Living life creatively...

On the 10th October it was my 14th Wedding anniversary. Hubby and I went away for the weekend, just the two of us. Going away, just the two of us, always feels like such a treat. As we only do it (if possible) once a year for this special occasion. Our children went to stay with friends from the Friday after school. We left at about 1:30 on the Friday afternoon. It was a beautiful, sunny day and we enjoyed the 2 hour car drive. This time of year is really pretty. I just loved seeing fields of brightly colored flowers (called "Fynbos" here) Sometimes you feel you have to look away as the bright magenta actually hurts your eyes!

We went to a place on the outskirts of a town called Robertson. 3 little self-catering cottages nestled at the foot of majestic mountains, cradled in a fertile valley.A place called "Die Laatjie" The road turned into a gravel road as we snaked our way up the hill and soon the hill turned into a mountain..We came over the top and I literally drew a breath. This amazing sight of this lush farm, with lovely green hills embracing it from all sides.

This is the little house we stayed in. 2 bedrooms, bathroom, lounge with fireplace, open dining and kitchen and a very large patio with table and chairs and outside fireplace. With the most incredible view...

Do you want to take a tour of inside with me? Come, let's go inside... Here is the lounge with a lovely fireplace (a novelty for us!) Oh look there is my hubby reading a magazine!

And that's me!

This is the patio

To the left we have the dining and kitchen areas..(bit vintage-retro!)

Bedroom number 1

The room we stayed in...

Let's take a peek out the bedroom window...

We enjoyed sitting on the patio wall and watching the last rays of sun hit the mountains.

Just being together and enjoying each others company, and talking! Isn't it funny how when you have kids, real conversations are hard to come by? I mean adult conversations that don't involve school, projects, or how one child is annoying the other one...

I really love it when I don't have to fight for a space to share a thought with my hubby because he kids are telling him about their day, projects, etc. It was just so nice to have his attention all to myself! I took a lot of photos of the little teeny tiny flowers growing in the grass...

Our first day was short as we only got there around 3:30pm. We unpacked, went for a walk to explore our surroundings and then we made a fire and enjoyed a glass of wine and our meal.

Unfortunately, they had painted the house on the inside a week before and the fumes were very strong, so my hay fever was at an all time high. But the views and incredible beauty and being outdoors made up for it! Day two: Saturday. Waking up to the sounds of bird song right outside your window is a real treat. We have that at home, but there was a tree literally right outside the window which the little birdies were sitting on, making known their presence as well as the fact there is a huge abundance of bird life there! It was lovely to lie in bed and look out at the mountains and trees, and hear the birds and the bees! Oh my goodness, the hum of the bees was a constant drone. I have never heard so many bees before! Apart from that, that is all we heard...pure bliss. After breakfast we headed into town (a 15-20min drive over the mountain). What a sweet town. So full of character. The Jacaranda-lined roads must be beautiful in full bloom! (November is when they bloom)

We came across this adorable little bakery, the owner was so friendly and I loved what she did with the decorations.

Her cat was equally as friendly!

I spotted a wool shop and had to go in! The colors were so enticing in the window!

I think the lady behind the counter thought I was a bit nutty oohing and aaahing over the wool! We also went to some amazing deco shops!

And I got to visit the estate of where my favorite wine comes from! Abrabella. Not a very good photo as it was taken on my phone!

Hubby took me to see where we were going to eat that night. Reubens at the Small Hotel.

When we got back to the cottage, we got changed, put sunblock on, packed a bag with water and snacks and set off on an hour hike into the gorge to a waterfall.

I wish this picture portrayed just how hard it was to get around this rock! It doesn't show how I had to stretch my short legs until near breaking point to get a foot hold and simultaneously not fall into the river! Quite a few times, I had to take my socks and shoes off and wade across parts. I am surprised my legs didn't just fall off from frostbite! That water was ice-cold!! My legs were numb for ages afterwards and then tingled for ages! The tingly feeling was actually quite nice, that is when you really feel alive!

It was so good to go on a hike. I love walking and hiking but unfortunately with small kids who lack the same stamina and enthusiasm for it, I don't get to do it often! The views were lovely. Walking along the path and looking down into the valley you could see the river flowing over white rocks. So many flowers and different plants-just spectacular!

The waterfall was really pretty and the sound deafening! We had to shout to each other just to be heard! It was in a sort of cove and so it was quite chilly. The water was freezing.

Looking up, the plants and flowers on the cliffs were so pretty..

We got back around 5pm and then hubby wanted to go on the 4x4 trail that twirled up the mountain. We had two hours before our dinner reservation. So we decided to give it a bash. I am so glad we did. I have never seen such amazing views or such incredibly beautiful flowers! From the bottom of the mountains, if you look up you can see they are sort of purple or yellow.

At first I thought it was a weed (the one that gives me hay fever!) but as we got closer, I could see it wasn't weeds, just amazing fynbos and utterly breath taking! I took so many photos to try and capture the beauty of it but I am afraid even they don't tell the real story. But hopefully you can get a small glimpse of it. We went up and up... If you look closely, you can see the 3 chalets on the hillside!

I love how the mountains look like a blanket that has been draped over something. The shadows and folds fascinate me.

This was quite funny. I wanted a photo of us standing in amongst the flowers, so we put the camera on the car and put it on self-timer and then ran to a spot. Yelling "ouch" and "ow" as we did when we realized this beautiful flowers were covered in thorns! I was scratched to smithereens afterwards!