Welcome Ruben Gouws

It is a great privilege to announce that there was once again another boy added to the Gouws family. Mrs G is now not only the mother of 4 sons, but the grandmother of 4 grandsons. It seems like the Gouws family name is pretty strong at this stage, maybe this is just the beginning of greater things, who knows a super race might not be so far fetched. Congratulations to the proud parents Hennie & Carinne, may you still manage to sleep every now and then.

Another house, another housewarming

This past Saturday evening we eventually celebrated my relocation to Johannesburg. The dress code rule was to wear what someone of your current age would have worn in 1987. This produced a couple of interesting sights, but I have to say Marinda won by far. Here are a few incriminating pictures….

Black Eyed Peas

Another generous supplier gave me tickets to the Black Eyed Peas concert held at Nasrec. I couldn’t be rude and say no, so me and some friends went to check out the show. It turned out to be a spectacular show and I didn’t realize what a cool stage personality Fergie has. We boogied till late, and had to drive over a sidewalk to get out, but luckily we were driving a very capable rental car.

A night at the opera

Me and a couple of my culture vulture friends went to see the William Kentridge Magic Flute at the Civic in Johannesburg last week Thursday. I had some reservations as I tend to fall asleep in these kind of things. I was very impressed with the production, the décor and music was magnificent and the way the Kentridge art was displayed in a magical manner was mind boggling. I can definitely recommend that anyone with an interest in performing art make a plan to go and watch this show.

Avela & Till tie the knot

I was privileged to have witnessed the marriage of my dear friends Avela and Till this past weekend in the Eastern Cape. It was truly a memorable occasion and a very pleasant weekend followed the wedding festivities.

The weekend started of with a marathon drive from Joburg, leaving in peak hour traffic and only arriving in Port Alfred at 4am Saturday morning after running over one of Bambie’s little brother’s or sisters outside Grahamstown. At that point in time my love for nature was somewhat distorted so we didn’t even stop to view the damage, just pursued to our final destination.

The wedding started at 12pm Saturday already so there was not much time to catch up on lost sleep spent on the road, but arriving late at the wedding was actually not a problem as the specified 12pm was actually 12pm African time which means the ceremony started at about 13:30 I think which does make a difference when you only slept a few hours after a 1000km journey. Nonetheless the wait was worth it. Avela pitched up with her bridesmaids looking absolutely stunning, barefoot on the beach meeting her German prince charming dressed in a suit with his springbok sandals.

After the beautiful ceremony lots of pictures were taken and the festivities started and carried on late into the night. Unfortunately we had to leave a very energetic party to hit the road once again as we had a 4 hour drive to Kurland Estate our accommodation for the rest of the weekend just outside Plettenberg Bay.

Kurland turned out to be one of the most idyllic places the South African tourism industry has to offer. Picture an English Country Estate where the rich and famous come to watch and play polo and enjoy high tea. This is the closest you’ll get to that south of the equator. Playing chess and backgammon in front of a fireplace . . .ok I think I want to go back there . . .

The newly weds

Me and Wendy

Kurland Estate

Quads at Kurland