One Winter, Two Weddings and The Big Bike Ride

It would be remiss not to acknowledge the incredibly long break between blog posts, for which I must apologise. For various reasons, I have not written a post in about 10 months and it was thanks to a few enquiring texts and emails that I am sitting down again to write another snapshot of our lives here in London.

As the summer approaches, and spreads its long evenings and bright sunshine on our days, there is more space for taking time out of the daily grind for some reflection and sharing our lives with friends and family. Although we have survived the winter, looking back retrospectively, it was not without the customary semi-hibernation that many UK residents tend to slip into during those colder and darker months. Aside from a 3 week holiday to South Africa over Christmas and New Year, we let winter slide by and are only now starting to wake up, blinking and stretching.

Chantal and Matt's wedding in South Africa this January was the highlight of our otherwise wintry months. It was the most special day with throngs of the closest and most special people, lashings of rain and moody mist that nobody noticed because they were all having such a good time. And when we got back to icy London, we put our heads down and held out until the next exciting trip, as the British tend to do.

During the spring we took our first trip to Europe and visited Italy. Starting in Rome and ending in Amalfi, we did a fully tourist holiday and loved every minute of it. But details of that holiday will take an entire post to themselves, I'll leave that for another day; I am only just shaking the cobwebs and mothballs out of my neglected blog-writing trousseau and I'm not going to start over-ambitiously!

It was then a nip back to South Africa for Vicky and Dylan's wedding at the end of April. We were so grateful to be able to share this most special day with our Virasamy's. The weather came to the party too and it was a cool sunny day ended off by a major party; I don't think the bride left the dance floor even once. After spending the following two days catching up with family and friends, it was back to London and back to work. And one week later, a Big Bike Ride

A few weeks ago I took part in a long cycle ride in Norfolk and Suffolk, called The Big Bike Ride. I was invited to join the fundraising ride by my friend Elyse and her husband Ed after she noticed that I had ridden to school a few times on the mountain bike lent to me by my Aunty Margaret. Being brand new to cycling, I don't think I quite realised what I was letting myself in for when I agreed to be Elyse's riding buddy over 170 kilometres of cycling in two days. But, as it was to raise money for a good cause (St Elizabeth's hospice) and, since I was planning on getting myself a more suitable bike anyway, I agreed and we started training in earnest. Unfortunately, we only had about 5 weeks to get any training done and I had not yet received my road bicycle so I was training on the tractor bike as it has come to be known. We attended a few spinning classes at the gym and after my road bike arrived, we did a few longer rides. But not enough as we found out the hard way!

Day one we rode for about 120 kilometres and it took us almost the whole day, both of us ended up with painful knees and were walking funny by the end of the day. But it was day two where the 'injuries' really showed up. That's when sitting down on the saddle was a real problem, but standing on the pedals was not an option either, due to the aforementioned knee trouble. The catch 22 was eventually solved once we had warmed up and by a large dose of Ibuprofen - dosed up and ready to take on the Tour de France. After 50 kilometres we finally arrived at the finish line at a local junior school, along with the other 50 or so riders who had also completed the distance. The countryside and company were the real highlights of the weekend. The route took us along the Norfolk coast so there was an ever-changing vista of seaside and farmlands. Luckily we had a personal second, Philippa from Johannesburg, to drive along behind us and provide us with any food, tire pumps and general merriment as we cycled endlessly along.

Elyse and I with Ed and Phil. Our small team taking on a Big Ride

Elyse and I would not have managed without Philippa, our brilliant second. South Africans are the best.

She captured this highly staged shot of us 'flying' down a country road

The scenery was really special

Only 14 miles to go on day 1. We really needed that rest stop!!

We made it! 

Leg rubs to ease the knee pain

Strava map of Day one - 120km

 

Strava map of day two - 50km of cycling

Still smiling at the end

Outdoor adventures of a brother and sister

My brother David lives in Hanoi in Vietnam. He's lived there for over a year now and absolutely loves it. Despite conjuring up notions of a long and drawn-out American war, Vietnam is a wonderful country and suits David perfectly. One thing that Hanoi is not, however, is orderly and green. I've never visited, but the descriptions David gives are of a friendly but chaotic and fairly polluted city with tall, unattractive buildings. Kew Gardens in the South West of London is in complete contrast to that image; immaculately manicured gardens, endless stretches of lawn, fantastic flowers, towering palms, and orderly flower beds. The weather played along during our visit and we stayed as long as our tired feet would allow us, taking a few pictures to document our visit.

David admiring the Waterlily house from the outside

Amazed at the huge lilies inside, I'm sure I could sit on one!?!

The spectacular gardens in front of the iconic Palm House

The new beehive installation from below

"Listening" to bee buzzes through my teeth

Some more colossal leaves

A picture perfect sky with the Palm House behind

A glamorous lizard basking in the sun and the admiration of all the visitors

A red pineapple, can you spot it?!

For a blast of countryside to clear the cobwebs from David's polluted lungs, we took a trip to Dorset last week to visit Aunty Margaret on the farm. Our plans changed somewhat when we realised my driving licence had expired (facepalm) meaning the rental company wouldn't hire us a car! So, we ended up taking a coach (the equivalent of a Greyhound to you South Africans) to Lyonsgate village. We had a short stop over in the sweet seaside town of Bournemouth, I'd love to come back for longer one day. We only spent 2 nights on the farm but we manged to squeeze in a fair few pubs, a drive to Weymouth and Portland and even some work on the farm while we were there!

Walking on the farm the evening we arrived

Problem: pond weed. Proposed solution: barley bale in the ditch where the water comes in. Done! 

Isle of Portland

Important lighthouse

The monument on the Portland "beak"

A beautiful glade on the hill behind Aunty Margaret's farm

A country manor over the hill from the farm. I remember seeing this castle-like building when I visited Margaret for the first time about 18 years ago!

Some curious Dorset Sheet kindly posing for a photo

Wide expanses for sheep to roam

Overlooking the farm's fields

Some more rolling countryside, I can't get enough!

Visitors!

Moving to London has been so exciting and really rewarding but, one of the tough parts has been how far away we are from so many of our friends and family. I am so thankful for Skype, Whatsapp messages and voice notes, Facebook and all the other ways that we keep in touch, but nothing is quite as comforting as having a face-to-face conversation with someone who knows you well. When Colleen told me there was a chance she could come and visit us this August from New York, I was overjoyed! And then David managed to get some time off and visit from Vietnam. For a few days their stays overlapped which was amusing since we only have a one bedroom flat. But, with some careful rearranging of furniture and a reliance on a friend who lives nearby, we manged without a hitch.

Colleen and I got up to some really fun stuff while she was here, but we also fitted in a fair portion of sleeping late (well, later than normal, neither of us is capable of sleeping past 8), cooking, long walks and the Olympic opening ceremony. The photos don't do her trip justice because most of what was special about it was us just hanging out and catching up after more than a year and a half.

Obligatory Buckingham selfie

Despite what you'd think, a river cruise is a good way to spend a rainy day in London. The walks in the parks of Greenwich later that day weren't so suited to the wet weather.

Cycling in Hyde Park. What a fun way to experience this huge park

Ice creams every afternoon - yum!

Wandering South Bank when David arrived

Borough Market. Colleen was telling jokes to get our camera faces on

A long walk along the Thames path with a stop for some ciders and beer on Colleen's last day

D'you want to go to the seaside?

Whenever I visit the coast in a British town, the song called The Seaside by The Kooks plays in my head (listen to it here). A visit to the beach in South Africa has a completely different feeling; its more wild, hotter, sandier, wavy-er (okay, I know that's not a word but I needed a comparative adjective version of wavy!) But here in England the coastal towns just want to be called "seaside" towns; like the song, they are gentle, bright, fun, and just beg you to buy a soft-serve ice cream. The pebble beaches also change the atmosphere, no longer do you have to battle the stinging sand being blown onto bare legs, instead, you must hobble over the pebbles down to the sea for a swim.

Over the last weekend, Frans and I took a trip to the seaside town of Sidmouth. The primary reason was to visit Mark, Helen and their two children, Tom and Hope. Many of you may remember Mark from our wedding; he's my cousin and he was the vicar at our wedding ceremony. The family is moving to Jersey Island in two weeks time and we had to squeeze in a quick visit before they leave. What an incredible time we had! From the train journey across south-west England on Friday evening, Saturday morning on the beach and sunny late evening braaiing, walking up a steep hill and through the woodlands to a church service in a one thousand-year-old church and walking home along the coastal path, it was truly magical. Here are some pictures of the beautiful weekend.

The pebble/sand beaches can be enjoyed when the tide is 
low, as it was for us on Saturday morning

On the right is the, rather treacherous Jacobs Ladder (Tom lost a flip 
flop through its unforgiving steps). On the left are some pretty sought 
after Beach Huts; you can apply to be put on the waiting list to use one...

Deck chairs to enjoy your ice cream on if the seagulls don't 
steal it from you first! (Although these four chairs look like 
they've been placed to discourage talking...)

Looking back at Sidmouth across the beach. Up on the hillside, you can 
faintly see the coastal path in the right-hand field, that was our 
walk home from church on Sunday.

I loved these bright red, weedy poppy flowers taking shelter next to
the pier.

The Victoria Hotel, only a short walk from the beach.

Sidmouth pedestrian high street. 

A South African braai in Devon

Sunny supper time, Frans has a mouthful and Hope
is worried about Seagulls dive bombing her for food!

A view through the trees of the Salcombe Regis church, 1000 years old.

Views of the sea during our walk home after church with Tom

Classic Devon countryside plunging into the sea. This is the Salcome
Regis valley next door to Sidmouth.

A picturesque Salcombe Regis farmstead

Spotting Sidmouth over the ferns. We're about to descend into town on
the coastal path mentioned in the caption of the picture above.