And so our 2013 Gap Year travels come to an end…

Life is a journey …take the scenic route !

And we certainly did that. What an experience …what a privilege… to just be able to roam and experience so much beauty…without a worry or concern in the world. Thanks and due to our children holding the forts, my parents keeping an eye on things and assisting, Maré for taking full responsibility for the business and Mishke, Itumeleng making sure that everything kept ticking over and Bernd and Gitti for coming to stay for a while and helping to look after the house - in spite of a bicycling accident that left Gitti with a broken arm and surgery on the day that we left !

Beauty must be sought out, seen, consumed and if possible brought home.
Beauty is life enhancing.

Beauty we found …everywhere we went and in so many different forms.
In New Zealand and Australia the beauty was to be found in the forces and details of nature - so overwhelming at times that the insignificance of one's own existence became paramount, and just put life back into perspective.
In Europe and the UK beauty was to be found not only in nature, but also in the creativity and ingenuity of people throughout the ages, their mastery of the environment and their sense of aesthetics. How privileged we have been to be able to marvel at the masterpieces created so many centuries ago and thankful to those who have worked tirelessly to preserve the monuments of the past. Again one is in awe and so acutely aware that we are just a tiny blip on the continuum of life. Are we doing the same for future generations ?
On the darker side - the seemingly limitless cruelty of mankind cemented into the brick and mortar of all these impressive buildings, mainly basilica, cathedrals, churches, mosques, the eerie reminders of the 400 years of the Inquisition and their unimaginable torture methods. That groups of people are driven from lands that have been their home for more than 700 years ? How is it possible that so much pain and cruelty is inflicted in the name of religion and righteousness ? And so very sad, that there seems to be so little learning from history. So life goes on !
The thought often crossed my mind …what are tourists in 400 years going to say about us, our lifestyles, our intentions, our values ? And what are they going to use to interpret them and come to their conclusions ?

Experiencing the beauty of special forever friendships, new friends and wonderful hospitable people all along the way, gave the trip so much more significance and meaning - in the end it is all about special relationships :
Judy, Anton and Tayla in Melbourne
Dirk and Henriette Smit in Nelson, South Island New Zealand
Lyn and Simon Allen who joined us on our travels through North Island New Zealand Caylee Geldenhuys in Auckland


Graham and Gill Robertson in Auckland
The Geldenhuys Family over Easter in Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast
Karen our Servas host in Loulé, Algarve, Portugal
Heidrun (my cousin from Germany) and Dieter in Novo Sancti Petri, Spain
Christina and Greg Hewitt in Santorini - a very memorable 4 hours spent together
The Beckurts family on our sailing trip in Turkey - amazing dream come true !
The Griffith and Blagojevic Families in London and Edinburgh - no end spoiling !
Our first ever AirBnB hosts Margie and Paul in Bexhill East Sussex
Claudia, Paul, Dani, Enstia and Renato in Bristol - awesome tour guides !
Servas Hosts, Chris and Di Bell in Lanpeter, Ceredigion, Central Wales
Servas Hosts, Peter and Leslie, in Llandudno, Wales
Servas Hosts in Cupar, Fife, Scotland

And beauty we brought home ….in the form of literally thousands of photographs and the most amazing memories of so many magical moments all along the way. I can truly say that we only had awe-inspiring and magical moments and interactions with inspiring people - no negative experiences anywhere. Makes you realise that the world is actually a much more magnificent place, both in terms of places and people, than the media wish us to believe.

Beauty is life enhancing ….it is the elixir for contentment - that amazing gut-warming feeling that so surpasses the fleeting feelings of happiness. Throughout all our travels our belief was again reconfirmed, that we are extremely privileged and fortunate to be able to call Somerset West and Cape Town our home. For us this is the most beautiful and liveable part of the world - the whole package cannot be bettered anywhere. How wonderful to have experienced so much beauty and be able to come home appreciating our environment and especially our family even more (if that is even possible) ! Traveling is really easy when you know that a loving family, amazing friends and comfortable home are waiting for you. Then nothing is a problem !

The only sadness…. no Mishke at the gate waiting to welcome us. A big loss to our family ….what a blessing she was…such a scruffy little mite with a magically big heart…who abundantly shared her love …with whoever would give her those special titbits (Grandpa …I know you are smiling now!).

With extreme gratitude for the opportunity and the amazing life-changing experience we have been blessed with

Clint and Heike