Baden-Beer-League-Baseball Champs

Baden Baseball has never seen a team win the Championship three years in a row... 2007 will certainly be a year to remember, as the young guns, formed about 10yrs ago (now more like the middle aged guns) retained the championship. We squeaked thru the semi by beating the BrewJays. In a 2 game format with a plus minus cummulative runs, we were up by 8 runs after the first game and nearly lost the second game by the difference. it was the bottom of the 9th and we were tied... we scored 4 runs and held them to two.

In the final we played against The Bandits, a team that slaughtered us throughout the season, but in the 1st of a 3 game series we played spoiler by beating them 30-6... they didn't even show up... and then last night swept the series by beating them 17-9. oh a sweet victory over our arch rivals.

"The beer taste's good anytime, but that much better after a win", says our captain Paul, also known as Cito after the championship win.

Later R

Catch-up

Renos, Renos... Renos

Since I started a new job at Minnow Environmental we bought a character house on 52 Morris St, complete with a litter of 5 kittens (one named gulliver, that is now a part of our family). 52 Morris was a private deal thru the property guys, sold by Gino Marcone, son of Anthony, heir of the 52 Morris Estate, and transferred (possessed) on May 24 by S and R.

Since then ,we have been consumed by renovations... and have managed to work in sarah's graduational from her MSW, subsequent employment in Guelph and an amazing celebration of commitment to one another (also known as a wedding check out williambleick.com on June 9, 2007. Followed by work adventures to Nunavut and N. On. and more Renos.

Despite our busy lives, we managed to meet our Sept 1 deadline and have since completed Apartment B renos and found tenants... and will now complete our apartment (A), without strict deadlines but before the end of October...

We could go on in great detail describing the other parts of our lives and plan on posting our before and after photos of Apt B shortly.

We're back in Canucikstan

We are back in the cold north, actually based on the concerns for climate change (which is the most accurate term for what the general public refers to as "global warming"), we have welcomed the snow base and cold temperatures. Sarah is back at school and I am on the job hunt. Does anyone need an environmental scientist with a job in Guelph, Kingston, Yellowknife...

For those who are interested. We are having a party on February 3. Give us a call or email us to get in on the keg! See you in your favourite 20s pair of jeans and sweatshirt (we re celebrating Sarah's last year in her 20s; yes she's getting old).

Christmas Abroad

Ryan and I are in our last days of travelling before heading home. We are now in the Netherlands visiting my family in Friesland. As always, we feel right at home with family here, which is especially nice after being on the road for a few weeks. Since we missed Christmas with our families in Canada, I thought I would post a few pictures of how we spent the holiday abroad. Although we will not make it a habit to be away for Christmas, we were lucky enough to be in the company of friends and family over the last week. On the 23rd, we joined a very welcoming South African family for a braai (BBQ), before spending Christmas eve with a Canadian friend (Erica) who lives in Cape Town; to get into the spirit of the season, we cooked a nice meal, baked cookies and exchanged gifts with each other. Since we all have Dutch roots, we also ate some dropjes just to make the day official.

Erica and Ryan celebrating Christmas Eve

On Christmas morning, we ate a big breakfast and parted ways with Erica. Ryan and I made sure we were all set to depart later in the evening, before heading to Camp's Bay to share in another braai with more Canadians living abroad. Ryan and I walked in the ocean water along the beach for our last taste of warm weather and beautiful coastline before eating Christmas Day dinner around a table in our friends'backyard.

Christmas Day with the Turner's in Camp's Bay

Late that night we caught our 12-hour flight to Amsterdam where we were met by Afke and Luuk and whisked away to Friesland to spend the day at my Tante Baukje and Omke Theun's home in Hardegaryp. We met my new second cousin for the first time and were treated to a very lekker and gezellig family dinner. Yesterday Ryan and I biked to Garyp to visit my Pake and Beppe and other Haanstra familie. As we rode along the bike path, we commented on how lucky we are to be able to make a stop over here on our way home. We are making sure to soak up these few great days with family before heading home on the 31st. For those of you reading this in Canada (okay, Ontario), we look forward to seeing you soon.

Dinner with family on Boxing Day

Sarah and Ninke

Pake and Beppe's new home

Bulungula and Beyond

The highlights of our trip beyond kruger included a long drive through swaziland and a two day stay at Sodwana Bay. Swaziland is a tax free monarchy located within South African boarders in the northeast of the country. It is known to have a very low standard of living. Our brief impression of the country confirmed this but we also quickly observed its rural roots and found there to be less divide between the rich and poor, as much of the city centre had decent infrastructure with no "township areas" nearby. We spent a full day in Sodwana Bay and then embarked on a long, very long, drive to Bulungula lodge. (We will be updating the last few entries with photos, but for now check out the website as it is a place very dear to Sarah and I.)
The Eastern Cape, which includes the Transkei region is home to many of the people that have since moved to city centers including the Cape Town townships. Bulungula is situated in a small village within an area called the Wild coast which is still very rich in Xhosa culture. Bulungula is a community owned lodge which allowed us to become better acquainted with the Xhosa culture that we have learned about from the people at SAEP (Asanda in particular) and Ikamva. Although it rained for much of our time at Bulungula, we were able to relax and converse with many of the local people and the afrikaaners that frequent the wild coast for their holidays.
In an effort to minimize the potentially long drive (yes... we periodically learn from our previous mistakes) to Tsitsikama National Park, we stopped in Port Alfred and Jeffrey's Bay.
Tsitsikama NP was amazing. The camp ground was situated immediately on the coast and we enjoyed a couple of hikes over the two days. The highlight which was a hike that brought us to an entirely isolated water falls, where we swam in the fresh water pond below the falls, overlooking the ocean... choa... something out of a harlequin romance novel.

Elephants, tigers and bears...

Okay, no tigers or bears, but our recent 4-day trip to Kruger National Park gave us an opportunity to see tons'o'wildlife! It was incredible. Christa, Paul, Ryan and I flew to Jo'burg and after an interesting (and safe) experience in a city we'd all be warned about, we started our separate trips to Kruger. Christa and Paul insisted on camping, while Ryan and I decided to take the more comfortable route...Not true, not true at all.

Ryan and I hopped on our giant safari vehicle with four other safari goers (the tour usually has between 14 and 16 people) to start our 2-nights camping, one-night lodge adventure. This gave us lots of space and contact with our super knowledgeable tour guide. On our first game drive we saw elephants, zebra, lions and more. By noon of our second day, we had seen what is called, "the big five": elephants, lions, buffalo, rhinos and leopards. It is most people's goal to see these animals while in the park. We also saw warthogs, hippos, hyenas, a cheetah (very rare to see both a leopard and a cheetah), giraffes, wildebeests and much more. The wildlife sightings were in full force and there wasn't a half and hour that went by that we didn't see something.
On our last night we met up with C and P at the lodge where they had spent their entire trip. We relaxed int the pool, before going on a night drive, enjoying the sunset and looking for animals by spotlight. We even saw a group of giraffes walk by the property where we were staying (no fences). Ryan and I both agree it was by far the best tour we have ever been on and highly recommended.

World Aids Day

"In sport we unite againts HIV and AIDS"
December 1, 2006 Worlds Aids Day Event in Gugulethu

Close to two weeks ago, it was World Aids Day. I am not sure what sort of coverage this day got where you are, but here HIV and AIDS is a major, major issue. This exerpt from www.amref.org gives some insight:

"South Africa may be one of Africa’s strongest economies, but the HIV pandemic has weakened the nation, taking a severe toll on its adult workforce. With one of the highest HIV prevalence rates on the planet (Over 20% of the population aged between 15 and 49 is HIV positive), South Africa has witnessed the devastating effects of this disease further stretch the resources of a public health system already stretched to capacity."
I have met many children orphaned from HIV and AIDS and many who are HIV positive themselves. This is why I was eager to support a day of HIV awareness and empowerment for youth. Christa, Paul, Ryan and I went to Gugulethu where over 700 attendees were on site for a youth sports day, run by Ikamva and Hoops for Hope. Immediately following our arrival we were asked: "fun station or sandwiches?". Unsure of what this really meant, Christa and I chose sandiwiches (I was hungry) and Paul and Ryan headed to fun stations (being the fun guys that they are).
Christa and I were instructed to join a group of volunteers in making sandwiches to feed the 700 people in attendance. Paul and Ryan joined a volley-ball game, until the intense heat and powerful teenage girl spikes brought them to the sandwich station. We had a great day preparing food and soaking up the atmosphere.

Before leaving we were treated to a taste of incredible Black South African rhythm. A song came on and kids all over the sports field started to move to the music. Man, those kids can dance! I felt akward just knowing what my jagged movements would look like if I had been bold enough to join in (needless to say, I was not). C, P, R and I just watched and absorbed the moment. It was awesome.

We have picture of the event, but because we are moving around right now we don't have them with us. We'll post a few when we get back to Cape Town. In the meantime, enjoy the long overdue update.