Our trip to Oudtshoorn:

Posted by Dannielle Connections on Monday, June 24, 2013 Under: Out and about

What a wonderful weekend away in Oudtshoorn!

A group of us headed up to Oudtshoorn this past weekend for the Kickboxing/K1 SA Champs, hosted in Oudtshoorn this year.

We were of course supporting the Western Province team and most importantly the 4 Thaiholics fighters.

We left early on Friday morning and took a safe drive up through our beautiful province along Route 62. Every time I do a trip like this I confirm my believe that I live in the most beautiful country.

We stopped along the way for a delicious breakfast at "Rambling Coffee House" in Montague .

Our next pit stop had to be 'Ronnie's Sex shop" to see what that was all about. A must see, at least once in your life, if you are travelling along route 62.

After about 5 hours on the road we finally made it to Oudtshoorn where we checked in at our accommodation. Our team stayed at "Klein Plassie". Its an extremely well run, reasonably priced, clean, self-catering accommodation with your choice of either little houses of various sizes or if you prefer a camp site for caravans and tents.

The owners and staff were extremely hospitable and the facilities were all we needed to enjoy our weekend in Oudtshoorn. There are a few animals for both the kids and adults to check out, braai facilities, a pool, heaters for the very cold nights, a TV and the houses are safe, warm and comfortable, with endless hot water. The cleaning staff were awesome!

We then headed out to Cango caves for the afternoon, where we enjoyed the very informative standard tour with one of their excellent tour guides. She was friendly, authoritative but kind with those that needed discipline, well informed and passionate about her job and the beautiful caves she was talking about and showing off with pride.

The Caves are incredible and a magnificent natural miracle that all south africans should see, not to mention all our tourists. Mother nature at its best. I couldnt help remembering all my geography from Mr Paulson at Milnerton High, thanks Mr Paulson! :)

We grabbed a bite to eat at the restaurant at the Cango caves, I must admit while the staff were lovely and helpful, the food was not the best and it was rather pricey.

It was then time to head over to the Oudtshoorn Sports Center for the 4 fighters to do their weigh ins and registration. While the association running it is non profit and we all understand its set up and run by volunteers, we all felt that they could do better with a bit more organisation and perhaps a more modern system to assist them in the admin. There is also over 400 people taking part, so whenever there is that amount of people all in one place, some chaos is likely to occur.

Besides some confusion in terms of what was going on and when, the process was done and we all headed back to Klein Plassie for a chilled evening around the fire.

After a well rested nights sleep, a warm shower and good preparation by the fighters, we headed back to the Sports Center for the games to begin.

The Kick Boxing and K1 SA champs began early and on time, with an official, formal, but meaningful opening and introduction to the hosts, Chairperson of the board, government and the teams taking part.

After about an hour for warm ups and to get all the officials, refs, judges and fighters organised, the competition got started.

It was a wonderful display of both the contact and non contact sports across various ages, weights, Provence's. The best of the best in our country on display.

Thaiholics gym in Milnerton Cape Town had 4 fighters entered in the Western Province team. All Thaiholics fighters took part in K1 - full contact and truly displayed their skills, techniques, fitness and excellent training under Nicholas Radley's leadership and guidance. All 4 fighters made it into SA Champs where they will represent our country in various competitions around the world. Well done to you all!

After a long, exhausting day we decided to grab something to eat at Brain's Grill, it was a perfect place to celebrate, have a drink or 2 and fill our bellys with scrumptious meals over laughs and great conversation.

On Sunday morning half the team headed back to good old Cape Town and the other half decided to take up Cango Wild Life Ranch's half price on entry deal due to us taking part at the Sports Center the day before.

Those of us who decided to stay and got home late on Sunday evening will never regret it. Cango wild Life Ranch was amazing! The facilities, set up, animals available to see and interact with, the condition of the cages and animals are the best I have ever seen! The staff are well informed and pleasant. A very special Thank-you and shout out to Garret for inviting us, being an excellent host and a true supporter of the animals and cause.

We had the most incredible time there and I could not be more proud of the work they are doing there. Trust me, just go see for yourself!