It was a very freezing 🥶 Saturday morning in Johannesburg and North West. I kept on saying it’s nippy, chilly, and my friend kept on saying, “Moira stop saying it’s nippy or chilly, it’s freezing”. Normally when it’s cold and we are hiking, we warm up within a kilometer, not this time, it took us almost 5km before we can start warming up. Despite the cold, it was truly a beautiful morning for a catch and release moment.

We hiked at a property called Africaland, tucked away nicely next the iconic NECSA(Necleur Energy Corporation). I have been here too many times I couldn’t be bothered to count. The hosts are very welcoming and friendly, and the place has restaurant situated around well-kept garden. The hiking trail has amazing views, pleasant and testing hills here and there, the hike is 7.4km loop trail. I consider it moderate; the trail is well marked, need proper hiking shoes as there is lot of slate stone and it is very slippery. I must say it was very unpleasant to see lots of rubbish along the river. I hope the owners do something about it. It is a shame to see so much plastic along our riverbanks. I do not know why people litter, its mind blowing.

After 5km hike; we found the best spot to seat and have a snack. We were seating on the edge of the rocks overlooking the best spot of the river. I imagined seating there with my book and drink during summertime, if that’s not peace I don’t know what is. While we were seating there listening to the sound of the river (the best sound), we were having conversation about birds 🦅. We were talking about how nice it must be to be a bird, they can fly to as many destinations as their hearts desire😀.How they don’t need a visa or airplane tickets. We tried to imagine how nice their life must be. Lol. It was fun and silly however it just makes my point that when we are in those mountains, “real life” doesn’t exist hence we always feel light afterwards.

It’s a quick hike and we had time to go discover haarties. We went to a place called little Paris for their amazing coffee, then off to my favorite place to pass time in haarties; the Jasymn farmer’s market. It was my friend’s first time at the market, and it is safe to say I created a monster. 🤣🤣

Let me tell you a bit about little Paris. It is located in the heart of Hartebeespoort. Known for the cute little Eiffel Tower replica as well as the love lock bridge. There is also few little cute shops to get some souvenirs and of course food. There is a popular cafe that we got good coffee from; called The French toast coffee cafe.

I have said many times, hiking has opened my eyes in many ways than one. I am learning a lot about myself through hiking. I always come back knowing something new about myself. I have the best sessions with my therapist, nature. It cost me less than R100, 00 per session but get a million-dollar therapy. I have found a coping mechanism in hiking; it brings me peace.

Every morning when we wake up; we are given two things; A choice and A chance. I try to get through my day remembering that.

Until next time Fabtastic people.🤩 Moira

Short left

Fabtastic people, it is that time of the year, not “you get a car season”, sorry… LOL

It’s winter in South Africa, which means eating fat cakes for breakfast on our way to our hiking spot/s in the North West. If you read my previous blog posts, you know myself and Pumza love those fat cakes from the specific gas station. Shout out to the ladies at the gas station who make those amazing fat cakes. Off the topic for a moment, my colleague from Kenya was laughing at the fact that we call a gas station a garage in South Africa. LOL. She asked me why we call it a garage and I had no answer for her. It’s one of those things that make us stand out from the crowd.

It was a chilly Saturday morning and off we went to the hiking spot called Blue Groove Adventure. What is interesting about this property is where it is situated. It is in the heart of beautiful Hartbeespoort, you get to see the full view of the dam. Look I have seen this dam from many sides; however, this side is spectacular. As soon as you start hiking, you start seeing the full view, the higher up you go the more spectacular the view gets.

Going to Hartbeespoort is a short-left treat. (Definition of short left in South African lingo: it is a phrase derived from everyday South African “taxi lingo”, used by commuters to tell the driver when one wants to get off the taxi). We now loosely use the word when we travel within South Africa; for example, I will say I am taking a short left to Mpumalanga. South Africa, my beautiful country, *sigh*.

Blue Groove Adventure is just over 6km long and moderate, also rocky in some areas. It was great catching up and having great conversations as usual. The property has a strong focus on things with engines and wheels; offers trails for off-road biking and 4×4. The restaurant has a huge fire pit and faces a great view of the dam. We didn’t get to eat there as we had other plans after the hike, but we will try it next time. After we finished hiking, we decided to run on the sand hills that are meant for bikes. Yes, I know, there was a no-entry sign if not on the bike; but our inner children in us wanted to test our boundaries and strength. It is safe to say, I paid the price because the following day my thighs were on fire. Lol. After the hike we went to our favourite farm market to have our favourite waffles and bacon breakfast, I know, we ate breakfast twice 😀. Those waffles are always worth it, after eating we walk around the beautiful garden.

Check out the link below! It was an honor to be interviewed by Lifestyle&Tech, an online publication, to talk about love for hiking and my bucket list of hiking places I would like to visit.👇

Finding adventure through words and trails-Moira Molefe

On to finding the next adventure Fabtastic People!

Moira

HELLO PEACE, HELLO JOY, HELLO MOUNTAINS!

It’s been a minute, I finally got to the mountains and my heart was full. It was a fabtastic catch and release that I needed after a hectic week of adulting. I returned to one of my favorite hiking spots, Groenkloof in Pretoria, the Capital City of South Africa. What I love about this place is how it’s well taken care of, well marked trails, and off course my favorite animal, Zebra. Easily accessible from all parts of the province. I love how these hiking spots do not break the bank, yet it feels like an expensive holiday when you are there.

Discipline and consistency in anything one does, play an integral part in getting the results you need or want. Life will be boring if we can just get the desired results without being disciplined and consistent. The reason I talk about discipline and consistency is to remind myself and my fabtastic readers that as much as I love hiking, it’s never easy. I consistently go to these mountains because of results, passion, and discipline. It really takes determination. Hiking requires early mornings and let me tell you; I am not a morning person at all, especially winter weekends. I like to slowly start my day, curl up under my blankets with good cup of coffee and do nothing. However, I give up my coffee some Saturdays because it’s all worth it. They say you win some and you lose some, that’s how life is. Okay enough about my two cents on life lessons. 😃

It was gorgeous Saturday morning, cool, with autumn breeze and I experienced gorgeous sunrise while driving to our place of peace and joy. When I go hiking, I always make a point that I am present from the moment I wake up. Groenkloof is not an easy hike, we did 10km as per usual, but can I tell you that it felt easy and quick this time. To my first-time visitors, go read my previous blogs about Groenkloof, you will understand what I mean. Myself and my amigos were surprised, I guess we are finally fit; mentally and physically 😁. Throughout the trail we experienced the greenery, surprisingly so considering that it’s autumn here in South Africa. I got to see my favorite animal, zebra, well fed and well looked after I also spotted horses and very old ostriches. It was great catching up with my amigos as usual, learnt a lot from our conversations, ohhh I even learnt that horses have an amazing ability to be able to sleep standing up, thanks Mel for the lesson☺. The best part is when we take a break to have a snack, in Groenkloof we have a spot under this huge tree that we claimed to be ours. We sit there for few minutes and take it all in. Outdoors and nature really does wonders to one’s mindset. I am glad I found passion in hiking.

The smallest, simplest things in life bring joy and peace!

Until next fabtastic adventure! Stay Fabtastic!

Moira

#onehikeatatime

How time flies when you not having fun😄. I cannot believe this was my first hike in 2023 and it is almost end of February. It is insane how time just go by so quickly these days. Its fabtastic to be back on this platform, I missed sharing my experience and my shenanigans. I got my hiking groove back!

It was the hiker’s dream weather. I was going to hike in my favorite Province; always feels like Hartbeespoort is so far when I say North-West Province. Truth is, it is in another province, but it is not that far from where I live it does not feel like I leave my Province to another. The excitement is always more when I go hike at a new spot. My friend Pumza has told me about this hiking spot late last year and I have been wanting to go. My turn finally came this past Saturday, it was myself and my one Amigo, other Amigos were not available. The place is called Irone Throne Adventure Park. It is a beautiful place with lots of adventure. MTB, Enduro track, Parkrun, Downhill and off course hiking trail. The hiking trail is only 6.7 kilometers, but I can safely say it is not for the first timers. It is 3.4 kilometers going up and about the same going down. As you start hiking it is up the hill all the way, you don’t get to warm up and get into the groove of things. My calves were on fire from the moment we started until top of the mountain.

As we were hiking, we hiked alongside the cable cars. You can imagine the agony of watching these cable cars going up and down and we were somewhere down in the bush. It was a beautiful site, as tough as it was. The trail was overgrown with green lash and dense bushes – natural free aircon. My lungs and sinuses were very happy. I honestly felt so light throughout the hike. I kept on telling Mansoor how calm I felt, the hike was what the doctor ordered #Onehikeatatime. We came across this car wreckage! and we asked ourselves how it even got there. It was right in the middle of the mountain, weird. We finally got on top and found crossroads, either you turn left or right. We took a snack break. Mansoor even had laundry shenanigans going (do not ask). While we were seating, we watched “free” Eagles show. They were flying right on top of our heads, it was spectacular. There was a sign, but I think because of the wind the signed was pointing to the right. Off course we were supposed to turn left but we turned right. We got hiked for almost 3km before we realised that we are lost because I remember the gentleman at reception said immediately you don’t see cable cars, it means you are lost. We didn’t mind getting lost cause the views were stunning. Such things are expected sometimes on hiking trails, which is why is always important to have someone with you to avoid panic. Especially if you are bad at reading maps me. We turned and re-traced our steps back to the crossroad. Found the way to the top of the mountain. OMG the views from that top were breath taking. There is a pizza restaurant, with lots of outdoor seating with undistracted views of the full Hartbeespoort dam. This is where the cable cars also “lands”.

When we finally got to the restaurant, Mansoor decided that cable car will be a nice adventure to complete our adventurous day. It was an easy decision because we already had our 6km hike because we got lost😉. We took a ride down the mountain, what a thrill it was. I love my hiking life; it always feels like a mini holiday. We drove to the farmer’s market; I cannot go to Hartbeespoort and not go to this market. We went to eat waffles breakfast, nice way to end the adventurous day.

My anti-hiking friends always send me memes about hiking. My recent favorite one is ” I don’t know who needs to hear this but living your life to the fullest does not have to involve hiking” 🤣🤣🤣. Well friends I beg to differ, I am living my life to the fullest in the mountains.

One hike at a time.

In Arnold Schwarzenegger’s voice ” I’ll be back” 😀

Stay Fabtastic!

Moira

Cape Town

Mini bucket list moment, since the beginning of this year I have been talking about how I would love to end 2022 with the Coastal hike. I spoke about it a lot, but I was in doubt that it will happen, the Universe listened, and my wish came true.

I was so excited as the time drew close to my trip, yet I didn’t even know if I will find people to go hike with. I was determined that I wouldn’t return from Cape Town without hiking. I was ready to rock up at Table Mountain and join any group. This was going to happen either way. Well lucky for me, or shall I say when the Universe conspired with me, everything fell into place, just like dominos. The excitement started building up after my trip was confirmed, felt like a kid on Christmas Eve.

Well let me tell you how I got to find hiking buddies in Cape town, by chance I tell you. I was on the work call with colleague of mine(Patricia) who lives in Cape town. As we were chatting, I told her am looking for people to hike with as I am staying for the weekend in Cape Town. She said”, Oh, I have a group that I hike with every other weekend if we can”. I then asked if by any chance are hiking the weekend I am in Cape Town. The answer was Yes, and I was so excited. The next thing I know we were talking about how she is going to let everyone know in her group and include me in the communication for that Saturday. As they say the rest is history, I have made new friends. Shout out to everyone who was hiking with me that day. Thank you for welcoming me into your space. Great conversation, fun and laughter. Oh, by the way, I had to put out a disclaimer when we started hiking. I told the group that all they going to hear through the hike is uhhhh, ahhhh everytime I was looking around. I mean who can blame me, I was the only one in that group who was not from Cape Town. 😂. The beauty that surrounded us was too much to handle.

Now let’s talk about this beauty. OMG, where do I start. I was very excited about the whole day. Got up early in the morning and took an Uber to Table Mountain, I was going to meet up with everyone there. The weather was gorgeous, I was worried about the weather as Cape Town has 4 seasons in one day sometimes. I am happy to say, the weather played along that weekend. There’s lots of hiking trails around the Table Mountain, which I cannot wait to try one at the time. Patricia promised me a hike every time I am in Cape Town😊. We were hiking a trail called Pipe Track . We did just short of 10km, the trail is moderate, yet you can turn to different trails to climb up towards Table Mountain. Our path was gorgeous, hiked overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and Camps Bay with its amazing white sandy beaches, and breathtaking Table Mountain on the other side. We kept on coming across clouds covering the mountain and clearing up, over and over again. Was the most beautiful thing to see, I was watching a movie. Experiencing Table Mountain from that trail was out of this world. These were my views throughout the hike. I mean what more could a girl ask for . My ohhhh, ahhhh’s didn’t take long to start coming out.😂. The pictures won’t not tell the real story, I get to experience South Africa in a different light through my hiking. I cannot wait to experience the world the same way. I have said it before, experiences stay with you wherever you go, even while writing up this blog, that Fabtastic day is playing in my mind like a movie . When we turned back towards going back to the base, we were in full view of Lions Head mountain, gorgeous.

When we done with our hike everyone went their separate ways and Patricia offered me a lift back to my hotel. As we were walking to the car, we decided to take some pictures and selfies. This young gentleman (Thando) came to us excited asking us to take pictures of him with my phone. He works there at Table Mountain. He said,” I know that phone takes good pictures” Please take a few pictures of me and you send them to me”. At first, we thought he was joking. He told us he posts a lot, and he is also a radio dj for his local community radio station in Khayelitjha. We finally gave in, took pictures of him and he insisted on giving me his number and send his pictures right there. LOL. He even photo bombed our selfie, it was all in the name of fun. He was such a vibe and I promised to give him shoutout on my blog. As we drove off, he was already sending me link to his radio station and his time slots and posting the pictures on Whatsapp story. We drove away, found a coffee spot near my hotel and we sat there for a long time, had great conversation, watching people pass by. I love my life, I get to make great memories, meet lovely people along the way.

It is safe to say, Cape Town was Fabtastic. To many more shenanigans in 2023.

Happy Fabtastic Holidays.

Moira