It's been a long time since I last posted anything to my blog and since we are in a new year – I felt that it is as good an excuse as any to post another and make it a bit more current.

Firstly, to all my readers, Happy New Year! I hope you and yours will have a good one. I came home for Christmas – that is, I visited my family in Africa, and when I said say family, I mean ALL of them, and that is a lot. My neice got married and family and friends flocked from near and far to celebrate the marriage. The venue was simply awesome. I was able to join the festivities because my brother and his wife very kindly bought my air-tickets.

After the wedding we went back to my parents home and celebrated Christmas. Having been away from family for as long as I have, it is such a good feeling to be amongst them again. As I write, I sit on the deck of a beautiful beach home on the South Coast of KwaZulu-Natal. Yesterday we went to see a sight that I had not expected – a place called Oribi Gorge (which is near Port Shepstone). It is a most beautiful place. It is hard to capture in words the breathtaking views that we saw. However, as beautiful as it is, it is also incredibly nerve-wrecking. I am not sure of the depth of the gorge, but it is easily in excess of 100 m. I have been told that it is in fact nearer 300 m. and there is a sheer drop to the bottom. Introduce three little children who have a tendency to wander away from their parents and others who tempt fate by walking right up to the edge and you can get the picture. I am not that courageous – a 'cautious George' – only approached the edge on all fours and I lay flat on my stomach to peer over the edge. I never knew this place existed until yesterday.

Spending time at the coast we have of course been down to the beach. A couple of days before I got to the beach, my brother and his family went down. They were on the beach and were exploring in rock-pools – all of a sudden my brother heard a scream from his youngest (2 ½ years) and the rock-pool in which he was paddling had turned blood red. He had cut is foot on a piece of broken glass in the rock-pool. There was a very long laceration extending from just below his little toe and it required 13 stitches. How sad that someone else's thoughtlessness had to spoil my nephew's and his family's holiday.

Not to finish off on a sour note – my holday draws to a close and I gear up to go home, I will be sad to say goodbye, but I am comforted by the thought that back in England, I have friends who are looking forward to seeing me again.and I know that we will be doing many fun things together.