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Six reasons to visit South Africa (excluding Cape Town)

April 6, 2017 by Meg 34 Comments

Travel to South Africa, here are 6 reasons why you need to get there!Sea, Mountains, Outdoors, Food, Wine - South Africa has it all!6 reasons to visit South Africa - and |Cape Town is not one of them!

Six reasons to visit South Africa

Since living in Ireland, the small talk when meeting new people often leads to a conversation about whether they have visited my home country, South Africa. 7 of 10 people will say they have been to Cape Town, for the other 3, they have been fortunate to explore Kruger National Park.

It always kinda annoys me that everyone heads to Cape Town without really looking at everything South Africa can offer a tourist. Truthfully, there is so much more! South Africa really has it all: mountains, beaches, good food, the best weather and the people are by far the friendliest! We proud Saffa’s love being super modest about how awesome South Africa is, but truthfully, our country is our best kept secret! Maybe we don’t talk about it enough because we like to keep it all to ourselves?

So I thought I would let you in a few of my FAVE places in South Africa, and why you need to make a detour (or Sho’t Left as we Saffa’s would say) and try visit these places. Yes of course by all means go and see Table Mountain, but open your mind and expand your horizons that South Africa has a lot more to offer you.

Mountain Views:

Thendele Drakensberg

Keen for a bit of outdoor adventure, some hiking and hitting the trails? Then you need to visit the Drakensberg. The pic above is from a place called Thendele which has great views of the Amphitheatre . My most favourite place in the Drakensberg is Injusiti. It will always hold a special place in my heart because that is where Rob proposed to me. If you are looking for a limited cell phone reception, great hiking trails, splendid views and stories around the campfire. You need to visit the ‘berg, as we locals like to call it.

injisuthi drakensberg

Outdoor adventure:

Blyde River Canyon

Another one of our fave holidays was actually last year, when we went to Blyder River Canyon, Bourke’s Potholes, God’s Window, The Pinnacle, The Three Rondavels, and Pilgrim’s Rest. All these stop-off sights have the varying terrain, with endless views. It has the perfect spots for panoramic 360 shots to make your friends back home jealous.

Bourke's Potholes

Looking for cheap thrills:

karkloof canopy tours

Bit of a daredevil? Like to live life to the full? You could head to Bloukrans Bridge to bungy jump (you will not find me there). You could also head to the midlands in KZN and do the Karkloof Canopy Tours, which admittedly, was super fun even though I had my eyes closed for most of it. Rob’s sister and hubby have jumped off the Soweto cooling towers (see pic below), I have bravely run past them (what? 21km is a tough run!).

Soweto Towers

You will find adventure of all types all over South Africa, just please don’t be that person who goes shark cage diving. Similar to riding elephants, or feeding lions, it makes my skin crawl that we humans like to taunt animals for pleasure – don’t. just don’t.

Let’s go on “Safari”:

pilanesberg

So you are keen to tick the big five off your bucket list? What better place than travelling to Africa to go on Safari. Firstly, when visiting South Africa, you can’t call it “Africa”. Africa is the whole continent, and South Africa is one of 54 countries in Africa (and it is miles away from Cameroon – totally FYI). Secondly: we don’t call it a safari, we call it a game drive. And although I will admit that I have not had the fortune to explore the Kruger – there are a ton of other game reserves that you can explore. Some of my personal faves are actually in the Eastern Cape; at the start of my honours year my class went to Lalibela for our orientation. Also while studying, I met a few friends who worked at Shamwari Game Reserve too. Another under estimated game reserve is actually the Pilanesberg, which is just a short drive out of Joburg (near to Sun City).

pilanesberg rhino

Hit the beach, bro:

coffee bay

Instead of heading to the over priced and over crowded beaches around Camps Bay (plus the water there is freezing!) My personal fave beach growing up was Cintsa: rolling dunes, vast open beaches, and back in the day – the best place to collect sea shells. More recently, we went on honeymoon to Coffee Bay, and Hole in the Wall. Not only is it affordable to visit, it has some great beaches. It truly is a slice of South Africa that is still, for the most part, untouched.

hole in the wall, south africa

Wine and dine:

knysna

You came for the wine and cheese. I hear you! If I am completely honest, you may have got me on this one – Western Cape has all the wine farms you could ever want. It really is a treat to wine farm hop along the garden route. However, two of my fave foodie towns are actually Knysna and wait for it… Johannesburg.

Joburg has a massive foodie scene. Great restaurants like: Marble, DW11-13, Licorish, Wombles, to name a few. Heck, you should even go to Thundergun, which has the best ribs in South Africa! I could go on but it is making me hungry and I am already craving a good piece of steak. I haven’t even talked up the food markets in Maboneng and Braamies. If you are looking for good food, trust me, Jozi is the place to visit. And if you do, let me know, I can send you a list of all our faves.

Marble Johannesburg

While I could go on and on about how wonderful South Africa is, I hope this post has showed you that there is more to South Africa than just visiting Cape Town and Kruger. South Africa is filled with everything you could ever want, it has deep history and great lessons on the power and resilience of it’s people. This post has actually awoken a bit of sadness as I am yet to find a place that is as good as home sounds right now.

So, when are you planning on visiting South Africa? and for the locals – where is your fave place to take tourists?

Unlock the simple life,

~Meg~

p.s. If social media is your thing (snap! It’s my fave too!), you should totally follow me on Instagram.

p.p.s. I try post varied content once or twice a month, to be sure you don’t miss out on the new post you should sign up and get all the news straight in your inbox – Sign up now!

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Filed Under: Travels Tagged With: journey, south africa, travel, travel tips, travelling, travels, vacation ideas, wanderlust

How we moved to Ireland

March 28, 2017 by Meg 28 Comments

how we moved to Ireland, and how you can too!

***Update: We have lived in Dublin for nearly a year now, and this is by far my most popular post – I thought it might be handy to link up some of my more recent posts that flesh out some of the key things you need to consider when moving to a new country, particularly Ireland. In each of the below sections, I have shared the link to the relevant post to help you find exactly what you might be looking for. As with anything on this blog, it is written purely from our point of view and from our own experiences. If you are looking to chat more about how you can move to Ireland, feel free to contact me, and if its technical info you need about your own situation, Citizen Information can also be a great resource.

I thought I would share how we moved countries, and what we thought about BEFORE we made the decision to move overseas. I tried my best to layout all the things you should consider if you are also looking to make the move. Firstly, I have to just say, this is what we did. There is not right or wrong way. Perhaps some of this won’t apply to you, but maybe it will give you some ideas and perhaps it will help you in some small way.

Here is a step by step account on how we moved countries:

  • Check your reasons – stand by them – you will get asked a million times.

We get this question a lot – How did you move countries? What made you choose Ireland? Why are you leaving us? We even had some people really shock us by saying the reasons we are moving must be because we were white and there is nothing left in South Africa for “us” – that was truly the worst. It breaks my heart that I have friends who think like this.

To answer this question for the million-th time: we did not move away because we have lost hope in South Africa. Quite the opposite. We love South Africa, but we also love to travel. So moving to a new country, wherever in the world we ended up, meant we could explore more and travel more. Simply put, we moved for the adventure – it was not to run or escape anything.

***Update: Read this post about the things no-one talks about when you move to a new country for a reality check, because let’s be real expat life ain’t all glam and roses.

  • Pick a country.

Truthfully, Ireland was on a list of about six other places. We drew up a list that would suit the skills that Rob has (he works in Tax). So we focused on countries where a lot of tax structuring happens (Rob’s lingo, not mine). Since I work in digital marketing, my job could be any where really – at a push, I could freelance online. Some of the countries on a our list were: Ireland, Canada, UK, some parts of Europe namely; Amsterdam, Switzerland & Luxemburg.

  • Find a job.

At our ages, and in our careers, we were not keen on taking a huge risk of going over and finding a job. We also were very flexible on where in the world we would live – so it meant we could throw the net wider in the job search. We made the decision that Rob would get the job first, and then depending on the rest of the criteria (Jack, cost of living, and the job market for me) we would make a final call on if that worked for us.

We updated our Linkedin profiles, and searched for international job opportunities. Truthfully, we had limited interest. What made it all possible in the end was when Rob put his CV out on a job portal specific to his job function (www.etaxjobs.com). He actually applied for a job in Luxemburg, and the recruiter job contacted him. They chatted about what jobs Rob was looking for, and that is when he was told about the job here in Dublin.

That was a big nudge for us to start looking more intensely at Dublin. We were super critical, and I have to say, thorough in our planning. We wanted to make sure our life would be the same or better if we moved. A big question to ask yourself is; what do you want and what do you want to avoid? Understand that everything comes with a compromise, things will always be different somewhere new. But know the things that you won’t bend on. It makes it easier to scrap ideas that don’t fit with what you want.

*Update: Rob had a job and a work permit before coming over here, and that truly made things a bit easier to handle because what we didn’t know was that it would take me over 8 months to find a job and then go through 9 weeks of work permit application processing. Yes, I am eligible for a spousal dependent work permit, and I work in marketing, but I don’t think either of us realised how hard it would be and how long it would take for me to find a job.

  • Visas and work permits.

A big thing to working in a foreign country is understanding what the visa restrictions are. Rob has a SA passport, and I have a Canadian one. Ireland has no visa restrictions for both our passports, meaning you can come into the country for 90 days. This really made things a lot more cost effective for us. We have had friends who needed to pay up to R50k to apply for visas just to enter the country.

Work permits are a whole separate hurdle you have to jump through. And trust me, they can be super complicated. Especially because we are non-EU nationals.  If you have an EU passport, I think coming into Ireland is relatively easy for you. But in our case, both Rob and I require work permits.

*Update: Read this post on getting a work permit and how to find a job in Ireland.

  • Your pets.

A no brainer for us was that Jack was moving with us. It didn’t matter what it would cost, we were not going to break up the family. It absolutely kills me when I hear people say they put their pets down to move, or they gave them over to SPCA. For us, Jack is a family member. He is like our baby.

Having said that, do your checks on how easy it will be to get your pet over with you  – check all the facts before you make the final call. For us, we wanted a country that had no quarantine period. Jack sleeps in our bed, under the duvet, with his head resting on my pillow with me. He would not have done well in quarantine. and neither would we.

FYI: All the countries we looked at have no quarantine requirements.

***Update: Read this post on how to move your pet to Ireland. Also, read how a pet improves your life as an expat, because they really do.

  • Draft a budget (and expect to spend more).

Rob is pretty thorough when it comes to budgets. We did a lot of research online about what cost of living was going to be like in Ireland. We also had a few contacts who were over there already who were incredibly honest about what it cost them, and costs we could expect. A friend of Rob’s really broke it down, line by line for us (he works in Tax too, which explains a lot).

Be blunt, and ask questions. Ask as many as you can think of and be prepared to listen to everything. Some of it will apply to you, some of it may not. Some of it you will think won’t apply to you, and later you will learn it actually does. Figure out the big costs, like how much it will cost you to move over, monthly expenses in the new country, average salary you could be making. We even went so far as to build in what it would cost Rob to get his hair cut, getting my nails done (#priorities), and even looked at how much races were going to cost us. Everything had a line item, and we also catered for various circumstances; Plan A: Rob and I both have jobs, Plan B: I don’t have a job, Plan C: we have tenants in our house back home – every plan was accounted for.

Even with all of the planning and prep work we did, there were still hidden and unexpected costs. Plus, you are in a new country, and you want to explore. And you want to make friends, and do things. We have been very lucky in that my job back in SA set up a fixed contract where I continued to work for them while I moved over, that ends this Friday. Thankfully we have been able to save a lot. So, while we wait for confirmation on my Irish job statuses (I have recently been on quite a few interviews), we are OK financially. That was key for us – we did not want to get into any more debt moving over to a new country.

***Update: Read this post on the cost of living between Dublin and Johannesburg. Also I wrote a post about how to live on one salary – because life sometimes doesn’t work out how you planned. And if you are moving over with your pets, how to find a pet friendly rental in Dublin might come in handy too.

There you have it  that is how we moved countries! Have you ever moved countries? What is your one piece of valuable advice to someone looking to make the move?

Unlock the simple life,

~Meg~

p.s. If social media is your thing (snap! It’s my fave too!), you should totally follow me on Instagram.

p.p.s. I try post varied content once or twice a month, to be sure you don’t miss out on the new post you should sign up and get all the news straight in your inbox – Sign up now!

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Filed Under: Irishlife Tagged With: discover dublin, discover ireland, ireland, irish travel, irishlife, life, travel, travel tips, travels

5 Tourist Things to do in Dublin

March 3, 2017 by Meg 5 Comments

5 things every tourist needs to do in Uublin. save this post for your next travel trip to Ireland.5 things every tourist needs to do in Uublin. save this post for your next travel trip to Ireland.

5 things every tourist should do in Dublin this weekend

Rob and I are not the conventional tourist types. In fact if it screams obvious, we generally avoid at all costs. But when your good friends decide to come through for a visit, you make a plan and you go full cheesy tourist with them. It was a great excuse to go and tick off the things you have to see when in Dublin, but it also made me realise that I can’t wait till they come and visit again – so that we can share the local flavour, the hidden insider tips and tricks, on places to go and see (that isn’t an overpriced, tourist fest!).

For the most part, I actually enjoyed our weekend trips, and in hindsight, although I sound super nonchalant about it – I would recommend going to these places if you are ever in Dublin. But I also do have some tips to share that will help you get the most for bang for your buck!

1. Guinness Storehouse:

This is an obvious Irish must see if you are ever in Dublin. The home of the black stuff, or if you go to the Storehouse you will learn, its actually ruby red.

Guinness storehouse story

Some tips to consider:

  • Entrance fee is €20.
  • Book your ticket online – saves you from having to wait in line to buy at the storehouse.
  • Weekday is different to weekends (for example; on the weekend we first went they had a promo where you could use your ticket to sample 3 beers; but during the week this was not available).
  • Know the facts about the voucher: you can use your voucher in a few places throughout the museum:
    1. As a tasting board of 3 beers (only available on weekends)
    2. Learn to pour your own pint
    3. At the 360 viewing bar on the top floor

*we used one voucher for the tasting board; and the other for a pint at the bar with a view; which meant we got the best of both worlds. The pouring your pint section is a fun idea, but we both knew how to do that already, and there is no view to drink your beloved pint afterwards.

Guinness storehouse tour

Having been to the Storehouse twice in two weeks, I would say its worth a trip – but once is enough. I am sure we will have to go again when more friends or family visit, which is cool – as long as it is not soon.

2. Temple Bar Food Market:

temple bar food market

This is such a gem of a find, it is a small version of Neighbourgoods Market back home but has a heap of potential. Plus, you can get a cheap (yet super tasty) breakfast at a fraction of the cost of some of the restaurants around. I know Temple Bar district is where you go for a pint or ten; and party the night away. For me, it screams overpriced and a total jock fest – which is so not our vibe at all. But the food market is not so commercialized and I really had a great brekkie roll and the best coffee, so I will definitely be keen to make this a regular place we visit.

Tip: Although most places accept cards, bring cash if you want a breakfast roll!

3. Dublinia & Christ Church Cathedral

Dublinia is such a cool interactive museum, which tells the story of Dublin through the ages. Really fascinating, its a great place for adults or kids, and I really enjoyed it. Make sure you walk up to the tower and take a look at the view too! I found this place when I was walking (trying to get my fitbit steps up) and I especially love the architecture.

dublinia

You can also pop into the garden and surrounds to view Christ Church Cathedral, which is just over the road from Dublinia.

Entrance fee: Dublinia costs €9.50 for adults; €6 for kids under 12years; and €8.50 for students and pensioners.

4. The Brazen Head

Brazen Head Dublin

I wasn’t going to mention this, because I think every person and their mother has been to Brazen Head (atleast the one in Johannesburg). But then I realised that I have insider info. You see, the Brazen Head in Dublin, claims to be the oldest pub in Ireland, so naturally the tourists flock to it. But I have been to Sean’s Bar in Athlone, which also claims to be the oldest pub in Ireland. So now, who is telling the truth? Both have a letter from Guinness world of records. the difference is done to the dates.

Sean pub Athlone

Brazen Head was established in 1198, whereas Sean’s Bar was built in 900A.D. Interestingly enough, Sean’s Bar has a piece of the original wall framed inside the pub, made with wattling sticks and mud. So you see, as a tourist coming to Ireland, you probably would be forgiven for thinking there was only one pub with this claim, but you are only truly a local if you can say you have been to both.

Either way, Brazen Head, is pretty rad. They have Irish music playing in the evenings, nice areas where you can drink and chat, and the food is not too bad.

Tip: Get there early if you want a table. But know that it is just a tourist trap for tourists, and most certainly, not the best pub we have been to since we have been here. There are plenty of pubs to go around in Dublin, so I suggest you try a few out!

5. Irish Whiskey Museum

irish whiskey museum

The Irish whiskey museum is the perfect place to start, if you are interest in learning about the history of Irish Whiskey making. The great thing about the Irish Whiskey Museum, is that you learn all about Irish Whiskey, but you also get to sample different Irish Whiskey brands, along with different types of Whiskey.

Tip: You could pay €26 for the blending experience (gets you 4 whiskeys and you can blend them into one 30ml bottle you can take home) but the best value for money is the premium tour for €19, (4 whiskeys, no little bottle).

Other Whiskey spots to try out:

  • The Jameson Distillery. Currently the one is Dublin is closed for renovations. But if you head to Cork, you could visit the Old Midleton Jameson Distillery.
  • Teeling Distillery. An independent Irish Whiskey Company in the heart of Dublin.

I have other little gems of things to do and see in Dublin, and as we go – I am sure this list will grow. So stay tuned for more travel must-sees and things to do in Dublin!

What would recommend is a must-see in Dublin for tourists?

~ Meg ~

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Filed Under: Travels Tagged With: discover dublin, discover ireland, dublin, irish travel, irishlife, travel tips, travels

10 Crazy Facts About Ireland

February 20, 2017 by Meg 3 Comments

Ten crazy facts about Ireland!

Ten crazy facts about Ireland!

facts ireland
Since moving to the Emerald Isle, I have learnt a lot about Ireland and some things I found rather crazy/weird. I thought it would be fun to share with you, all the things I now know about Ireland.

Here are a few crazy facts about Ireland:

    • Ireland is it’s own COUNTRY! Seriously, everyone seems to think we are part of the UK. Northern Ireland is part of the UK, but the Republic of Ireland, which is where we live, is separate to the UK.
    • Ireland is the only EU country where abortion is still illegal. It blows my mind. {EDIT: in May 2018 Ireland voted to repeal the 8th Amendment, paving the way to legalise abortion in some circumstances. This is a huge move in the right direction for the country, and I felt it only fair to update this post with this news}.
    • There are 26 counties in the Republic of Ireland; and 6 counties in Northern Ireland.
    • The capital of Ireland is Dublin (but don’t tell anyone from Cork that!)
    • There are a little under 4.8million people in Ireland (compared to 55 million in South Africa)
    • Phoenix Park is bigger than all the parks in London put together and twice the size of Central Park in New York.
    • Halloween is IRISH! It dates back to a Celtic harvest festival.
    • Ireland is crazy small. The furthest distance would take 8 hours to drive from the top of Ireland (Malin Head, county Donegal) to the bottom (Mizen Head, county Cork)
    • South Africa is 17 times bigger than Ireland! Literally, Ireland is smaller than one of our provinces, KwaZulu Natal – can you even imagine?!
    • There are no snakes in Ireland!

What random crazy fact do you know about the country you live in?

~ Meg ~

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Filed Under: Irishlife Tagged With: dublin, ireland, travel tips, travelling, travels, vacation ideas, wanderlust

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Hey! My name is Meg. I blog about the life I share with my hubby, Rob; our furbaby, Jack and the newest family member, our daughter Riley. In 2016, we moved to a new country, cut down on clutter, and started focusing on unlocking a simple life, filled with travel and adventure. Read my story here

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