Can You Translate This Please?

Recently received this sms (or, text message via cell phone) from a friend here. Can YOU decipher it?

Hi friends pls join me on sun 2 celebrate my bday. braai frm 1pm@ 12 PittStr, Plumstead. bring your cozzy&an odd pair of socks. pls RSVP 4catering purposes. thx. T:)

hints:
braai = cook-out/grill/barbeque
frm 1 pm = from 1 pm = beginning at 1 pm and continuing, but don't arrive too close to 1 pm
cozzy = swimming costume = swimsuit
odd pair of socks = no idea what she means by this! some kind of game?

A Day in the Winelands with Mark and Blanche

Jul and Blanche in Tokara Winery, near Stellenbosch

Boschendal wine estate est. 1685; manor house in background built 1796

Lunch at Boschendal. Yes, those sandwiches and the homemade lemonade were Very Tasty.

(above and below) Located on the western slopes of Table Mountain, Groot Constantia is considered one of the most beautiful vineyards in the western cape. The manor house was built the same year the vineyard was established by Simon van der Stel, in 1685.

Enjoying a wine tasting at the estate. (do we look like we know what we're doing?!)

Hike along Klein Keurbooms River

This hike in Wilderness National Park follows the winding river/stream and ended up at a waterfall and swimming hole. The area around Wilderness is famous for its indigenous forests. If you don’t know what indigenous means, look it up! We've learned that South Africans can get in heated discussions about indigenous plants and trees, and there are efforts to rid certain areas of non-indigenous plants, such as pine and eucalyptus trees. In the Cape Town area, there are very few indigenous trees, though there are forests of pine and eucalyptus – a sore point for some. But in Wilderness there are indigenous forests of milkwood, yellowwood, ironwood, alder, assegai, white peach, saphron, and more. Very cool! (and hey, I used the word 'indigenous' six times in that paragraph)

A few minutes into the walk, we saw a family of baboons up on a cliffside, eating breakfast (berries and seeds) and hollering at each other. We stopped to photograph them and it sure seemed like they looked right back at us! So for the next while, we were both a bit spooked, as we kept hearing their chattering and hoots, and we wondered what we’d do if one suddenly appeared on the path! Fortunately that didn’t happen and we eventually calmed down. Yeah, fun to see from a distance but you don’t want to get close! (they have big, sharp teeth and can get aggressive with humans)




Milkwood trees don’t grow very tall and usually create dense forests. Certain vines love them as well, which is why I (Jul) had to duck my head to get through this ‘tunnel’!

For my brother Matt

Saw these and couldn't help but think of you, bro.
(taken back in January when Rachel was here. We both agree that it would be quite apt for you to get your next haircut at NapyCutz.)

22 March – Two Oceans Half Marathon

Although I (Jim) am not naturally drawn to long races – or any footrace for that matter – I have done a few half marathons in the past few years. So when I caught wind of the Two Oceans Half Marathon (21 km) and Ultra Marathon (56 km), I signed up for the Half and began my training. (By the way, it is called “Two Oceans” because the Ultra (unfortunately not the Half) passes along both sides of the cape peninsula, providing fantastic views of the Atlantic and Indian oceans).

The race began early (6 am!) in part because the Ultra, which begins at 6:25, takes so long and would be no fun at all in a hot, mid-day sun. Honestly I was not quite as excited about this race as I have been about past races, in large part because I was preparing for it alone. My older sister, Katie, and other friends (Chip Sanders, Jennifer Felske, and cousin Jeremy Pennington, to name a few) were missing! But once I arrived at the start and joined the 7,500 other runners I began to smile. The energy, hustle and chatter, the anticipation floating all around you – it’s catching.

Aside from one nagging problem, the run itself went smoothly – a few more hills than in other half’s that I’ve done, but beautiful. And that ‘nagging problem’… let me just say that I learned a lesson: do not gorge on a large steak dinner, followed by an equally large dessert, the day before a race!! You want to be feeling good on race morning, not bursting and less than comfortable in the lower regions. Throughout the race I had some major intestinal “traffic problems” which some pain and discomfort. Needless to say, I finished the race but felt pretty bad the rest of the day. Friends, I beg you, please learn from my mistake!



(the finish line and tents were set up on the rugby fields of UCT campus, so those are some of the campus residences in the background)