Pumula, Continued...

The rain has arrived in Pumula - optimistically, just in time to stop us from doing serious sun-damage to ourselves.

Chloe and Astrid said a sad goodbye to Nichola and Georgia, who they have played with day and night since we arrived.

But, we made use of the rainy day yesterday and headed off to see the Morey's in Mount Edgecombe - more than 100km just to say hi! Or at least Kaeli did, I did my annual pilgrimage to Gateway (once a retailer...) - still one of the best retail spaces in South Africa. Kaeli scored without leaving the Morey's house - I couldn't return empty-handed.

The kids entertainment continues, the slush-puppies are flowing (kids can sign for them - a financially scary thought), and the wireless internet is free... haven't made much use of it though, as we have had our noses buried in our books, and Kaeli has been learning what it means to lose at Backgammon. Chloe has just learnt how to play chess as well, with similar success to her Mom's Backgammon - so far...

Chloe has made a new friend, Beth, who as we speak has taken Astrid to play "Duck, Duck, Goose" with Aloma, who arranges all sorts of fun stuff and competitions for the kids. We're sitting in the lounge (along with other parents who looked too relaxed for parents of young kids).

The part that I enjoy most is the independence the kids have - they always know roughly where we are, and then roam all over the hotel in small very mobile packs. These packs often find their way to the dining room at night (kids eat dinner earlier in their dining-room), where they can pick up an extra pudding with their folks if they time it right. Kaeli on more than one evening has found the decision between the two puddings available on the menu too hard to make, so has taken the easy way out, and just had both...

We suppose if you're going to be cooped up in bad weather, this doesn't seem like too tough a place to do it, as a kid or even a parent...

Cheers,

Matt