The past couple of weeks we've been out in SA enjoying some sun and relaxing out there. We flew out on New Year's Eve, arriving into Jo'burg the morning of the 1st. The folks and Bev were at the airport to meet Ellen us all there. From the airport we headed home for the rest of the afternoon and some time in the pool, with Bev coming round again in the afternoon to visit.

The next few days we were just around the house, doing a bit of swimming, plenty of fun and play with Ellen, plus a few visits from Bev and a couple of trips up to the Greenstone for a few things and some coffee.

On the Saturday we drove out to Cradle Moon for the afternoon and to spend the night there. The folks followed through and joined us for the day out there. We managed to check into our lodge fairly early, which had a good view looking out towards the dam and the mountains. We spent the day walking around, lunch by the restaurant and pool area and a nice walk down to the dam. Later the afternoon the folks headed back home and myself, Uns and Ellen had dinner by the pool area and then once Ellen was down for the night, Una and I sat on the porch and enjoyed as few glasses of wine listening to the animals graze in front of the lodge :)

On the Monday morning, after a walk and some breakfast, we drove over to Monte Casino and checked into the Palazzo Hotel for the night. After dropping our bag upstairs in the room, we walked over to the casino for lunch at the The Meat Co. That afternoon we spent some time down in the pool, with dinner that evening in the hotel restaurant. The next morning, after breakfast in the hotel and a couple of hours by the pool, we checked out and headed back home, to enjoy the afternoon outside and more time by the pool.

On the Wednesday and Thursday, we were quite busy between De Bakery for pastries and cake, Diane and Bev popping around, a visit to Papachinos in Stoneridge, Fin and Fillet Grill for dinner, a walk around Greenstone with Steers for lunch, and the afternoon at home for some time in the garden and swimming pool :) Then on Friday morning we headed out to the Benoni Bird Park for a few hours which was good fun and Ellen seemed to love it!

On Saturday we drove out towards Roodepoort to go visit Aunty Gloria for a couple of hours, and then afterwards we stopped in at Florida Lake for a little while, which bought back some fond memories from years ago :) On Sunday we drove out to Rand Airport for the morning for breakfast and watch the planes take-off and land, which was great excitement for Ellen. We happened to bump into Brandon while there as well, which was good to briefly catch up with him again.

Over the next couple of days we stayed fairly local and around the house, making full use of the pool, and then yesterday evening we headed over to the airport in time for our overnight flight back to London, after saying our thank you and goodbye to the folks. After arriving into a rainy London this morning, it took us just over 2 hours to get home with the traffic, so needless to stay we spent the rest of the day just chilling at home :)