A Windy Day in Cape Town

It was a windy Saturday where I spent a couple of hours on the water in the south-easter* as it blew through Cape Town. It was the Royal Cape Yacht Club's Croc's Regatta, but this time we were watching the other yachts beating into the wind and waves trying to get around the course that was set for them. It was blowing hard and we knew that things were going to get broken, but we were not racing which meant we could take it easy.

The Countdown to the 2010 FIFA World Cup (TM) in South Africa has Begun

Green Point Stadium as seen from Granger Bay in Cape Town

During my holiday in South Africa you couldn't miss the fact that in less than 6 months they will be hosting one of the greatest shows on earth.  The stadiums are finished, the draw has been done and everywhere you look there signs counting down to the start of the tournament.  In places the vibe is tangible and the country seems to be coming together to put on a showcase for the world.*

Since we were awarded the tournament there have been the nay-sayers who maintain that it will be an embarrassment and a blight that the country’s reputation will never recover from, but South Africa does have a very successful track record of hosting international events -

Your Dive Buddy - 1st Edition

Welcome to the January 2010 edition of Your Dive Buddy - a place to share your experience and inspire others when planning their next trip.

Shannon ODonnell starts off the selection with Diving with fishies on the Great Barrier Reef posted at a little adrift: a rtw travelogue, saying, "Two gorgeous days on a live aboard boat on Australia's Great Barrier Reef - a classic dive spot in anyone's books!" 

Bagpipes, Men in Kilts and Haggis - Are You Sure We're in Singapore?

I was lucky enough to attend the 175th Anniversary of the Feast of St Andrew which was held recently in Singapore. It was an evening full of ladies looking elegant in their ball gowns, men wearing kilts or black tie, pipers, poetry in scottish brogues and lots of dancing.

  The Gurkha Contingent Pipes and Drums Platoon with backing lyrics supplied by table 7
 

  The fare included Haggis, Neeps (turnips) and Taties (potatoes) flavoured with a generous splash of Scotch 

  And the dancing went on until 3am

The evening closed out with the singing of God Save the Queen, Auld Lang Syne and Majulah Singapura - the Singapore National Anthem (which I am going to have to learn for next year's bash) It was a stunning evening and we all had an amazing time.  The tropical heat was probably the only clue that we were not in Scotland! 

15 Reasons to Visit Cape Town

I am finally on holiday and I am really looking forward to flying off to spend some time in Cape Town and Kwa Zulul Natal (KZN) in the next couple of days.  Cape Town is a stunning city with so much to do and see and is not to be missed.  I recently ran a Twitter campaign with reasons to visit Cape Town and I thought I'd consolidate them and share them again:

Impressions of North Korea - Visit to Kumsun Palace

My sincere apologies for those people who have been wondering where I have gotten too. Work has become busy and I'm wondering where all the time I used to have went. I haven't completely forgotten you and my first ever guest post is up at Andy's Sharing Experiences Inspiring Travel blog.

Andy hosts the monthly Inspiring Travel Carnival which is jam-packed with even more items to add on the "to do before I die list" (aka the bucket list). It helps that Andy also covers Location Independent Living - which seems to be the answer to actually completing the bucket list.

Further Reading:
You can check out some of my favourite posts from Sharing Experiences:

• Any of the monthly Inspiring Travel Carnivals
• A Photo Tour of my Favourite Country, New Zealand
• Serendipity in Sri Lanka (guest)

Comments:
I’m closing comments here so that we can answer all the comments for this post on the post page itself at Sharing Experiences. Do pay a visit, thanks!

Impressions of North Korea (Day 2)

The Great Leader's Mausoleum, Revolutionary Martyrs Cemetary, a ride on the Pyongyang Metro and a tour through the captured ship - USS Pueblo. The itinerary for our 2nd morning on our trip to North Korea promised to be as jam packed as the 1st day, but fortunately we were to have a respite that afternoon as we would be driving to Kaesong for our visit to the the DMZ.

Impressions of North Korea (Day 1)

"Journalists Jailed", "Nuclear Missile Tests" and "I don't think that Bill Clinton will come to rescue you" were some of the comments I received when I mentioned where I was going on my next trip. I knew, however, that ironically the biggest threat to my safety was an attack on the North. We were there on a government sanctioned propaganda tour whose objective was to show the best the North had to offer. I must admit that I did get a bit spooked when chatting to a friend in the US Navy who said "we hear things that you don't", but it all turned out okay. Ironically the person who expressed the least concern when I told her about the trip was my Mom. "So why North Korea?" was the other question I frequently got asked. There was no compelling reason, but when a friend said that he was going and I was able to take the time off work - the question was "why not?" It was an amazing opportunity to visit somewhere different and off the beaten track (but we weren't able to get the passport stamp and I forgot to ask to keep the visa.)

Bridge of No Return - Looking back on Dangdong, China

North Korea, Vietnam and China - The Communist Tour

With a great deal of difficulty I have managed to pick out a handful of pictures that show the highlights of my recent travels to North Korea, Vietnam and China. Enjoy the pictures and watch this space for more stories from my travels.

A collage of images from the trip

Amazing

Hello all. Today's post arrived in my mail-box just over a year ago. It was written in Afrikaans and once I'd found my dictionary and worked out what it was about I enjoyed it so much that I knew that it needed to be shared. I have translated it into English, but you can read the original (well worth it if you can) here. Any awkwardness in the writing is due to the translation, rather than that of the author.

Thys calls himself a South African accountant who is a world traveller / adventurer at heart. He doesn't have a blog - but if you enjoy this as much as I did please leave a comment below and encourage him to start one as this is a talent that shouldn't be hidden.

From: Thys [mailto:xxx@xxx.com]
Sent: 17 March 2008 01:49 PM
To: Thys
Subject: Amazing!

Morning,

What an absolute anticlimax today is after a wonderful weekend!