Rural life in Malawi #10

It’s been a long time since we have written about our ‘adventures in Africa’, due to the limited time we had access to the internet whilst in Malawi. I’m sure that a lot of you are aware of what we have been up to, but for those of you who don’t here is a summary of the highs and lows of our time in Malawi.

For the two months in Malawi we lived at Luwawa Forest Lodge, Northern Malawi, set in a pine plantation 1600m above sea level. We were 10km away from a main road and therefore we were pretty far away from the day to day amenities you expect, such as shops to buy food, cash points, the internet and we had no mobile phone reception. So as you can imagine this alone was a culture shock and made us appreciate every small thing we did. However, although we didn’t have our home comforts, the local Malawians soon made us feel at home with their warm and welcoming manor. Whenever we walked anywhere we would have to add on extra time due to stopping and chatting to them about their day (although conversation was limited due to most people only speaking Timbuka).

Our volunteer work took place in the ‘Hunga’ village 5km away from the lodge. We were led to believe our main objective would be supporting the head teacher at Mzgambuzi School with teaching, due to him being the only teacher there!! However, it soon became apparent that due to the terrible conditions of the school block, such as leaking roof, mud floor and limited resources we were set about the task of raising funds to build the new school block they hard started and .... project managing it. And as neither of us have building experience that was a real challenge and a steep learning curve.

The village were so pleased to have us working with them, they kindly invited us to live their whilst we worked at the school, and we didn’t feel we could turn this kind offer down, even though we both had a lot of apprehension due to knowing the village had no electricity or running water and we would really have to get back to basics! Which I was slightly nervous about! When we moved in to our little home, AKA ‘mud hut’, half of the children from the local area surrounded our house, so excited to see how white people, or as they say ‘Mazungos’ live.

This a typical day in the life of Nat and Kim whilst living at the village........4am get woken up by the local alarm clock (Bloomin rooster!)...6am woken again by the school children playing outside ... a strong clue its time to be awake at this time...6.30am Make a fire, boil some water, have some tea and porridge....7.15am ready for our day at school...7.20am all the girls sweeping outside the school...7.30am Mr Levin and Ms Trewhella in class teaching either English, Math or Expressive Arts.... 9.30am Play time: children leaping from trees, killing birds, skipping with skipping rope made of reeds and singing and dancing....10.30 Sports: teaching them how to play netball with no net but a ring of bricks on the ground as a goal...11.30am School finishes ....very tired!

Whilst we were teaching we had to come up with a strategy to get some funds together to help complete the new school block. The local community made their own bricks and hired a builder to build the structure. I have to admit it was quite amazing to see how they made the bricks just from local mud. After our appeal for donations we were very fortunate that some of our friends and family helped us out which helped us buy the much needed wood and iron sheets for the roof (thanks again to all of you who donated). It was very rewarding going to the local hardware store and ordering 78 iron sheets for the school as the local community never dreamed that their school would have an iron roof. We even helped carry the sheets (I actually carried 26 roof ridges on my shoulder) from the main road to the school through some really hilly terrain and whilst a massive storm was brewing. On our last day teaching we took some chocolate cake, popcorn and orange juice for the kids as a farewell party and I think they were very happy and grateful as its not the same as eating nsima (the local food they eat 3 times a day) or drinking stagnant river water. As a thank you for what we had done for them we were given a live hen and rooster who are currently residing at the staff quarters as the lodge and have been named Kim and Nat.

When we weren’t staying in the village we stayed in a small tent in the campsite at the lodge. As we discovered our tent had a leak so once or twice when the heavy rains attacked we had to sleep in the hostel and ontop of that a group of mice had decided that our tent was a great spot to have their toilet. So after fixing the leaks and moving the tent life was alot more comfortable. We spent alot of our time at the lodge with the staff as they were always interested in chatting to us and finding out about our lives and for us it was a great chance to mix with the locals. They would often spoil us and give us tasters from the kitchen of some of the desserts. On their lunch breaks we would often sit outside the kitchen on the grass and play card games and we taught them dominoes which they had never played and really enjoyed. The game they all seemed to play and be really good at was draughts, which they played with bottle tops, and also a local game called bough.

We made some particularly good friends from the lodge Sandra and Patrick, and a German guy called Bernd who was travelling up through Africa to Germany on his motorbike. He had this great opportunity, just by chance, of running a national park lodge called Lifupa for a month as a favour for another German guy. He invited us all there and gave us VIP treatment, staying in the lovely chalets, having good food, and going on a game drive together. From the chalets there was a dam where we could see lots of hippos and the elephants often came to drink. He took us up the ‘black rock’ which gave us great views of the whole park. We were all going to reunite once again at Luwawa Lodge before Bernd continued his journey through Africa, where his next stop was Tanzania. We then received extremely sad, tragic news that our kind friend Bernd had been killed by a herd of elephants whilst at the Lodge. It made us realise how precious life is, and you should live it to the fullest, just like Bernd was doing.

We also managed to make a trip to the infamous lake Malawi, which due to its large size it feels like you are by the sea , as you can’t see to the other side. It gave us some time to relax and enjoy the sun, after working hard at the school. We hope to visit it again during our next stay in Malawi.

That sums up most of our time in Malawi. We are now looking forward to spending time with family in South Africa for Christmas and New Year (And Nats mum is coming over from the UK for a holiday, which will make it even more of a special occasion).

We hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and that the New Year brings you all lots of happiness.

Love Nat and Kim xxx

Sun, Sea & Surfing #9

Its crazy to think we have been Capetonians for over 4 weeks now. We have managed to cross off items on our to do list aswell as visiting a few places we hadn't planned on seeing. I have to admit spending this last month in Cape Town has made me realise how beautiful South Africa is and I think Nat can agree with me.

Anyway since the last time we wrote we have visited quite a few places and as I cant remember in which order I will just write about them randomely. First off we went to Cape Point which is a where the 2 Oceans, the cold Atlantic and the warm Indian Ocean, meet and is also a nature reserve which is home to a large population of baboons. Now I'm not sure if any of you have had the chance to see a baboon close up but if you have you will agree with me they are really scarey and evil looking creatures. There are signs up everywhere "DO NOT FEED THE BABOONS" as in previous years people have fed them and then when you withold food from them they get agressive towards humans and then have to be shot, which I think it crazy as its their home we are intruding on. They are the only baboons in the world that have taught themselves to crack open the shells on the rocks along the shoreline and eat the sea creatures inside. Fortunately they are protected and it seems like they have reached an understanding with the rangers, we wont attack the tourists if you dont disturb us.

The next place on our list was Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens which sits at the foot of the eastern slopes of Table Mountain. Although not as big as Kew Gardens and not as extensive it is still however filled with indigenous South Africa plants and great opens spaces to have picnics and just chill out. The World of Birds in Hout Bay was also on our list which has not only birds, but everything from guinea pigs to spider monkeys. Some of the highlights for us was being greated by a cat with no ears as we paid for our tickets, I dont think he was supposed to be one of the attractions, a rather amourous male tortoise and walking through the owl enclosures. You can go into the spider monkey enclosure during feeding times and they sometimes jump onto your shoulder but this day they seemed more interested in their food than us. Whilst we are talking about Hout Bay one of the days when it was particulary hot we along with Heidi and Quinn , my sister and nephew, went to the beach in Hout Bay and managed to watch a seal surfing the waves. Now there is an animal that looks like it has fun surfing. Although the little girl learning to surf didnt see the funny side as all she saw was this black thing in the wave near her and she promptly bolted out of the water.

One of the areas near the Waterfront and at the base of Signal Hill is called Bo-Kaap (translated as Upper Cape) and is home to a group of people called the Cape Malays. The main reason this area is of interest to any tourist is becuase each individual house is painted a different colour making it look like you have arrived in some kind of lego town. The reason this was originally done was that if you were of a certain profession ie doctor, lawyer, mechanic, then you would paint your house with the corresponding colour so that if people needed someone with that profession they would know who to go and see. Its no longer the case but if you live in the area or buy a house there you are not allowed to change the colour. It has actually become a very much sought after area and trying buy a house there is almost impossible as people never really sell.

The last thing i want to write about is an event that we, myself, Nat, Heidi and Marq, went to 2 Sundays ago at Muizenberg beach called Earthwave. Since 2006 they have been holding the event which is basically on a specified day they try and get as many surfers to stand up and ride 1 wave for 5 seconds. As Marq is a keen surfer he was all up for it and managed to convince me to join him. The money we paid goes to the shark spotters, yes there are sharks that roam the Cape Town coastline and the spotters sit up on the mountainside and keep an eye open for them, aswell as any other environmental projects. Anyway with my miniscule experience of surfing I joined Marq and after 5 attempts we managed to get 103 people on 1 wave however I'm not sure I was part of that 103 as I only managed to get up on the last attempt. It was total chaos but so much fun as the comaraderie amongst the surfers is great. I am definately hooked and will hopefully be able to get some surfing in when we go to Mozambique. Come summer next year in the UK if we are back if anyone is keen I will be heading to the coast with my surfboard under one arm.

Well thats about all our news for now but I suspect our next entry will be alot more interesting as we leave for Malawi this Friday. We have decided to stay in Lilongwe for the weekend and then catch a bus upto the place we will be staying on Monday. We have been warned that it is really remote so we need to stock up on food supplies etc and we dont know how often we will be able to communicate, but we'll let you know once we have settled in. Its all pretty scarey but exciting nontheless.

Take care

Kim & Nat

Cape Town - The Mother City #8

Cape Town is most definitely the mother city of South Africa due to the diversity of people and dramatic landscape, reflecting the real South Africa . The mountains watch over you wherever you are in this city, and as many of you know the most famous is ‘ Table Mountain ’, and it’s easy to see how it got its name. We are staying in an area called Fish Hoek where Kim’s dad and step-mum, Dave and Marlene live. Fish Hoek is right on the coast line, with a beautiful sandy bay. It is known as a ‘dry town’ due to alcohol not being sold in any store, other than in restaurants. Due to its warm waters at this time of year pods of southern right whales swim in to this area to breed. We were very lucky to spot two swimming close to the coast line, along with many other keen whale watchers. Along with whales being a tourist attraction when taking a drive to Cape Point we saw penguins on Boulders beach, where they were sunning themselves on the large rocks and boulders.

We have been taking in the culture and learning about the vast history of this area through visiting museums and the Dutch Castle . We visited a museum which told of the story of District 6. During the Apartheid era an area called District 6 (which is reflected in the current South African movie, ‘District 9), home to Cape Malays and ‘Coloured’ people was declared a ‘white area’ and the residents were evicted and re-settled out of the city centre. This was an interesting insight in to some of the history at this awful time in South Africa .
With Cape Town having some of the best beaches around Kim took the opportunity to go surfing with his brother-in-law Marq. After one early morning, watching the sun coming up whilst trying to catch a wave, Kim is now hooked and is managing to stand on the board. I’m ashamed to say that I stay on dry land with his sister, Heidi her baby son Quinn having a coffee but I am starting to pluck up the courage to give it a go.

On Saturday we had a family outing with Kim’s parents, and sisters family to Stellenbosch to visit a couple of wine farms. We were able to do some wine tasting at Muratie where they’ve preserved the authenticity of the wine cellars by refraining from sweeping away the old cobwebs, which gives a slightly eerie but cosy feel.

During the rest of our time in Cape Town we will be making our way through our list of places to visit and also catching up with Kim’s family and friends having bbq’s (braai’s).

We hope your all keeping well and not missing us too much.

Love Nat and Kim xxx

Exploring the Garden route #7

We said our farewells in East London and set off with our backpacks west along the coast towards Cape Town . Due to the long drive we decided to take our time, taking in the beautiful landscape and stopping in Knysna along the garden route and spending a few days there to see the sights. For those of you who have been to this part of South Africa , I’m sure you would agree it is one of the most stunning places, with the contrast between the dense green forests and the rugged coast line. Knysna is set right on the coast next to a lagoon that reaches out to the Indian Ocean , so wherever you are in Knysna you are sure to having an amazing view. If you love wildlife then Kynsna and Plettenberg Bay are the places to visit. We visited Monkey Land which is home to monkeys from lemur to vervet and gibbons who roam freely in the forested area. A guide took us around the forest, and he taught us about the lives of the monkeys whilst they came up very close to us to explore and suss out what we were. The vervet monkeys are the extremely cheeky and like to take sunglasses and camera’s from you so we were constantly watching our backs. We were very privileged to see a family of lemur’s interacting with their two new 5 day old babies. The lemur group had recently adopted a black lemur called ‘Brad’ whose partner ‘Angelina’ had recently died.

Opposite MonkeyLand was ‘Birds of Eden’, a free flight netted area in the forest, home to over 1500 birds. We freely wondered in the area looking at the birds and they were also very interested in us – I was soon advised to take off my earings because they had a particular fancy to them. Some of the birds liked to come up and sit on your shoulder pecking any shiny object they saw from buttons to glasses!

After a fun 2 days in Knysa interacting with the wildlife we embarked on the final leg of our journey to Cape Town .

Coffee in paradise #6

Our next venture away from East London was a 4 hour journey along the wild coast to a place called Coffee Bay. The journey to Coffee Bay was an interesting one – the wild coast has its name for that very reason, the terrain is extremely mountainous and ‘wild’. The roads would wind around the steep mountain, with very little room for two way traffic, but somehow there are no accidents, which is extremely surprising considering the crazy South African driving! The final part of the journey consisted of dodging large pot holes, sheep, goat and cows which roamed aimlessly every where without a care in the world! And not surprisingly we saw some road kill!! But the crazy journey made our first glimpse of Coffee Bay even more spectacular – it is a touch of paradise.
Coffee Bay is a small village set on a hill, which looks over the sea view. We were recommended a place to stay by a lady who does mosaics at Kim’s mum’s house and she put in a good word for us so we were given a beautiful place to stay, with a sea view! Life couldn’t get much better! Coffee Bay has two backpacker joints so it’s a popular place for young travellers to visit where people head to the beach and surf and play volley ball. Once again, in this very chilled out hippy place the local people come up to you, trying to chill you out even more by selling weed and magic mushrooms! The natural beauty gave us enough of a high.
Close by to Coffee Bay is a place called ‘hole in the wall’ which we visited. Erm how do I describe it – it really is a hole in a large rock/wall, but what makes it amazing is the stunning back drop and coastal walk to it. Although we wanted to make our own way there, two persistent young Xhorsa boys wanted to show us there (for a small fee), and we soon gave in. Along the journey we noticed a stray dog was coming with us, and 3 hours later the dog was still with us, after walking to the top of a hill and on the rocks where waves crashed over and people were fishing. If we could have had our way we would have taken this very friendly dog with us, but our paths parted. The lady who we rented our room from, ran an orphanage and allowed us the visit the children. We were greeted with smiles and we were shown around the place, including the pre-school they run there and a vegetable garden where they grow all their food. Although the deprivation is far and wide in South Africa, it is great to see places like this that make a huge difference to children in need. The rest of time was spent hanging out with a group of South African guys we met at the backpackers bar and walking along with beach – and watching the most breathtaking sunrises. On the last day we got up early to catch the sun rise and were very lucky to see a school of dolphins. Our time in Coffee Bay was far too short – but we will definitely try and visit this place again.
On Saturday we went to a local Lion Park with Kim’s mum, Aunt and Uncle. It’s a lovely little reserve which allowed you to feed all the animals. Our favourite was Jenny the giraffe who would come up to you and stick out her long black tongue and grab the food, leaving a slim ball on our hand : ) The most pushy animal was the goat, which even stood on a large tortoise to reach for the food! Lots of rabbits jumped around the park, and all the animals mingled together. Well except for the Lions, cheetahs and wild dogs, who chilled out happily in the sun.
Sunday was our last time helping out at the Sunday school and the children sang and danced for us, with far more rhythm than we’ll ever have! We blew bubbles around the room, much to their amusement and they each got a lolly pop, which inevitably made their tongue change colour – which got a lot of laughs. Although our time here has been short it’s been very rewarding seeing the smiles light up on all the children’s faces when we sing songs and hand out food.
We have very little time left in East London, and we head off on Wednesday along the Garden route, where our next destination is Cape Town to see Kim’s dad and step-mum, Dave and Marlene.

Chillin' at the coast and hangin' with the hippies #5

It’s been about 2 weeks since our last entry so we thought we’d fill you in on what we’ve been up to in and around East London.

2 weeks ago myself, Nat, my Mom, my aunt and uncle, a friend of theirs Jenny, a cousin of theirs Ray and his wife Gladys and my cousin Jeanne all went and spent 4 days in a small coastal town, if you can call a few houses, a hotel and 1 shop a town, called Morgan Bay. My mom’s family have been going on holiday there for over 100 years. My Grandfather and his family used to go there on horseback and ox wagon. How cool is that! There really isn’t much there but the beach is really stunning. If you are facing out to sea on the left there is a perfect white sandy beach which stretches for miles and ends on an outcrop of large looming rocks suitably called Black Rock where my Grandfather used to go fishing, much to the annoyance of his family as the waves crash right over the rocks at high tide. My Grandfathers ashes are scatted on this stretch of beach as it always used to be his small slice of paradise. Anyway on the right hand side of the beach its very rocky which makes for a great place to go looking for shells and there is an abundance of sea life hidden in the rock pools which are formed when the tide goes out. At the beginning of the century, I’m not sure of the date hence me being vague with the date, there was a ship which ran aground off the coast of Morgan Bay and it was carrying a shipment of Ming China and still to this day small pieces of the china are washed ashore and there are woman who comb the beaches every day looking for the pieces which they then sell to tourists. My aunt and Mom often buy some of the pieces to use in their mosaic pieces. Usually when my family goes to Morgan Bay we stay in a house called Castle It which my Grandfather had a share in but sold off to his cousins and is now a B&B which is run by my Grandfathers cousin. It’s literally right on the beach and has an amazing garden which attracts all kinds of birds. As there were too many of us this time we stayed in a rented house next door. We also went horseriding and as I’m sure some of you already know Nats horse decided whilst cantering along the beach to throw her off. Fortunatley she was wearing a helmet and it was on beach sand. It was only my second time and they gave me the biggest horse which in the end turned to be the most chilled one of the lot. Hopefully we’ll be able to do alot more riding on our travels and lets hope nats doesn’t land up with anymore unpredictable horses.

After getting back Nat and I decided to spend a few days in a place called Hogsback which is a 2 hour drive inland from East London. It’s located up in the mountains in a rainforest and has an English climate, 4 distinctive seasons. Once again it was a very small town with a couple of restaurants, some shops and some accommodation. We stayed in a backpackers called Away with the Fairies, insert joke here, which was very cheap and cheerful. As it was the middle of the week and winter we managed to get a double room with a fireplace, which we made very good use of as the nights were pretty damn cold. All the locals that we met were so friendly and when going out for a meal or a drink we had to be prepared to sit and listen to someone’s whole life story before even ordering. Life seems very relaxed for the locals and they rely solely on tourism as a source of income. The main reason people go to Hogsback is for the amazing walking and hiking trails that you can do through the forests. Nat and I went on one which took us right down into a forested valley and past “The Big Tree” which was pretty impressive for an eight hundred year old tree, a few waterfalls and we ended up at the base of the Madonna and Child waterfall which was pretty spectacular. The area is known for its alternative lifestyle with people offering holistic massages and there love of all things hallucinogenic which we were promptly offered the second we got out our car.

This past Sunday Nat and I went with my Mom to see the kids at Sunday school again where they each got to colour in a picture of Moses parting the Red Sea. They all love colouring in and for some reason the red crayons and pencils are much sought after but everyone shares. We made Fairy cakes for the kids (not of the Hogsback variety) the night before so when we handed them out on the Sunday everyone had a huge smile from ear to ear. We were both very touched at how something so simple could bring the kids so much joy and has made us appreciate what all that we have.

This week we are off to spend a few days in a place called Coffee bay which along the Wild Coast about 4 hours north of East London. We shall let you know how it was in our next blog.

Hope you are all well.

Cheers
Kim & Nat

Seeing the real Africa #4

East London is a contrast from J'burg and far more relaxed down by the coast. The weather is still gorgeous and sunny, even though we're still in the middle of winter. Kim's mum took us to see the Sunday School children for the first time last Sunday. This was the first time we drove through 'real Africa' in a township, which is a shanty town with rows upon rows of corrugated iron roofs and people gathering on the streets, playing loud music and chilling out together. This is where the divide between the rich and poor became extremely apparent. And yet the upbeat vibe in this area didn't reflect the deprivation they lived in.

We were greeted by lots of excitable children aged from 6 months to 15 years old, extremely excited to see another 'white' face in their town. They sang lots of songs and we were given a card that they had made saying that we were welcome to their town. The night before Kim, Lynne and I had a production line going on in the kitchen and we made 8 loaves of sandwiches for the children along with a massive treat - Chocolate Cake!! The kids all tucked in to their sandwiches as if they'd never eaten before. All of the older children would help the younger children without any fuss, and the whole experience was very humbling. I was commented as looking like a barbie doll, ha ha and that was meant to be viewed as a compliment. Gosh if I had been wearing make up and jewellery I wouldn't like to think what they would have called me!!

The rest of the time we have been relaxing, reading, eating and drinking wine. On Thursday we are going to Morgan Bay where Kim's family have been going on holiday for over 100 years and his grandfather used to get there by horse back and a wagon! I think we will just take the car!

Speak to you all soon, Take Care

Nat and Kim xx

London-Johannesburg-East London all in 1 week (#3)

We're now in East London - and for those who are confused and think we're in the world of cockney rhyming slang - we're on the Eastern cape of South Africa visiting Kim's mum. But lets go back to the busy, bustling city of Johannesburg where Kim grew up. For those who watched the Louis Therroux documentary in Johannesburg, although I haven't seen gangs and any shootings - the fear of crime here is very apparent and there are regular news reportings of Robbings, burglary's and hijackings. The divide between white and black people is extremely prominent, and most white people live in gated communities where you need codes to get in to open the iron gates. It feels strange to not be able to freely walk out your own front door to the local park or shops without fear that something bad is going to happen to you.
Ok - I know that is all sounding negative but I am viewing it from fresh eyes and it is the reality of SA today. However, what I have seen that SA does have to offer is the amazing wildlife and sun sets, which we got to experience when visiting Mabula Game Lodge for 3 days with Kim's friends Sean, Kerri and their two girls Tatum and Rylee. We stayed in a beautiful, charismatic lodge with open fires and a swimming pool over looking the reserve. Each day we were taken around in a landrover to see all the animals. My finger was on fire from all the photo's i was taking and we managed to get some shots of Rhino, Hippo, Elephant, giraffe and zebra and more. A memorable moment was stumbling across a large crocodile lazing at the side of the river with its mouth wide open showing its sharp teeth - luckily it looked like it had had a large meal and we stayed firmly in the landrover watching.
After a long weekend of animal watching, eating lots of animals on the bbq (Braai) and watching the brightly coloured sunsets we set off back to J'burg where we said our first good bye's and headed down to a town on the East coast called East London (and zoe, unfortunately Im not close by to pop in for a glass of vino : )! ).
Kim was very pleased to be greeted by his mum, Lynne at the airport - but I have to say he was more excited to see the famous cat Mogsy - which most of you have heard the story about. Mogsy has settled in well to the African life and lazes around out side in the garden.
Lynne and Kims Aunty Dee have a crafts room where they teach mosaics and it is a women's idea of heaven - with lots of sparkly bright colours and shapes everywhere. There are 3 classes per week so we are going to join in and makes some crafts.
We will visit the children for the first time this Sunday at the Sunday School where Kim's mum volunteers and we are having a tea and cake party with them and will play games, sing songs etc and do arts and crafts.
That is it for now - if you have managed to read through this whole blog.
We hope you are all well and send us updates by email.
Lots of Love Kim and Nat xx

1 day to go (No. 2)

Excitement and nerves are now setting in and not packed or ready yet!!!! Kim and I are running around today trying to do last minutes things before we fly out tomorrow and I guess we're never going to feel 100% prepared. Im sure i'll sit on the plane and remember the number of things I would have forgotten - but as anyone knows, that is not really surprising for me - im always losing or forgetting things! lets just hope I don't lose or forget where Kim is : ) ! People have already suggested that Kim needs to attach one of those children's leads so that I don't wonder off!

I just want to say thanks to all of you for the farewell wishes and coming to our many goodbye gatherings. We will miss you all. Keep us updated with things back home,

Im sure the next time we message we'll be in SA updating you on our Africa Adventures.

Take care

Nat xxx

Kim & Nats African Adventures (No.1)

Well believe it or not the time has almost arrive for us to head off on our great journey. Its taken a while for us to say our goodbyes and its going to be very strange not seeing all your lovely, and some ulgy (you know who you are) faces. I thought setting up a blog may be a good idea so that you can all keep up with our travels and hopefully we''l be able to add a few photos and keep you updated as often as possible.

We only leave on Tuesday evening 4th August so if you do want to drop us a line we'll still be contactable until then.

Kim & Nat