Bridget McNulty

Wednesday morning: 10.33am

// March 17th, 2010 // No Comments » // Blogs

I am most definitely home.
Woke up in my nest this morning (I’m now totally nested – all my treasures in their place, a full fridge and my first baking project – stripey cookies – successfully behind me).
We don’t have internet yet, so I’m now at a local cafe using their wifi. Ordered a pot of tea and a bran muffin, and the tea arrived in a big pot, strong, with a lovely big tea cup, fresh milk and a glass of water on the side.
This is why I love being home! Everyone speaks my language (even though we have 11 official languages, we also have a common South African language around things like tea. You know, the important things in life!)

I suppose I’m feeling full of love for South Africa at the moment not only because I’ve just returned home, but because I’m in the lovely position of writing blog updates every second day for Travelstart.co.za
To celebrate the 100 days to the World Cup kick-off, they’re posting 100 reasons to visit South Africa in 2010, and I’m contributing every second day.
It’s such fun!

Check out my favourites so far, and bookmark the page for a dose of South African love every day!
http://blog.travelstart.co.za

It’s a good read, I promise!
(Although if you’re not in South Africa, it will make you want to come and visit… Don’t say I didn’t warn you!)

Home!!

// February 11th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // Cape Town, Life (and the living of it)

What a pleasure.

We arrived home late yesterday afternoon, and I’m jetlagged and exhausted and so deeply happy to be back in South Africa.

I’ll be blogging regularly again, now that life has returned to semi-normal (still homeless till the beginning of next month, and interviewing for jobs in the next couple of weeks – I’ll keep you posted!)

Mostly, though, just happy. Happy to be home. Happy to not have to live out of a suitcase for much longer. Happy to see family and friends.

*Sigh!*

10 things we learnt from the FIFA Confederations Cup 2009:

// June 29th, 2009 // 2 Comments » // Inspiration, Life (and the living of it), Philosophy

I know, I know! Me, writing about sport? Impossible!
Except… The Confederations Cup was played in South Africa, which got me interested in it, and there were some big surprises, which got me even more interested, and then South Africa made it into the final four, which got me hooked!

Here, then, life lessons learnt from soccer:

1. Nothing is ever certain until the final whistle blows.

2. You might think you know where the game is headed, but that can all change in the 90th minute.

3. Underdogs can become finalists.

4. You can’t only defend; you can’t only attack.

5. South African fans are the most colourful, the most enthusiastic and, yes, the loudest.

6. No matter what country you’re from, when the camera focuses on you, you will jump up and down like a crazy thing.

7. Bafana Bafana know how to play soccer.

8. Our players might be small, but they’re tough. (Not like some other players, who fall over if you look at them funny.)

9. Soccer really is the beautiful game.

10. South Africa is ready for the World Cup in 2010. Not quite 100% ready, but it won’t be the disaster many predicted. It might just be one of the most exciting months of our lives.

(Want to read what other people have to say about this? Read the same post on ThoughtLeader – and check out the comments!)

How diabetes changed my life:

// June 22nd, 2009 // No Comments » // Diabetes, Inspiration, Life (and the living of it), Writing, travelling

That’s the theme of the story I wrote for Real Simple magazine in July last year. It was called ‘Sugar Rush’ and it was about how being diagnosed with diabetes made me reassess my definition of success, and start living the life of my dreams.

And… It just won the South African leg of the Novo Nordisk 2009 Diabetes Media Prize! Which is a huge honour. And makes me very happy because it means it’s going through to the international leg of the competition, and so am I! They’re flying me to Vienna in September for a 4 days diabetes conference. Fantastic!

I’m going to try and copy the article below (let’s see how web-savvy I really am – turns out, not that web savvy! You can click on it and download it, but not too sure how to make it a PDF in the blog post). I just read it for the first time in almost a year, and I have to say I’m rather pleased with it. I managed to capture the mood of how I feel about this subject, and I think that’s all any writer can ask for…

Sugar Rush

And the final leg… Italy to Home.

// March 27th, 2009 // 3 Comments » // Inspiration, travelling

Almost exactly a year today!

We’ll cross over into ITALY around the 31st of March, and drive across the North to VENICE, the city of canals. With 1400 years of history and our first taste of Italian food, this is sure to be a memorable stop… From Venice we’ll stop over at SAN MARINO, Europe’s third smallest state (after the Vatican and Monaco) to check out the place where the Grand Prix takes place (!) and then head on to TUSCANY. FLORENCE is home to beautiful countryside and great food, but also to some of the world’s greatest Renaissance art. And then from Tuscany we’ll head to ROME, to indulge in their cafés, history, architecture and culture. There are rumours that the best pizza in the world is made in Rome… Watch this space! We’ll drop off our car, and exit Italy, at BARI.

From there, we’ll catch a ferry over to DUBROVNIK in Croatia, arriving on the 16th of April. Dubrovnik is a city of marble streets and Baroque buildings on the Adriatic coast. We’ll explore the museums and sights, and then head off to discover what Croatia is famous for – island paradise. MLJET ISLAND sounds like just such a paradise, 72% of the island is forest, and there are two saltwater lakes. By this stage, we’ll probably need some down time, so if we spend a week on a paradisical island, that will be just fine!

Our second-to-last country is GREECE, where we’ll land in ATHENS on the 2nd of May. We’ll spend a day or two seeing the Parthenon Temple in Athens, soaking up the vibrant street life and walking along Europe’s longest pedestrian promenade. Then we’ll take a ferry to the island of SKIATHOS, where pine-fringed beaches and picturesque monasteries give a picture postcard view of Greek island life. From Skiathos there’s a ferry to CRETE, Greece’s largest island and a place of stunning natural beauty, traditional mountain villages and treasures off the beaten path.

We end our epic journey in TURKEY, where we’ll land in ISTANBUL on the 18th of May. Istanbul has a lot to offer, from the Tokapi Palace, the Blue Mosque and the Grand Bazaar, to historic buildings and tranquil cay bahcesi (tea gardens). Once we’ve drunk our fill of Istanbul we’ll head to CAPPADOCIA by an overnight bus. Cappadocia is home to hotels built in caves, ancient churches, fairy chimneys, hot air ballons and Byzantine frescoes. Magical, no?
And finally, to end our trip, we’ll spend a few days lying on the beach of the TURQUOISE COAST, catching our breath after ten months of travel, and gearing up for the Soccer World Cup in CAPE TOWN when we return home!

Inspiring women…

// February 23rd, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Cape Town, Inspiration

I went to the Women’s Show in Cape Town yesterday, and it was a real treat. Not only because they were handing out small squares of excellent dark chocolate the whole time, but also because it was really rather inspiring to interact with so many go-getter women.

I was there, specifically, to be part of a discussion on stage all about how women need to stand together to help each other develop further, and how integral community work is in our lives. So often, I think, especially in South Africa, we tend to feel overwhelmed by all the millions of people who need help, and so instead of starting small and working together to create something bigger, we just don’t do anything at all. Spice4Life, the organisers of the forum I was on, are trying to change that, by offering easy, practical ways to get in touch with other women, whether it’s for networking, support, or to get involved in the community. Their tagline is ‘Connecting women with purpose.’ I love it! Go and visit them now! Now!!

I was also lucky enough to catch a performance of the up-and-coming singer, Black Porcelain. I felt like I was seeing (and listening to!) a younger incarnation of Nina Simone. She’s a local singer, packed full of promise, and I highly recommend a visit to her mySpace page to download a few tracks. You’ll find her at www.myspace.com/blckporcelain

So all in all, a pretty wonderful afternoon. Chocolate, inspiring women, and great tunes. What more could you ask for from a Sunday afternoon?

Stop whining, start DOING.

// September 12th, 2008 // 3 Comments » // Decisions, Life (and the living of it)

It’s one of the things that really really gets to me – people who complain (endlessly, it seems), but never actually do anything to change the situation they’re complaining about.

Which is why I find it so inspiring that a group of people in South Africa who really care about a particularly beautiful stretch of coastline called the Transkei have mobilised themselves into action, and are DOING something, instead of just sitting around and complaining.

The Transkei is an extraordinary area – stunning scenery, with a splash of the unspoilt about it, fabulous swimming beaches, friendly people, cows, more cows, and a taste of South Africa that doesn’t taste like anywhere else in the country. And it’s about to be ruined. Pretty conclusively ruined.

Despite numerous complaints, the SA Department of Minerals and Energy has given an Australian mining company permission to mine the Transkei coastline. Environmental groups are lobbying to have the Wild Coast listed as a World Heritage site, but time is running out, fast.

Apparently the kind of mining they’ll be doing is called “Open Cast” mining, one of the most destructive forms of mining for the environment. The Wild Coast is so beautifully untouched and pristine, but not for long if this goes through.
One of the arguments on the mining side is that the whole thing will provide extra work for the locals, but as it turns out the techniques they’re using need mostly skilled and technical labour that will have to be imported into the area. And all the profits will be exported.

Do you care?
I hope so. If you do, please sign this online petition, it won’t take more than 20 seconds (I promise, I’ve done it!) and it might just help. http://www.PetitionOnline.com/xolobeni/petition.html
Then, once you’ve signed it, forward it to all your friends. I was one of the first to sign at the beginning of the week – number 18. Now it’s up to over 1200. Let’s increase that tenfold!

One of my favourite things is when people stop whining and start doing. Let’s lend them a hand!

Port Elizabeth, here I come!

// September 4th, 2008 // 1 Comment » // Cape Town, Life (and the living of it), Nature

Yip, I’m off again. This time with the man, and by car. We’re driving to Port Elizabeth tomorrow (about a 6 or 7 hour drive from Cape Town), spending the night, then exploring Jeffrey’s Bay and St Francis Bay on Saturday (within an hour of Port Elizabeth, I think) and driving home on Sunday.

Phew!
A lot of driving.

I think it will be fun, though. We’ve got lots of padkos (snacks for the car), I just got a book on CD from the library, we’re burning mixes tonight and we’ve booked into two lovely-looking B&Bs – one in a charming guest house, one right on the beach. Oh, and all our expenses are being paid for, because it’s a work trip. Delightful!

I’ll report back on Monday, with photos and such… Until then, have an *awesome* weekend!