For piccys to go with this section go to the following - you may need to copy and paste the link into your browser to get it to work:
http://picasaweb .google.com/tree2222/Johannesburg

Saturday 10th: Took my last journey by Bazil bus to Johannesburg.....we arrived at around 4.30pm and I booked into the InAfrica hostel. On first impression, this hostel doesn't look like it's gonna be a bundle of laughs - there's hardly anyone else staying here, there's no bar, and they don't serve any kind of food except free toast for brekkie .....but it's close to Nik and Tandors house so should be handy for meeting up with them between now and the wedding next week.

I tried to call Tandor to find out where the hen party was and couldn't reach her.....so I tried to call her parents house which is where the hen party was starting off at 2.30pm.....no answer.....and then I texted Nik....no response.
.....I felt like crying!!! I come all this way and can't find the party!!!

I wanted to go to the shop and the lady in the hostel - Gertie (I keep wanting to call her dirty gertie from number 30 - don't ask me why!!!) said it's not really that safe to be wandering around - although it was still daylight, so I went anyway because I needed to buy a new sim card so the wedding party could contact me (my current one had been cancelled) .

This city has a really claustrophobic restrictive feel to it....there's no public transport to speak of so without a car, you're really isolated.

I kept trying and finally Tandor answered the phone at her parents house at around 6pm....they'd been there all the time!!! One of the other guests at the hostel kindly dropped me over to the party which was just finishing!! They'd already had the 'bare bummed butlers' and the 'making willies with playdoh' competition - gutted!!

We left the 'aunties' and 'mums' etc at Tandor's parents house and Tandor, Ange (the chief bridesmaid) and another friend Chloe and myself headed out to a cocktail bar in Sandton. We had a couple of cocktails and snacks in our 'revolving booth' but the other girls who'd been drinking during the afternoon were tired so we headed home at around 10.30pm.

Sunday 11th: I booked a trip to the apartheid museum and Soweto township through the hostel and was picked up at 9 .30am. We drove through the city centre to get to the Apartheid museum which was interesting - I saw Nelson Mandela bridge and the infamous 'Hillbrow' area too. I spent a couple of hours in the museum - I didn't know too much about apartheid or SA's history so it was really interesting.

I was then picked up and taken to meet up with some other people for the Soweto tour. The first part of Soweto we were taken to was the 'millionaires' part - the houses are enormous with swimming pools etc - some famous people live there including some footballer who played for Leeds (can't remember his name though as I'd never heard of him!!).
Then we went to a poorer part and met some of the kids who all wanted to hold our hands and play - they were really quite dirty, but incredibly friendly. We had a look inside one of their shacks and had a look at the Mary-J plants growing outside!!
I was actually really surprised how clean and relatively civilised the place was - I was expecting it to be more like the favellas in Rio .

Then we went to the house Nelson Mandela lived in for 15 years, which is now a museum filled with some of his posessions and plaques for various things, then we drove past Willie Mandela's current house and also Bishop Tutu's.

At the end of the tour the guide dropped me back to the hostel and as we were chatting on the way I said that I didn't know how I was gonna get any dinner as I don't have any transport and it'd be dark by the time we got back so I wasn't allowed to walk to the shop...big dilemma!! So, he kindly offered to come back and take me out for dinner!!
He came back at 7.30pm and took me out for a chinese, then he dropped me back to the hostel - what a nice fella!!

Monday 12th: I hate this feeling of isolation so today I hired a car!! Gertie managed to organise one for me - a pretty shabby 5yr old Mazda for just 80pounds for the whole week - Nice!! So, I went out for a drive - thankfully they drive on the left so it's just like driving in England!! Yipppeeee - freedom again!!!
I ended up in Greenstone shopping mall which is where I stayed for most of the day ....the weather is sooooooo hot, it was great to be in air conditioning!!
I didn't hear anything from Andy or Nik so I spent the evening on my own in the hostel, chatted to Gertie for a while and then read a book.

Tuesday 13th: Today I went to the Lion park just outside Jo'burg, I got slightly lost on the way there - I nearly ended up in Pretoria!! But when I did finally arrive I fed the giraffe and played with the lion cubs - they were sooooo cute!! Just 2 months old and soooo soft and fluffy!!
Then I went for a game drive - I saw various antelope types, zebras and a few other animals and there are 4 lion enclosures which I drove through.

After the lion park I found my way back to the hostel via the supermarket. I cooked dinner and read my book again. I'm getting bored in Johannesburg now - there's no other guests at the hostel and I haven't heard anything from the wedding party......there are a few places to visit around Jo'burg but it's kinda dull going on my own ...

Wednesday 14th: Spent a bit of the day in the shopping mall again - taking advantage of the air con!!! .....but they had a power cut so most of the shops were closed!!! Fairly boring day!
Met up with Cat and Denz in the evening - hoorah for them rescuing me from boredom!! We had a really nice evening - we went for dinner in a 'Keg' pub.

Thursday 15th: I decided to go back to the 'organic' market in Bryanston - Tandor's parents took me there last time I was here. I got horrendously lost on the way, so I had myself a bit of a tour of West Johannesburg!! It was soooo hot in the car, I was a sweaty mess by the time I got there!! I spent a while there and then headed back to the Greenstone shopping mall for a bit of air-con therapy!!
I finally saw Nik and Andy in the evening - lots of the other guests have now arrived so they had a bit of a do at Nik and Tand's house. Most of the Proomes were there, and some of the Welsh posse. We had a really fun evening - I went back to the hostel at 1 .30am and found that there were actually some other guests there....oooops, think I might have woken them all up!!

Friday 16th: I gave the Irish people from the hostel a lift to the shopping mall, went for breakfast, spent some time on the internet, generally bored of Jo'burg now - it's toooo hot!!!
.....looking forward to the wedding but actually I can't wait to go home now!!
There was a huge thunderstorm in the evening and we had a power cut at the hostel.

Saturday 17th: Idrove over to meet the Proomes and some of the Welsh wedding guests at the go-kart track in the morning. Afterwards we went to a safari place for lunch - the giraffes and zebras were just wandering around there which was really nice. It was Ginge's birthday so we all went out to the Monty casino for dinner and a spot of gambling in the evening....It was a really fun day!! I stayed the night at the Proome's house.

Sunday 18th: I drove back to the hostel to pick up my stuff and iron my dress, then I headed out to the wedding venue which was a little way out of jo'burg . I was following directions sent out with the invite but ended up being caught up in road closures due to a bike race happening around the city. I eventually managed to find my way there, had a shower and put on my glad-rags.
The ceremony was in a chapel at the venue - it was a really beautiful place and a lovely ceremony - Andy managed not to lose the rings, Nik and Andy's mum managed to hold it together for her reading and Nik and Tand's both scrubbed up well - Tandor's dress was beautiful and Nik and Andy were both wearing full on suits - they looked really smart, but they must've been roasting!!!
After the ceremony we all chucked petals at the happy couple before a photo session and champagne in the garden.
The party then relocated to the reception hall where we had some more drinks, dinner and speeches and then everyone boogied the evening away. Later on Denton, Tandor's brother, insisted everyone induldged in a few shots.....tequilla and suitcases - it all went down hill from there!! I made it back to my room.....but I have no recollection of doing so!!
I had left my room in a bit of a state - there were two single beds in there and I'd left my open backpack on one of them with everything spilling out all over the place - the other one free to sleep in ......when I woke up next morning I was asleep in the bed that'd been covered in stuff - I'd obviously just pushed everything off the bed and onto the floor and got into bed!! .....why?!? ..I blame the tequilla!! ha ha

Monday 19th: Feeling really hung over, I drove back to Eden Vale for brunch at Tandor's parents house. I lasted a couple of hours there before heading back to the hostel and back to bed!!
In the evening, feeling somewhat revived after my nap, I went to Cat and Denz's for dinner before heading back to the hostel for my last night in Jo'burg. 

Tuesday 20th: Took the car back to the shop, went to the airport.....flew home :o)

That's all for a while folks......I'm back in the sunny UK again so no more blog updates for a long while - I hope you've enjoyed!!

Next update....probably around May / June 2008.....I'm planning to go and finish my journey around South and Central America - if anyone fancies joining me.....just let me know!!!

x