Oribi Mom’s crew had a little adventure.

First, it must be said that this was the very first new year that Oribi Mom and Dad can remember staying up for in, well, we think, decades. We’re not teenagers trying to find shelter on some beach thanks to the South Coast’s dependable New Year’s Eve rain anymore. This year, we shouted ‘Happy New Year’ over loud music under flashing lights and even kissed (very briefly!). It was well past our parental bedtime, and three tiny boys were already asleep in the room we were all sharing. Still, we were quite proud of our efforts.

It was a special wedding, you see, over New Year’s Eve on a wine estate – and over 1500 kilometres away from our little farmhouse. We worked all year to get to that wedding. We very nearly cancelled, too.

We Almost Didn’t Make the Wedding

The first half of December was a bit of a blur. The kids promptly got sick in the last week of school and passed it along to their tired parents. Then, Oribi Gorge lost power in that huge storm that blew over poles and trees. We didn’t have power for eight days.

We went to stay with the grandparents a little earlier than planned, packing for the wedding just in case, and then the kids got sick again. Very sick. Like buying a portable nebuliser in case anyone couldn’t breathe properly on the road.

A rat chewed our car’s air conditioning wire to pieces. Can you drive through the Karoo in mid-summer without air conditioning? On the morning we decided to leave, a beloved uncle passed away.

What did we do?

We visited our dear aunt with flowers, finished the packing, bathed the boys, and strapped them into their car seats at 7 pm.

We drove 18 hours, non-stop, through the night and arrived in Cape Town at lunchtime the next day.

We celebrated with our family and watched our boys experience their very first wedding. It was like herding cats with 10 niblings walking ahead of their aunty down the aisle together, but it was so beautiful.

We danced. We laughed. We got all dressed up and took a family picture. We saw in 2025.

And then, we made it home again to Oribi Gorge. We’re all better; we have power, and it’s a whole new year!

Published here.