A Day at the Monte Bird Gardens

1 May 2013 marked Dakota and myself's 22 months and 1 day anniversary.
I have not been for many years and Dakota has never been, so we decided to try something a little different.
It really was a fun day, very chilled and relaxed environment, and most important lots of laughs (the funniest was Dakota being swarmed by 3 lorikeets).

Not only were there birds to look at and feed, but there was also fish, frogs, snakes, lizards, mongoose, meerkats, tortoises and lemurs to look at and learn about.

The bird flight show was amazing, I will never forget the little black crow who looked after his environment by picking up cans and throwing them in the bin.

For lunch we decided to try somewhere different as well, so we went to Col'cacchio's. Besides the interesting pizza's (a meatball pizza, and a pizza with butternut, chili and pumpkin seeds - It was way too hot for me!!!) we also had mocktails (cocktails with no alcohol) and I quite enjoyed the fresh minty taste of our chosen drinks.

Days like today remind me how amazing nature is, and something so simple as birds can bring so much joy and entertainment.
I think we will definitely go back sometime soon, perhaps with my parents, who border on bird fanatics.

All I can say is thank you Dakota for an amazing day :)

Comments

Grain free Date Bread

A few weeks ago one of my dad's clients baked what we think was a date bread. Although I am mostly low carb and didnt know the ingredients of this bread, there was so much of it and I didnt want it to go to waste. Toasted, it was amazing, almost like a caramel taste. In all honesty, I found my running for the few days I ate the bread actually improved - I felt more energetic and had more endurance. I searched for a low carb or gluten free version that I can make myself. Carb wise you looking at about 15g on average per date, making it basically your enemy if you are low carb. Rather opt for cranberries - 13g per cup. As an athlete though, dates are so good for you - in moderation of course as 90% of the carbs in a date is sugar. Medjool Dates are high in Potassium (higher than oranges, bananas and spinach), which is great for heart health and to build muscle and proteins in the body. They are also high in fibre, meaning you stay fuller for longer. You also get an energy ...

Orienteering Relays

Sunday, 10 March 2019 De Vos Farm, Midrand Relays are something that I have mixed feelings about. It's hard to be in a team, with the pressure that you might let the team down or if you have a 'weak' member that could have done better. It's great if you win though, the sense of sharing a victory. Once a year the Gauteng club and school relays are held. They are sprint type relays, allowing for more competition. This year ROC hosted it at De Vos Farm in Midrand. I felt a bit disadvantaged having not orienteered here before but luckily my dad had a map from before which I could use to try visualize the area. I got to run the first leg, which I was happy about. I had just come from a 5km Time Trial, so I needed the motivation of the other orienteers to keep me running hard. I also enjoy the mass start. 1. In the mass start I battled to get into the map and find #1. Once I found it I followed the path, but got side tracked by a control before mine (it wasn't ...

Running Solo

In this day and age, with work schedules and family commitments it becomes difficult to train with a group or partner. Some people only have the early morning, others have lunch breaks to train and then there are the afternoon or evening runs after work. I personally prefer to train after work at about 4pm as I can't seem to get up early enough in the mornings to train. With everyone's schedule being so vast, it means that we are left to train on our own. This is hard when you feel unmotivated - there is no one depending on you if you skip a session and often every excuse in the book is used as to why you 'can't' train - its too hot, you feel sore, you had a big lunch etc. There is also the factor that you can't find anyone on the same program as you, if you using a 'virtual' coach. Training in groups can be fun and motivating. You meet new people and if you miss sessions people will often ask where you were, making you very much accountable. Trainin...

Brentano-Murphy's Adventures

Search This Blog