Last days in Africa…(for the time being anyway…!!)

On the way back to Johannesburg for the last few days we would spend in South Africa before we jetted back to the Caribbean, we stopped to visit with Charlotte’s sisters on their farm, Oakland’s…

Front view of the main house at Oakland’s Country Manor… Click on the link above to see more…

The Oakland’s Country Manor is situated about 7 km to the east of the tiny Free State town of Van Reenen, in the foothills of the Drakensberg Mountains… Access to the farm is along a well maintained dirt road…

“Can we live here, Darling…??”…. “No, Baby, the Tully sisters are eccentric enough without adding you to the mix…!!”

It is a popular getaway for people wanting to enjoy the great outdoors, and you can do so there, either by hiking or on horseback…

A small herd of polo ponies call the farm home and are stabled for use by visiting polo enthusiasts…

The homestead is also the domain of three huge Great Danes, who roam the grounds and rooms, with a proprietary air…

Patricia loved the surroundings we found ourselves in and expressed her own desire and dream to one day do something similar with her own sisters…

Seeing the huge smile on her face made it was easy to imagine her with Donna and Mimi, bustling about a lodge or retreat of their own…

Annie and Kathy were there to meet us, and treated us to a wonderful lunch and a bottle of champagne to celebrate our recent nuptials…

Looking down the valley, with the conference facility on the left and the polo grounds in the background… This is certainly a place we would have liked to kick back in for a few days…!!

I was not about to ask him to scoot over to make space for me… Would you…??

The Tully sisters; Annie, Kathy and Caroline, pose for a photo with Patricia… We were sorry that we could not spend more time with them…

The N2 highway climbs up from the Natal lowlands on its way to the Highveld… The mountains are a welcome break from the flat expanse of the Free Sate province…!!

The area immediately north of Van Reenen is littered with massive Inselbergs, which seem to guard the entry to the Highveld region…

Maureen Lahner and my sister Charmaine, hosted us on the farm Willow Pond… It was a welcome respite from the long drive up from the South Coast….!!

The long drives we had made began to take its toll on Patricia, leading her to start making up songs with lyrics such as; “I don’t want to be in this car anymore…” and “I can’t wait to get to Joburg…”…

We arrived on the farm “Willow Pond” on the banks of the Klip River, just south of Johannesburg, in the late afternoon…

Charmaine and Maureen Lahner, owner of the farm, were there waiting for us… We received a noisy welcome from the pack of six or seven dogs that call Willow Pond home, and only once they had settled down, could we make ourselves heard…!!

This was the first time that I had a chance to spend some quality time with my sister Charmaine, who had done so much for me while I was away on the Big Fella… She became something of a Personal Assistant, dealing with all the administration hassles that cropped up from time to time… Thanks again, Sis… Love you…!!

The main house is situated on the edge of a deep lake that was once the entrance to a limestone quarry, and although it is in sight of a few main arterial highways, the farm is a peaceful and tranquil spot…

After a tasty dinner, accompanied by numerous glasses of wine, Patricia and I managed to get a good night’s sleep, which was a very good thing, because the following day, and our last evening in South Africa, would be spent partying until the very early hours of Saturday morning…!!

We spent the following morning having a leisurely breakfast, and then I took Patricia to visit the other furniture factory that I had been involved in and managed with my partner Robert Barkhuizen…

We received another wonderful welcome from the staff there, and Patricia was swamped with questions by Karien and Jenny, the ladies responsible for the administration  of the business…

A recurring question was about my plans for the future, and more importantly, when I would be reclaiming my office and boardroom again…!!

I could not give them a definitive answer at the time, but assured them that the possibility of my return certainly existed…!! I explained that I wanted to enjoy a few months with my bride before making a firm decision on our future…

We had spent too much time apart over the last year and a half, and I now wanted to enjoy a solid few months together, experiencing the joys of our union… After such a long time being of constantly on the move, I was looking forward to being in one spot for an extended period…!!

By midday we were at the home of my partner Robert, and a few hours later found ourselves at a restaurant known as the “Throbbing Strawberry” for a late lunch… This was the first time Patricia was able to experience Joburg’s vibrant restaurant scene, and after a five-hour lunch, we upped the pace a little by visiting the vast casino complex of Montecasino in the city’s northern suburbs…

Vivian, Robert and the newlyweds at the Gourmet Garage, Montecasino…

Patricia tried to show Robert and I the finer points of Craps, but we were in no mood to entertain what seemed to be far too complicated a game for our tastes… We were more attuned to Roulette and Blackjack…!!

After an afternoon and evening of fun and laughter, we finally brought the curtain down on what had turned into another very long day on our honeymoon…

Patricia had by now met the majority of my closest friends and family, and despite the long distance between them all, had enjoyed the camaraderie of being among the people who loved and cared for me, and now felt the same way about her…

Patricia latches on to her new “sister”…!! I can’t wait for the time when they will spend more time together… Should be a laugh a minute…!!

I took enormous enjoyment from watching Patricia interact with my friends and their immediate acceptance of her into their lives… But then as many people who have met the lady know, loving Patricia is an easy thing to do…

Our last afternoon in South Africa was spent at the home of my good friend Kim, where a delightful surprise was in store for me… My aunt Dolores and her husband Joe were there to meet me too…!!

Charmaine, Craig, Patricia and I pose amongst the shrubbery…

Our good friend Kim and her partner Barend… This lady knows how to party…!!

Our last afternoon on what had been the most hectic of honeymoons, was spent in the company of Charmaine’s, and my, very good friend, Kim Mostert, at her home close to Johannesburg’s International Airport, whose name has changed three times since the new government came into power… (To me it will always be Jan Smuts Airport…!!)

My father’s youngest sister, Dolores and her husband Joe were surprise guests at our final luncheon in South Africa, and we spent the afternoon chatting about our family history, some of which had Patricia’s eye’s widening in surprise…

There were more than a few of Patricia’s “Shut the front door…!!” expressions to show her disbelief at some of the stories my aunt thought prudent to share with my wife…!!

“You should have given me a call before you agreed to marry into this crazy family…!!” my aunt said with a laugh after yet another tale had Patricia gaping open-mouthed…!!

And no point in asking the details of some of the stories…!! Suffice to say our family has an interesting history in the annals of Johannesburg’s history during the 60’s and 70’s…!!

Charmaine and Craig accompanied Patricia and I to the airport, and after an emotional goodbye, watched as we made our way through Immigration and security…

It was fitting that Charmaine and Craig were the first and last people to see us when we touched down in Joburg, and left again just nine days later… It was wonderful seeing her again, and meeting Craig for the first time…

This brought the curtain down on a trip that we will forever remember for the wonderful people who I was able to introduce Patricia to, and the places we were able to visit together… We both wished that we had been able to spend more time not only with friends and family, but also more time on our own to celebrate our marriage with a little more romance…!!

But be that as it may, we were on our way back to one of the most beautiful and romantic of places in the Caribbean, and a place that we could actually call “home”, and that just about beat all…!!

Emphasis on “just about”… Because all who know me, know where my heart lies…