Africa: Week Two - Continued

A chill sea breeze blows through the open glass fold away doors, bringing with it the smell of the ocean and an appreciated reprieve to the stifling mid-summer heat. Mam, Tez and I have been settled into our new lodgings and now we're just wanting to relax. The view is incredible. Unlce Roger and Aunty Colleen never do things by halves. Uncle Roger is Mom's oldest living brother. Him and Aunty Colleen have never had any children, his job took him all around the world and he finally decided it was time to come home and settle down and get ready for retirement. For them retirement looked like a 4 story home on the edge of the mountains, just a few minutes drive away from Simonstown and a view to die for.
 

After squeezing ourselves and all our luggage into the back of their little car we decided to head straight to Kalk Bay for some good ol' fashion Snoek and Chips. New Zealand has good seafood, but it's nothing compared to what you can get in Africa. Everything is caught fresh that morning - there is bones to pick out of your fish (so eating with your hands is a necessity), batter that is never soggy and slap chips saturated in malt vinegar and black pepper. It was all so reminiscent of my childhood, going on long Sunday drives to the coast, and stopping at Hout Bay for fish and chips and calamari, all drenched in fresh lemon. Sitting in the car by the docks (because chances are it was too windy to be outside), watching the boats and people and seagulls. It's amazing the things you seem to take for granted when it's constantly at your fingertips. Trips to the coast, trips to the harbour even, was always such an exciting affair. I remember getting home after church on a Sunday, and giving Ma a call, seeing if she wanted to go for a drive out to the Harbour for lunch. We'd find a ramshackle looking establishment that sold the best local, fresh seafood and stroll around the docks, while you hair was sent back home by the wind, and everything smelt of seals and sea brine. Today, living in trendy Auckland you wouldn't think about going to spend a day hanging out on the smelly docks because there are trendier places to hang out.

After lunch we took a trip down to Boulders Beach to see the penguins. One of the things we definitely take for granted here in the Land of the Long White Cloud is that beaches are FREE. As a kid, it's not something you notice because you're not the one handing over the coin. And I guess, thinking back now it makes all the sense that you'd rather have a pool than go to the beach because why PAY to go into a public area that the Lord Almighty created!? Are the proceedings going to your spot in heaven then or?? But as a kid Boulders was a spot we frequented, 1). Because not many people knew about it, it was a tiny patch of beach that was aptly named for the giant boulders that just rested along it's shores and 2). the penguins, who were just as sassy and could hold their own just like any local human. To this day you'll still find groups of the birds roaming the suburban streets near the beach as if they owned the place. These days though the beach has been closed off and it's been made a sanctuary for the birds since I guess the humans and the penguins weren't getting along very well. 

Our second week was a literal tourist dream. We went to all of the places we never went to when we lived there because we couldn't afford it. We shopped at the seaside shops that would cost the locals an arm and a leg. I bought a pair of genuine leather boots for under NZ$50! We went to Cape Point, the southern most tip of Africa where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet. We went inland to Franschoek, where it was 42 degrees in the shade. We went to the Lion Park & had gravel thrown at us by chimpanzees and had the best honey chilly prawn salad at  Fairviews Vinyard. We went to Rueben's - the first (and probably only) 5 star restuarant I will ever go to. The food was delicious, over priced for it's size and it was the only time I finished an entire 3 course meal with nothing left on my plate. We shopped till we were run off our feet, visited cousins we hadn't seen in years and had some of the extended family over for a braai before we headed back to Aunty Cecilia's. Our final day, Sunday, started with left over crayfish for breakfast while Uncle Roger fussed over whether we had enough to eat and whether we had a good time and whether he'd done enough to keep us entertained. As soon as breakfast was over we got our things together and piled everything back into our tiny car. Uncle Roger was dropping us and Aunty Agatha's house to lase away the rest of the Sunday. 

Ags and Mom met at Immaculata Girls High School and became fast friends. They stayed friends all throughout the years, Ag's first Lauren was born, and then myself a year later and then Ags and Mom found themselves pregnant together, Andrew was born first and a month or so later out popped Tez. As things go Tez, Lauren, Andy and I were inseparable. We spend endless weekends away together and sleep overs and just when we thought out little pack of 4 was enough Ags popped out another - Nicole. The cutest and cheekiest of the 5. The perfect way to end our 2nd week back home - with family.