Middle Earth - NZ South Island with the Rosses

After a quick overnight with friends Penny and Simon Dawson in Auckland, we surprised Lo's parents at the airport, having booked on the same flight to Christchurch. We tried to sneak up on them, but Edie's instincts were strong and she sensed that one of her chicks was close by...and there we were, busted, attempting to hide behind a pillar! After a year apart, it was fabulous to see them!

We had only a week together on the South Island, so we had to focus on the highlights. After the touristy International Antarctic Centre ib Christchurch (complete with deep freeze room, where wind fans simulate a storm at the south pole...everyone bundled in fleece anoraks), our adventure could only get better.

Our first major stop was Mt. Cook, which did not disappoint. With fantastic weather, Mom and Dad Ross did a lower hike while Lo and Gary hiked up to a ridge just below one of the alpine huts for some stunning views...stairmaster with a view...our land legs are definitely back!



Queenstown, the adventure capital of NZ, was our next destination for two nights. Edie had found a great little flat with a stunning view of the Remarkables and the lake, which made a perfect backdrop to enjoy BBQ rack of lamb and some nice wine. We passed on the bungy jumping and jet boats, but did do some luging and invented Extreme Pinecone Golf, which is definitely not for the faint hearted.

We had plenty of time to swap stories from the past year with all the driving, what a beautiful island! The next stop was up to the west coast and a night at Franz Josef Glacier, where we hiked to the base of the glacier and marveled at the scenery and throngs of helicopters (NZ has highest helicopter per capita in the world).


We then spent two nights in Hokitika, the centre of NZ's jade craft, which we also used as a base to visit the famous Pancake Rocks. A quick drive back to Christchurch and we were off again for Auckland.

Australia without blinking

Aussie was an opportunistic stopover to see some more of Gary’s relatives (Perth, home to many ex-South Africans) and some friends from Vancouver (Mark and Anna near Melbourne). Our priority was seeing some great people, but we managed to squeeze in some fun too.

We were greeted at the Perth airport by Gary’s Uncle Peiter and Aunt Noreen, who are Lolah’s cousins. One of their daughters, Barbara, lives north of the city with husband Mike and kids Ross and Tom on an avocado farm. Amazingly, Barbara had organized events with all the local family - dinner with cousin Jeanie and family, and a braai with cousins Megan and Angela and their families.

Barbara and Mike took time off to show us around, visiting Perth and swimming a couple of times along the beautiful coastline (which they have taken great pains not to develop, unlike the infamous Gold Coast in the east).

Next stop Melbourne, where we were met by Mark and Anna and their adorable 8 month old daughter, Emma. These two Aussie friends lived in Canada for 3 years and squeezed more activities out of BC than anyone we know. They rode, climbed or skied every mountain from Vancouver to Calgary. Anna, famous for her to-the-second itineraries, had organized a mind-numbing agenda for us that started with a three-hour drive to their home town of Albury. After arriving at nearly midnight, we were up early to fit in a mountain bike session before heading out for an overnighter on one of Aussie’s highest mountains (Mt. Bogong) with baby Emma strapped to Anna’s back.

This special area is where they ski every winter, so it was great to see the terrain first hand and hear some of the stories that make Mark a local legend (he is already a Canadian legend within our circle of friends). We managed one more mountain biking outing and a river float before saying good-bye, catching a red-eye bus to the Melbourne airport to fly to NZ.

RSA VI - Johannesburg

While we had tried to avoid Joburg after all the bad press it gets, the draw of seeing my favourite great-aunt, Elsie, and cousin Meg (Elsie’s daughter) and her husband Lori (Lorenzo) Borelli was too powerful. In 2003, at 86 yrs old, Elsie journeyed solo all the way from South Africa to attend our wedding on Vancouver Island, where she was a huge hit! Meg and Lori lived in Vancouver in the 1990s with their kids Karen, Penny and Jessica; they had been Gary’s surrogate family until they returned to South Africa.

Lori and Elsie took us to Pilanesburg National Park the morning after we arrived. Like cousins Bruce and Judy in Natal, Lori was also somewhat of an amateur expert birder. After hearing that we’d seen over 50 species in one day in Natal, the challenge was on. Lori racked up over 60 in about 8 hours! Impressive! Lo kept tabs on our “hit list” of mammals and special birds, which included 5 hippo, 1 crocodile, 4 spoonbill, 1 fish eagle, 2 turtle doves (no, really!), and 5 prime leopard habitat areas without leopards. Drats, we would leave without seeing any of the elusive cats!

Elsie came with us to see the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site, where anthropologists found the famous Mrs. Ples skeleton in the Sterkfontein Caves in the early 1900s.

More recently, a partial femur was found in some cave debris. The researcher made a copy of the bone and sent his two field assistants on a proverbial needle-in-the-haystack search for the other end, assuming that it must be sticking out of the conglomerate cave wall. After two days of searching, they actually found it! The new “Mr. Ples” is said to be the most complete skeleton ever found and is older than the famous “Lucy” found in northern Africa. Lo and I toured the caves, but were not able to see the new skeleton being unearthed (it has taken them years already and they have years to go…how is that for a fast-paced job?...right up there with watching paint dry or glaciers melting).

RSA V - Camp's Bay, Cape Town

Our next stop was Camps Bay, where our friends Pete and Heather Turner and their kids Max and Kate have been living for the last year while Pete oversees an expansion of the huge Caltex fuel plant in Cape Town. One of the better Cape Town neighbourhoods, they call it the “bubble” since it’s about as African as West Vancouver.


It was fantastic to see Pete and Heath and catch up on the news from home (they had just spent Christmas in Canada). After not seeing them for a year, it felt like a day. We also took advantage of their great location to do some more active pursuits, like riding with Pete along the stunning road to Hout Bay to help him start training for a huge upcoming race.

We also hiked to the top of Table Mountain with their dog, Kobe, whose bravery in the scramble up was rewarded with kudu biltong (jerky) at the top. However, Kobe had a tricky ride down the mountain in the cable car (which he hates), as we didn’t know that outer part of the car revolved (he sat on the stationary part while his front paws were slowly moving further away…he didn’t want to move, but we eventually got him sorted.



We had a great weekend away with the Turners at a nice guest house in wine country just outside Stellenbosch. Cate and Ian joined us for an amazing night at the famous Moyo restaurant at the Speir winery.



Much of Cape Town’s large population lives in the “townships” on the outskirts of the city. From the outside they look like giant shanty towns built out of bits and pieces of wood and corrugated iron. We took a tour with Heather to get an inside look at the Langa and Khayelitsha townships. Quite an experience…crime is rampant, families are squished into rooms that used to house single working men, electricity is taken directly from power mains (the “electricians” frequently die in the process; the poles are just long sticks), unemployment is over 50%.


Ironically, we were told by our guide that many of the locals don’t want the houses promised (but yet to be delivered after a decade) by Mandela since that would mean paying for rent and power. We stopped into a shabeen (local tavern) to sample some of their wares….not bad.


Our guide told us that you can drink the stuff all day without getting drunk, but from the dazed looks from the crew gathered around to share our beer pot, we doubted it.


With virtually no job prospects, many of the men actually do sit around drinking all day. How will these masses fit into the New South Africa? Good question!