Continue reading »]]> 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)

Continue reading »]]> 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

Continue reading »]]> 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

Continue reading »]]> 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

Continue reading »]]> 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.

Continue reading »]]> 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!

Continue reading »]]> 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.

Continue reading »]]> So the only bus to Charleston is at 4 tomorrow morning, so we are here in Raleigh, North Carolina for another night. Which turned out to be awesome!!! We found a way nicer motel, which is much cheaper (go figure!). Raleigh is pronounced, RAAA- lee, like when you go to the dr and say aaaaaaa, NOT like the ra in Rambo. Jen, this should be ok for you, it’s the same way you say rant ;0) So anyway, our new, super cool motel is across the road from the mall, which I decided was a sign, and a-shopping we went!

We went to Best Buys, which for those of you who watch is EXACTLY like the Buymore in Chuck! They even have a nerd herd equivalent called the Geek Squad. So Funny! Nick was in techno geek heaven, and I found a pink blackberry to play with til he was done.

We found a Lindt store, Mom, /i wished you were here! they have flavours we’ve never seen and they sell them in massive packets for about R100. We are gonna try find one in Washington so we can bring some home!

We went to the Disney store, Radio Shack, and I found the US equivalent of the GHD for R1000! (Thegirls will understand how awesome that is!)

We had lunch at this place that looks like a diner from the 50′s. Best burger and chips EVER!

So before I go…

Things that are WAY better in South Africa:

1. Syrup
2. Bacon
3. Jam
4. Butter
5. Milk
6. Pizza!!!!!!!!

As much fun as we’re having, I have no doubt that my country is awesome! And the grass is not greener… just different. Also, people keep telling me my accent is ”sooo cool”, and I’m like, I don’t have an accent… you do! Hee hee. Miss you all! Love and hugs

Continue reading »]]> So we made it to DC. But first let me catch you up on our last day in NY. We did the downtown tour which takes you to Macy’s (3 floors just for women’s shoes… Sigh!), the Empire State building, ground zero and the statue of liberty. By the end of the day my legs were stiff from my hips to my toes. For our last NY supper we went to an Irish pub and I finally got to sample the famous NY cheese cake. I honestly didn’t think it could stack up to Dom’s and so, prepared for disappointment I took my first bite. And the violin’s began playing in my head. It’s that good. I wish I could bring it home! So anyway that was pretty much NY, and so off to DC we go. We haven’t seen much yet because we weren’t convinced that we’re in the best neighbourhood for evening exploration So we ordered pizza, which as Nick said was pretty lame, watched re-runs of king of queens, and had an early night. And that’s where we’re up to. Hope you’re all good. Lots of love and hugs.

Continue reading »]]> So my internal clock hates me… I keep trying to sleep when I shouldn’t and go sight seeing in the middle of the SA night. But let’s start at the beginning…

The flight was loooooooooonnnnnnnggggggggg!!!! Cattle class really does suck balls, although I felt slightly (very slightly) vindicated for about oh 30 seconds. When we were standing in the security line at OR Tambo some women walks to the front, declares she is in business class and asks where HER line is. The security guard looks at her, points to the back back of the (very) long queue, and says, “Please wait in line mam.” The snickers that followed her on her return to the back were quite a bonding moment for those of us stuck in the back of the plane. My bum has just about recovered from the numbness of our packed full flight!

Once we got through customs and out of the airport, we caught the sky train to the subway station (note to self – Americans laugh at you if you ask for the sky train). Our first Subway station was in the middle of the Bronx which was quite fun! Also, trying to understand where on earth (or NY) the thing is going is a challenge, but contrary to popular belief New Yorkers are actually quite friendly to tourists. So, anyway, we eventually got to our stop, walked like 20 blocks to our hotel and were really looking forward to collapsing in our room, when – Oh wait no! “You can only check in at 3! ” Swearword! But we found this awesome diner called Lindy’s, had griddlecakes, which are like amazing crumpet things with butter and syrup (can I have a YUM!) and eventually got to go check in.

Our hotel is very nice, even though someone forgot to tell the americans about fitted sheets ;0) So we decided to have a nap after we checked in and get up to go have some supper… let’s just say we never got up! So 3am yesterday morning we were wide awake.

Like Nick said, we did the uptown tour yesterday. Mom we may have gone to the Guggenheim, but we didn’t look at any art. Dad was right, it’s really quite boring! But it’s cool to say we’ve been! We also did Maddame Toussades, which was AWESOME!!! So much fun. Jenny Ben, I took a photo with Johnny Depp just for you!

So American food… is amazing!!! Not sure if it’s just NY but so far I’m a happy girl! And because we’re walking sooo much, you don’t even feel guilty! Yesterday we went to Subway. They make Sandwich Baron look LAME! I had a Philly cheesesteak, which is a footlong. It was $5  and it was huge. I didn’t even nearly finish it. Plus they gave us free choc chip cookies. I ate Nick’s (giggle).

Wewent to this comedy show last night, and sat with (how weird is this?) 2 SAFA’s from Sandton!

Anyway, Nick  is getting antsy cos he wants is breakfast burrito, so I better get going.

Love you all, more later.