Woodlands and Waterfalls

Saturday turned out to be pretty interesting! Tarryn and I had planned on going to Paradise Valley to find a waterfall but Durban woke up to more rain. I had been looking forward to another sunny Saturday so I was a bit disappointed. But, we decided we would still have a fun day. I picked Tarryn up and we went out for a cozy lunch at Bellevue in Kloof. It's lovely there - pics soon! After our lunch, the rain cleared! We decided to hop in the car and drive until somewhere caught our eye. Then I saw a sign for the Makaranga Garden Lodge. Nads had told me that the gardens are incredible so we decided to check it out. Well, we arrived to the sight below! 30 acres of lush, green woodlands! And guess what? There was a waterfall there! We were so happy! We spent hours exploring the gardens. After we each made a wish in the pond, we walked through the labyrinth and hung out in a secret fairy garden. As we hopped back in the car to head home, the heavens opened up again. x

A day at the dam

After weeks of rain, the sun came out! Willie and I decided to celebrate with a trip to the dam. You might remember my trip with Eddie? Ed was the bassist from my first band and Willie was our drummer. It's also been a good ten years since Willie and I have hung out so we decided to catch up over beer, wine and grilled mushrooms! As you can see, some creatures came to hang with us...and succeeded in swiping a bread roll from us. I'm pretty sure they would have stolen a six pack of Hansa had we not had a rotten stick to shew them away with. After sunning ourselves on the pier, we watched some South Park at Willie's and I got to meet his Bearded Dragons. Long term readers will know that I have a phobia of geckos so this was quite an experience! Later on, Willie took me for a ride on his bike through the hills. The scenery was epic! Then we met some friends for a drink, visited a haunted hotel and concluded that it was an excellent start to summer :) 

Thrifting with my bro

I dragged my brother along on a thrifting mission! Well, he was keen to see the animals. We headed off to the Kloof SPCA as I hadn't been there in a long while. It was hilarious going with my bro. He was mystified by my interest in all this old "junk." His reaction upon spotting an old cricket ball box - "That is disgusting, you should blog that!" Hahaha. Other contributions by my bro - "This looks like it was washed up by the Palmiet river. Someone over there is trying to sell Encarta 97. You can get a golf club for R5. I can't handle this Abba, I'll wait for you outside." Ha! Then we went to pet the animals which always saddens me but I like to think we're giving them a bit of happiness - even for a minute or so each. I was chuffed to find a great big sheep and some pigs! Then we wandered into some scrabble letters, twirling from a tree. I also found a Panda but I left him for someone else to buy. All in all, it was a good trip! I got some ceramic ducks, a book and a record. x

Claire's Masquerade 30th

Claire turned thirty! We celebrated with a chocolate fountain, glittery faces and a cr@p load of toilet paper! I think every party should be decorated with toilet paper. It's quite festive! Even the dogs were dressed for the occasion. In fact, I spent most of the night with a furry Robin Hood on my lap :)