A short drive for a great weekend break - Magaliespark

View from the chalet at Magaliespark

We haven't been away for quite a while. The last time was in 2017 when we had the holiday in Ballito. We desperately need a long break somewhere, but in the meantime this past weekend at Magaliespark helped with a bit lot of relaxing.

Magaliespark view

We were pleasantly surprised by how lovely Magaliespark is. The greens, and the accommodation and the facilities... There is nothing like arriving at your chalet, being greeted by some wildlife, and the sun setting on a fire for the braai! (That's heaven!) The best is, we only had to drive for 45 minutes in Friday afternoon traffic! It's my dad's upcoming 81st birthday, and him and my mom are celebrating 54 years of marriage. He used his Holiday Club points for the weekend. Thanks, Dad!

Take a shot left at Dullstroom Inn

Dullstroom street

We had brunch at the Dullstroom Inn a few weeks back. I was lurking on #TravelChatSA stream on Twitter tonight talking about all South African small towns. Dullstroom should definitely to be on the list of towns to visit. This town has so many stories and history to share. I have already written about Mrs. Simpson's and Wild about Whisky in Dullstroom.

Dullstroom Inn

The Dullstroom Inn also needs a shout-out!

There must be thousands of stories locked up in The Dullstroom Inn#AboutTheWeekend #TravellerTales#TheDullStroomInn#WeekendBreak#Dullstroom#DullstroomWeekend#WeekendTraveller#QuaintPlaces https://t.co/9PX8OnzpTX pic.twitter.com/CHNwxRBGus

— Karen du Toit (@karentoittoit) September 10, 2018

Some more photos. It's not a Wordless Wednesday, but here goes...

Entrance DullStroom Inn

Warning with rugby showing in the background

Dullstroom Inn fire which burns the whole day

Dullstroom In bar

Dullstroom Inn Hotel

Great for a weekend away, and beckoning us to go back again.

Have you been to Dullstroom?

A car seat with built-in airbags - Maxi-Cosi sets a new standard

A Little Something blog drop #maxicosisa

Once a new standard has been set, it is difficult to go back to the old way of doing things. I have not thought about car seats for children with airbags, but now, of course, it is the ONLY thing to focus on! It's the future, and that's where all car seats should be!

I was invited to the launch of the Maxi-Cosi car seat with built-in airbags, at MamaMagic at the Ticketpro Dome. Warren Murray, Exhibition Director of MamaMagic SA, introduced the new technology!

Warren Murray introducing the Maxi-Cosi car seat with airbag technology

It's a World Vacation with Shopkins Season 8

Donatina visits Brazil

Shopkins has launched Season 8: World Vacation! There is nothing that makes a little girl (and mom) more excited than cute dolls and tiny collectables that inspires the love of travel! The Shopkins and Shoppies characters and their friends visit different countries in Europe, Asia and the Americas.

Holiday survival products

Holiday survival beauty products

As much as I love holidays at the coast, it does not do my skin and complexion very well. I tend to break out in spots. My hair goes frizzy! My skin also burns immediately. I go blood red, and after that my skin starts peeling. This year I only spend two hours in the sun. I had sunscreen on my face and arms, but thought that my legs would be okay without sunscreen. Big mistake... (Don't you think I should know by now?) I am still peeling two weeks later!

Little Miss also struggles with her eczema, and we had to look after her feet very well. It dries up underneath her toes especially, and cracks open in sores. We still haven't found the magic formula to take it away completely, but the Oh So Heavenly Cream has been a lifesaver!

The Child Friendly App - we found two great spots in Ballito

Child Friendly SA

I think I heard about the Child Friendly SA Mobile app on Twitter.  I downloaded it especially for our trip to Ballito as it was the first time that we were going to be on holiday there!

The weather did not play along each day, but you will never hear me complain. It is on these days that we try to explore and get to know the local places and entertainment spots! As we had Little Miss who would gladly have stayed watching Disney Junior all week long, we had to make sure that she also wanted to go on the excursions. We also searched for places nearby, as our budget were low, and we did not want to spend hours on the road.

Wordless Wednesday #338 - Take me back...to the beach

5 Reasons why Ballito is the best holiday spot ever

Ballito beach 

We had a great time at the North Coast. Of course we could not really afford it, and of course it was not at the opportune time, but we took it! And it was wonderful!

My parents have the timeshare, and usually you can't go during the peak holiday season. It gobbles too much points! Luckily Little Miss only had a week left, and they were finishing off at school already the previous week! I know we won't be able to do it for many more years to come...

I got a little bit back from SARS, and my husband's salary paid in just in time! Shew! Tight times, but the universe aligned! October is going to be lean, but at least we can say we had a GREAT holiday! ;-)

Ballito is one of the best holiday spots there is. We have never been to Ballito, only to Umdloti. Of course I now want to pack my bags and go in stay in Ballito forever! ;-)

iOS 10 Memories - Great for Throwback Thursday

St Fredericksburg in Texas
San Antonio visit 2015

How great is the new iOS 10 Memories with the new update on iOS? It comes with the most recent update on iPhones, iPad and the Mac. It opens up great memories.

I am only discovering it now, and loving it!

I am able to see group photos, place photos, "Best of the last 3 months",  as well as certain dates on my photo album.

The throwback Thursday is from last year's visit to San Antonio in America.
Good times, and good memories!

The Red Fish Project - about living abroad as a rite of passage

The Red Fish Project, Andrew Gillmore

I love this book! It's an honest account of living abroad, but it is also advocating that life is much richer and more rewarding when taking the plunge to explore out of your own comfort zones!

This quote from the book sums it up: "Living abroad should be a rite of passage. It’s so invaluable that there’s no reason to not do it for at least a while. And it’s not enough to just visit another place. You need to live there. And to take it one step further, you need to become a part of that country."

Andrew Gillmore makes me feel that after reading this book I need a do-over in life! Maybe we can still take that plunge?

Thoroughly enjoyed The Red Fish Project! @gillmorea10 makes me wish for a do-over in life! TX @cupcakemummy pic.twitter.com/LXjRgxNON9

— Karen du Toit (@karentoittoit) 1 July 2016

Read the Amazon Review: Living abroad should be a rite of passage! Im  convinced!


I got this book (for a honest review) also through Carol-Leigh (CupcakeMummy) at Charlie Foxtrot, but it seems the review option has ended! (?)

San Antonio River Walk

San Antonio was placed second in Budget Travel's list of best budget places to travel to in 2016.
(What is the odds that I had my first overseas travel experience to a place that gets second best for this year?)

We visited my brother in San Antonio last year, and it was an unforgettable experience. San Antonio is a vibrant, beautiful and very friendly city soaked in history.

The San Antonio River Walk is one of the well-known city features with a 15 mile long river path alongside city restaurants and buildings and historical sights!

The well-know Texan accent of the guide was a real treat to us during the cruise.

San Antonio sightseeing near the River Walk

Walking in San Antonio city streets

The Student, Little Miss and my brother on the cruise

Statue of the patron Saint Anthony

This year marks the 180th anniversary of the Battle of the Alamo and the 125th anniversary of the arts-and-culture celebration Fiesta! San Antonio, and with those come a slew of free music festivals and parades!

This is definitely a city worth placing on your bucket list!

Read more: Budget Travel

I would LOVE to go again, and this time spent even more time at the River walk, as we did not cruise the whole route, or explored more of the sights on the route!


Related posts:

- Initial thoughts about America

- Things we love about America - tourist  insights about San Antonio

- A birthday at Hard Rock Cafe in San Antonio

A Mom's guide to travel the world with kids - Johannesburg included #Kindle

Around the World with Kids

This very practical guide has been compiled by local moms from  each of the 20 cities.

Guess who contributed to the South African part! This Mom, Karen du Toit!
I have actually forgotten about, but it finally saw the light of day! I was glad to see that the suggestions are still valid, and I have Maropeng included in the list!

The following cities are included: London, Frankfurt, Rome, Zurich, Paris, Seattle, San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Washington DC, Toronto, Mumbai, Delhi, Shanghai, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Wellington, Dubai and of course, Johannesburg!

- This is a  very practical travel guide full of doable recommendations and tips from moms living in the cities!
- It is a great way to introduce your kids to the cities
- It includes tourist favourites in the cities included!

The time we needed a personal loan badly - some good advice

Don't we all consider a personal loan one time or another? Or maybe it's just us?
But this year has been one of those years...

We first tried to get a student loan, but were caught in the catch-22 of a student loan. You first have to show your registration form from university before the student loan can be approved. We wanted to get the loan to be able to afford that first hefty registration fee...

We also had the wonderful holiday in San Antonio earlier, and we were really worried that we would not be able to afford everything that goes with a holiday with our Rand/Dollar exchange rates! I also shared this scenario before we went on our trip, and that we were seriously considering taking a personal loan...

I am glad to say that both times we were able to get by without going the route of a personal loan!
Because it is still the best way to go! Not getting that personal loan!


But if there are no other options available, there are 5 ways to use personal loans wisely that is worth exploring!

A birthday at Hard Rock Cafe in San Antonio

The Student celebrated her birthday in San Antonio. She knew what she wanted. To have lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe, and to buy herself and a friend Hard Rock Cafe t-shirts.
The Hard Rock Cafe in San Antonio is situated on the River walk.
Each Hard Rock Cafe the world over has their own t-shirts with the name of the city printed on it!
It is a a thing: To collect Hard Rock Cafe t-shirts from all over!

Inside Hard Rock Cafe San Antonio

In the Janis Joplin booth

Little Miss got a whole booklet with colouring pencils to keep her busy

And a kiddies meal in a guitar (guess what she brought home?)

The birthday girl with her drink.
She also got the Hard Rock Cafe glass as a souvenir.

Little Miss was not impress with this birthday celebration. She thinks each birthday should be like the 21st birthday party we celebrated the previous year. We could not convince her otherwise!

Little Hoots

Next time we want to check out the Hard Rock Cafe in Sandton.
(Why have we not been there yet?)

What kind of tourist are you?

We got our visas approved for our overseas tour to America in June! *Happy dance!*

I stressed about all the paperwork, and we went in with four complete files proving that we have work here, with bank statements, letters from my brother, from work and from school. And more...

They did not ask for one single thing. They only wanted to know where we are going, what our occupations are (of course she wanted to know what an "archivist" is), and how we are going to pay for it.
Luckily we could say that we are going to stay with my brother.

It is a relief to finally being able to focus on planning the touristy things!

I am Googling all the free things (with kids) we can do, because our ZAR is worth nothing when converted!
Any suggestions about San Antonio in Texas?

That's why I immediately completed a questionnaire from Flight Centre in my Inbox today: "What kind of tourer are you? 
[Unfortunately it is not available on the web, but if you send me your email, I will be happy to forward it to you.]

I got the following result:

"You are a Youth Tourer!
This is for the young and the young at heart! Party like a rock star in the Greek Islands, leave what happens in Vegas in Vegas, or explore the exotic beaches of South East Asia. You make every minute of your holiday count with the coolest sights, activities and places to go specially selected so that you get all the best parts of each country you visit. You believe life is about making memories, visiting inspiring places and living in the moment."

You can also go and do the following quiz from The Science Channel: What kind of tourist are you? 

This quiz got the following result:

"34 - 66 Proceed with CautionColumbus you're not, but you definitely like to get away from time to time. You appreciate the comforts of home even when you're on the road. Not that we're saying there's anything wrong with that."

Please share what kind of Tourer (not an actual word for tourist?) are you?  


Photo: taken in Publicity on Friday at Silverstar while we were on our date night for our anniversary.


Disclaimer: I am very excited about finally going on an overseas tour. (You will probably see some more touristy things here.)
I was not paid to mention Flight Centre.

Currently...

I found this on Cat's blog: Juggling Act of Life

Listening to: Hozier - Take me to the Church
And I love this ballet version




Reading: Library Advocacy Unshushed MOOC, but struggling to keep up...

Thinking about: My wonderful Hubby who made Valentine's special with a date and movie, and he even bought flowers for the girls!

Looking forward to: Our trip to Texas in the middle of the year. Very scary, but also very exciting!

Anticipating: A very good and busy year! We are doing it!

Planning: The overseas trip (well, we should be starting...!)

Wearing: Cool summer clothes. It is the best time of the year!

Drinking: Coffee. A bit too much!

Eating: A bit more healthy. I am kilojoule counting with My Fitness App on my iPhone 6. Loving it! It seems it is starting to work as well!

Thankful: For being invited to the first International iPad Summit in South Africa the previous two days. My head still spins with all the possibilities. I am also feeling a bit more optimistic about South Africa's educational future with all the bright teachers that attended the conference!

Wishing and praying: Always my children. But it seems they are sorted this year. Little Miss has settled in nicely at school, and waves us goodbye with smiles in the morning. The Student is also enjoying her business classes this year!

Not looking forward to: My birthday! (Getting too near a big number... AAArgh!)

Dreaming about: New possibilities! In my career, mostly!


What's happening currently with you?

South African Home Affairs - a breeze! What?

Yes, we finally scheduled an afternoon to go through to Home Affairs to apply for two passports. We were dreading the queues and the bad service. We should already have gone last year, but there are
always ALWAYS a better thing to do than going to your local Home Affairs!

We decided on the Roodepoort offices as most people said the service there is the best.

We were pleasantly surprised:

- We did not have to fill in any forms. Everything is electronic. (A BIG bonus to me, as I HATE filling in forms.)

- We were immediately put into an electronic queue after we paid the said amount (R400 *ouch!!*= 35.38 US dollar) for the passports. That helps considerably as you don't have to figure out in which queue you need to be.

- The photos were taken on site. (Little Miss and I rocked up with a whole set of awful "passport photos" for ourselves). You don't have to fight all the budding photographers outside the door, or pay for your own set of photos any more!

- We could wait for our turn sitting down, and helping Little Miss with her homework.

- The fingerprints were taken electronically, and we did not have to content with getting black ink off our fingers any more!

- It took us just a little over an hour to get it done, and they said we will only have to wait for four weeks for our passport documents. (*Holding thumbs*)

Instruction by Little Miss to take photos of her hairstyle while waiting
(We had time for this...)

- We got an sms notification immediately that we have applied for the passports.

- The service was good, although there could have been more friendly faces. (But I don't blame the Home Affairs officials for looking like Dread at the end of the day working there...)


- Final note: So glad both parents went together, as the passport for the little ones requires both parents' fingerprints!


My brother in San Antonio, we are seeing you in middle 2015!
Little Miss and I will be going over the oceans for the first time in our lives! (The Student has been to France and England, and Hubby has been to a couple of places as well!)