Rachel Colenso

Survival and protection of your assets in any walk of life is as much about being proactive in planning and preparation as it is having quick reactions, and the judgement to make the right decisions when the time arises. Working to a plan as a team is more effective than working in isolation. Watching homes with all their possessions burn to the ground, should be enough to encourage any person living in an area at risk of fire to take precautions, yet not everyone knows how to prepare. Here are a few tips I received from our local wildfire Superintendent when he paid a visit to our property: 1.) Make sure all your important documents and items are stored in one easily accessible, safe place in case you need to leave quickly, ( passports, drivers licence, cards, car keys and any medications you may need, such as asthma pumps). 2.) Ensure you have an evacuation plan, and that you are prepared. 3.) Keep your vehicle in good running order and the tank full. 4.) Ensure the guttering on your...

Summer has finally hit the Western Cape. Over the passed week daily temperatures soared to nearly 40deg C. For some the 'holiday' week may have involved ferrying irritable kids in hot cars to overcrowded beaches with no parking. Here are a couple of Cape Town's beach alternatives; outdoor, family activities where you can enjoy being active and close to nature without overheating. Silvermine Nature Reserve Part of the Table Mountain National Park, Silvermine is a great family option for all ages. Get there early, to take advantage of the shady picnic sites and take swimming costumes for a dip in the dam. The water is normally cool and refreshing, without needing to don an Atlantic Ocean wetsuit. Mum, Dad or the keen and fit can increase the activity level with a circuit run to the top of Noordhoekpiek which overlooks Houtbay. Come back and report your findings down below to the rest of the family who might well be studying the variety of flora and fauna around the dam. A gen...

Tonight Jeremy and a film crew from the UK fly out to interview us together for a docu-drama for one of the bigger networks. It is a wonderful Christmas present for our family to have us all together, and filming it should be good fun. Rosemary spent the afternoon gluing her "Welcome Home Daddy" sign for the airport. She is always very pleased that her sign is the biggest and most decorative sign at arrivals. (I haven't the heart to tell her the other name boards are written taxi drivers who don't know their clients;) Jeremy bumped into the director at the airport whilst we were chatting on the phone, so they are probably sharing a glass of wine at 10 000ft right now... what an odd thought. To all who read this, from Belarus to Costa Rica (yes, there are people from Belarus and Costa Rica who have read this blog(??!)) this is my Christmas wish to you: May you be blessed with happiness this Christmas, to create a treasure of memories that weigh nothing, can never be ta...

There is just one item in my handbag or rucksac that I share the ultimate 'love hate' relationship with. Everyday I use it, carry it, and I feel either excited or irritated by it. For an inanimate object to play such an important role in your life, not only physically, but also emotionally is one thing, but to go as far as to say that it actually helped to save your life, and that you wrote a book about it would sound like a wild exageration. Yes, our mobile phone did exactly that. I will never forget the moment of relief to find it had battery power and a small signal, as I pulled it from my frozen rucsac whilst perched high on an Alpine ledge during a ferocious blizzard . Nor will I forget the complete feeling of desperation and sadness when it came time to either accept our fate, and text our last goodbyes to family and friends, or to forgo that opportunity and keep fighting to survive. This link: http://www.ioltravel.co.za/article/view/5708108 shows how modern technology en...

Every week thousands of butterfly pupae are flown around the world to butterfly parks. On my birthday, (a wet, blustery day in July) I asked my mother to bring her hiking boots and join us on a Boland adventure in Paarl. Being a very kind and goodnatured mother, she obliged. I think she was secretly hoping that my birthday 'treat' was not going to be a miserable climb in the rain up the barren outcrop of rocks nearby known as Paarl Rocks. Possibly not the most ideal 'treat', with a 4 week old baby, three year old and retired Mum. Needless to say it was a great relief, and pleasant surprise for her when the decoy hiking boots weren't required, and we instead walked into a tropical paradise of butterflies. Butterfly World in Paarl South Africa is the largest free flying park for butterflies in Southern Africa. Visitors move freely between the butterflies, parots and other interesting animals. Infact it was such an impressive experience that my husband and I took our t...

The Avon Justine iThemba Walkathon is a family fun walk for the whole family, there will be various activities for the children as well as stalls and food vendors for walkers to enjoy. The fifth annual Avon Justine iThemba Walkathon is in Johannesburg on Sunday, 17 October and the third annual iThemba Walkathon in Cape Town on Sunday, 31 October 2010. This promises to be a great event for a very worthy cause. As a speaker at the Ithemba Ladies Day, I was moved by the courage and positive outlook of the women that this organisation supports. The iThemba Walkathon’s form part of the Avon Walk Around World – where people across the globe unite in the crusade against breast cancer and show their solidarity. ( www.ithembawalkathon.co.za ) The event in Cape Town on 31st October, and will be posted in a couple of days. Do hope to see some of you there.

David Davies was a modern pioneer in South African climbing. His kind and unasuming nature belied his great talent in climbing and having the vision to open some of the classic climbs in South Africa. Sadly he passed away recently and his memorial service at Kirstenbosch was packed with people who's hearts he had touched in so many ways. Here is Jeremy on 'Celestial Journey' in the Cederberg, South Africa. It was the first route we climbed together on our honeymoon. Jeremy thought at the time it would be lovely for us to have this as a memory of a great first climb as a married couple. (Must say it was a bit harder work getting to the top than I thought it might be:) David Davies did not live as long as many people, but what he left behind was a memory of his love and friendship, some amazing routes that will last as long as the mountains themselves, and a pioneering spirit that may inspire generations of adventurers to come.