Living the high life

In Jo’burg, this time I went on two flights with my Dad in a Cessna C172.

The first was just a short trip from Brakpan to Rand Airport where we had to refuel for our second longer trip to Sun City.

From the air you could see the E.R.G.O. (East Rand Gold Operations) Slimes Dam – essentially sludge from gold processing.

Our second trip to Sun City was much more eventful, starting with the runway itself. On the first Sunday of every month, they have drag races on the runway!

Apparently you can ask them to stop when you need to take off or land so the two activities can somehow co-exist. The pilots evidently see it as an annoyance but I personally found it quite funny. Luckily the races hadn’t started yet, though we had to watch out for some cones in the middle of the runway when taking off (as well as some nearby dogs and guineafowl).

Dad was at the controls, with Ray, a young pilot, next to him

and I was in the back.

We flew near the Cullinan Diamond mine (and dam) where they found the world’s biggest diamond, now in the Crown Jewels and near Angloplat, the world’s biggest platinum mine. After landing at Pilansberg Airport, we parked the plane on a landing bay, went through the ‘Domestic Arrivals’ gate, signed in to the airport’s log of arrivals and departures, and then called Sun City to arrange for a free minivan ride to Sun City. Normally you pay a 50 rand entrance fee, but we were whisked through the ‘Residents Only’ queue and taken straight to the Cascades, a hotel with beautiful pools, large gardens, a rope bridge and as the name suggests… some cascades. Our next stop was via the Entertainment Centre (casino)

to the Valley of the Waves. A back entrance to the exclusive Palace Hotel adjoins it though access is denied unless you are a hotel guest.

The Valley of the Waves was bustling with activity and for good reason. It was a picture perfect day – unlike the morning in Jo’burg which was quite chilly and had me convinced I wouldn’t need my cozzie. Within seconds of arriving, however, I changed my mind.

In ‘The Valley’, there is a huge wave pool with an alarm letting you know when the waves are about to start, causing a mini panic or excitement for the kids and adults alike.

It backs onto a sandy beach and lush green lawn where a stage was erected to host both a beatboxing demonstration and Bingo games – I imagine catering to a range of ages. There is also an array of water slides, some with darkened tunnels,

some open,

some which you slide down on a tube, and some which you shoot down with your arms and legs (and fingers) crossed, hoping you don’t fall out when you get airborne.

For something more relaxing, however, there’s the ‘Lazy River’ where you drift around slowly in a tube.

After trying out all of the rides (well at least the ones where the average age wasn’t about seven!), we opted for a late lunch at Michelangelo, an Italian restaurant in the Entertainment Centre, where I indulged in yet more calamari with a prawn and calamari spaghetti in a creamy wine sauce. The chef even let me replace the mussels that were supposed to come in the dish with some extra calamari.

Reception again organised a minivan to take us back to Pilansberg airport which arrived within minutes. But as we’d stayed at Sun City for so long, we ended up arriving quite late into Brakpan.

This meant we had to put the plane back in the already crowded hangar which was rather like a game of tetris, shuffling the planes around until they could all squeeze in.

We thanked Ray for coming with us, who thanked us back. After all, I could think of much worse days at work than flying up and back to Sun City and riding on some waterslides!