Chandler's Overseas

Harrison has started to giggle.....

A day after dropping Jackie & Stu at the airport, we returned to collect our next visitor- Phil. This visit Phil had a new family member to meet! We had a fun few days with Phil in town enjoying yummy food, the obligatory dom pedro's, and also doing some sight seeing. We spent one day exploring the historic town of Grahamstown and game viewing at Addo. Grahamstown was founded in 1812 as a military garrison by the British Government. British settlers arrived soon after resulting in the construction of many historic buildings. The city has the look of an English country town, excluding the local inhabitants! The most prominent of buildings is the Cathedral of St Michael and St George whose spire dominates the city skyline (it is the tallest spire in South Africa). The city is now known for the well reputed Rhodes University. Cathedral in Grahamstown We also saw a few more of the local sights in Port Elizabeth. We visited the Red Location museum which is based in the township of...

Knysna and the surrounding hinterland On Wednesday Jackie, Stu, Harrison & Jen travelled 2 ½ hrs along the Garden Route to Knysna for the night. Knysna is located on the northern shore of a large lagoon, fed by the Knysna River. The lagoon opens to the ocean after passing between two sandstone cliffs, known as The Heads. On the south-western side of the lagoon lies Belvidere, a quaint and immaculate English style village. With a beautiful Norman-style church, expanses of luscious grass parkland and numerous white picket fences it was the perfect spot for a feed for Harrison and where Jackie & Stu could meander. A visit to the local Mitchell's brewery could also not be missed whilst in Knysna. The ale and stout were voted as favourites so we took a travellers pack home with us for the working Pete! Other sight seeing included: - visiting the lookout on the Eastern Head; - seeing the spectacular stretch of beach at Brenton-on-Sea where the fynbos covered hills fall into th...

September saw a bonus return visit from Jackie & Stu to see a growing Harrison. Last year they booked a holiday to Europe prior to Jen becoming pregnant. Fortunately they could rearrange their flights to travel via South Africa to squeeze in an extra visit to see Harrison. Although the visit was only for 6 days, we managed to spend a day game viewing at Addo and also visited Knysna on the Garden Route.

With baby sitters in town, we enjoyed dinner together at De Kelder's to celebrate our 2nd wedding anniversary. For entree we ate bruschetta, a smoked salmon & rosti stack and for mains enjoyed delicious tender steaks. A surprisingly good meal by restaurant standards for PE! (In August we celebrated 10 years of being together. 2 years of marriage seemed to pail into insignificance compared to being together for 10 years!)

Mum, Dad, Harrison & I spent a day game viewing at Addo. We saw a herd of elephants about 1km from a big waterhole so decided to have our picnic lunch in the car overlooking the waterhole. Within 20 minutes, 50+ elephants had converged onto the waterhole and were soon strolling amongst us! Harrison was eager to also have a look at the massive animals. It was a beautiful spring day which made for perfect conditions to view game. Pa & Harrison spotting game A buffalo getting groomed by birds Picnic lunch overlooking a waterhole Harrison excited by the elephants close by! The leopard tortoise

We had a wonderful 2 ½ weeks with Ian & Julie- so grateful that they came to visit their newest grandchild. Harrison loved the extra cuddles & attention he received during their stay. Whilst at home we would find Ian nestled in the ‘day-room’ on the sofa overlooking the constant activities of the harbour. Each night he would report to Pete the daily happenings and anything interesting of note in the harbour. This earned Ian the title of ‘Senior Habour Master’! Where Ian could be found when in the house! Some photo's of Ian & Julie's whilst exploring the sights of PE... I&J strolling through the church ruin's in front our house Vovo Telo- the devine cafe & bakery in Richmond Hill Donkin Reserve