John Hairless...i mean ELLIS comes to town!

If you have nothing to do this Saturday evening, pull in to Unit 11 for some awesome tunes by one of Durban's and South Africa's finest musicians, John Ellis - a previous member of the well- remembered band Tree 63. He has recently embarked on a solo career and launched his first solo album which can be purchased on iTunes. Personally I loved the songs he performed when he fronted for Tree 63, so I cannot wait to hear some of the songs from his recent album.
 Opening for him are a local alternative-rock band who go by the name Superlative. These guys are making a steady rise in the band arena of Durbs so I recommend you come give your ears a taste of their music and show support for our local musicians.

Be there, or be adventure-less.

Everyone wants to be a Durban Kid.

Popular to contrary belief, I do actually love Durban a lot. Let me explain.

Many people have felt that I love Capetown more than Durban because I am always travelling there and I do talk about it a lot, and I tend to go on and on....and on. This is true. BUT - as much as I do love Capetown and would love to live there one day, Durban is and always will be my home, which is why I decided to dedicate a blog to just how great Durbs is ( and please notice how I have not yet dedicated a blog to Capetown).

I have possibly had the best past two weeks experiencing Natal and its rad-ness which all started off with a day at Midmar Dam.

There we were piled into a car, on our way to Tam Ballard’s birthday party at Midmar and (as to be expected), our road trip came with an adventure (which was actually just an epic fail).

So most of you should know that as you drive along the N2 and get past Hilton, there is an off ramp that specifically says MIDMAR on it and basically brings you directly to the dam. Well, my mate John* (this is so he doesn’t get embarrassed) was driving and ‘according to his directions’ we needed to take the off ramp just before that. Despite a car full of protests, he was set in his ways and proceeded to take us on some distant farm road which slowly but surely led us AWAY from the dam. Also a random guy in a car told us in Zulu that he was going to ‘shaya us’! Only after 15min of driving on an endless road did John agree to turn around and once we were happily back on the freeway he realised that had he listened to us, we would have gotten to Midmar in about 5min. [I would like to take this opportunity to point out the STUBBORNESS of men when it comes to driving, and yes that may be sexist but it’s true].

Anyway to cut a long story short the day was full of floating on lilo’s;  being pushed off of lilo’s; dipping our hair in the water and flinging it around while singing “ I whip my hair back and forth”(an annoyingly catchy song) ; eating burgers and grapes and cake and nice things; yachting; and taking lots of photos. Oh and playing ultimate ninja – hilarious! If you want to learn how to play this game(and you do) then click on the link! 

In other news though, we get home from our day at the dam and head off to watch Desmond and the Tutu’s, Coals of Juniper and Skylit City play at Unit 11. Have no idea what I am talking about? Let me just paint the picture for you:

A dodgy alleyway, a street full of the most awesome Durban peeps you’ll ever meet, lots of (sweaty) dancing people, and of course, music!!

So great, so indie, and so Durban. I really love my city.

I honestly have not had that much fun in a long time (you might laugh at that and think that I don’t get out much, but trust me, it was the vibe, oh wait, I mean, the VAAB).

By the way, if you are ever looking for something epic to do in Durbs and you aren’t really the clubbing type, then pull in to Unit 11, just off Stamford Hill Road every Thursday night for some table tennis, foosball, old school Nintendo and lovely acoustic sets.

It’s my new favourite hangout. I think I’m a little bit addicted actually. So come find me there!

Life is an adventure, and when it’s not, make it one!

{Above Photos by Matthew Knight}

Unit 11

What's the big fuss about overseas anyway?

In the last ten years I have witnessed eight of my friends pack up their homes, hop on a plane, and move to another country, on another continent. That's almost one friend a year, and at the rate it's going, I'm going to have no friends left by the time I'm thirty. Not ideal.

So lately I have been wondering what overseas has that South Africa doesn't have, because, in my eyes this country has everything and more and there is no other place like it in the world - obviously this is a massive claim seeing as I have only travelled to one other country in my entire life ( but this is because I am perfectly satisfied in my home land )

Anyway, I decided to explore the pro's and con's of life in South Africa versus life anywhere else, and after extensive 'research' ( ie asking people for their opinions and thoughts) this is what I came up with :

SOUTH AFRICA - PRO'S :

 

• Our rainbow nation - technically its not a rainbow (because it would be really strange if there were blue and purple people walking around), but basically every race and creed you can think of lives in SA. We're just that cool.
• Boerewors, biltong, and the best BRAAIS -no 'barbeque' could ever compete.
• We are home to the Big Five.
• We are the least prone to natural disasters like tornado's, hurricanes and earthquakes ( and lets be honest, nobody wants to live somewhere where they always need to be prepared to evacuate).
• The Springboks belong to us. Bam.
• We have a fantastic year -round climate which is accompanied by fantastic diverse people
• The cost of living here is low ( thank you foreign currencies)
• If you walk past a South African on the street, they will greet you even if they don't know you from a bar of soap.
• We have some beautiful landmarks and provinces namely - Table Mountain, the Midlands, the Drakensburg, the Kruger National Park, Oribi Gorge, the Bloukrans Bungee jump, the whole of the Western Cape, and the list goes on..

Basically I don't even need to continue because what you have just read is pure awesome-ness ( I know thats not a real word but it is honestly the best way to describe this country)

CON'S

• No place is perfect though and our country does have two big downfalls - namely the crime rate and the threat of Aids- which have caused people to leave and prevented people from moving here, but the way I see it, every country has its issues and we have to just accept that and enjoy all the good that South Africa has to offer - maybe even step up and do something about the issues that we like to complain about and run away from

Okay, now lets have a look at what the benefits and downfalls of moving overseas are...


 OVERSEAS - PRO'S

•  Um............
• Kidding! Money is definitely a pro. If you decide to live and work in Europe or the USA for a year, you'll come back to SA with tons of cash ( notice, you'll have to come back to SA.hah).
• It's a good way to experience different aspects of life, different enviroments, different climates, cultures and values.
• You get to meet a whole bunch of new people who will love your South African accent!

CON'S

• You're not living in South Africa!

The long and windy road....yes you guessed it - Fields Hill.

Today I embarked on one of my many travels to an exotic and faraway land. This place is best known as.....
 Hillcrest.

Okay, so it isn't Guatemala or Cyprus or any other place that has a name which is not said how it's spelt ( lets be honest, we all want to say GU-ATE-MALA), but to me, a girl from Sherwood, and to my car,
whose petrol gauge is constantly on empty, Hillcrest is a faraway land. Therefore it counts as a travel. Anyway, this is my blog, I decide the rules, so why am I even trying to form an argument here? Rhetorical question.

Okay, back to the Hillcrest story. The reason I travelled to 'the Crest' today is because a friend and I had an urgent craving for sushi and we needed to meet up with another friend who lives in Hillcrest, so we figured why not meet up at a sushi serving place.Thus began our rainy, foggy-windowed drive up the infamous Fields Hill.

This long and windy road led us to Old Main road where ( as luck would have it), all the traffic lights were out. This wouldn't be such a big deal, except we had to drive through seven or more intersections basically blindfolded because humankind doesn't know how to operate at a fourway stop. This led to us almost being T-boned twice by people who want to drive whenever it pleases them. Frustration!

We survived to eat our much desired sushi though. You should totally hit ( not literally) Ocean Basket at Richdens Centre in Hillcrest - their sushi is really low-priced and so delicious.mmmm.

Our journey did not end there though. As we began our trip home, still rainy and foggy-windowed ( I couldn't figure out how to unfog it properly, and I don't even know if  'unfog' is even a word), I came to the realisation that the Appletiser I had drunk ten minutes earlier wanted to be released from my system ( I honestly tried to phrase that sentence in the politest way possible). Now as it is, the trip from Hillcrest to Westville is slightly long, but try going down Fields Hill in the pouring rain... one word - traffic. NOT ideal for me!

So there I am driving painfully slow, can barely see out my window, and on the verge of pulling over and peeing on the side of the road ( yes I said peeing)
 I didn't though, I perservered, but it could of made for one heck of a funny story!

I realised something though...this kind of stuff is what makes life interesting and it taught me some valuable lessons :

1. Go to Hillcrest on a SUNNY day.

2. To unfog ( defog?) your windscreen, just put your aircon on and aim it at the windscreen(unless your car is fancy and has a nifty defog button, in that case, stuff you.)

3. When at defective traffic lights, don't expect everyone else to play by the rules ( but you still should)

4. The best place to go when you feel like sushi (and if its not a 'Half-price' sushi day anywhere else), is Ocean Basket. http://www.oceanbasket.co.za/

5. If you know you have a weak bladder do not drink Appletiser ( or any other liquid) right before you're about to embark on a long drive with no rest stops ( it seemed like a long drive to me ok! )

So thats all folks, I know this wasn't as cool as meeting Timone the meerkat ( read my previous blogs) because nothing is as cool as that, but it was still an interesting day.

This weekend I head out on an actual trip (I'm even going in an airplane so you know it's legit) so keep an eye out for the next blog!

Travel like you mean it.



Forget airplanes and cars...the Internet is the vehicle to have.

So here's the thing. I discovered the coolest website ever ( claiming), but I couldn't blog about it because this is a travel blog. Then I realised I could get away with it due to a mode of travelling known as "Cyber Travel". Brilliant. I am a genius.

Now that I have captured you with my skillfully worded heading and captivating introduction, lets get down to business. One word : urbandictionary.com ( does a website count as one word?)

You know how our generation has managed to come up with a completely new vocabulary? Words like "sic", "wranger", "jut", "kif". Well now there is an online dictionary which provides the meanings of these words as well many other crazy sayings. The meanings are sometimes hilariously stupid and sometimes very rude ( but lets just focus on the positive here ). Anyway, it made me so excited, I wanted to share my discovery with the world ( or at least with the few awesome people who read my blogs).

So heres some 'legit' definitions of a few words you may or may not know:

Kif : 'South African English Slang for Cool, Awesome' ( this is rad because its an American website, but we use that word so much that it even gets acknowleged overseas!)

Wranger :  ' a person with red hair; originates from the word orangutan. Being pale with freckles and the butt of everyone's jokes comes hand in hand with being a wranger. Also known as gingys,  fanta pants, and carrot tops ' ( I apologise if that offended anyone but dont blame me, blame urbandictionary.com...and society )

Indie Kid : ' Elitist, liberal  people aged 16-28 who listen to independent music. Better than regular people, they're smarter, hotter (they generally try and act like they don't care about how they look, but they do), and better than the general populace. Do not mistake them with emo kids, emo is the ANTI-INDIE. Emo kids and Indie kids have had a long-standing war since emo became the "new thing".

Dani ( yes, even my nickname has a definition) :
 : ' A person with lots of layers of goodness, like an onion without the crying and the smell.'
(I didn't say it, urbandictionary.com did.)

Well now that Urban Dictionary basically just wrote my blog for me, I would just like to thank cyber travel for being the vehicle of our generation...without it, there wouldn't be a website that gives our words meaning. We also wouldn't have facebook or Youtube or Blogspot and then we would be sad. I also wouldn't have anything to blog about on weeks when I havn't done any actual travelling.

So, enjoy looking up the defintion of your name or whatever crazy words you can think of. Happy Cyber Travelling.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/