Childhood holidays

A holiday I can remember  vividly was our trip to England when I was six years old to visit Gran and Gramps.  It was the first time I can remember flying and I remember the enormous excitement I felt when we walked from the airport onto the tarmac and I saw the huge Jumbo that we were going to fly in.

Once we were in England, we got roller skates as a present and Jo and I spent hours roller skating down Gran and Gramp's short drive.  I also remember hours of playing Lego with Jo - we were both addicted to Lego.  I also remember playing with a Fisher Price fire engine that gave me hours of fun.

My other memory is going to Brighton beach and my surprise that it was covered in pebbles and not sand.

We also visited Uncle Jack and Auntie Nancy in Devon and I can remember creating a birds nest in their hedge using straw.  I also faintly remember visiting Auntie Lottie who was the oldest person I think I'd ever met.  She ended living to 103.

Then there were our annual trips to Eight Bells, a farm that was about five hours drive from Cape Town.  We would leave very early in the morning and I'd sleep in the back of the car.  We'd stop for a breakfast of sausages and egg out of a Tupperware which I didn't like at all but mum thought I loved.  Mum was quite devastated when I admitted this to her a few years ago because she had very happy memories of our breakfasts.  During our stop, dad would replenish the petrol in the car out of a big plastic container.   For some reason it was illegal to do that at the time, so he'd do it on the sly.

The thing I remember most about Eight Bells was the horse riding.  We'd ride everyday and I loved every minute of it.  A highlight for me was the exhilaration I felt when I cantered for the first time and how smooth and free it felt compared to the jerkiness of trotting.  I remember feeding the horses sugar lumps from my hand and stroking their noses.

Eight Bells was the place where I had my first crush.  The object of my affection was Farmer Brown's daughter who was a few years older than me.  She came horse riding with us once and she was a really good rider.  I thought she was magnificent.

Other places we had had holidays were Mountain World and Sedgefield.  I don't remember much about either except for swimming in the pool at Mountain World and being looked after by a nanny and the fact that we children ate separately from the adults.  I didn't really like that.

Other holidays I remember are camping trips with the Culleys which I loved.  More about the Culleys later.  I remember we had a huge family tent that had a collapsible frame that would take hours to put together.  But it was a cool tent with separate internal compartments so we were able to have our own private "bedroom."

Later still, we enjoyed several fun holidays in Pringle Bay with the Rusconis where we'd spend many happy hours on the beach.