Mackie’s (our existing dog) little half brother… “bruva-by-anuva-farva” to be exact… sadly his mum died when he was only 3 weeks old, so he’s super proud of himself as he’s just come off the bottle & is now eating (mashed) big dog food

Thoughts on names? We only have “Luca” or “Elvis” so far…. love to hear what you think.

N

XOX

Hi there one and all!  Rather belatedly, here are a few photos from our NYs out on a local catamaran with friends… HUGE night complete with rocking party tunes from A – D (the rest of the alphabet didn’t make it aboard), a delicious giant prawn & seafood buffet & lots of giggle juice (of course!).  Good times!!!

Thanks to Libby & Tony for organising such a great night…

It started off quietly enough and with the best of intentions…

Enjoyed a lovely sunset and relaxed…

…but you know how these things go…

Then, the highlight of the evening… fireworks from about 9pm until midnight… ok, so our photos weren’t great, but the fireworks WERE and at least they overpowered our rather dismal attempts at singing!

HAPPY NEW YEAR from all of us in Mauritius!  Hope 2010 is a fabulous year for you and your families

XOX

Hey there one and all… MERRY (belated) CHRISTMAS and all the best as you gather yourselves together in preparation for the New Year…

We had a fabulous Chrissy day… enjoyed a chilled out morning at home (after trying to sleep through hours of fireworks on Chrissy Eve).

We went to visit our good friends the Barnhoorns for lunch/dinner and had a lovely time, lots of laughs!

We are looking forward to heading out on a Catamaran for New Years Eve (so fingers crossed that the weather behaves itself – there was a random cyclone warning just prior to Christmas, so glad to see “David” dissipate somewhere over Madagascar!)

Well… we wish you the best for the end of 2009 and a FABULOUS start to 2010 wherever you are in the world…

XOX
Nadine & Kent

For more photos from our travels/life click here

Well as you can see… we arrived AND survived our ‘destination wedding’ at Makalali Game Park in stunning South Africa! 

We had an EXCELLENT time and our actual wedding day (near the end of our stay at the Game Park) was AMAZING! 

For the wedding we took three separate trucks out to a secluded site (passing monkey’s and zebra on the way), Dad walked me down a winding dusty path to our  wedding spot, we married under a stunning tree to the sound of our awesome African choir – made up of volunteer staff from our camp site – and I must say, they really made our day so much fun and so special – a big thanks to all of them!  The following day there was a huge giraffe walking down our wedding path!  We had a Christian service with the additional “African Gifts” (including the presentation of a tribal blanket, bracelets AND drinking BEER from a traditional cup, YES, BEER!)

We then danced to a little ditty called “We love you Nadine, We love you Kenty” sung by our friends and choir.  They ROCKED!  Who has their own personal theme wedding song huh???  Too cool!

We then proceeded back up the path and singing & dancing on the trucks all the way back to camp (where we sang and danced some more of course!  You sensing a trend?).

We then signed on the dotted line & took a few fairly relaxed official photos.  Photo left, is of the lovely Robin (Kent’s Mum, the ring-bearer & most importantly the “best man”), the new MR & MRS GRAYSON, George (the celebrant) & my brother Jared (the stunning “bridesmaid”).  Very traditional as you can see!

We then set off in one truck to take a few more photos ( safari hats – courtesy of Jess & Jared – nice!).  We were graced by a giraffe & some zebra along the way & did not need the gun.

We then relaxed with a celebratory drink to enjoy the reading of the telegrams (thanks everyone for your contributions).

Our Game Rangers took us to a breath-taking spot where we got some lovely (and fun) photos & danced (yes really, even Kent!) as the sun set across our little piece of Africa.

We returned to the camp to cut the cake, have our first dance, enjoy the excellent speeches made by Dene, Robin, Jared and my lovely new husband (all brilliant of course!) and then enjoy a delicious meal.

So that was our “destination” day.  Fun, laughter, safari hats & lots of local singing & dancing!  A totally fabulous (if not a little different) wedding.  We would really like to especially thank the six very special family members who came so far to be with us & to also thank you all for your support from afar, although you were not with us on the day, you were all very much there with us in mind & spirit.

XOX

Nadine & Kenty

PS: All the family saw the “big five” & some even saw the “big six” – we had a total blast on Safari & loved every minute of it!

I will probably be the only bride you will ever meet that has a wedding that includes a: safari land rover, South African choir, the “big five” and a "standard wedding cake" which when asked to elaborate equates to "a cake made by our chefs" yes, thanks, very helpful!##???

I expect I will be the only bride you know with giraffes in the background of her photos, or a desolate dry landscape when she has a perfectly good garden back in NZ!

Yes folks, we will tie the knot in less than 6 weeks on Tuesday the 20th of October at Makalali Game Park (click here to view link) in South Africa.  We will be joined by six exceptionally good looking family members who will be working hard on the day as they will also be doubling as our hairdressers, bridesmaids, best men, ushers, toastmaster, witnesses, florists, photographers, DJ and anything else I can think of

Somewhere in the midst of tracking cheetah’s & Rhino’s we will trade in our safari suits and spruce up for our wedding  “in the bush alongside the river in a stunning spot”.

Following this we will jump on the truck and try to find some nice amicable wedding-dress-friendly animals to pose with.

DJ “J” (don’t try that after too many drinks) will then take over the evenings entertainment whilst we enjoy our meal back at the camp and progress to drop some (animal ?) shapes on the orange dust dance floor.

So that’s the plan!

After the wedding & at the completion of the safari, the family will then enjoy some chilled out post-safari beach time & get to meet all our wonderful friends back here in Mauritius!

_______

In other news… I am sure you will fall on the floor laughing with my next piece of news; there is, as of last week, a small baking business running from my home (probably the least likely scenario you would have EVER anticipated).  “Therese’s treats” kicked off with over 75 items made and sold in the last week – wonders will never cease!

Well I think that’s enough excitement from us for now… we hope that all is well on your side of the world, & thank you for all your support over the past couple of years while we have been off adventuring.

XOX

Nadine & BRIDEZILLA

Load of other (non mushy) photos of what we’ve been up to if you click here

For more engagement photos (in case you haven’t seen enough)  please click here

We stayed the first few nights at Arathusa, an awesome game park where we saw almost all of the big 5 in our first two game drives so we had an excellent time!  LOADS more photos if you click here

Kent proposed on the 2nd night at the game park!  (with a little help from a large shot of wurm sour!) More engagement photos, click here IF YOU DARE

We had an absolutely AMAZING time on Safari, then caught up with good friends in Joberg for a night out before flying down to Port Elizabeth to kick off the trip on the Garden Route.

Spent a night at a primo spot in J-Bay overlooking the location for the billabong pro comps. The surf was unreal during our stay & there were dolphins right out front throughout the day!

Had a fabulous time in gorgeous tree house accommodation in Knysna (& met some great new friends), took a tour of the Oyster Farm, visited the Elephant & Monkey parks and generally overindulged (as you do!)

Caught up with other good friends in Hermanus (for a delicious meal!) & watched whales outside our accommodation whilst we ate breakfast, & although enthusiastic, Kent would have much preferred if we had seen the whales during our 3 hour whale watching expedition (well you can’t have it all!)

REALLY loved our time in Franschhoek – overindulged AGAIN!  The wine farms were AMAZING (from what I can remember)

Spent our final night in Cape Town before heading back to our Island home…

….and that folks, was our first trip to SA!  I hope there will be many more!

Friends of ours living here in Mauritius (originally from Guernsey), Stuart & Juliette, organized a GREAT day out at “Champ de Mars” racecourse recently. We had an excellent day (and night… naturally!).

The racecourse is set at the base of the mountains and loads of the locals come along, its quite the atmosphere.  No comments re the actual financial outcome of the day, but the only Aussie horse did NOT produce the jackpot we were hoping for!

Bollywood watch out!!!!