\nIt’s been 26 years since my parents emigrated to Australia – I was only 5 at the time, so I don’t remember Durban at all. I’ve been back twice. The last time was 13 years ago<\/em>. <\/p>\n
This time, I took my husband with me. My parents, my brother, my sister, her husband and daughter, all came along as well. It was a massive reunion. My mother has three siblings in South Africa, they in turn have children my age, and grandchildren. My mother also has cousins, again with children and grandchildren. On my father’s side, he has ten siblings (!!), however we were only able to reunite with three of them, and their children. In summary, a lot of family to connect with! A few snapshots from the week:<\/p>\n
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<\/a>We had dinner for my cousin Ash’s birthday (on my right in this photo). His sister, on my left in this photo, was inseparable from me when we were tiny children. You can see we picked up right where we left off!<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Another set of cousins took us out to lunch at the amazing Zimbali Resort.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>We only had time for a quick afternoon tea with dad’s side of the family.<\/p><\/div>\n
It was incredible to suddenly be surrounded by people who automatically loved you. Grandaunts and granduncles (my own grandparents are sadly no longer with us) who stuffed us with food, and doted on us like we were chubby toddlers. Cousins to have a cheeky drink with and laugh with, uncles and aunts to chat with like no time had past at all.<\/p>\n
I grew up without any of this. Apart from a couple of second-cousins back at home, another in New Zealand, and my parent’s family-friends (all of whom I’m entirely grateful for), I missed out on it all. That must sound rich – I know there are so many people out there who don’t have family at all, but in the face of so much, it’s hard to not feel sad that you’ve only experienced so little of it.<\/p>\n
<\/a>There were smiles all around at a family picnic on the very last day.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Mum with her sister and cousin. These three could have been triplets!<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Group shot of about a third of the family who came to the picnic.<\/p><\/div>\n
The original idea of the trip came out of a wedding invitation for my mum’s cousin – my uncle Sajeel, although he is closer to my age than hers. It was a grand affair, five days of glamorous celebration in true Indian style.<\/p>\n
<\/a>My husband and I on the “winter wonderland” themed first day of the wedding. In Hindi, it is called “Tilak”.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Sajeel getting cosy (i.e. clucky!) with his nephew.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Sajeel and his bride Praneetha.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>From left to right, my brother, Sajeel, brother-in-law, husband, father, and the best man, on the second day of the wedding, or “Hurdi” in Hindi.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>My sister and I with two of my aunts and nieces.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>My husband and I on our way to the final day of the wedding!<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Confetti explodes as the happy couple are finally married!<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>The family welcomes the bride as she comes home after the final day of the wedding.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>My sister, brother, and myself at the wedding reception. If I look tired here it’s due to the nine days of non-stop family, food, and celebration!<\/p><\/div>\n
But the best part of it all was getting in touch my roots.I didn’t get to see the site of my parent’s old hotel, where we lived on the top floor, or where I went to school, “Little Noddy’s Pre-School<\/a>“, but I did visit the hospital where I was born, and the ultimate… I visited my beloved grandfather’s house; a great man to all who knew him. A humanitarian with a generous heart and a beautiful soul that will shine til the end of time. <\/p>\n It was an emotional experience being in my grandparent’s room again. A portrait of my grandfather, the former Minister for Education, hangs above the mirror. Wasn’t he a handsome devil? \ud83d\ude42<\/p><\/div>\n Everything remains exactly the same, right down to my favourite cuckoo clock, and the koala and kangaroo stuffed toys we would send them from Australia.<\/p><\/div>\n My mother remembers as a child living in a one-room shack. My grandfather bought this land with his toil and sweat, and built a magnificent, two-storey, Tudor-style house with his bare hands. It was – til his death – the hub of the family, a home for everyone. <\/p>\n The front of my grandfather’s house, complete with typical South African security grills and alarm system. Back in the day, they also had an armed guard posted inside the front gate.<\/p><\/div>\n 1. On Safari<\/strong><\/p>\n As cliched as it was, we simply had to visit a safari park. Both my husband and I LOVE animals. Be it an aloof tabby or a mischievous monkey, some of our favourite holiday memories involve making friends with the local fauna. We also went to Mitchell Park with it’s small zoo in Durban, which was an experience in itself (read about it soon!), but Safari was a whole different arena.<\/p>\n Getting up close and personal with the animals before we’ve even checked in!<\/p><\/div>\n We stumbled across these majestic creatures on a bushwalk.<\/p><\/div>\n We met some amazing people, including our guides Victor (third from the left) and Promise (not pictured) who were oustanding – knowledgeable, cautious, considerate of the animals, and downright entertaining! The rest of the staff were just as polite, but I don’t think the African girl who took this photo for us had ever held a camera before!<\/p><\/div>\n We were lucky enough to have an elephant charge at our jeep in fury, flapping his great ears in warning dare we approach the herd any closer; we caught distant glimpses of hippo and crocs, and managed to get some amazing shots of zebra and impala’s. We also visited a zulu village and medicine woman, where the kids waved at us in excitement and yelled “hello!”.<\/p>\n 1. Our Paris<\/strong><\/p>\n After travelling to the other side of the globe, it was all too hard to resist a trip up north to our glittering, golden Paris. This time we focused on all the things we missed out on in 2012, (and for me, in 2007 as well). We walked the streets of Paris in the cold and wet of Spring, stopping in at cafes for buttery steak, the best espresso we’ve ever had, and luxe, caramel ice-cream. We hired a scooter and made our own way to Versailles – not for the main palace, but to see Marie-Antoinette’s private estate and hobby farm (again, our obsession with animals!). I finally rode on the carousel below the Eiffel Tower… And much, much, more!<\/p>\n We visited plenty of chocolateries!<\/p><\/div>\n Instead of the Louvre, we stopped into random art exhibits. This one was based on Dante’s “Divine Comedy”, and was set up in a romantic courtyard directly opposite our apartment.<\/p><\/div>\n Another reunion of sorts. We had dinner with some old friends of mine who are now living in Paris.<\/p><\/div>\n We cemented our love in Paris with a love-lock on the Pont des Arts. It was engraved in Sydney with a line from one of our favourite musicians, Eddie Vedder: “This love has got no ceiling”. The song also featured on the CD we gave as a bonbonniere at our wedding in 2012.<\/p><\/div>\n In retrospect, it was an epic holiday, although it seemed far too short and rushed at the time. You’ll be able to read about the trip in more detail soon – just give me a few days to get started – and do let me know what you want to hear about most of all!<\/p>\n So what else am I up to now, to combat the post holiday blues<\/a>?<\/p>\n … Any other suggestions? \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" They called us crazy when we said we wanted to go on Safari, and then up to Paris, in one trip. But between the family reunion, the stampeding elephants, Marie-Antoinette’s private estate, and the top three airlines in the world, we had a fantastic mix of culture, food, adventure and luxury. Read the highlights of our trip here. Continue reading <\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>\n