Getting out of the city for a day - Manchanabele Dam

Kim And Ingo found this oasis only 40km outside of Bangalore and kindly shared their secret with us. Every so often it is necessary to get out of the hustle and the bustle of the city and this is the place to go. What better way to spend a Saturday than fishing, abseiling, hiking, swimming and just lazing around on the lush green grass admiring the picturesque area around the Manchanabele Dam.

That is once you get there though as it takes almost 2hours to travel 40km....Grrrrrr!! It is well worth it and we look forward to our next outing.

The Manchanabele dam is build across the river Arkavathi and the land which it irrigates under a project called "Thore saalu". There are villages on both sides of the river arkavathi. In kannada "thore" means river and "saalu" means line.
Spot the Kenyan!

Like "Dassies" (African Rock Hyrax) on the rocks


Kim, Ingo and I decided to check out the view from the top of a very large boulder.

We made it up.

What goes up must get down. Mmmmmm....

The girls taking a little rest in the sun.

a local herdsman, eyes us with curiosity.

Tanya shading under her umbrella, also ready to shoo away the approaching cow not wanting a repeat of her last cow attack.

Relaxing amongst the very inquisitive bovine.

The Backgammon master at work. Go Kim!!

Hard to believe that this beautiful sanctuary is only 40km outside of the city.

Upside down boats that the locals use for fishing as well as to cross the dam.

Ingo and Marc abseiling.

Marc getting ready to rappel down.

"Now, this is how I like to spend a Saturday afternoon".

Kim's Hen Party - Friday, 21 September

What do you get when you...

take 10 ladies from 7 different countries
a couple of bottles of champagne,
water paint and ceramic bisque plates,
cocktails,
delicious eats,
some quiz fun
and a truth or dare, or two???

A HEN PARTY for Kim, our "bride to be"!

Kim with my work of art. Ok, so I'm not going to make money on my range of ceramics any time soon, but it was fun :-)

Kim (German/South African) and her husband to be Ingo will be tying the knot in South Africa on the 25th of October.

We will unfortunately not make the wedding but I was very happy to be involved with organising a Hen Party for the bride to be. I'm actually getting pretty good at this, as this was the 3rd Hen Party in a year.

We started of at the colour factory "Doodle Den" where we each got to paint a plate. With the bubbly flowing (thanks, ladies) so did our creative juices. The idea was to give Kim a unique set of side plates, hand painted by her "Bangalorian" friends.


We moved on to Olive Beach where we enjoyed some good old fashion "shower" fun while sipping cocktails and enjoying famous Olive Beach pizzas's and other yummy eats.


Katja, Kim, Sarah, Vaness, Jessica, Nathalie, me, Corrie, Martine and Klaartje


Kim had a few dares during the evening including singing, dancing as well as serving pizza to the unsuspecting customers in the restaurant who all seemed new to the Hen Party concept.

A Month to go to the BIG DAY. We wish them both all the love and happiness they deserve for their future lives together as Mr. and Mrs. Lishke.

Saree Trunk Show

Another fun Saturday afternoon in Bangalore. We attended an afternoon of hors d'oeuvres and Australian Coonawarra premium wines sponsored by The Watson Group. The event was held at Sunri, a sophisticated lifestyle boutique.

Textile and Fashion Designer Julie Kagti show cased her saree collection and I was one of the 6 models that got to wear her beautiful handcrafted sarees with amazing hand embroidery for the day.

Each of the 6 sarees were draped differently, representing the different regions in India e.g. Andhra Pradesh - Nivi, Tamil Nadu - Dravidian etc. My saree was draped in Gujarati style which is how women in North India wear saris typically.

Some of the ladies standing around in my favourite home furniture and accessory store, sipping a lovely Australian white.

The models - Monique, Lanke, Edith, Mei, me and Kayoko

Marc playing with his new toy, took this very arty shot of the sarees hanging on the rails.

Me in my glamorous saree, still sipping the white..

SA Visit

I arrived in Jozi on the 15th and had a busy two weeks leading up to my sister, Christine's wedding on the 25th of August. I can't believe it's been almost a year since our last trip home. Time really does fly when you're having fun.

We had a great time and enjoyed spending time with family and friends that we were lucky enough to see during our short visit.

The Tolken ladies and Amori, catching up the night of my arrival in JHB.
The Bridesmaids finishing the scrapbook until late Thursday night

Drinks with friends at the Barron in Sandton on the Friday night - Julia, Lesleigh and me.

Amori, Jacqueline and me.

Saturday afternoon we enjoyed Christine's Bridal Shower Picnic in the garden.

Mother and daughter team at work.

Bride to be and her 3 maids...

The Bridal Shower Picnic that our party planner Amori and her two helpers (Jacqueline and I) carefully planned and executed successfully.

Later the same day - The Hen Night celebrations.

The bride to be, Christine in her Hen Night outfit.

I spent 3 days in bed following the Bridal Shower/Hen night. On Wednesday we did last minute wedding stuff... bridesmaid dress fittings, table plans, shoe shopping, gift shopping etc.

On the Friday before the wedding Christine was spoilt with a bubble bath with rose petals, champagne, chocolates, strawberries and cream. Our personal beauty therapist Jacqueline did our nails and we did what girls do before the big day...giggle and chit chat.

Saturday the 25th - Christine and Pieter's big day finally arrived.
Mom and daughter both looking beautiful on the special day.

Amori, Jacqueline, me and the beautiful bride, Christine

Mr. and Mrs. De la Porte walking out of the chapel after their "I do's"


Looking ever so glam - Marc in his suit and tie

The cousins

The Sunday night Marc and I flew to Scottburgh. I unfortunately was still sick and couldn't dive but Marc did a two tank dive and experienced Aliwal for what it's famous for....Big waves, big rays, turtles and sharks. We were amazed by how the see and the beaches in Umkomaas and Scottburgh has changed after the storm they had in March this year. The roads in Umkomaas were badly damaged...destroyed and the see just looks full...

Amazing sand statues on the Scottburgh beach.

This used to be a road.

We arrived back in Jozi, late Wednesday night.

We had a lovely dinner with Chris and Lesleigh on Thursday - O, how I miss my friend!!!!


On the Friday night we enjoyed dinner, celebrating Amori's birtday and farewell before she too bids her friends and family goodbye sometime in September and heads off to start her new life in Dubai....Good Luck, Amori.

Julia, Lesleigh, Melanie, Amori and I

Marc, Warren and Dean

The newly weds back from honeymoon....All smiles!

On Saturday we had another one of the famous Papadopoulos parties, celebrating spring day. As per usual Terry and Sylvia went all out and we had a blast.

Linda, Sylvia, Lesleigh, me, Jacqui and Rhiana

Linda, Marc, Dean and Sharron

Linda and Claus doing a bit of indoor wind surfing...Hehehehe

Guess what they are talking about.........FISH ON!!

On Sunday night I packed my bags with some odds and ends that I wanted to bring back to India. To Marc's surprise I managed to fit photo frames, wall paintings, candles, coffee plungers and more.

We spent the day in Singapore on Tuesday - a couple of ours sleep in the transit hotel. We took a shuttle into the city to shop for a camera. What a great place!!

We arrived in Bangalore at about 12pm on Tuesday. Happy to be home! Marc is getting back into work mode and I'm getting back into OWC mode. I am also looking forward to staring German lessons on the 18th of September.

Note: More photos on facebook...looking forward to chatting to you on there. So for now, missing all of you back home. Hope to see you soon!