Camping

Last weekend David and I went camping just outside Kleinmond at the Palmiet Caravan Park. It is a really nice campsite with stunning views of the ocean and surrounding mountains. It's also clean with nice ablution facilities - which is always a plus when camping. For me the ablution facilities are often the make or break if I'm going to stay there.

We arrived on Friday evening and after setting up camp we went for a walk on the beach - one of the best beaches ever!

 

Saturday arrived with some over cast weather, warm enough for shorts but not hot enough to swim which made the perfect conditions for the hike David had planned for us. We hiked all the way from the river mouth all the way to where the road crossed over it. We attempted a few ways of crossing the river but eventually decided that the safest option would be to use the road. The fynbos we saw along the way was very, very pretty and the views breath taking.

We had lunch at the end of the hike on the beach before heading off on our next adventure... Tea and cake at the Arabella hotel. It was divine!

We awoke in Sunday filled with excitement for our first attempt at mountain biking - you can read more about that here.  After the ride we headed back to camp for lunch before heading off to Benguela Cove for some wine and chocolate pairing. This was a fun experience of discovering new flavours and how flavours work together to give your mouth an explosive experience.

We spent the evening at Stoney Point in Betty's Bay watching the penguins - this was a highlight for me. We stopped for some hot chocolate at Jakes before heading for some supper at The Boat House in Kleinmond.

On Monday morning I woke up in quite a bit of pain from falling of my bike the day before so it was quite nice to know that we would be heading home soon. We packed up camp and was on the road by 8am.

The weekend was awesome and it was wonderful to spend lots of time in the wild with David doing what we both love - hiking, cycling, walking on the beach and camping, but it was good to be home.

I am super excited for all the future camping trips we're going to have together...

xKx

What I learnt about mountain biking this weekend

 

David and I went camping this past weekend.  I'll do a post about this later this week. For now I want to tell you about the adrenaline filled, fun and disastrous attempt at mountain biking I had. David was somewhat more successful than me... but soon I will decide if mountain biking really is for me.... 

 We entered the Kogelberg Nature Reserve on Sunday morning at around 10am and headed off along the mountain bike trail, (Palmiet Trail). The view is stunning but the trail was somewhat challenging. I fell twice - once into a ditch and once down an uphill section. The ditch appeared when I tried to stop myself, I kind of leaned over and there was no more ground to stand on. The second fall was way more painful and resulted in my giving up after about 3km down the trail and heading back to the car.  Even though I fell and learnt A LOT about mountain biking this weekend I can say now - two days later - that it was fun attempting it and I am keen to try again before giving up and sticking to road cycling.

 

 

 
The Lessons I learnt...

1. Mountain biking is not for sissies.
2. You will fall - don't be scared of falling because it will happen.
3. You will get hurt when you fall - I have some pretty epic bruises from this weekend.
4. It is harder than you will imagine it to be.
5. Don't start on an intermediate route when you're a beginner - the reason for this is you have a greater chance of falling.
6. It has an element of fun to it.... this was realised once I could move around with a lot less pain than before.  

David and I have entered a 20km race which is on 9 May... It's a fun ride so I don't think it will be too hectic... but it may be the deciding factor for me if this is for me.

xKx

Off Sick

On Friday morning I woke up feeling a little like death warmed up and I should have gone to the doctor then, but I refused to believe I was getting sick so I went to work instead. On Saturday I flt worse and on Sunday I started feeling faint every now and then.... If this wasn't enough of a clue that I was in fact sick I don't know what was.... On Monday morning I started with a small tiny cough and David was like, "you're going to the doctor" so off I went. I returned home with a note saying I had sinusitis and was booked off from work until Thursday, as well as three bags of medicine in my hands.


 Monday passed in a blur of of a stuffy head that felt like it was going to explode every time I moved, lots of sleep and some Roller Coaster Tycoon - a computer game I like to play that involves the creation of theme parks.

Yesterday, Tuesday, David woke up with the same symptoms I had when I first started getting sick so I suggested that he should go to the doctor before he also ended up as sick as I was. He returned home with the same three bags of medicine as me as a note saying he was also booked off until Thursday.

We now have two sick people in one house... one of them, (me) being a whole lot grumpier than the other. Besides sleeping we watched the whole of the first season of Modern Family. After watching half of it David went a bit crazy and went to sit in another room doing computer stuff... he needed to keep his brain active. So that was Tuesday, a blur of napping, a whole season a bit of Roller Coaster Tycoon. 

Today I may go a bit a loopy with staying in bed with a head that feels like it's being squeezed and sore ears... but I guess some more Roller Coaster Tycoon will be in order and maybe I should read a book because they are often way better than watching TV. I can even say I'm looking forward to going back to work tomorrow.... there's only so much of lying around and getting better I can take. My body must just get better while I carry on with life.

xKx

Rainbows

I really love rainbows not only because they are SO pretty but also because they remind us of Gods promises. In Genesis 9:13 is says "I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth." God made a promise way back in the day to Noah after He, (God), had flooded the earth to never destroy the world by flooding it again. To this day God has pretty much kept his promise, to me this shows me that God is faithful. When ever I see a rainbow it reminds me of this. It also reminds me that God is creative because I always get awe-struck when I see a rainbow, no matter how big or small it is or if it's a single or double rainbow.

Yesterday I saw a rainbow as I was leaving work, this is what it looked like when I walked out the office building.

... by the time I reached the top of Kloofnek on the bus it had become twice as bright and it had become a double rainbow. If the bus had stopped there I would totally have taken a picture.

This morning as I stepped out of Vida with my hot chocolate I saw a super HUGE double rainbow...

... as I looked at the rainbow I was filled with joy and a massive smile broke out on my face. This morning was cold and I really did not want to go to work... but this added some joy and helped me feel a little bit more motivated to go to work.

xKx

Sometime you don't need to see each other every day...

The other day I saw this quote...

 

 

... and  I can say that I do have a few friends who this applies for.

 

On Saturday I had second breakfast with Zulfa, one of my best friends. We used to see each other every single day, often twice a day because we travelled to work together. When I got married last year this stopped as I was now taking the bus to work and I live on the other side of the world in Hout Bay to be exact... which can be considered the other side of the world from Kenilworth because it's so far away. 

 

I think we see each other once a month now, (which we keep saying needs to change to at least twice a month), and when we see each other it's like nothing has changed. We sit down and off we go chitter chatting about the past month and everything that is going on - like always. There's not awkward silent pauses, just two people catching up with each other. I think that this is really awesome!

 

I really do value the friendship that we have built up over the years.....

 

 

xKx 

God's Creation

This morning I kind of felt like I had been slapped in the face by someone in the office.... Sometimes I don't understand what goes through peoples minds before they open their mouth to say something. This is what happened... I was walking from their desk to the kitchen area and she said to me... "your calves have gotten bigger." I turned around looked at her and was like pardon, she then proceed to justify what she said by saying it's probably from all the exercise you do. I carried on my way to make some coffee feeling like crap because I don't really want to be told I'm getting bigger anywhere on my body at this point. I then started thinking of things to do to make my legs thinner etc...

When I got back to my desk the same person had sent me the following link on how we are cruel to our bodies with what we think about it.  http://www.women24.com/Wellness/BodyAndSpirit/This-ad-will-make-you-realise-how-cruel-you-are-to-yourself-20150331

After watching it I was like this is so true... I seldom think of or have anything nice to say about my body but I also wanted to scream at the person in the office who commented on my calves and wanted to say, "you just did this to me"

I then sat and breathed deeply for a bit to calm down. Something in my head just said... "Remember what God says about you". I was instantly taken to verses that I have stuck in my heart... "You are wonderfully made" - Psalm 149:13 and "you are Gods masterpiece" -  Ephesians 2:10.

I then thought so what if I have big calves - God still thinks I'm wonderfully made and I should care less about what other people think I look like instead of what the truth is. This isn't always the easiest thing to do but I think it's time I started standing on the truth more and less on what other people around me say.

xKx