1 April 2009

Oudtshoorn, RSA

We are staying on another night at the Kleinplass Campsite. After breakfast, we drove into town to see if we could book Tuah in for an engine oil change, and were happy to have an appointment for early tomorrow morning.

Next, we made our way to the Cango Wildlife Park, just outside town. The entrance was the jaws of a crocodile, and after paying the entrance fees, we headed for the reptile park…my favourite section! There was a huge python and several other snakes and lizards, which I had seen before, such and the green mamba, Egyptian cobra, king cobra, puff adder and the deadly black mamba. There were also some rock monitor lizards and some other smaller ones. We also got to see some meerkats. They were cute little creatures, which apparently are immune to scorpion venom.

We went back to the entrance to join the next guided tour of the park, and were shown around by a lovely lady called Bianca. She took us through the park, explaining about the animals there and even played with the park’s baby cheetah and tiger cubs. We saw the pygmy hippos, stork, lemur, and red river hog. There were some bats from Malaysia, too, and many other interesting animals. I learnt that the Nile crocodile has about 45 sets of teeth…wow! At the end of the tour, we went to see some emus and wallabies from Oz, like my mate, Lachlan. There was a great playground and a water play area too, but it was time for lunch, so I didn’t have much time to enjoy it.
From the Wildlife Park, we headed down the road to the Cango Ostrich Farm. We were shown around by a guide and introduced to Betsy, the only friendly ostrich around town. Ostrich are by nature dangerous and can attack humans, but Betsy liked people, so we were allowed to touch her. She liked to tickle us, though, and could move her head right around, eating pallets off her own back!
I sat on an ostrich, but did not ride it, as we saw how difficult it is to control them. A cover was put over the ostrich’s head, as it seems if they can’t see you, they believe that you can’t see them. We also stood on ostrich eggs – they can stand a weight of up to 150kg, but will break if they fall. One ostrich egg can make an omelet equivalent to that of 24 chicken eggs, to give you an idea how big they are!
After the Ostrich Farm, we headed back into town to pick up some groceries and went back to the campsite. It was certainly a day full of activity, and as Tuah needs to be at the Nissan garage early tomorrow morning, we slept in the ground tent tonight.

2 April 2009

Hartenbos via Swartberg Pass, Meiringspoort Pass and Robinson Pass, RSA

Dad and Mum obviously didn’t sleep as well as I did in the ground tent. Anyway, Dad went off with Tuah to the garage, and Mum and I stayed on at the campsite. I was given a lovely lion toy by our pitch neighbours, Poula and Giles, who run a toy business, and were in town for the Arts Festival this weekend. Hopefully, we will meet them again when we are back in Malaysia, after our travels, as they do get out to the Far East for work, now and then.

We left Oudtshoorn, passing the Cango Wildlife Park and Ostrich Farm we visited yesterday, and decided not to visit the Cango Caves, as neither Dad nor Mum are fans of caves, and they didn’t think I would like it very much in there either. We drove through the Swartberg Pass, with many rocks on the mountain side. It looked to me as though we were visiting more ruins, but Mum assured me these were rocks, not ruins. The scenery was beautiful all the way. From the Swartberg Pass, we went through the , which was a canyon with lovely rock fossils. We stopped at a rest area for lunch. Mum gave me some cracker bread and butter, which I was eating on my seat in the rest area, when suddenly some creature that looked a little like a meerkat, came out from the rocks behind us and helped itself to some of my lunch!

We completed the circuit, arriving back in Oudtshoorn, and then headed to the beach town of Hartenbos, through the Robinson Pass. The campsite was on the beach, but the wind was so strong and rather cold too. We had dinner and decided it was much warmer up in the tent.

3 April 2009

Cape Aghulas, the Southern most tip of Africa!

The sea looked so inviting this morning, but I didn’t get a chance to swim in it. After breakfast and a shower, we headed off to look for a camping store we heard of in Mossel Bay, nearby, to see if we could replace our clogged up Coleman Dual Fuel Stove. It’s served us well for the last 11 months, but needs to be replaced now. The store didn’t have what we were looking for, but we came away with a foldable step, for Dad to use when he cranks up and down the roof tent, and a tent peg hammer that is heavier than the one we have.

We drove to the Point, in Mossel Bay, where there is a lighthouse, an aquarium called The Shark Lab and a seafood restaurant. While Dad had some oysters and Mum and I waited for our lunch to arrive, Mum took me in to the Shark Lab, where we saw some little sharks from the local waters and octopus, and some other fish. There were sea urchins, like the hundreds we saw in the sea at Tiwi Beach, in Kenya.

After lunch and an ice cream, we carried on towards Cape Aghulas. Dad and Mum were getting excited, as this is the southern most tip of the African continent and also the point where the Indian Ocean met the Atlantic Ocean. We found the Municipal Campsite, which was located just by the sea and a very short distance from the lighthouse, and after booking in, drove the 2km to the marking of the southern most point. Unfortunately, we could not take Tuah in the last 500m. After taking some photographs, we headed back to the campsite, where Mum prepared dinner and we watched the light from the lighthouse go round and round. Each circle took 5 seconds.

Tomorrow, we will head into Cape Town, our final destination in Africa, and the promise that Dad will get me a Happy Meal at the first Mc Donald’s we see! 

4 April 2009

Miller’s Point, Cape Town via Hermanus, RSA

It was windy when we woke up, but dry. We had breakfast and I went with Mum to the local grocer to pick up some fresh bread rolls. Just as we got back to the campsite, there was a loud clap of thunder and the heavens opened! Luckily, we were already packed. The rain didn’t last long though, and we enjoyed the drive through the countryside to the seaside town of Hermanus.
Hermanus is famous for it’s whales during the months of July to November, It is a pretty little town, but we found the two best things about it – a shop called Trendy Tots and a café called Savannah. Mum bought me a wonderful set of sea creatures and a puzzle from Trendy Tots and we had a delicious lunch at Savannah. Their desserts were heavenly, too.
We left Hermanus with happy memories of their wonderful people and full tummies and headed towards Cape Town., but driving down to the Cape Peninsula instead of the city centre, where we planned to camp in Miller’s Point. The campsite was on the coast and there were two other kids in a pitch opposite us, Joseph and Enrique. I enjoyed playing with them.
We were later met at the campsite by Uncle Peter Idge, who went to HMS Conway with Dad, many years ago, Aunty Anne and their friend, Uncle Axel. It was good to meet up with old friends. We went out for fish and chips at Simons Town, nearby. It was a wonderful day and a wonderful way to celebrate our arrival in Cape Town!

5 April 2009

Miller’s Point, Cape Town, RSA

We woke up to a beautiful morning. My friends Jose and Enrique were up and about and we had a brilliant time running around the campsite. There were a few other campers all of whom were wonderfully friendly. There was Uncle Jacques the Shark and Aunty Lisa, Uncle Kieran and Aunty Christine and a group of youngsters who had caught some amazing creatures called crayfish, from the sea this morning. They looked a little like lobsters, but had no claws. I wondered if they were someone’s pet, but was told that they were going to be cooked up on the braai. No wonder those crayfish didn’t seem very happy!

I wasn’t very happy this morning, too. I lost my little plastic turtle, which was a part of my sea creature collection. I was crying and had half the campsite looking for it, but could not find it anywhere. Aunty Lisa gave me a couple of very pretty shells, to add to my collection of precious little things, which made me feel better, and later in the morning, Uncle Kieran came back from his shop in Simons Town, with a wonderful little glass turtle for me. It was beautiful and I could see all the colours of the rainbow in it, when I looked at it in the sunshine.

We eventually left the campsite and headed out to Uncle Peter Edge’s home for lunch. Aunty Ann and Axel were there and a few of their friends, too. We had a tasty lunch and good company. From there, we headed back towards the campsite, on the Cape Peninsular and stopped off at Uncle Cliff and Aunty YunOck’s home, for dinner. We met them at the campsite yesterday, soon after we arrived. They noticed our truck and got talking to us. Uncle Cliff had worked in Brunei before and had visited Malaysia. They invited us over and we had a great evening with them. Uncle Cliff had a book with pictures of all sorts of animals, and I learnt that my black and white ‘dolphin’, was actually an orca, or killer whale.
It’s simply amazing how many kind and wonderful people we have met today.

6 April 2009

Miller’s Point, Cape Town, RSA

It was a bit dull this morning, and I wasn’t very pleased to learn that Jose and Enrique were leaving the campsite today. After saying goodbye to my new friends, we drove down to Simons Town, to a place called Scratch Patch. Mum had heard about this place from Jose and Enrique’s mum and Aunty Lisa, and agreed that it sounded like a wonderful place to take me.
We got there and Mum paid for an empty cup, which she handed to me, and we entered an area like a big sand pit, but instead, it was filled with little stones! It was indeed like nothing I had seen before…it was something out of a dream. I sat in the pit with some other kids and we picked from the millions of coloured stones around us. We could take home as many as we could fit into the cups or bags we paid for at the gate. Mum also got me a little card which showed me the different types of stones I had. I was very pleased with my pick, and even chose special stones for Dad, Uncle Kieran and Aunty Lisa.

From there, we drove down the road to Boulder’s Beach, where there is a colony of African Penguins. I thought that penguins only lived in cold places and was surprised to learn that there were penguins here, in Africa. They are funny little creatures, but amusing to watch. They waddle when they walk, but swam elegantly. Some of the penguins were sitting in their nests in the sand, with little baby penguins.
Mum popped into Uncle Kieran’s shop in Simon’s Town, a place called Curiosity. I waited in the car with Dad, as he was making some phone calls and I was busy inspecting my Scratch Patch stones. Sometime later, Mum reappeared with a bag of little packages, and handed one over to me. Uncle Kieran had packed me a wonderful goody bag of African animal figures, from his shop. I had some pewter animals and some stone animals – penguin, shark, whale, rhino, hippo and another turtle! It felt as though Christmas had come early for me!
Back at the campsite, we learnt that a troop of baboons had visited in the afternoon, in search of some lunch. They did make quite a mess and had actually got into Uncle Jacques and Aunty Lisa’s caravan. They had to go out to get some new bedding and supplies and put me in charge of ‘baboon watch’, to make sure no baboon revisited while they were out. Before they left, though, I showed them my new animal figures and stones, and they gave me a big heavy duty box to put all my toys into. What a lucky boy I am!

7 April 2009

Miller’s Point, Cape Town, RSA

We managed to get our act together this morning and after stopping by at Uncle Kieran’s shop, we headed out in search of the camping store, which Dad was given directions to by Uncle Kieran. By the time we found it, we had time for a quick browse around before having to rush off to the Waterfront in the city, where Safmarine’s office is located.

We met up with Paul, who will help make arrangements to ship Tuah out to the United States. Dad and Mum chatted to him and I was playing with some of the new things Uncle Kieran had given me, when Carol, a lovely lady, came along and asked Mum if she could give me some cookies. They were really nice choc chips and I was quite hungry.
After that, we walked around the Waterfront for a while and had some tasty pancakes for tea. There were many people walking around there was quite a buzz about the area.
We went back towards the Cape Peninsula, where we were camping at Miller’s Point, stopping at Mc Donald’s on the way. It was a real surprise or me….my last Happy Meal was in Egypt, in January!
We got back to the campsite and I was happy to find that there were two new kids who just arrived today. Megan and Zoe were great fun to play with and we played till we were all too tired to stay awake anymore.

8 April 2009

Miller’s Point, Cape Town, RSA

I woke up later than usual. Not surprising, seeing that I had slept rather late last night. There was a bit of time to play with Megan and Zoe before they went out, and also with Auntie Lisa’s daughters, who had just arrived the day before.
We had to get organized ourselves and went back to the camping shop to pick up some supplies for ourselves. After that, we went in search of some groceries, as we were preparing some Nasi Goreng and making some Malaysian Satay on the braai tonight to share with our new friends at the campsite. Some of the others were preparing some other stuff like chicken wings, ribs and tuna steaks. We also got a local fish called Snoek.
It was a nice evening and everyone had a great time. Tomorrow, we move to another campsite with Uncle Kieran and Aunty Christine and we say goodbye to Uncle Michael, Aunty Juliet, Megan and Zoe and to Uncle Jacques, Aunty Lisa and the girls.

9 April 2009

Muizenberg, Cape Town, RSA

It was nice waking up and having breakfast on the grass with the girls. I gave each of them an elephant from a hanging Mum bought in Jordan. It had 5 elephants on it, each a different colour. I kept the light blue one for myself.
It’s always hard to say goodbye, but it had to be done and we moved on to another campsite in Muizenberg, down the road. Uncle Kieran and Aunty Christine are doing the same and we will all move back to Miller’s Point on Monday, as they are fully booked for the Easter weekend.
The new campsite is ok. It’s a large place and we chose two good sized pitches next to each other. It was quiet today, but the wind was strong and we spent part a good part of the day huddled up inside the ground tent.

10 April 2009

Muizenberg, Cape Town, RSA

The first thing noticeable about today was that there was no strong wind blowing. Mum started working on pulling things out of Tuah almost as soon as she woke up and sorted out all the stuff, cleaning up and repacking. It was late afternoon by the time she was done.
I was quite happy playing with all the bits and pieces that were long lost at the bottom of the car for the last few months. Uncle Michael came over to see us and invite us over for Easter lunch with his family. What an honour, and it will be great to see Megan again.
Axel came over in the evening and we sat around Uncle Kieran’s fire to keep warm, looking at photos of our travels on the laptop.

11 April 2009

Muizenberg, Cape Town, RSA

We are not up to much today. It’s rather windy and cold and we do a little bit of sorting through our stuff. Dad and Mum have a list of things that need to be done before we can make arrangements to fly back to Kuala Lumpur, but the long Easter weekend has put it all on a standstill.
We head out to the Pick and Pay, this evening, where Mum stocked up on some groceries and bought me a chocolate Easter bunny.
In the evening, we were invited to Uncle Cliff and Aunty YunOck’s home. They and little BuYoung met us when we first arrived in Cape Town and have been very hospitable. Uncle Cliff knows a lot about South African animals and has the most amazing wooden car, which his father had made for him!

12 April 2009

Muizenberg, Cape Town, RSA

Happy Easter, everyone! A year ago today, I was happily on an Easter Egg Hunt with my little neighbours in London. It was a brilliant day and a wonderful memory.
We go off to Uncle Mike and Aunty Juliet’s home and I am happy to see my friend Megan again. I had enjoyed the day with Megan and her friend, Zoe, at the campsite last week. Megan has 3 dogs, 2 cats, some birds, rabbits and rats. She introduced me to all of them and we played, swam, watched some TV and ate for the rest of the day. She even gave me a little rubber Peter Rabbit, which I will always treasure.

Dad and Mum seem to have enjoyed their day, too. They were chatting with Megan’s parents and her grandmother, and Axel, who was also there, and ate lots. We got back to the campsite in the evening and found that Christine wasn’t feeling very well. Mum gave her some antihistamines and paracetamol. Hopefully, she’ll be better in the morning.

13 April 2009

Miller’s Point, Cape Town, RSA

Mum happily starts to pack up as soon as she wakes up today. We will be moving back to the campsite at Miller’s Point. Christine is still not too well, but slightly better than yesterday.
Over at Miller’s Point, we wait patiently for the campers who were supposed to vacate the pitches today to pack up, all trying to delay their exit time. Eventually, we manage to move into the pitches we want and set up camp.
After lunch, I was about to eat some chocolate when suddenly, out of nowhere, a baboon appeared and tried to grab it from me. Dad, Uncle Kieran and Christine were sat around me, and Mum was nearby, putting away the dishes. Luckily, Uncle Kieran and Dad managed to hit the baboon on its head and arm, and it ran off, without hurting me, or getting my chocolate!

I was not very happy, as you can imagine. Mum put me into the car, where I finished eating my chocolate. Soon after, Axel arrived and brought out his paintball gun.
He managed to chase away a few baboons who had returned to the campsite later in the afternoon.
What a day!

14 April 2009

Miller’s Point, Cape Town, RSA

Today is the first working day, after the long Easter weekend. Right after breakfast, we head out to the city with Axel. It is a lovely day – sunny and clear skies and no strong winds blowing, but not before I had a shower in the campsite's water sprinkler...after the showe Mum gave me in the shower room! 
We went first to the Flight Centre, where a lovely lady called Lisa helped us find available flights back to Kuala Lumpur this weekend. We then met Uncle Peter at the Waterfront and had pancakes for lunch. While Dad went to the Safmarine Office with Uncle Peter and Axel, to meet up with Paul who is organizing Tuah’s shipping to America, Mum took me for a walk around the Waterfront.
While waiting for the men to finish their meeting, Mum checked our passports to see when we entered into South Africa, and almost choked when she realized that our visas actually expired today! We have been in the country for a month now, and the visa was not extended when we reentered from Swaziland a week after we had first arrived.
We rushed to the Home Affairs Office, only to find that it was closed 20 minutes before. The guards at the door refused to let us speak to any officer, but there were some very nice and helpful staff, which had finished work for the day and they gave us advice on what to do.
Our best option, it seemed was to make an affidavit at the Police Station around the corner, that we tried to get the visas renewed, today, but were too late, and to collect a notice for a fine at the airport, which we will either pay at the South African Embassy in Malaysia, or when we next reenter South Africa. We hope they are right!

Anyway, from there, we decided to go up to Table Mountain, as it was such a wonderful day. Uncle Peter came up on the Cableway with us, but Axel said he’ll go for a short walk instead. There were supposed to be lots of Dassies up there. They are like little groundhogs, but apparently are the closest living relative of the elephant. Believe me, a Dassies looks nothing like an elephant!

The views from the mountain were superb. Axel’s short walk ended up being a 45 minute walk up the mountain. He then made it down in 30 minutes. Amazing! We stopped off at KFC nearby the campsite for dinner and when we got back to the campsite, Uncle Kieran was waiting for me with some more little metal animals. It was a full and exciting day today, and it did not take me long to doze off.

15 April 2009

Miller’s Point, Cape Town, RSA

After breakfast, we head out with Axel for Christy’s, the camping store we have visited a few times since being in Cape Town. We pick up a few more bits and pieces and then make our way to the Port, where we met up with Uncle Peter, who will be helping us deliver Tuah to the port, to be shipped out to the United States at the end of the month.
We need to make sure that Uncle Peter will be alright to hand Tuah over to the Customs for clearance in Dad’s absence.
We get sent from one office to another, eventually finding someone who actually was able to help and ensure that all was in order. Happily, we then make our way to the Flight Centre, where Lisa books us on a flight to Kuala Lumpur, leaving Cape Town on Saturday morning, with a change at Joburg and a couple of hours transit in Abu Dhabi. We will be in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday afternoon!

After lunch, we take a drive with Axel to Hout Bay and Chapman’s Peak. I fell asleep on the way, and as we were having dinner with Uncle Khaleel and Aunty Ferial, good friends of Uncle Seth and Aunty Noorma, in Kuala Lumpur, Dad and Mum were quite happy for me to have the rest.

We arrived back at the campsite and I played for a while with Mitchell, a 3 year old boy who arrived today. Uncle Khaleel and Aunty Ferial arrived just past 7pm, and they took us for dinner at a restaurant near Boulder’s Beach, where the penguins are. We had a very nice evening out with them. More wonderful new friends we have made on our travels.

16 April 2009

Miller’s Point, Cape Town, RSA

Today will be our last night camping in Africa. We will be spending tomorrow night at Uncle Peter Edge’s home and he will be sending us off to the airport in Saturday morning. It was a very cold and windy night, and this morning was a bit calmer, much to Dad and Mum’s relief.
We head out with Axel to Simon’s Town, where Dad visits the internet café and Mum, Axel and I pop into Kieran’s shop, Curiosity and we pick up a soft toy orca for BoYoung. We then dive out to Hout Bay for fish and chips, which we really enjoyed.

On the way back to the campsite, we stop over at Uncle Cliff and Aunty YunOck’s to say goodbye and to give my little friend BoYoung her ochre, which is a twin to mine. Their names are Ozzie and Ozzi. Christine and Kieran cooked us some pap and chicken for dinner, and we sit by the fire till late. As excited as I am to return to Malaysia in two days, I will be very sad to leave our new Cape Townian friends.

17 April 2009
Cape Town, RSA

It starts off cloudy, but not too windy. Mum and Dad were up early and began packing up with the help of Axel. After breakfast, Axel headed out to join Uncle Michael on his brother’s boat sailing around Cape Point. He’ll join us later tonight at Uncle Peter’s home. Before we could finish our packing though, it began to rain, so I was packed up into the truck, too.
It was hard to say goodbye to Christine and Kieran. I don’t like goodbyes. It’s the hardest part of being a traveler. We make our way into the city, stopping at the McDonald’s in Tokai for a late lunch, then to the Waterfront to drop off an authorization letter for the Safmarine Agent in the USA to handle Tuah’s clearance when he arrives there next month.
We arrive at Uncle Peter and Aunty Ann’s home in Pinelands and were soon visited there by Uncle Khaleel and Aishah, his daughter, who came by to say goodbye and wish us well. The kindness of our many new South African friends will always be remembered.
Uncle Peter and Aunty Ann prepared a lovely braai for dinner, and I went off to bed early. It’s not often I get to sleep in a bed!

18 April 2009

Flight from Cape Town to Johannesburg to Abu Dhabi to Kuala Lumpur

Mum wakes me up early, at 6.45am. Today is a big day. We are on our way back to Kuala Lumpur for a few weeks holiday, before heading out to the United States of America for our 3rd leg of our travels. Holiday? Well, all this travelling is hard work!

Axel and Uncle Peter send us off to the airport and we say our goodbyes to Aunty Ann. We are excited to be going back home, but sad to be leaving Cape Town, and Tuah. Tuah will be sent to the port by Uncle Peter at the end of the month, where he will be put into a big container and shipped to Norfolk, USA. At the airport, we say our goodbyes to Uncle Peter and Axel. Uncle Peter has been really kind to us and a wonderful host, and Axel has been great fun, spending much time with us at the campsites and around town.
As we were checking in at the airport, Uncle Cliff and Aunty YunOck caught up with us. Uncle Cliff brought me a dinosaur, called Dexter. It’s fantastic and even makes a roaring sound! We had some breakfast, and then rushed off to board our flight to Johannesburg.
At Joburg, we had to clear immigration and catch our connecting flight to Abu Dhabi. On the 14th, Mum had discovered our visas for South Africa would expire on that day, as they were not extended when we visited Swaziland. We were too late at the Home Office to extend it and were told that we will be fined R1000 each (US$100) at the airport. Somehow though, Mum managed to convince the officer to let us through without the fine, and put me on the counter to turn on my charm.
The flight was good. The Etihad Airways plane was rather new and had some good movies on – Dinosaur, which Dexter and I enjoyed, and Madagascar 2. It took us more than 8 hours to get to Abu Dhabi and when we arrived, we were disappointed to learn that our flight to Kuala Lumpur was delayed by 2 hours. By this time, all we wanted to do was to get home!

19 April 2009

Flight from Abu Dhabi to Kuala Lumpur

I slept through most of the flight from Joburg to Kuala Lumpur. By the time we arrived, we had been on the move for more than 24 hours!
We cleared Immigration and collected our baggage, then went through Customs to meet Uncle Rahim and Aunty Ami, who had come to pick us up. They found that I had grown a bit and that we were all a lot darker than when we started off for Africa in November last year!
It’s good to be home. My excitement to see all my toys amazed Dad and Mum. I was so excited that I did not even want to go to sleep until past 3am!

We will be back in Kuala Lumpur for a few weeks, till mid May 2009, and will begin our 3rd leg of our travels through the United States of America, South Canada, Central and South America at the end of May 2009, when we pick Tuah up from the port in Norfolk, USA.
My adventures will continue then.