Karaoke, Kaapstad and Go-Karts

28/09/13

Yesterday morning I visited a lovely market on one of our wine farms. I treated myself to a couple of things and also got a present to send my mum back home. Being on a wine farm, we couldn't refuse a glass of wine. Yes we could, it was awful. We had a very tasty parma ham- mozarella - pesto panini to make up for it.

Last night I attended a Karaoke Fundraiser for the Children's Home. It was an event for volunteers and staff to have a little fun while raising money. The tickets were R25 and we entered a raffle for R10. On entering, I was thinking no-way-on-earth-am-I-going-to-sing. A couple of hours later and there I am, singing along to Where is the Love by the Black Eye'd Peas. We even attempted to rap. Never in my life have I sang for a Karaoke. It was absolutely awful...but it was fun. I had a huge introduction to "Africa Time" last night, the event was running about 3 hours late!

After the Karaoke, some of the volunteers decided to go to Long Street. It was my first ever insight to the City's night life. It was a very fun night. We had no money but proved you can have a good time without having to drink. We were lucky enough to get a VIP stamp into one of the clubs called Jo'Burg. It was strange being in a room full of suited men and leather couches...Long Street is famous for it's night life but also for it's endless muggings and druggings. You definitely need to have wits and good instincts.

This morning I went GO KARTING! It was so much fun and  I'm definitely going to go again. I've bruised my knuckle from crashing into the same place twice...but it was worth it! I only got the "Dangerous Driving" flag waved at me once. Success. 

Our travel for today

weeeeeeeeeee

Impatient because I crashed

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 After Go-Karting, we went to Cape Town's Waterfront. This was my first proper visit into Cape Town. It was such an incredible atmosphere. We ate lunch and listened to some amazing live bands playing. There were bubbles everywhere and confetti was shot out of cannons from all directions. I got a little bracelet to add to my vastly growing collection.

Cape Town, Hermanus, Plett, Soweto, Hout Bay

Bubbles

Cape Town waterfront

Squeeze in

I've realised that I talk about my adventures more than my work. There is a very good reason for that - work bleeds me dry! I always fall asleep as soon as i've finished. It's the holidays for the children so the shifts have been very confusing this week. On Monday night (straight after I got back from Plettenburg) and Tuesday night I had nightshift. I was working in House 4 with the teenage boys. It was extremely tiring. We worked from 7pm-7am, it was crazy. I couldn't sleep all day on Tuesday so I felt even worse on the second nightshift. I made up for my lack of sleep by staying in bed until 4pm on Wednesday. I'm working dayshift 7am-7pm tomorrow. My main area of work recently has been with the teenage girls, I really enjoy working with them now that I have gotten to know them all better. They can be very difficult as they are at the peak of the teenage-attitude phase.

"This is not your bus sister, your bus is coming..."

24/09/2013

My little adventure was SO GOOD. I left early Friday morning for my lonely bus ride to Plettenburg Bay. The journey was actually incredible. For miles and miles a patchwork of fields lined the bus until they eventually dropped into the horizon. The landscape in South Africa is incredible. Within a few hours your entire surroundings can dramatically change. Ocean views, rocky mountains, flat plains and the smooth wave of hills and shacks were few of the sights. We drove through lot's of places that I would like to visit: Sedgefield, Knysna, Wilderness...

I arrived in Plettenburg Bay 6 hours later, about 4.30pm. I was very excited...until the bus drove off and left me clueless. With a mental map in my head, I headed in the wrong direction for an hour. Eventually I gave up being lost and asked for help. A man was kind enough to walk me to Albergo Backpackers, where I spent the weekend. I was given a little tour and shown to my room which I shared with Diarmid and Kieran, the Outward Bound boys also in South Africa with Project Trust.

We went out for pizza that night and then to a little bar called Manzini's. Regardless of the place being half empty, it was fun. WOW! THE VIEW! I THOUGHT IT WAS FAKE! The horizon was eye level and the moon had lit up a huge triangle of water. I don't even want to describe it because I can't do it any justice. Just, woow. Sorry, i'm leaving that one hanging.

Saturday was spent walking all over the place. The beaches are amazing. Plettenburg Bay is just such a beautiful place. We got far too excited over a "KFC THIS WAY" sign and ended up on a half an hour trek to get there. It's truly awful that we are eating KFC in South Africa but Diarmid had never had one (what) and it was very different from  in the UK. On the way back Kieran was in and out shops without warning. At least he bought something decent...

We went to an Italian place for dinner on Saturday and then went back to Manzini's.

Bottom bunk is mine

My bracelets for Soweto, Hermanus, Hout Bay and Plettenburg

A good purchase

Me and Diarmid

Diarmid, me, Kieran

SUNDAY! Thee most exciting day of the weekend. Maybe even of my life. We woke up early and headed straight to reception to book...THE HIGHEST BUNGY JUMP IN THE WORLD! Within an hour we were in a car, nervous, excited and on our way to Tsitsikamma in the Eastern Cape. As soon as we got there we were signed in and strapped in. I was freaking out about my harness because it was easily slipping off my shoulders but they assured me it was normal. 

The bridge walk to the platform where you jump was so incredible, I definitely have no fear of heights, I loved it. There was such a good atmosphere on the platform. Music was blasting out of huge speakers and everyone was so hyped on adrenalin. We were told what order we would be jumping in. I was 3rd out of the whole group...and 1st out of me Diarmid and Kieran. 

In no time It was my turn. I sat on a bench as pads were wrapped and tied around my ankles. I barely noticed what the man was doing. My head was fuzzy and my heart was pounding. I only snapped out of my haze to smile for a "I'm going to die" photo. A few seconds later, my arms were heaved over the shoulders of two men and I was hopping the the edge of the bridge. My toes were over the edge and I was BUZZING WITH EXCITEMENT. Never in my life have I felt so good. I was mentally preparing myself to jump when suddenly 5,4,3,2,1 BUNGY!! is screamed and I hear the faint "woo, go Jasmine" before I'm free falling through 216 metres of AIR. OH WOW! it was BEYOND AMAZING! I won't lie, I screamed the whole way down but it was definitely a woo-hoo scream. Just when I started realising how far I had fell through the air without feeling the rope...PING! I brutally flew back towards the bridge. For what felt like a good few minutes I was bouncing all over the place and the cord was spinning me at the same time. I kept my eyes open for the whole time, surprisingly I did manage to collect my thoughts and think "wow, that's pretty".

It's definitely the coolest thing I've ever done. Eventually, the bouncing stopped and I was left hanging...for a long, long time. Just when I was about to start screaming that my feet were slipping and I was going to die, I looked up to see a man winding his way down to me. With a "don't grab my equipment" and a few clicks later, I was in a sitting position and we were pulled back up to the bridge, making awkward small talk. Yes, yes, South Africa is beautiful.

Once on the platform, I was unclicked and untied. The first unclick had me fall backwards and suddenly I was laughing because the bungee didn't kill me but I was going to backflip off the bridge and die by accident. No worries, I didn't fall. My legs felt like jelly but I stood up in time to see Kieran and Diarmid jump. Kierans was very smooth. He had a go-pro camera strapped to his chest. I have seen the video and it's incredible. Diarmids jump is another story. OH DEAR! As well as screaming like a ten year old girl the whole way, he flapped his arms about like he had the power to stop gravity. It was the funniest thing. His video is hilarious, If I had the money I would have bought his just for the giggles.

We were all definitely high on adrenalin after our jumps. 

smiles all round

18/09/13
I have only been here for 3 weeks and 3 days. It feels like SO much longer. The amount of knowledge i've gained, friends i've made and sights I've seen in that time is incredible. It's so exciting knowing there's still 11 months of experiences to come by.

I'm  faced with new things everyday. Today I had to stop a fight! Two of the teenage girls I work with were screaming and slapping and even ripping at each others clothes. I was definitely shocked to find out it all started because one stole the other's socks. One of the girls was shaking on the verge of a panic attack!

Last night we visited Signal Hill again. It's definitely my favourite place on earth right now, it's beyond breathtaking. The sky was a warmer colour and clouds were rolling over Table Mountain like a blanket, It was sooo amazing.

I have extremely EXCITING news! I'm taking on South Africa ALONE! Okay, that's not the exciting part. I'm going to Plettenburg Bay on Friday. Plettenburg Bay is on the coast at the other end of the Western Cape. I'm taking a 6 hour bus from Cape Town. I'll be spending the weekend with two Project Trust boys, from the Outward Bound project in Sedgefield. We plan to stay in a backpackers on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Somewhere in there, we will be throwing ourself off of a bridge...THEE worlds highest bungee jump! I am so so so excited. That doesn't mean i'm not terrified though. As long as I'm not first and not last, I'll be fine.

Next week is going to be very busy at the Children's Home as it's the school holiday. Lucky for me, I'm only working Monday, Tuesday and Sunday! Even better, i'm working night shift! I'm yet to experience night shift so I'm not sure what to expect. Unfortunately the hours are longer during the holiday. I'll be working (sitting in a dark corridor) from 7pm-7am. Crazy ?!