We might be eating our words in a month or to when we're in the middle of reno hell! Amms still has the romantic notion of renovations like on Grand Designs... Oh and it has a stream running through it - named Victory Stream.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Sold!!!
Sold in a flash! So quickly that when we visited the house this afternoon, two cars came to see the 'open home' that was supposed to be on. Too late suckers!
We might be eating our words in a month or to when we're in the middle of reno hell! Amms still has the romantic notion of renovations like on Grand Designs... Oh and it has a stream running through it - named Victory Stream.
We might be eating our words in a month or to when we're in the middle of reno hell! Amms still has the romantic notion of renovations like on Grand Designs... Oh and it has a stream running through it - named Victory Stream.
Friday, January 1, 2010
Full Circle
Happy New Year everybody! Despite 36 hours of flights and an Etihad pilot called 'Captain Jihad' (I kid you not, this is how he introduced himself minutes before takeoff) we made it safely back to Sydney for the famous NYE fireworks last night, very impressive even though we watched them from a rooftop in Bondi Junction.
The past week has been a whirlwind of visiting and celebrating with rellies. Firstly a full house at Kenton-on-sea with Gran-gran, Auntie Sheila, Uncle Alex and cousins Gillian, Richard and Douglas. Then to Port Elizabeth for Christmas day with the McCoys. Our final few days were spent at Lisa and Martin's beaut holiday home at the beach in Betty's Bay (near Cape Town).
So, after 6 and a half months travelling through 18 countries we have made it back to where we started!
Here are some stats from our trip:
Work free days---210
Highest point reached---5895m AMSL
Lowest point reached (Badwater, USA)---86m BMSL
Hottest temp (Okavango Delta, Botswana)---48 degrees
Nights spent camping---84
Nights spent camping illegally---2
Peanut butter and jam sandwiches eaten---120ish
Flat tyre---1 (during night game drive in Zambia)
Robberies / thefts / muggings---0
Friendly locals---1,000s
Italian brothers gained---1
Ann-Marie's relatives visited---23(thanks y'all for putting up with us)
Alex's relatives visited---4
Fastest land speed---190km/hr (reached in the brothers BMW in Botswana)
Longest bus trip---25 hours (Windhoek to Cape Town, most comfortable trip as well)
Longest wait for a bus---5 hours (in Zambia)
Largest bank note---100,000,000,000,000 (100 trillion)
Amount paid in US dollars for above note---US$2
Peanut butter and jam sandwiches eaten---120ish
Kilos gained by Ann-Marie in Africa...he he he..---6 (due to peanut butter and jam sammies eaten)
Kilos gained by Alex in Africa---2
Our top 17:
Alex's best hike: Onion Valley to Whitney Portal, California
Ann-Marie's best hike: The bloody hot Grand Canyon, Arizona
Favourite canyon: Subway, Zion National Park, USA
Favourite beer: Windhoek (pronounced Vindhook)
Best Catering: Dalio the Cook on Kili trip
Nicest beach: Nungwe beach, Zanzibar
Worst, smelliest, dirtiest room: Mzuzu, Malawi
Best safari lodge: Crocodile Valley, South Luangwa, Zambia
Cheapest safari lodge: Crocodile Valley, South Luangwa, Zambia
Most expensive, overpriced country: Botswana
Coolest people: Masai men in Kenya
Most regal people: The Himba women
Best hospitality (excluding the rellies!): Boet the Afrikaner, Free State, SA
Least friendly country: Tanzania
Most friendly country: Malawi
Best countries: Namibia, California, Switzerland, Zambia
Most blog comments: Swetty
The past week has been a whirlwind of visiting and celebrating with rellies. Firstly a full house at Kenton-on-sea with Gran-gran, Auntie Sheila, Uncle Alex and cousins Gillian, Richard and Douglas. Then to Port Elizabeth for Christmas day with the McCoys. Our final few days were spent at Lisa and Martin's beaut holiday home at the beach in Betty's Bay (near Cape Town).
So, after 6 and a half months travelling through 18 countries we have made it back to where we started!
Here are some stats from our trip:
Work free days---210
Highest point reached---5895m AMSL
Lowest point reached (Badwater, USA)---86m BMSL
Hottest temp (Okavango Delta, Botswana)---48 degrees
Nights spent camping---84
Nights spent camping illegally---2
Peanut butter and jam sandwiches eaten---120ish
Flat tyre---1 (during night game drive in Zambia)
Robberies / thefts / muggings---0
Friendly locals---1,000s
Italian brothers gained---1
Ann-Marie's relatives visited---23(thanks y'all for putting up with us)
Alex's relatives visited---4
Fastest land speed---190km/hr (reached in the brothers BMW in Botswana)
Longest bus trip---25 hours (Windhoek to Cape Town, most comfortable trip as well)
Longest wait for a bus---5 hours (in Zambia)
Largest bank note---100,000,000,000,000 (100 trillion)
Amount paid in US dollars for above note---US$2
Peanut butter and jam sandwiches eaten---120ish
Kilos gained by Ann-Marie in Africa...he he he..---6 (due to peanut butter and jam sammies eaten)
Kilos gained by Alex in Africa---2
Our top 17:
Alex's best hike: Onion Valley to Whitney Portal, California
Ann-Marie's best hike: The bloody hot Grand Canyon, Arizona
Favourite canyon: Subway, Zion National Park, USA
Favourite beer: Windhoek (pronounced Vindhook)
Best Catering: Dalio the Cook on Kili trip
Nicest beach: Nungwe beach, Zanzibar
Worst, smelliest, dirtiest room: Mzuzu, Malawi
Best safari lodge: Crocodile Valley, South Luangwa, Zambia
Cheapest safari lodge: Crocodile Valley, South Luangwa, Zambia
Most expensive, overpriced country: Botswana
Coolest people: Masai men in Kenya
Most regal people: The Himba women
Best hospitality (excluding the rellies!): Boet the Afrikaner, Free State, SA
Least friendly country: Tanzania
Most friendly country: Malawi
Best countries: Namibia, California, Switzerland, Zambia
Most blog comments: Swetty
Monday, December 21, 2009
The Kingdom of Lesotho, Transkei Wild Coast and the crazy Mulligan clan
After realising that we had a couple of spare days we headed to Sani Pass in the Southern Drakensberg. Sani Pass gives access to the high mountain kingdom of Lesotho, a landlocked country that sits above the clouds (its lowest point is 1300m). We had been told by a few people that the road has now been tarred and it would be a breeze zooming up in our VW Chico, but we were mistaken... tarring of the road has been under construction for the last 2 years, and they haven't got very far. So we took a day trip in a landy instead passing through 8kms of no-mans land between the SA and Lesotho border control posts. The road was nearly as hectic as Boet's farm roads in the Free State but the views were much more impressive.
Lesotho looked a lot like the Mackenzie country in NZ, rolling hills with lots of sheep and a lack of trees. In fact the only differences seemed to be the sheep were herded by young shepherd boys dressed in blankets (the national dress) and Basotho people were living in brick rondavel houses. We headed up to a high point about 15kms into the country, where we could look across to another high point which is allegedly the highest point south of Mt Kilimanjaro - you wouldn't know it though, it just looked like a hill in amongst the other hills on the horizon. In the Sosotho language it is called 'the little mountain' - a little contradictory. We ate our packed lunches in the company of about 5 shepherd boys posing for photos.
After lunch it was time to visit a local woman in her relatively spacious rondavel to try out the local delicacies, a maize beer (definitely an acquired taste), and some freshly baked bread from the hearth in the centre of the rondavel (very yummy).
Our last stop was for an obligatory locally brewed Maluti beer at the highest pub in Africa at the top of the pass (2850m high). We then bumped our way back down the pass, not so comfy squashed in the dog box at the back of a landy, I realised.
Our next stop was the Wild Coast - part of the old Transkei homeland. We weren't sure whether the 'wild' aspect was referring to the way people drive (rather than the scenery). A lot of yellow line driving and crazy overtaking was going on the main road. When we turned off for the last 70kms the driving became even crazier. The vehicles in front of us zigzagged across the full width of the road avoiding the deep potholes scattered across the tar, it was comical! A favourite game of the local kids was to fill the potholes with dirt, then stick out their hand for 2 Rand has we drove past. Their only English words seemed to be 'money' and 'sweets'!
After an interesting drive we arrived at Coffee Bay, supposedly a beautiful spot with a hippie vibe. The backpacker/campsite we had been recommended by a couple of people was packed to the brim, felt a tad stagnant as they'd had no water for a few days, and had an unusual smell wafting through every now and again. But it was late so we pitched our tent anyway, ate some smash and tuna for dinner, then crashed into bed. Unfortunately it was a pretty sleepless night listening to people partying in the bar, then stumbling back to their tent next door to ours to carry on discussing inane topics with the ghettoblaster raging. We packed up and left first thing in the morning and headed along the coast on a winding gravel road to the little settlement of Hole in the Wall, a much more peaceful and beautiful spot to hang out. We spent a day chilling out and going for strolls along the beach and headlands for the day.
Next stop, East London with the Mulligan clan. We've had a few days on:
- R&D for Nikki's baked goods company (I think I'm going to set up a NZ arm of Raggamuffins Inc),
- testing out Karen's full english brekkie at the B&B,
- watching hilarious music videos made by Shaun and Craig in the last couple of years,
- being lectured on the pros of electronic gadgets from Rory (he's finally converted me to Gmail) and
- listening to the disgusting sound effects made by one of the dogs, BJ (a really bad case of fur balls).
Alex has also been stuck to the couch becoming a video editing pro.
Lesotho looked a lot like the Mackenzie country in NZ, rolling hills with lots of sheep and a lack of trees. In fact the only differences seemed to be the sheep were herded by young shepherd boys dressed in blankets (the national dress) and Basotho people were living in brick rondavel houses. We headed up to a high point about 15kms into the country, where we could look across to another high point which is allegedly the highest point south of Mt Kilimanjaro - you wouldn't know it though, it just looked like a hill in amongst the other hills on the horizon. In the Sosotho language it is called 'the little mountain' - a little contradictory. We ate our packed lunches in the company of about 5 shepherd boys posing for photos.
After lunch it was time to visit a local woman in her relatively spacious rondavel to try out the local delicacies, a maize beer (definitely an acquired taste), and some freshly baked bread from the hearth in the centre of the rondavel (very yummy).
Our last stop was for an obligatory locally brewed Maluti beer at the highest pub in Africa at the top of the pass (2850m high). We then bumped our way back down the pass, not so comfy squashed in the dog box at the back of a landy, I realised.
Our next stop was the Wild Coast - part of the old Transkei homeland. We weren't sure whether the 'wild' aspect was referring to the way people drive (rather than the scenery). A lot of yellow line driving and crazy overtaking was going on the main road. When we turned off for the last 70kms the driving became even crazier. The vehicles in front of us zigzagged across the full width of the road avoiding the deep potholes scattered across the tar, it was comical! A favourite game of the local kids was to fill the potholes with dirt, then stick out their hand for 2 Rand has we drove past. Their only English words seemed to be 'money' and 'sweets'!
After an interesting drive we arrived at Coffee Bay, supposedly a beautiful spot with a hippie vibe. The backpacker/campsite we had been recommended by a couple of people was packed to the brim, felt a tad stagnant as they'd had no water for a few days, and had an unusual smell wafting through every now and again. But it was late so we pitched our tent anyway, ate some smash and tuna for dinner, then crashed into bed. Unfortunately it was a pretty sleepless night listening to people partying in the bar, then stumbling back to their tent next door to ours to carry on discussing inane topics with the ghettoblaster raging. We packed up and left first thing in the morning and headed along the coast on a winding gravel road to the little settlement of Hole in the Wall, a much more peaceful and beautiful spot to hang out. We spent a day chilling out and going for strolls along the beach and headlands for the day.
Next stop, East London with the Mulligan clan. We've had a few days on:
- R&D for Nikki's baked goods company (I think I'm going to set up a NZ arm of Raggamuffins Inc),
- testing out Karen's full english brekkie at the B&B,
- watching hilarious music videos made by Shaun and Craig in the last couple of years,
- being lectured on the pros of electronic gadgets from Rory (he's finally converted me to Gmail) and
- listening to the disgusting sound effects made by one of the dogs, BJ (a really bad case of fur balls).
Alex has also been stuck to the couch becoming a video editing pro.
Namibia Dune Running video
Trundler Amms runs the Scenic Dunes at Sesreim, Namibia including Big Daddy, the fourth highest dune in the world.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
YouTube Video
Just Posted on You Tube
Watch our Epic whitewater ride down the Zambezi river.
and feel free to post some comments! is anyone reading this....
Watch our Epic whitewater ride down the Zambezi river.
and feel free to post some comments! is anyone reading this....
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