Buongiorno from Roma

I don't think I anticipated the immensity of this step I have taken and leaving SA has been really hard for me - and of course my deep attachment to certain people does not help with the letting go process.  The wisdom that keeps arising within me is to Stay in Each Moment.  Its so obvious and yet something that I seem avoid and as soon as I project a little into the future and allow the fear to step in, I see so clearly what Staying in Each Moment is about.  So it is in this moment that I am writing in Rome in Laurogrotto B&B 47 via Appennini writing my first blogpost on Italian ground.

Building up to leaving I became really ill with a touch of pneumonia and have brought this horrible,  tight chest with me - and all I do is cough and cough.  I have some "not so nice" meds to take and I am sure once I settle into a new rhythm and allow myself to completely let go and Be in each Moment, the tightness and restriction will subside and I will start to feel better.

Rome is beautiful and wondering around the streets yesterday and going to the Piazza Navona last night drinking a glass of Italian wine and eating simple pasta, listening to the various musos express and share their passion, and of course hearing lots of English being spoken all around by the various tourists was so wonderful.

blooming Wisteria on an old building

statues in a garden 

Arriving in Rome from the airport

Piazza Novana

Piazza Navorna

Artists displaying their work in Piazza Navorna

this sax player serenaded me with a very sweet
rendition of Love Story Theme

A Jamacian lady took this photo of me in front of one of the
 fountains in Piazza Navona

Today is a new day, its with new eyes and wonder that I set off on my next adventure - trying to get onto a topless bus and go for a drive around Rome - the weather is lovely - its warm and spring is in the air.

There is still a remnant of the fear of letting go of my comforts and familiar life that lingers within my physical and it is this feeling that is propelling me to focus on each moment and allow to be what is.
I am blessed to be here doing this and experiencing the magic and wonders of the world.  We are all so connected and I have been able to skype, sms, bbm and call as if I am just up the road, which I suppose if we look at the map, I am.

Ciao for now xxxx

15 Days to Go .....

Today is 14 March 2012 - I have 15 days left until I leave SA for the adventure of my lifetime. I am feeling this on a very deep level and haven't been sleeping so well - 2 AM is usually where I get the panic of what I am about to do - and the hours until around 5 are long with so many emotions running through my body and thoughts playing in my mind.   


I am presently in Johannesburg staying in a lovely guest house in Parkview - a little suburb near the Zoo Lake,  surrounded by trees and old houses with so much character and history.   The guest house is called Remote Corner and it is exactly that - what is so funny for me is that its quieter here than my house in Knysna was, there are so many birds and creatures living in the garden.  My little room is called Flower Pots and its in a very established colourful garden and a wonderful big black pooch called Hagrid or Haggie as he is called, who has become my friend - he gets my toast crusts in the morning.

This is Haggie !

The beautiful Gardens of Remote Corner

My room Flower Pots !

I am really pleased to introduce my very special travelling companion who will be accompanying me on my travels - her name is Lucy.  She has her South African Flag and an Aids Awareness Red Ribbon and she was given a lovely gift from another friend Julie which she is wearing on her waist.  Lucy will change, be decorated and adorned as we travel to our various destinations. 

Lucy is a Travelling Doll created by my friend Suzi Smart.
"Simple forms guide play, simple facial features allow for a range of human emotions
and various fabrics ensure a tactile experience"

And the time has come for me to share the outline Itinerary for my Sacred Divine Adventure.  I would like to say here that this journey has developed and taken the form of a Sacred Adventure where everything links and flows exactly how it is divinely inspired to do so.  Taking a sabbatical from my life is the depth and truth behind this adventure.  And so is utilizing this opportunity to write my blog, begin my book and the paper which will support my application for the masters programme I would like to create on my return. 


I have a huge amount to share and to learn and travelling and exploring on this journey will all contribute to this and allow me the space to re-create and present myself.  Its an unfolding, and a journey that is going to push me from my comfort zone of safety, build and embrace my self confidence and get me to experience life in a completely different way to what I am used to.  Most people I have told of where I am going and what I am doing refer to "Eat Pray Love" - and yes there is an aspect to my journey that is similar to Elisabeth Gillbert's experiences in her book but its more to me than just that.  The concept of Eat Pray Love are representative of Physical, Emotional and Spiritual aspects of my life and I believe that each country and town or village I visit will reflect the Physical, Emotional and Spiritual aspects within myself and contribute to my Sacred Divine Adventure.

I leave SA on 29th March en-route Rome via Frankfurt.  I arrive in Rome at 09h20 on Friday 30 March 2012.

30 March - 21 May I am in Italy, travelling by train from Cities to country villages and town, and allowing myself to be in each moment and experience a country that I have always dreamed of visiting.  I have booked many quaint, quiet, very old country spaces to stay that have views of vistas, authentic Italian hospitality and are rich with history and culture.  I have a train ticket so this will be a slow journey giving me the opportunities to take my time and experience as much as I want to without rushing to meet deadlines.

23 May - 27 June I am in Bali, staying a rented house in Ubud where I plan to spend the time writing and getting clear about how to present my book.  I am hoping to have some special visitors visiting me in Bali.

29 June - 7 July I am doing a cruise around Croatia - lots of swimming in the water and seeing magic castles.

8 - 14 July I am visiting Latvia and investigating and visiting the village where my grandmother was born - investigating the female line of my ancestors.

14 July - 4 August I am in Russia - here I will connect with my friends from Dances for Universal Peace and exploring St Petersburg, Grishino and Moscow.

4 August I fly to Athens to meet my new family Sasha Chaitow and then to Corfu to meet her parents Leon and Alkmini Chaitow.  

I leave Corfu 19th August enroute to Spain - via Ferry and train accross Italy and Ferry to Spain where I will be until 3 September.  And then my final destination is the UK where I will be until 31 October 2012.

Om Gum Ganapatayei Namaha

Om and salutations to the remover of seen and 

unseen obstacles 

I AM Divinely Blessed 

Unplugging from Paradise

I have lived here on the Garden Route for 14 years - 2 cycles of 7 years, and the essence of peace, beauty, nature in her abundance, no rushing, wonder and extreme awe have filled each day of these 14 years.  Sure life has had its ups and downs, and there have been some very dark spaces, mainly light spaces, but underlying all of this has been existing in this equisite paradise.

One memory that expresses this  for me is the day that the planes flew ino the twin towers (9-11-2001) - there was extreme drama playing out on the television, so disturbing and unbelievable - I went outside to just breathe and the vast lawn outside my house was filled, completely, with bright, yellow dandelion flowers, with their faces open to the warm sun - it still brings an opening in my heart thinking about it, and it was in that moment   I felt such a deep gratitude for where I was on this earth and for the ultimate gift I had created for myself of living in paradise.

The reason I am feeling this now is because in 6 days time I am leaving the Garden Route to begin my adventure and the visual and tactile experiences and the awe I experience in each moment of each day will change.  And right now I am unplugging myself from this paradise, about to shift into a moving, ever changing, roaming, busy and completely different reality.

My most sacred place on the Garden Route, a space of holiness and deep connection with Spirit, where I pray and feel 100% tuned into consciousness is my Sacred Goddess River, the Hoogekraal River.  This has been my sanctury for 13 of my 14 years here and a point of reference in my life where I connect and feel whole and ONE with God/Goddes/I AM Presence.  She holds me, lightens my load & my heaviness, cleanses me, absorbs my tears and her waters replenish my skin and my hair, rejuvinates and sanctifies me each and every time I swim in her amber water.  And she is the prescious jewel I will always focus on, keeping me connected and part of the Garden Route, as I wander off on my sacred adventure.

Goodbyes are sad, they mean so many things and often feel like a separation or an ending of something.  I am choosing not to say goodbye, just so long, my way forward is filled with so many hellos, new experiences and adventures, so the feeling right now is that I am unplugging from this reality, this paradise, these beautiful people who grace my life.

Sala Kakuhle (fare-well) Garden Route, Bless you .............