Out Of Africa

Dear friends and readers,
This will be our last post on this blog - our family is immigrating to New Zealand in about two-to-four weeks time, so we will no longer be "under African skies".
The past month has been really busy for us with all the preparations and paperwork needed for the immigration, but the Lord has been so good to us and smoothed the whole process - undertaking miraculously  in every way! It's wonderful to see His Hand in everything and know that He is leading us! We are so thankful for His Grace and loving kindness!

New Zealand is a long way from South Africa - we will be flying to Hong Kong or Singapore and then onto New Zealand...a trip of about 27 hours! Once in N.Z. we will be "living like gypsies" for about a month - that is, living in a camper and touring around N.Z. until Dad has to start work. :P :)

If you're all wondering whether we're excited about the move.....Yes, definitely!! :) There is much we will miss about South Africa, especially our family and friends and all the things that make S.A. unique but we are also looking forward to New Zealand and all the new things which are waiting there! :)

Thank you to all our loyal and wonderful friends and readers who have visited our blog and also for the kind comments and feed-back you have given! Perhaps we will start up a blog once we settle in N.Z. but whether or not that happens, we will be still visiting all our friends and followers blogs whenever we get the chance.:)
If you'd like to stay in touch with us by email, just send us a note and your email address by clicking on the "Contact Us" button (right-hand side bar, near the top of the page) - we'd love to hear from you. :)

Goodbye, or perhaps "Totsiens" is a better word...in Afrikaans the greeting also means "till we see/meet each other again"! :)
~Jessica & Rachel

The LORD bless thee, and keep thee:

The LORD make His face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:

The LORD lift up His countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.

~ Numbers 6: 24-26 

Houseboat on the Lagoon

We spent two lovely days on a houseboat on the Knysna Lagoon. 

The weather turned windy and overcast just before we boarded the boat.

This is what the houseboat looked like.

Dad, our skipper and Rachel :)

The kitchen/Lounge/Dining  area and Rachel and my bedroom. (The benches on either side fold down at night into two single beds.)

Dad & Mom's bedroom at the back of the boat.

The sun came out for the afternoon but the wind kept increasing in strength.

You have to navigate the lagoon according to a map and also the bouys - and watch out for the submerged oyster fields. The buoys are far apart and difficult to see, so I was the "look-out" at times. :P 

Belvidere Bay

The buoy are a useful perch for seagulls. :)

Due to the weather conditions boats had to either go back to the docks to be tied up for the night or anchor in Belvidere Bay. We opted to spend the night in the Bay, trusting that the anchor would hold. 

We had our family prayer meeting that night by candlelight on the rocking boat - it was a blessed time.

During the night it started raining and the wind became stronger, and the boat rocked and moved around in a circle around the anchor. But the it held, and we slept well, safe in the Lord. 

The next morning we woke to clear skies and calm weather and once we pulled up the anchor we were on our way across the lagoon again. :)

Walking With Elephants

The Elephant Sanctuary near Plettenberg Bay is a fun place to visit and we had a great time there. I hope you'll all get to enjoy something of it too in the following pictures. :)

The Sanctuary is a temporal home for young elephants who sadly lost their mothers to poachers or were themselves injured by poachers or snares. 

Here we met the elephants and got ready to walk with them, with the guide explaining a few things to us. As far as size goes, these elephants are still considered 'small' and they can grow much larger.

Part of the walk through the forest. As it's Winter, the forest isn't as lush and green as it would be in Summer. It's surprising how fast the elephants walk, we had to do a brisk step to keep up with them.

In a forest clearing we were given a demonstration and talk about the elephants and were also allowed to touch them. One can just marvel at how amazing God made each creature!

Having a look at the elephant's teeth and tongue. :P 

The elephants hides are extremely thick and rough - they feel more like thick, hard rubber mats than like skin.

Mom walking back with one of the elephants. It's so sweet the way they "hold" your hand with their trunks, though I must tell you that the trunks are quite a weight!

After the walk we fed 'treats' (chunks of pumpkin) to the elephants. 

An extra-exciting experience for Jessica and I was going for a ride on an elephant.  :)

Very different to riding a horse! :D 

The elephants walk in single-file holding each others tails - they often do this in the wild too as a way of bonding and keeping contact with the herd.

All in all a great day and a wonderful experience to spend time with these amazing creatures. :)

Water & Stone

I'm not going to say much here - just let you scroll through the pictures of some more of our outings. Hope you enjoy them. :)

The first batch of pictures are of a lovely, early morning when our family took a small boat down the Keurboom River:

Next, the winding but beautiful Outeniqua Mountain pass. We had to drive through here on our way to the town of Oudshoorn and the Cango Caves:

We went on a tour of the Cango Caves. There was just one other family on the tour besides ours so we had lots of time to enjoy the caves and ask lots of questions of the tour-guide:

From water and stone, mountain tops to the depth of the earth, how wonderful is God's Creation!

O LORD, how manifold are THY works! 

in wisdom hast thou made them all:

 the EARTH IS FULL OF THY riches. 

~ Psalm 104:24

The Sea, The Sea!

Finally I've got around to posting some pictures of our June/July holiday (mid-winter here in South Africa). We did so much and went to so many places so here's hoping you'll enjoy the glimpse we can share with you. :)

We stayed in Wilderness for a few days. 

We stayed in a cute log cabin just on the side of this house.

Dad and Rachel jogging along the beach - Mom and I went for a slow walk :P

I love the sea and can spend hours just watching it and walking along the beach.

The week before we arrived here, the weather had been stormy and there was even flooding. The sea had washed tons of driftwood (in the background of the picture) and other things, up onto the beach.

Seaweed washed up during the storm as well as a jellyfish (pic below).

Keurboom -  one of the places we stayed at - forest at the back of our chalet...

...and the sea in front.

We had the place practically all to ourselves. :)

 Many of the wild bird are quite tame and we had a number of them, like this pair of red-winged starlings, coming right up to the chalet and sometimes even inside. :) 

No matter where we go, we always land up with a dog or cat following us around. This dog belonged to the manager of the resort but it stayed with us for most of the time we were there. :)

A steep path leads from the chalet to the beach. 

One afternoon Rachel and I stayed down on the rocks watching the tide come in (Mom was keeping an eye on us from the chalet and had her camera handy too!) :P

The tide crept closer and closer and then, of course, the inevitable happened ...

... We were washed off the rocks. :D

...which we found hilarious (and cold) :P 

Well, we were drenched, and our jacket pockets were full of sea sand

But it was fun so we shed the water-logged jackets and played around on the beach.

Dolphins swimming by.

It was good to have a warm shower that evening, enjoy a braai (barbecue) for supper and watch the full moon rise over the sea. 

And then to bed listening to the sound of my beloved sea.