Summer Holiday Snaps

If you're following my Instagram you'll have seen a few snaps from my Summer Holiday in Cape Town in November. I thought I'd share some more here and talk a bit about my time there. 
WARNING, this post is picture heavy!
Holiday Nails We left super early on the Tuesday morning, at 3am. I had tried to go to sleep early the night before but it really wasn't happening so after a cuppa coffee I ended up sleeping most of the way there in the car. We got to the airport and checked our stuff in, I managed to be JUST under the weight limit, surprisingly. I had packed alot of extra stuff to give to my brother and his wife and kids.  We landed in Schiphol, Amsterdam at about 9am, we had breakfast and waited for our connecting flight, managed to get a quick snoop through duty free but didnt buy anything this time. (decided to buy on the return flight) The flight to Cape Town was about 12 hours, all during the day, so I kept myself entertained with films, Spotify and iPad games. It was 11pm in South Africa when we finally arrived. As soon as we hit Immigration you could feel the heat, stepping outside was like stepping into hell, the heat hits you smack in the face! My best boo Gavin met me at the airport along with my brother, sister in law and niece.  We all gathered round and hugged and chatted for a few minutes before parting and meeting again at our apartment for the week. 

Lift Selfie

After getting acquainted with my new room for the week, I jumped in the shower and freshened up, threw on some fresh clothes and Gavin and I headed out to our traditional drinking hole Cubana. 

Whenever I visit, we ALWAYS go there after I have arrived, ALWAYS. No matter what. And Cubana is always open!

They make great cocktails and service Shisha/hookah pipe.

Juicy cocktail with many shots.

After 3 rounds of cocktails and shots we headed home to sleep, which was a fail. Gavin and I had SO much to talk about, even though we talk every day, we stayed up till 5am yapping away.

I was so super tired since I had been awake for 24 hours at that point.

This was our first official day in Cape Town. And what weather we woke up to.
The image below was at 9.30am.

The view of Table Mountain from my apartment room.

Car selfie.

My glasses were my best pre holiday buy from eBay.

Lip stain is by Revlon, via Rachel.

My dress is from Lovedrobe.

This day was spent with family mainly.
We first went to my brothers house to spend time with my niece'sand sister in law. I met my second niece who was turning 1 in a few days time. She is such a smiley little tot.

After that we went to Longbeach Mall to meet my uncle and his wife. We went to Mugg&Bean which is a coffee shop/cafe. I had a gorgeous Mango Fruitblast Yoghurt Smoothie, it was so refreshing on the hot day. 

We went to a lovely food market shop to get some fruit and veg for my Granny and I picked up a Bubblegum Milkshake, these were my fave as a kid!

After visiting my granny, we went back to the apartment to relax a bit.
I had a bit of a nap, I had loadsa sleep to catch up on.

The evening was spent at Canal Walk, a shopping centre with many restaurants.
We first went to Primi Piatti. I had a cocktail called Apricot & Cranberry Collins which is made from Smirnoff Vodka, Apricot Extract, Cranberry juice and finished with soda. It was so nice, I could have had 10.

We went to The Cattle Baron for food, and it was perfect. I had my first steak of the holiday. It was cooked to perfection. The waitress was so lovely, and did well considering how picky we are as a family. 

 We went to the V & A Waterfront for a meander about, I needed to get a gift for my cousin who we were going to see in the evening. She's pregnant so I decided to get her some clothes for the baby. I picked up a dress, leggings and a tshirt from a slightly expensive store, but they're good quality and super cute so I don't mind the price tag. 

My dress is from New Look (similar here).

We went to Marcels for Ice Cream and a chance to put our feet up. 

The waterfront is FULL of people, full of tourists really. So it's a great spot to just sit and people watch, which I love.

This was my face for the afternoon. 

We went back to the apartment for ... a nap! 

Best thing about being on holiday is that there's no time constraints, so naps are essential.

After that we went to Maestro's on the Beach in Milnerton, to meet my cousin, her beau and her bump.

Looking rather presentable.

I ordered myself a lovely Gin & Tonic, this was a cucumber and mint G&T. It was so godam gorgeous.
I had another steak, which again was done to perfection.

After that Gavin and I went to Cubana for a night cap.

My dapper prince!

 We went to a place called Imhoff Farm. Its a farm house and animal farmyard. There's loadsa independent stores, but most importantly, a massive farm yard and food joint. 

We took my niece's to see the animals and to spend a nice day away from the city.  

My farm face.

My dad and Gracie Rae, the youngest Granddaughter.

Here are some pictures of the Blue Water Cafe where we spent most of the day eating, talking and basking in the sun.

My dress is from Simply Be.

This is Ella Rose, the oldest of my niece's. I was fulfilling aunt duties and playing with her.

That afternoon I was left ot my own devices and did a bit of retail therapy.

I picked up some items from The Body Shop as it was much cheaper than here. I picked up a lovely make up remover which I did a drunken ranty video about it and sent it to Rachel the next night, im sure she enjoyed that. I also picked up two eyeshadows, a pink grapefruit hand cream and perfume.

I also bought a box of macrons from Cassis Paris which does French style patisserie and boulangerie. 

I picked out 8 of them, all different flavours.
I chowed down on them whilst watching Ru Pauls Drag Race All Stars 1 whilst waiting for Gavin to come back from work.

The apartments we were staying in are part of a centre with loadsa cafe's, boutiques and independent stores. So we were never far away from a nice breakfast or a strong coffee.

After schnaffling down most of the macrons and binging 3 episodes of Drag Race, I had a shower and got dressed in one of my fave outfits of the holiday.

A vest from Simply Be, Skirt from Pink Clove and a shawl, with wedge sandals. 

It was super cute and comfy.

Gavin and I had a dinner date at the Grand West Casino at a place called The Quarter Deck. It's meant to resemble a sunken ship so the decor is very maritime. I love it!
It's a buffet joint. So naturally a good start!

After stuffing our faces, we met my mom and dad for Ice Creams at Gelato Mania.

I had a 2 scoop special with Salted Caramel on the Bottom and Honeycomb ontop.
It was a winning combination!

 Gavin and I went for some breakfast at Spur, a burger and steakhouse.

Its my fave place to eat in South Africa, they do an amazing burger with perfect shoestring onion rings and a beautiful cheese sauce. 

Wish we had more of them in UK.

It was Gracie Rae's 1st bday party this day so we went over to my mother in laws house and made an appearance. I met up with some old friends from school who had all had kids there. It's such a bizzare thing to be at a childrens party when you have no children yourself. You just sorta stand around and talk to other adults. And hope that no kids run up to you.

After that tiresome task we went back to the apartment to pick up our goodies, got some towels, Gavins Shisha, got some supplies from the local supermarket and we made our way to Clifton 4th Beach for an afternoon dip.

I wore this swimsuit as a top as it has a skirt and really just looks like a tank top.

Made for easy transition once at the beach. I paired it with a kimono from New Look. 

Driving from our apartment to Clifton is a beautifully scenic drive, we go past 3 different beach area, but my fave by far is Camps Bay.

Camps Bay

Beach Selfie

We DID go in the water, but it was so freezing cold it burnt us, so we spent more time chatting and laying out in the sun. 

We had a shisha aswell. It was a super chilled afternoon.

We headed back towards the apartment and pulled into a centre to pick up some booze and got some smoothies. Mine was a mango, pineapple and mint smoothie, it was gorgeous!

We went back to the apartment to have an afternoon kip before heading out for some food with a mutual friend. 

After dinner we all came back to the apartment for some drinks and chatting. I changed from a posh frock to a more casual outfit.

We drank quite a bit and giggled even more, talking about old times. 

We went to a place called Deco Dance and literally danced the night away.
I drank many drinks and threw out many shapes.

Sorry to anyone I have on snap chat, you all got endless amounts of videos from this night.

Was spent having a bbq and a swim and relaxing.

We went to Gavins place after stopping at the supermarket for foods. 

Rocking the bikini.

We had drinks and shisha by the pool. The water was gorgeous, I honestly could have spent all day in the water!

After that we went back to the apartment for a siesta and then went out for Starters in the evening at Quay Four in the Waterfront.

A view of Table Mountain with its Table Cloth on.

The Jolly Roger, a pirate boat.

At Quay Four I slurped down the BEST bubblegum milkshake EVER!

After starters we went to a rib joint in Observatory called Sticky Fingers.

Everyone had been raving about it, quoting it "the best ribs in cape town"...Sadly we did not agree.

But, it was food.

I wore this Bespoke Tunic froim J D Williams.

After that we trawled back to the Waterfront and went to Mugg&Bean. We sat outside and we had evening drinks, I had a Red Velvet Hot Chocolate, it was so good. Gavin had an Upside Down Marshmallow Chocolate Smoothie.

 I spent the day with my folks. I met them in their apartment and had some breakfast there, check out their view of Cape Town City. 

My mom and I went to Canal Walk , we ambled around for a bit, and ended up having a cuppa coffee/smoothie whilst we waited for my dad to come meet us. 

I had a Frozen Lemonade with mint. it was gorgeous!

Car Selfie.

We went for a walk along Milnerton Beach in the afternoon.

The sand and water were really good to my feet. 

Table Mountain from Milnerton Beach.

In  the evening Gavin and I headed out to Cubana again.

Again, sorry for anyone who has me on snapchat, you were the brunt of my drunken giggles that night.

This was our final full day in Cape Town. We started the day by visitng my Granny again and took her shopping.

Then met my brother, sister in law and niece's at a place called Peddlars on the Bend. My uncle and his wife came too. It was a big family affair.

Its got this lovely outdoor area. 

Dad and Gracie Rae again. 

In the evening we went back to the Waterfront. 

I wore this cute lace swing dress from Simply Be with wedge sandals.

I pinned my hair down on one side and wore MUA Lip Lacquer in the colour Criminal to match my hair.

We went to the Krugmanns Grill for our "last supper".



Our last morning in Cape Town, we went to Starke Ayres Restaurant for breakfast with my brother, sister in law, niece's and Gavin.



We had breakfast foods and chatted.


Mom and Ella Rose.

After this we met my brother and his kids back at the apartments and had some drinks at one of the cafe's, again, we spent time chatting and just being with each other before we had to start packing and getting ready to go to the air port.

Gracie Rae, Aunty Lisa and Ella Rose. 

I am referred to as Aunty Lisa the Barbie Princess by Ella, this is because of my pink hair, though I'd like to think she thinks I'm a princess cos I bloody well am! 

I spent some time cuddling and giving love to the kids because this would be the last time I saw them until we go back again which might be 2/3 years away.

After saying our goodbyes to my brother, his wife and the kids, Gavin and I watched the end of Ru Pauls Drag Race Super Stars, had a mini nap and started making our way to his car and eventually to the airport.

After saying our goodbyes to Gavin and getting through airport security, we went to Spur and had one final drink and relax before the arduous journey back home.


Crème Soda float

The flights home werent as long because we did them as night flights so I got some sleep.

The view from way way way up high.

It was a lovely holiday but it did make me realise how lucky I am to live in England now and not still in South Africa. 

As lovely as it was to be back there to see family and friends, it really opens your eyes to how much better you have it, or atleast it did me. 

Next year, bring on USA!

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