Today was like a day in paradise. I swam with penguins, enjoyed the sun, jumped off the jetty, held a baby penguin, watched the sunset with a glass of wine and the largest Cape Gannet colony, and settled down with a hearty vegetarian stir fry..
Little baby penguin
Sunset over the gannets
I’m back on a penguin island, for the last time ever! Quite a bittersweet feeling. As a homage to this fact, today was the most perfect day that I’ve ever had on Bird Island, Port Elizabeth. The sea was like glass on the trip over, the wind was calm, the sun was warm. I swam with penguins, tanned, and tonight I will watch the sunset from over the gannet colony.
Calm sea as far as I can see
Catching some sun
Baby penguins right next to the house
I didn’t not post because I had no great moments. I literally didn’t have the time to write something! Unfortunately I also didn’t take any pictures to commemorate my awesome last three days, so I’ll use what I have at my disposal!
Saturday I joined my friend MJ at his end of year function at Long Ridge wine farm in Stellenbosch. It was a stunner of a day – almost too hot – but the ice cold wine helped with that! After the lunch we fetched his dog, Lucy, and headed to the lookout point at Gordons Bay. Following all that, we were all set to watch Planet Earth, but subsequently fell asleep in front of the TV.
The dress I wore to the function
Sunday started off great. It was another amazing day and MJ and I headed to Strand for a Belgian waffle breakfast! After that we headed out to Cheetah Outreach to go look and learn about the work they do. We then went back to his complex where we enjoyed the pool facilities and the sunshine. Then it was time for him to attend a family member’s birthday, and I tagged along. I was pretty exhausted by the time I got home!
Today I tackled the looooong 9 hour drive from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth. Tomorrow I’m heading to Bird Island for fieldwork. I made it in one piece, and went for a stroll/jog around the neighbourhood. Now I’m back at the B&B, relaxing under the ceiling fan, and enjoying my king-size bed!
Me and my giant bed
When the parents are away, the sisters will play. Pizzas and ice lollies were on the menu for tonight. Binge watching tv is on the short list of activities. Lazy Fridays are the best Fridays.
I didn’t intend for this blog to be about food, but I guess food makes me super happy all the time.
Here I have a grand creation of a loaded sweet potato. It consists of crispy roasted chickpeas smothered in cinnamon and paprika, a tomato and red onion salsa with some lemon juice and basil, topped with a hummus garlic sauce.
This is goodness.
I’m just going to leave this sunset right here:
What a weekend. Wow. Much needed.
Six of us went to my family’s house on Touwsberg Private Game Reserve. We ate amazing potjiekos and lasagne, had gin and tonics, frolicked in a natural spring, and a photo shoot, fed some mountain zebras, played games, and had some interesting conversation.
These people are my soul people.
After contemplating my financial situation vs my FOMO, I decided to meet up with Courtney and some girls for some Moroccan cuisine at Rick’s Cafe Americain. Turns out I made the right decision! The wine was great, the company was great, and my stuffed Aubergine with cous-cous was out of this world!
Having a rooftop table with a slight view of Table Mountain was a bonus.
The support I’ve gotten from family members after deciding to go vegetarian has been abysmal. Luckily my friends are awesome souls, and tonight three of us got together for an amazing vegetarian dinner. Nothing beats a girl’s night!
We had roasted cauliflower and sedate seed “wings”, with some creamy cheesy mushrooms and roast veg. Followed by chocolate wrapped in puff pastry. Accompanied with wine of course!
Another highlight was when Nick showed up right at the end of the night. Always a treat.
Wine, crispy cauliflower and creamy mushrooms
Dark chocolate wrapped in puff pastry. So yum!
Veggie friends!
With December holidays only a month away, I have a lot to look forward to: in exactly a month me and four of my best friends will be flying to Jakarta, Indonesia for a three week backpacking roadtrip holiday across Java and Bali.
I can’t wait!
a single moment of happiness 