Merry Christmas...

We're off to Cape Town tomorrow, meeting up with some boaty forumites at the Royal Cape Yacht Club for dinner, then Christmas Eve dinner at sister-in-law's place the next day!

In the mean time though, been quite busy here - have started working, sort of, fixing up old houses and their furnishings. Hopefully this will help pay to get some more boats built in future. Talking of boats, I should get my Skipper's test results back tomorrow - for some reason I don't think I did too well; I'm not very good at remembering parrot-fashion type questions. Oh well, we'll see.

Strange thing about that, to get your ticket, you have to have a certain amount of hours (50) on a power boat, but it's retrospective - so there's me thinking, oh dear, going to have to come up with something... but the more I think about when I've been on boats, the more (genuine) hours I can come up with! No problem. So far I have managed to account for over 100 hours, if I go back far enough and include driving Navy Zodiacs (and minesweepers, but I'm not sure if they count!?), so I think all's OK on that front.

We've also acquired a DOG! Meet Dusty:


He's kind of a mixture of everything; we got him from animal welfare, and is estimated to be three and a half months old. No guarantees though. He's bright, learns quickly, and grows even quicker. In the two weeks he's been around, he's gone from a tad under 5kg to a tad over 10kg!!! Wow! The pic above was taken the day we brought him home!

Well, I'll leave for now, and anyone reading have a great Christmas, and New year. Those of you who are going skiing (you know who) - I'm jealous. Very jealous. Still, sunshine and warm (hot) days are better than cold wet London.

Later,

(Still not sure if I am or not...) a Skipper.

Tomorrow I start living up to my username!

Skipper, that is.

Yup, I do my Skipper's course tomorrow - three hours in the classroom, then an exam on Thursday. After that I get a temporary Skipper's Ticket, which becomes permanent after a certain amount of hours at sea have been achieved. Not sure how many hours it is as it varies depending on who you talk to, so the easiest thing will be to find out from the instructor tomorrow.

After that, hopefully "Three Summers" (pictured below on the Thames) will get wet for the first time in Africa!


(Nearly a Skipper) Skip.

T'internet...

...is now connected to my 'puter...

Expect some older posts to be updated with photo's over the next few days, and perhaps a few new ones...

Oh, and it's HOT here. Haven't had a tan like this for fifteen years! Pity it's only on the arms, neck and face; I'm scared to expose my transparently white legs to the sun, mostly 'cos they will blind passers by with their whiter-than-whiteness.... (Oh, and I don't really fancy sunburn!).

(Sweating) Skip.

We have a problem, please be patient.

The problem being that we have moved into the new house nearly two weeks ago, and have no internet connection, so am having to use other people's connections until we are hooked up.

Not very easy to blog when visiting others and being out in the sticks means a WiFi coffe shop doesn't exist!

So, updates will come later, when we are online again.

(Missing the surfing) Skip.

Fleas, 4x4's and guns...

To say that I'm feeling knackered is probably an understatement, after moving something in the region of half a tonne of boxes from storage to the house over the last two days. Back hurts, legs hurt, arms hurt - all understandable, but why do my ribs hurt?

The most daunting task though is trying to eradicate the fleas! Hundreds of the things. We misted the place on Wednesday night (after three solid days of cleaning) and were still being bitten. Then we started spraying skirting boards, which had some positive effect, but still they came! This morning we sprayed the carpets, and so far, it looks like it's working. But, if anyone has any suggestions on how to get rid of them outside, in the grass, please let me know!

Told you the house was manky! And they LIVED in it like that!

After three trailer-loads of boxes from storage yesterday, we took ourselves of to lunch at a place called "Coffee on the Rocks" (highly recommended) in De Kelders followed by a little off-road excursion in the Walker Bay nature reserve. The most I've ever used 4-wheel-drive for in the past is snow and ice. Well, soft sand, rocks and gravel is a whole different ball game! Especially trying to pick a route over the rocks so that you avoid cracking the sump or differential(s) on one of the higher bits! It was fun, and the car was more than capable, more so than me, and I think we need to go on a 4x4 drivers course before we venture further into the bush. Looking forward to more though.

And the guns - in order to be insured for household contents here, we have to have a 'linked' alarm system. Linked being, if the alarm goes off, a man with a gun will turn up in minutes to protect us/our house/contents etc. Nice! Oh well, this is Africa! Not too worried though, as burglary is quite rare in our village. Mostly it's opportunistic - if you leave your front door open to the street, with a handbag in view, then I guess it's gone, right?

(Ready for bed) Skip.

Did we kill the Miele?

With all the vacuuming - maybe, maybe not - but we could hear gravel being sucked up from the carpets. Urgh.

Even more urgh, I spent the afternoon cleaning the garage out with disinfectant, it was that bad! It seems the dogs lived in there. Not nice!

But getting there, and hopefully will be in by the weekend. Which is good news.

Even better news though, is that "Three Summers" and the Shoggy (England-speak for Shogun, Mitsubishi, 4x4) have cleared customs and we should be able to pick them up on Friday!!!

Hey, a boat to use on the weekend!!! Though, not "Three Summers" - she still needs a bit of work to repair some minor damage from her maiden voyage on the Thames (yep the one that goes through London), but "Suzy Doo," with her little 15hp Mariner motor will be ready to inflate and go!

One way or another, we are going to be on the river soon!

(Getting there) Skip.

We have a house.

It may be dirty and manky, and dusty, and have doggy-doo all over the garden (I use that term loosely) which is in serious need of a mow, amongst other things - but it's ours!

We spent a couple of hours this afternoon removing nails from walls, bat wing doors (??) and 70's style pelmets from above the curtains that were left behind (I wish they hadn't).

Dust everywhere, dead flies on the window sills, a pond - soon to be removed - full of mosquito larvae, and the grass full of the dogs' (3) leftovers... How do people live like this? They apparently only lived there for 18 months or so, but it was like going into a previously unopened Egyptian tomb, only that would have been cleaner!

Anyway, like I said, IT'S OURS! And, as the estate agents say, it has potential. And lots of it! The lounge area is bigger than the maisonette (not counting loft) we had in London. And that included two bedrooms, a lounge, kitchen and bathroom!

Tomorrow, operation clean-up starts.

And yes, I am looking forward to it.

(Still dusty and dirty) Skip!

We went for a ride!

Yesterday morning, before anyone was out of bed, we decided to go for a ride.

We being me, myself, and I. And a big red VFR. A VFR that hasn't had a decent blow for about two years.


From where we are, there is a road (R326) that heads in a dead straight line for about 4, maybe 5km, before starting to wind through the Klein River valley for a further 20km or so. Nice, but I (and the VFR) was still a bit rusty and not too settled into, as Valé would call it, "the rhythm."

So, take it easy, and let any cars pass if they were too close (one). No rush. Just relax. Then, at the crossroad where this road meets the R316, it was a choice of left to Caledon (27km) or right to Napier (30km, but a nice coffee shop I had been to before). Off we go to Napier.

Rolling hills, as we'd left the mountains behind us now, and we're into farmland, and long, sweeping curves on a wide smooth well surfaced road. Getting comfortable now, and faster, but still sticking more or less to the speed limit (120km/h), around one bend and see some baboons on the side of the road. Another bend, and an eagle (maybe a hawk) hovering over the grass, unlucky mouse. Over a crest, and duck as a crop spraying 'plane flies over my head at about 30m. Wow. The only thought that was consistent all this time was how terrible I would have felt if I had driven this road in a car, and not brought my bike back home!

Stop in Napier for a coffee and a fag.

And back again. Return journey was just a tad faster - visibilty was better with the sun behind me, and I wasn't watching the speedometer too much. Just focus on the road, what little traffic there was, and keep an eye out for those pesky baboons and guinea-fowl. Throttle off for approach to bends, bit of fuel into them, open up slowly half way through, and wind it up as we staighten out. Wow. Wow, wow wow!

5 minutes, and the wind noise seemed to disappear, and it was only tyre rumble and exhaust growl. Dunno where the wind noise went, but it did. It was just a road, a bike, and me. Eyes only for the disappearing road ahead of me, or where it went up the side of the hill in front of me, to work out the bend in the valley that I couldn't see, and for anything that moved in the grass on the side of the road. And ride. Didn't touch the brakes for 30km!

Y'all might find this boring, but it was one of the best motorcycle rides I have ever, ever had, in crisp clear air, an horizon 50, maybe 70km away, and no congestion. Wide open space. Did I mention no traffic?

We think we will like it here!

(Still grinning) Skip.

Well, we have a house...

...but we can't move into it!

Considering that the previous owners wouldn't allow us to store stuff in the garage, and were not going to give us any access until "the cash was in their hands" they are taking their sweet time to move out.

Transfer of the property went through at lunch time yesterday, after which the property officially became ours, but were they ready to move out? Doesn't look like it. Seems they didn't want to pay for a truck to move their stuff, I hear, and now I think that they might be realising the false economy of doing ten 60km round trips in their little car, and being charged occupational rent (by us) for every day that we do not have occupation of our house!

Now, the delay doesn't really make much difference to us, and if they had asked for a day or two to move, we probably wouldn't have minded.

But they didn't ask, and we do mind.

So, that's a weekend of painting and cleaning written off for us, but at least we will recoup most of the money that we have spent on storage.

Things work out, don't they? ;)

Still no news...

...on house transfer. Tomorrow is the end of the month, and that's when I think it will happen.

In the meantime, we went out today and splashed out on a new fridge-freezer, washing machine* and mattress. I hate entering PIN numbers for large amounts of dosh, but in this case it still worked. Nice to have Pounds!



* This machine will be well used, as the First Mate and I are expecting a new deck hand to join us in about six months time!!!

Nope.

Not today...

I think we'll be going with the original plan, end of the month...

Keys.

We may, stress the word "may," get our keys tomorrow. According to our friendly and very, very helpful estate agent, transfer looks like it will happen tomorrow. After that, we can start charging rent if the present occupiers aren't ready to move out.

It would be great if it did happen, but not really holding my breath here. There are some things that we were led to believe would be easy, and others that we thought would be difficult. It turns out that mostly everything is easy, so far.

The biggest shock of the move is that we are going to be charged import duty on the car, in spite of checking, double-checking, triple-checking (you get the idea) that as long as we were "returning residents" (yup) and had owned the car for longer than a year in the UK (yup) and were not going to sell it within two years of arrival (yup) then we were not going to pay.

Nope.

Now, with the car virtually in Table Bay, we are told that only people who have "officially" emmigrated from South Africa (uh, no, not us) qualify for this. Since then, we have been going through all the paperwork, and can still find no definitave and clear explantion for this. Oh well, such is life. At least it is still (a lot) cheaper than if we had sold the car, where nobody is buying 4x4's and bought a new one here, where it seems everybody has at least one 4x4!

So, if any reader knows of someone thinking of moving back to SA with a car - be warned!

The easy stuff: had our UK drivers licences changed to SA licences in about an hour, all over the counter, details entered into the system while we watched.

Also, it will, according to the local council (municipality) and traffic department, be legal for us to drive our foreign-registered vehicles here as long as their (foreign) tax discs are current. Nice, since that gives us until next year before we have to register them.

Mmmm, that'll do for tonight.

Wasn't me, officer...

Nope, the foreign registered bike doing 160 km/h between here and there was definitely not me!

The first container arrived today (supposed to have been yesterday, but there was a 'stop-go' at the harbour, what ever that means). Anyway, a phone call at 08:00 this morning informed us that it was on it's way, and should be here by 10:00. Which it was!

Furious unpacking, and everything was out in three hours, including the bike (in it's crate)! Most of the boxes have been put in storage, and some are here at M-i-L's place. The bike presented a bit of a problem, but with a little persuasion (ten litres of diesel) the local brick factory loaned us their forklift. Sorted!

So, after several days (weeks?) of hanging around, we now have our stuff, and can start sorting and unpacking. It's good to be getting on with something now after the waiting.

So, to blow some cobwebs, I went for a bike ride this afternoon - she started first time, got fed, and away we went...

Sticking strictly to the speed limit, of course!

Next, the car and boats...

Wildlife.

So far, spotted a troop of baboons on the main road between us and Hermanus (our closest 'main' town) last week, loads and loads of bird life, mostly doves, but sunbirds are quite common around the garden, as well as starlings and the occasional hadeda (a type of ibis).

It was amusing watching Oscar the cat stalking a hadeda on the lawn, then deciding that this probably wasn't a good idea. You have to bear in mind that until now, the biggest bird Oscar's ever seen is a wood pigeon. Hadeda's are an entirely different kettle of fish, and certainly way too much for little Oscar!

Then, this morning Suzy discovered a mole in the kitchen. Suzy's total hunting skills amount to rearranging feathers in the aftermath of one of Jack's kills, or staring at spiders. She had no idea what to make of a mole, so resorted to the tried and trusted routine - stare blankly.

On the way out for lunch later this morning, had to stop the car to let a puff adder slither across the road - about 75cm long and 3, maybe 4cm thick, all puffed up. I managed to get a couple of photo's as it dissappeared into the bush, but a bit blurry as it was quite dark in there. Still, I might attach one to this post later, when I get my own computer back and can start playing with pictures again.

I wonder what Suzy will do when confronted with a snake in the garden?

Ah, and we got news that the second container, with the car and boats, is due into Cape Town on the 27th of this month. Guess who's hitting the river early next month! And the off-road 4x4 trails around Walker Bay!!

Can't wait!

Bats!

Just been standing in the middle of the lawn of M-i-L's cottage, where late this afternoon the miggies (midges?) were flying around in clouds. Now the sun has set, and it's getting dark, the bats are out. They fly so fast and erratic that it's hard to count them, but I'm guessing there are 8 to 10, flitting to and fro, having a great meal of the miggies!

I keep standing still, and they fly within half a metre or so of my face, then suddenly turn away. Sharp turn, slight flapping sound, gone again! Every now and then there's a squeek, but otherwise they are silent.

South Easter is howling though, cloudless sky except up against the mountains where the wind hits the cliffs, and a hot day followed by a chilly evening.

Oh, and only spotted three whales in the bay today. But then, we weren't really looking...

In limbo.

Well, been staying at mother-in-law's place for just over a week now. Our first container should be arriving on Monday, so should get it here on Wednesday or so. Problem is, we can't unload into the house, as we don't get it until November 1st. So, I guess it will get unloaded into storage - but at least we will have access to our stuff some time next week.

Especially my tools! There is quite a bit that can be done around here, but I need those tools!!!

Oh, and the bike. That's causing a bit of a headache, as customs might want to inspect it before releasing the container. Little do they know - it was packed first, so is right at the back. If they want to see it, there is a hell of a lot of unpacking to do to get to it! Should I tell them about the stuff that will fall out of the container as they open the doors (that are quite literally holding the contents in)? Haven't decided yet ;-)

At the moment, we're just waiting. Waiting for the container. Waiting for the house. WAITING FOR THE BOATS!! Car's sorted, new registration plates a couple of days ago, so it's no longer a 'Vaalie' car, and the locals don't look at the plates and see an 'outsider' anymore. :)

Oh, well, a few more days of waiting, and at the end of the month things will start moving again. Don't expect much here before then!

Home. Well, nearly...

Long flight. Long, long flight from London, but after 11 hours arrived in Johannesburg after seeing an amazing sunrise somewhere over Botswana.

Got to chatting with the on-board staff on the plane (SAA), telling them about how long we'd been away, and stuff. Nice people. Just before landing, one of them came over and gave me a bottle of Cape red wine, saying "Welcome home!"

Spent two nights in Johannesburg, then left at about 04:30 on Tuesday morning for the Cape. Arrived in the dorp, our new home town, at 20:00. Fifteen and a half hour's driving through some spectacularly wide open space, one thousand, six hundred kilometres later, and I'm now home.


Well, almost. We don't move into the new house until the beginning of next month, but close enough.

Went whale spotting this afternoon, about 16 in total, but they weren't giving us a display - just lounging around, rolling over and warming their bellies in the sun. No rush, I have time to photograph them later!

So good to be here, but still really tired from all the travel. Next week's plan is to chill, meet the locals, and take it easy.

Oh, did I mention the sun shines here?

Farewell green island.

All done. Packed.

I'm ready to go home now.

Cancellations and bookings.

Amazing how easy it is to sign up to a new, for example - 'phone - service, isn't it? Type your name, address, bank details etc., and wow! All done! Well, that's what the First Mate did many months ago. Now I need to cancel it. So far, four 'phone calls (one from her in SA, with no luck) and they still won't do it. Total time on 'phone between the two of us so far is around two hours. AAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!

On a positive note, looking at SAA's website, I see a price of £635 for a one way flight to Jo'burg, but unfortunately their site doesn't 'do' Macs, so I have to 'phone them. I tell them what I want, single ticket to Jo'burg, this Saturday. "Oh," she says, "we have a sale at the moment, so you can get a return ticket for £384!!"

BOOKED! Done! I'm outta here on the 4th October. Sunday lunch in the sun is already booked!

Forecast here in London is for overnight temperatures going down to around 5ºC during the next night or two. No thanks...

Oh, and the cats made it safe and sound.

Which is good.

They will be African cats soon...

Well, the cats are now at Heathrow, awaiting their flight to Cape Town.

As usual, not without hiccups - the letter from the shipping company said to get there before 16:20, but while paging through all the documentation I discovered that they needed to be there an hour earlier than that! So, minor panic, but managed to get my local taxi driver (my cousin) to come earlier.

Then, the water bowls for the three mogs weren't there as promised, but a quick phone call and ten minutes later problem solved.

Driving with three neurotic cats in an MPV certainly made me understand what a 'cat's choir' sounds like. By the time they went through to the warehouse though, two were asleep, and the other was nearly so.

Tomorrow morning the kitties will wake up in Africa, with a whole new set of smells, sights and sounds to experience. Let's hope they like it!

Next couple of days are going to be a bit dull, with things like account closures, phone cut-offs etc. to do. Oh, and maybe book a ticket for me to fly out too!

So, I might play a bit and see if I can add pictures to these posts, but don't expect anything new for now...

Later,

Preparation.

The last few weeks have been absolutely manic, culminating in a whirlwind week of...

Monday - last household goods packed in boxes, previous boxes in storage taken to depot.

Tuesday - all those boxes packed into a 20' container, along with the bike (Honda VFR 800) which took some doing, considering the container was 5' (don't worry - I'm going metric soon enough) off the ground. Eventually done with some serious man-handling, and no scratches.

Wednesday - had the house re-carpeted. They turned up at 09:00 instead of 13:00 as booked, so I was frantically replacing floorboards while they were lifting carpets. Also, it was our last day with the car, so running around getting paint and stuff to tidy up the house for the new tenants (not a good time to sell right now), new (spare) fuel tank for "Three Summers" so will be able to carry enough on board to run for a full day at cruising speed. Not that I know what that is, 'cos she only did one trip on the Thames, and that was limited to 5 mph! Still, it was a good day.

Thursday - drive car and boats to container depot for loading into a 40 footer, to discover trailer is too wide to go through the doors. Finally convinced them that if the mudguards were removed, it would fit. With about 1" to spare either side! Vet came around in the evening to make sure the kitties were OK to travel. House calls from a vet? Yip!

Friday - First Mate starts packing (again).

Saturday - another lazy day. First Mate sleeps for most of it, then to the local for a last pint together (of Belgian beer), then off to Heathrow in the afternoon. Only to get there and be told her ticket is for 27 October!!! Well, she managed to get past that, and though didn't catch her booked flight,she still got the one after, on standby.

Sunday - She's now comfortable in the spring sunshine of the Overberg!

Skipper's (me) flight hasn't been booked yet, as unsure if going to Jo'burg first or not.

Will let you know.

Bye!

Leaving England...

Intro...

Well, now is as good a time as any to start this blog - the aim being to let family and friends around the world know what's going on in our lives, and anyone else interested in the transition of two South Africans, that having lived in London for the best part of fifteen years, are now returning to South Africa. That's where we came from, and it's time to go home.

Neither of us intended to leave SA for very long - a couple of months, maybe a year or two, but hey! Time passes, and having arrived here with not much more than a backpack, we're returning with two container-loads of stuff!! OK, one of them contains the car and the boats. The other is mostly furniture - bulky stuff.

So, it's going to be a bit of a diary about fitting into a new life, adventures of "Three Summers," the boat that I have spent the past three (and a bit) years building, and some photo's of SUNSHINE - something that has been lacking severly in our lives for too long!

The First Mate left last night on a flight to Cape Town, and for the next couple of days will be staying with her dad, until the three animals (cats) arrive on Tuesday, after which she will be going to her mom's place in the "dorp" (afrikaans for 'small town') where we are hoping to settle.

Well, them's the basics. Details will follow.