BRAAI DAY!

It's the 24th of September, it's National Heritage Day (also know as National Braai Day), and there I am, little old unorganised me, with no plans...

But have no fear, I have a man with a plan, or a man with a family with a plan, and luckily for us a member of that family works for SAB. So our no plan turned into the best plan - Castle Lager Our Beer Our Braai!

We were greeted by a very happy, loud crowd of all shapes, sizes and ages! 

Happy people, celebrating their different heritages together

And an Ice Cold Castle to start the festivities!

 When we arrived there were loads of people already hard at work on their braai's, feeding family and friends alike, but it was only after a walk around that we realized that we had unknowingly stumbled into a Guinness World Record attempt.

For us idiots who didn't know where we were and why...

Of course we had to take part in this, I mean how could I just happen to arrive at such an amazing event and not be a part of what it was all about?! 

Unfortunately that wasn't until 16.30, and it was only 14.30, and I in the wise words of the 7 year old Mr. Oliver Niss "WAS STARVING!" 

Luckily the rest of the family felt that same, so off Leon and Peter went to buy us some Boerewors to braai in the meantime... Tick Tock Tick Tock... Apparently, being braai day, we weren't the only people who wanted to buy wors, so this proved to be a little difficult. Eventually though they returned successful, so off to the braai area they went with only about 15 minutes left to cook our boerie.

Lunch on the go!

 

Our champions, I don't know how they got our wors cooked so quickly

And while that was going on some hungry little monkeys shared some ice-creams :) How gorgeous are these 2 beautiful girls sharing their Ice-Cream? "Mines fruity Sewa, do you think Chloe likes fruity??" Well Monkey Face, judging by the big chunk she chomped out of your ice-cream, I'd say she does:)

This family is full of the most beautiful kids! Love them :)

Soon after that lunch was ready, and it couldn't have come sooner for all the hungry members of the Niss/Savage family!

YUM

YUM

AND MORE YUM!

  Then came the call for all participators to collect in the braai area. I have to say, all of this was superbly organised! I am so impressed at how it all went down. 

We were shown into section H and each given a beer(note how I list these in order of importance), a piece of boerie, a roll, some relish, and a pair of tongs. We were all ready to go, but the Johannesburg braaiers let us down, they were struggling to get the numbers, so we had to wait an extra half an hour. TSK TSK JHB, TSK TSK! Not that that was really a problem, it just gave us some time to get to know the members of our team who we didn't already know.

Team H! In high spirits and ready to BRAAI!

It also gave me a little time to witness a spirit, that was not unlike the beautiful human spirit I was so privileged to see during the 2010 world cup (scary that that was already 3 years ago...). People of all colour, races and ages came together to celebrate something which I often forget is so beautiful. Gees !

An old African man teaching the Whities to dance :)

All kinds in great spirits!

 Eventually Jo-Burg was also ready. And...

3...

Beer and Relish in Hand

2...

Boerie ready!

 1..

BRAAI!

 Basically the only rule was that we had to keep our wors on the braai for a full 30 minutes. So during that time there was a lot of time to make new friends, take photos, drink beer, and of course fall in love with our mascot.

Taking Photos, and making memories

Who do you think is the real braai master?? 

Drinking Castle and Making Friends

A little bit of braaiing and photo bombing

And of course getting our rolls ready. No Knife, No Problem!

After the half an hour, there was a countdown for us to take our boeries off the braai, after which the crowd erupted into the most beautiful version of the National Anthem. I can't even describe in words how proud I felt at that exact moment to be a South African and to be a part of such an event. 

ALL MINE :)

Then of course, we all got to enjoy our Boeries!

YUMMY!

While we waited to hear if we broke the record or not, CRAZY WHITE BOY kept the crowds going!

It really did all come together with a castle!

And the verdict? Yes, the Boerie was yum, the crowd was amazing and the kids were as always too cute for words, but did we break the guiness world record??

YES WE DID!! 2353 people all over South Afica all braaiing together at once! Now that's what I call human spirit, and on heritage day at that!

Well done and thank you to everyone who took part!

Thank you castle for and amazing event, and some fantastic memories and new friends, but most of all thanks Gareth for the tickets and inviting us to share such a beautiful day!