in LA and watching some cable before we hit the sack. Will give you guys another update before we leave for Mexico.

Mar
17

Catch up and a moment of home sickness

So New Orleans was awesome but got a little out of hand. We went to Bourbon street on Sunday avi for lunch and got home at like 3am. Needless to say much alcohol was consumed! Stace and Benny, I had a moment of really missing you when they played some of our fave songs and I had nobody to dance like a loon with me. Also, nobody to hold my hair while I puked and tell me they loved ME more. We made some friends and someone bought me a hand grenade (famous N.O. Drink) and a hurricane (capitalize on disaster anyone?). Turns out… Lethal combination! So we had to stay an extra day to recover from the hangover… Which was massive! Bleugh, feel sick just thinking about it!

Then it was off to Texas. Long bus ride which sucked cos our 1st bus was late, so we missed our transfer and had a 4 hr layover.

Dallas is cool but really just another city. We are off to Las Vegas tomorrow evening. We’re a little tired of constantly being on the move. Which brings me to my moment of home sickness. We’re having a ball, don’t get me wrong it’s ossum (thank you Zasch) but it really makes you realize how lucky we really are at home. So I’m going to take a moment to whine about all the things I miss! First, all of you guys!Really, a lot! Then, in no particular order:
Food that isn’t fried
My car
My house
My dogs :(
Food that isn’t fried
Biltong
A REAL steak
Veggies (I know, right?)
Any South African food
People saying Ja
Food that isn’t fried

I could go on but I will stop. Anywho looking forward to being in one place for a few days. Yay Vegas!!! Mom and Dad, we’re staying a Bally’s.

Stacey, lots of love for Sunday to Stuart, Marion, and all of you. Good luck for your speech. Please take a photo of munchkin in his outfit for me :)

Love you all lots

Mar
13

Florida and beyond!

Ok, so America is full of crazies. It’s actually quite disturbing to see how many people here have lost the plot. I think it’s because they grow up and expect so much that when they don’t get it they snap.

We have encountered a guy who barked in his sleep, a woman who yelled random words out in her sleep, a guy who was yelling at people about his non-existent child and it’s nose (I cannot explain this better, it was nuts) and a cab driver who made all apartheid supporters put together seem tame and totally not racist. He was properly scary.

But other than the loons we spent quite a bit of time in Orlando seeing the parks (the Harry Potter ride at Universal is amazing) and Sea World is awesome in general. I also now have an unnatural fascination with Polar bears, in case anyone is wondering I would now like a Midget Polar Bear ahead of any other gift.

Miami was exactly like the movies in every way. It is full of Lambo’s and other fancy cars and people with way too much money. On the beach they have party after party in these insane condos right on the edge of the beach. The music is crazy loud and they are all packed with what appear to be socialites. Needless to say we didn’t go.

We just arrived in New Orleans, two hours to travel all of 10km because of a basketball game at one point. We are gonna go down to Bourbon street just now and see what its like.

Hopefully we will get to blog a bit more often in the coming days and put some more photos up.

bbfn

Mar
13

Catching up

So it’s been a while since I last posted, but we’ve been busy busy busy. The short bus to Orlando turned out to be quite fun. We made friends with some people (“There are white people in Africa?!?!) and ignored the crazies (who were in abundance). Everyone here loves our accent, even if they don’t understand it! I can see why people who move here lose their SAFA accent quicker than in, say, England. It’s a matter of only wanting to say everything once!

Orlando was awesome. We went to Universal Studios first. It was HELLA expensive. Never again will I moan about Sun City! But we had a lot of fun, and I even went on 2 crazy roller coasters (eeeeeek!) Sea World was amazing. I got to feed the dolphins. You tickle them under their chin, and they open their mouths for the fishes. It was… (I have run out of synonyms for awesome, so pick one and insert it here). We didn’t to Disney but apparently it’s geared for kids anyway.

Miami was a bit disappointing. They have beautiful beaches, but hey, so do we. It’s very very pretentious and expensive and only 1 in 5 people speak English. The mannequins all have size double d boobs, which was novel :) Had a good, non take away dinner thought which was cool.

Any who, we just got to New Orleans, after a 24 hr bus trip. Tiring! But going out on Bourbon Street tonight. Fun.

Hope you’re all good. Love ya.

Mar
08

On the short bus

So we are really on the short bus. Its insane, everyone on here seems to have a mental deficiancy. There is a guy to the right of Claire who is squealing, all the time! Michael Jackson is not see he’s on our bus.

Then the guy behind us is totally nuts. So far the topics coveted have been his change in fortunes (hence why he is on a bus), his classes on immortality and his plans for that. He is gonna live for 2 or 3 thousand years and learn to play every instrument and sing in every language (not just speak them). This is totally what I would do with all that time too.

He will also open a record company which is a good idea because he has produced mega stars like Jimi Hendrix in the past. He will get all the money for this from his inventing, recently he developed free energy (doesn’t sound like there is much money in that though).

Anyway, that’s all from the short bus for now.

Nick and Claire out!

Mar
07

Charming Charleston

Wow. Charleston is so beautiful! The whole city is built around a huge bay, which is filled with gorgeous yachts! All the buildings are stunning and have these pretty wrought iron balconies with pot plants and flowers. The streets are lined with trees, a lot of which are starting to flower. The whole place is like one giant post card. Parents, any of you, you are strongly advised to buy a holiday house here. Nick and I will gladly come check up on it once a year for you :0)

Today we splurged a bit and transferred to a really nice hotel in the Historic district. we were at the Holiday Inn last night, which was ok, except that the salsa were paper thin. So when the couple next door had a domestic at 11pm, and some kids got back from a party at 2am, we heard it all in stereo.

We spent the day mostly just wandering around. The bay is gorgeous, and there is a street where all the really wealthy live, and the houses are huge. HUGE!!!! I took lots of pictures. They have an open roof market here that is about four blocks long, so we browsed and did a bit of shopping. Daddy, I bought you “Habanero hot sauce from hell”. We had a late late lunch at a famous seafood restaurant, which was to die for. The portions were massive though. Nick only got about 2/3 of the way through and he hadn’t eaten since breakfast, so you can get idea of how big they were.

Tonight we are going on a ghost tour of haunted graveyards. Fun!!! Then we plan to hit the pubs here. Let’s hope neither activity ends badly :0)

Love and miss you all!

Mar
05

More Carolina

So we spent the evening in Raleigh last night which was actually really kewl. It’s a nice place which has the small town America feel to it, but it’s really big. We had a really awesome meal at a place called Andy’s, burger and chips as good as I have ever had.

Then this morning at 4:00 we started on our journey to Charleston South Carolina. It’s been a pretty boring day of traveling with little to break the monotony. We did drive through Myrtel Beach which is like an American version of Umhlanga, just a lot bigger. One of the things that was quite different though was the fact that they had 15 mini golf courses on the main road alone. 15!!!!! Oh and they have fireworks stores all over as well.

Lastly I had to try really hard not to murder people on our bus on the home stretch. We had these two different 300 pound behemoths trying to out-snore each other. It was like they inhaled a small woodland creature and he was now stuck in their sinuses. I have never heard anything like it and hope I never do again.

Done.

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