Are these the last days of summer?

The days are getting shorter.

The nights are getting cooler.

I feel like I’m running out of time, time for what I don’t know but I am not a fan of winter, maybe that’s what is making me feel a little anxious. 

Things To Look Forward To

The girls have one last week of school left before a three week holiday. They will only go back to school again after the Easter weekend.  (Give me strength!)

We have a few things planned between now and then, the most exciting is my mom and step-dad coming to visit for a week. I can’t wait. They live in Zimbabwe so we don’t see them as often as any of us would like. In my mom’s own words, my girls are my mom’s ‘little reasons for living’! No joke! I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t be coming to visit if it wasn’t for the kids – don’t worry, I’m not offended lol. As grandparents do, when they’re with us they spoil the girls rotten. No demand is too much, every wish is granted, there is endless devoted attention and lots of love and cuddles.

While they are here my husband and I are planning a two day trip away, just the two of us – no kids! On the bike … eek.

Adventuring

My husband got himself a motorbike about 18 months ago, a BMW GS1200 Adventure, on which he has had many exciting adventures since then. I have been on the bike with him once in all that time. The main reason for that is that I don’t have any family or friends close by that I can leave the girls with on a regular basis to join him in his adventures. You can read here about how I sulked like a child when he went off on one of his trips at the end of last year. The other reason is that I’m quite nervous of going on the bike but I’m going to push past that so I can have an adventure too.

At this stage we haven’t even decided where we are going yet. We only have 48 hours. In that time I would love to do a few mountain passes, maybe sleep in a tented safari camp the one night. We’re considering making a bee-line for the coast but I’m not sure we’ll have enough time to actually enjoy it, it’s about 6 – 7 hours drive away.  The same goes for my other desired destination – Blyde River Canyon which is on my bucket list but is actually 8 hours away.

When I mentioned all the things I want to do to my husband he used that saying on me:

It’s not about the destination, it’s about that journey.

So with that in mind it’s looking more likely that we’ll head to Lesotho, around the other side and back home via the Drakensburg. I am going to have to clear ALL the memory on my phone as I will be taking 1000s of photos of stunning mountainous scenery. We will have to pack very light too so we won’t go anywhere fancy for dinner which actually suits me just fine. The weather will still be quite warm but not too hot, it might just be perfect.

My mom is literally the only person I can leave my kids with and not worry about them or her. I also have no doubt that they would rather be with her than me as well so it’s a win win for all of us really. They probably won’t even notice we’re gone.

I am so excited, it’s going to be awesome. It feels like the possibilities are endless, I really need to get some perspective, it’s only two days.

If any South African travel bloggers are reading this and have any recommendations I am very open to suggestions! Mostly we’re looking for a fun couple adventure. Lots of stunning scenery and open roads, making the most of sightseeing this beautiful country! We’re based near Bloemfontein so central South Africa is our base camp.

So, these might be the last days of summer 2016 in South Africa, but there is so much to look forward to.