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Exchange to England Journey Final Part #8- The Tussle of The Muscly Lads

Okay right lots of questions are to be asked. First is what is with that title? Secondly is what is a tussle? Both can be explained when you go to our last place on our exchange to England trip when we indulge ourselves into the world of British professional wrestling but mainly Progress Wrestling. Progress Wrestling is a wrestling promotion that has been around since 2012 and has allowed many great talents around the world to showcase their strength, athleticism and outright insanity. Coming fresh off a successful show at Wembley Stadium entitled “Hello Wembley”, Progress Wrestling has entertained fans all over the world with its hostile atmosphere and its characters or the wrestlers to come with it such as characters like Pete Dunne, Tyler Bate, WALTER, Toni Storm and many other people who are must see. Sure, at first you think of wrestling is WWE but Progress is a much more of do it in the ring type of company than about production. My personal opinion is that Progress Wrestling will turn you into a fan or at least make you admire the risks and the strength on display.

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Exchange to England Journey #7- O Tourist, Tourist, Wherefore Art Thou Tourist?

 When it comes to love stories there are many in our world today. Arguably there is only one love as infamous Romeo and Juliet and its creator William Shakespeare still lives on with his great romantic stories and also through the late great poet’s theatre entitled the “Shakespeare Globe”. The Shakespeare Globe is an entertainment complex in which adopts an old-style atmosphere with many of Shakespeare’s plays being performed for on goes and tourists who want to experience what it was like to be at one of Shakespeare’s masterpieces.  The structure is a marvel as its been preserved to its finest originality so all the cravings, walls, stone pathway and even the stage area itself has been preserved to its finest.  However, despite its originality being kept to mint condition, the Shakespeare Globe does have a very modern built aspect with it being disability friendly with wheelchair access, restaurants for intermission hunger and gift shops to presumably buy poems so you can practice your romantic poems to win over your loved one. My personal opinion is that like or not, theatre is actually incredibly entertaining, and Shakespeare is the king of it. It’s a good and interesting atmosphere to surround yourself in.

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Exchange to England Journey #6- Castle of the Kingdom

The Tower of London is a well renown fortress that has multiple purposes over its years of establishment from being used to host the royals, to imprisoning convicts and now used as a tourist sightseeing location. The Tower of London is fortified with this great and tremendous wall that still stand strong and inside the fortress contains many different structures with many different purposes. Towers containing old medieval weaponry as well world war two weaponry are great to interact with and good to take in atmosphere in where guards would be experiencing all types of wars. Luxurious quarters still some what in good quality can make you experience what it was like being in the castle like King William I and other royal acquaints during the 1070s. Not just locations are unique, but also the people who you will encounter with ladies and gents being in character to help the immersion of the location and its significance in history of England as you’ll encounter men dressed as the royal guard outifts and women dressed in medieval dresswear fit for princesses and queens. My personal opinion is the place is full of many awesome historical parts that includes may different generations. A must visit.

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Exchange to England Journey #5- Meet Your Favourite Celebrities (Sort of)

After the travel to the countryside, we head back into London and guess what? We are going to be visiting all your favourite celebrities! Couldn’t get into Buckingham Palace? The Queen is here! Couldn’t get into the new Avengers movie? Iron Man is here to recruit you! Want to meet your favourite politicians? Barack Obama and Nelson Mandala are here to discuss climate change with you! But you might be asking, how is this even possible? Well it is however, they aren’t alive but rather made of wax! Madame Tussauds is a museum in which is entirely full of wax replicas of celebrities. The wax statues aren’t just placed on their own, but also placed in their iconic movies and sets like Star Wars with Han Solo at the Cantina or Darth Vader in the iconic “No, I am your father” scene or maybe you didn’t get invited to cake with the Queen but there is a scene for that at Madame Tussauds. My Personal opinion is sure it sounds creepy by description but honestly its actually quite incredible. The models are incredibly realistic and in attracts people around the world. Just remember: bow when you see the Queen, or you won’t get another invite.  

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Exchange to England Journey #4- On the Stonehenge of Your Seat #

Out by the countryside of Avebury is one of the most significant prehistoric landmarks known to man. This landmark is known has Stonehenge, a unique alignment of stones in which dates back 5000 years ago. The understanding of how these stones were placed, you would have to go all the way back to BC era of life where early man would of presuming had to crave the stones with early man tools like hammer and chisels mainly used with sticks or rocks. The alignment has made a lot of people believe many theories over the years about why it was built. Often people believe it was for religious purposes while others believe it was an ancient burial ground while others believe it was aliens. Whatever you choose to believe, there is no denying that seeing a landmark created by early man sparks the imagination and creativity of how people think about man before modern technology. My personal opinion is that Stonehenge to some may be a real change to learn about early man and to others it allows you to go out to the countryside of England and its green open lands. As crazy as it sounds, visiting during snow time could be a fantastic way to see it as it would gain a grim and dark look which gives it intriguing visual to how you view it when you are viewing it normally when its on green pasture.

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Exchange to England Journey #3- The Royal Residence

Buckingham Palace, the name is synonymous for a lot of things. The Queen, Beefeaters, Royalty and a lot of tourists standing in front of it. All jokes aside, Buckingham Palace has been hosting the royal family since the 17th century with King George III. The George family hosted the house for decades until eventually William IV became ruler of Great Brittan and of course he needed to add his own special throne to the place as well. Many owners and wars later, Buckingham Palace hosts a mammoth 775 rooms with 800 workers, over 1000 windows. All the royals have their own special rooms and parties are hosted their often such as banquets, receptions and garden parties where they would presumably have tea? biscuits? Probably not a beer like at the local pub. Buckingham Palace also allows the tourists see the changing of the guards in which Beefeaters change their positions and shifts in order to stay watch and protect the area. My personal opinion is that Buckingham Palace is a part of England’s history and hosting its kings and queens for centuries and its one of those places that has real beauty when you come to view it for yourself.

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Exchange to England Journey #2- The Clock Goes Gong! (Or Dong? Or Bong?)

Usually when think the biggest landmarks when it comes to countries what comes to mind? France and the Eiffel Tower, Italy and the Coliseum, China and the Great Wall of China. England has lots of iconic place we will discuss in later editions of this Journey, but none are as big as Ben, Big Ben to be precise. Big Ben was originally designed by Sir Edmund Beckett and first started working in May 31st, 1859. Every hour the clock makes a loud Gong? Bong? Dong? Look it doesn’t matter it makes a loud noise which can be heard all over London. However, as of August 2017, the clock no longer chimes as its going through restoration fixing. The location of the clock is located at the Palace of Westminster and its height is 97.5 metres and weights around 15.1 tons in Copper and Tin. Funny enough there is a job to known as the “Keeper of the Great Clock” which is actually a person with a marine engineer qualification but there can only be one Keeper of the Great Clock, so I don’t agree leaving your job to apply for it. My personal opinion is Big Ben is defiantly one of those tourist places that you have to see. It’s a part of the fabric of history for England. Its viewable from the streets but the best view can be seen through the London Eye, Europes largest ferris wheel, as it allows you to see it top to bottom.

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Exchange to England Journey #1- The Theatre of Dreams

When coming to England, there is definitely one passionate that impossible to avoid. That passionate would be football. Arguably the biggest team in England with the biggest fan base and the largest global recognition would be Manchester United and its home ground titled Old Trafford is the first of locations and places on our Exchange to England journey. Old Trafford nicknamed “The Theatre of Dreams” by club legend Sir Bobby Charlton, is the only English league team stadium to have earnt UEFA Five Star Rating with a total capacity of 75,731 and heating under the grass to melt snow during harsh conditions in winter. Tours of Old Trafford are open to tourists who desire to explore the ins and outs of the stadiums where legends such as Paul Scholes and Eric Cantona have walked with tours of the ground, the locker room and the prestigious trophy cabinet which includes two Champions League trophies, twelve FA Cup trophies and an astronomical twenty Premier League Champions trophies. The prices for the tour usually range between 45 to 50 AUD. If you desire to see the team playing in action, adult tickets to a league game usually costs £31 GDP or $55 AUD which is well worth to see some of the best players football has to offer such as Paul Pogba, Romelu Lukaku, Marcus Rashford and many more. My personal opinion would be the tour is completely worth it as its cheap to experience on of the best stadiums in the world. However, being an Arsenal Fan, I’d rather watch them play but if you’re never watched football, go see Manchester United play for the experience and you’ll love it.

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Our last stop before flying back home was the Drakensberg Mountains. We stayed in this cottage on a farm that looked out on nothing but fields and mountain. We were right in Champagne Valley and we could see the mountain every morning when it was covered in mist and we had a breathtaking view from the pool. We went for this unbelievable seven-hour hike right up to a waterfall and through Champagne Valley. We even saw a rock that looks like an ape’s head and stopped for a picnic on this outcrop where we could see for miles. On a rainy day we also found this little putt-putt place with delicious waffles. We also explored the forest next to our cottage and found this abandoned farmhouse. There were so many animals on the farm including sheep, a cow and the owner’s dog who always came to say hello. We went exploring and found this chocolate shop that made such good chocolate, we wanted to buy it all. We also made our way down to a lake where we rented canoes and rowed across. It was the perfect end to our holiday with nature walks, afternoon braais and amazing views.

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We flew up to Nelspruit and then drove over to the Kruger National Park. This place is huge and we had to take Malaria pills. It was worth it though because we got to see the most amazing animals. We drove past a watering hole and watched as buck, elephants, giraffe and rhinos came to take a drink. We also drove past a pride of lions walking through the hot air. We stayed in this lodge that had an animal sanctuary for injured birds and we saw a fish eagle getting set free, back into the wild. It was unbelievable. We hiked down the river on our second day there and had to set up tents in a safe zone, which our guide picked out. We braaied, of course, on a fire that we all helped make and ate boerewors, which is this spicy sausage. We also saw a giant hippo dozing in the river and then submerge, it was kind of scary but brilliant. Our place had a pool so I had to go for another night swim and it was beyond amazing. I could hear all the sounds of the animals as they moved around in the darkness.

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The next day, we went to the Victoria and Albert waterfront and went on the Pirate Ship Cruise round the harbour. It went past Seal Island, and I don’t think I will ever forget the noise they made. They looked hilarious all flopping over each other. We found the food tent with the best pizzas, doughnuts and fudge I’ve tasted. We also found this reggae-style band playing near the drawbridge and listened to them as we ate our lunch. That afternoon, we made our way to a vineyard in Constantia where we went on a tour of the winery and then walked around the estate. It was stunning with endless fields of vines and a huge duck pond. We also found a grey squirrel running up a tree. It was our final night in Cape Town and we went to this little restaurant in Camps Bay. The next morning, we got up really early to hike Table Mountain. It was brilliant to watch the sun come up as we made our way to the top. The view was amazing and you could see all of Cape Town. We even spotted a rock rabbit chilling next to us on the wall.

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Next it was on to Cape Town, which I was very excited about. I had heard so much about it and it didn’t disappoint. My family and I stayed in Hout Bay, a little town near the sea. We almost got lost on the way there because of all the twists and turns but we found our cottage at Orangekloof, with a beautiful view of The Sentinel mountain peak. We headed down to the Fisherman’s Wharf and spent ages watching the seals, and I even fed one. Then we had desserts at the seafood restaurant and I had the most amazing chocolate brownie with ice cream. We spent the night in our cabin, playing games and then we had a braai out on the patio, or stoep, as South Africans call it. The next morning, we took a drive down to the Peninsula and we stopped in Muizenberg and Simonstown where we went onto Boulders Beach and saw penguins swimming. We also found Olifantsbos Beach, a secluded little bay with the most amazing view. We had our lunch there and watched the surfers. We also saw some baboons but thankfully they were too far away to come after our food.

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We made our way up the Garden route, with a stop-over in Plettenberg Bay. We spent the day looking around the harbour and the little shops nearby. I thought about buying my own wetsuit but I think I should get better at surfing better I do. That night we had oysters at this great place right on the water’s edge. Then it was off to Knysna. This is by far my favourite stop on our holiday. It is a small town but it has amazing things to do like water sports and jumping off The Red Bridge. Then there are The Heads, which are the giant outcrops between the lagoon and the sea. The view is brilliant and there are boats sailing around as well as seals that flop in the water. One got close to me but it swam away quickly. We also did stand up paddle boarding or ‘supping’ around these canals off one of the islands and we saw jellyfish in the water. At night, the town lit up like a carnival. There was also a pool at the BnB we stayed at so I went for a night swim while I listened to music being played nearby.

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The next day we made our way to Tsitsikamma National Park, where we stayed in beautiful log cabins right on the beach. We could hear the waves flowing onto the beach and hitting the rocks to our left from our cabin. We went for an afternoon swim and then went for a canopy tour in the forest. We weren’t planning on it, but we went on the waterfall zip line which was beautiful. We ended the day with a ‘braai’ out on the patio and watched as the sun set behind us. On our second day at the park, we went snorkelling and saw a million types of fish. It was brilliant. We had a picnic on the beach and found a secluded spot next to the lagoon to eat. Then we went horse riding right in the waves and it was only us on the ride so we got to stay out longer. We also went out to a nice restaurant nearby and had the best lasagne and the garlic bread was amazing. The next morning before we left, I went on my second surf and actually managed to stand up and catch a few waves so I’m getting better.

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After Durban, we went up the coastal route to the Eastern Cape. Then we went inland and visited the most amazing game parks. The first was the Addo Elephant Park where we got to hike through dense forests and see the elephants roaming around. It was amazing and aside from the elephants, the rest of the ‘Big 5’ were there: the black rhino, lion, leopard, buffalo and the elephant. While driving between the park and our guesthouse, we drove past lots of other nature reserves. We saw ostriches running through the field, and 2 great big giraffes eating from the trees next to the road. We also saw endless wildebeest and impala. We stopped along the way at little roadside cafes for ‘padkos’ and we tried biltong and walked through a tiny vineyard growing next door. When we got back to our spot, we had rooibos tea and rusks, and watched the sun set with the owner. He is Italian and moved to SA when he bought the plot for a little guest house. The next day we made our way to Port Alfred, this tiny town with an amazing beach that seems endless when you walk along it.

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This summer, my family and I took a trip to South Africa. We have a lot of friends there and they promised to show us all the best places to visit. We began our holiday in Durban on the East Coast and it was hot, not sweltering like back home, but hot enough to visit all the beaches and I even learned a bit of surfing. I wiped out almost every time but it was pretty memorable. We also went to Ushaka Marine World and went on all the rides, like the black mamba and the highest slide in Africa, ‘The Drop Zone’. It gave me the rush of a roller coaster but so refreshing at the same time. We also tried out the amazing pizzas at Taco Zulu on Florida Road and curries that beat any I’ve eaten before. We also headed down to the South Coast, which is only 2 hours away and we had amazing waffles at The Waffle House, then we went straight to the nearby beach and went paddle boarding in the lagoon. On our last day there, we went on a boat ride and saw about 20 dolphins right next to the boat.

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South Africa’s Background: 

South Africa is known for many things: it’s beaches, it’s diversity, it’s rugby and, among others, its many languages. These include Xhosa, Zulu, Ndebele, Tswana, Northern Sotho, Sotho, Tsonga, Venda, SiSwati, Afrikaans and English. Most people in South Africa speak many of those languages, and multilingualism is seen as a virtue. However, English is still a predominant language in most places of work, schools, and universities. It is seen by many as a marker of education. Because of this, many of the white population do not learn indigenous African languages. It is not promoted as a necessity in schools and most English medium schools do not offer indigenous South African languages to those who do not speak it fluently. It is taught at a basic level until high school when many students choose to take Afrikaans because it is ‘easier’. Translation, learning languages and swapping between languages is a common activity for many South Africans who accommodate the many other language speakers. Learning a language is common practice for those whose home language is not English because they have to become proficient in English if they want to do well at school, at university and in the workplace. Those who have only English, on the other hand, often partake in very little language learning as not doing so has no real consequence on their future. An academic at Rhodes University in the Eastern Cape shared her story of having to teach herself higher-grade English before she could even begin to tackle her course work. In South Africa, language, learning languages and working around them is a common practice and, like many countries throughout the world, English remains a power player in advancing in life.