Tula Game Reserve

Luckily I managed to get out riding in the mini bus and jumped in the car with my cousin Chris instead. We had a quick stop on route a shopping mall to pick up a few supplies and of course have a quick bite to eat at the KFC. There were about 15 people working behind the counters and another 15 in the kitchen. They seem to have more people working at all stores than we are used to. That said I am not sure it speeds up the process at all. They are after all still working on South African time.

Arriving at the game reserve Chris took me for a bit of drive in the rental car around the reserve where we very cautiously approached a mother rhino and her baby. Although they may look very peaceful when they are grazing it doesn't take much to anger them into a charge. Especially when the young rhinos are around. We did stop very close though, wind down the windows, and take a few pics. There were also wildebeest and zebra covering the field. As this was my first time seeing this animals in South Africa I was in complete awe of them. I could have sat there all day just watching them. But we had other things to do (like a wedding rehearsal) and made our way on to meet everyone else. On the way though we did stop to take a peak at the hippos (or rather just their noses in the water).




That night we did a night game drive in the land rovers and had a wonderful tour by the guides where we taught us about the animals and vegetation of the reserve. The sun was setting at this point and it was getting hard to see the animals so we went down to the hippo pond and had a few beers and snacks overlooking the water. At night by shining a light across the land you can see the reflection of animal's eyes. If its green it means they are herbivores, red is carnivores, and orange means you are looking at the animal from the side. As it was pitch black everywhere else you really can't see them until the light finds them. All of a sudden on the way back we saw 20 eyes from a heard of zebra's all light up green. Really remarkable. Also on the way back we saw more rhino and lucked out by seeing the Hippo's walking back to the water. They only tend to come out of the water at night to feed and even though they are massive its still not easy to find them in the dark.

After a nice meal and a few drinks back at the lodge we all decided to call it night as the following day was the wedding.

The morning of the wedding we had another game drive booked for those who thought they would have time to do both. Even though I was in the wedding party there was still time to go out and see a few more animals. Our first destination the far end of the reserve to go in search of the giraffes. We found them with ease (one as the game ranger knew where to look for them and two they are just ridiculously big) and parked up right next to them. They had a bit of a look but remained un-phased by the land rover we were in. We took a ton of photos until something spooked them and they ran off.



With them running off it scared the wildebeests who also took off in a run. That just started a chain reaction with the waterbucks, zebras, and ostrich's all tearing off into the bush. While we were watching these run we had the engine turned off and didn't notice the mother and baby rhino come up within 10m of the car. However we did notice when the male rhino made a loud grunting noise, stopped in his tracks, and started giving us the evil eye. I have never seen anyone start a car and floor it out of the way in my life. The rhino was just giving us a warning to get out of the way or suffer the consequences.

We decided to go off and find what might have scarred all the animals but after a while we concluded that it was probably us. oops. We did however find the African buffalos which trust me are more than a glorified cow as people may think. They can be extremely temperamental but that day they just relaxed in the grass. They were the only animal that didn't seem to be running away in all the chaos. With that we made our way back to the lodge to get ready for the wedding.

Durban

I found it very hard trying to concentrate on work on the morning of Tuesday October 16, 2007 knowing what I had in store for the next 2 weeks. Luckily at 12:30 I left the office and made my way to the bus station in Bristol to catch a ride down to Heathrow where I met my parents who had flown in from Canada a few days before. We also met up with 12 other members of our extended family who were all on the same flight to South Africa for my Cousin Chris' wedding.

The flight went by fairly quickly for a 10 hour direct flight to Johannesburg International airport even though it was delayed leaving Heathrow. This resulted in us missing our connecting flight to Durban but they had already booked us on the next flight out 2 hours later before we even arrived in South Africa. It was a quick 1.5hour flight to Durban and it felt so nice to get out into the hot sun after all that travelling.

We were shuttle bussed to a resort south of Durban called Pumula where I was shown to my room with a balcony overlooking the Indian Ocean. What a stunning view it was. The resort was right on the beach but still had its own pool, trampoline, and bouncy castle. I made use of it all except the bouncy castle due to the age restriction.


The following day we swam in the ocean, sun tanned by the pool, and made our way to a place called Crocworld. We only had about an hour to see the Crocodiles though before the place closed. There were tons of the mean looking animals around and at 20ft long they are rather intimidating. However this did not stop 2 employees climbing in to retrieve a few crocodile eggs. The only problem with this was the adult crocs where sitting on them. Armed with nothing but a long stick these 2 men started hitting the crocs on the snout trying to get them to move. Clearly this irritated the crocs who started snapping and snarling at these men who eventually all ran off. All except one croc who stood his ground and watched as these men took the eggs. What a job. Not sure how much they were getting paid but I bet it wasn't close to enough.





Once back at the resort we were out on the patio overlooking the ocean when we saw a few fins on the inside of the shark net. The lone surfer didn't seem to be too phased by it so we decided it had to be dolphins. At that point a wave broke and we saw about 10 or more dolphins surfing in the wave before turning and swimming north along the coast. It was a truly amazing site.


The remainder of the day was spent eating, drinking, and meeting the bride and groom for drinks which was followed by a few games of darts in the resort bar before calling it a night. The following morning we packed up our things, had breakfast, and made our way towards the game reserve called Tula where Chris and Jacqui were getting married.

Cardiff Half Marathon

Yesterday was a bright and early start at 5:30am which is not something I plan on getting used to. After a quick breakfast Greg, Karsten, and myself piled into the car and drove over to Cardiff and into the city centre. We were all there to run in the Cardiff Half Marathon (13.1m/21km). I had been dreading the run for the prior few weeks but once we arrived I was full of energy and really looking forward to the race. I had a goal of beating my previous time of 1hour 42min 22 sec which I got in the Bristol Half Marathon back in August. I started a lot further up in line this time thinking that starting at the 2 hour mark last time slowed me down a little.

The course was brilliant and took us all over Cardiff city centre, Cardiff Bay, past the millennium stadium, into a huge park, and ended in the middle of Cardiff Castle. The first 7miles seemed to fly past and I was making really good time. I ran into my friend Greg at the 7mile marker and we ran the rest of the course side by side pushing each other to keep going and keep the pace up. I have been training with Greg quite a bit over the last few weeks and we constantly push each other further each time.


We hit the 10 mile marker just past 1hour 7min and then we both became really tired and a bit dizzy. Heading into the park to do 4 laps up and down was not a pretty site as you can really tell how far you have left to go. With one mile left I turned up the pace, put my head down, and just pushing on through. I have never been so happy to see the end of a race in my life. After crossing the line I looked up at the clock hoping that I beat my previous time to see a clock time of 1 hour 34min and 28 sec meaning I was the 427th person to cross the line out of 6000. My official chip time put me at 1hour 33min 56 sec (446th place). If you are interested in what each means then just check back a few entries to the Bristol Half Marathon for a explanation of each. Well needless to say I was incredibly happy with this time although I was more focused on trying to breathe properly at this point. The highlight though was the incredible medal with a carving of Cardiff Castle on it which as Kelly pointed out made my day as I am somewhat obsessed with castles. The goody bag at the end was full of snacks, lucazade energy drink, t shirt, and cans of soup. Can’t complain over that. The only thing I didn’t like about the race the fact that after we were done there was one small gate to leave through (been a castle and all) and it took 45min for me to get out onto the street. Apart from that it was a great day out.

Today my legs are aching but apart from that I feel great. Its going to be a few months now until the Bath Half Marathon and the London 10km run but the training will continue all the way up to that point. I might take a 2 week break starting tomorrow though as I am off to South Africa and Botswana for 2 weeks tomorrow night. I am sure there will be plenty of photos and entries up here on the blog upon my return at the end of October.

Charity Dragonboat Racing

Our company recently set up team for a charity dragon boat race which took place in the river Avon that runs through Bristol. As I have been taking in part in just about everything the company has to offer I saw no reason to turn down this opportunity. Going out on the Saturday until 2am was probably not the greatest idea but as half the team did the same we were all in the same boat (literally) the next morning... Upon arriving with a bit of headache we saw one of the teams we would have to face. It was none other than the British Army Riffle Squad. Great!!! 4 members of our team didn't show up for the first race but we were determined to do our best. We won the race 18sec ahead of the other boat and we were all really getting into it. It was however incredibly painful in the arms and we welcomed the break until the next race.

Our 2nd race we only just won by a few seconds and then for the 3rd race we came up against he army. By this time we were only 3 men down and we went up against them ready to go. The race was neck and neck all the way down the course with the army just pushing out the win at the end by 2 seconds. We still managed a really good time which put us into the final race as they took the top 4 times from the 17 teams that were there. We spoke with the army after the race and they admitted that they were a little worried for a while as they had been destroying everyone in their previous races. They asked us if we played rugby or had physical jobs which could have been the reason we kept up with them. The look on their face was priceless when our response was "no mate, desk jobs". They replied with how impressed they were and then tried to convince us to sign up for the army. Nice try!

Unfortunately we lost the final race placing 4th overall but as we were still 3 men down it was not that surprising while racing the top teams of the day. It was yet again a very close race between all 4 boats. It was a great day out and another great experience. I have no doubt that I will be back in a dragon boat again in the near future.

Rugby World Cup

One of the great things about Europe is that it is easy to get around and there always seems to be something happening within a short trip away. September 16th turned out to be the day that Canada played Fiji in the Rugby World Cup over in Cardiff. Yes I know you are all thinking that France is hosting the world cup but luckily for me France owed Wales a few games as a few world cups ago Wales didn't have enough stadiums so a few games where played in France. It was time for France to return the favour. I went over with 2 friends on the Saturday morning to head down to a pub in Cardiff bay to watch the Wales vs. Australia game. Just been in Cardiff on game day was an amazing experience. The atmosphere of all the welsh fans was insane (probably on par with Toronto Fans if they made it to the Stanley Cup). Roads closed off, partying in the streets, and people everywhere.

We watched the game with about 30 welsh people at a reserved table (friends of one my friends) and unfortunately Australia came out on top. The Welsh weren't too upset though as England lost to South Africa the day before without scoring a single point. This obviously made the Welsh quite happy. We went out for a few drinks after the game in the city centre of Cardiff and hung out with plenty of Aussies as well who were in high sprits before calling it a night and crashing with a friend down in Cardiff Bay.

The following morning we were up around 11:00 and made our way down to the stadium in the city centre. Only paying £10 a ticket we grabbed a bite to eat and went to find our seats in massive Millennium Stadium. I almost felt like I was home with the Canadian flags waving everywhere and the chants "CANADA...CANADA" echoing throughout the stadium. After a tremendous effort it looked like Canada was about to take the win at the very end. One tri would win it and they were right on the line until a bad pass let Fiji intercept and run end to end to secure the win. As rugby is not something Canada is really well known for they were not expected to win but just to be in the stadium and watch them play was a great experience.


We hung around Cardiff for another few hours after the game enjoy a few drinks and soaking up the World Cup atmosphere before taking the train back to Bristol to call it a night.

The Bristol Half Marathon (13.1 miles/21km)

Sunday September 9th, 2007 was a day I was waiting in anticipation for and yet also dreading more than you can imagine. I have been training for the half marathon for the last few months and although I felt ready for it wasn't too sure what to expect. I started out with a goal of 2 hours as I really didn't know what a good time was but someone suggested 2 hours was pretty good. Perhaps the part that made me the most nervous though was the fact that I had told so much of my family and friends that the plan was to run in it in that time and I really didn't want to have to tell everyone if I didn't achieve my goal.

I was up bright and early on the Sunday morning to get breakfast in 2.5 hours before the race began. With everything I needed ready (ipod shuffle and race number) I set off to the centre of Bristol to meet up with a few friends from work who also ran the race.

About 8500 people managed to make their way to the start line out of the 15000 that entered so I made my way to the middle where the 2 hour mark was set. There are 2 times that you are given in the race, one being the clock time which is the official time you ran since the clock time and the second being the chip time as everyone has a chip attached to their shoe to record your times at certain markers and is the more accurate time. Since there were so many people running it took me over 4min to actually reach the start line so my chip time was the time I was going to go by. I set my stopwatch, started my ipod, and was on my way.

The start of the race was quite hard with so many people in the way and I quickly realized that I should have started a little further up as I was dodging and passing people within the first few min. That said there were also people doing the same thing and passing me. After an hour I was about 7.5miles through the race and with energy still in me decided I could push it a little faster. By the time the small hill approached at the 11mile marker I was dead tired but determined to run constantly through the whole race. The 12th mile marker was a blessing and I decided to sprint the last mile and give it everything I had. Wow was that ever a mistake. Half a mile later I was feeling incredibly sick and dizzy so I slowed down to the previous pace until I could see the finish line where I sprinted the last 150m or so. I crossed the line with a clock time of 1 hour and 46 min and a chip time of 1 hour and 42min putting me 18min ahead of goal. I couldn't have been happier and yet more tired if I tried.

Overall I placed 1398 out of 8500 and averaged a speed of about 8miles/hour (12.8km/h) over the whole 102 min of constant running. As it was my first organized race I now know what to expect and plan on doing a few more and trying to beat that record in the future. It also gives me a great incentive to stay in shape and push myself further. It was a great experience and one that I am very glad I did.

Not long now until the Cardiff Half Marathon on October 14th. Not sure if this is a wise choice or not running in 2 almost within a month of each other. Only one way to find out!!!!

Another wedding celebration.

This Saturday was another family wedding celebration for my cousin Chris and his fiancée Jacqui. It was held down in Goran Haven in Cornwall and yet again the weather was perfect. It was more of pre wedding party as the actual wedding will be held in South Africa next month so this party was for those people who would not be able to make it to South Africa. Luckily for me I was/am able to make it out to both. It started off with a few drinks in the sun and then made its way inside the only pub in the village for a wonderful roast dinner and speeches. It was great to be with so much family again within a short amount of time from the last wedding.


After lunch we all went down to the beach for a swim and some much loved pier jumping which in areas Sam (another cousin) and I managed to jump off a point that was around 20ft high or so. Unfortunately I had to leave a little early as I had to be back in Bristol for the following morning to run the half marathon. I left around 5 and thanks to the British Rail system and its delays it took me 5.5 hours to get home instead of the 3.5 hours it should have been.



Best of luck to Chris and Jacqui and I look forward to seeing you guys again soon in Durban South Africa.

The Wedding

It was a very short trip home the other week as I left on the thursday from England only to return on the Sunday night. The reason for the trip was to attend Dawn and Brad's wedding which was a great day. The weather was perfect, the company was perfect, in fact the whole day was perfect. What more can you ask for? I wish them all the best in their life together and am very happy that I have gained a great brother in law.















I would like to thank everyone (espeically my parents) for all their hard work and effort for making it such a wonderful day and. Also, thank you to Kelly and Ryan for coming out to celebrate the day as well. Glad you could make it!!!