Day 1 and 2 of our Garden route holiday

Apologies for the long delay in updating my blog. I know I promised to try to keep you updated with posts of our Sedgefield adventure, but honestly, I really didn't feel like it. Mainly because I was too busy living in the moment and savouring every precious second of our time away.

Firstly, let me correct something from my previous post - Sedgefield is not an 8-hour drive from Cape Town. We were only able to leave (after all our car drama) at about 15:30 and we arrived in Sedgefield at 21:30. Surprisingly the drive was not too bad. The kids did not complain too much. Aisha (3) only really started to moan during the last 90 minutes. As stressful as that was, it really could have been worse.

The kids slept part of the way and we stopped off regularly to keep Mo awake and the kids happy.

The plan for the holiday was to obtain cheap/affordable accommodation, which would merely be used as a base while we explored the surrounding areas like George, Knysna, Wilderness etc. As far as the accommodation went, let's just say that we got what we paid for and leave it at that. However, the backyard and surrounding scenery more than made up for what the inside of the house lacked.

Since the following day was Friday, we were not really able to do anything during the early part of the day, as Mo and Shakeel (13) had to go to Jumuah. Since the nearest mosque is in George, we went along for the drive (as we'd arrived at night and had not seen much of the place until then).

Now, have you ever driven with someone who forgets that he is, in fact, the driver of the car? I mean someone who does sightseeing whilst driving - to the extent that he forgets to look at the road in front of him. Well, that is what Mo did for a moment and, while admiring a stadium in George, he drove straight into the pavement. Which caused this

Fortunately we were early, so there was still time for him to change the tyre (using the spare) and make it to mosque on time.

The next few hours were however spent at a tyre fitment centre fitting a new tyre while the kids and I roasted away in the scorching unbearable sun.

When we arrived back at the house, Nuha (7) and Aisha could not resist cooling off in the sprinklers while we got ready for a swim (the house also has a pool).

Mo was very disappointed when it started to rain on the Saturday morning. We had already wasted the previous day due to the busted tyre debacle and there was so much he still wanted to show us (since he's been to the Garden route many times before and has always wanted to take us). At that point it seemed that the holiday was going to be a bust - until......

The kids playing in the rain

Since they were already drenched to the bone, the kids then hopped into the pool for a morning swim.

Shakeel and Tharaa (11) - competitive as ever

Combining their passion for karate and swimming :)



Since by midday, the weather seemed to show no sign of improvement, we decided to head to the movies to watch Rise of the Guardians at Garden Route mall. I was really surprised at the size of this mall which seemed to house every shop I'd ever heard of.

Later we headed back to the house where Mo braaied for supper (as he so enjoys doing).

Despite the hiccups and unexpected obstacles, the first two days of our holiday were actually really enjoyable.

And, little did we know-  it would only get better....