Midlands Meander

Sunday 11 October 2009

The van Niekerk family gathering @ the Hillhouse

We had a fabulous time in the Midlands this weekend. Chrisy organised for the van Niekerk clan to stay in this awesome converted farm shed called the Hillhouse. It was situated right next to Midmar dam. Most of us were very impressed with the arty, boho chic decor, except for Dean's dad who was not impressed with the old, torn leather chairs in front of the fire place. He was convinced they might have rats living in them. Dean and I tried to convince him that 'Cape Tonians' would pay a fortune for that kind of "vintage" furniture, but he was having none of it!

The Hillhouse

Mark, Dean's dad, loving the "vintage" chairs

Dean's artwork on the blackboard at the Hillhouse

Dean's cousin, Julie, had her wedding at a place called Granny Mouse Country House. It was a beautiful venue.

Granny Mouse Country House and the beautiful little chapel

I was quite nervous leading up to the wedding as I would be meeting a lot of the van Niekerk family for the first time. But I had nothing to worry about, everyone was really down to earth and very friendly. My only problem was that I couldn't keep the tears at bay during the speeches. I have no idea how I am going to get through my own wedding without being an emotional wreck!

The Newlyweds - Julie and Chris

Dean and I at the reception

Christy looking stylish

Jed and Jenna

When I wasn't crying during the speeches, they were quite entertaining

In Search of the Perfect Venue

Thurday 8 October 2009

We have decided that the best place for us to get married would be somewhere on or near the North Coast of KZN.

We have been invited to Dean's cousin Julie's wedding in the Midlands this weekend. We have decided to take this opportunity to view a few possible venues around that area as well as spend a few days with Dean's folks at Prince's Grant.

Venue possibilities:

• Hotel Izulu Ballito
• Zimbali Lodge Ballito
• Kearsney College Hillcrest

My Engagement Ring

Monday 28 September 2008

Yay! I received my engagement ring today. Dean and I decided to keep things simple and go for a classic solitaire design set in platinum. I am very happy with the way it turned out.

The Ring!

Back To Reality

Monday 17 August 2009

So, we are back home. Now I actually need to start planning a wedding.

Priority list:

1. Tell friends and family about engagement
2. Choose bridal party
3. Pick a date
4. Pick a venue
5. Pick a theme/colour
6. Make a budget
7. Open a dedicated wedding account
8. Attend bridal show in September
9. Draw up a guest list
10. Lose 10 kilo's!

Friends and family

All our friends and family are very happy about the engagement. Everyone loves Dean.

Bridal party

Maid of honour - Leigh-Anne Barnes

Bridesmaid - Ali Joyner

Bridesmaid - Christy van Niekerk

Best man - Bryan Roseveare

Groomsman - Jed van Niekerk

Groomsman - Shane van Niekerk

Flower girl - Anna Schmitz

Page boys - Ben Schmitz, Jake Barnes and Samual Barnes

Pick a date

Dean wants to get married this year! But he's a boy and has no idea the time and effort it takes to plan a wedding. So, after talking some sense into him we have decided that September 2010 would be a good time for the wedding. A spring wedding, yay! I want to have time to enjoy the engagement and not be too stressed out. We also need time to save some extra money as weddings tend to be quite expensive or so I have heard. Lastly I need some time to complete no. 10 on my to do list.

The venue

Where to have the wedding? We live in Jo'burg, my family are in PE, Dean's family are on the North Coast and we have friends everywhere. I have always dreamed of having a wedding on a wine farm in Cape Town, but that would be a bit impractical now that we no longer live there. So, this issue still needs to be decided.

The colour scheme

Dean has one request, that we don't have hideous, brightly-coloured bridesmaid dresses.

What was she thinking?

So, I think we are going for simple, classic, knee-length, black dresses for the bridesmaids. And for the flowers and decor I like a very classic, romantic look. I like cream/white roses, silver candelabras and fairy lights.

The budget

This is something I'm obviously a bit nervous about, but I'm just going to try to get a feel of what things cost before I start drawing up a budget.

Bridal Show

There's a bridal show in September which should help me get some ideas.

Guest list

We have drawn up a provisional guest list and are looking at about 100 - 120 people.

Slim down

I have managed to lose some of the weight I put on last year, but still have a way to go. It's time to start hitting the gym a bit harder as well as eating as healthy as I can. Don't worry Dad, I won't lose too much, I promise.

Prince's Grant

Sunday 16 August 2009

We spent the remainder of our holiday at Dean's parent's house in Prince's Grant. We played golf (or Dean played and I drove the golf cart), we swam in the sea and relaxed on the balcony of their beautiful home, reading wedding magazines.

Prince's Grant North Coast KZN

Dean looking dashing on the golf cart

Day 2 at Amakhosi

Tuesday 11 August 2009

I continued to hear the lions all through the night and was still convinced that they were really close. The phone rang, it was Shane with our 05:00 o'clock wake-up call. As we were walking down the stairs of the chalet on the way to the main lodge to meet Shane and Chrisy for the morning game drive, I spotted something big with four legs out of the corner of my eye standing right outside our chalet. I freaked out, I shouted s*** and started to make a run for it back up the stairs. Now, people who know me know that I very rarely swear, so I had to be pretty terrified! I ran straight into Dean who managed to calm me down and point me in the direction of a large male inyala grazing on the grass about two meters away.

We came across this giraffe early on into the morning drive

How awesome is this picture? It's difficult to tell which way is up

Me and my soon to be brother-in-law while we have stopped for coffee

Some zebra's

Beautiful creatures

After another incredible game drive it was time to head back for breakfast which was served on the lodge deck. We spent the morning lazing around until the afternoon drive.

Is this inquisitiveness or hunger?

The young lions were having some fun playing in this tree near the buffalo

Chrisy the professional

One of the adolescent lions

Shane's tracker, Party, spotted this cheetah for us in the dark on the air strip

After the afternoon drive we had a braai with the rangers at the Ranger House where we heard all the exciting ranger stories.

After another night of lions roaring right outside the chalet, it was time for our final game drive before it was time to head home.

Dean protecting me from a potential stampeding elephant

A male waterbuck

We had to say good bye to the pride of lions

Dean, Taz, Chrisy and Shane at Amakhosi Safari Lodge

Thanks Shane and Chrisy we had an unbelievable time.

The Best Holiday Ever!

Monday 10 August 2009

We arrived in the early afternoon, just in time for afternoon tea on the deck overlooking the damn in front of the lodge where some inyala were grazing. Then Shane took us on a private game drive which was fantastic. He is extremely knowledgeable and he really made the drive interesting, he not only finds you the big game to look at, but keeps you captivated by his knowledge of the bush and of the animals that call it their home.

Shane and Christy - our tracker for the day

The river that runs through Amakhosi behind me

An elephant came through the trees and crossed the road

right behind the vehicle

A beautiful African sunset

Dean and Shane enjoying a skottle in the bush

While we were enjoying our bush skottle, we heard the roar of a lion which didn't sound too far away, needless to say I was ready to jump back on the vehicle, but Shane said that the sound can travel for kilometers and that it was unlikely to be as close as it sounded. He also explained that they have come across lions while having bush dinners before and if you get back on the vehicle slowly, the lion shouldn't pay too much attention to you as you are not their natural pray. I was still quite skeptical and stayed a little closer to the vehicle.

On the drive back to the lodge we found what all the noise was about. We followed an adult male lion we spotted off the road and into the thick bush where he met up with his pride. They were devouring an enormous buffalo! It was really scary, there were lions everywhere, it was dark and we were almost wedged in by the thick bush. Even though the adrenaline was pumping, I never felt unsafe, as I knew Shane knew what he was doing. There were a total of 13 lions tearing at the flesh of the buffalo. Two adult males, two adult females and nine adolescent cubs of about a year in age.

As you can see this lioness on the right doesn't look that impressed with us disturbing her dinner

We then headed back to the lodge where we were met with warm towels to clean our faces and hands after the drive. We were told that Dean and I were to be treated with a private dinner on the deck outside our room. We went back to our room to freshen up only to find that a bath had been run with lots of candles all over the chalet.

What luxury!

After a relaxing bath, dinner was served. We were treated to a fabulous three course meal.

Cheers to our engagement!

We even had personalized menus

While we were enjoying our dinner we heard a rustle in the tree only to look up to see two little bush babies staring down at us with their huge round eyes.

After a long, fabulous day it was time for bed.

I woke up with a fright in the middle of the night to an extremely loud lion roar! I was convinced the lions were right outside the room. I was terrified. The roars and grunts continued, but I eventually managed to get to sleep again. Only to be woken again a few hours later with a loud bang and crash in the lounge area of the chalet. Dean, being the gentleman he is, sent me to investigate while he followed behind me. I was half expecting to see a lion standing in the next room! What I did find was an African mask that was hanging on the wall had been knocked down subsequently pushing all the coffee cups off the counter and onto the floor. I had no idea what was going on, then Dean pointed to something up on the rafters in the ceiling, the three naughty little bush babies were back.

After telling the bush babies to "footseck" it was back to sleep without any more major disturbances by wild animals. Until the next morning that is...

Amakhosi Game Lodge

Monday 10 August 2009

Dean's brother Shane has organised for us to stay at the game lodge where he works as a game ranger. We have been to visit Shane at the lodge before, but we stayed in the ranger's house. This time Shane has kindly given us a couple of his complimentary nights so that we can stay in the luxurious lodge.

An elephant from our previous visit to Amakhosi

Rorke's Drift Lodge

Sunday 09 August 2009

We had an awesome few days at Rorke's Drift Lodge. We were treated like royalty by Christine and Paul. We spent time relaxing in our beautiful rooms, we were taken on long walks around the lodge by Paul and we were treated to wonderful meals by the staff of the lodge.

The beautiful view over looking Rorke's Drift

It was nice spending time with Dean's brother Shane and his wife Christy.

I have asked Christy to be one of my bridesmaids at the wedding.

She seems excited.

Dean and Shane practicing their golf swings

Post Engagement "Honeymoon"

Friday 07 August 2009

Yay, I'm on leave and Dean has organised for us to go on a post engagement honeymoon. We are heading off today to a place called Rorke's Drift Lodge. It is owned by Dean's siter-in-law, Christy's mom and step-dad. The lodge lies nestled against the side of the Sinqindi Mountain and overlooks the battlefields of Rorke's Drift and Isandlwana.

A short history lesson courtesy of Wikipedia:

The Battle of Rorke's Drift was a battle in the Anglo-Zulu War. The defense of the mission station of Rorke's Drift immediately followed the British Army's defeat at the Battle of Isandlwana earlier that morning of 22 January 1879, and continued to the following day, 23 January. One hundred and thirty-nine British soldiers successfully defended their garrison against an intense assault by four or five thousand Zulu warriors. The overwhelming Zulu attack on Rorke's Drift came very close to defeating the tiny British garrison, and the British success is held as one of history's finest defences. Eleven Victoria Crosses were awarded to the defenders, along with a number of other decorations and honours.

The Proposal

Friday 07 August 2009

I am the happiest girl in the whole world! Dean, the love of my life, proposed last night. I had absolutely no idea it was coming. It was a complete surprise, but I am over the moon! I had a feeling he would propose, but maybe only in a year or so.

We went out for an early dinner to a nice restaurant called Oyo in Bedford Center. It's a fantastic oriental restaurant that I love, they make the best dim sum. I started thinking something might be wrong when Dean didn't finish his food, but I thought he was probably not feeling well. I, as usual, didn't have a problem scraping my plate clean. Anyway, when he called for the bill at 19:00 I was a little upset because it was the beginning of my leave the next day and I wanted to make an event of the evening. But Dean persuaded me that he had a surprise waiting for me at home. Now, this is when I should have picked up that something suspicious was going on, but being the blonde that I am, I thought he might have baked me some cookies! We were watching Nigella Express a few days earlier and she made this awesome rocky road cookie recipe, and Dean knows how much of a sweet tooth I have, so I thought that as a pre-holiday surprise he might have made me some rocky road.

You can imagine my surprise when I walked into his office which had been transformed into a beautiful, dreamy setting. There were flowers everywhere with candles, sparkling wine and a fire going on the balcony. All very romantic. I had tears in my eyes because I thought "aah, he loves me", but I still had no idea he was going to propose. He had a song playing by a band named City and Color called The Girl. The chorus goes "you don't ask for no diamond ring, no delicate string of pearls, that's why I wrote this song to sing, my beautiful girl". It's a song he plays for me often and means a lot to me.

Only when he got down on one knee and produced a little black box, did I realise what was going on. I can be a little slow on the up-take sometimes. That's when the real tears started flowing! And he asked me to marry him. I said "of course" and then "yes!". He produced a beautiful brilliant cut diamond set in a temporary ring, so that I could design the ring I would want. We spent the rest of the evening drinking sparkling wine and discussing our future together as man and wife. Dean even shouted over the balcony "we're getting married!". It was definitely one of the best nights of my life. I am the luckiest girl in the world to have Dean as my fiance.