Happy Tuesday, ladies and gents! How’s your day going? You don’t have to answer that, but I would love it if you did. 🙂 Among the many adventures we enjoyed while G.C. (my Mama) was visiting, one special moment was just a hop, skip and a jump down the road from Port Alfred, where we stayed in a holiday home with Hero Hub’s folks for a few days. {It was really special to have so many grandparents around at once!}
The hop, skip and jump took us to Kenton-on-Sea, a beautiful beachy spot with lovely and unique rock formations that are just awe-inspiring. You feel like you could hang out there with a camera all day and just try to capture it. But ya couldn’t.
We took some shots for you anyway — want to see?
Care to guess what happened above? The Bear headed straight for the first tide pool that presented itself, and splickety-sploshed right in. He spent the rest of the adventure in soggy socks and sandals, but he didn’t seem to mind. Did you see the waves crashing against the rocks behind us?
Sigh. I <3 my Mama. What do you think this rock looks like?
I know the Bear looks uncertain, but he’s really having a good time…
Was that too much people and not enough rock?
We think he might have an Explorer Spirit…we don’t know where he got it from.
And last, but most favourite, HH’s Dad says this is the Kenton-on-Sea bus stop!
Well, I hope that was a 16 photo escape for your Tuesday-viewing pleasure! Don’t go back and count, I’m not good with numbers. 🙂
May the road rise to meet you wherever this Tuesday takes you next!
xCC
Do you have a Travelling Tuesday post you’re keen to share? Well then you’ve made this pregger about as happy as a Krispy Kreme donut! Whether you want to share shots from your summer vacation or last year’s road trip, we’d love to see ’em! Just use the direct link to your Travelling Tuesday post (not your home page) and link back here somewhere in your post!
It is definitely SPRING in South Africa. Spring is here! We are thankful. And yesterday we decided to check out a nearby beach and take a few photos, showcasing a particularly important sign, carefully coloured by the Bear! Wanna see?
The beach we visited is a quick drive past Gordon’s Bay on the coastal road. There’s a wee hike down to get to it, but it is totally worth it. And, it. is. gorgeous.
Do I need to zoom in on the message? (Especially since it’s for grandparents!?!)
In case you’re struggling with legibility here, the message is: “Happy Grandparents Day!”
See?
Hero Hubs, the Bear and I would like to wish all the Bear’s (and the wee one on the way’s) wonderful grandparents on both sides of the pond a Happy Grandparents Day!
I tried to get the Bear to colour your special sign with lots of pretty colours, but all he wanted to use was blue. I think he was expressing his sentiments about being so far away from Guncka, Gammy, Gun-goo and G.C!
Although he is a little blue to not be spending Grandparent’s Day with you, he did still manage to enjoy our quick walk on the beach.
Touchdown!
Isn’t this a beautiful spot?
We tried to get him to hold the sign for one more shot…
I ended up getting soaked by a wave instead.
I promise I’ll have a pregnancy update for you soon, but this is the only pregger shot I have to share at the moment…
From the four of us to the four of you, Happy Grandparent’s Day!!
You know about the penguins that got lost at sea one day and ended up settling in South Africa right? Well, I don’t think that’s the real story, but you might know the African penguin by its former, and slightly unfortunate name, the Jackass Penguin. These adorable little fellas inherited the aforementioned moniker because of their slightly donkey-like braying call, but since the South American penguins make similar sounds, the distinguishment of African penguin became a necessity. Phew.
If you’re planning to be in the Cape Town area, you can take a gander at these sweet little creatures at Boulder’s Beach in Simonstown. We were really excited about my Mom seeing the penguins, but we decided to stop off and visit them at the lesser-known a’ganderin’ point in Betty’s Bay. (Which is on the lovely coastal route from Gordon’s Bay heading toward Hermanus, which is where we were planning to stop for lunch on the way to Knysna.)
You can pay to get up close and personal with the little fellas after traipsing along the boardwalk for a wee way, but since there were plenty hanging out before the entrance to the park, we decided to say a quick hello and then head on down the road. Pregnant lady must have lunch on time.
Would you like a quick gander too? Well, I thought you’d never ask.
Mr. penguin seemed to be saying go left, but the arrow said turn right…
A couple of dassies were around to say hello when we arrived. They seem so friendly! Remember me telling you about seeing them in Hermanus?
G.C. taught second grade for many-a-year, and taught many-a-second-grader about the jackass penguin. And many-a-second-grader did giggle. She commented that she never thought she’d see them in person!
They’re so pretty!
But they did occasionally seem a little shy…
Apparently their camouflage is a good protection for them — predators looking up at them from under the water will see white, but predators looking down at them from above the water will see black, and in both cases that will make it more difficult to see them. When they try to hide in the bushes though…
Honestly, they are just awkwardly delightful. Watching them waddle is great. It is hard to watch them without a smile.
The Bear was very keen to help Dad get some penguin footage, in case you were wondering. He was most intrigued and we had to keep a hand on his sleeve to make sure he didn’t get beaked!
And, if you’d like a little orientation, Betty’s Bay is a lovely little town not far pastPringle Bay, if you’re headed up the coast away from Cape Town.
Not a bad spot to be a penguin, hey? They don’t seem like jackasses to me.
Hero Hubs was away from Mama Africa for close to twelve years before we settled down here in the Cape exactly a year ago today. While I’ve worked through occasional bouts of culture shock, it has been interesting to simultaneously observe many instances of re-entry shock for him. He has returned to the country he left, but a lot of things are not the same.
While my Mom was here visiting, we went up the coast and were near a place called Kei Mouth (that K-word rhymes with “eyeâ€). HH’s family used to have a holiday home in Kei, and he has fond memories of family vacations there. Since we were close by, we decided to drive to Kei one afternoon to see what things were like after so many years.
The Collie family sold the holiday home close to twenty years ago and it has since fallen into disrepair. The Bear was asleep in the car, and while my Mom waited with him, I slipped out to be a witness to the experience I expected to unfold. Broken windows, cobwebs and weeds greeted us as we drew near.
It was almost as if I could see HH’s heart sink as he looked at the home.
We peered through the windows and he began to speak.
This was the living room…we used to play spades on the floor right there. And there’s a rock on the fireplace. We used to pick up rocks on the beach and carry them up here and sit them on the mantle above the fireplace. I bet that’s one of them.
My sister’s room was just down there… and look, the tiling is still the same in my parent’s bedroom. That tiling is from twenty years ago.
Dad used to sit his toolbox right there by the fireplace.
Mom had a beautiful garden here…and there was a fence just here separating the front and back yards.
My brother and I walked down that path right there to get to the beach. See?
There’s the old outdoor shower…
All this overgrowth wasn’t here…there was a beautiful view of the ocean from here before.
I looked and listened through tears.
With a few tears of his own, memories of a gentle and sweet season of life were pouring out of HH. I seldom have the opportunity to witness these things, having never visited his birthplace and only occasionally spending time in what he considers his hometown. It was special and meaningful and very painful at the same time.
We took our time to walk around the place. We climbed a ledge and peered into what was once a busy scullery which led into an inviting kitchen. I tried to imagine what things had been like but struggled to create pictures in my mind. We saw evidence that the house had been occasionally occupied by drifters and we read a notice that it was set to be demolished so that a number of apartments could be put up there, and on the adjacent property.
On our way back to the car, I gingerly stepped over low walls and tall weeds and asked HH if he would like to take a picture.
“These types of things are best kept as memories,†he said.
I agreed, but decided to take just one picture from the car window before we drove off. It seemed like this home represented a bit of what South Africa might feel like to a returning expat at the moment: things are not as they once were, but if you look hard enough, you can find hope for what’s ahead.
In those brief moments, my desire to understand, to think through and to write about my “man without a country” began.
It’s funny how sometimes the best way to hold on to something is by letting go. Trying to grasp at a past that isn’t there anymore is likely to taint the memories you’ll hold about it in the future. Finding the bravery to walk boldly into an unknown future instead of clinging to a long-gone past doesn’t seem like an easy task.
But as individuals, as communities, even as nations, I think that our paths to progress are paved by the ability to remember the past without romanticising it — to learn from what has happened without striving to re-live it.
As a famous warthog once said, “You gotta put your behind in the past.â€
What does it mean to come back to the place you’re from and not feel like you belong anymore? Are you still South African if you return to your people and you don’t feel like one of them? As I continue to think things through, this story will continue on another day.
Our church has an awesome band. And I know everybody thinks that if their church has a guitar, an amp, and somebody with messy hair or deep v syndromehitting the stage on Sunday mornings with something other than 4 choruses written in the late 80s, they’ve got a killer band. But seriously, our church has an awesome band. And I have some awesome proof.
In conjunction with the album they just released, Wholehearted, they’ve also recorded a stunning music video which totally had me in tears the first time I saw it. And that’s not just because I’m pregnant.
I thought I might share it with you here for a little inspiration… Lord, help us to be Wholehearted in our worship, and help us to live with the passion with which we sing.
I will never give what cost me nothing Jesus.
That lyric rings in my ears over and over again.
Hope you enjoyed the video!?! The album is now on sale, but I am not sure I can tell you too many details about it, other than I’m sure it’s awesome.
{Side note in case you’re curious, no one asked me to plug the album in this lil’ space…I don’t think many folks at church know I’m a blogger. Can you believe it?}
If you are Stateside and desperately interested in getting a copy of Wholehearted, let me know. I can find out some more details and see if I can bring a few copies over when we head home for the holidays. You got 100 Rand* on ya?
xCC
*I don’t actually know if the album how much the album costs. (100 Rand is like $14) Can’t make any promises. 😉
Happy Tuesday, guys and gals! We are back on the part of the map that says Gordon’s Bay, and I’m hoping a momentary gush of bandwidth will carry this Travelling Tuesday to its intended URL destination — our internet’s not doing so well today. The travels with my Mama in tow did not disappoint when it came to photo opps! She left Sunday and I cried like a baby. And the next morning the Imagination Movers were singing an “I Love My Mom†song which the Bear seemed to enjoy. I however, since we were in someone else’s holiday home, resisted the urge to throw something at the TV.
Anywho, Knysna. The first syllable rhymes with “eye” and the second rhymes with “duh”. Knysna was the first stop on GC’s African Road Trip adventure (not including Gordon’s Bay and the other adventures around Cape Town). We had a beautiful and sunny couple of days there. But illustrations are better than explanations!
Knysna sits on a lovely estuary, often incorrectly referred to as a lagoon. But lagoon sounds more romantic and exotic doesn’t it? The lagoon estuary has a narrow exit way which flows into the Indian Ocean between two lovely cliff rock faces called the Knysna Heads. There’s an eastern head, a western head, and plenty of nice places to stop if you need to hit the head.
Look, here’s one now! The Eastern Head to be more specific…
And another one! The western one, methinks. Those black spots are birds…I think cormorants.
We took a boat trip along the lagoon estuary and enjoyed venturing out towards the heads. After around 49 vessels sank trying to enter through these narrow straits, they decided to close the port. Probably a wise decision. Care for some more illustrations? (Not of sinking vessels, mind you…)
For some reason the Bear thought we were aboard the poop deck…
Or else the bumpy ride we experienced in the rough waters near the heads scared him poopless.
See, there’s not much space there…
I’d been on this lag estuary twice before this and it had never been calm enough to get this close. I didn’t know there were caves and paths past the big rocks!
I thought about dunking our camera in the water to see if I could catch a shot of the unique Knysna Seahorse, but I was afraid HH might not appreciate that effort. BTW, did you know that male seahorses carry the babies and give birth?
Our comfy accommodation was on the Knysna waterfront where we enjoyed nice restaurants and touristy shops, along with a pretty view from our place…
And we went for a wee walk along the eastern head and enjoyed sundowners at a little restaurant with a gorgeous view. Hero Hubs and GC enjoyed Long Island Iced Tea. This Mama enjoyed a non-alcoholic strawberry daiquiri instead. The Bear enjoyed it too.
All in all, Knysna is a wonderful stop along the garden route. G.C. enjoyed her oysters, the Bear enjoyed a boat ride, HH and I enjoyed not working for a few days…who could ask for anything more?
Hope your Tuesday has been a good one! And that you enjoy the moment wherever your journey takes you next!
I create resources to help people find deeper, more meaningful relationships with God through pursuing, pondering, and prayer. The "Shop" link above will take you to the home of many of the lovely resources I’ve created to help you keep walking one day deeper with Jesus.
Care to guess what happened above? The Bear headed straight for the first tide pool that presented itself, and splickety-sploshed right in. He spent the rest of the adventure in soggy socks and sandals, but he didn’t seem to mind. Did you see the waves crashing against the rocks behind us?
Sigh. I <3 my Mama. What do you think this rock looks like?
I know the Bear looks uncertain, but he’s really having a good time…
Was that too much people and not enough rock?
We think he might have an Explorer Spirit…we don’t know where he got it from.
And last, but most favourite, HH’s Dad says this is the Kenton-on-Sea bus stop!
Well, I hope that was a 16 photo escape for your Tuesday-viewing pleasure! Don’t go back and count, I’m not good with numbers. 🙂
I create resources to help people find deeper, more meaningful relationships with God through pursuing, pondering, and prayer. The "Shop" link above will take you to the home of many of the lovely resources I’ve created to help you keep walking one day deeper with Jesus.