The City

I've done something that I have wanted to do for years but my life never lead me there. There was always something that held me back, even my own insecurities in not believing in myself and being afraid of change.

When I got home from South Africa I had applied for a position at Blushing Boutique for an internship for Fashion Marketing. This was an un-paid gig as any internship in Fashion starts off with "hopes" of a job at the end of it.

After a month and a half there I was offered a position. I was ecstatic. Here I was now taking on the role of Visual Merchandising and putting together their Social Media networking. I decided I needed to get out of my Abbotsford bubble and do something for myself. My friends pushed me when needed as there were a few times I got scared but they reminded me that I was making the right decision in furthering myself.

I started off my hunt with a second job, I applied at a few places and even landed a job right away. I decided to just take it and if something better came along well then I would take that. So my next hunt was looking for a place to live. I decided on a small basement suite with another girl my age in East Vancouver. It is close to the sky train so I could easily commute into work at both jobs.
I gave my resignation into Lou's and that's when it hit me, this is finally happening.

Well then everything changed. I was called in for an interview at Coast. Coast is owned by Glowbal Group. I felt like this opportunity was a wiser decision as I am getting older and I wanted to work with people more my age group.

So I made my big move.

I am content with life as it is right now, I am happy. I think that happiest I have been in a very long time. Moving to Vancouver always nagged at my heart but I was always caught under different circumstances to not be able to just get up and leave Abbotsford. What I have realized that Megan --you are not on vacation nor are you a baller so stop spending money ;). I swear this city makes you an alcoholic. Everything revolves around Beer... which hey I don't mind but seriously... Megan you are not on vacation.
I have met and made friends with a few different people, hey I've even had a bit of heart ache thrown in there to, but everything happens for a reason and people come into your life to show you different things. Sometimes good and sometimes bad but life does move on and things change --- just like seasons.

Home.

I haven't updated my blog since I have been back in this cold ass country. I mainly decided on a blog to keep family and friends up to date with what shennanigans Nikki and I created in South Africa.

Now being home I think why not just continue with it.

Being home I have come to realize there are a lot of things that I found I needed to change not only personally inside myself but in my every day life to life situation.

I've started an Internship in the city which I have come to love and I feel I have finally realized where my passion lays in the Fashion Industry and that's where my career and focus is going to go.

However for a short time being home I felt my heart was being dragged to South Africa and that's where I wanted to be. After some time I've realized that holidays and acutual life are two completely different things and can miss guide you. For now I am taking my life day by day, I've realized that I belong in Canada because God brought my family here for a reason in 1995, sure I am still trying to figure out why but there's always a reason to everything.

Sardinia Bay - Port Elizabeth

Some of you know that the main reason for this trip to South Africa was to travel up the Garden Route to scatter my Dad's ashes in Sardinia Bay, Port Elizabeth.

Dad in his earlier years founded a Life Guarding club purely by volunteer on a beach called Sardinia Bay. His friends and him decided to do this as this was a busy spot for locals and there was no life guarding support there. This was in 1973.

I don't want to go into extreme detail of the events that day other then I know that this is what my father would've wanted, and I am very glad I was able to this for him.

Before we went to scatter his ashes we stopped off at Kings Beach, 

where he first started Life Guarding.

We stopped off at the Beer Shack for a bite to eat and this is what I saw above Robyn's head.

To New Beginnings

Kev.

 

Sardina Bay - Port Elizabeth

The sand dunes were so exquisite

 Just behind us where there is grass we scattered his ashes.

Getting Bushy with it

Addo Elephant Park

When I first arrived in Cape Town I thought okay this is just another city like Vancouver except it was these beautiful beaches surrounding it and a little bit of a different culture.

But when arriving in Addo I now felt and saw Africa.

We stayed in these cabins with four beds in it. Nikki, Robyn,
Ross and I now had to share the same living quarters and BATHROOM for the next 3 days.
Let’s call this glorified camping,
which hey I don’t mind I love camping even without the bathroom.

Mom and Wilf stayed in a cottage which was very cute as it was more of a studio,
but it over looked the trees and you could see the bush for miles.

We started our first night off with a braai (South African term for a BBQ)
except it’s on an open fire pit basically on stilts.

The following day we decided to take our huge van (comby) into the reserve with a tour guide.  Our tour guides name was Simi this guy was SO funny. 
He cracked this one joke as we were entering the park, there were these people in a car ahead of us looking at a map and he goes:
“ah yes that over there is the human species, very unpredictable”

I nearly died laughing.

Here are a few pictures/videos of our first adventure.

nice BUM where ya From

 

Elands, look alot like Deer

Now we took us to this place where you could hear the elephants roaring in the distance, he told us we where now allowed to get out of the vehicle so Nikki, Robyn, Ross and I took off running not knowing that there was going to be a fence in-between us. So as we are running I hear this loud roar that actually sounded like an elephant and I nearly peed myself I jumped and ran the other way.

Ross made me keep going, thanks Ross ha-ha.

That evening we went out for dinner at the restaurant they had there, we told them it was Nikki’s Birthday because the night before Nikki and I had walked down and they were singing these beautiful African songs to a young girl whose Birthday it was.
SO WHY THE HELL NOT can we not celebrate Nikki’s Birthday a few days later.
It only seems fair.

Here they are singing:

Pictures from the Information Center on animals and history of the reserve:

SELFIE

Our next experience started at 5:30, therefore we had to get up at 4:30, and this is mainly because the Lions are out roaming at this time.
But as Simi said the day before
“don’t look for the animals, let the animals come to you, otherwise you will never see the ones you want.”

But we struck gold; our first stop was off the main reserve road as we where now in one of those big Safari jeeps. As we approach this small watering hole I literally couldn’t believe my eyes, there in front of me is not one but TWO Lions. This is where I thought I am going to die, this lion is going to attack our Jeep and it’s going to be oh so easy because we don’t have any doors.
GREAT.

Well I can say I am alive.

The Lions basically took no notice of us because they where off
tracing their area and marking their zone so the other Lions knew that this is their territory.

THE REAL SAFARI :

The Gates to the Reserve

SO COLD 5:30 AM

Buffalo

We had a gerat time in Addo, Mum got mugged by some Monkeys had to literally chase them out with a stick all awhile looking at her like 

"girl this is my hood". 

They stole a couple of buns and terrorized the cabin she was in, as she barricaded herself i

n and they tried to open the doors to 

EAT HER. 

Just kidding... 

but really they where just "monkeying around". ;)


The Great Five , Plettenberg Bay
we saw 3 out of 5!

Just a bit, Just to see how it feels

Lets begin the story of adventure in Knysner, now sound it out with me ny-ss-ner.

So it be, that its darling Nikita’s Birthday, and Happy Birthday to you; our gift to you is to sit in a car for 6 hours. But apparently that’s all right because Nikki has turned the big 2-3 and basically she says she’s old now so if this is what old people do then so be it.
She tried to pretend it wasn’t her Birthday, but I always succeed.

Birthdays ARE AWESOME.

Gearing up for a night out in Knysner, we where strictly told about an area we could not walk down. This area was right next to the main road. So far in Africa we haven’t been able to walk down any street at night. Therefore we where all a little spectacle of our adventure. We got there safe and sound, but as we walked past the unsafe area Nikki gets a “HELLO GORGEOUS” and boy did she take off running as if she was about to die!

We found this restaurant, which I would like to blankly call fairyland. The whole place was blue lit with white lace, beads, sparkling lights, statues of Buda and electro lounge music playing. As we where seated I asked for a good spot because it was Nikki’s Birthday and there was basically no one in there (I am that person ;))

Our waitress was definitely one of a kind, beads stuck to her face and the most la la attitude as if she was high.  I swear she was probably smoking opium in the staff bathroom.

Me: “I’ll have a gin and water”

Her: Blank Stare

A moment later the owner comes up to us and sits down and says to
Nikki “Do you trust me?”

Nikki: "YUP"
I gave her a look 'are you sure'
Nikki: the look she gave me was... AM I SURE???

He then proceeds to pull our these beads that surrounded our waitresses face and starts decorating Nikki’s face, I actually sat there with my jaw almost touching the ground.
HOW COOL IS THIS GUY.

He decorates Nikki’s face and then leaves us several sheets to play with on each other,
AND YOU BET WE DID.
Even Robyn’s boyfriend Ross got into it.

So after a great dinner we left the place looking like we were headed to a rave.

Our next stop was the nightclub, but across the street from it people seemed to be having way more fun by the music and action-taking place on their balcony.

Walking in there all of a sudden I feel like we should definitely not be in this place every head turned and girls where glaring at us left right and center.
 I guess as sad as it may be was a case of segregation.

So down the stairs we go and up the stairs to the nightclub.

We had a great time there, where we met some local people who totally accepted us into their group of friends. There was one little flaw about the night and that was these young “hood rats” taking pictures of Nikki and I. I approached her and asked her to delete them; she refused so that started a bit of a problem. Nikki over heard them in the bathroom saying they where going to beat our ass. Well its safe to say they never succeeded in that.
ALL TALK HOODRATS ALL TALK.

The following day we went on a day adventure down by the waterfront. Went shopping and found unique knick-nacks.

We then finished the day off at a fresh seafood restaurant where they cook anything your order right out of the sea. Well basically that day ;)

 

 

Cray Fish

 Wait for the next adventure

Just in case you thought we where dead.

I must apologise for my absence, you see I am in South Africa and well I am just over here having way to much fun to sit and write about it. But the truth be told maybe its because my lack of interest has disappeared in sitting here trying to find words to elaborate on my life.

But I'll give it try none the least.

So basically Nikki and I have made friends lost friends and been banned from nearly every establishment in Cape Town. Guess we are just a tornado of trouble.

Our first night of meeting friends where made at a local pub in Muzienberg called Tiger's Milk. It was there we became friends with a few of the bartenders. They closed down the fort and then we all went out to this shady bar called Pirates. It was there they introduced us to one of their co-workers

named Megan, so naturally I'm stoked on this and extend my hand to her and she just looks at me. OKAY SORRY WAS JUST TRYING TO BE FRIENDLY.

What ever her loss, I am loads of fun, Nikki tells me so....

So story made short, girls hate us. No girls want to be our friends they are all MEAN...
and I don't like it.

We've seemed to accomplish two relationships in our time here.
Bruce as you all know as our first friend but then we made friends with this little hippy Simon.
But he doesn't like to be referred to as a hippy. So we call him our little homie.
(little as in he's 19) BUT AGE DOESN'T MATTER!

 Everyone meet Simon; now tell me he's not a hippy?

Simon is 19 and he likes to competitively skate down hill.
Simon wants everyone to follow him on Instagram @simonsturrock

 

Nikki and Brucey

Our buddy Bruce has taken us to some very spectacular beaches,
where we have had the chance to sun bathe and golden our skin while he surfs.
Nikki says I am the darkest white person in South Africa; I think that's pretty funny.

We went to Muzienberg beach last week and as we are sitting there the shark alarm goes off and you literally watch every single person run with fear out of the water and immediately your like 

WHERE IS BRUCE. 

But good thing Bruce was with us this time because he took this picture ;) 

so we whipped out our chips and watched the show.

 

Now we take a trip down to Cape Point, 

I have done this already but it was great for Nikki, Wilf and Ross to see.

This is Cape point, the furthest point in South Africa... 

well actually the furthest point south in ALLL of Africa.

Here I stand behind a cement wall guarding me from taking a tumble down these rocks. 

Also to generally keep you safe.

And here's Nikki disobeying the African laws.

 OK NOW GET BACK HERE BEFORE I DIE FROM ANXIETY.

 

Then Robyn and Ross came along and did the same thing.

THIS ISN'T THE LION KING GUYS!!

 

 If we where in Canada, some power hungry person working for the government would be all over our ass yelling screaming and threatening jail time ;)

The Lighthouse at Cape Point, was used to inform sailors where the

 Indian and the Atlantic Ocean meet.

 The view of the Atlantic from the top of Cape Point

 

A Baboon (Mom's Cousin) on the way home from Cape Point, outside our car. 

You can't open the windows because they are very aggressive and will attack you.

 So Now tomorrow we are off to Port Elizabeth to scatter my Dad's ashes on one of the beaches he used to life guard at. His friends and him started a life guarding club on this beach years ago when they didn't have one to keep people safe.

So cheers Dad! Always was looking out for other people!