I'm going to the 2013 Pick n Pay Knysna Oyster Festival. Yes sir I am.

Guys. About a week ago, Getaway magazine launched this competition: Win a five-day, all-expenses paid trip to the Knysna Oyster Festival valued at R30 000 and you’ll be the Getaway blogger on the ground while the action rolls out. The catch? You’ve got to have guts. In addition to featuring the festival, you’ve got to handle Knysna’s exciting side – and that’s not just the oyster eating competition either. You’re going to jump off the Bloukrans Bridge, paraglide over Sedgefield and zip line between ancient Yellowwoods so tall they shield the forest from daylight … and live to tell the tale. Keen? Tell us why you want to be part of the action at the Pick n Pay Knysna Oyster Festival in 50 words or less in the comment box below and include links to your blog and Twitter handle.

So I entered. One of my friends, Keri Bainborough also entered. She blogs beautifully over at Midlands Musings. A LOT of bloggers entered - some of the biggest and best in the country. I put my links in and said I would blog the rabbits out of it, and wrote it off as one of those things that would never happen to me. Until it did. THEY CHOSE RAISING MEN. They really, really, really did. I got the message on Saturday morning and I squealed and ran across the house and jump-tackled Graeme until he almost fell over. I jumped, I ran, screamed and completely freaked the freak out. Keri and I had been BLEGGING to go together and they even made that a reality for us too. They're sending us together. Now I love Keri, I love her blog, our tweets, our whatsapp chats and emails... we're friends with all the same people, she lives in my old hood, our husbands know each other but we have never ever actually met in real life. Double excitement. There's more. 

I resigned at work and am in the process of starting my own company. I've decided to take a huge leap and embrace my entrepeneural spirit. My last working day is Friday 28 June. Then on Monday 1 July I fly to George for the freakinoysterfreakinfestival. An all expenses paid adventure and a huge opportunity. I am sort of taking this very seriously because I really want to be the best Oyster Festival Correspondent there ever was. I am like, one step away from becoming the next Christiane Amanpour right now guys. I want you to feel like you were really there, I want to tell everyone exactly what every event was like in detail so intricate that you could almost touch it. I'm researching and studying the programme, I'm stalking, I'm following and I'm learning so much about one of the most beautiful parts of our country. The more I read and discover, the prouder I feel about being a South African and I mostly feel so blessed that I'm going to be a part of this.

As scared as I am, I'm going to jump off a bridge and I'm going to love it. Even if I throw up and scream and have an anxiety attack, I am going to push myself and I'm going to embrace every aspect and living organism in my body and it's capabilities. And I'm going to have fun doing all of it. <YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND I am even too scared to have my ears pierced and I have burst in to tears when there was a Christmas Beetle in our house once> I am so excited guys. All the details are busy being finalized, our flights are booked, Keri is joining me (read her blog post here) and the husband is truly excited about the boy time that they'll be having while I'm away. I envision that they'll be doing a lot of Spider-Man and home made pizzas and a lot of falling-asleep-on-the-couch but I know that they'll have their own bonding time too without mommy's reign of order / nagging.

This is sort of what our itinary looks like. I also want to cover more on the sporting side, including the Pick n Pay Cape Times Knysna Forest Marathon which you can read more about here. There's also a Knysna Craft Beer Project happening here. What I love about the Oyster Festival is that they have it during the school holidays every year and how incredibly kid-friendly the whole event is. There's a whole programme for kids and even qualified holiday care / minders to assist with extra hands so that mommy and daddies can sneak off for an hour or two to take part in some Oyster Shucking and wine tasting. This festival really has something for everyone to enjoy and Knysna has so many activities to partake in in the area.

Right now I'm just going to tell you about what WE will be up to - and show you where we will be staying, eating, playing, jumping, falling and riding. My next post will be all about the festival highlights and the very next post will be dedicated to the children's programme because it's truly amazing and has been developed with a lot of love and attention to detail. It has probably been developed by mothers. That want to drink wine.

What you need to know is that this is where you can collect more info on the festival - the official website. If you're still thinking of going, here is a list of accommodation in the area. The annual Pick n Pay Knysna Oyster Festival is one of South Africa’s most popular festivals with huge appeal for sports lovers, families and adventurers. It's on from 28 June - 7 July 2013. Follow the official account on Twitter and the tags #oysterfest #Big5 #TabascoHotspot. Also follow me and Keri if you want to be entertained by two girls trying to convince one another to literally jump off a bridge.  It's going to be funny. We have also made a pact to stop tweeting after the 6th glass of wine for the sake of the sponsors involved. We hope to remember this pact but we probably won't. This is the gorgeous gal that is joining me on the festival

Please promise not to hate me. What I am about to share with you is truly amazing and I am beyond grateful for this opportunity. I have never been away from the boys for this long so I am also sort of freaking out, but I know that they'll have a blast with some one-on-one daddy attention too. Another thing, the day after I get back, my family is being treated by the Walt Disney Company Africa to go watch Disney on Ice but more on that later. It's going to be such a nice welcome home activity for us to enjoy together! Here is our personalized Oyster Festival line-up. REMEMBER YOU PROMISED NOT TO HATE ME. 

Day one: 01 July 2013 

Arrival flight in George. Drive to Knysna.

Check-in: Knysna Hollow 

Lunch at Tabasco Oyster Hotspot Drydock 

Afternoon: Knysna Elephant Park 

Dinner. Overnight at Hotel 

The Knysna Hollow. I know. I don't think I've ever stayed somewhere this nice before. 

The Knysna Hollow poolside. Please let there be enough sunshine to have at least one cocktail here on our time 'off'

The view at The Drydock where we'll be lunching on our first day and have our very first Knysna Oysters. 

The Knysna Elephant Park where you can ride and walk with elephants. Also feed and touch them. I am going to cry.

Day two: 02 July 2013 
Breakfast at accommodation 

Township tour 

Lunch at Tabasco Oyster Hotspot 34 South 

Afternoon: Cruise through the Knysna Heads 

From 17:00 Knysna Wine Festival and Night Market 

Overnight at Hotel 

I've never been on a township tour of any sorts before. I'm really hoping to get some amazing photographs here. 

The deck at 34 South. Apparently this restaurant is super amazing. I'm already craving chilli and garlic prawns and wine.

Some of the menu items at 34 South. The salads look incredible. The desserts. It's going to be such a treat. 

These are the Knysna Heads. I have never been to Knysna and never been on a proper cruise. This looks beyond beautiful. 

We'll be cruising through here and taking loads of pictures and telling you all about it. Please follow us to be part of it all

We'll finally get to the Knysna Oyster Festival and Night Market. You guys don't understand how much I love Oysters! 

Day three: 03 July 2013 

Breakfast at accommodation 

Bungee jump at Bloukrans 

Pick n Pay Flavours of Knysna 

Overnight at Hotel

Dun DUN DUN DUNNN. This is the bridge that we'll need to jump from. We might die. Please delete my browser history.

This girl looks like she's having fun. She is actually not really. She is actually about to fall to her death. That's all I see. 

Where good people go to die. I have watched many videos of people jumping and NOT dying. They're all fake. Obviously.

Why doesn't anyone have shoes on? Do we need to be barefoot? I DON'T EVEN HAVE A FOOT FILE. 

Assuming that we're still alive, we'll now be at the Pick n Pay Flavours of Knysna event. Probably not though. 

Day four: 04 July 2013 

Breakfast at accommodation 

Morning: Tandem paragliding in Sedgefield 

Lunch at Timberlake Organic Village 

Afternoon Wildwoods Treetop Adventures at Timberlake

Local Design and Food Market 

Overnight at Hotel

I am actually not scared of this at all. This looks like super fun. I am really going to love this. Paragliding in Sedgefield!!

Wait, they are really close to that there ocean. Why does nobody have life jackets on? WHAT IS GOING ON HERE. 

We're going for lunch at the Timberwood Organic Village. This really looks amazing and delicious. Wine, olives, freshness..

How awesome are these saddle stools at the Timberlake Organic Village? SOMEBODY GET ME A BRANDY AND COKE. 

We'll then be off to the Wildwoods Treetop Adventures. Basically, as soon as we get there, everyone is trying to kill us. 

This really does look like fun though. There's a kiddies course that I KNOW the boys will love. Will take them next year!

Our last stop for the trip will then be the Local Design and Food Market where we will basically spend a lot of money. Yay!

Day five: 05 July 2013
Breakfast at accommodation
Depart for George airport

This is not really the plane that we'll be in. This is an image that I sourced from Google. Doesn't it make you happy?

So this is what we have on the cards for the trip thus far. Things may change, like maybe they'll be like "Don't worry girls, let's rather take you for a walk in the forest instead of the bungee jump." But not likely. I'm glad that we'll be doing the jump - I love the excitement of it all and I even love the fear because it makes you feel so alive. I can't wait for all of this and again, I am so sincerely grateful for all of it. I have never experienced anything like this or even seen Knysna so I can't stop grinning like a silly person all over everyone. Stay tuned for the rest of the festival programme and highlights - there is way more going on than I've mentioned here. Lots of love, excitement and bunny hops x