Leaving Zimbabwe we had the experience of the aircraft (an old B737) breaking down with engine problems prior to our departure. Although this is not uncommon, most international airports would have a team of aircraft mechanics along with spare parts to fix problems.



Victoria Falls do not have all the same facilities due to the low volume of aircraft, so in our case the pilot and co-pilot stepped up and went out to fix the problem themselves. With just a two hour delay we were back underway.



I doubt a pilot from a big international airline would step up and get his hands dirty or even have the skills to fix basic and common problems....credit go to bush pilots!

The main reason why we made the trip up to Zimbabwe was that our trip to South Africa would be our best opportunity to see and experience the Victoria Falls (and also give Kim and the boys to opportunity to visit another African country).





It is an amazing sight as the entire area around the falls is completely flat. The Zambezi river is at the point of the fall over a kilometer wide and the entire river suddenly drops into this narrow gorge.







The falls themselves are on the Zambian side of the border, and most of the lookouts are on the Zimbabwe side.

The effect is that the water spray gets pushed several hundred meters into the air above the gorge and creates a perpetual plume of rain clouds and spray making it impossible to stay dry.

This also meant that it was a challenge to keep my camera gear dry. I did bring a waterproof case for my camera, but after a few minutes a stopped using it because I couldn't mount the camera on a tripod at the same time. Instead I opted for covering the camera with a microfibre towel that somewhat helped, but otherwise I had to rely on the weather sealing on the Nikon camera and lenses.

To make it easier to dry we had dressed the boys ourselves in rash and sports shirts. This dried very quickly after getting wet unlike cotton clothing. We did bring some disposable ponchos but only Kim used hers a little.

Just outside Victoria Falls there is this Baobab tree that they keep showing to tourists (behind fencing so tourists don't vandalise it). We were brought there on the way to the Boma restaurant because the other people in the bus wanted to see it.

They all went Ooooh and Ahhh by seeing it, but I must say that it is neither big or beautiful as far as Baobab trees go...even the fig trees here in Australia are bigger (and better looking).

In the evening we booked a sunset cruise on the Zambezi river.





It was a beautiful calm evening and the boat slowly cruised in and out between the river islands within Zimbabwe and Zambia. In the distance there were clouds and rain forming beautiful rainbows.



There were lots of hippos around and we also spotted a couple of crocodiles and other wildlife. This time of the year there weren't any elephants as they don't need to go to the river during the rain season.

One thing about Zimbabwe was that everything is quite expensive for tourists in Victoria falls.

Back in 2008/09 the whole economy collapsed and the local currency was worth less than the paper it was printed on. As a result the entire country started using stable currencies such as US dollars.

In Victoria falls this means that everything is paid for in US dollars and since everything is more or less government controlled they try to milk tourists for as much hard currency as they possibly can.

As a result most tourists stay for a shorter duration as they probably would otherwise which is a pity as the benefits of tourism isn't shared with the rest of the country.

The country also has all the typical African inefficiencies and illogical processes which I experienced back in my days in East Africa, but which greatly annoyed Kim.

She was however greatly amused when I came back after a walk telling her that I had made her an instant billionaire - with the note here held by Aiden with a smug on his face.

During the break we decided to make a trip to South Africa and on the way do a quick detour to the Victoria falls on the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia.

The first evening we book dinner at Boma restaurant. Even though it is a bit touristy (everything around the falls are) they promised a buffet dinner with various game meat and dancing/drumming.





On the menu was Mopani worms, Wort Hog, Elan, Guinea Foul and spit Lamb.






Poor little Lucas was so tired that he fell asleep in the car there and slept the whole way through.
Although Aiden was tired he did enjoy the experience (in his silly fashion).



The drumming was very interactive and the dinner guests could join in.



Good start to the trip.

It has been another year and again Merry Christmas 2016.

Following the tradition I have created another family photo for this year. Aiden and Lucas are growing older and also more naughty, so this year we decided to do something different and let the parents have a quiet evening while we let the boys 'hang out' together.

There are some interesting areas around Botany Bay. One of the is the old WWII cannon positions and ammunition bunkers along the coast line to protect against Japanese invasions.

We have been there quite a few time and here are some of the photos from our last walk there.

 

One day we went down to Boralee park to take some photos of the boys with Kim. Here are some of them.

This winter during school holidays I took a day off to look after Aiden. I asked him if he wanted to go canoeing at the Royal National Park about 30 minutes drive from our house.



It was a beautiful sunny morning with not a wind or any other people in the creek.



Afterwards we went down to Wattamolla to have a look at the waterfall and play at the beach.





At Bundeena we had fish and chips for lunch.



He totally crashed on the way home.

Kim and I went to see the Swan Lake with the Australian Ballet at the Capitol Theatre this season.

Neither of us had ever seen the swan lake and really wanted to see it. My dad was here at the same time but he was happy to babysit the kids while we we were going.



It was a beautiful performance and without a doubt the best ballet I have seen.

Since the kids were babtised last year Kim though it would make sense that she would be babtised too.

So, early January it was her turn with just the immediate family around.

It was a privilege to live in Kenya during the 80's. Much of the the country had seen very few (if any) white people.

So, everywhere that we went we seemed to be the main attraction (especially me and my brother with our blonde hair).

To be honest I can't identify all the tribes anymore, but I know that a lot of them are from Samburu, Turkana and the northern part of Kenya.

I suspect that if you went to those areas today then they would all be wearing T-Shirts.

Needless to say that I saw a lot of animals while in Kenya.

I don't know how it is today, but back then they were everywhere in the national parks.

Here is some of the Rhinos we saw.












Elephants were plentiful.




Lots of cheetahs.










And lots of lions.



























Their kittens.










Lots of Hippos (Lots of these in Lake victoria) and they would be grazing on the golf course across the street.



Hyenas




The vultures eating the remains of the kills.




And of cause loads of zebras and various gazelles.

My time in Kenya was every kids dream.

I got see and do things that few other kids had a chance of doing and it definitely had a big impact on my adult life.



Living at Lake Victoria gave me the chance of catching the biggest fish I have ever caught (A 56pound/25kg Nile Perch).



I also caught the smallest fish I have ever caught in that same lake.




We didn't need fancy fishing gear, just a stick with a piece of line on it.



Life, going to school and emerged in a different culture was a different kind of life (This is our house maid, my brother and my grandmother in front of our house).





This is Filistus another of our house maids. She was working for us most of our time there (we found out the she died from a bad case of malaria years after we left).





Here we are riding a 100 year old turtle.



Life with my brother was also very different. He discovered his talent for Tennis in Kenya and could whoop most of the adults arse when he was 12yo.






No hair dressers around so we also had the worst hair cuts.







There wasn't a lot of Europeans around so we'd know most with a 100km radius.



Family life was simple (not TV) but good.










Our dog was part of the family and made quite a few trips to Kenya.





Every afternoon was spent at the Nyanza Country club where Claus played Tennis and we went swimming.

I taught myself to swim and owe these days to how solid a swimmer I am today...I got really upset that I couldn't swim and my stubborness kicked in and I became determined to learn...fast.



Some of the less memorable moments were the school plays where I was dressed up as a big bird.



Here is one of Claus singing in the choir.

I have started going through some of the old photos on my computer and will start post some of them on my blog.

The first one I stumbled upon one of my class photos from Kenya from 1981/82 when I went to Kisumu Primary School.

I was the only white person in my class (we were 5-6 europeans in the whole school)

One evening while staying at the farm we went to the Hunter Valley gardens to check out the light show and the mega bugs.





There were lots of really creepy insects around the garden and they were all moving and making sounds.






The light show was also really good and there were a couple of new things compared to last year.



And we also spend a bit more time in the story garden.







And the story about girls and boys is 'different'...






...but maybe true for these little monkeys.

At the end of the summer holidays we made a trip up north to Broke (Hunter Valley) with the kids and some friends to stay at an Alpaca farm.




It didn't take long for Aiden to get comfortable with feeding the Alpacas but Lucas was a bit more hesitant and was happy to just observe or throw the food at them.










The Alpacas also provided them with a biology lesson teaching them about the bees and the flowers.




We also did a bit of wine tasting while we were in that part of the hunter.









But the kids were more interested in playing outside and chasing the cat.

My New Years resolution for this year is to get healthy.

By this I don't mean that I will try and become super fit and start running marathons. No, I just mean that I want to get to a stage where I feel healthy, do a bit of exercise, have a healthy mental state and generally eat healthy.

I started really well on this last year, but about half way through I started getting sick all the time (like every 2-3 weeks).

 


This time around I want to have 2 months without getting sick and then I will start some easy to moderate exercise again.

I want to see if I can get back to running again.

Here is a fun little street sign. This is a place I wanna live...

Aiden is a bit of a worry...although he is a social kid he is quite scared of a lot of things and requires a lot of help doing things.

Because he has been delayed on a lot of fronts including his comprehension he would like to play with the other kids but doesn't understand the games they are playing.

This means that he in a lot of cases finds comfort just playing by himself rather than with the other kids.





It does mean that whenever they have group games then he will require someone who can give him step by step instructions until he understands the game.



Mind you when he does find someone who is interested in playing the games he does understand then it is great to see.

Last week we made the trip to Fiji with the kids.

Kim is just about to finish her maternity leave and my work asked me to reduce my accumulated annual leave days by taking some time off so we decided to go away for a week.

We stayed at the Hilton close to Nadi (we found it too far to travel with the kids to the coral coast). This is the view from our room.




Aiden and Lucas had lots of fun playing on the balcony (Lucas enjoyed throwing toys off the balcony).



And we did spend some time in the sand as well.





And trying to teach Lucas to walk (he can almost stand by himself now).



But all the swimming was done in the swimming pool at the hotel.



We didn't venture out much, but on most of the evenings we would walk over to the local Marina to eat (the food was better and cheaper).



One day we hired a nanny to look after Lucas (with little success as they were unable to feed him and settle him, so we still had to be there).

The other day I went for a walk in Centenial Park. For the first time I ventured into the memorial (normally there are lots of dogs and poo in this area so I generally avoid it).

The ceiling of the memorial is quite pretty and I can see myself coming back to do some more photos at some stage.

Last weekend I went for a walk along the harbour with a couple of friends and Aiden (in my backpack).

It was a beautiful winters day being sunny and 25 degrees.

We started out at Waverton and walked almost across to Greenwich. It wasn't a long walk but very pleasant (especially since I also had Aiden to carry).

The other day we went to Maroubra beach to let the boys play in the sand and also to try and get some photos of them together.


It is currently winter here in Sydney which sometimes provides this beautiful cool light.





Lucas and Aiden are now really good at playing together...Lucas is doing his best to copy everything that Aiden does and at the same time tried to keep up, whic is difficult when you cant walk yet.

...And Aiden is good at sharing his toys and make sure that Lucas has something to play with.

The other day I did a couple of test portrait shots...I wanted a portrait that was a bit more moody than usual.

It is not easy getting the low key lighting right...much easier to do high key where you can pretty much blast the subject with light.

I haven't had the time to experiment further to accomplish what I wanted...but here is what I did get after 10-15 minutes experimenting.

Yesterday Kim caught Lucas grabbing her car keys and the trying to use the keys to unlock the front door...with a bit of practice and some extra height me might succeed one day.

I think he just wanted to take the big red car outside for a spin...

On the weekend we went to the beach for a little family picnic...ham and cheese sandwiches.

we also wanted to get some photos of Lucas and Aiden playing together in the sand.

We especially wanted to get one of them sitting together look at the waves. Normally Aiden is terrified of the waves, but because Lucas was there we were able to get him to sit still.

It wasn't the best light in the middle of a sunny day but I love the cool winter light this time of the year. It is hard to describe...but the light has a less warm feel the during the summertime.

Aiden and Lucas are now best of mates and having a lot of fun. Once Lucas learns to walk they will be big trouble and we will constantly have to chase after them. Aiden can sometimes get a bit rough, but Lucas is a tough little bundle of muscles and loves copying him.

On my birthday this year I went climbing at Barrenjoey with some friends. It was the first time for over a year that I have done any climbing...let alone outdoors, but fortunately it was all top ropes.

Barrenjoey is one of the most beautiful spots in Sydney.



I am totally out of shape but still managed to get through the climbs we set up.

We were supposed to have had a dinner the night before but most people were busy so we decided to cancel the dinner and the let me go climbing instead. I was supposed to have been taking Aiden with me (Barrenjoey is relatively safe for kids), but he was still a bit unwell from his hospital visit. I think I will start looking for a good climbing helmet for him so that we have it for next time.




I had a great day out with friends and it was great to get back on the rock.

Last night we had a bit of a scare when we suddenly had to rush Aiden to the hospital in an ambulance...

He was over at grandads place most of the day playing and when he came back we noticed that he had a bit of a temperature and didn't want to eat, but otherwise ok and playful. We decided to give him a quick shower before giving him some panadol and then bedtime.

In the shower he was playing as usual with water and his plastic cups when I left him to get dressed. When I came back a few minutes later to turn off the water and get him dressed I could tell that he was not his normal self and was shaking a bit. Thinking that he was cold I quickly took him out to get him dressed but could then tell that he was pretty bad...I couldn't get in contact with him and his breathing was irregular and shallow.



I quickly called Kim and had her call an ambulance. While we were waiting he started having some muscle spasms and started throwing up. Fortunately we are close to the ambulance station so they arrived pretty quickly and took myself and Aiden to the children's hospital which is also close by.

At the hospital he started responding again and the doctors there think that a spike in his fever caused it. They kept him there for most of the evening until his temperature had dropped and they were sure he was well hydrated which was around midnight.

Good that all turned out ok...Aiden has been pretty happy today even though he hasn't eaten much and slept much of the day.