Sailing Gromit

26 March 2016
26 March 2016
26 March 2016
26 March 2016
26 March 2016
26 March 2016
26 March 2016
26 March 2016
26 March 2016
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Winter Wonderland in Canada

26 March 2016
Yes, it's winter in Canada and we are in the thick of it.

There has been a hint of spring, but mother nature can be fickle at this time of year. Two weeks ago we had temperatures in the mid teens (mid 70s for you Fahrenheit folks), then a huge snow storm that gave the kids two days off of school and now heavy freezing rain that coated everything to the point of tree branches bending to the ground and snapping like toothpicks.

Where are the palm trees and beaches?

This is the house we are currently living in. We'll be here until our house is rebuilt....we don't know when. We'd hoped to start rebuilding in spring....which is now....but progress is slow, because the process is slow.
We can't complain because this house is spacious and comfortable, though quite dark. We've talked about lightening it up with some brighter paint. Just haven't gotten there yet. Still too much to do regarding the fire.

Winter in Canada

26 March 2016
Maia, Liam, Zoe, Jaya

Loving the snow.
Building snow buddies.
Make snow angels.

But.....also looking forward to spring!!!

Snow Buddies

26 March 2016
.

Winter Wonderland

26 March 2016
Patterns in nature.

Winter Wonderland

26 March 2016
Freezing rain.

Winter Wonderland

26 March 2016
Geometry
Vessel Name: Gromit
Vessel Make/Model: Olympic Adventure
Hailing Port: Toronto
Crew: Michael, Cornelia, Zoe, Maia, Liam. Photo: At Tilloo Bank, Elbow Cay, Bahamas (photo by Frank Taylor)
About: Michael: The technical/mechanical/all about the boat and systems guy. Cornelia: The lists/house and land details gal. Zoe, Maia and Liam: Gromit's Skippers in Training!
Extra: Departure date: Summer 2008 email us at: sailinggromit@gmail.com
Gromit's Photos - Africa's Animals
Photos 1 to 120 of 120 | Main
1
We had gotten up at 4:30 am and scrambled ourselves into our cars, drove an hour to check in at iMfolozi Game Reserve.
We were so excited in anticipation of what animals we would see.
We looked at the park map, picked a route and the Rhythm car and the Gromit car started off on the adventure we
Not 2 minutes into the park, lumbering along the side of the road, we saw the most amazing sight. We felt so tiny along side them. So beautiful.
Giraffes were definitely very high on the list of want-to-see.
By about 4 in the afternoon, we hadn
Wild dogs are a rare sight we were told by everyone whom we told we had seen them.
How fortunate we were!
Their spotted, mottled fir is amazing.
Just grazing along side the road, mama and baby.
We pulled over, with about 5 other cars and just watched them in amazement.
They slowly made there way up the incline and were grazing literally 10 feet away from the car. We were so incredibly excited. We were in the absolute front row seats!
Later, we came upon this family.
Baby decided to take a rest and........
.......mama lay down beside him/her.
Dad went off to wallow in the mud.
We couldn
Liam
Selfie number 2.
Rhino poaching is a huge problem here. They are killed for their horns which poachers claim can cure all sorts of things.
Here is some tongue in cheek propaganda to the contrary.
13 lions resting by the river. Could we have asked for more?
Such a huge paw.
The cubs are so sweet. Ya just wanna hug
We stopped for a break at a designated picnic area.
To be honest, we were a little ill at ease have our snacks!
This next section is all about birds and I unfortunately don
The patterning on these pea hens was exquisite.
Guess what these are.
We drove by this pond looking for hippos, and almost left disappointed. Michael and I said almost at the same time, what
Hippos hang out in the water during the day leave the water to graze at night. They consume about 40 kg of grasses each night.
Hippos are considered to be Africa
See the baby resting on its mom
Lunch break.
Again there was a sign warning us of the dangers in this unfenced area.
Was Maia being look-out, or playing it safe?!!!
Buffalo
Impala
Female impala
Male impala
Waterbuck.
Recognizable by the broad, white ring encircling their rumps.
Greater Kudu
Recognizable by the 6 to 10 vertical white stripes.
So gentle looking.
Such big ears.
I don
Zebras, zebras, zebras, zebras........
We were so excited to see these fascinatingly marked animals.
I know that I have posted a lot of pictures of these guys, but I just couldn
The rhythm of their stripes is mesmerizing.
And then we saw a baby.
Maia, our animal crazy gal, said she wanted a baby zebra for Christmas. I guess we
Warthog
They just didn
Don
I find the shape of their face so intriguing.
"No, Steve, no! Push the other way!"
 
1

Sailinggromit

Who: Michael, Cornelia, Zoe, Maia, Liam. Photo: At Tilloo Bank, Elbow Cay, Bahamas (photo by Frank Taylor)
Port: Toronto