I Can't Keep It In
There’s no other way but to spit it out. They say “a secret’s only a secret once you’ve told someone”, so I’m going to tell you all about a big secret. It’s not your usual, let’s gossip about the neighbour secret, it’s all about a holiday destination. One everyone should explore. For now I...
Cuisine, Sunscreen, Tambourine I've Seen '17
Highlighting a year brings back sweet memories. It’s through hard times that we take note, but it’s in the cool afterglow that we can sit back and let our hearts and minds recall good times. This has been an amazing roller coaster year. My 60th! My mind has been churning with thoughts, words...
Celebrating Effortless Summer Fare
I am so inclined to repeat my menus that it takes a luncheon with friends to inspire me to delve into old recipe books, files and faded food magazines, those I hoard. I always find inspiration as the clock ticks ever nearer and my “to do” list gets longer. Our guests arrived dressed to the...
A Painful Nip And Tuck Turns Into Reconstructive Surgery
The last six weeks have been hell. Butch’s ears blocked up from stress and my continual nagging. My Grandmother would've said "a wife should not be like a dripping tap"! Torture. At times I thought I might have a heart attack from stress and anxiety as my oesophageal stricture goes on a rampage...
Every Picture Tells A Story
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. No matter how many beautiful photographs I’ve seen of Cinque Terre nothing beats being there oneself. Like any great beauty there is more to her than meets the eye. This place has soul, history and charm. Being a World Heritage Site does not happen at the...
A Leaning Tower And A Pisa Pizza
Since the Arno has silted itself up and cut the city off from the sea Pisa has become slightly off-kilter and a little seedy, but, that’s only my opinion of course. The decline of this once powerful naval city is noticeable, and I wonder how popular it would be if it did not boast such...
Drastic Remedial Action For The Honey Badger
Bi-carbonate of soda is my constant companion, wherever I go I have a good dose stashed near at hand. I don’t snort it, I take it with warm water to still my burning stomach. Indigestion burns like a white flame in my chest. The root cause. Stress. Anxiety. Anger. Disappointment. (one would...
Three Letters From Santiago
Insomnia. Lying here in my single bed, in our Spartan Nun’s cell in the former Convent on the square. I move my feet to feel the cold part of the starched white linen sheets. The thick ancient walls can’t keep the heat out, the muggy air does not stir. Our pilgrimage has come to an end. Lise and...
Solidago Santiago
We’d heard on the grapevine that there would be thousands of Pilgrims flooding into Santiago de Compostello from all four corners of Europe. We had to make haste unless we were prepared to queue for hours waiting for our certification. Early it would be. I set our alarm for 4am at 5am we’d set...
Butch Bites The Bullet
Like much in life, unless one is 100% committed to a task it is sure to be a failure or at worst a disappointment. I know that if asked 5 years ago whether he’d attempt to walk halfway across Spain Butch would’ve said “NO!” Unequivocally. The only reason he did it was because Anna (his...
Overweight Honey Badger Must Streamline
The Honey Badger is on a crash diet. No more heavy metals. On the spur of the moment it was decided to weigh the truck and huge was the collective surprise when she came in weighing a few hundred kilogrammes over her recommended weight allowance. “How on earth can that happen?” you may well...
Big Butch Battles Bravely
Like two pom-pom girls we stood ready to welcome our Butch at Vigo airport. We caught a glimpse of him way down the passage coming through customs long before he spotted us. He looked exhausted, thin and quite pasty (and not at all like a Cornish pasty, rather, grey and pale) around the...
Vigo Splish Splash And Get Sun-Kissed
It’s raining. If one’s lucky to be there when the first drops fall you will get the smell of rain on dusty tar and it’s just amazing. In Redondela we took deep breaths of rainy air, it was heaven, but, not quite like our African rain, here we smell dust, dry grass, and the blue of water...
Kick-Ass Heroes For A Day
Although we were quite content with each other’s company and had no need of hooking up with other Peregrinoes we did meet and chat to a father and son walking alongside us. The attraction was our feet of course. Flip flops! When I mentioned that St James would've approved we got a "touché"! One...
A Flip-Flopping Peregrino On Camino
My friend sent a photograph of her amazing knitted patchwork blanket, a gift to her grandson, the other day. I am in awe. You see, I started one too. Years ago. On all our wanderings I’d sit in the car and knit, miles of strips and squares I’ve done. Haphazard they are, not all exactly square,...
There's No Snoozin' With Susan
Camping with my sister-in-law Sue is a treat. She’s organised and runs a tight ship. She has to, with her family of 3 plus 2, plus all the friends and extended family members who make themselves at home there. This whole mish-mash of friends, family and vreemdelinge (strangers) often accompany...
A Sucker For Punishment - Hiking The Fish RIver Canyon - Again
A sucker for punishment - that was exactly what I must be when I agreed to repeat my 2016 hike of the Fish River Canyon, hoping to inspire fellow outdoor enthusiasts to take on similar adventures. I couldn’t go back on my word, so I saddled up the old backpack, loaded it with essentials, and...
Lise, My Camino Compañero
We have made it to Barcelos in one piece, a little bruised and battle-weary, but our spirits remain strong. We could lament the state of our toes until the cows come home, but we’re braver than that. We'll dust ourselves off and soldier on, drawing on the resilience that keeps us going. I...
Scoring 100% On Her First Test Drive
Our pet project, the Honey Badger, lives up to all expectations and passes her first test drive with flying colours. She didn't put a gear out of place and, with all the confidence in the world, revved her engines and zoomed off at a top speed of 80 km/h. I mistakenly said we were going on...
Mood Swings, Puffy Feet and Cobblestones
Right from the start, this day did not augur well. Lise’s jet lag was settling in nicely, and it brought a few gremlins. The guidebook, our 'Bible', was confusing, and bad waymarks made finding the Cathedral a challenge, keeping us at loggerheads. We set off at 8.30, knowing we had a long...
Board Not Bored Walking - Setting off
This I know is true. Just as we had to take those first uncertain steps into the unknown, taking one step at a time on our Camino, I know that unless I type my first words and get on with it, I’ll never write our story. Simple as that. I have a very simple philosophy; it has stood me in good...
Buen Camino Peregrino – Introduction
Eighteen months ago, I grabbed the bull by the horns and sent the family an invitation-slash-announcement. I was setting my sights on doing the Camino Portugués before I turned 60, and I invited them to join me. I knew that if anyone would be up for it, it would be Lise. Just as well I put it...
Picture Perfect Oporto
Four nights in Porto is all I could squeeze into my itinerary. My love for Portugal is genetic. It’s not skin deep; I’m wired to love that slip of a Mediterranean country, hemmed in by Spain on one side and the ocean on the other. My aunt lived in a tiny fishing village south of Lisbon,...
We've got to talk about THAT
I sigh (I do that a lot when I’m sad or depressed) as I open the fridge door after weeks away. Not because it’s a shambles. It’s because we “save for rainy days”. Why do we do that? I look at the shrivelled carrots, the drooping celery sticks, and the blackened fine green beans. As I drop...
Driving Dirt Roads, Dunes And Deserts
Twenty years ago, my life was a shambles. I was scared and insecure, and I cried every day for almost 2 and a half years. I do believe I could’ve filled buckets with tears. Friends can only take so much. My best friends decided that instead of writing me off, they’d take me to Namibia....
Five Fabulous Friends
It was written in the stars that I would board a steam train and shunt about for two years, making my way from Nelspruit across the Crocodile River, wending my way from the Lowveld to Pretoria every term to attend boarding school at Pretoria High School for Girls. With a quivering lip, sweaty...
The Honey Badger Shenanigans
Hallo! It's been a while. I haven't provided an update on the progress of our Honey Badger. I couldn't. Things weren't going as I'd hoped. I had to dampen my enthusiasm and face a few home truths. I am not in charge of this project. In my defence, I did start many scribbles, but for various...
Good, Better, Idiom
Packing up and traipsing all over the countryside is not the only way to relax after a busy year. We stayed at home, enjoying simple pleasures and the company of friends. Our home was our base for making day trips, reminding us that true relaxation often comes from shared moments and comfort....
Bang! My Bubble Burst
Like a shot in the dark, 2017 caught us by surprise. Yet I feel hopeful about the future, embracing 'Put pressure aside' as my mantra to foster peace and resilience in the year ahead. Although Christmas and New Year are sad times for us as a family, we’re divided and scattered across...
Don't Get Me Wrong
It’s been a busy month since my last scribbling, and an exciting one, too. On the day it rained, I set off at the appointed hour, very early, to meet them at the airport. Rain. Soft, gentle, penetrating, misty rain. Enough to soak our scorched land. Not enough to break the drought. I was...
We Can Die Without Food - Sinethemba Aftercare
We can die without food. One little girl tells me, her face very serious. That’s a fact. We know it. They don’t, really. On this wall, it’s a statement, a slogan, a cry for help, a prayer, but it’s also part of life. SINETEMBA means HOPE "Safety and security don't just happen; they result...
Surely Sundays Are Fun Days
In all my born days, I never thought I would say "whoopee! Sundays are fun days". I’m a boarder, for goodness’ sake. We loathe Sundays. Turn on a radio, and I recall Esmè Everard’s distinctive lilt as she read messages from Mums and girlfriends on “Forces Favourites”. That's my cue to sink into...
On Doctor's Orders
On doctor's orders wasn’t exactly how it all happened. Summer colds are really the pits, especially in spring. We were both bitten by a bug. Runny noses, sneezing, bunged-up sinuses, laryngitis and an embarrassing gungy cough. Not bad enough to tempt one to pull a duvet over one’s head, but...
Simple Summer Salads With A Twist Recipes
When the sun beats down on the top of my head, and I feel the need for a hat and sunnies, I know it’s time to dust off the platters and large salad bowls. I find pleasure in digging through the napery drawer, flinging out the florals, stripes, and coloured linens; the worn check napkins in...
One Whale Wallows
Weekenders line the cliffs and choke the paths in the Republic of Hermanus. Spring break and it's chock-a-block. Traffic jams, long queues and exhausted officials are the order of the next 10 days. No matter where you were within a 1km radius of the Old Harbour, you’d hear the screech of...
Drive By Shootings On Sunday Drives
Butch hadn’t had such a good day on Saturday. His Springboks lost to the All Blacks. The result was expected, but the shock still hit the solar plexus, didn’t it? What a shame. Sadly for them, Saturday was the last straw and their last chance to impress. They’ve lost an ardent fan. To regain...
Fabulous Friends, Food And Frivolous Fun
That was exactly how my weekend started. We’re born into families; some are single-parent, adoptive, or traditional. We can't choose them; friends are the people we choose along the way. They intrigue and fascinate us, and we have something in common with them. It might be the child you sit next...
Tim's Trailer Makeover
Not my usual story about our Honey Badger, but it’s about being motivated by the plan and execution that we have for our truck. Ours has been in the making for months, and the end is not in sight. Yet. This one is a spur-of-the-moment, “let’s get stuck in and get the job done job, typically...
Singing Ching-Ching It's Spring
I go ballistic every time Butch announces, “It’s Summer!” (Like clockwork, he does it every year on the 23rd of June). My beady eyes give him dirty looks as I shiver and shake from the cold, but I start watching the signs. And then, when he starts paying attention to the weather forecasts,...
Schatzie Goes Hands, Knees And Bump-Sa-Daisy
That’s exactly how I made my descent into the Fish River Canyon—slowly, with measured steps, often on my behind, and with proper safety gear like sturdy boots and gloves. I had no dignity as I squatted to slide down rocks, but I was prepared for the challenge. When did my legs shorten? It was...