Spring Has Sprung!
Wow.. I guess it’s been a while since I updated y’all on life here in South Africa.
It’s been a long winter…
Winter has been long, cold, and wet, and Kim and I have been (mostly) hibernating like a couple of bears. There’s been nice days here and there, but honestly, going out when it’s been bleh hasn’t really been part of the plan. Instead we’ve occupied ourselves with books, binge watching Grey’s Anatomy, and playing endless games of Scrabble and Upwords.
Sidenote: When I say we’ve been playing games, it’s rhetorical. It’s more like Kim has been whupping my a$$. I think I’ve won maybe 5 games out of a billion.
While the darkness of winter is fading…the darkness of loadshedding isn’t. We’ve been in the middle of a really kak period where it’s fluctuated between Stage 4 (7.5 hours a day without power) and Stage 6 (11.5 hours a day without power). Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like it’s going to improve anytime soon as Eishkom has announced we’ll be in Stage 4 from now until Jesus comes back.
I’m still waiting on Home Affairs to hear about my visa. We’re currently 307 days and counting. The good news (hopefully) is that the last update I received said it’s in the finalization stage. Fingers crossed!
The winter hasn’t been all disappointment and darkness, however. Because it’s winter, the Western Cape really outdoes itself on trying to get people out of their houses and enjoy all it has to offer. Some of the things we’ve done over the winter include:
Springbok and Shiraz lunch and a wine and panna cotta pairing at Rickety Bridge.
Wine and sorbet ice lolly pairing at Cavalli
A ‘Soup and Sip’ at Koelenhof (which has become one of our favorite places)
Wine and fudge pairing at Blauuwklippen
Ziplining with Cape Canopy Adventures
Snorkeling with the seals on Seal Island
Whale watching in Hermanus
Visiting the penguins in Betty’s Bay
Celebrating my MIL’s birthday at Avontuur
Took advantage of a lot of the wine farm spring sales to stock up
The best was Kanu…$1.65 - $2.55 per bottle…can’t beat that price.
Thanks to two friends of ours, we’ve got about 60lb of Karoo lamb in our deep freeze. I swear, I’ve eaten the least amount of beef in my life the last year…it’s been ostrich, venison, and lamb for me.
Warmer weather means…
Warmer weather means more outdoorsy stuff. Soon we’ll be back to hiking, walks on the beach, visiting the gardens, and more Galileo Open Air movies!
It also means tourist season and the one thing I’m still not mentally prepared for….Christmas in summertime.
But until then, we’ve got some things to look forward to:
Our 1st Wedding Anniversary
N’dlovu Youth Choir in concert
Tattoos, another trip on the Franschhoek Wine Tram, and having friends and family over for a BBQ for my 50th Birthday
White Wine season…bring on the Chenin Blanc and Chardonnay pairings!
As I begin my second trip around the sun here in sunny South Africa, I’m eternally grateful that I get to experience and live this life and even more grateful to be doing it with Kim by my side. We often joke that we’ve been in each others space every day for a year now and we still like each other.
Here’s to spring and the last 6 weeks before South Africa shuts down for the Festive Season.
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