Tag: kids

Southeast Gauteng Trip – Part 2 of 4 (Harties Cableway)

Offering panoramic views from the top of the Magaliesberg Mountains, Harties Cableway was our next destination. Thankfully, the somewhat overcast weather burned-off lending us hope and excitement for the views to come.

After a nail-biting ascent (Deanna) we reached the top of the mountain. We walked around finding a pizza joint -always a favourite (Jimmy) and a well placed playground got some mileage (Claire & Rhys). It’s safe to say that the playground may own the best view of any playground anywhere!

Having spent an hour at the peak running amuck, getting sun baked and snapping photos we felt spent. We then made our descent to start our drive to the more educational Southeast region of Gauteng Province.

.

1

2

3

4

5

Jimmy channeling his inner Fabio:6 8

9

10

11 13 14

16

17

18Tired monkeys enroute to our next destination:19

Southeast Gauteng Trip – Part 1 of 4 (Elephant Sanctuary)

In a past blog entry we profiled the monkey sanctuary located in Hartbeespoort. That particular visit to this area was a short one and we quickly realized there was a lot to do in this town. A resort nearby had a skatepark and that roused curiosity, an elephant sanctuary promised pachyderm interactivity and a UNESCO Heritage site were both close by. The Cradle of Humankind certainly sounded scientifically intriguing. With this all summed up, we started planning an eager return trip.

Our Jo’burg doctor recommended staying on site at the elephant sanctuary as opposed to staying elsewhere. She praised her own experience doing more with the elephants as a result of sleeping there. Although it did end up nice for us, it turned out we were the ONLY guests on our specific night of stay. This meant our customary “fend for ourselves” style got overwhelmed by over eager (tip-hungry) employees. Shrugging off our keen staffers we settled into our sundowner drinks and met our guide. After a walk up some breathless hillside stairs we earned our reward; for the adults a nice view of the Magaliesberg Mountains, for the kids blowing bubbles in their water glasses through “elephant trunks” (straws). Prior to sunset we dined at a fire-lit Boma meal which was nice but the kids’ patience wore thin due to the long day so we called it a night.

We woke the next day for breakfast then onto the touted elephant activities; a brush down, a trunk-held walk around, feeding, and learning all about them. It was a fulfilling two hours albeit Claire and Rhys did scare at times due to the elephants overwhelming size. We enjoyed our time at the elephant sanctuary and we were excited for our next stop on our three day adventure…..

. ..

Flea market enroute to The Elephant Sanctuary1 2

3

4

Hiking to have sundowner drinks on our overcast arrival day:5 6 7Dinner at the Boma:8

9 10 11

12

13

14yes – the elephant scared me. It kept moving around and these things are huge!15

16A scared Claire only barely lasted the ‘hand hold’ walk:17Rhys hiding under our bags partially due to Claire’s response:18 19 20Feeding the elephants:21

Claire’s stamina held while Rhys’ waned:22

Tunney Industrial Area

Prior to being a terrain-hungry skateboarder, urban industrial areas attracted my attention. As a child my Mom would take me to greasy spoon restaurants in these areas. I think she liked the early-hour start and hustle and bustle of it all.

Recently while scouting around, I discovered a massive dump truck bed that had just been manufactured. It lay lonesome on the roadside awaiting transport to its buyer. I can only imagine the cost of it; as monstrous as its size I’m sure. Taking mental note of the location I promised myself I’d bring the kids back to check it out. Like most boys, Rhys loves trucks and machinery. Claire enjoys them too. Our visit was obviously a hit!
.
Manufacturers website: http://efficient.co.za/
.
– Jimmy
1
2
3
4
5
6

Art on Four – family funday!

As we’ve mentioned in previous blog posts, we drive A LOT here in Jo’burg. On our travels we often pass an art studio that appears too cool not to visit. Unfortunately, every call we’ve placed ends up unanswered or with no booking spots available. Not this time though!

Art on One is a unique place for families where you paint for social fun rather than instruction. You pay by canvas size and are given two hours to complete your painting, drink coffee, eat treats or go outside and play on their great playground.

It turned out to be a beautiful and warm sunny day for our visit. Claire & Rhys love being creative so we knew this would be a big hit with them. Jimmy even joined in the painting fun. We spent a very fun and leisurely two hours painting several canvases, leaving us plenty of time to run around outside with the kids while the paint dried. What a great Saturday!

..

1

2

3

4

5 6 7

8

10

11

12 13 14 15 16 17

18 19

Gold Reef City

When it comes to family fun time, a visit to a traditional amusement park is near the bottom of our to-do list. The thought of enduring long line-ups and rude people, etc. is not appealing to us.
.
Recently, my company’s CEO showed me pictures of HIS visit to a local park and it looked really fun, in contrast to our preconceptions. Knowing he brought his daughter and she enjoyed the rides coaxed us into giving it a go.
..
Built upon an old mine site, Gold Reef City offers a glimpse into history as well as traditional amusement. Restored older buildings still stand, mine shafts can still be toured and a museum touts vintage equipment, etc. Nestled between all the education are rides suited for both the tame and the daring. An adjoining little kids area proved perfect for avoiding energetic hordes of thrill-seekers. The line-ups were manageable and although Claire & Rhys were timid at first they ended up having a lot of fun testing out rides just their size… even a roller-coaster. Our kids are becoming quite courageous in their adventuring! We imagine we’ll end up visiting Gold Reef City again as the kids sure enjoyed it –maybe even as much as us adults.
1
2
3
4
5 6
Best Friends:7 8
9 10 11 12
13
14 15 [wpvideo hXWV4j3L]
18
19
20
21
Rhys and his many funny faces:22 23
24 25 26
Claire tired & ready for a break:
2829
31
32
33
34 36 37 38 39

Bunny Park, Benoni

Recently, we read about a park full of bunnies that was in the nearby suburb of Benoni. It was a nice warm day when we visited and although we weren’t completely impressed by the park itself, the kids did have fun with all of the bunnies and we had some good play time. It made for a solid weekend adventure.

Its always nice to find more public parks to visit that are relatively safe.

1

2

3 4 5

6

7

Morninghill Green Park

In South Africa the fear of the unknown is always present. Many Johannesburg neighborhoods go so far as to block of certain roads that lead into their areas. They’ll hire a security guard who monitors the one singular main entrance exclusively, taking down license plate numbers, etc. Seeing as this pooling of funds and hiring of security is often privately done, it makes for lots of unmarked dead-ends and unexpected U-turns while driving around. One day, we noticed an unmanned gate and opted to drive in without ill intention. We left without incident after a nice walk. It was very pretty and very quiet and we made some nice conversation with the other people who also chose to stroll on this day.

 

2

3

4