On year later (23 Sep 2007)

Yes I can't believe it myself. We have been married for 1 year now. Remember the 23 September 2006, yes that was the date.

So Anton had to do something for our 1st anniversary. So he found this very exclusive lodge in the Madikwe Game Reserve called Rhulani Lodge (http://www.rhulanilodge.co.za/) As you all know Anton is a budding Steve Irwin or wants to be like Steve was.

So it was off to the bush but again Sanchia did not know a thing until they stopped at the Madikwe Gate - sneaky..... It was very dry and the Elephants kept on emptying the whirlpools so they (rangers) not to fill them up again. So there was no swimming or "diving". The crowd that was with us were from all walks of life and generally just a nice bunch. The Rangers were excellent and we would go on +- 3 hours game drives at a time twice a day. We also followed 2 lion brothers, that killed a Eland, for 2 days. That was awesome !

It was a wonderful, romantic weekend and Sanchia enjoyed it!

Marx & Wiese Travel party

Well August 2007 was time for us (Sanchia, Anton, Daleen & Wikus) to travel Europe again. We also wanted to see Steven Canham (Sanchia's brother) in Sweden, visit Venice, see the French with their metal tower called Eiffel but also spend some time in London. If you want to see what we were up to, then visit http://getjealous.com/amarx Enjoy !



Anton & Sanchia

The McCallums in SA (Jozi)

Our friends from Ireland Hugh, Aideen & the kids, spend the day with us whilst visting SA. We thought it best to give them at least a wildlife experience, after all this is Africa. They were fantastic hosts while we visted Ireland. We took them The Elephant Sanctuary at Hartbeespoort dam (http://www.elephantsanctuary.co.za/) for the morning. What an experience, from seeing these huge animals to actually touching and feeling them. Woo hooo! (Steve Irwin style).

Hunting with the boys

Well it was that time of the year again and this year is no different. Yea you guest it right, we needed something for the pot (they never do it just for fun they say, I am not so sure that they did not want to escape the wives for once?) They left here on the 25 May 2007 and returned on Sunday 27 May 2007 very sunburned and tired. Must have been running after the buck . . . . ?

Ian, Anton, Tom & Shaun went to a farm in the Virginia area. They've been going there for the last 10 years; well it feels that long because it is like an annual pilgrimage every year. There were preparations, arrangements, checklists, repairing, packing, equipment, lots food and drinks. “Die hele gedoente” This is also executed with military precision.

As you can see no buck in sight but a lot of eating, braaiing, chatting & just whatever were there to talk or argue about.

They came home with meat so they probably got something.

My Dad's 70th

On Friday 30 March 2007 by Dad celebrated his 70th birthday with the entire family at Gariep Dam. Everybody was there, also because they heard we had a sheep on the spit. Sanchia and I left on the Friday morning after a visit to the Licence department. Why there you may ask, well all the cars licenses expired on the 31 January 2007. He now only placed a reminder on the calendar so that he does not forget next year. We almost slept in the “Tjoekie” (Afrikaans slang for jail). We also had to stop in Westonaria for Wikus (my brother in law) as he still wanted to look at a car (A class Mercedes) that they saw in the Auto Trader. Well he bought it and of course "Mammie/Gogga" or as everybody knows her as Daleen, is very happy about that.

Daleen (my sister) & Wikus organised everything and it was very well executed. She had some helpers though. Fun was had by all and he (my dad) got so many gifts! Dad should we get the AA ?

Barend (brother in law) was the main chef for the day and I must say: “It was the best lamb on the spit ever!” He did it so well that it actually fell apart when we took it off the spit and we did not have to cut it a lot. Anton only ate meat and nothing else. You really can't take him anywhere!

Dad we know that God will continue to bless you and spare you for many more years to come!

Mr. IT Professional

Anton decided that he is taking a bold step last month and he is getting a new operating system for our home PC, namely the newly launched Widows Vista. He has always been irritated with the guys at work when they take their time with the installation of a new programme. They also know that he will be very cranky when things do not go his way (programmes do not work properly).

So he thought that he knows enough about systems, hardware and what he wants to do this installation unassisted. Well he also just wanted to be less reliant on the computer shops that is just out to make a buck and that’s it. He bought the software from a computer shop because his stores did not have the product in as yet. That was not “first with the goodies” I tell you. He knew that before you start you copy all the files onto a hard drive or DVD; he decided to copy everything onto the new acquired 320GB hard drive. Boys and their toys….

Satisfied that he copied “everything” over he started the upgrade from Home XP to Vista Home Premium. He battled with it for 2 days. Nothing wanted to work and he ignored the compatibility warning, who asks for direction? I tell you nothing wanted to work! He got blue screens all the time (this means big “kaka poefie” in computer language). That morning at 2am he gave up (ego bruised), said that the computer shop should get it working again. Lucky for him we still had his laptop to surf with.

He took it into the CPU and software into the shop for them to fix. They battled for 2 days to get anything to work. They brought it back after the 2 days saying that they do not know how to fix it. Anton felt a bit better knowing that they could not fix it either. He took it home and it stood there for a day or so untouched. For those who know Anton he does not go down without at least a decent fight. He thought about it for a day or so and decided to tackle it again. Reinstall, blue screen, reinstall blue screen and so it went on until the early hours of the morning. Needles to say at about 3am we all heard a “yes” from the study. It works, it is alive finally! He decided in desperation to not upgrade but to do a fresh installation. Well we have our PC back and we can all surf again. Windows Vista is actually excellent !

Microsoft Outlook is also working but Mr. forgot to copy the database for the emails, so we’ve lost all the email addresses. He should have learnt from the IT guys at work. So if you know us, drop us a mail.

Well he know goes around asking who has Windows Vista, also in the same breath mentions that if they need help he’s done the all “sukkeling”. Victory is sweet I guess.

Weekend away

Well after a busy Christmas & BTS (back to school) for retailers, we really needed a much needed rest. So Anton thought that we should try Mango, no not one of the fruit from the Maldives, but rather the newly launched low cost airline that was launched by SAA. This was in order to directly compete with other low cost no frills airlines, like Kulula, 1Time, etc. Well the differences that I could spot were;
- The Uniforms (green & orange), yes I know what you are thinking but it looked ok.
- The Boeing 737-800 seats are now in black leather and the carpets are littered with the Mango logos.
- The aircraft were fitted with the same TV screens and you only see them on when the safety video is shown and never again
- Also you pay for you food and they are no threat to Pick & Pay I tell you.
Other than that the flight was pleasant and fun was had by all in sunny and sweltering hot Durban.

Christmas 2006

Hi there everyone. We hope that you had a blessed Christmas and that the birth of Christ has not only inspired you but will be a blessing you for the rest of your life as well as this year. Thank you so much for the best wishes on the day. We had a very “rustige” (rustig = Afrikaans word for relaxed) day with a big Christmas lunch, I just love lamb on the spit. Just some kodak moments !

May God continue to bless you and your family this year & for many years to come?

Honeymoon: Destination unknown

We got married and it was time for the honeymoon. It was kept a secret, Anton told no one. We were on a flight to Colombo from Dubai when she asked me what we were going to do there, I said jokingly “Seeing that we are going there we might as well smuggle some drugs” She was not amused. She really did not know where we were until we landed in Male, capital of the Maldives, and the captain said over the PA system "Well ladies & gentleman we welcome you to the Maldives and hope that you will enjoy your stay here" Sanchia turned to me and said " Maldives !!!!?"

This is an aerial view of Paradise Island Resort where we stayed. Truly paradise!! All the other eintire honeymoon photo's are on the website "Die Pioneers" under "The Marx Links" column.