FIVETRIBE

Greyton Classic The day finally arrived! We had been so looking forward to spending a night in  Greyton  and then competing in the  Greyton Classic MTB and Trail Run challenge. Traffic was bad. Like intensely bad so we eventually pulled over to the One-Stop for a Wimpy dinner and waited it out. Shortly before 8pm we pulled in at  Zebra Moon Hikers Hostel ....a bit of roughing it for us all tonight. We found our dorm and then headed off to Rockhoppers to register and get our numbers. By now we were all lus for something hot n sweet so we ducked into a cute little bistro for coffee and malva pud. Nom By 9pm we were back in our dorms unrolling sleeping bags, filling hot water bottles and getting our kit ready for the morning. I have to say - sleeping in a bag is an acquired skill! I havent done it for YEARS but thankfully I was warm, toasty and got a few zzzz's despite the noise of the other hostel dwellers. :-/ Race day dawned and it was just perfect! We...

It has been a rainy cold day. Not that we are complaining. I think something shifts in our family well before the winter hits...we are welcoming it; although we did muse thoughtfully over what *exactly* we did last winter! No hiking, no walks, no beach, no picnics? What do we do now?? We decided to stop thinking and do what comes naturally. Stay in pj's, cuddle up with big blankets on the couch. Watch tv. Play games. Read. Make pancakes. Doze. Get irritated. Regroup and watch more tv. :-)   Talking about the meaning of Easter. Top Trumps Bugs provides some really interesting facts! Pancakes for lunch! We did an indoor Easter egg hunt after lunch. Quote of the day? Rach:  Mom,  I am so glad you just a got a few tiny eggs! In case you didnt know, my kids havent really acquired a taste for chocolate. Their humble stash will last weeks!! Easter stash. Now to round off this lazy, special day with my lamb stew that has been simmering for hours in my c...

Off to the Mcgregors New Years Eve traditional Olie Bolin. Happy New Year!   (excuse the watermarks…trialling new software before I purchase!) This may well be the first New Year we have spent in Mcgregor – this evening we headed up the street for the annual ‘Olie Bolin’ which is a tradition in this part of the world. One of the locals prepares something similar to little donut/vetkoek balls sprinkled with castor sugar aswell as little glasses of homemade ginger beer. All the local villagers congregate, indulge in the fare, make a donation to a local charity and wish one another – so different and so cool! We then came home and drinks with some mates of my folks and spent the rest of the evening chilling out – we were all well asleep before midnight!

We are off to our favourite place this weekend. It has only been a month since our last visit and we have been itching to go back.  Fortunately they had a last minute winter special that we found on facebook! These are some of the photos from our last visit to Old MacDaddys. Each vintage airstream trailer is done is a specific theme. Ours was Bees. The hotel is low-key but fully catered and beautifully kitted out. Such beautiful, peaceful surroundings. Great family time. Leaving, determined to come back soon! Enjoy this long lovely weekend folks!

Next week we were due to travel up the west coast and enjoy time at a beautiful home right on an unspoilt beach. We were all so looking forward to it. But life happens and the man has to go on a course for two weeks....starting this Monday. :-(  Luckily we were able to transfer our deposit to another stay in the near future. We do feel though that we cannot let the kids (and ourselves) down so it was left to me today to find accommodation for us from tomorrow (thurs) until Saturday. We need to be back on Saturday as we have dinner/theatre bookings with good friends and dont want to miss that! It took me the better part of 4hrs (and some serious negotiating) to find somewhere for us to go. (Elgin and Hermanus)  I am still doing last minute dashes to rearrange plans we had over the next 3 days including rescheduling the garden service, playdates, dog and rabbit sitters, car repair booking etc etc. All a bit manic but rather exciting for everyone. (not-so-much-me) I am dete...

Un - clut - ter -er : def: Someone who chooses to get rid of the distractions that get  in the way of a remarkable life. - Erin R Doland ********************* On my reading list in the next 3 weeks (school holidays!) My opening quote comes from this book so clearly I have to read it now! Read review here   Read r eview here     Read review here I may actually be hoping for foul weather so I have an excuse to stay indoors and cuddle with my Kindle!

That is pretty much what has been happening this long weekend in Mcgregor. Snoozing and running. With some eating, chatting, technology sharing and child entertainment scattered inbetween. It has been truly blissful, the weather is pretty warm but not unbearable. The kids are pottering around, watching tv or swimming. The best part of my weekend has to be the running. With my man nogal. I havent run in a l o n g time. My knee injury followed by the vertigo saga put paid to that passion of mine. I have started slowly and its been awesome. Running here in Mcgregor is such a different vibe to city/suburb/treadmill running. I feel like I could run forever. :-) It also helps to have discovered the most amazing app called imapmyrun . This app lets you record your workout details, including duration, distance, pace, speed, elevation, calories burned, and route traveled on an interactive map. You can even effortlessly save and upload your data to any of the MapMyFITNESS web...

We headed out to Umshanti on Friday afternoon to join a large group of friends for a weekend of sun, river swimming and relaxation. Our friend, K, had booked out the entire resort so everyone there was pretty much part of our crowd. Hooli really got into the drumming vibe. The littlies had to wear lifejackets as the water is very brackish and dark. I packed one tiny bag (my gym bag) for all 5 of us. I took a book each, some cards and drawing kit for the kids. We met new and very interesting people. We had long chats about meaningful stuff into the wee hours around a camp fire. We spent lazy hours floating around the river. We ate, we siesta-ed, we relaxed and we laughed. Some of us (lulu) cried as the new experiences were at times overwhelming. (like all 5 of us paddling on a kayak up a 1m wide channel to a large waterfall!) Loving the freedom on the water, Lulu finally adapted and didnt yell when we left shore. I think I made have rediscovered the old (or young) Mel. The on...

Another week whoooooooooooooooshed by....never a dull moment here. We are off to Swellendam, Umshanti - cannot wait to just chill out. Weather is set to *excruciatingly hot* - just the way the Browns like it. We will be doing a considerable amount of river dipping methinks. I have been doing some photo filing and came across some oldies and am sharing them. :-) Hooli at 2 Me, very preggers with Hooli. Lulu about 22mths. Verrrry pregnant with Hooli. (36wks) Lulu and I. She is about 8mths. Feb 2004, Rach 2.5yrs. 6mnths pregs with lulu. On holiday in Saldanha Bay. Thanks for looking and sharing my little nostalgic moment!

Right. Back to the bullet points I referred to in this post. But first, a disclaimer.... I am not a princess. I do not need 5-star accommodation and wireless internet and 24hr cappucinos. Please realise that while a cruise sounds *divine* - this one was seriously flawed. I was not alone in my disappointment - many, many passengers were unhappy. So, let us begin: 1. We all get sea sick to varying degrees....except Hooli - who is totally immune! I think that is fairly self explanatory. The ship receptionist was handing out motion sickness pills like smarties....but it did little to alleviate our nausea. Fortunately none of us were actually physically ill, thank God! The Melody is a small ship and they should mention in the advertising that SIGNIFICANT motion can be felt even in calmish waters. 2. We do not enjoy sharing holiday time with 1488 other people. We queued for breakfast. We queued for lunch. We could never find 5 chairs together. We couldnt get into the entertainment areas ...

We arrived in Walvis Bay 3 hours late which was a blight as we had planned to meet with the Man's family. Fortunately we still had time to shoot through to Swakop and spent 3 hours with them. We went and had seafood at this great new restaurant; just built at the end of the Pier. You can see by the sea that bad weather was heading in... The Man and his dad Kinda novel to be seated on a piece of glass above the sea; must confess to it giving me pause! So great for the kids to see their cousin albeit only briefly. It was quite surreal to just be there for the day and then be heading home again. We shot back to Walvis to board the ship again by 4pm. The wind was absolutely howling and it was extremely unpleasant. And it didnt get any better as the days went by. :-/

This will be a photo post - it was the best day we had on the ship and the photos speak for themselves. Blogger feels the pics look best right justified...so we will leave it at that okay? hanging at the pool - the water was frrrrreezing as its seawater. Duh. Only figured that out later. doff chick. Kids checking themselves out before the Captains dinner. The man and I - more spruced than usual. j My gorgeous trio. They found an empty stage and couldnt resist! Soaking up the sunset. A day I will not forget! This is the way things would have been all along....if the storm hadnt ruined our fun. Grrrr. :-)