Weekend to weekend

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So what’s news? Well, Paul, Robin and I are going away to the Drakensberg mountain range this weekend to an out-of-the-way little place called Injisuthi. The weather is going to really determine the length of our hikes, but, regardless, it’s a chance to get away before peak holiday season kicks into full gear.

Next year I’m planning to make 2 day getaways more common place (to see more of our beautiful KwaZulu-Natal province), as well as hopefully head overseas for a few weeks of real adventure – I haven’t travelled internationally in over 10 years, and I’ve been feeling quite left out.

Hmm, I realise now that I haven’t said anything about last weekend. The short version is that after dinner on Friday night we just vegged around and watched assorted horror films on TV. These included the original Saw which, after all the hype, I found pretty overrated. The flashbacks to other Jigsaw tortures were gripping, and gut-wrenching, but the main story arc was only so-so, and the ‘big twist’ was blergh.

On Saturday and Sunday during the day, Paulo and I were on assorted shopping expeditions as far away as Pietermaritzburg. On Stanfordhill Road I found the perfect Roxy half-wetsuit/steamer-vest but they annoyingly didn’t have my size (just 1 size too small, and 1 size too big). Paul even received a cellphone call to stage a change room rescue and free me from a hobbit wetsuit that had wedged over my shoulder blades, trapping my arms.

Our other big adventure was going to a 5 hour Muslim ceremony that we were invited to by one of Paul’s old work colleagues. Apparently it was a special occasion to celebrate Mohammed’s top supporter/warrior, Ali. To experience a culture that is so totally different was very interesting, but let’s just say I won’t be converting to Islam any time soon. Five hours of singing and screamed preaching aint for me (most sensible attendees arrived only for the last 2 hours). The food afterwards was delicious though – sweetmeats, chicken and mutton breyani, roti’s and curried fish. And people went out of their way at meal time to make the only 2 whiteys there feel comfortable.

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Anyway, I finished Frank Miller’s graphic novel 300 last night. Depending on my workload, and how inspired I’m feeling, I’m hoping to have a little review up before the end of today, or early next week.

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