The student life for a few days

23 – 25 March 2012

On Monday morning Dad and Mom Bateman left Oribi and headed to the berg to enjoy a well-deserved holiday after days of driving to rescue us, and we stayed in Oribi for the rest of the week and caught up with family and friends. By the end of it we felt like real celebrities as we had gone from one social engagement to the next – thank you Oribi family for your warm welcome! On Friday morning it was time to say goodbye to KZN and hit the road (in our Toyota recovery vehicle…) in the direction of home.

Fun in the recovery Toyota

Next stop was Grahamstown to visit Tim and Hailey Gaunt. The road works on the N2, combined with a 2-hour torrential downpour made the 7-8 hour journey more like 12 hours and it meant we did the last few hours in the dark which was really disappointing given how many rivers we crossed and how beautiful we imagined it to be. We definitely need to visit that part of the world again sometime!

Our weekend in Grahamstown was loads of fun and characterised by crazy student adventures. A few of the highlights include:

• Friday night lasagna – a Bateman tradition that Tim remembered
• Watching Tim represent Rhodes 1^st team hockey and realising that most of his team mates were probably jealous of his ability to grow such an impressive beard
• Exploring Rhodes while a thunderstorm loomed in the distance
• Being stuck at the top of a hill in the Botanical Gardens when said thunderstorm arrived and fearing for our lives as thunder cracked around us and we ran through the pelting rain looking for shelter
• Braai’ing in the rain
• Homemade cinnamon buns (thanks Hailey)
• The best coffee in Grahamstown (according to Tim, made by Tim)
• Rugby at the Rat and Parrot
• A “hen’s party” at the Rat which involved scoring lots of free shooters and many well wishes to “Nina and Mike as they embark on this new adventure together”…
• Being those people who go out into nature and stand around their car, pumping their tunes
• Pumping those same Rhianna tunes in the street at night, in random parking lots etc

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Thanks Tim and Hailey for your wonderful hospitality and for reminding us what it is like to be students again!