CraZy week...

What a hot,

crazy hectic week!

At least it's cooler now with light drizzle, continuous rain bringing the temperature down a bit...

Got my internet line running again by Tuesday afternoon; after making more than 10 complain calls to Telkom our ISP and receiving 5 references numbers since the 16th of December…

Can’t complain about the service because there is no service!!

I only got home late Thursday afternoon after spending the week in Durban with Jules.
I had to cart him to and through from Durban North to Kearsney College, Botha’s Hill for pre-season rugby training every morning.

I had to get used to the heavy early morning traffic again, which was different every single morning. We had to leave the flat an hour earlier to make sure we were on time.

The Carte Blanche MNet TV team arrived at Kearsney on Tuesday to do a program on protein shakes and supplements that is very popular with all rugby boys/stars in South Africa. Jules declined the opportunity to be interviewed; not his cup of tea …

So for the South Africans interested check it out:

Carte Blanche Sunday 18th January 2009 at 19h00

MNet will screen a 10 minute insert on Carte Blanche highlighting the issue of protein shakes and supplements taken by teenage boys sometimes leading to a condition commonly referred to as bulkarexia. The producers of Carte Blanche had heard of Kearsney’s Supplements policy and came to investigate. There will be interviews with some of our sportsmen and our dietician, Kathy Krog.

In between I supported Ziska who had a gastro scope at the Ascot Park Hospital on Thursday morning. The test results were very positive with no reflux evidence, hernia or ulcer. She is going in on Monday the 19th for a laparoscopy to check why she is having this severe abdominal pain… So we’ll be leaving early tomorrow morning to be on time for the 7 o’ clock check in at Ascot Park Hospital and I’ll be away for another couple of days in Durban…

So keep up the good work, will catch up with you guys later…

Horrific crash - Namibia

Horrific crash!!
I have received the worst news ever last week and I am still in shock!

This is with regard to our trip to Namibia…
We started off with 22 vehicles on our 4x4 trip through the Ugab River, Namibia and we made many new friends…

One of them was a couple - Dawid Kunneke a 60y old male from Pretoria who lost his wife in a tragic car accident 8 years ago…

It was his first outing again with a new friend Susan Broodryk from Struisbaai in his brand new Land cruiser with all the latest in camping gear to make your life easy.

He showed me all the neat contraptions and how easy it is to unpack, use and have everything available in a quick and easy manner…

He did a lovely pumpkin dish by filling the whole pumpkin with sweet corn and condensed milk and then baking it in the fire for a couple of hours… Devine…

I had to do some cooking one evening and I complained about them not having any ‘vatlappies’ potholders and he commented twice with the following: “Zelia stop complaining, you remind me of my deceased wife!” Of course I didn’t like this type of comment but I let it pass….

However, he was a soft spoken and kind guy who kept his distance… She was a petite girl with a very short cropped hairstyle and full of life…

They left Walvis Bay on Saturday the 3rd to travel back to South Africa…
She was driving and 70km east of Upington on the road to Olifantshoek the cruisers one back wheel had a blow –out. She desperately tried to get the vehicle back over the shoulder of the road which was quite high but, the heavy loaded 4x4 jerked viciously off the road before somersaulting and then rolling a couple of times … Dawid was thrown from the vehicle not wearing his seatbelt and was killed on impact and Susan was hospitalized in ICU at Upington Hospital with 5 broken ribs with 2 ribs broken at 2 places! Needless to say that the land cruiser was written off… His funeral was last Thursday the 8th in Pretoria…

Dawid's Land Cruiser stuck in thick sand in the Ugab River bed...

It is a motorist’s worse nightmare and such sad news after such a wonderful holiday spent with them…

Life is short, please live every single day and enjoy life!!

Tell your loved ones that they are special today…

“Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives!”

JC Strauss

I found the following article in my e-mail regarding my son JC...
First original true report; but withholding the 'top management' silent treatment of JC during his illness/pacemaker implant and recovery...

Whatever happened to JC Strauss?
05.01.09 11:01:05 by robdylan Tags: JC Strauss

As regular readers would know, I’ve been particularly keen to track down two promising young Sharks players who seem to have disappeared off the scene in recent years. I’m proud to report that I’ve managed to track down one of them, young JC Strauss.

Johan Strauss was born in Johannesburg in 1986, the son of the former Bok and Transvaal prop of the same name. Strauss Senior represented the Boks in three test matches, twice against the touring 1976 All Blacks and then again against the South Americans in 1980.

His son JC, a tighthead prop like his father, first came to prominence as a schoolboy at Durban’s Kearsney College. The 1.91m schoolboy anchor was widely regarded as the strongest prop around at the time - so much so that opposition coaches had to devise somewhat illegal strategies to counter him at the 2004 Craven Week.

Strauss won SA Schools colours in 2004 and was an automatic selection for the South African under 19 side the following year - the side which contested and won the inaugural IRB Under 19 World Cup in Durban. The young prop was one of four KZN representatives in that team, which was lead to the title by lock Alistair Hargreaves. Joe Snyman and a certain Francois Steyn were the other Sharks juniors in the team.

The youngster made a single appearance for the Sharks Currie Cup side in 2006, as a replacement against the Lions in the opening game of the season. It was, interestingly enough, the same game in which Ryan Kankowski made his senior debut for the province. Strauss made a few appearances for the Under 21 side after that and then mysteriously disappeared off the scene.

I’ve managed to find out what happened.

JC’s health took a turn for the worse just at the time that he was looking to break into the senior ranks - it later turned out that he had a latent heart condition, Bradycardia-Tachycardia Syndrome, which was exacerbated by the increased training load in the senior setup. Initially misdiagnosed as asthma, it took some time and frequent visits to various medical professionals before the young man finally received a sensible answer as to why his resting heart-rate was a staggering 28 beats per minute. Having been correctly diagnosed, JC had a pacemaker fitted in 2008 to regulate his heartbeat and after some initial teething difficulties, is finally well on the road to good health again.

At the moment, JC is helping his dad out with some property development work and is working hard to get back into shape. When it comes to his chances of playing competitive rugby again, medical opinion is divided as to whether that would be wise or not. Apparently, playing with a pacemaker is pretty risky as there’s a chance that the leads connecting the device to the heart muscles could become dislodged. JC Strauss isn’t really thinking too far ahead at this stage, though, as he’s just really pleased to have been given another chance at health.

I’d like to thank JC for taking the time to tell me his story. I’m sure you’ll all join me in wishing him all the best for whatever his future holds.

Happy New Year

Hi there to everybody glad to be back!
I don’t know for how long; children still visiting; but I will try and keep up… What a hectic December – busy, exciting and hot!

We decided to make another visit to Namibia after an absence of 11 years.

First we left with our Fortuner 4x4 packed to the teeth for the 3 weeks, but after reaching Pietermaritzburg and getting the GPS working and realizing that we’ll have to travel 2500kms via Gauteng and Botswana or 2700kms via Bloemfontein, Upington; entering Namibia at Vioolsdrift border post… We decided against it…

We turned around and went home. (I think the boys had something to do with it, they decided to stay home and not join us)

All our friends laughed and thought we were crazy.

I thought so too!!!

We did a 3hour cite seeing trip just for the fun of it…

I booked return tickets that evening and we had a wonderful hour and a half flight to Windhoek, Namibia, the next morning, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Short and sweet…

I will endeavor to tell you all about our wonderful trip during the next month, so that you can enjoy it with me…


Happy New Year to Everybody




























2009 Will be my year
I will surround myself with people who love and believe in me
Never again will I doubt my abilities, for I know I am capable of anything and everything I set my mind to
I am worthy of happiness and success
I‘ll be healthy I demand it
I’ll be charming just by being Zelia