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Michelle grew up in Birmingham with one of her best friends Becky, whose sister Tina was only a year younger, so the three of them would always hang out together. Tina now lives in Bloemfontein, with her husband Allan Donald. Michelle was with Tina the first night that she met Allan 23-odd years ago. He was a cricketer for Warwickshire at the time. Allan has since gone on to become one of the premier speed bowlers in South African history, and is well known around the world in the cricket circle. He has just started a job as the bowling coach for the South African national team, which was lucky for us as they were due to move to NZ for another job. Together with their two children Hannah and Oliver, they welcomed us into their house for what turned out to be a full week, as they wouldn't let us leave.
Tina was away on a girls hockey tourney when we arrived, so Allan had the duty of picking us up from the bus station. He made us feel right at home, opening his bar room up and having a few drinks with us until almost 2AM. I enjoyed looking around at his memorabilia in the bar. Allan is still sponsored by Castle beer, so there is always plenty of beer and wine flowing at the Donald house!!
It was a nice reunion for Michelle and Tina both the next day, and the whole time they were together. Michelle commented that it felt like old times, and they shared many laughs.
We were treated to yet another braai (we can definitely get used to this), at friends of Allan and Tina. Colin and Sarah, David and Vicky, and Charles and Lauren were friends that we saw a few times throughout our week in Bloem. They were a really nice crowd, very generous and fun to be around. They were all interested in what we were doing also, and wished us luck and any help on our journey!
A couple of quiet days in Bloem, as Tina was recovering from the hockey tourney, and a cold, but also running the kids around to all the different schools, and events.
Tina and Michelle did manage to go to Tina's book club, but we were surprised to see them home quite early, and sober. Apparently the book club turned into a bit of a scuffle, with one girl wanting to institute a bunch of 'rules' and calling out a few others. Not sure if Tina will return, as she seemed a bit embarrassed and put off by the whole situation.
Oliver was excited for the Friday night, as it was a multi-cultural festival at the school. I think he was more excited because he would meet some girls there, but we all went along. It was quite an impressive spread, with many tents set up with different foods from around the world. Italian, Portuguese, Thai, Indian, American, and plenty of sweets for after to mention a few. It seemed like we were one of the few groups to bring a cooler full of beer - the others were definitely missing out. We attracted a little group at our table!
On the Saturday, we managed to treat Tina and Allan to a tour through the local Cheetah Experience cat sanctuary. This sanctuary had lions, leopards, servals, cheetahs (of course), and even some Canadian wolves (they must get HOT in the summer)!! We were able to enter the pens of some young lions including a white lion, the caracals, and hang out with the cheetahs. Touching these majestic furry animals is quite a wonderful experience, and something we will never get bored of. We even inquired about doing some volunteer work there, especially as we saw a baby black leopard there. Michelle loved the fact that the little lion cubs had huge paws and eyelashes. I think Tina and Allan really enjoyed the their time with the big cats too.
The rest of our Saturday was full of rugby. Both of us love watching the sport, and we went to the local boys school to watch schoolboy rugby between Grey College and a squad from Durban. These boys really know how to play, and the quality of the game was excellent. Watching was a treat from the beer garden in the stands. I especially liked the cheers from the boys in their school stands. They are all dressed in the same school blazers and ties, but with some creativity, have come up with some good effects with the colours. Grey College would wear the striped blazers backwards, and certain boys would lower the blazers to reveal their white shirts, spelling our GREY in the stands. Very cool. Grey won the game, and there was a great celebration after.
Then it was back to Tina and Allan's with the rest of the crew, for more rugby. This time, it was the National Team - the Springboks, taking on Australia. Of course, Allan's bar was open again, and the beer flowed through both the national game, and then the local Cheetahs Super 15 game. Unfortunately for Allan, neither of his teams won, but he was again a good sport, whilst cooking tons of meat on the braai, and provided quite a feast for the crowd.
For me, loving all things to do with sports and athletics, I was eager to learn more about cricket from Allan. Allan had all kinds of memorabilia around the house, and I found it interesting to pick up a Sports Illustrated magazine on the table, and seeing an interview and photos of the person sitting across from me!! I really enjoyed talking cricket, rugby, golf, and any sport going (even ice hockey), with Allan.
We went golfing with Allan on the Sunday, and I don't think he knew what he was getting himself in to. Not picking up the clubs in a year is pretty tough, and it wasn't a very impressive round of golf. Michelle managed 16 holes (which was probably too much for her), but enjoyed a day out. Allan got a sizzling Eagle on one of the par 5's which he was quite chuffed about!! It was nice to get out on the course again, but definitely need to hit the range a little before!
On Monday morning, Tina graciously drove us to the bus station at 5AM. We were off to the country of Lesotho nearby, but due to return to Bloem. We had left our big bags at the Donald's, and were armed with just our day packs and tent. It was nice to head off lightly, as we went upstairs in the station, we hit the surprising masses of people. We even managed to helped some big mamma's up to the bus with their huge loads, and they showed us how to get to ours!! *Stub
Things Michelle remembers:
- Tina hasn't changed - they still have the same laugh as they did when they were 16 years old
- Allan was great host and kept on topping up the red wine
- talking to all Tina's sisters in UK
- the big paws of the lion cubs
- Oliver's favourite song and funny dance
- a lion cubs eyelashes
- the pig at Emoya cafe, sniffing her leg
Martin will remember:
- making a cheetah purr
- learning cricket
- Hannah graciously sacrificing her room for us
- enjoying seeing rugby everywhere
- People recognizing the celebrity Allan everywhere - at the waterfront mall, rugby games, cultural night, and in the street
- Allan's bottomless bar
 |
| Michelle with Tina and Allan |
Tina was away on a girls hockey tourney when we arrived, so Allan had the duty of picking us up from the bus station. He made us feel right at home, opening his bar room up and having a few drinks with us until almost 2AM. I enjoyed looking around at his memorabilia in the bar. Allan is still sponsored by Castle beer, so there is always plenty of beer and wine flowing at the Donald house!!
It was a nice reunion for Michelle and Tina both the next day, and the whole time they were together. Michelle commented that it felt like old times, and they shared many laughs.
 |
| Allan, Tina, Martin, Michelle, Linda, Lauren at Grey College Rugby |
A couple of quiet days in Bloem, as Tina was recovering from the hockey tourney, and a cold, but also running the kids around to all the different schools, and events.
 |
| Grey College School Boy Stands |
Oliver was excited for the Friday night, as it was a multi-cultural festival at the school. I think he was more excited because he would meet some girls there, but we all went along. It was quite an impressive spread, with many tents set up with different foods from around the world. Italian, Portuguese, Thai, Indian, American, and plenty of sweets for after to mention a few. It seemed like we were one of the few groups to bring a cooler full of beer - the others were definitely missing out. We attracted a little group at our table!
 |
| Martin and a lion cub |
The rest of our Saturday was full of rugby. Both of us love watching the sport, and we went to the local boys school to watch schoolboy rugby between Grey College and a squad from Durban. These boys really know how to play, and the quality of the game was excellent. Watching was a treat from the beer garden in the stands. I especially liked the cheers from the boys in their school stands. They are all dressed in the same school blazers and ties, but with some creativity, have come up with some good effects with the colours. Grey College would wear the striped blazers backwards, and certain boys would lower the blazers to reveal their white shirts, spelling our GREY in the stands. Very cool. Grey won the game, and there was a great celebration after.
 |
| Tina and Allan with the cheetah |
For me, loving all things to do with sports and athletics, I was eager to learn more about cricket from Allan. Allan had all kinds of memorabilia around the house, and I found it interesting to pick up a Sports Illustrated magazine on the table, and seeing an interview and photos of the person sitting across from me!! I really enjoyed talking cricket, rugby, golf, and any sport going (even ice hockey), with Allan.
We went golfing with Allan on the Sunday, and I don't think he knew what he was getting himself in to. Not picking up the clubs in a year is pretty tough, and it wasn't a very impressive round of golf. Michelle managed 16 holes (which was probably too much for her), but enjoyed a day out. Allan got a sizzling Eagle on one of the par 5's which he was quite chuffed about!! It was nice to get out on the course again, but definitely need to hit the range a little before!
On Monday morning, Tina graciously drove us to the bus station at 5AM. We were off to the country of Lesotho nearby, but due to return to Bloem. We had left our big bags at the Donald's, and were armed with just our day packs and tent. It was nice to head off lightly, as we went upstairs in the station, we hit the surprising masses of people. We even managed to helped some big mamma's up to the bus with their huge loads, and they showed us how to get to ours!! *Stub
Things Michelle remembers:
- Tina hasn't changed - they still have the same laugh as they did when they were 16 years old
- Allan was great host and kept on topping up the red wine
- talking to all Tina's sisters in UK
- the big paws of the lion cubs
- Oliver's favourite song and funny dance
- a lion cubs eyelashes
- the pig at Emoya cafe, sniffing her leg
 |
| Martin with Tina and Allan Donald, and Rosie |
- making a cheetah purr
- learning cricket
- Hannah graciously sacrificing her room for us
- enjoying seeing rugby everywhere
- People recognizing the celebrity Allan everywhere - at the waterfront mall, rugby games, cultural night, and in the street
- Allan's bottomless bar
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