Archive by Author | Craig Thomas

Day 5 – Alex and Heart

Today we had the pleasure of partaking in a tour around Alexander Road High, led by Declan and Kyle; two of the year twelves at Alex. We were shown around their arts department, ICT department, Afrikaans class, DNT class, the library and the cafeteria. Finally, we went out to the rugby field to play a bit of touch and join them in their game preparation methods. We joined hands and formed a circle in which we performed a battle cry that is traditionally completed before every match. The sense of camaraderie and pride that radiated from all the students at Alex was extremely refreshing, and joining in on game prep was relatively emotive.

 

Following on from our tour, we hopped on the bus back to the cabins and enjoyed some leisure time in which we mingled with the other students. This time for revitalisation was greatly appreciated by everyone as we’ve been moving at a relatively fast pace throughout the trip. We had lunch and then set off on a bus tour of Port Elizabeth where we learned about the Nelson Mandela University, some of the buildings and the townships.

Our bus journey ended at Hearts Football Club where we played five-aside football with some of the boys belonging to the club. We had an abundance of fun with some high-spirited match-play and developed a stronger bond with those in our team. Half-way through the night we enjoyed a traditional braai barbecue and then proceeded to play two more football matches. Ella’s team and my team ended up versing in the final with the score being 5-3 my way. Everyone joined in at the end from a boys vs girls match and although the pitch was crowded, we had a fantastic time.

 

Today was extremely enjoyable with lots of bond-strengthening and exciting activities, we would do it again in a heartbeat.

 

By Evie & Ella

Day 4 – ROAR! We’re Here Port Elizabeth

Today, we sadly parted with Cape Town, which was upsetting since we had all made such a connection with not only District Six but our enthusiastic and knowledgable bus drivers, Songlize and Nelson. But we happily started our next step of the journey in Port Elizabeth, where it is already exceeding our expectations.

Our journey started with a spontaneous decision to drop off stationery at one of Langas’ many primary schools due to a devastating arson attack done to one of the classrooms. We then went straight to the airport, with a relatively fast check in with our MANY bags. For many of us it came as a surprise leaving Cape Town so soon, as already time had flown by so fast. After we boarded the plane we all saw our last sights of the eye opening city.

 

We arrived in Port Elizabeth for a speedy start meeting our bus driver John, then off to our first safari. For many of us this was a first seeing a lot of the beautiful well known wild life of South Africa. The experience which we had felt very surreal as this was only what many of us see in movies. As much as it was amazing experience all of us were definitely feeling the cold being as we were in an open jeep.

After a long but exciting day we arrived at the Pine Lodge were we settled into our rooms, then headed off to Pick-n-pay (Grocery shop) where each house had to come up with a meal to make for everyone in that group to cook and eat. All of our meals were a success and we all enjoyed making them as it was a great way for everyone to get to know each other a little more and bond.

We are all very tired from our long adventure filled day and are sure that we are all going to have a very nice sleep!

 

 

By Asha and Emma B

This entry was posted on April 12, 2019. 2 Comments

Day 3 – Towards The Township!

** Apologies for this going up late.  We had a late finish to dinner and then an early morning to catch the flight to PE.  Yesterday was an amazing day but I will let the girls tell the story below. (Mr Thomas)

Today we were granted the opportunity to visit and interact with people in the Langa township.  We started the day with a visit to Mokone Primary school where we split into two groups and played netball and soccer with the kids. After the games, the children sang for us and invited us to join in the fun. We then had a look around their school and spent some time with them in a classroom environment, they loved interacting with us and showing us their work as much as we loved being with them. Though we loved the atmosphere, it was heartbreaking to see one of the classrooms had recently been burned down and vandalised by outsiders, making it an unusable, unsafe place to learn. Because of this, we have decided to supply the school with stationary to replace what was destroyed in the fire.

The Langa township is one of the oldest townships in Cape Town and was founded during the district six evictions. We had the privilege of walking through the township and seeing how the people of Langa lived in these unfortunate circumstances. As we wandered through the streets we were confronted by some of the living conditions of the poorer regions such as the tiny hostel rooms that only consisted of one room where three families lived. The families that were living in these seemed to be happy with what they had and thats all that mattered. We also visited a daycare centre and were bombarded with hugs and kisses of the kids who attended (ages 3-5) and it was hard to say goodbye. When it came to lunch we ate at a local Langa butchery which served up a feast including; chicken wings, pork, sausages and other traditional south African cuisine, which everyone agreed was delicious.

After a quick pit stop at the guest house we went to play soccer with Cape Town United Football Club. Whilst were were looking at their home ground, we also had the chance to have a scratch match with a team from the under 12’s boys. We formed two teams mixed with St Stephens and Cape Town United, and luckily we did because they would’ve destroyed us! Our bus driver Nelson joined the game and showed off his amazing skills whilst managing to hit both Emma’s in the head. That game is defiantly one to remember as everyone was giving it a go and having a blast.

Finally dinner came around and once again we experience the culture and atmosphere of a traditional restaurant named Lelapa. The food was amazing and we had entertainment by some of the local musicians which everyone enjoyed. We were also joined with a few of the players both senior and junior, and learned a bit about how they live and their backgrounds. They also taught a few of us some Xhosa language such as, Ndiyakuthanda which means I love you.

 

We all agreed that this was the best day on the tour so far and hoping for many more days like this to come in the next week and half.

Alexa & Jaime.

Lelapa Dancing video

 

This entry was posted on April 11, 2019. 4 Comments

Day 2 – Journey To The Deep South

Day two was an opportunity to take in and appreciate the sights of southern Cape Town. We started the day off with a delicious breakfast which consisted of eggs, ‘macon’ and chips. We left District Six guest house at 8:30am and headed South to explore Cape Town.

Our first stop was at Hout Bay, where we caught a charter boat out to Seal Island. We saw a number of seals resting in their natural habitat. One seal had been domesticated by a local and could be seen enjoying some hand fed fish!

We then drove from Hout Bay to Simon’s Town. One thing we noticed was the different living conditions in Cape Town – from the luxurious houses on the coast, to the shanty housing just across the road. In Simon’s Town, we witnessed hundreds of penguins located at the penguin sanctuary. The sanctuary allowed us to walk on the boardwalk and view the penguins.

We then began the long drive to the southern most point of South Africa, the Cape Of Good Hope. We trekked up the mountain to a lighthouse, seeing a number of cheeky baboons. One even stole some food from the store and ran off with it! From there, we began the decent down the mountain and hiked alongside the cliffside to the Cape Of Good Hope. It was extremely windy which encouraged us to think about the difficulties early settlers might have faced.

After taking in the sights, we drove two hours to get back to Cape Town and had the challenge of spending only 50 rand ($5), on anything we wanted for dinner. This allowed us to understand and be aware of the struggles many families encounter on a daily basis. We learned that the average adult earns 3500 rand($350) a week, which made us appreciate how lucky we are, being able to buy things without having to worry our next meal.

Overall, today was an opportunity to be a true tourist, taking in all the amazing sights. 

By Darcie and Emma Cooke

This entry was posted on April 10, 2019. 3 Comments

Day 1 – the eagle has landed!

After roughly 14 hours of flying, 18 fatigued faces stepped off the plane, arriving to our destination Cape Town. Luka (birthday boy) was lucky enough to meet the pilots in the cockpit at the end of the flight. We were welcomed by our joyful drivers who took us to District 6 while informing of the history of the area. We were taken to District 6 museum to learn more about the history of the area, then to Waterfront shopping centre to have a look around which everyone enjoyed. After a journey on a gondola up Table Mountain the view from the top was definitely the highlight of the day. We finished the day off by having our first tour dinner down at Waterfront shopping centre – by this stage everyone was shattered and ready for bed which concluded the first day in CapeTown.

 

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by Alfie and Connor

 

This entry was posted on April 9, 2019. 1 Comment

2 Days to go.

It’s getting very exciting.

Some last minute things to think of:

  • Have you arranged to be at the airport for 8.30pm?
  • Have you purchased a power adapter?
  • Have you weighed your bags?  Try to travel light!
  • Think of what you will need with you on the plane and have this packed in your carry on bag
    • Book
    • Pillow
    • Jumper

 

** Make sure that you bring your passport!

 

Enjoy your last day at school today – be sure to let every one know of what we will be doing for the next two weeks.

4 Days to go….

See your teachers tomorrow to collect your tour clothing.  Check when you are able to wear it at school this week.  Just be sure to wash it all before we board on Sunday night!

One week to go

This time next week we will be meeting at the airport to begin our amazing adventure to Sth Africa!  Hopefully you took some time to organise you clothes and items so that you know how much your bag weighs – you don’t want to be pulling things out of your bag at the airport because it is too heavy! The weather in Cape Town has been mild with temps mostly in the low to mid 20’s.

Use the week to let people know that the time has come and if they haven’t subscribed to or bookmarked the blog page that this will be where they can see what we get up to.  They will be able to see where all of their support for you over the last year is being put into action as we update the blog daily.

Tour clothing has arrived and you will be given your shirts and hoody in the next couple of days.  You will be able to wear it to school later on this week to promote the tour.  Your teachers will let you know when this will be happening.

If you have any fundraising money that still needs to be deposited please do that as soon as possible so that we can have the money transferred to our travel cards.

I have been busy touching base with all of our partners over the last week and they are very excited to meet us – especially the young children who have met students from previous tours.

Enjoy you week leading into our departure and if you have any questions, as always, speak to one of the teachers.

 

Mr Thomas

This entry was posted on March 31, 2019. 1 Comment

Nine days to go!

Can you believe it?  We have nine days to go!  If you haven’t already started, it’s time to begin organising yourself.  Here are some things to help you.

 

Have you:

  • deposited all of your fundraising money?
  • sent in your immunisation declaration?
  • returned you Parental Consent affidavit?
  • organised a bank debit card to take with you?
  • started looking at your personal packing?  How much will this weigh?
  • Do you need power?  Have you got a power adaptor? Officeworks SA Adaptor

 

Here’s something to get you in the mood!