A picture of the beach, in front of our resort, between Cancun and Playa de Carmen in Mexico. Paradise does not get a lot better than this and its winter.

Well we are back in Denver after a fantastic break to the Riviera Maya, just South of Cancun Mexico. My spanish is getting better with each cocktail I consume. Lesleigh's parents joined us on a trip to Mexico last week for the week.

I managed to swop some time share from SA for time share in Mexico. What a bargain we got. My levy was $250 with RCI for 7 days. The room rate in Mexico over this peak week was $1600 per day. So all we had to pay was $250 for 7 days, now that is great value. The resort we stayed in was brand new and we were the first occupants, each room had a stand alone shower, toilet, Jacuzzi bath tub and a hot tub on a balcony overlooking the golf course at the beach. What more could we have asked for. Happy hour was between 11am and 13h00 and so every cocktail ordered arrived with a duplicate. We enjoyed all of them one at a time. The weather ranged between 25 and 30 degrees C and the water temps were as warm as Durban in summer. Enough said, take a look at the photo's and make your own judgments.

I did miss being with my family over Christmas this year as we always make an effort to be together. So love to you all, I am glad to hear that you had a fabulous Christmas day and may the new year bring you all you wish for and a whole lot more.

To all my mates now scattered all over the globe thank you for all your good wishes for Christmas and may all of you have a year of happiness, good health and great success ahead. You have all made big sacrifices to start new lives abroad and the dividends will pay in your favor, hang in there.

To my mates back in SA miss you lot heaps and hope that you are all enjoying the warm climate and braai's out there on the decks. It is going to take some time before I will be able to visit again but I do extend an open invite to all of you to come over and stay with us whilst skiing some of the most sought after ski slopes world wide.

Happy New Year!!!!


Lesleigh loved the beach and soaked up some good sunshine whilst sipping on Margarita's for the week.

We visited a local town Playa de Carmen and had cocktails at the beach on these really comfi chairs

Fishing over here is also good and the food was great.

This is a pic of the Playa de Carmen Beach front

The streets are clean and well organized with lots to see and do and the clothing and food are very reasonable.

Celebrating my birthday in Mexico was another highlight in the trip

My wife turned into a little Mexican local in a day

Here is the life, kick back and relax on a bed alongside the pool with waiters serving cocktails and warm weather.

The local pubs could be found at all the pools and we certainly took advantage of these well frequented pit stops.

Here is a photo of the resort and as you can see it is one spectacular destination.

Lesleigh's dad and mom arrive at the Cancun airport

And so this is what we left behind for Christmas, a much cooler Denver with a snow plough clearing the road in the morning after a gentle dump of snow the night before.

The lights Parade in Denver and skiing in Breckenridge

On route home from the ski trip the water fall stood frozen as was most of the lake on the road side.

A view of the road and snow on the hills as we headed back toward Denver.

Lesleigh and I after a great day on the slopes, both very happy at a successful day out.

We tackled a blue slope and it was not as easy at I thought it might be.

On the ski lift out to the main slopes.

The lunch time break at the restaurant at the base of peak 8, out in the sunshine on the outer deck

The morning lesson was relatively incident free with one noted crash for me going straight through the blue fence seen here but I did remain standing although the fence came straight down.

Here we all are at the start of the lesson.

The morning air was crispy but better weather was on the way.

It was a memorable day for me on my first day out on these slopes.

Lesleigh, Jen and Mel all at Breckenridge as we prepared to take our first lesson in ski-ing

Lesleigh and Jen in the Gondola which takes us from the car park up to the base station on peak 8.


With all the sludge on the roads our car looked a right mess.

Traveling through Frisco on our way up to Breckenridge.

We attended the parade of Lights on Friday night in downtown Denver and watched in the freezing cold as hundreds of participants marched by in the annual parade.


One of the school marching bands in the parade.

Even the bands dress up in theme dress whilst playing carols down the street.

There were a couple of these blow ups and they do look funny swinging in the wind between the tall buildings.

We managed to get VIP seats in the grand stand but it was still cold out.

The Snow Thickens as Winter sets in

Our Christmas Tree all set up and standing in our formal lounge. Lesleigh decorated our tree and it looks great.

It is easy to spot the two South Africans in the neighborhood building our first snow man in the backyard.

The golf course I play at regularly is temporarily closed due to all the snow. Opens in Feb next year, maybe.

Above is the park we celebrated summer in, what a transformation.

This is Bowles avenue just up the road from our new house.

Our temp gauge on the back porch indicating a high of 20 Degrees F

A picture of the sun rising on the back garden.

Sunrise from my bedroom window.

A view of our neighbors across the street

Enjoying the joys of feeling snow falling for the first time

Our front door in view in and amongst all the snow falling from above.

Thanks Giving Dinner and the weather cools down

Breckenridge is where the fun is at next weekend.

Thsi is a snap of the weather this Friday morning in Denver

Well this week is all about thanks giving and we do have a lot to be thankful about. We have both found work, a beautiful home and are now living in a dramatically scenic destination. Denver has turned brown on the landscape for the most part and the winter is starting. The trees are bare and the temperatures continue to wind down into the low 40 degree F. On the way through to the office the temp was 23 Degrees F this morning (or -9 degrees C) but to tell the truth it feels warmer than some of those icy mornings in JHB when the wind blows. Today the weather projects snow but like all weather reports the projection rarely seems to appear as forecasted.

Yesterday was thank giving dinner and we had Art and Melissa and their kids over for thank giving. It was a great feast and we made a turkey and pumpkin pie, with sweet potato and fresh beans and carrots. Once we finished the main meal no one had room to tackle the pumpkin pie so I will have that to eat over the next few days. We took a walk down to the lake and tried to feed the ducks after the meal but they all seemed a little skittish.

The excitement has started and so next weekend Lesleigh and I are off to the slopes for our first ski lessons. I hope there is sufficient snow on the bunny slopes for us to learn on. We will be skiing at Breckenridge peak 8 and that should be one of the better places to start.

The house is starting to take shape and we are three quarters complete on the bathroom renovation. The flooring is done and now just to add some skirting finishes to complete the room. The fire place downstairs works really well and we had it going all day yesterday. Our Christmas tree is also up and decorated and stands 7.5ft tall in the lounge all lit up and very impressive. Well that is about it for now, we are off to watch the new 007 movie tonight and hope that you all have a super weekend ahead.

First Snow, new home and a new job.

The kids on their way to school down the road from our house.

Pedestrians crossing the road in the snow across from my office block down town Denver

How about that for an exciting two weeks. I started a new job and settling in nicely but there is a lot to do in a short space of time. I am looking after corporate employee sign ups and contracts, regional sponsorships and university student recruitment for the bank.

We bought a house and signed the documents on Monday signed and sealed. The bank owns the house for now but in a few years it will be ours. This weekend Lesleigh and I spent scraping wall paper off the bathroom walls and painting the family room, dining room and two bathrooms. I cleaned out all the gutters and managed to slice my finger in the process. There is still snow lying about in the garden and the gutters have solid ice cubes in them so by the time I finished clearing the gutters I had frost bite on hands. Leseligh says her back is killing her with all those unused muscles in action whilst painting. The house looks fantastic and with a few more odds and ends to sort out we should be all moved in and settled this coming Sunday the 23rd of November.

Friday morning I got up at 05h15 and looked out the window. Just a frosted layer sitting out on the cars, nothing different to the rest of the week. I went to the bathroom to shave and shower, got dressed, ate breakfast and then proceeded to lock the front door as I left the apartment to go down stairs to my car. Looking over the car park I suddenly realized that there was a heavy snow fall taking place right here in Denver. I raced back indoors, got my camera took a few snaps and then put on a jacket to head off to my car. After clearing the snow and ice from the car windscreen I started out for work. Driving in the snow whilst it was falling was quiet a lot of fun and it seemed to get heavier as I reached my office downtown. Everything was so prestine white, it trully was spectacular. Then at midday the sun comes out and within three hours all the snow on the roof tops had started to fade away. So we had our first snow fall and three days on we are back to a very pleasant autumn day with 25 degrees C and blue skies.

Good to Great News

Denver Skyline

Snow sprinkling on the slopes

Autumn sunsets

The trees start to loose the leaves

Here is a pic of our new home to be.

The weeks was a great one out here in Denver, with temperatures back into the 70 degree F and the mountains still sprinkled with snow caps. A busy week was on the cards for us this weekend with Lesleigh and I out to find a home.

Well we found one and put in an offer, the seller accepted and now the paper trail starts. We have been to see lenders, Realtor, and insurance people this past week. We are so excited about moving into our own home here in Denver. It is the smallest lot in the neighborhood but a really cute spot. There are just a few things to be done to get the home into tip top shape but nothing that I cant fix in a weekend or two.

So I went to the local hardware store to get pricing on a lawn mower. The salesman just had to laugh at me. He said why would I want a lawn mower at this time of year when the first time I would get to use it would be spring next year. He suggested that I may want to buy a snow blower instead to clear the driveway during the up coming winter.

The trees have all begun to loose their leaves this week and the scenery changes once more, but still spectacular. I got to play golf this week and it is great to see my scores averaging in the low 80's. The courses are starting to become dryer and the greens not holding too many pitches even with the Pro V balls. Yesterday I even got to see a Coyote running around on the course whilst we played the last four holes. The couple I played golf with have invited me to play at a private course a little south and in the mountains in the next few weeks so I cant wait as they say it is better than arrow head, which I thought was spectacular.

I also got the clearances and so I start in the office on Monday, cant wait to get going with the new job!