I mentioned previously in these here pages that Chantelle surprised me with a proper man’s braai this Christmas, and after giving it its final protective paint coat, I decided to at last set it forth on its maiden burning, seeing as this Saturday past was the first day Chantelle was actually off from work in who knows how long! Not wanting to plan something big, we summoned two sets of couples whom we haven’t seen in absolute ages to join us and so come last Saturday 18:00ish, Karl, Trish, Damen and Michelle joined Chantelle and myself under our new Coricraft umbrella and in front of the magnificent braai, on one of the most stunning days you could possibly imagine!

Like the apron says, Craig, a champion braaier indeed. Note the giant 750ml bottle of beer in hand by the way! ;)

(It was such a nice day that Chantelle and I had even nipped out for a quick swim in the ocean before the others arrived. The swim would have been longer, but it was quite a hilarious 10 minutes or so watching Chantelle try to jump into her bather which wouldn’t slip on even in the slightest, her decision to shower just moments before proving to be a rather silly idea after all! :P)

Braaing on wood and thus real coals at last was an absolute pleasure and as such I turned out the perfect braai goodies, succulent meats, juicy sausage, crisp braai broodjies, it was simply fantastic. And pared with some delicious watermelon, spanspek and Trish-prepared salad, we dined like kings under the perfect sky. (And there was even ice-cream to be had too…)

From there the evening degenerated into a slog match between Karl and Chantelle over Tetris, with the Doctor proving to be the far superior when it comes to moving bricks around a pixelated screen, though I must admit to have been quite overjoyed when the Game Over finally struck Dr. Storbeck because that irritating music loop had really begun to grate my ear drums! It wasn’t a particularly late evening but it was a good evening of friends and catching up, in other words a perfect success. So I guess the question is simply who do we invite over next? ;)

See, there were other people there, just like I told you! I'm not lying, honest!

The ever hot and gorgeous Chantelle blocking my view of the manly braai area...

Damen and Michelle were not about to be left out of the piccies either!