Bramley Famli

In a post somewhere in the past I wrote about going to Gav and Jude’s wedding in Kasouga.

If you feel like a warm loving feeling, go and have a look at these two amazing people on their wedding day.

• The Wedding
• The day after the wedding

I spoke at a BATSA conference last Saturday morning. Flew down the night before. Leish joined me. We had a whirlwind blast of a time.

Meetings in the afternoon. Dinner at Cape to Cuba and ended it off with Salsa at the Cape Quarter.

Worked in the morning and caught the mid-day flight back to Jozi.

Did I say we stayed at the Westin Grand? Very Grand. Very kewl. Michael Mol was MCing, so it as great to catch up with him, and have Sushi for breakfast after the event with him.

During our Cape Town holiday we took the tour of Robben Island. A first time for all of us. It was an eye opener. You’ve heard the stories and read the books, but being there and seeing just a small bit of what it’s all about adds a richness and depth to your understanding that takes you completely off gaurd.

It was emotional, educational, humbling and embarrassing. To be honest I haven’t had enough time to process the trip to even begin to find words to capture the breadth of the experience.

Certainly it was a privilege to take the girls and let them see, in their limited understanding and comprehension, some of our very sad and painful history. Of course the boat ride, bus ride, animals, birds and beauty of the trip was an added layer to take your mind off of the story, and the girls probably enjoyed those elements.

Click here for some pics of us on the tour.

Our Cape Town Holiday has a strong theme of Wine Farm visits running through it. A good thing. Right? : )

We had some wonderful visits as relative ‘beginners’ to the process. Wine drinking we can do. Wine touring is a different matter all together. Having borrowed a book on the various farms we set out on three different days.

The girls had a blast (unexpectedly). I did expect they’d enjoy it, but not as much as they did. There were often animals to see and play with and they participated in the smelling (no tasting) and choosing of the wines we tried.

Leish’s favourite was Vrede en Lust and mine was Fairview. Both were fantastic experiences. And we loved them for different reasons.

The pics tell the story though. Have a look.

The reason for our Cape Town trip was the wedding of Caide and Tracy. It was a wonderful day.

A small wedding. Very intimate. Great vibe and lots and lots of emotion.

I was asked to MC the reception and Leish and I prepared a speech together. As I said in an earlier post, Tracy has been a part of our world for a fair amount of time, and it was very very special for us to share her wedding with her.

For Carli and Jordi it was their first wedding and they loved it. Carli fell in love with the bride and once the reception started, she never left Tracy’s side. It was too cute.

God bless their marriage. God bless all of our marriages.

Click her for the album with the Cape Town shots. Somewhere in there are some from the wedding.

Our family spent a week in Cape Town together. The main event was Tracy and Cade’s wedding. Leish and I met Tracy when we were living at Durban Children’s Home. She spent weekends and school holidays with us for 2 years. She was 16 and we were in our mid-twenties. A sober introduction to having a teenager in the house. Tracy is 28 now and got married on 2 May 2009.

The next few posts are snippets of our time….

We flew down on 1 Time. The girls love flying. They’re not as fussy about airlines as many adults I know. A plane is a plane. And it’s always filled with massive excitement and adventure.

We landed at around 09:00 and headed straight to Table Mountain for a trip to the top. As one might expect going from sea-level to 1000m, the temp changes quite dramatically. A lot colder and a truck load more wind. Carli wasn’t completely comfortable, but it was still a treat for all of us.

On the way to where we were staying we stopped at Durbanville Hills for lunch and our first bottle of wine (gosh we had a lot of wine during the week).

Durbanville Hills certainly wasn’t the quaint wine farm you hope for. A massive operation, a modern building. Fairly stark. But a good start and introduction to the beautiful spots we visited during the week.

Click here for the Cape Town pics

We’ve just returned from an amazing holiday in Westbrook (KZN North Coast). Thanks to Pete Limboris from Dirk’s Meat Market in Davenpoort (if you haven’t been there, you haven’t eaten meat).

This particular spot has much meaning and many memories. It’s become a very special spot for all of us.

We also got to see some special friends, watch Prime Circle at the Botanic Gardens, and enjoy the sun, sand and sea.

Leish and I bought the girls a boogie board. They had a blast. Jozi girls handling the waves down on the coast. Go girls.

Leish’s cousin Clint and his wife Christine had a new-born to show off, so we took a turn in there to visit. The girls loved the new baby. Carli wants one?

Thanks Al for one of the wildest nights we’ve had in a while. One day we’ll tell you all about it : )

Go here for some pics

At the end of April we’re going down to Cape Town for Tracy and Cade’s wedding (more about them after the wedding) It’s the first wedding Carli and Jordi are going to. So you can imagine some of the excitement that’s building. Last weekend we went shopping for ‘wedding outfits’. As you can imagine with two little girls involved, we’re far from finished. Shoes, accessories, hats, bags and all kinds of stuff I’d never imagine purchasing.

It’s going to be a great event. They’re going to look beautiful. They always do, but I reckon they’ll shine on this particular day. There will be photos fer sure.

On Wednesday afternoon in preparation for our holiday weekend, we took my car to the ‘Wishy Washy’ to get cleaned. It’s an automatic car-wash for those who haven’t been : )

Jordi and Carli get a real kick out of much of what goes on at the Wishy Washy. The excitement/fear of the spiny cleany things. The way it feels like the car is moving when it’s not. The thought of the car flooding and getting drenched. The size of the machine. The noise the machine makes.

It makes for wonderful entertainment and a great outing. I also get my car cleaned at the same time. What a bonus.

Click here for some pics.

We had a long weekend last weekend. Our annual pilgrimige with the Durban mates to the Berg. A heck of a weekend it turned out to be.

A part from the great stuff we did as a family, there was at least one late late late night, which made the trip home ugly before we even got going.

With just 200km to go, a blasted red light appears in the dash. One that neither Leish or I had seen before. So with manual out a short sharp call to Audi, we were ordered to stop forth-with or sooner.

This, as you’ve calculated, had us right on top of Warden. Long story short, including the 4 of us on the back of a flat-bed, a couple of hours in the waiting room of a scrap yard, a car dispatched from Harrismith, we arrived home aprox 3 hours after we should have.

It’s all about the journey right? I’m not of that persausian this week? Sometimes journeys can drag on a little longer than your sense of humour allows. You can have ‘the journey’ for a little while still.

We did take a couple of pics and I’ll be sure to get them up soon.

And for those concerned about the car?I don’t know where it is or even who has it? That’s tomorrow’s task. God bless small towns with honest pick-up truck drivers.