The Long Road to Adventure... (Part 3)

Christmas day involved a lot of travelling. We had Xmas brunch with my parents in Hartenbos, then hit the road. This involved a brief stop at the Gourits river, which is the site of the world's highest bridge swing (65m). Xmas day is also my birthday, and my sister worked for the company running the bridge swing during the holiday (Wild Adventures). I was thus invited for a free bridge swing on Xmas day. So there I was. I am shit scared of hights. Since I didn't have the balls to jump alone, my mother jumped tandem with me (what else are mothers for?). So with me quaking with fear & my mother telling me to quit freaking out, we perched on the edge of the platform... 3-2-1-JUMPING! I screamed for the duration of the free fall (about 2-3 seconds), after which it got fun, then I got motion sick. But it was worth it. We drove for 6 hours to Yzerfontein and arrived in time for dinner with Just-ify's parents. The 2 days we were able to spend there just flew by, what with the sea air, beautiful view & great company.

This was followed by a two day drive to Gauteng with Just-ify's house-mate Barry & his lady from down-under, Candice. On a recommendation by Barry's sister Tara, we overnighted at the coolest little game lodge, River Destiny Lodge, near Colesburg. We stayed in permanent tents with tiled floors and ensuite bathrooms. Our "front yard" led down into a farm pond full of ducks and black clay. And of course we couldn't resist the jump from the restaurant deck into the icy cold Orange River. In addition, the food was fab and we got woken during the night by horses munching grass on the other side of the tent flap right by the head of the bed!

Our stay in Bakubung Game Lodge (near Sun City, in the Pilantsberg Game Reserve) was peaceful and entertaining. We lounged at the pool, watched the kids play (and sometimes played like kids), went for a game drive, played tennis, chess, garden cricket & pool, and attended a new year's eve Pirate Party hosted by the resort. All in all, it was my ideal holiday - except for the heat, the bugs, the monkeys stealing food from our kitchen and the extremely over-priced Sun City trips.

It was extremely refreshing to be back in the Cape, although there it was so hot we welcomed our second trip to the West Coast.