Every year since 1994 the Wilde clan have packed up the car and migrated to the sea for a little bit of sun, sand and happy. First of all it was only the three of us, Christopher, Yvette & Briony and in 1998 we were joined by Keagen when our family grew by one.
Though I can’t swim I love the sea. I love everything about being close to the waves and just watching the surf as constantly it rolls in. In April 2000 I was sitting in a doctors rooms in Sandton ( going for a yearly checkup) when the Sandton Gazette or Chronicle ( can’t remember the name) was delivered. As I had nothing to do and the paper was free I started browsing. In the classified column there was a small notice that read something like:
‘Our family has a two week timeshare at the Umhlanga Sands that we would like to pass on to a young family of four as we no longer have any use for it. It is for free but the new family would have to pay the yearly levies. The only stipulation that we have is that it has to go to a family. We have had so many years of enjoyment there and love to know that we will be passing this on to people that will continue to enjoy the gift.’
I took a chance and called the number provided. A very elderly lady answered, asked me a few questions and then told me she would send all the paperwork to me. Just like that Unit 321 ( then called the La Lucia Suite) was transferred to the Wilde Family.
What fabulous holidays have we had here? Two weeks of utter bliss every year. If it rained we did the mall trot and even if it didn’t rain we still did the mall trot. Our DNA is lying all over Umhlanga. We now look at shops and places and go :” This is where..” plucking up incidents and fun times be-speckled with shopping excursions and experiences enough to last us a lifetime.
Our family holidays start when we leave our driveway and end when we arrive back at home. The trip down is a 6 hour by normal family event but in the Wilde family it’s a long affair, stopping at each and every Engen garage. One year we even slept over in Nottingham as the journey was taking too long. This only happened once because it infuriated the usually slow and mild mannered Christopher. He still gets a little twitch in his eye when he recalls that trip… The three of us, myself, Briony & Keagen, much enjoyed the little sojourn.
Packing the car became a Tetris game, especially coming home. We would buy so much rubbish and every year Dad would loose his cool in the ‘Port d’ Krock’ in front of the hotel trying to get everything in. We would just stand back and watch the shit show.
I remember one year Dad got an evil glint in his eye and packed us in Briony’s little Mazda 2. He obviously thought he would sort our shopping affliction out by restricting our space. Going down the little car was so laden it had its head in the air with all the luggage packed in the back. We made it AND went shopping AND carted our spoils home after watching Dad loosing his mind when it came to packing the car.
So many years, so many memories.
Things have changed a bit for our family. Our offspring are adults now and lead their own lives far away, yet we sill come down to the Sands.
Flying down on Saturday morning for 3 days we arrived at the airport just in time for our flight. I resurrected my prized handbag, Louis, for the trip and let me tell you that after the drive to the airport he was a bit nauseous. Dad is not the best person for timekeeping and deadlines with the result that his little car had to pull out all the stops to get us there on time. Dad also booked the tickets and forgot to book luggage… This I noticed a few days before we caught the flight as he proudly showed me the price he paid. Upon closer inspection it was a good price if you didn’t intend to take luggage. I am a ‘bring-the-kitchen-sink’ kinda girl so I quickly pointed out the error in his ways.His first words to me were: ” Can we wing it?”
Absolutely bloody not.
Mickey Mouse bag loaded, 23 kg on the dot, we sat down waiting for our flight to be called and to find ourselves after the harrowing journey that made Louis feel car sick.
Boarding the plane I got to sit next to a beautiful young lady. We immediately hit is off because she also had a Louis and together we hid our handbags from the flight attendants as we were not going to subject the boys to being in the above luggage compartment. This cemented our flying relationship and we nattered all the way down to King Shaka Airport. It was a little cold so I was really glad I had my red jacket on.
Halfway down my new friend started sneezing and couldn’t stop. In between the sneezes she managed to croak:” I don’t know why I am sneezing so much. The only thing that makes me sneeze is dog hair and there is no dog near me..’
Oh Lort.
I glanced at the shoulder of my jacket and it was lined with dog hair. Talk about being in a pickle. The joys of being a dog mom.Luckily she was kept so busy with the sneezing she never noticed.
We have had three days of giggles and much needed rest. It is very hard trying to build our lives without having the joys of our kids around. There are many moments of sadness but we are ever optimistic about the future holidays at the Sands.
History repeats itself in so many ways. Our 23 kg bag is a little overweight. Dad is going to shit himself at the airport when he has to pay in. I will just go to the ladies room and wait for the moment to pass.
I can’t wait to see my dogs.