A few weeks ago it was my birthday and my wife treated me to a holiday in Hazyview, Mpumalanga. It’s near the Kruger National Park for those like me who didn’t know that.

When I say treated, I mean TREATED!

This place is AMAZING!!!

Obviously, you’re getting what you paid for, and it’s not cheap, but it is a 5 star holiday “resort” and I must say, it’s one of the few places I would say that actually deserve that rating!

Brief Intro about the Lodge

So, off the top of my head, here’s what I remember about the what the Blue Mountain Lodge had to offer:

• 5 star accommodation
• Dinner and Breakfast included
• 30 minutes from the Kruger Park gates

Doesn’t really sound like much looking at it like that, but just PLEASE read on!

First Impressions of Blue Mountain Lodge

When you arrive at the entrance to Blue Mountain Lodge, you have a 2km drive up their driveway with signs indicating possible sightings of Hippos en-route. Unfortunately, we didn’t see any, but it was a great start to the feeling of being out of town.

When we arrived, we were greeted with some home-made Ice Tea. DELICIOUS!

We were then led to our room (apartment, for those not used to this kind of luxury ) where we were given the usual guided tour of the place.

We mentioned that we wanted to go to the Kruger Park the next morning, and wanted to leave at 5:30AM so we could get there when the gates opened (which we missed due to the time of year). We asked if we could have a picnic basket that included whatever we would have had for breakfast so that we could eat it in the Kruger.

Without batting an eyelid the concierge said he would have it ready (personally) by 5:30 at our door. It was ready at 5:20!

Excellent Service from the Friendliest People

The entire time we were there (only 3 days) we were constantly amazed at how friendly everybody was.

• Our car was washed every morning. With a smile
• We met our room cleaner. Who smiled and asked how we were doing and how our stay was
• We were greeted by the gardeners. With smiles
• The waiters and waitresses gave us everything we needed. WITH SMILES!
• The manager knew the area extremely well, and helped us pick things to do. With a smile.

All in all, we felt welcome at the Lodge.

What can you do in Hazyview

If you’re thinking of going to any of the holiday accommodation/resorts in the Hazyview area, you may be worried about what to do there.

If you look at the photos below, you can see there are quite a few VERY relaxing things to do:

• Go to the Kruger Park game reserve and see all the animals you WISH you could see (that statement is for non-South Africans who may only know what animals look like from behind bars)
• Go to Pilgrim’s Rest. An old little mining town that’s now an old little tourist attraction. Yes, the photos below are of the complete town
• Go to God’s Window. Apparently the view is spectacular when there are no clouds. But the clouds kind of made it “look like heaven” to me.
• At God’s Window there’s a little trail through the “rain forest”. It’s a nice little walk to another great view.
• Drive around the area, and possibly go to the various waterfalls in the area.

Final Comments about Blue Mountain Lodge

If you go to the Blue Mountain Lodge resort, tell the manager you read about it here.

No, you won’t get anything (that I know of).

No, I won’t get anything for having sent you there.

But, I would like them to know how INCREDIBLY happy we were with their place.

When we mentioned that we were going to Timamoon (another holiday place down the road) he was amazed.

His words were:

“I know my place is good, but Timamoon is amazing! That’s where I want to have my honeymoon!”

If I can just say one thing to him, it would be, FORGET about Timamoon (though it is very nice), Blue Mountain Lodge is just a better experience all round!

Anyway, I hope you like the photos. Just click on the first one to make it larger, and then you can click on the arrows to view the rest, or use your arrow-keys on the keyboard to go forward and backwards between them.

© James for Make a good house a GREAT home, 2009. | Blue Mountain Lodge in Hazyview, Mpumalanga. WOW!!! | 6 comments. Click here to add yours... |

Subscriber Exclusive Content
Visit this page: eBooks for Subscribers
And download my 2 eBooks: "How to Prune Roses" and "The HomeMade Flytrap"

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

How many hours a day do you sit in traffic?

For the average person, I’m guessing it’s about 1 hour to work, and 1 hour home. That’s about 10 hours a week!

Can you IMAGINE if you had 10 hours a week to read that book you’ve always wanted to read?

Can you IMAGINE no longer feeling like traffic is a waste of time?!

About 4 years ago I was asked to attend a week-long course that meant I would spend about 4 hours a day sitting in traffic. (For those people living in Johannesburg, I was travelling from Bedfordview to Pretoria during rush hour – ABSOLUTELY PAINFUL!!!).

On Monday evening, I got home and refused to go to bed until I had found a few audiobooks to listen to so that I could at least say that my time spent sitting in traffic was not wasted. And that is how I found the website Audible.com

Why Traffic SUCKS!

Let me back up a bit and explain WHY I hated spending so much time in traffic. Here’s my “list of hates” about traffic, let’s see how many of them you have:

1. ABSOLUTE WASTE OF TIME!!! I mean, it’s not like you’re actually doing ANYTHING productive.
2. Those @#$%^ TAXIS!!!! I suppose this MIGHT be something that doesn’t really affect everyone (though I know every country in the world has their own taxi driver problems). But it’s REALLY frustrating sitting in the queue like every law-abiding citizen while taxi drivers can do whatever they like
   
3. I’m sure I lose brain cells sitting staring at the car in front, waiting for it to move. It doesn’t take a genius to wait in traffic and stare into space (though it does not mean there aren’t absolute MORONS on the road).
4. Did I mention that it’s a waste of time?

The Benefits of AudioBooks (for me)

So, what are the benefits of listening to AudioBooks while driving?

1. You can take your mind off of the fact that there are idiots on the road. It doesn’t take much to concentrate on a book while driving, but it also means that you couldn’t give 2 hoots about the other drivers because you’re enjoying your book!
2. You don’t have to listen to Fiction books! You can read self-help books or business books. My first audiobook from Audible.com was a Suze Orman book. I just felt like learning something while I was driving.
3. Taxi drivers can drive on the pavement for all I care. I’ll just wait in the traffic and listen to my books.
4. Waste of time? Not really. In fact, sometimes I’ve delved so deeply into my book that I’ve arrived at my destination only to sit in the car for 10 minutes to carry on listening to my book!
5. TIME FLIES while driving!

Is Audible.com Safe or Trustworthy?

As I mention above, I’ve been a really happy member of Audible.com for around 4 years now.

I’ve only had one issue in all that time, and that was my error where I bought the wrong book (I already had the hardcopy). I quickly contacted Audible and asked them for a refund (I said I was going to swap it for another book by the same author) and they trusted me enough to allow it.

They’ve also had my credit card details all this time and (touch wood) it’s been completely safe.

How Do I Sign Up to Audible.com?

Follow the same route I did:

1. Go to Audible.com
   
2. Sign up for the free trial. You do have to enter you credit card details in case you carry on with your membership, but it’s REALLY easy to cancel your membership if you want to stop. (I got 2 free AudioBooks from Audible, but I finished them that week and as I’ve said, I’ve been a member ever since).
3. Well, that’s it really. Download your audiobooks, record them to CD (or play them on your iPod… WAY easier) and pass your travel time with ease.

Do you have any questions about this? Or any comments? Please let me know by leaving a comment below.

And thank you for letting me send this out to everybody! I’ll follow up with more info on buying audiobooks from Audible.com and when are my favourite times to listen to them…

Search for audiobooks

by author, title or keyword

First photo courtesy of: elfy

© James for Make a good house a GREAT home, 2009. | Audiobooks Let You Read While Sitting In Traffic | 2 comments. Click here to add yours... |

Subscriber Exclusive Content
Visit this page: eBooks for Subscribers
And download my 2 eBooks: "How to Prune Roses" and "The HomeMade Flytrap"

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Ok, I didn’t hear anything, so I’m guessing you’re like me and find them totally irritating!

Well, you have GOT to watch this video.

I haven’t seen the “Slap Chop” product being advertised yet, but it looks quite cool, especially in the video below:

(If you’re an email subscriber, you may need to visit the site to view the video)

So, still looking for a mother’s day present?

© James for Make a good house a GREAT home, 2009. | Those Stupid Glomail Advertisers need to watch this | No comments yet. Click here to add yours... |

Subscriber Exclusive Content
Visit this page: eBooks for Subscribers
And download my 2 eBooks: "How to Prune Roses" and "The HomeMade Flytrap"

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

But PLEASE read until the end, and forward this article to everyone you know.

Ok, now that I have that out of the way, let me tell you why I think the Vacation Club are a bunch of con-artists.

If you EVER get phoned and told that you have won a prize for some competition you don’t even remember entering, DO NOT LISTEN TO THEM!

They will ask you to come pick up your prize and listen to a presentation. DO NOT GO!

Vacation Club Con Artists

I got phoned one day by somebody from a Holiday Club company who said that I had entered a competition by filling out a form at a petrol station.

I don’t remember when or where I did that.

Oh, and guess what, the guy on the phone said he couldn’t tell me either. But I had definitely won a prize.

To read all about that experience (with a transcript from memory of how clever the person on the phone actually was in being able to make me believe him), go read the article here:

Rhino Marketing Holiday Club is a perfect Con

Ok, now that you’re back, let’s move on

QVC – Quality Vacation Club Scumbags

It looks like the Quality Vacation Club is doing their best to silence people who have fallen for their “scam” by suing a fellow blogger who is sharing his experience.

Here’s a link to a press article this blogger, Donn Edwards, released:

http://www.openaccess.co.za/docs/Beleaguered%20Blogger%20Battles%20Timeshare%20Bullies.pdf

What makes me sick is the fact that while I was sitting through a presentation, I looked around and spotted at least 3 elderly couples who did not look like they could afford to get home, never mind join a Holiday Club Scheme. And yet they bought into it anyway.

The only thing that made me cheer up before leaving that day (with my “guaranteed” prize, that I had to pay for to use), was the fact that it looked like the salesman was going to cry when he thought that such a perfect sale was going out the door.

How to get back at the Vacation Club (free of charge)

If you’re keen on irritating the Holiday Club companies as much as they irritate everyone else, tell them you’d like to go to their prize giving. Confirm it every time they phone you.

Then don’t go. As simple as that.

So please, if you can, pass on the word about QVC, the Quality Vacation Club.

If you received this by email, PLEASE do me a favour, and pass it on to everybody you know.

© James for Make a good house a GREAT home, 2008. | Holiday Club is a SCAM | 49 comments. Click here to add yours... |

Subscriber Exclusive Content
Visit this page: eBooks for Subscribers
And download my 2 eBooks: "How to Prune Roses" and "The HomeMade Flytrap"

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

They’re a company we used to rent plates, cutlery, glasses and tables for a big party we had recently.

Read your contract before signing

If I can start off by saying, when you hire something, ensure that you CHECK THE CONTRACT! Anything that is on the list of items to be hired, will be dropped off, and anything that IS NOT on the list, won’t.

This sounds obvious, but it can bite you in the @ss.

We initially spoke to Silver Spoon over the phone, giving them a list of items we needed. Unfortunately, the lady on the other end didn’t quite understand one of the items, and ended up writing down side plates instead of dinner plates. When we were faxed this list (the contract), we corrected the item, and faxed it back.

But they never received it.

And, against their own rules due to the urgency, they delivered anyway. With the side plates.

Of course, this was a bit of a mess as we couldn’t exactly serve dinner on side plates. So we phoned and spoke to the manager when the delivery arrived, at 5:30pm on the Friday before the party. He mentioned that unfortunately they’re not open on Saturdays, so we couldn’t pick up the plates.

The plates are delivered

After explaining the entire situation, he felt really bad, and ended up sending a driver all the way to our place on the Saturday morning, with the dinner plates.

I would just like to say thank you to Silver Spoon for correcting the situation. Not many people nowadays would do that…

© James for Make a good house a GREAT home, 2007. | Silver Spoon Party Hire | No comments yet. Click here to add yours... |

Subscriber Exclusive Content
Visit this page: eBooks for Subscribers
And download my 2 eBooks: "How to Prune Roses" and "The HomeMade Flytrap"

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

I’ve used them a couple of times, and both times for Valentine’s Day (which I mentioned in my “Gift ideas for Mothers Day in South Africa” article). Perhaps twice is not a massive amount, but I think it’s enough to give you an account of my experiences.

Flower Day

I personally think Valentine’s Day must be the biggest day of the year for selling flowers so obviously not having the flowers in your hand on the day of the event can be quite nerve racking. Trusting a company like NetFlorist to be able to deliver on the day is obviously a big thing, and both times, they delivered perfectly for me.

Bonuses

They also give you the option of having your flowers delivered the day before the big event, and if you choose this option they will often throw in a bonus item, like a box of Ferrero Rocher chocolates.

I actually chose this option so that the flowers were delivered to me the day before, and I could give them to my wife on the morning of Valentine’s Day with breakfast…

I definitely scored with that…

…because my wife doesn’t eat chocolates, so I got to keep the Ferrero Rochers all to myself.

Anyway, both times that I used NetFlorist the flowers were delivered on time, and in good shape, and the basket & decorations that came with the flowers were great.

Here’s a quote from their site:

NetFlorist is South Africa’s largest flower and gifting service. They deliver throughout South Africa and are a same day service if orders are placed by 12 noon!

Click Here

So personally, I can recommend NetFlorist.

Have YOU been to www.netflorist.co.za and had an experience with them you’d like to share?

© James for Make a good house a GREAT home, 2007. | NetFlorist Review – www.netflorist.co.za | 8 comments. Click here to add yours... |

Subscriber Exclusive Content
Visit this page: eBooks for Subscribers
And download my 2 eBooks: "How to Prune Roses" and "The HomeMade Flytrap"

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

This is my secret little number.

It’s so sleek, smooth and speedy, it’s almost like having a miniature laptop. The picture is crystal, the images are polished, and the keypad reminds me of the one time I flew business class.

The high definition 3.2mp camera bumps the phone up to a digital camera, taking multi and panoramic shots with a crafty zoom…. and there’s STILL room for the mp3 player within.

It’s secretly stylish, and embodies enough energy to attract everyone…

I couldn’t have said it better myself…

© James for Make a good house a GREAT home, 2007. | Sony Ericsson K800i – Review | No comments yet. Click here to add yours... |

Subscriber Exclusive Content
Visit this page: eBooks for Subscribers
And download my 2 eBooks: "How to Prune Roses" and "The HomeMade Flytrap"

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Adam Hilton Wedding Photography

Normally, when you want a wedding photographer, you shop around, looking at the various portfolios, etc. But, the MAIN problem with this is that the photographer might have only ONE good photo at any wedding, and they could put this into the portfolio. In my mind, the photographs are right up their with the Bride in importance for a wedding, so I was nervous about just using any wedding photographer.

We found Adam via a friend, after looking at their own Wedding Album. We were AMAZED at the fact that ALL their wedding photos were INCREDIBLE. This is probably the BEST way to find a wedding photographer, when you see a selection of over 100 photographs, and every one of them is excellent.

So, in this article are a few of the photos that I’m quite proud of, and I thought I would share them. Of course, you can also go to Adam’s website, as he has a nice gallery of his Wedding Photography there. And one of those photos is also from our wedding.

The artistry of Adam Hilton

© James for Make a good house a GREAT home, 2006. | Wedding Photography in South Africa – Review | No comments yet. Click here to add yours... |

Subscriber Exclusive Content
Visit this page: eBooks for Subscribers
And download my 2 eBooks: "How to Prune Roses" and "The HomeMade Flytrap"

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

- Rush hour traffic got you down? Well, sounds corny, but I don’t mind sitting in traffic, because I’m not really “there”. I’m listening to a good book. I’m paying attention to the road, of course, but I don’t care if I’m going 5 miles an hour or 105 miles an hour.

- Feel like you need to learn something? Well, you don’t just have to listen to fictional books. There are audiobooks for learning languages, learning finance and investment, etc… For example, I had training for a week in a city I don’t live in, and it took me an hour every morning and evening to get there. So I spent the extra driving time listening to Suze Orman’s ” The Road to Wealth”. No time wasted driving there…

So, can I recommend listening to audiobooks? HELL yes. Go check some out at JiggerBug, where you can rent audiobooks, downloading them or getting them mailed to you.

Or, if you like Amazon.com, go check out the audiobooks on Amazon, such as The World is Flat, a must read for anybody in this day and age.

And, South Africans, don’t feel left out if you don’t like Amazon. You can go check out the Audiobooks at Kalahari.net, such as The Odessa File by Frederick Forsyth

© James for Make a good house a GREAT home, 2006. | Audiobooks are BETTER than sliced bread | No comments yet. Click here to add yours... |

Subscriber Exclusive Content
Visit this page: eBooks for Subscribers
And download my 2 eBooks: "How to Prune Roses" and "The HomeMade Flytrap"

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

In my post on “Party Music for your guests” I spoke about how playing MP3s or streaming music via the internet was a good idea for when you have a party. This is because, in my mind, it’s better than putting the radio on, and you don’t normally have to get up and change CDs every hour or so.

Well, the software I use for streaming music is called Musicmatch Jukebox Plus. In my mind, it’s THE BEST music managing software out there. I’ve always said to my friends that if there was just one program I would pay for, it’s this one. Other than the streaming music, one of the best features of this software is being able to rename your MP3s in batches, and BELIEVE me, if you have a lot, this can make life SOOOO much easier.

Anyway, back to the radio via the internet story. You can download this software and stream music from the internet without having to pay for it. The only downfall is, there will be ads every now and again, and I seem to remember that it would stop playing after a couple of hours and you would have to click play again. But, I’ve got a subscription to their music service, MusicMatch Radio, and it is BRILLIANT! You can search for an artist and play their music, as well as searching for an artist, and play their music and any music that’s similar.

Another GREAT feature is, you can choose a “Radio Station”, for example, Heavy Metal, and play that station. It will just keep playing all the songs it can find in that genre. Of course, with over 900,000 songs in their database, I don’t think you’ll run out of music for your party.

On top of all this, you can also buy music from within the MusicMatch software. And, if you think this software isn’t trustworthy, MusicMatch is owned by Yahoo! and I’m sure you’ve heard of them

Anyway, would I recommend Musicmatch Jukebox Plus- A DEFINITE YES!

© James for Make a good house a GREAT home, 2006. | Streaming Music – MusicMatch JukeBox Review | No comments yet. Click here to add yours... |

Subscriber Exclusive Content
Visit this page: eBooks for Subscribers
And download my 2 eBooks: "How to Prune Roses" and "The HomeMade Flytrap"

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh