Train from Johannesburg to Cape Town with a teenager

Well it’s been an amazing experience, something to look back on and say we’ve done, but I don’t think I’ll be doing it again in a hurry. I’ve always had a dream to travel by train, coast to coast in America, but 28 hrs on the tourist train from Johannesburg to Cape Town has put an end to those plans.

Booking tickets for the Shosholoza Meyl was completed online, once an enquiry was made, payment details were sent, proof of payment was returned, email with booking number received and tickets collected from Johannesburg train station minimum of an hour before travel. The cost each way is R630/£35pp

The station was busy and we were told to be on the platform an hour prior to travel, we stood in the waiting hall till the train was announced and it was one mad push, shove, scramble to form a queue, clinging tightly to our luggage and hoping no one moved as we’d probably fall over if they did.

The train was spotless, we had a 4 sleeper compartment, there was a toilet and a shower at the end of each carriage and around 2 hours into the journey a really friendly guy came and asked if we wanted to hire bedding for the night which cost R57/£6 pp. The compartment featured a pull down table and underneath was a sink with hot and cold running water and a plastic bag provided for the rubbish.

I packed toilet roll and wet wipes for the journey, which came in very helpful and plenty of drink, snacks and sandwiches. There is a buffet car on the train and they announce when they are serving lunch, supper and breakfast, all at a very good price with a range of burgers, pap and sarmies. Food was available also as a take away as was tea and coffee.

Sleeping didn’t come too easily I’m afraid for me. Son managed to sleep most of the night, then after an early wake up call at 6am, with a woman yelling ‘early morning coffee, coffee, coffee, coffee’ he went back to sleep. I’m afraid I wasn’t too polite and asked her to be quiet, but she carried on. It was 2 hours before we reached the next stop, I really didn’t need waking.

There were many stops in the night, up to an hour at a time, in the middle of nowhere while we waiting for trains to pass, it was strange but it was when the train was still and quiet that I actually woke up.

Both my son and I had loaded movies onto our laptops, but discovered there was no charging points on the train, thankfully I had packed many packets of loom bands that entertained my 15yo for most of the journey and I read a book and wrote some letters. There is no smoking on the train, but plenty of stops if you need one and a few people were hanging out the windows at times.

We arrived in Cape Town 28hrs later, only 1 hr behind schedule which isn't bad for an epic trip like this, we were clean, a little tired, but stress free and no aches and pains like the car journey down here before has given me.

We fly back on Wednesday evening using our Avios with BA at the cost of R350/£19.50 each.

We are staying approx a 5 min walk from the train station ands a further 15 min walk to The V&A Waterfront. A walk to a near by restaurant for dinner, a shower and a comfy bed to sink into and the train journey wasn't that bad, in fact I'd rather catch the train here again than travel by car as we will be using the hop on, hop off City Sightseeing Red Bus for the next 3 days to get around the city.

Teenagers and Alcohol......The Talk with SA Breweries

I don't get to spend a lot of time with my 15yo son since he moved back to the UK in August last year for boarding school. The youngest of 4 boys, he's heard and seen and contributed to every strop, tantrum, pushing the boundaries and general stuff associated with teenagers.

I'm not naive, but to date I've only seen the eldest child drunk while underage and I know the 3 older boys drink with their mates and have been binge drinking, I can't control their behaviour now they are adults, but I hope that I've raised them sensibly to know their limits and to ask for help as and when the time arrives.

I will confess that I do drink more since we moved to South Africa and that is due to the price, which is much cheaper than the UK and that has influenced my drinking habits.

The 15yo is on school holidays, visiting us for 5 weeks. We are off to Cape Town tomorrow on the train and fly back on Wednesday. We will be eating out everyday and unless we have fast food, every restaurant serves alcohol and I will have a glass of wine with a meal, as I'm on holiday also, but I am in charge of a 15yo and hubby won't be there to rely on, so a glass of wine will be my limit.

I pledged to support South Africa Breweries aged 18+ campaign, you can read the 1st blog post here.

My 15yo is without any parental control or input while he stays in the UK, there has been an incident of drugs at his school and the pupils were excluded, he has unsupervised access to town on weekends and it's made me realise he can access alcohol if he wants to.

So while I have a captive audience, 27 hours on a train, I will talk to/with him about alcohol and the dangers of drinking underage.

If you want to have the talk with your teenager and don't go saying 'my child NEVER touches alcohol, none of his friends drink' because that just isn't true.

Check out SA Breweries 'How to start the conversation' with your teen and pre teen or tween. Let me know how you get on, did they admit to drinking? did they try to avoid the conversation? or was it a successful talk?

No one under 18 should be drinking alcohol and it is up to us to stop our denial about the situation and do something about it.

• 1 in 2 teenagers in the average South African home is a user of alcohol.
• Yet the vast majority of parents think their teenagers don’t drink
• Around 15% of boys and 8% of girls said that they’d had their first drink before age 13
• People who begin drinking before the age of 15 are four times more likely to become alcohol dependent than those who have their first drink at age 20 or older
• Teens that use alcohol are three times more likely to be involved in violent crime
• 67% of teens who drink before the age of 15 will go on to use illegal drugs

Say NO to underage drinking

After a recent trip to a rural community near Kruger National Park, where there was no access to clean water, yet one passes many shabeens selling Castle Beer on the 2 km walk to fetch clean drinking water.

I approached South Africa Breweries and asked them what their social responsibility was in regards to supporting the community. They replied and invited me to take part in their 18+ drink aware campaign which is launched on August 1^st. Make a pledge and add a twibbon to your profile on face book and twitter to show your support. I also invite you to blog about your personal experiences with alcohol, effects on the family and how you’ve approached the discussions with your children and tweet and/or face book to show your support.

Over the next few blog posts I will be blogging about personal experiences of alcohol. I am a Mother to 4 boys aged 15-25, I also worked for 14 years as a Youth Worker in the UK dealing with teenagers and alcohol and I’m currently living in South Africa working in several townships where I see and hear about the effects of alcohol and the damage it causes the local communities. I was also a teenager, I drank underage and I enjoy alcohol now as an adult.

This series of posts isn’t an attempt to stop people from drinking it’s to encourage them to drink safely and to educate their children about the dangers of drinking under age.

I shall leave you with my experiences of my teenagers and alcohol and let me know if you think I handled this correctly or whether you would’ve done anything differently?

My kids and alcohol 

SA Breweies say:

No one under 18 should be drinking alcohol and it is up to us to stop our denial about the situation and do something about it.

· 1 in 2 teenagers in the average South African home is a user of alcohol.

· Yet the vast majority of parents think their teenagers don’t drink

· Around 15% of boys and 8% of girls said that they’d had their first drink before age 13

· People who begin drinking before the age of 15 are four times more likely to become alcohol dependent than those who have their first drink at age 20 or older

· Teens that use alcohol are three times more likely to be involved in violent crime

· 67% of teens who drink before the age of 15 will go on to use illegal drugs

Expat travel with a teenager

My last major trip was to the UK in April where my 15 yo son and I travelled by train, coach, bus, car and foot between Leeds and Bath while he was on his easter holidays. We stayed with family, friends and in hotels. Since then I’ve had a trip to Kruger which was a working holiday and this week the teenager and I are heading off to Cape Town Friday till Wednesday.

We are travelling by train and leave Johannesburg central station at 12.30pm arriving in Cape Town at 3.30pm the following day. We have booked accommodation a 5 minute walk from the waterfront and are flying back home Wednesday night with avios collected with British Airways.

The whole trip has cost less than R5000/£278. While we are in Cape Town we will be travelling on the Big Red Bus, taking a trip up Table Mountain, visiting the aquarium, whale watching and a helicopter ride over the bay. We’ve yet to book these excursions and have approached companies to see if they’d be interested in a sponsored blog post or two with numerous tweets, face book updates and instagrams thrown in at random.

Hubby will be dropping us at the station Friday an hour before the train leaves, due to the barriers closing prior to departure, we have a bag of snacks and food packed for the journey as this is South Africa and one ever knows what will happen, don’t want to be stuck with no food or drink for over 24 hours. I wonder if they'll let us braai on the train. We are also taking bedding with us, although it is provided at R55 pppn, there have been disputes recently, if bedding is available hubby will take it home, which will make our flight back a lot easier without sleeping bags and pillows.

Both the teenager and I are very excited about our upcoming trip, especially as public transport isn't available in Gauteng apart from the Gautrain which is quite expensive. Watch out for photos, tweets and blog posts. I'm not sure we'll have a lot of internet access, especially on the train, but we do have free wi fi in our apartment.

Top Tips for a game night drive on Safari

Don’t expect to be able to take photos unless you have a camera that is capable of taking pictures at night.

Don’t expect to see any particular animal, its not guaranteed. I saw 2 rabbits and an owl in the first hour.

Book in advance as these trips are very popular and fill up fast.

Take a blanket.

Although I don’t wear contact lenses I’d suggest you swop them for glasses, its very dusty and it gets everywhere.

Wear a scarf that you can use to cover your mouth and nose.

Don't shine the torch in animals eyes, it will aggravate them.

These are some of the better pictures I took.

OWL

 RHINO

 HERON

ELEPHANTS

My 'ME' time #MySundayPhoto

I wake up every morning and go downstairs and everything is just where I left it, cushions straight on the sofa, washing up done, laundry up to date, fridge and cupboards full and I hate it.

Why? because I spent 21 years as a full time mummy, firstly to my 3 boys for 7 years then I inherited 2 step children. All I wanted was 'ME' time, 5 minutes peace and quiet every now and then, in August last year I went from being a SAHM to a SAH and for the past 11 months I've had nothing but 'ME' time and I haven't enjoyed it.

My 15 year old arrives next Sunday for 5 weeks, followed by a visit from the 22 year old and his girlfriends for 2 weeks. My next available 'ME' time will be September 17th so for the time being I'm enjoying the calm before the storm and making the most of it.