an instant of life captured for eternity

August 22, 2016

^^ The bees are all out and and about enjoying all the almost spring flowers.

^^ Pretty flowers on our walk to the beach.

^^ Pretty ocean, we are convinced this ship is sinking.

^^ have you ever seen an albino squirrel. Carl spotted this guy when we left from our hike and stopped to take photos of this guy. The most photogenic, yet scruffiest squirrel around.

^^ what a poser.

^^ We made it back down just in time, when we got to the car it seemed like rainmagadeon . Just look at all this rain at a nursery.

^^ Amazing skies.

^^ Really blue water.

^^ another pretty sunset.

^^ Checking out the flowers while Carl takes a photo. He always takes so long to take a photo. Hence the face.

How was your weekend? We wen’t for a walk down to the beach, but it was an unbearably hot day with an unpleasant amount of people. The promenade was filled with people cycling without helmets for them and their kids? I find it so dangerous to see kids that aren’t even one yet on their parents bicycles without a helmet. Protect your precious cargo, guys! We went for a lovely quick hike around deer park again, that was basically me just running telling Carl, I need to get my exercise in and he walks to slow. It was a really great weekend, but any weekend with an albino squirrel will be interesting.

Anniversary meanders in Greyton

August 3, 2016August 3, 2016

For our anniversary weekend we went to Greyton, we didn’t really know what to expect seeing as a lot of the places that look AMAZING on the internet seem to be just a big old okay when arriving, but Greyton is what dreams are made of. We packed some car snacks and headed off for our adventure as soon as we got out of the hustle and bustle of the city it was like pure magic. The colours of the fields, grazing sheep and extraordinary wind turbines had us oohing and aahing all along the ride. We kept stopping to take photos of the amazing colours of the fields, I wish I could live in those fields or at least get a pretty dress in the yellow colour!

When we arrived in Greyton we were kind of bummed to have missed the market, its suppose to be amazing, but we couldn’t manage to get out of bed early for our anniversary. On our arrival we were greeted by an old fashioned horse and buggy car just doing its thing on the road, the streets were a buzz with people trying to take in all the beauty of this wonderful mountainside town. We decided to walk around the town, exploring all the hidden shops and ended it all off with smoothie at the cutest little tea garden I’ve ever been in. Maybe next time we will get up early to get to the market on time, maybe even stay in one of the cute little accommodation they have all over the show. Or maybe I’ll just give up on city life and go live in this incredible little town right now.

^^ Walking along the streets.

^^ I was trying to get a better look at this house. Don’t worry it was empty and for sale, its amazing!

^^ Who needs a car.

^^ The hustle and bustle of this little town on the weekend.

^^ Church in the mountains.

^^ Happy Carl.

^^ All smiles

^^ Trying to take a selfie. I think the hair in my face is a good look for me.

^^ A whole lot of pine cones in one spot.

^^ Some people have gnomes in their garden.

^^ I love these crates.

^^ These ostrich feather dusters are way to pretty to clean a house.

^^ I love these pillows.

^^ Cutest little bunny at the art gallery.

^^ cow art.

^^ These shops are just beyond cutesy.

^^ Carl was upset, because hes worn a similar outfit. Who wore it best?

^^ Hire a bike and cycle around the town.

^^ Sheep and drives.

^^ I loved seeing these turbines along the drive.

an instant of life captured for eternity

May 2, 2016

^^ Excited thumbs up-ing in a small town.

^^ I found my new best friend, this little guy loved me, before Carl came along and upset him.

^^ Driving along Muizenberg on a surprisingly cold day.

^^ Worst quality photo ever! Thanks front camera, you had one job! On top of signal hill, looking down on Cape town.

^^ Cape town sure knows how to make one beautiful Sunset.

^^ Carl being handsome.

^^ Anchor posing.

^^ Found these pretty little flowers on a walk.

Life around here is starting to pick up, things are cooling down and falling into place. We drove around false bay, found a horrible medieval festival that was just embarrassing, walked around muizenberg, fish hoek, simon’ town and even went to the top of signal hill. We tried to pack as much in as possible in over the weekend, seeing as Carl is working on international labor day! Our apartment is starting to look a lot like home, stacked full of our books and wall art. Home is where ever you hang your wedding photo!

Beach walks

April 29, 2016

Happy Friday everybody! I’m feeling mighty fine lately, maybe its the cloudy weather or maybe its because when you think about it life really is good right now. All the blessings in life, no matter how small is worth celebrating! I guess I should do a little dance?

On Wednesday we went on a trip down memory lane with Carl’s dad, all around his old stomping ground, telling us cute little stories, showing us where he used to live. I always thought I had a really great memory, but wow, Carl’s dad is out of this world!

We stopped for a quick walk on the beach, sometimes when you get caught up in the destination you forget to take a breather and just enjoy the moment and beauty of things. I never forget, I’m pretty sure I must be the most irritating person to travel with, I just want to experience everything! Except heights, sharks or anything where I don’t feel safe! I’m not a crazy person!

^^ This lifeguard doesn’t seem to be taking his job that seriously.

^^ Kelp everywhere.

^^ Carl and I felt so bad walking on the shells. It felt like we were destroying someone’s home just for the fun of it.

^^ I’ve never seen one of these guys ( Blue bottles), but I have heard the horror stories of how the sting of these guys hurts. I felt really left out as a child, everyone talking about the sting and how horrible it is.

^^ I really like its color!

^^ Carl looks really happy with his beach discoveries! On a completely side note, I really hate his glasses, every time it tints up I just see the weird band nerd that no one wants to talk to, because he smells like lady deodorant.

What’s your weekend plans?

Life inside the cloud

April 22, 2016

Our new apartment isn’t called steep acres for nothing. High on the edge of the mountain in-between all the clouds we call home. The last two days have been glorious! I just love weather that doesn’t feel like your face is going to melt off or such hot weather that you can’t believe your scalp is sweating and getting a sunburn all at the same time, but these last couple of days have been pure bliss. Cloudy, cuddly and oh, so amazing! When its cloudy here it means we get engulfed by the clouds, it gives the term your head is in the clouds a completely literal meaning. I can honestly say its pretty cool. Pretty cool indeed. So keep your head in the cloud. Its great up here.

I’m really grateful for this rain, not because I’m a selfish person that just loved living in Dublin so much that I wan’t to turn Cape Town into Ireland. No, I’m grateful, because there’s been a serious drought in South Africa and the rain is much needed. All the little plants look really happy and seem even more vibrant than ever. On a side note; I happened to see there are some squash growing on the hill next to us, I’m not sure what it is yet, its still at the flowering stage, but you bet I’m going to turn into a serious forager when I see something growing!

Happy Friday!

an instant of life captured for eternity

April 6, 2016

We’ve made it to CAPE TOWN! After a gruelling 19 hours of travel, we finally made it. We had a lot of trials on this trip. Being knocked down with a cold and being on a plane was definitely number one, I was hit hard with extreme nausea, not being able to breathe and just all those wonderful cold symptoms no one would want on a plane trip. I’m pretty sure a lot of people will get my gross Irish germs and have their little holidays ruined. I’m sorry in advance people who were in the plane with me! If I could go back and time and not give all my medication to sick missionaries I would! Turkish Airlines was an amazing flight, lots of leg room, wonderful staff, amazing food that caters for every dietary restriction and the best part they let you sleep without bothering you! I preferred it over the Emirates flight, don’t get me wrong the Emirates flight was nice, but it would have been nicer in first class, in economy you hardly have any leg room and you kind of have to squeeze your way in and hope you don’t have to go to loo. Also it doesn’t matter how many stickers you put on your blanket not to be disturbed they still wake you up. The Turkish Airlines flight was also just 13 hours to Joburg, that seemed like a breeze compared to 18 hours with Emirates.

We are here and we are excited to get exploring! We had an amazing sleep at our room thanks to airbnb! We are also right in the heart of the city bowl and a quick walk from the waterfront!

^^ Delicious green juice, while walking on Grafton street in Dublin.

^^ On our last day in Dublin it was raining quite a bit obviously, Dublin couldn’t hold back its tears any more and just started crying.

^^ Saw this in Dublin. I’m still wondering if it’s Banksy or a Banksy copier.

^^ Passports ready and waiting to go!

^^ Turkish delight at Istanbul Airport.

^^ If you feel like ice cream at 12 at night, this guy is your man.

^^ our boarding gate was really far away!

^^ A South African plane in Joburg.

^^ Thanks Joburg! This was the only friendly thing we saw in Joburg, every single staff member at the airport was extremely rude to us and completely ignored us. The only good part was I know now that I don’t have ebola, thanks to a rude scan they did.

^^ Selfie on a soldier list in St Patrick’s Cathedral.

^^ Carl and his stick.

an instant of life captured for eternity

March 30, 2016

Life around here has been a bit crazy! We’ve been trying to squeeze in every last minute thing we still HAVE to see before we leave on Monday. Its true what they say, time flies when you are having fun. Four months have come and gone and I can’t believe we are almost saying goodbye to Dublin, but new adventures await in the everyday norm. Heading back to South Africa seemed like it would be such a drag, but we are moving to beautiful Cape Town, so how can I be mad about that. I’ve lived nearly everywhere , but I’ve never given Cape Town a try. I was always apprehensive about a place that the wind blows so hard you have to hold onto a street pole, true story! Resistance training will be easy in Cape town!

I finally managed to buy gifts for all our family and I feel really good about the things we picked out, hopefully they like it, but souvenirs is just a nice way of saying ” I travelled around, while you didn’t”. I found the perfect gift for my sister, I actually felt really silly about not thinking about it, because I kept trying to find my surname in the Irish crest coasters, which was really stupid, I mean my maiden surname is German and my new surname is Dutch, but my sister married a good old Irish boy! Carl found their crest and looked really happy with his amazing gift giving skills, good job Carl, you finally managed to pick out a good gift! He usually sucks at giving gifts. We came here when it was winter and now we are heading back when its Autumn in South Africa, I don’t know when I will see a summer again, vitamin D seems like a distant memory at this point.

I will miss this crazy beautiful, always raining, yeah its kind of spring but cold place, but a new challenge awaits and I’m ready for it!

^^ Found this random fair on one of our night walks.

^^ This pipe really intrigued me.

^^ The museum of archaeology is filled with wonder and really disgusting bog bodies.

^^ I love a good mosaic.

^^ Crazy hair.

^^ When you are the happiest out of all your new friends.

^^ The detail on this is just amazing!

^^ Naked statues! and my insanely weird feet.

^^ A tree.

Bray Cliff Walk

March 24, 2016

Bray cliff walk is such a breeze compared to the Howth cliff walk. There is just something about a fence and train tracks in between me and the ocean that made me feel a million times safer! This quick 7 km ff walk felt way too short and left me wanting more. Being surrounded by ocean and cliff feels surreal! The walk is believed to have been around since the medieval time, allowing men to carry equipment for the construction of the railway. So, if you think you’re having a hard time finishing the walk, think about the men carrying heavy equipment along it and its sure to put a skip in your step and take those tired, hungry feeling right away!

The end parts gets a little boring, but seeing Carl slip around in mud made the end bit really entertaining! After the hike we hopped on a train and headed back home and so grateful to sit down.

^^ This selfie stick has come in handy on our trip. Even though I feel insanely stupid whipping out this large, up in everyone’s grill stick, it really takes amazing photos, and gets everything in.

^^ Always happy little Carl. I’m so grateful for the 4 months we’ve had to spend together non stop, I’ve seen the effect this trip has had on Carl and how he’s grown into a way stronger, confident man, that knows his worth, knowing that all his goals and dreams are achievable through hard work and perseverance.

^^ Look! A fence! I get really excited about safety.

^^ Endless ocean!

^^ I’m not smiling.

^^ Carl’s new band.

^^ This was actually broken, but it made a great photo prop anyway.

^^ The beach.

St Patrick’s day in Dublin

March 22, 2016

If I had a bucket list, going to St Patrick’s day in Dublin would be right at the top! St Patrick is one of the worlds most popular saints, he brought Christianity to Ireland, but today St Patrick’s day is known as a day of drinking. Being a non drinker at St Patrick’s day didn’t phase us at all! The parade, the silly outfits, the extremely happy people and the fair was enough to make anyone excited! Its a time to celebrate and wear green, while looking at a parade that felt like it made no sense, I’m sure it made sense, but it seemed to be a miss-match of strange floats and a lot of marching bands.

After a rocky start of squeezing into a jam packed tram, accidentally leaving a friend behind, other friends getting off at the next stop to wait for the next tram so she wouldn’t get lost, we finally managed to wiggle our way into the best spot! Right next to the big screen and reasonably close to the parade.

a few photos below…

^^ This was one of my favourite floats! I just want to live in that house.

^^ a mouth..

^^ Bunnies

^^ Trinity college!

^^ I want all of them!

^^ everyone wears green for St Patrick’s day.

^^ Leprechaun piggy back ride.

^^ I just really love this bicycle!

Spring in Dublin

March 15, 2016

Spring is definitely here to stay in Dublin, the flowers are in bloom, the trees are getting their leaves back, the birds are chirping and we can finally go out without wearing 5 different layers. We are down to two layers. Whoohoo!

The daffodils and tulips all over the city is enough to make me want to run rampant singing, Disney songs, while feeding deer and getting chased by squirrels. Surprisingly all that is possible here in Dublin. I’m really close to just going full Princess by buying a tiara and gown and just going with it, it won’t even be frowned upon during this time, because the St Patrick’s day festival is a couple of days away and we are all ready to wear our best green outfits and be Irish for a day.