The Purple Journal

Happy to be back! So much to write about, so little time... Last week's training was gruelling and challenging. I enjoyed it mostly but it was quite exhausting. I look at it as a way to upgrade my skills and equip me better to re-enter the job market next year.... Friday was stressfull in between trying to leave the course early and having my family waiting outside through no fault of my own was tough. I eventually let it go so that our First Family Holiday was not spoiled! We drove the entire afternoon and arrived in White river at about 6.00. We stopped at A Spar (there are MANY for some reason in the Nelspruit / White River area) and got the essentials (bread, milk, cereal) and supper at Twinz, a local Pizza place. Saturday morning we were all up early (YAY!:-() and got ready for a day out. The weather was overcast and not warm enough for the children to swim, so we decided to try to find GodsWindow. We drove to Nelspruit and called the tourism board when we got there (only to find thatb we had driven for 20minutes in the WRONG direction!) We eventually found it after getting lost once more... We found a map and that helped a bit. The view from God's Window was absolutely worth the drive! (I will try to find links and post them here soon) It is the most awe inspiring thing I have ever seen in my life. There are just trees and mountians into the distance as far as the eye can see. The trip there is filled with mountains and trees cover every stunning part of those mountains. We stopped on the road to look over the side of one of the mountains and I was immediately filled with vertigo! We passed through little towns like Hazyview and Graskop - very small and touristy but with lots of character! Sunday we woke up to rain bucketing down, so we watched a bit of cricket for most of the morning and went to the Botanical Gardens in the afternoon. We got slightly rained on, but it was wonderful - and a place we would not normally visit. Monday we packed and got ready to make our way home. We stopped for a visit to the Sudwala caves in Sabie and eventually got home at about 3.00 in the afternoon. Overall, a wonderful holiday and break from the routine!