Tigger World MWO Tour

[tiptronic_ct]

Tigger World MWO Tour

Let me take you on a trip down memory lane:

From Mtunzini, my family moved to a town called Pietermaritzburg (also in KZN). It was here that Mahatma Ghandi 1st embarked on a campaign of passive resistance. The world-famous Comrades Marathon is run annually between Durban and Maritzburg (the name most us Saffas use).

Home - Welcome to Pietermaritzburg Tourism

From there, we moved to a small town called Giyani. At that stage, it was the capital of a South African "homeland" (or Bantustan) called Gazankulu. These Bantustans were established as part of the Apartheid government's attempts to segregate the entire population.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giyani,_Limpopo

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bantustan

[tiptronic_ct]

Tigger World MWO Tour

After I finished Primary School in Giyani, I was sent to a boarding school in a city called Bloemfontein, in the Free State Province.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloemfontein

The place is a bit of a dustbowl... Its claim to fame is that it is the birthplace of JRR Tolkien (amongst a few other things).

This is the school I attended:

Grey College

I am glad to see they seem to have changed over the years. I wasn't terribly happy there, partly because I sucked at sports...

[tiptronic_ct]

Tigger World MWO Tour

To be continued...

[Miss Behaving]

Tigger World MWO Tour

Tip, this is so interesting!! I loved the pictures of Pietermaritzberg .... beautiful architecture! (And I loved the idea of Butterflies for Africa!!)

I hope this isn't a sensitive question, but how did you come to be living in a bantustan? You have Afrikaans heritage, yes??

message from Tigger coming up ....

[Miss Behaving]

Tigger World MWO Tour

message from Tigger

Hello, hello, hello .......

I'm back with a bounce in my tail!! In the last couple of days I have been rained on, blown over, experienced an earthquake, and over-loved by a toddler who needed distracting. (And between you and me, Missy B has been a bit cranky for a couple of days, so I've been keeping a low profile!)

However, the sun is now shining, the wind has stopped blowing, the kittens are putting on weight, and I get to meet Mr B tomorrow when he returns from Australia! (Wookie tells me he has facial fur, so I can identify with him already!!)

Anyway, I've been observing NZers on my travels and thinking that they are slightly quirky. I dont quite get their sense of humour or why they do things sometimes. Here are some odd things that I have come across:

A town called Bulls (where I come from Bulls are a Super 14 team!) that in a desperate attempt to make themselves interesting have given town facilities some strange names .......


A fence in the middle of no-where that has hundreds of pairs of jandals (note: they are called jandals here, not flip flops!!) attached to it. No-one has been able to explain to me what the significance of this is!!!



The oldest cemetery in Wellington that currently has a mysterious Easter Bunny who is delivering Easter eggs to the graves of people that have been dead and buried for 100 years:


This completely OTT wall thingy (verdict is out on whether it is good taste or not!!) made of paua shells that is part of Miss B's Sunday morning breakfast retreat (sorry there is so much bling in this photo that my natural beauty is lost in amongst it!!):



And this place!! Now this place is really fab! This is at Carlucci Online - Carlucci Land, Bedrock and Stone Masonry, which is right beside the local dump and stone quarry. The guy that owns it makes crazy stuff from the quarry and anything that has been left at the dump. He also stood for Mayor at the most recent elections and didn't do too badly!! And there is an "organic" mini-golf course which is guaranteed to make you laugh ......... here I am on some of his beside the road sculptures:

[Miss Behaving]

Tigger World MWO Tour

And I WILL see a sheep before I leave these shores, and I WILL see the Sharks defeat the Hurricanes!!

[Miss Behaving]

Tigger World MWO Tour

Sorry guys that was an uncensored post. Tigger WILL see a sheep, but the Hurrricanes are a sure bet for Saturday!!!

[Guest]

Tigger World MWO Tour

tiptronic_ct;827336 wrote: To be continued...

Can't wait for the next installment. My sister lives in Durban. I went out to see her in 1997 and also went to the Drakensburg Mountains, Jo'burg (briefly) and then upto Warm Baad (?) to see friends who owed a game farm.

I really want to take my son back in January for the whole month but the flight from Australia to SA is horrendous. (Last time, I flew from London.)

Tiggers adventures are fantastic. Miss B - the photos are beautiful.

[tiptronic_ct]

Tigger World MWO Tour

Miss Behaving;827550 wrote: Tip, this is so interesting!! I loved the pictures of Pietermaritzberg .... beautiful architecture! (And I loved the idea of Butterflies for Africa!!)

I hope this isn't a sensitive question, but how did you come to be living in a bantustan? You have Afrikaans heritage, yes??

message from Tigger coming up ....

Hey, Miss. B

Even though the Apartheid government created the "independent" Bantustans, they still had a big hand in the day-to-day running of these "states." My father was what was called a Commissioner General. They were the South African government representatives in each of the Bantustans. Sort of a mix between an ambassador & a governor. Because the Bantustans didn't have sustainable economies or a tax base of their own, they were heavily reliant on money provided by the SA govt. In practical terms, it meant the Commissioners General essentially ran things.

Which explains how someone of Afrikaans descent ended up there. Most senior government, political and diplomatic positions were occupied by Afrikaners.

To put the ridiculous notion of Bantustans in perspective: today, the former Gazankulu is an impoverished backwater in the 2nd poorest province in SA. There is virtually no local economy to speak of. When we lived there, the SA government paid for, just for starters:

- A compound for the Commissioner General (7 bedroom, 5 bathroom house, 5 staff houses, office complex, helipad, tennis court, 2 swimming pools, about 7 permanent housekeeping staff)
- A government complex, comprising of House of Parliament, Chief Minister & Ministerial residences, departmental offices etc.
- An entire village of mostly Afrikaans-speaking white people who ran the show: from the most senior administrative positions in the supposedly independent government, to headmasters & staff of schools, head of the hospital & doctors, the local development agency, police force etc. etc. etc.
- 2 official vehicles (usually a Merc S-class / BMW 7 Series and a 4x4) & chauffeur for all senior positions (if memory serves, there must have been at least 20 of those).

Believe me, I can go and on, but you'll be bored to tears eventually! The irony is that at the time, it seemed perfectly normal to me - that was simply the way of the world...

[tiptronic_ct]

Tigger World MWO Tour

Some amazing pics, Ms. B. Can't wait to the show the cubs tomorrow night (they've already gone to bed).

Talking of the Easter Bunny: the cubs have admitted that they knew Father X-mas doesn't exist about three years before Mrs. T and I cottoned on that they knew :H

Ditto the Tooth Fairy

[tiptronic_ct]

Tigger World MWO Tour

Miss Behaving;827558 wrote: the Hurrricanes are a sure bet for Saturday!!!

That's the nice thing about MWO, Ms. B - we tolerate all sorts of opinions, as misplaced, misguided and just plain wrong as they might be

[rubywillow]

Tigger World MWO Tour

tiptronic_ct;827880 wrote: That's the nice thing about MWO, Ms. B - we tolerate all sorts of opinions, as misplaced, misguided and just plain wrong as they might be

Oooooh, you haven't been to some of the places I have! :H

[tiptronic_ct]

Tigger World MWO Tour

rubywillow;827892 wrote: Oooooh, you haven't been to some of the places I have! :H

I was waiting for you to comment on that one :H:H:H

[rubywillow]

Tigger World MWO Tour

Awhhh, Tips, I know who I am.

[Miss Behaving]

Tigger World MWO Tour

tiptronic_ct;827880 wrote: That's the nice thing about MWO, Ms. B - we tolerate all sorts of opinions, as misplaced, misguided and just plain wrong as they might be

:H:H:H:H:H