hey everybody. whats shakin? things are good. hot but good. the days have been between 35 and 40 (in the shade). but were coping. shade is better than the sun (obviously) and morning climbing seems decent and evening sessions are managable. the place were staying has a really nice pool so that helps. the only problem with the pool is that its freaking cold! its lke stepping into a glacial river. the first time we jumped in was epic. the first step was shin deep and it was shockingly cold. it was 40 degrees in the shade and the cool watertook our breath away. second step was thigh level that made us hoot and shake. and thats about as far as sam and i got. we werent going any further... until josh came running from behind and tackled us and we all went in. i think it shocked josh the most, thinking it was going to be nice and mold. well after 2 minutes in the water we were egtting goose bumps. i decided to look at the thermometer, we all took guesses at what it was going to read, guesses were 12, 16, 15. it was 26 degrees!! we couldnt believe it. it was the coldest freaking water weve ever been in! crazieness. anyways. thats just to show how much our bodies are used to the heat already. home's going to hurt.
anyways. we got our tickets! were going to madagascar in 3 weeks! stoked! very stoked. well anyways. thats about it for now. not a lot of crazy stories. climbing and all has taken over alot. we've reclined into a nice rhythm here. early morning start. coffee, breakfast. climb. come home and read/nap/ smoke sheesha (yes of course we bought one. and we got new flavors! my favorite in earl grey and cardimom. its like chai! sam likes orange and cherry. josh likes a new flaor every day, so its hard to tell) and then an evening session if its cool enough and we have enough finger skin, then we all take turns cooking and cleaning (sam made the best pizza ive ever eaten last night.) then chill and go to bed. hard to believe weve been here for like 3 weeks.
we met up with some more canadians... calgarians in fact. none other than byron marks and dan gainer. the dinamic duo. we mistakingly introduced them to Hunters cider. and i think byron has fallen in love.
ok thats all for now. take care.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Saturday, November 22, 2008
oh and there are new pics up if you go to
http://flickr.com/photos/31168733@N02/
(please view photos of luke - he is getting a complex - even if you dno't look at them - just click on it ... )
http://flickr.com/photos/31168733@N02/
(please view photos of luke - he is getting a complex - even if you dno't look at them - just click on it ... )
ladies and gentlemen, Sam has come out of retirement and is going to do a blog! i know i know! you dont have to listen to me anymore! here she is ...
ah ha ha - i get so much flack for not signing on here - but Luke is great - I mean really - do you wanna hear the same stories twice???
Life is great - how could it not be?? residing in a winery at the base of one of the most renowned climbing areas - I'm a lucky girl, and I know it. especially with teachers like Luke and Josh ... Learning lots - pulling hard (sort of) and loving every moment. I am skeptical about the grades here though - it seems that I am climbing 5's - whatever that means but i'm noticing that when we look at the 'V' conversion there's probably no way - ha ha! I sure do miss the 'C' gradign system at home ...
The quote of the week is "BATS ... BATS ARE ATTRACTED TO LIGHT!!!" - I'll let you all imagine which of the three muskateers that came from - but lets just say that I know better than to shower in the dark outside at night and Luke isnt' afraid of anything ...
This trip has been amazing - I'm so lucky to be here experiencing the world with Luke - stories we'll tell grandkids one day ... stories I can't wait to tell people when we get home. I struggle for stuff to write here though, i have to admit - not because i don't want to but just because for one you all get great descriptions from Luke and so i could tell you about my feelings, but whenever I ask the boys to talk about feelings they aren't very receptive ... ha ha. j'k ... seriously though.
I find that I ... we ... are missing peoplefrom home like crazy - People here know Etienne from his recent trip and especially when we are climbing we think of friends and what they might have to say about a problem or a funny anecdote ... (see this is why i don't write - I reminisce far too much) - Anyways - I shouldn't stay on too long because we are expecting a new fridge for our cottage. the one we have now is painfully warm on the inside and poor luke has been eating cheese dangerously close to the expiration for far too long now.The food here is amazing - by that i mean the food that we have been cooking. Luke has manufactured this amazign salad that he puts together almost everynight that has us fighting to lick the bowl and Josh ventures out after dark with a headlamp, fightign off bats with a stick to bbq the boerwars (sausage) ...
The Biltong (jerky of sorts for my family who dont' know what it is) seems to be a staple in our grocery shops - i hate it - ostrich, springbok, beef ... CHICKEN - WTF!!! it looks like freeze dried salmonella!! - so freakin' gross - but the boys ... they will eat anything - Apparently the biltong is dried down 80% of its original size so in total I'd have to say that since Josh's arrival they've consumed one cow, two springbok (deer) and at least a gaggle of ostrich ... so uncool - ha ha!!
Ok - well I'm off - will write soon - (promise)
Much love to all - and thanks for taking the time to read about our adventures - Misses and Kisses ...
Sam
ah ha ha - i get so much flack for not signing on here - but Luke is great - I mean really - do you wanna hear the same stories twice???
Life is great - how could it not be?? residing in a winery at the base of one of the most renowned climbing areas - I'm a lucky girl, and I know it. especially with teachers like Luke and Josh ... Learning lots - pulling hard (sort of) and loving every moment. I am skeptical about the grades here though - it seems that I am climbing 5's - whatever that means but i'm noticing that when we look at the 'V' conversion there's probably no way - ha ha! I sure do miss the 'C' gradign system at home ...
The quote of the week is "BATS ... BATS ARE ATTRACTED TO LIGHT!!!" - I'll let you all imagine which of the three muskateers that came from - but lets just say that I know better than to shower in the dark outside at night and Luke isnt' afraid of anything ...
This trip has been amazing - I'm so lucky to be here experiencing the world with Luke - stories we'll tell grandkids one day ... stories I can't wait to tell people when we get home. I struggle for stuff to write here though, i have to admit - not because i don't want to but just because for one you all get great descriptions from Luke and so i could tell you about my feelings, but whenever I ask the boys to talk about feelings they aren't very receptive ... ha ha. j'k ... seriously though.
I find that I ... we ... are missing peoplefrom home like crazy - People here know Etienne from his recent trip and especially when we are climbing we think of friends and what they might have to say about a problem or a funny anecdote ... (see this is why i don't write - I reminisce far too much) - Anyways - I shouldn't stay on too long because we are expecting a new fridge for our cottage. the one we have now is painfully warm on the inside and poor luke has been eating cheese dangerously close to the expiration for far too long now.The food here is amazing - by that i mean the food that we have been cooking. Luke has manufactured this amazign salad that he puts together almost everynight that has us fighting to lick the bowl and Josh ventures out after dark with a headlamp, fightign off bats with a stick to bbq the boerwars (sausage) ...
The Biltong (jerky of sorts for my family who dont' know what it is) seems to be a staple in our grocery shops - i hate it - ostrich, springbok, beef ... CHICKEN - WTF!!! it looks like freeze dried salmonella!! - so freakin' gross - but the boys ... they will eat anything - Apparently the biltong is dried down 80% of its original size so in total I'd have to say that since Josh's arrival they've consumed one cow, two springbok (deer) and at least a gaggle of ostrich ... so uncool - ha ha!!
Ok - well I'm off - will write soon - (promise)
Much love to all - and thanks for taking the time to read about our adventures - Misses and Kisses ...
Sam
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
ok! sorry about the huge delay but you know how it is. busy busy busy. its hard to find quick internet connections out here. so were now in clanwilliam. its a little town north of cape town (as if a town could be anything but north of cape town) its pretty nice. lots of guest houses and a big lake, as i hear it pretty good for jet skiers and motor boaters. our climbing is 20 minutes down a dirt road in to the mountains. lots and lots of rock out here.
since the last post, as you can guess we've been up to quite a bit. we spent a couple days in cape town, until we got sick of the city nd boogeyed out to clan william. its great. hotter than hell during the day so were doign morning sessions and evening sessions. up at 6 and on the rock, sam loves that as you can imagine. and then back to the house by 10 or 11 when its way too hot and then chilling and napping till 5 to climb again. pretty hard life i tell ya. when we firts arrived sam and i camped. that was great with the exception of bugs and frigid ass nights. a friend in cape was nice enough to lend us his tent, sleeping pads and stove so it was pretty comfortable, and the best of all we 're back of nescafe!!! :(
So after a week of climbing we went back to cape town and picked josh up from the airport, and sent a couple days there which were nice. chilling at coffee shops and the beach all day and partying at night in the local clubs and bars. we made some friends, who turned out to be well off drug dealers, AND who happened to have partied with the BACK STREET BOYS last week and this week they were with us! i guess that puts us on the BSB'S level! dont know if thats good or bad. either way we got away from them quickly.
so now were back at clan william and its pretty decent. at first we stayed at this place called the travelers rest, it was amazing. it cost us 6 dollars each a night (for the 3 of us) and we got a huge mansion, we all had our own bathroom, there were 2 enormous fire places like the size our bathroom at home, a full kitchen, giant living room with a table set for 14, a stone deck, and a swimming pool! it was wicked. but we all met out match out there. its turned out we werent the only residents out there. geckos and flys galore, of course. this crazy ant looking thing, but like the size a kitten (i shit you not!) as big as my hand, so big it wasnt even scary! spiders spiders spiders!!!! all shapes and sizes! little ones that hung from joshs nose without him knowing it, i guess many species could take up residence under there, spiders all the way up to the size of sams palm, these were josh's breaking point. great big things that sam made me try to kill with her little freaking sanuk shoe and they were as quick as lightning. our last day was the worst for bugs and stuff. at our lunch break we found 4 ticks on the kitchen counter and one on my leg, and we discovered our bread had gotten into my mice, and when we came back in the evening we found a bird got in the house, only after it tried dive bombing me when i wen into the bed room. So, needless to say, were at a new guest house that were hoping will be a lot quieter (we heard some animal running around in the ceiling regularly) were now at Alpha Excelsior, its very close to the climbing (where as travelors rest was about 20 minutes drive away) and is a winery and has very clean nice houses.
anyways im going on and on. my skin hurts from months of now climbing and my hands are starting to swell. take care all and i promise ill get back on to the blog more often and try for pics soon. and if were lucky, sam will write. bye for now.
since the last post, as you can guess we've been up to quite a bit. we spent a couple days in cape town, until we got sick of the city nd boogeyed out to clan william. its great. hotter than hell during the day so were doign morning sessions and evening sessions. up at 6 and on the rock, sam loves that as you can imagine. and then back to the house by 10 or 11 when its way too hot and then chilling and napping till 5 to climb again. pretty hard life i tell ya. when we firts arrived sam and i camped. that was great with the exception of bugs and frigid ass nights. a friend in cape was nice enough to lend us his tent, sleeping pads and stove so it was pretty comfortable, and the best of all we 're back of nescafe!!! :(
So after a week of climbing we went back to cape town and picked josh up from the airport, and sent a couple days there which were nice. chilling at coffee shops and the beach all day and partying at night in the local clubs and bars. we made some friends, who turned out to be well off drug dealers, AND who happened to have partied with the BACK STREET BOYS last week and this week they were with us! i guess that puts us on the BSB'S level! dont know if thats good or bad. either way we got away from them quickly.
so now were back at clan william and its pretty decent. at first we stayed at this place called the travelers rest, it was amazing. it cost us 6 dollars each a night (for the 3 of us) and we got a huge mansion, we all had our own bathroom, there were 2 enormous fire places like the size our bathroom at home, a full kitchen, giant living room with a table set for 14, a stone deck, and a swimming pool! it was wicked. but we all met out match out there. its turned out we werent the only residents out there. geckos and flys galore, of course. this crazy ant looking thing, but like the size a kitten (i shit you not!) as big as my hand, so big it wasnt even scary! spiders spiders spiders!!!! all shapes and sizes! little ones that hung from joshs nose without him knowing it, i guess many species could take up residence under there, spiders all the way up to the size of sams palm, these were josh's breaking point. great big things that sam made me try to kill with her little freaking sanuk shoe and they were as quick as lightning. our last day was the worst for bugs and stuff. at our lunch break we found 4 ticks on the kitchen counter and one on my leg, and we discovered our bread had gotten into my mice, and when we came back in the evening we found a bird got in the house, only after it tried dive bombing me when i wen into the bed room. So, needless to say, were at a new guest house that were hoping will be a lot quieter (we heard some animal running around in the ceiling regularly) were now at Alpha Excelsior, its very close to the climbing (where as travelors rest was about 20 minutes drive away) and is a winery and has very clean nice houses.
anyways im going on and on. my skin hurts from months of now climbing and my hands are starting to swell. take care all and i promise ill get back on to the blog more often and try for pics soon. and if were lucky, sam will write. bye for now.
Friday, November 7, 2008
one whole month already!
holy moly a whole month! and were in cape town! hope you all well and all that. cant do a big one but one of us will in the next day or two. cape town is pretty skookem. having funand drinking good coffee finally. so sick of freaking nescafe. its not even nescafe. its riccoffee. made of chicory, a coffee substitute! ugh. but alls well now. there are new pics up again. look for the link 2 or 3 post ago. talk soon.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
hello, everybody.
how are you all? assuming well enough as we haven't heard differently. so were in jeffreys bay, or jay bay, as the cool guys call it. its pretty sweet. like an African, Caribean, Florida rolled into one giant Oahu... sams words... i dont ask anymore. lots of fancy shops and its clean, with fish for sale all over. our guest room over looks the ocean from a cliff and it only costs 25$ sweet! except theres a good chance of bugs and ants crawling on us, hopefully sam wont read this tonight before we've already slept and moved on.
since we last updated, we went to Lesotho, which is a little country inside of south africa. its pretty sweet. in fact i think we agreed it was our favorite part so far. the people were super nice. kids stopped and waved at us in the car everywhere we went, and when we walked down the streets we were jaw droppers. i think me a little more than sam though. at one point a black midget in kids clothes stopped and stared at me like I was a spectacle! seriously. it was alot of fun in the country,. right and left we were shocked at peoples kindness and generosity. and the scenery was crazy. huge mountains with steep cliffs and on top of the mountains there were some of the most amazing rock formations ive ever seen! really beautiful. oh and sam got her hair braided. looks great. almost african looking now. people yell at her in Xosa and zulu all the time now. weird at first but funny now. took 4 and a half hours. enough time for me to meet a friend and get my drink on before noon.
when we left we made for coffee bay. coffee bay is a little town on the ocast thats pretty much a surfers hang out. very beautiful place. steep hills and all the grass is kept short from grazers so it looks like they mow all the fields. the place we stayed at had great food, costume parties and a nice view from our room for morning coffee.
so last night we went to this town, hogsback. apparently its where J. R.R. Tolkien grew up and got his inspiration for writing the hobbit and lord of the rings. its a really cool place with mountains, water falls and thick forests. we might go back at some point. but all the hostels have taken the lord of the rings up as a theme and we got stuck in the hobbit house. with low doors, a tiny bath tub and all. it had a fire place inside our room so that was nice. but 3 weeks ago i happened to start reading the lord of the rings and all of a sudden we heard of this place. so, of course, sam has not let up on teasing me about how excited i got when we rolled in. but seriously its freaking cool. anyone would love it there.
anyways. almost a whole month has gone by! its gone by quickly. were having fun and really looking forward to climbing soon. ok thats all for now. sam will write soon. i just have to twist her arm. one love.
how are you all? assuming well enough as we haven't heard differently. so were in jeffreys bay, or jay bay, as the cool guys call it. its pretty sweet. like an African, Caribean, Florida rolled into one giant Oahu... sams words... i dont ask anymore. lots of fancy shops and its clean, with fish for sale all over. our guest room over looks the ocean from a cliff and it only costs 25$ sweet! except theres a good chance of bugs and ants crawling on us, hopefully sam wont read this tonight before we've already slept and moved on.
since we last updated, we went to Lesotho, which is a little country inside of south africa. its pretty sweet. in fact i think we agreed it was our favorite part so far. the people were super nice. kids stopped and waved at us in the car everywhere we went, and when we walked down the streets we were jaw droppers. i think me a little more than sam though. at one point a black midget in kids clothes stopped and stared at me like I was a spectacle! seriously. it was alot of fun in the country,. right and left we were shocked at peoples kindness and generosity. and the scenery was crazy. huge mountains with steep cliffs and on top of the mountains there were some of the most amazing rock formations ive ever seen! really beautiful. oh and sam got her hair braided. looks great. almost african looking now. people yell at her in Xosa and zulu all the time now. weird at first but funny now. took 4 and a half hours. enough time for me to meet a friend and get my drink on before noon.
when we left we made for coffee bay. coffee bay is a little town on the ocast thats pretty much a surfers hang out. very beautiful place. steep hills and all the grass is kept short from grazers so it looks like they mow all the fields. the place we stayed at had great food, costume parties and a nice view from our room for morning coffee.
so last night we went to this town, hogsback. apparently its where J. R.R. Tolkien grew up and got his inspiration for writing the hobbit and lord of the rings. its a really cool place with mountains, water falls and thick forests. we might go back at some point. but all the hostels have taken the lord of the rings up as a theme and we got stuck in the hobbit house. with low doors, a tiny bath tub and all. it had a fire place inside our room so that was nice. but 3 weeks ago i happened to start reading the lord of the rings and all of a sudden we heard of this place. so, of course, sam has not let up on teasing me about how excited i got when we rolled in. but seriously its freaking cool. anyone would love it there.
anyways. almost a whole month has gone by! its gone by quickly. were having fun and really looking forward to climbing soon. ok thats all for now. sam will write soon. i just have to twist her arm. one love.
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