Sean's baskeball hoop vs Our car

On Friday morning we were at Sean's. We were about to go home for the day when we got to the car. This is what we found...

Sean's basketball hoop, similar to the one I have back in England, had fallen down in the night right onto the windscreen. The hoop was badly bent into an oval shape due to the impact. It looks as though the windscreen only survived because the hoop hit in down at the bottom - I would guess that if it had hit in the centre of the glass, it wouldn't have been able to hold.

It is going into the garage tomorrow to be fixed, meanwhile we have had to drive it around as there are 9 people here at the moment and with only one car between us all, it gets a little tricky!

It hasn't been a very good week with me and cars following last week's fine for jumping a red light

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End of the season

Yesterday saw the end of the Finnish football season.

Our local team, FC Honka, had been up in the top 3 all season, leading the league twice. They have the top scorer, Hermanni Vuorinen, who, after scoring 16 goals in 17 games, kept hold of his lead even after a move to Norway in August. But, after a run of worse form than in the first half of the season, they finished 4th. A 3rd place finish looked certain after 3rd place FC Haka lost yesterday and Honka only had to beat 3rd bottom FC Inter (the team we saw Honka thrash 6-0 at home in July), but a 2-1 defeat saw them finish as the 4th best team in Finland. A galiant attempt by last season's 2nd Division (Ykkonen) champions.

The eventual Suomen Mestari was Tampere United who have looked the best side all season. They managed to pull off a 3-0 win away at 2nd placed HJK on the final day to win the league by 6 points. Last season's winners MyPa could only muster 6th place this time around.

At the bottom of the table it was left to FF Jaro and KuPS to fight for survival. In the end KuPS two year stint in the top league finishes on goal difference. They will be replaced by AC Oulu and FC Viikingit of Helsinki.

Here are the final standings...

Team	Pld	W	D	L	Goals	Pts
TamU	24	16	3	5	39 - 18	51
HJK	24	13	6	5	45 - 18	45
FC Haka	24	13	5	6	37 - 24	44
FC Honka	24	13	3	8	50 - 32	42
IFK Mariehamn	24	10	7	7	31 - 22	37
MyPa	24	10	4	10	25 - 26	34
TPS	24	9	4	11	35 - 38	31
FC Lahti	24	9	4	11	26 - 34	31
VPS	24	8	5	11	26 - 36	29
FC Inter	24	7	7	10	25 - 35	28
KooTeePee	24	8	3	13	26 - 44	27
FF Jaro	24	4	7	13	27 - 42	19
KuPS	24	5	4	15	18 - 41	19

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Back to Monday again

[UPDATE: added pictures 1st Nov]

Milja's school had Friday off for a Parent-Teacher day. There were also meetings on Thursday after school when Minna and Matias went. Milja and Matias got really really got reports back. Milja is top of her class in most (if not all :P) subjects. Minna was very happy to tell the family back home how both of them have done this year so far. They both sound like they are excelling themselves.

As Thursday was not a school night, we and the gang went out like we do at the weekends. We went to Claremont three nights in a row, therefore each night seemed to blend together and I were very similar but fun. Thursday was a bit quiet as expected, but we had a blast each night. We are starting to talk and get to know the regulars there now.

On Friday the lot of us (family) went to the World Of Birds up the road. We stayed for over an hour, and went into the monkey and touroise/wallaby cages and saw some strange animals. It's cool place to go to relax and spend a few hours. And it's just up the road from us too.

More photos at Zooomr

Saturday was quite quiet as people were quite tired, so most of the day we were at home. I went swimming twice, the water is getting warmer, 24 degrees! Still not warm, I don't know if it will ever get 'warm', but it is definitely swimable now.

Also, Exclusive Books, where I am a member, had a double points day. I bought a new book, Sleepyhead, and used my vouchers I have recieved from being a member. I also entered a competition to win the catalogue of their best 51 books of 2006 and for a year of free movies at Nu Metro cinemas.

Yesterday, the family went to a large market in Cape Town in Greenpoint . There were loads and loads of stalls selling a huge range of items. We walked around for over an hour and bought some goodies. Milja and I bought 3 Ghanian masks which we will hang up when we return to Finland. I chatted for a while to an artist who was selling his paintings. Didn't end up buying one but maybe next week, I think we are going again.

More photos at Zooomr

In the afternoon we went to Sean's after a quick lunch at Seija's . Then we headed to Blue Route , our usual movie spot, to watch "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby" with Jamie K. The film had funny parts but wasn't too great.

Tapio, M&H's friend, has been busy the last few weeks stripping and then re-doing our sauna. It was finally ready enough for it to be used over the weekend. I went in last night with Matias and then Milja. Having a pool is great because even though the water is not too cold anymore (thank goodness!!), the temperature difference is great enough to work as intended.

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Got caught by a red light

Busted!

This was me driving through Cape Town on the morning I went to get Milja from the airport, October 1st. Heikki just sent me the photos which he receieved this morning.

The fine is 500 Rand, about £45, so not too bad, but it certainly is stupid! I can't remember going through the red light - it must have been one of those that you think you can make but you just don't get there in time before it changes.

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Bride for the day

More photos at Zooomr

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Guests

Minna's parents and Heikki's mum arrived in Cape Town this morning. Minna and India went to collect them from the airport at about 10am. I think they are here for around 2 weeks and it will be good to show them places they haven't been to. Raija and Ervo were here last November and know the area somewhat already. India has been excited all week saying that Mummi, Ukki ja Mummu tulee!!

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Hour Game

I just finished reading Hour Game by David Baldacci. Raija bought it for me last Christmas. It is a great book about a small town and a series of linked murders ("A deadly serial killer says it's time to play"). At 400 pages, it is quite a long book, but the story has great description and lots of action to keep you very interested. A recommended read if you like action/thriller/murder mystery books.

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We Fought The Water And The Water Won

Today we were woken up by Heikki at 6:30 rather than the usual 7am. We could hear drips coming from outside the house, as well as from the plastic sheeting hanging just outside of our window and the rain on the pool. From the bedroom door it was possible to see the extent of what was to happen for the next 3 hours.

The roof is still off and we have temporary sheeting, as usual. The builders haven't been on site since last Thursday, so it entirely possible that some sheeting had come loose or was not placed properly intially. There were bad leaks in the dining room above the stairs, and in the corner of the lounge. While Milja got ready I helped Heikki and Minna to try and withstand the water running into and through the house.

By the time M&M left for school, there were also leaks in the kitchen through a light fixing and by the patio doors to the back. Cue two hours of rinsing and replacing towels, running around with buckets to catch new and changing drips and getting soaked in the process. I think we must have had about 10-15 towels going constantly with three major spots to tend to, and new puddles forming whenever we were too late to rinse the towels. Heikki and I were in our swimming shorts.

I think that's called a torrent

At about 8:30, Minna, Heikki and I were in the lounge attending to the largest leak, where water was rushing through and down the wall, over the window and splashing on the floor (see photo above). Suddenly I heard Minna gasp and a strange ripping sound, followed by a large splash, as water started coming out from the wall. A pouch in the paint seemed to form, containing the water from above. The sofa and surrounding area was wet and we scurried to contain the large flow of water.

It's coming out the wall!

Heikki started calling round the other Finnish households in Hout Bay to come help, as we were starting to tire after two hours of non-stop rinsing and rushing around. Four extra people came to help out, including our cleaner Joyce who was at work at one of the houses.

At about 9:30am, the rain had slowed enough that we were able to start drying areas. The builders came to add extra plastic sheeting to the roof and we finally had it under control.

We had leaks in the kitchen, above the patio doors, the lounge, above M&H's bedroom door, M&H's bedroom, Matias' room (x2), above the stairs (which made a puddle all the way over to our bedroom) and in our bathroom. Not much fun for a morning when I was hoping to lie in! My hands are red raw from all the hours of rinsing towels and we now have a dehumidifier to try and get rid of the dampness. We just treated ourselves to take-away pizza from Primi.

Leaking into our room

Matias' bed

Matias's cupboard

Relaxing

Cleaning up

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Wicked Weekend

I'm sitting at M&H's work (at a different desk than normal). Tired again, happy we had another good weekend.

Friday we went out to Claremont , our local spot. We went out at about 6ish to get some dinner. We went to Mombasa in Cavendish, but it took them so long to get our order that we left after getting our drinks, some of the group going to Primi for food, while Milja and I popped to McDonald's to save money! Afterwards we went to Tin Roof and Stones . Felix, our Claremont buddy, was there again - 4 of us went with him to get a pie in his tiny car with an even smaller steering wheel! We left at about 12:30, took the girls home and Jamie K, Milja, Baker and I slept at Sean's.

Saturday was braai day at Sean's . It was a gorgeous day, very hot. Sean and Roxi spent loads on food and I was chef. We lazed by the pool, ate and had a great time.

Heikki returned from his trip to Japan on Saturday. He came back through Singapore. Milja received a phone call while we were at Sean's from Minna saying we should come home for some goodies. Desperate Housewives 2 and a external hard drive were waiting for us. I have been looking for a hard drive as my computer was getting rather clogged up with music and photos. Heikki also got Lost season 2.

Milja and I returned home and slept for a few hours late afternoon. We decided to stay in in the evening too and we watch Desperate Housewives. The others went out to Jess' party and then to Jamie's.

Yesterday was Wheely Day at the school - activities and fun with wheels. There were lots of people and things to do. The guys were behind stalls and running games, and looked a bit worse for wear after two nights out and a 10am start!

Afterwards we went to hang at Jamie's then everyone went home at about 5pm. Quite a quiet day by our standards, but that's good for a Sunday.

Last night I helped Milja die her hair. She has gone a dark-mid brown with a slight red hint maybe. I can't really remember :P I'll post a photo when I take one.

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Turbo on the run

Turbo ran away last night! I think the gate was left ajar/loose when Minna, Heikki and India went to collect Matias from Seija's house and when they returned Matias couldn't see Turbo. Milja and I were inside watching Desperate Housewives. Matias was quite upset and was worrying the worst for Turbo. In the morning though, Matias bounded in saying that Turbo had returned in the middle of the night. I reckon he went to see his mates in Mandela Park, where he was originally found. We are all glad he is back!

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Status renewed

I just received an e-mail from the Student Office at EVTEK saying that I have been re-accepted back as a student and my status will be renewed. Great news.

Last month I had an e-mail saying that I had resigned from EVTEK after I failed to register as present or absent this term. The matter was sent to the Vice President, along with a letter and my grades from last year, whose decision it was to decide whether I was allowed back in. Thankfully I can return to Finland next summer knowing I can go back in to my second year in August.

Many thanks to Raija who went in to and phoned EVTEK numerous times to help sort this out.

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Roof Update

Minna and I climbed up to the roof yesterday to see the progress.

The sauna downstairs is also getting a make-over.

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Craft

I have spent today making pretty little envelopes for the Thank You cards for the wedding. They are very late now, our organisation hasn't been too good! But the cards and envelopes are now made, all we need is addresses and for some of them still to be written in.

Just chatting with Janne on MSN. Haven't talked to him for about a month. Apparently John quit Evtek! I could see it coming.

I did my weeks worth of Java yesterday so I am free again until Monday. I only had some of the textbook to read and to go through a simple exercise. I did an extra Quiz and did rather poor, 71%. But I did another quiz from the same chapter and got 100%.

Going out to Peddlars tonight like we did last Wednesday. It wasn't too fun last week, a bit boring, so hopefully it will be better this time around. They are renovating so they have a limited menu which is a pain. But of course it's still top-notch food.

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Human Clock

This is a fun site. Every minute is represented with a photo...

Blog post made at



www.humanclock.com

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Missing and Reminiscing

I miss Finland. I lived there for 21 months and it feels like home. I miss it more than I missed England when I moved there nearly two years ago (although I obviously missed the people).

Last night we receieved a long text message from Laura. She has started new job recently at Nokia (she has a "@nokia.com" e-mail address, cool!) and is missing us and the regular movie/food nights we had. Ditto :)

We haven't spoken to many of the people in Finland since we came to Africa. It's a shame as they we saw some people almost every day and now we have little or no contact.

Just looking at the weather, today's temperature in Helsinki has a maximum of 10 degrees, so it is well on it's way for winter. I think it will cross over the 0 deg mark in mid-November time. It's sad thinking we won't be able to see snow, ski, or sledge (good times!) for another year. But we came here for a different living experience and we are getting it so we are definitely making the most of being here.

A map of our Finland...

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Weekend

Again, we had quite a busy and fun weekend.

Friday
We both were at home during the day. In the evening we went with the usual crew to Claremont . We got there just in time for Milja and I to get a quick "eat to bite" (hehe) at McDonald's before it shut. It was packed out but we still had a good time. It was extremely hot inside and we were all sweating dancing and singing our hearts out for a few hours.

Saturday
Saturday was reasonably quiet. We took Sean with us to Cavendish for a few hours at around lunch time. It has to be one of my favourite malls. There is a lovely cafe/restaurant called Mobasa, where we went to last Sunday. We went home at about 3pm via Sean's . We then went back to Sean's for the evening at about 5pm for dinner with Roxi, Charlotte, Sean and his mum and brother. The girls had cooked. It was alright :P

In the evening we headed out to Claremont (again), where we met up with Jamie B. We made friends with a guy called Felix (we think) who said his granddad invented Felix the Cat. We didn't know who that was, but we belived him, until later he said he was joking. Jamie B gave us a huuuge fright after he'd driven home and phoned saying he'd been kicked out of the house, but he then arrived back in Claremont laughing his head off and saying his Dad had let him stay out for a few more hours. Claremont was pretty dead for a Saturday night and we left earlier than usual and headed to Sean's to sleep.

Sunday
We woke up at Sean's, and planned to go to the beach as it was a lovely day. In the morning we went down into Hout Bay to have breakfast at a cafe owned by Sean's mum's ex-fiancee. We also popped into the pet shop to play with the hamsters and look at the kitten/puppy pictures up for adoption... very tempting!! We went back to Sean's for a bit, before Milja and I took the car home and got changed while Sean and Roxi went to Roxi's, and Charlotte went home to change.

Jamie K and B came round later and picked us up. We went to Camps Bay , a beach for the beautiful people, according to Heikki and Minna's colleague Win. It was great fun, quite warm and the waves were crazy big and unpredictable. Jamie K, Jamie B, Charlotte and I braved the cold sea and had lots of fun, while Sean, Roxi and Milja sunbathed. We were given a very funny presentation from a beach seller, then went to Llandudno as it was too windy at Camps Bay. The water is much colder at Llandudno, even though it is on the same coast, just 10 minutes away. We didn't stay there long either, and went back up to Sean's.

At about 5ish the girls and Jamie B left, leaving me, Sean, Jamie K and Milja. We didn'have much to do, but eventually we were playing with Harrison's new BB gun. We invented some games and were shooting into the neck of a bottle from about 10 metres. Very hard, but Milja did it twice! I have a few bruises dotted around on my body fro our game of being running targets, but they don't hurt anymore :)

At about 7pm we decided to see a film and went to Blue Route where it costs only 14 Rand (about a pound). We saw Click, which is one of the most powerful films I've ever seen, as well as being a comedy. Crazily good film, highly recommended. Go see it! We came home around 10pm and watched Will and Grace then went to bed, very tired.

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A day at home, pizza and Tepee night

Yesterday, Milja woke up and could hardly speak. She was quite ill. There was no way she was going to go to school so we stayed home together and watched DVDs and napped.

The evening before a few of us went to Peddlars where we sat for a bit and Jamie K chatted to his 'girlfriend' (complicated). The England game was on so we left after about 30 minutes to get chicken burgers (two for 20 Rand!) and then to Sean's to watch the second half. What a pathetic performance. Worse than Saturday's?

Anyway, yesterday Heikki returned from New Orleans, and our Amazon package finally arrived!, my Java course book included. Also, series 7 of Will and Grace, which we have been watching today. In the evening we ordered pizza from Papino's (my fave place in Hout Bay), and had a "Tepee" night, watching the new Hitchcock that came in the parcel, "The Trouble With Harry". Tepee is a word India made up for a DVD/film.

Milja stayed at home again today, although would have liked to go in, as she would prefer to recover quickly rather than go to school and prolong her illness. She is still very croaky and sniffly, but all together on the mend.

We made a trip to the Post Office earlier to post my application to CPUT for January. If I don't get in, then we have to pay 1,700 EUR to the South African Embassy as it was a clause for me getting my temporary visa from Finland.

It is rather hot today. We were outside earlier lying in the trampoline and playing monopoly card game and I was mega hot when I came in.

Our sauna has been ripped out by Heikki's friend Tapio (a fellow Finn), and he is round now to lay the tiles for the new sauna they are installing. The old one was apparently pathetic compared to Finnish (the 'original') standards.

Milja is now doing homework, and I am attempting to install the programs necessary for my Java course which starts properly on Monday.

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Visitor map

I don't have much to write at the moment... so here's another image.

It's a map of the visitors to this site since the beginning of September.... a huge spread. 34% of visits come from America.

More stats here.

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Goggles

I just came across this really fun mash-up of Google Maps, Goggles. You can fly a plane around the earth, the moon or mars. You can even use space bar to shoot bombs :)

Here's a picture of me flying over central Helsinki (one of the preset cities).

Give it a go yourself - Goggles

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Sick

It is spring here, summer is definitely on it's way, but with the change of seasons has come a wave of illness. I woke up at Sean's last Tuesday with a raw and hurting throat, which I have had since on and off. I also gained a cough over the weekend which is still hovering around, and a cold. Milja is having it a bit rough too. Last night I was awoken at 2am to get Milja some painkillers. She is not well today but has gone to school to be at a presentation the MUN group are making to the rest of the school about their trip to Jo'burg. Jamie K had a bad cold towards the end of last week, and Sean was off school ill on Monday and still sounds gruff.

Here's to being healthy for the summer!

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Leak

With the roof nearly off - tiles and slats are off from one side - and with some heavy rain over the weekend, we had some quite large leaking yesterday morning. It seems that the sheeting had shifted in the wind, allowing water to drip through ceiling fans and light fixings, as well as down walls and onto beds (Minna's !).

Drips through the light fixing.... yum

Minna's bathroom ceiling

The problem - you can see right through!

Our temporary roof

It looks as though this week, when the rest of the roof will come off, and the builders start building the new roof, the weather will be sunny and warm.

Scaffolding is going up right now and I can hear loud bangs. Cement and bricks are being passed upwards from outside the kitchen. I'm looking forward to when there aren't 10 or so builders in the garden and it's quiet again :)

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Safari

On Sunday we woke up at 6am. Milja and I had crawled into bed about 3 hours earlier after being out in Claremont! We were off to Aquila Safari, a game reserve about 2 hours North-East from Cape Town.

We left at about 6:40am after a bit of a struggle with India. She was a tad ratty, I guess because from being woken up so early. I drove as Minna had to take care of India, Milja and India slept, with Matias and Sinekaya in the back (Heikki is in America).

The drive up was quite eventful. It was raining hard as we drove through and out of Cape Town. We were in a bit of a hurry as we had to be at the safari no later than 9am. We drove through a loooong tunnel, had to wait about 5-10mins at traffic lights (they were re-tarmacking a ridiculously long part of the road so it took ages for the lights to change), got overtaken by, then overtook (!), a fire engine, went past the burning car that the fire engine was 'racing' to, and then we got a bit anxious as we thought we'd gone too far (we had no clue where we were) past the safari and had to call Tapio (M&H's friend) for help. Nevertheless, the scenery in the countryside is amazing - lots of hills, valleys and open areas, constantly changing. We arrived at just past 9am.

Once safely in the game reserve, we were given a free drink and shown around the different buildings. The place was really nice. There were a few building including a restaurant and offices, a pen with lynx in, a pond where 4 crocodiles lived, a swimming pool, cheetahs and lots of cool-looking chalets and huts where it is possible to stay. We had about 15 minutes to eat our (free) breakfast - a large buffet - and then we were off out to the jeeps.

The jeeps had space for about 9 people plus the driver and the guide in the front. We set off and immediately saw some hippos bathing in a reservoir. First time I've seen hippos (that I can remember anyway). It was very very windy out on the open areas, meaning it was necessary to wrap up in the provided fleeces. Minna and India had about 5 fleeces (their own included)on them, they looked much warmer than me in my shorts! We drove to an ancient rock painting (2,500 years old), past springbok, rhinos, a giraffe and through the lion enclosure - they have been separated from the rest of the reserve so they don't eat everything :) We then went past some younger lion cubs and some zebra, then headed back to the complex. It took us about 2 hours to go all the way around.

We drove past the complex and we wondered where we were going. We were on our way to the elephants, who were in a different area, a large pen. nearer the entrance. We stopped, got out of the jeeps and fed/stroked the elephants, who were African, and quite small. I don't know if they were fully grown or not. The elephant keeper said that they can understand different commands, similar to dogs, although not as many. We had a good time watching them as people fed them with fruit and vegetables.

After this we were taken back to the complex, where we relaxed for a bit, Milja and I stroked the cheetahs (over 16s only) and we waited for lunch to be ready. There was another large buffet at 12:30, which filled me up a treat. The food was really good. After eating we went outside briefly to look at the crocodiles. We left at about 1:50pm for home, Minna driving this time, giving me the chance to doze off listening to Minna's iPod in the back.

I'm not sure the day was worth the 800-odd Rand (about £65) price, but the food must have contributed to a considerable part of it. It was a lovely day, I'm sure it would be amazing in the summer without the wind and with some sun. We were a bit disappointed with the amount of animals we saw, maybe we were hoping for it to be more like a zoo with animals everywhere, but in all I enjoyed myself and I think everyone else did too.

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Photolog

Some photos from the past week

More photos at Zooomr

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Back to regular

We had an awesome 9 days. We didn't sleep in our own bed for 4 nights running (3 at Sean's then 1 at Jamie's). We were with friends almost constantly (maybe a few hours during the week on our own). We had amazing weather. We played table tennis. We wheel-span on a wet road. We had a brilliant barbeque and a pathetic 4-burger no-buns eat-with-your-fingers barbeque. We hurt ourselves jumping on the sand dunes. We had take-away. We had our roof ripped off. We surfed in the rain and with jelly fish. We went on safari in the wind. We played Fifa for hours on end. We ate out. We went shopping. We went out to Claremont until the early hours (twice). We went to the airport. We test-ate burgers for Charlotte's mum's new restaurant. We drove hundreds of kilometres. We talked to strange homeless car stewards. We went to a casino. We had a brilliant time.

And now it's time for school and online courses.

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Untitled

We are not dead, just having a lot of fun with friends this holiday week.

Out on safari tomorrow with the family, then school starts bright and early on Monday.

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It's holiday time

It's great now that everyone is off school. Days are free-er and I am not lonely at home.

Yesterday, Milja, Jamie B, Charlotte and I went to Muizenberg to surf. The waves were not great - there was one every 10 metres or so, so they were close, and quickly followed one another. I went further out than normal at one point and managed to catch one very powerful wave right onto the sand in the beach, was tres fun as usual

There were jellyfish there yesterday. Milja and Charlotte had said they'd seen some while Jamie and I were at the car at some point (we didn't really believe them). But as we got out, we saw 3 huge transparent blobs floating onto the shore. I think they were dead as they didn't move and it looked like they had once had tentacles. Needless to say we didn't venture back in to the sea.

Afterwards we headed to Jamie's which is nearly just up the road. We stayed there for a while, then all went to Constantia Village for some lunch at Primi (again, very nice place). We then went to Charlotte's so she could change (we chatted to her mum about the new restaurant she is opening soon - we are invited over tomorrow night to test-eat her menu!!), then went to Jamie B's to drop off his surf board.

We then missioned it to Hout Bay, to the sand dunes , where we stayed for a while, jumping around, taking photos and videos, until the sun went down.

Sean had been in Jo'burg and he came home at about 10pm, by which time we had been out to collect Baker from his house. We went to Sean's for the evening, played Fifa and slept. It was a good day.

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Pink for October

The site has taken on a slight hint of pink. I am taking part in Pink for October, a campaign where websites change the colour scheme to pink for the month of October in order to promote Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

PinkForOctober.org

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