I am currently writing from my new room at university, with my first lecture of second year being tomorrow morning and so, with regret, I think it's time to accept that Summer 2016, is over. 


Summer 2016 has proven to be one of the greatest (I say this every summer) but it's true, since every summer I seem to be doing amazing things and having an amazing time. This summer has been a stand out for me though because I have tried so many things out for the first time, and been ticking away at my bucket list. 

This was my first summer blogging, and I've loved it! I've enjoyed writing, and hearing from people who have read it and having conversations with some incredible people because of it. I'm so glad I decided to start this blog, and look forward to what happens next. 

Obviously the most unbelievable thing I did this summer, which is something I did for the first time, was volunteer with big cats. Volunteering on a wild cat sanctuary was like a dream. I will never forget it, and hope to do it again. I learnt so much and had an amazing time. I got to do some life-chaning things (for the first time) such as getting up close and personal with lions, cheetahs,  and caracals, and learning individual animals characteristics and personalities. On a tour once I was asked how to tell the difference between some of the lions, and I produced a lengthy list of every single difference. The owner said to me it was clear where I was spending my free time.. I loved getting to know the animals individually, and being able to know them all by name. I miss them everyday and am constantly looking back at pictures. I met some incredible people as well and made friends from all over the world, which really excites me and I hope to go travelling around to see them all one day. May have been my first time working with big cats, but it won't be my last! 

Another first for me from South Africa was bungee jumping!! Much to my mothers horror, I loved it. Skydiving has been on my bucket list for as long as I can remember, and I still plan to do that one day (hopefully in Australia) but bungee jumping was never a "must-do" for me. However, as soon as I found out it was an option I had to do it. I am the type of person who doesn't like to say no to things, and I know I will always regret the things I don't do. I wasn't at all convinced I would even enjoy the jump, but I knew I had to try. I was terrified on the top of the platform, and had to take several deep breaths before jumping, but once I was off, I was loving it. So happy I did it, and would recommend it to anyone who's unsure. Sorry mum and dad... 

In fact, it was the first time I spent any real time in Johannesburg. Although it wasn't all smooth sailing, and my wallet was stolen, I did really enjoy the day I spent having a tour of the city. Obviously the bungee was a highlight, but I also really enjoyed Constitutional Hill. If you have time in Johannesburg ever, it's a well worth a visit. 


Back in the UK I did some things for the first time as well. I tried water skiing. Turns out, I'm not very good at water skiing, but I had fun. A group of 6 of us went out on a boat for a day and had a go. Obviously the boat's owner was very good at it, and we all optimistically thought it would be quite easy. Some of the others were surprisingly good at it, but I was not one of them. I love the sea though and was having a great time trying to stand up. I did get up for about a second so I'm happy. Would love to try it again, but maybe with some gloves. 


Although it was not my first time in Canada, it was my first time visiting Thornbury, my first Canada wedding, and my first time meeting the newest member to my family, who was born in July! I loved Thornbury and felt lucky to have been there. Since it's such a small town, I think it's somewhere I would never have even known about if I didn't have family there, and yet it's such a beautiful place! 



Of course, there were other amazing things I did this summer, that I had done before. I went to my friend's festival for the second year in a row. I had a great time as always, and is definitely going to be my bank holiday weekend fix for many years to come. I went on a one day safari in SA, and saw rhinos and water buffalo among other things. That was one of the best days of the summer for me (read more..). 



The best thing about this summer was meeting so many new people. I've made some friends for life, and had some unforgettable experiences. Thank you to everyone who's made this summer one of the best ones yet! 

The big day had arrived, and it was the most amazing wedding. Everyone who was there had an amazing time, the bride looked absolutely stunning and it was perfect. 

The wedding wasn't until 4.00pm and so we had the whole morning to get ready. Weather-wise, it wasn't really what you want on your wedding day. It was the first rain we'd had all week, and it came down by the bucketload. Even us Brits were impressed. The forecast had predicted it, but none of us believed it until then. But we stayed optimistic as there was lots of time for the rain to clear before the wedding would start. 

We got ready at our house and took some pictures (and may have had some champagne) before heading to the venue! The wedding was at a gorgeous pub on the lake. The ceremony was moved into a marquee which was beautifully decorated, and as soon as it started, the weather cleared! It couldn't have been more perfect timing; as if it was planned! 

After the lovely ceremony, there were pictures and drinks before dinner. Everyone looked lovely, and because the weather ended up being so nice, they had their pictures outside in front of the water which was so picturesque. 

Dinner was a build-you-own-burger - genius - with a selection of salads, and all the food was great. Then came the speeches, which were all very good. The cakes (plural) were brought out which were incredibly impressive. 
After a lot of food, the dancing began. Do I really need to say more..? What I will say is, there was always a very strong english presence on the dance floor!
Overall, lots was drank, lots was eaten and everyone had a wonderful evening. I wish the bride and groom a lifetime of happiness together, and thanks guys for an awesome wedding! 


The next day, everyone was feeling pretty fragile (did I mention we  hosted an after party beer pong tournament at the house?) We had all agreed for a family jump off the pier the morning after the wedding. When you've had a night out, this seems like a terrible idea the next day, but eventually we all headed to the beach. 
Jumping into a lake off a pier is the BEST hangover cure I have found yet. I recommend it strongly (to be honest, any outdoor activity is good). We swam to "the rock" and just hung around the beach for most of the day. We had dinner at our house as it was our last night. The week had gone so quickly. 

Our flight was overnight so we had Monday morning in Thornbury. Next to the pub where the wedding was, there is a dam, but since it is part of the salmon migration, they had built a path for the salmon to get up. If you've ever seen the salmon migration on national geographic of tv or in real life, you'll know how insane it is! They  are heading upstream, so against the water, and have to negotiate rapids. They jump quite high out of the water sometimes! 
It has started in Thornbury, so after breakfast at the bakery, we headed to the pub to see it. I tried my best to get some photos, but unfortunately I wasn't very successful. However, here is a photo of  the path and what they are fighting against..



Sadly, all good things must come to an end and it was time to go home. After an almost-run-in with the hire car company, we arrived at the airport and got on our plane home to England. I had an amazing holiday in Canada. It's made me want to travel more of Canada in the future, and obviously it was lovely to see my family. Saying goodbye to everyone was very sad, but hopefully we'll all see each other again soon.

Until next time, Canada!

We went to Sauble Beach, which was about an hour and a half drive from Thornbury for the day. It was recommended to us as a lovely beach and a good place to swim. 

It really was a great beach. We took a picnic, including some of my aunts homemade meat pies based on my grandmas recipe - they are amazing! The weather was great, and the water was unbelievable; possibly the nicest water I have ever swam in. It was crystal clear, and you could get so far out before you couldn't stand. It was lake water as well, so not salty, and it wasn't cold. It was fabulous. We also took a game called 'Smite' with us - great game. It's a bit like 10 pin bowling, but outdoors with a different points system. You have to knock down pieces of wood and get a score depending on which you knock over, and you'e aiming to get exactly 50 points; no more and no less. I definitely recommend the game - it's simple to grasp and good for families or groups of any size and any age. 

We sunbathed, ate, swam, played smite and had a generally great beach day. 

We went back to Thornbury for dinner, and had dinner in a restaurant next to the marina. There was about 20 of us (or more) having dinner because more people had arrived from England and other parts of Canada in preparation for the wedding. It was great to see everyone who had only just arrived and we had a nice evening. 

Later that evening (around 11pm) the last of the English arrived; my cousin and her boyfriend had flown in from Alabama. It was great to see them since it had been ages since I last had, and they were staying in the house with us. 

The next day we had a surprisingly busy day. We were told that jumping off the pier in Thornbury harbour was some a must-do before we left, and so naturally we all met in the morning to do that. We loved it, and probably jumped in 10-15 times, before swimming back to shore. I love the water for swimming in Thornbury. We were told we were lucky to still be able to in September, although I'm sure even if it wasn't as warm, us Brits would still consider it warm compared to what we are used to! But even the Canadians were impressed by how warm the water was. 

We went to a wine tasting for lunch which was fun. We got to try 4 different wines each, and we ordered some cheese boards, and then we had a tour of the winery. 

We had to be back in time to get ready for the rehearsal dinner. Obviously, those of us not actually in the wedding didn't attend the rehearsal, but we all met for dinner in the evening at one house (aunt and uncle of the bride) for another delicious meal! (The soup was a definite highlight D&T if you're reading!) The whole evening was lovely, and more people had arrived that we hadn't seen yet which was great. 

It wasn't a particularly late one, since everyone needed to be ready for the big day... 

Tuesday 13th September was my mum's birthday (I won't say how old she is). She and I both really wanted to go hiking while we were in Canada since we were staying in the mountains and we knew there was several trails we could go on, and so we decided we would do that for her birthday. 

Happy Birthday Mum!

We followed the Loree trail. It is supposedly one of those trials that no matter which was you turn, you will return to the same place. We reached a view point which looked over the bay and it was really beautiful. However, getting back to the car was interesting. We followed whichever path we found, but it just felt like we were getting further and further into the woods (which we were). But it didn't really matter as we had a great time and the woods were awesome to be in; although we did end up walking down a hill to a small stream and having to cross a small bridge before climbing back up. 


We eventually ended up back on the road, but about a mile away from the car. I really would recommend the Loree trail in the Blue Mountains. It's not a difficult walk and the sights are beautiful. 



After we got back to Thornbury we went to the Thornbury Bakery for lunch which was delicious, and then everyone was really tired and the weather wasn't as good as it had been earlier that day so we went back to the house. Most people napped but I just sat on the deck for a bit. 
For dinner, some family members had organised mum a wonderful meal at their house. The whole meal was delicious, topped off with an incredible cake! This thing was huge and tasted amazing. I think it's set the bar for all future cakes now, and was baked by the owners of the bakery! It was a lovely evening and mum had a great day so happy birthday mum! 

The next day we decided to go on a day trip. It was just my uncle, aunt, mum, sister and I who could go (the English) as the others were all busy with either work or wedding prep! We went to Tobermory, in Ontario, for the day. It's on the northern tip of the Bruce Peninsula, and is famous for it's fresh water diving. It's popular for diving because of it's shipwrecks. My uncle and I were looking into doing a dive there, but it was 2 and a half hours from where we were staying and because we were quite busy and not in Canada for that long, it just wasn't looking feasible. 
Instead, we had lunch by the marina and then went on a boat trip. The boat took us over some wrecks, which you could see perfectly through the crystal clear water, and then to Flowerpot Island; so-named because some of the rocks resemble flowerpots. The boat trip was really good. We didn't have time to get off at Flowerpot Island because we had to be back in Thornbury for the evening because more of my cousins were arriving from England, but on the journey out there, which was where we saw the wrecks, we had the boat to ourselves (unfortunately on the way back it was very busy, but two people had two cavaliers on there which reminded me of my dog and one came to sit with me, so I was happy). 





The water was beautiful and the wrecks were awesome. The whole area was very pretty and we were really glad we got to go. I definitely recommend going on a boat trip if you are down there, and if we hadn't been pushed for time, we would definitely have followed a trail on the island, or even camped there for the night. I definitely want to do a dive there as well if I ever go back! 



In the evening, my cousin and his girlfriend arrived and we had dinner at the house we were staying in. It was great to have more people in the house, and dinner was delicious as always. 

I haven’t posted in a while but I’ve been busy, mostly getting ready for my holiday to Canada. I am going to Ontario, to a town called Thornbury where my aunt lives. One of my cousins is getting married there and so quite a few of us are flying over from the UK for the wedding. I haven't been to Canada since 2011, and so I am very excited. 

I am currently writing from the plane. I’ve brought my laptop so I can blog and work (currently have an online rep job and lots of our events are coming up so I need access to the internet.) I’m flying with my mum, sister, aunt and uncle with AirCanada Rouge. I’ve never flown AirCanada before, and I’ve heard mixed things but I didn't book the flight and so didn't have a choice. There is inflight entertainment but only via an app on your personal devices, so if you don't have a smart phone or a tablet you’re a bit screwed. Furthermore, the whole system has crashed and so isn't working yet; hence I am writing. Hopefully it’ll be up again soon and I’ll even be able to watch from my laptop. It’s not what we were expecting to say the least, and getting on a plane and seeing that there’s no mini personal screen is a bit of a blow. 

Flight was fine in the end: got there in one piece and got through the airport easily and to our hired car. From Toronto airport to Thornbury was about a 2 and a half hour drive. We went straight to my aunts house to see her and some of my cousins (they weren't all there yet) and it was lovely to see them again after so long. 

They took us to the house we were staying in for our stay. This house was unbelievable! It was huge, and the houses in Canada all have huge basements too because their frost levels are so low, so the basement here was the same size as the main floor of the house. It was in a place called Lora Bay, where all the houses are amazing. Thornbury is in the Blue Mountains next to the ski resort, and so these are mostly winter homes for people in the city who come here to ski. It's also right next to a huge lake and so is a very picturesque area. 

That night, everyone came to this house for dinner. We all ate (and drank) quite a bit and it was lovely. It was so good to see everyone again and have a proper catch up. 

The next day was quite relaxed. The time difference between the UK and Canada is 5 hours and so we were all quire tired. We went into Thornbury in the morning and to the pub the wedding was at for lunch. It's a wonderful setting, right on the water. We wondered down past the marina, where all the nice boats were and it was very pretty. 

After lunch, I went for a swim near our house in the lake with my sister and one of my aunts. The water was amazing. It's still warm, even at this time of year, and beautifully clear and fresh water! It looks just like the sea, but it's warmer and not salty, which makes perfect water for swimming. I love being in the water and it was really nice to finally be swimming this summer. 

That evening we went for lunch at my aunts house, and one of my cousins had arrived with her new baby boy. It was our first time meeting him as he was only born in July, and he was so small and adorable. It was great to see my cousin as well of course and dinner was delicious.