Day 82 - Farewells & Ajax Cape Town Training Ground

Well this is it. 82 days completed. 82 days done. 82 days ago we started out little journey here in South Africa. It's been absolutely incredible. The fact that we've been able to say something about every day in this blog shows how amazing the experience has been, and how much we've enjoyed ourselves.

We started the day at the Head Office, in town, to say goodbye to all the staff that were there. We hadn't really spent much time with any of the staff at the Head Office, except for Wasima and Danielle, so they were the 2 hardest goodbyes. Everyone else it was more of a thank you for helping set up for our time out here, instead of an emotional goodbye. So it wasn't too bad. But as we were leaving, Danielle asked for a hug, and started to tear up, so it got a bit emotional, but I managed to keep it together.

After that was done, we grabbed some lunch with Lourens, Joe and Wasima, we stopped by this salady place in town, and I filled up my bowl to the brim, so as to eat as much as possible. It was beautiful. 

When we were done, Joe drove us to the Ajax Cape Town training ground. They're the only professional club in Cape Town, and have a direct link with Ajax Amsterdam. So to go and visit their training ground was pretty cool. Our tour guide took the 3 of us round all the different parts of the training ground, reeling off facts and info about Ajax Cape Town, which was all quite interesting. On the way to the pitches, Ajax Cape Town striker, Nathan Paulse, walked past us, and once he heard we were from Arsenal, gave us a big hello and shook our hands. He's an Arsena fan apparently, but was nice to be appreciated by a professional player, even if I had no idea who he was before then. He was a lanky guy though, and towered over all of us. 

The tour didn't take long, as it was only a relatively small facility, but the best in South Africa. So after we were done, Joe took us to the Learning Centre, where we chilled for a bit, before seeing Densel, at the Ruyterwacht training. It was quality to see him, and as we were saying our goodbyes, he offered to take Joe, Martin, Yonick and I out to grab a burger, as a farewell treat. As it was the last time seeing him we couldn't turn him down, and happily accepted. So we headed home, got ready, and came back out to meet them. 

We went to a place called Ashley's, which had a special deal on burgers that night, so we all had a burger. It was a decent burger, except it had butter on. What kind of restaurant puts butter on a burger?! I was mortified. If you know me, you'll know that there's 2 things I can't stand eating. Butter and cheese. So to see butter on a burger, I was distraught. Couldn't waste Densels money though, so I threw a heap load of tomato sauce on the burger, stuffed it with chips, and scoffed it. Kept thinking about the butter inside, but I managed to do it before I rinsed my mouth out with water. What an achievement, I'd survived.

Densel thought it'd be a right laugh to get all the staff to sing happy birthday for me, too. I wasn't impressed. I'm not a fan for big birthday things, and restaurant staff singing at you just isn't my thing. So I was a tad embarrassed when they came up, sang their song and handed me a tiny lolly pop. Oh well, the lolly pop tasted good.

We stayed at the restaurant a bit longer, just chatting, before heading back to Joe's. We stopped off at McDonald's on the way to grab some ice cream for Vinolia, Jodi and Jaden. When we got there, they were all still awake, to say goodbye to us. This was the last time we'd see the Africa family, barring Joe, so it got a bit emotional as we said our goodbyes. It was sad. They'd been there for us all through the 3 months, and knowing it would be a very long time, if ever,that we'd see them again, it was hard to take. They're such a lovely family, and they're all such a laugh to be around, so I honestly wish them all the best in their future. To the 2 gappers going there next year, if you're reading this, you'll love them. They're brilliant. Was a sad moment when we drove off, but we knew that day had to come.

This is my last official post, as our days are over. However I will post a couple more times, just to let you all know how the journey home was, and a bit more info for if the next lot of gappers read this. Luke's blog last year certainly helped us, so hopefully I can give some sort of help to the next gappers! I'll be traveling to Singapore in just over a weeks time, so if you want to know how that's going, head over to www.agpsingapore.blogspot.com, and from the 25th April, I'll be posting the daily events from mine and Dan Openshaw's experience in Singapore!

Harry

Day 81 - Cheetah Farm

Today was our last day where we could go full tourist before we headed home, and we decided to spend the day at Cheetah Outreach, an enclosure for endangered, ill and under-cared-for cheetah's.

We started off the day clearing everything out of the company car we were given, so it was ready to be taken away tomorrow, before getting almost everything packed, with just clothes for the last 2 days and wash stuff being left out. Our rooms look so bare, its so weird. After 3 months of stuffing everything into a tiny room, it's strange to see it almost empty, with a full up suitcase in the corner. It's a good feeling, though, as we know that home is just around the corner.

After we were packed, we got in the car and headed off. We made a quick stop at the Italian Club, to see if Selwyn was there so we could say goodbye to him, but he wasn't. It's a shame, because Selwyn was probably my favourite out of all of the coaches we worked with. He was always available, reliable, and was such a laugh, too. He gave us a call later on to say goodbye, which was nice. But I do hope to keep in contact with him, cause he was a good laugh. As he wasn't there, though, we headed straight to the Cheetah Outreach park.

The Cheetah Outreach park was based in Somerset West, literally the road after the turnoff we took to get to De Beers on Friday. So we were fairly confident getting there by ourselves, despite the fact that its a good 45 minute drive away from where we were staying.  We got there in good time, though, and paid the fiver it costs to get into the park.

It wasn't a big park. It had quite a few enclosures with meerkats, these big earred cat things, and some other animals. But we were done looking at those 10 minutes after getting in. The main attraction? Getting up close and personal with a big cheetah!

With our tickets, we paid the extra to be able to go into the cheetah enclosure and stroke a cheetah. So when we were done looking at all the other animals, we spoke to one of the keepers, and she took us straight in. Quick and simple.

We followed her down a couple of enclosures, and she took us into one where a big cheetah was laying, looking nice and cosy and ready to doze off any second. This was one of the oldest cheetah's in the park, aged 13 years old. Cheetahs only live til around 14-16 years old so this was a golden oldie. The keeper that took us in said that the cheetah we were with is one of the ambassadors for the park, and has been in quite a few South African movies, though their name I forget. She then reeled off some other facts about cheetah's, like how they sleep for 18 hours a day, and can reach top speeds of up to 120km/h (around 60mph), but only for 30 seconds, before needing a 40 minute rest, as it goes all out for that fast sprint.

After having plenty of photos taken with the cheetah, time was up, and we headed out. It was pretty cool seeing the cheetah up close and being able to stroke it, while it lay there, so I'm glad we came and did this.

We then headed to Somerset beach to see if there were any cafe's to grab some lunch. But as soon as we started to drive past the beach, the weather got horrible and foggy, plus there was no cafe's, so we turned round and left. Oddly enough when we got away from the beach, the weather picked up again. Spooky.

We headed to Somerset West mall, where we grabbed a Burger King for lunch, and had a little look around, before heading home. Had a whopper meal. It was lush, of course. Love a whopper meal.

We decided to watch the Chelsea-QPR game at Berghof, but after George unplugged the wifi box to plug it into an extension lead, going to another plug, as a way of stopping the load-shedding affecting the TV, the wifi wouldn't work, so we headed to Mixas to watch the Manchester Derby.

Half way through the derby, Joe gave us a text and invited us over for tea, cakes and a movie. As wifi was down, I couldn't skype the family, so thought why not. So after getting back from Mixas we headed straight to theirs, to chill out with the Africa family. It was a really nice evening. Despite Yonick putting on one of his gangster movies (Get Rich or Die Young), chilling out with them, eating cakes and drinking tea, while having a laugh was quite nice. I've said it before, but the Africa family have really made it easier for me (and I'm sure Martin too) being out here and away from my family for so long. So it'll be sad to say goodbye to them. Hopefully not for long as they plan to come to England in a few years, so hopefully a reunion is on the cards. We'll see.

After the film was over, we headed home. Got a day of saying goodbye's tomorrow, before visiting the Ajax Cape Town training ground, which should be a busy, and emotional day. Had to come some time, though. Not a big fan of goodbyes, me. One full day left, though, before we come back home!

Harry

Day 80 - Wine Tasting With Azille

Today we started our final weekend out here in Cape Town, and Azille had booked us for today, so we could join her, along with her husband and friends, on a wine tasting trip. Not being a big drinker of wine, wine tasting wasn't on my list of things to do. But, as it barely cost a fiver for both Martin and I to go, and as there was biltong available, as well as spending a decent day out with Azille, I was more than happy to come along.

It was a really good day. Really good. We met Azille at a garden centre near her house so we could follow her car to her house, where we met her husband, Ernie, and they're friends, Chantel and Fritz, who were another couple that they knew. When everything was all parked up, we all jumped in Ernie's bukkie, and headed for the wine tasting. After a short drive we stopped off at a place called Marianne Wine Estate, which was a small, hidden vineyard, with a tiny building, where we went into and sat at our table. Sun was shining, views were incredible, and the waitress started bringing out the wines. We tried 5 in total there, 4 reds, 1 white. The white wine was probably my favourite out of all of them. Although I'm not a big wine drinker, all the wines we tasted were really nice. They were only small samples which I guess made it easier, as I felt comfortable only taking small sips. The last 3 wines we had, we tried with biltong too, which was nice.

After we were done, we headed over to Dulheim, another little vineyard. This time we were indoors, sat down at a table, and were given a list of wines, where we could choose 6 to try. I cant remember which ones I had, but they were all really nice. A little bit tipsy, everyone started having more of a laugh, and there was less awkwardness than the first wine tasting, so that made it really nice and relaxed. After drinking our wines, and paying for everything, we headed to the final place, which was the place where Azille and Ernie got married. It was a beautiful little vineyard with a nice, country feel to it, and lots of outside area. After drinking 11 samples of wine, and knowing I had to drive home later, I sobered up with a can of coke and a cheeky BLT, which was absolutely amazing. After everyone finished eating, we headed back to Azilles.

At Azilles, we all chilled out infront of her indoor braai, which was quite nice. Her and Ernie made this South African dish, called a Potjie, pronounce Poikie. It's like a stew, with Springbok meat, with potatoes and veg, all put in an iron pot and cooked over a fire for 3 hours. Took a long time, but when it was served with rice it was really nice. It was nice to eat and just chill out with Azille and Chantel's 5 dogs. Azille and Ernie have 2, and Chantel and Fritz have 3. Safe to say it was an evening for dogs. They were cute though so it's okay.

After eating the stew, it was getting late, so we said our thanks to Azille and Ernie, and our farewells to Fritz and Chantel and headed home. More of a chilled out day tomorrow, saying goodbye to Selwyn, then going to see some Cheetahs!

Harry

Day 79 - De Beers Football Club & Cape Town Childrens Hospital

Today was our last day of work out here in Cape Town! It's been extremely busy, and we've worked with so many different clubs, schools, creches and townships. Joe did the maths and adding up and worked out that we've coached and seen over 2000 kids. That was a few weeks ago, that figures probably reached around 2,500 kids now. Crazy! We've been really happy to be so busy, but it's nice that we're finally finished, and can look forward to a quality weekend, before we fly back home.

We had an early start today, as we had a long trip to Somerset West, where we were meeting the De Beers coaches, and putting on a little soccer clinic for 2 groups of their players, to give them some ideas for when they coach. 2 hours, 2 groups, an hour with each group, completely different sessions with both. I live for this stuff. Happy days.

Our first session was with the Under 8's, 9's and 10's. As they were quite a young bunch, we decided to do a couple of games of tag, followed by Domes and Dishes. They seemed to love it, and it went really well. They got really into it, and when we split them into teams, they got even more competitive, which made it even more fun. So that was nice to see. For the final 15 minutes, we got them into a match. At the end of every session its nice to get them into a match, so they can practice the skills they've developed from the session in a real match scenario. As we had 2 groups, Martin and I agreed that we'd do matches with them both, and the aggregate score winner will win the overall bet between us both as it was currently 5-5.
First game with the younger group ended 0-0. Good football, but no goals, so it was all on the second game with the older lot.

The second group we had were the older lot, under 11's, 12's and 13's. Instead of doing Domes and Dishes, we did Skills Corridor. Very similar to what we did with All Stars. Although I enjoyed doing Skills Corridor with this group a lot more, as they seemed a lot more focused, and did everything first time and did it well. We even got to the point where Martin and I were trying to hit their ball as they went across, and they'd lose their ball if we hit it. It was quite fun!
We then had the deciding match. I had 10 players, Martin had 9. Martin did have the better strikeforce though. We were both short of defenders. With me having to put 3 midfielders in defence and 1 midfielder in goal, and Martin having 2 keepers, 1 in goal 1 outfield, and 3 midfielders in defence, too. It was a really good game, with both teams having chances to score. Martins team were far more clinical though, and won 2-0. Which means I lost 6-5 overall. Gutted. Absolutely gutted.

After we wrapped everything up, we met Charles (one of the coaches) who took us to a local brewery. This brewery had a clever idea, where you can either buy 1 big pint of 1 beer, or have a pallet of 4 smaller beers, of 4 different types. Martin and I both did the latter, and selected our 4 options. Can't even remember what they were called but they were nice. We at some chicken nuggets and chips and had a bit of a chat before saying our goodbyes and parting.

We headed back to the Learning Centre to meet Joe and Azille, and headed to the Childrens Hospital of Cape Town, in Rondebosch. After talking to Vinolia last Sunday, and her mentioning that there was a burns ward, I pestered Joe to get us to visit them. Being a burns victim myself, it would've meant a lot to see the kids there, and try and put a smile on their faces. We got their and met with the lady that would take us round. We brought chocolates and sweets for the kids too, and every kid we saw seemed to cheer up a bit with the sweets.
It was tough. To see all these kids, most younger than 5, wrapped up in bandages as a result of serious burns  hit me hard. After having countless operations, I was always the one in the bed seeing people walk around seeing the patients, but to be on the opposite side of it was quite difficult. One of the kids was the exact same age as I was when I got burnt, and had his whole right side of his body affected from scalding, similar to me. So it was quite nice to have a little chat with his dad, and hopefully I cheered him up a bit. A few of the children we saw had really serious burns, too, covering most of their body, including their face. It made me feel so lucky that it was just my arms that were affected, and felt horrible that they had to suffer while I was the one to only have arms affected.
Sadly, because the lady we were with had to get to meetings, we didnt stay long. Seeing the work that the hospital were doing was amazing. So it was nice to see them.

After that, we were done for the day, and we headed home. Got a busy weekend coming up, so keep posted on this blog, as it's not over yet!

Harry

Day 78 - Computer Workshop & Diep River Complex

Today we had our final computer workshop, and it was such a quick lesson. Today's lesson, setting up an email address and knowing how to use it.

Well, 3 out of the 4 people that turned up already had email addresses, and were fairly confident in using them, the last person, Martin sat with while I did the lesson, and he got her set up and caught up quite quickly. We got through all the other bits really quickly, and the lesson was over after only 45 minutes. Simples.

When we finished at the Learning Centre, we went to grab some Koeksisters. To my horror, they had none in stock, and would take 20 minutes to brew up a new batch. As good as they are, I was in no mood to wait another 20 minutes for a Koeksister, so decided to give them a miss for the day. We then headed back to the Learning Centre, had lunch, and went out to go to the Diep River complex to say our goodbyes! Last time we went to visit them, one of the residents got a little bit handsy with me. You can read all about it from Day 23 of my blog.

Thankfully, the same woman wasn't there today, so my bum cheek remained innocent. Diep River are such a lively bunch, though, and we kept asking Joe why we weren't put into that complex instead of staying at Berghof, where the residents go to be after lunch, and aren't seen again until lunch the next day. This lot were so funny, it was brilliant. After we greeted, them, we had a sit down and a chat with all the residents, one woman wanted Martin and I to give her the tops we were wearing, and asking us to pretty much strip off! This lot seemed to enjoy having young men around it seems! After having a chat, we played pool. Martin and I formed a pair, and Joe paired up with one of the residents. It was England vs South Africa. Thankfully, we won after Joe potted the black, with the white falling into a hole almost straight after.

After that, we said our goodbyes, and headed back to the Learning Centre, then onto Joe's. We had planned to go see Fast & Furious 7 with Yonick and Jodi. Jodi managed to get a free ticket from her mum, but Yonick couldn't. As its near the end of our journey, we're a bit low on cash, so couldn't pay for Yonick too, so it was only me, Martin and Jodi that went to see it. Yonick saw it on Wednesday to be fair, so we didn't feel as bad going without him.

It was a top film. Absolutely amazing. The tribute to Paul Walker was really touching, too. Jodi was left in tears and I was close, too. Really good film.

After dropping Jodi back we headed for home, have an early start tomorrow so don't intend on going to bed too late.

Before I end this post, I would just like to mention that on the way to the Diep River complex, I got an email from Steve, who manages all our placements and the course itself, saying that I would be going to Singapore with my good mate Dan Openshaw from 25th April. It won't be as long, only just over 3 weeks, but I will be doing a blog for that trip too, and will put up the website on Facebook, Twitter and here soon, so keep posted!

Harry

Day 77 - Drommedaris Easter Activity Morning & Drommedaris Girls

11 weeks done and completed! Blimey, only 5 days to go. Everytime I think about it, it feels stranger and stranger how quick time has flown by out here.

We started the day with our final Easter Activity session with the Drommedaris complex. After the nightmare that was Bothasig yesterday, we were hoping for the ever reliable Drommedaris group to put us in a better mood.

Nope.

We thought Bothasig were bad. They were angels compared to Drommedaris. After 10 minutes I was done. They just wouldn't listen to anything we said, and seemed to be so fidgety and restless, it was a nightmare. Joe managed to get the kids under control though, and stamped his authority on them. It was something to admire.

We quickly told the Easter story then got underway with activities. Same as before, Martin had games outside, I controlled egg painting, and Jodi assisted with colouring in.

The actual activities went quite well, it was just what happened but the kids just didn't want to do JUST the activity. At the painting station, kids were painiting eachothers faces, so I had to take their brushes of them, at the colouring station the kids were colouring in everything, not just their paper, and somehow a few of the kids absolutely destroyed the bathroom, leaving it in a terrible state. Safe to say it wasn't the best group of kids we've had.

Thankfully, after clearing everything up and feeding them, it was over, and the kids went off home. We were all tired, so drowned our sorrows eating the left over jelly tot sweets that we had.

Azille and Jodi headed off, and Joe went to get a few bits from the library so Martin and I played a bit of table tennis, using a small, square table as the court. It was a fun little game we played when we had some free time at Drommedaris, so it was a nice way to chill out as we waited for the others.

When Joe returned, we headed off. I headed to Berghof to have my haircut, and Martin dropped Joe off.

After my haircut, which resulted in a very stylish trim by the way, we headed over to the Italian Club, where we had our last session with Drommedaris girls.

We arrived there, and we had a mixture of boys and girls, so we got straight into a match, boys vs girls. Girls were a man down so I pitched in and helped. Couldn't stop the boys winning 3-0 though, they were all over us to be fair and could've scored more, so 3-0 wasn't a bad result.

After saying our last goodbyes to Drommedaris and AD their coach, we headed home, got changed, and headed straight out to meet Vinolia and Joe, who we were taking for dinner.

They had chosen a seafood place called Bluefin, which was actually a really nice place. Joe and Vinolia both had this fish stir fry which looked quite nice. The restaurant also did Chinese so Martin had crispy duck with chow mein, while I had sweet and sour pork with egg fried rice. After finishing mine, I had to help Martin out and eat some of his because he was struggling, and then finished off Joe and Vinolias chips, as they were a tad too full too. 3 meals? Easy ;-)

We finished with hot chocolates and coffee, before dropping Joe and Vinolia back to their house. It was nice to take them out, as they've been so nice, welcoming and generous to us during our stay here, so it was only right to take them out at least once for a nice meal. They deserved it. It'll be hard saying goodbye to the Africa family. Although Vinolia wants to visit in 3 years time, so hopefully we can see them again, and show them round our country this time.

Harry

Day 76 - Bothasig Gardens Easter Activity Morning

Today we entered our final 7 days of Cape Town life. Next Tuesday we start the long, 22 hour journey home. It's gone by unbelievably quick. I say it often in my blogs but it really has.

Today we just had one thing scheduled today, it was the Bothasig Gardens Easter Activity Morning.

Thankfully, the car was working, so we didn't have to get a train in, so we were allowed to leave a little bit later this morning. We got the Learning Centre, said our hellos, and started packing up the car with bits and bobs we had to take to the complex to do the Easter activities.

We had the same sort of thing as with Sunflower last week. Martin was outside doing ball games, I was inside doing the egg painting, and Azille assisted with the colouring in, with the groups rotating to a different area after a certain time period.

It went well, kids weren't as well behaved as maybe we'd have liked, but we got by. Most of my time was spent trying to clear up spilled food colouring, which was an absolute chore, as there was so much of it spilled, and it's so annoying to get out. My hands, despite plenty of attempts washing them, are still blue from the food colouring stains.

When everything was done, we packed it all up, gave the kids sandwiches, sweets, and chocolates, and said our goodbyes. To be fair, that was probably the most difficult it's going to get for this week. As its our final week, all it really is is winding things down, visiting places for the final time and just getting things sorted to go home, so it's nice and chilled out, not too hectic.

We grabbed some lunch and headed back to the Learning Centre. That was us done for the day! By 2pm we were finished, it was a strange feeling. We were thinking of going to see Fast and Furious with Yonick and Jodi, but they had Youth Group so couldn't. Shame. We headed to Mike's Sports to pay for the kit that my girlfriends mum kindly donated money towards. We were told it will arrive in 2-4 weeks so hopefully should be able to get some pictures for you nearer then.

Tomorrow, off to Drommedaris for our final Easter Activity session, followed by a haircut for yours truly, then our final session with Drommedaris girls, then rounding off the night taking Joe and Vinolia out for dinner to say thank you for taking care of us and being so welcoming to us during our time out here. They're the nicest, most generous and caring couple I know, and have made life out here in South Africa so much easier for us, being pretty much like parents and good friends to us, without asking for anything in return, so they deserve to be treated!

Harry