The time we drove 1200km just for Sea Food

Durban 2016

First off, YES! you read the title right. We drove 600 kilometres to and another from just for some Sea Food! Do we not have seafood where we live? Yes, we do. Is it not good? Honestly, I don't know. But this is what I do know; This was a magical trip and I would do it again in a heartbeat if I had the chance.

So on the 9th of May 2016, my boyfriend told me about this awesome restaurant that he ate this amazing Seafood platter in. Since i'm not a big seafood fan, I turned up my nose and didn't entertain it much! He's not a quitter, so he brought up the topic again but this time he told me that he booked us accommodation at the restaurant's Hotel so that I can try out this fantastic seafood platter. I can tell you now, in that moment, I got so very excited, I barely slept that night. All I could think about was, in 4 nights I'll be at the beach.

Our trip began the early hours of Saturday the 14th of May 2016. Which happened to be my Mother's birthday[I was totally the 1st one to text her :) and wish her a happy birthday]. The weather was not very nice. It was raining and a bit cold but that didn't bother us. All we wanted was seafood. It never was about site seeing anyway. So we set off and started our almost 7 hours drive to KZN, Durban. We took our lil 2 year old with and we made it a fun little family road trip.

Fast forward to about 7 hours later, the sun is shinning beautifully, the weather is nice and warm, and there's major humidity. We are in Durban! Lil one is screaming for her sunglasses and all I want is the bathroom - Thank you Cafe Latte. We arrived just in time to take lil one to the beach, to the top of Moses Mabhida Stadium, and to get some very light lunch before we checked into the hotel.

When 2pm hit, we went straight to the hotel to check in. By this time we were pretty tired and we all just needed a nice shower. We got a lovely family room at the Southern Sun Maharani Hotel in Durban. The Hotel staff was amazing, and the view from our room was just breathtaking.

View from our room on the 20th floor

After relaxing for about 3 hours in our hotel room, we got out for the main reason why we were out in Durban. Seafood! We had a 6pm reservation at Daruma [this is a restaurant inside the Southern Sun Elangeni Hotel) and I was panicking a lil - thinking, I don't like Seafood,this is going to be a disaster!. But the minute I walked into the restaurant, my jaw was on the floor. It could be because I was tipsy from the wine we had...LOL.. The waiters and Waitresses there are really friendly and yet very professional. We ordered our food and had a chance to see the Chef prepare our meal. You see, when you are in the restaurant, there's no back kitchen where food is cooked and comes out looking all pretty and you have no idea who made it; you get to see the chef who prepares your food and how he/she does it. I am still in awe of this. Such a small thing but it makes such a huge difference. So we ate our food and had a fantastic time and can I just say that, that was thee most DELICIOUS Seafood platter i've ever had. My total first and my love. This was the first time that I had seafood like that and I really loved it. We had to literally drag ourselves back to our hotel room,because not only were we full, but we were also a ted bit exhausted from the day's activities. The only person with tons of energy was the little one. She bounced all around our hotel room until just after 11pm at night[We even had to get room service]. 

The very next day, we checked out of the hotel and got ready to drive another 600km back home. 

As crazy as this sounds, this was by far the best *in the moment* trip i've had with my family. We didn't over analyse things like we usually do, we didn't overpack, I wasn't wearing any makeup all weekend, and for once, we were all happy[lil one included] with the selection of music that we had playing in the car.

I am happy that we are all back home safe and sound but I can't believe it has been a week already since our cray cray road trip.

I hope you enjoyed reading this post as much as I loved writing it :). Let's chat in the comments section below about any spare of the moment trips you've had. Until then, take care.

xoxo

Oluv

Vacation Day 6 - Cape town - Goodbye CT, Hello Johannesburg

All ready to go home

6am in the morning I am wide awake, which is shocking because I'm the kind of person who sleeps in during the weekend. But there I was at 6am in the morning, my eyes open wide and not a sign of going back to sleep. I checked on Kbear and she was still knocked out so I let her finish off her sleep. Dzee had already woken up as well, he was taking a shower when I woke up which got me thinking that if I woke up at 6am to find him showering, then what time did he wake up! Anyway, I wrapped up on some of the few things I had left to pack and jumped into the shower myself. We then watched a movie while we waited for Kbear to wake up. The most strange thing is that, I wasn't even hungry and I really appreciate my breakfast. It wasn't until around 10am when Kbear woke up that i felt really hungry. I made myself a sandwich while Dzee got Kbear ready and when I was done eating, It was time for me to feed Kbear while daddy packed away her pj's. Once Kbear was done eating, we were ready to get out of that suite and slowly make our way home.

Of course we had to stop by the beach. The weather was cloudy and it actually drizzled a lil bit plus it was super windy. The waves of the ocean actually started forming form on the beach which actually looked kind nasty so we didn't stick around for long. Going to the airport, was somehow, shorter than I remember it and as soon as we got there, we checked-in our bags and headed straight to the lounge to relax a little bit and kill some time while we wait for our flight. When the time came, we boarded our flight and headed straight to Johannesburg. The fight was incredibly smooth and even though I was sad that I didn't get the window seat, I had a great time. An hour and 45min later we landed safely in Johannesburg. We took the Gautrain and then drove home. Amongst all 3 of us, Kbear was more happy to be home. She ran straight into her playroom and hugged bunny. In this very moment, it was confirmed yet again that there is no place like HOME.

xoxo

Oluv

Vacation Day 5 - Cape Town - Lounging Around

This was thee most perfect day ever. All we did was sit inside our suite and watch movies. Though I must say, we were totally home sick. The most we've bee away from home on Vacation/Holiday is 3 days or over the weekend. However this time we were gone for a week and it kinda drove us crazy at the end.

And so after watching about 2 movies on DSTV, I busted out my phone and we started posing for photos. Now this had me laughing so hard, I literally wanted to cry because my ribs were so sore. Kbear is an absolute character. She pulled out posed even I had never done before. Don't get me wrong, it was cute and all but it was mostly surprising that a 21month old could do that. Then I remembered, she probably saw some people pose like that and she was just doing what she saw. It was thee most cutest and yet hilarious thing I've seen. 

Later that evening we went out to go get some food for the braai we finally decided to do. This actually made us miss home even more :( but we did it anyway. After eating I played pretend tea time with Kbear and had a ball. I swear, this girl's imagination blows me away every single time without fail. Once we got tired of drinking "tea" I started packing our clothes to make sure that we don't spend too much time in the morning running around trying to pack. Again Kbear was a big help. Handing me the clothes and picking them up while daddy passed out on the bed...LOL...And so with packing done, Kbear fed and clean, and the time just about to hit 11pm, we decided to call it a night. I tugged Kbear in and got myself ready for bed. I kid you not, 15min later, we were all knocked out.

xoxo

Oluv

Vacation Day 4 - Cape Town - Kbear turns 21 months Old

This day was all about Kbear. Everything we did today revolved around her and I guess it's safe to say that our holiday mode paused for a lil...LOL. Again the weather was back to normal, Cloudy, misty, and a lil windy. Which now when i think about it, I realize that it's probably where we are staying - Camps Bay. When we drove to Sea Point/Green Point, it was warm and almost sunny. Anyway, we didn't let the weather get us down. This was our lil girl's day and we wanted to make it so much more special. Being a fan of shades as she is, she started the day rocking her stylish toddler shades, which are my personal favourites and we posed for 1 or 2 snapshots. We then took her to the aquarium. Kbear is a big fan of fishes, and i didn't realize just how much she loved fishes until this day. She ran around the aquarium not even caring about the strangers surrounding her.

I'm so glad I  captured all of that on video and we will be able to look back on it later on in life. As usual we could not take pictures. This wasn't because our batteries died but rather because Kbear wouldn't sit still for a picture. Instead of forcing her to sit still, we decided to just make a video and let her run around. We spent about 2 hours at the aquarium before exhaustion set in and while she took her nap we tried to go see if the Robben Island trip was available. Yep,you guessed it, it was cancelled due to wind. We then decided to just drive back home and just snuggle up and watch a movie. On the way there, we grabbed cupcakes to celebrate Kbear's 21st Month, some meat to braai and of course a lil gift for Kbear (tea set). When we got home, we braaied, had dinner, sang for Kbear and ate cupcakes. Before we knew it, it was 23h00pm and we called it a night. Still can't believe my lil girl is almost 2years old. Happy 21st Month Munchie....

xoxo

Oluv

Vacation Day 3 - Cape Town - UCT / Table Mountain

Table Mountain Covered with clouds

I can't believe i'm only posting this now. A whole 2 days later...thanks to exhaustion. But don't worry, i still have details of this day as fresh as though they only happened yesterday. Anyway,let me not waste time. For the 1st time since we arrived in Cape Town we had a super beautiful and sunny day. Which honestly caught us off guard because we came prepared for the cold and not the heat. So as you can imagine, we took advantage of the day. We started first by going to V&A waterfront to take a few snapshots. It still amazes me just how incredibly beautiful the view was from there. We tried getting tickets to go see Robben Island , but unfortuantely they were sold out. Kinda exactly what i expected. A good day with Good weather,of course people want to go see Robben Island! My poor bf was totally sad that we couldn't get ticket so we went to ride The Cape Wheel instead.

Now that was very interesting. If you don't know yet, i'm terrified of falling which in turn makes me terrified of heights so you can just imagine the trauma. But i soldiered on and did it. The whole time through the ride, i had to remind myself that It won't last forever and that we were safe. Story of my life....Anyway we then took about an hour drive to go see Cape Point. This kinda makes me sad because we did not take any pics. Both our phones were dead as well as the camera battery. Why did i not bring the backup battery!!!just Why? Luckily we made 1 or 2 stops on the way there and we took a couple of snaps so that'll have to do for now. The cream of this beautiful day was going to the University of Cape Town. I've spent a couple of my high school days day dreaming about studying at UCT and guess what, i got accepted. Had a student number and all, however, being the introvert that i am, I panicked when it was time to go register and ended up studying in Joburg closer to home (3 hours drive). My point is, just being at the university of Cape Town made want to study even more. Such a beautiful laid back and yet very reputable University..*sigh*. So as the night died down, we drove back home, Kbear napping and daddy playing some nice slow jams. I looked outside the window when suddenly, a thought of relocating to Cape Town filled my head. As i sit and write this post, all i can think of is us living in Cape Town but of course i can't help but wonder whether this is a good place to raise kids considering the weather.

University of Cape Town

xoxo

Oluv

Vacation Day 2 - Cape Town - Rainy Day / Mini Road Trip

OMW, today has been kinda crazy with the rainy weather. But the weird thing is that I liked it. It was somehow refreshing and sort of exactly what I needed. However before I start sharing how our day went, I need to first start off by saying that I had thee longest night of my life last night. I woke up 2 to 3 times because i ran out of sleep. Which is quite weird because I love my sleep.

Family Photo at the Beach

The silence around here, was just too perfect that i struggled to sleep. And then when I thought that i was past the long night, the the morning drag started. It took forever for the sky to brighten up for the morning. Literally. With the cloudy and rainy weather, it took what felt like a billion years for night to just go away.So anyway when the morning light brightened up, Dzee went out for a walk and I stayed up with Kbear snuggled up in bed until around 10am. As much as I loved being indoors, we eventually had to go out to go get food. Just as we were about to leave, it started drizzling and i'm sure you can relate when I say, once a girl is dressed and ready, there's no stopping her. Even rain couldn't stop me so we went to get food anyway. We stopped at the beach to take a couple of pictures. This was by far the most craziest thing i've done. I don't usually let rain water on my hair for obvious reasons, the struggle is real, but today, I just let

University of Stellenbosch 

go and had fun. Kbear also enjoyed it so much, she screamed her lungs out just to get back to the car. Once we were done taking pics and our tummies were full. We took a mini road trip, a 55min drive to Stellenbosch. Initially the plan was to go wine tasting but with Kbear falling asleep and being in the car with us, we couldn't risk getting even a ted bit tipsy. So we came up with another plan. We went to take a tour at the University of Stellenbosch. I didn't realise how long it's been since I was in a proper university campus. It got me thinking that maybe i should start studying. But,that's another story for another. For now, i'm gonna call it a night and head to bed. Check back again tomorrow for an update.....Good night lovies

xoxo

Oluv 

Vacation Day 1 - Cape Town - Flight/Accommodation

It has been a very long time since we took a legit vacation. 19 Months to be exact...LOL. Since Kbear was born, the only *Vacations* we've been taking is going to see my mom..How sad...So we decided it was about time we started travelling again and of course we picked Cape Town. We have been wanting to go to visit Cape Town for the longest time and deciding to finally wasn't a difficult decision at all. However because now we travelling with a lil person, it was a little bit daunting. But with all this, we soldiered on and booked our flights and accommodation. All this happened a month in advance so you can just imagine how long the following month was as we waited for our trip dates to come.

Heading to the airport

Fast forward a month later. It is now the 24th of May and we are supposed to be packing for our trip. Silly me decides to let myself get distracted which delayed the packing mission by several hours... :( but i did get to it eventually. That night i slept like a lil baby, which was totally unexpected, because I was sooo tired from all the last minute packing. Anyway, before I knew it it was time to wake up and get ready. It was hard to get out of bed, as usual, but i did. Got myself and Kbear ready and Dzee got ready as well and 2 hours later we headed to the airport. It took us about an hour to get to the airport. We first drove to the Gautrain station because we didn't want to drive and park at the airport. So we parked at the train station and hopped into the Gautrain to get to the airport. Kbear was beyond excited. She was more amazed by the fact that all she saw when she looked out side was her reflection on the window while the train was moving. the joys of underground subway.

Gautrain ride

The ride was very quick and we got to the airport just in time. We checked in all of our luggage and headed straight to the slow lounge. Who doesn't like the slow lounge,right? We had yummy breakfast and got to actually kill some time while we waited for our flight. Kbear ran around the airport, which was kinda uncomfortable for me because at some point it started to look like we have no control over our child. And if you know me, you'll know that I like being in control. So anyway, having realized that we not gonna win the battle with over excited Kbear, we moved to a spot where she could run around freely and she loved it. Our flight got delayed....*sigh* by 30 min which got me a ted bit exhausted because I had to run around Kbear for 30min more...LOL. Eventually it did come through and we boarded nicely. 2 long and exhausting hours later we landed in Cape Town. The weather was not good, my most concern of all. As always, i forgot to pack warm clothes for myself and forgot Kbear's warm jacket at home.

At the Airport

Lucky enough, we picked up our rented car quickly and was able to drive up to the guesthouse we staying in to check in. the drive to the guest house was rather refreshing, Super scenic route,driving next to the beach and looking at the mountains, exactly what we needed after a kinda long flight. After check-in, we went out to get food and went back home to eat, and snuggle up in bed while watching Frozen on dstv. This has just been amazing and i'm so excited for tomorrow. Crossing fingers and toes and hoping the weather will be good. Anyway,that's it for today. We are safe and sound in Cape Town. Check back again tomorrow to see what we got up to...

Kbear goofing up before bedtime

xoxo

Oluv