Cape Town again - pictures to be added

So after a stint with Tom and Amber we headed back to Cape Town for New Years. On the 31st we were at Rhonwyn's place where we started out by making Yakka (evil stuff) and then lying beside the pool for the rest of the day. Of course because we weren't thinking we had forgotten to get drinks for the evening and it was a mad rush to find some... eventually we found a shebeen in Diep Rivier where we got the necessary supplies. Back at the house the rest of the hordes had started arriving.... lots of people who I hadn't seen since the previous December.

All was festive and we were all chatting and dancing and at some point swimming again. This carried on until about 4:30 where we all decided that it would be a good idea to catch some sleep.
But the early birds woke us at about 9 when the clean up started.. so being hung over, and dosed with red bull we cleaned the house and then retreated to the pool where we spent a lot of the day. Later in the afternoon the 30 seconds board was brought out and a competition started.... Sandy playing the floating player and answering any question she knew the answer to... this was the start of ducks and sweet and sour pork (for those of you not there.... DON'T ASK)
A couple of games later the hunger had set in and we were trying to find somewhere to eat. This got postponed after someone started a game of famous names that just went pear shaped. Eventually we decided on going to the Cape Town Fish Market at the Waterfront. We had a booking for 9 and since we arrived early we made our way down to Quay 4 for a drink... we hadn't counted on the music being so terrible.
After drinks it was back to the fish market to enjoy some sushi... and the experience was something that I will not soon forget.... the description of everything that went wrong would take quite a few pages, so let's just say that the waiter was putting very serious downward pressure on his tip. At the end of the evening Hawk, Rhon, Carl, Sam, Pete, Sandy, Kev and myself had had our fill of sushi and decided that retiring for the night would be a good idea.

2nd Jan - Andy's farewell. After a good nights sleep it was off to Camps Bay and Cafe del Mar to say goodbye to Andy, there we met up with the rest of the crowd and the party started all over again. Bacon, Feta and Avo pizza, not something you'll readily find in London... so I had one and it was divine.. as the crowd started to scatter we got ourselves a smaller table and started in on the cocktails... with a name something like sunset... which after a while James was describing as smoggy? Not too sure either. A beautiful sunset and we were off to Sushi Zone in obs for.... you guessed it... more sushi. I've now learnt to eat sashimi, which is the raw fish version of sushi and is actually quite nice. Kev asked the waiter for a bit more wasabi and was presented with enough to sink a small ship, but he made his way through most of it. A surprising thing was when a 2meter long tuna was carried through the front doors... well at least we knew that it was fresh.
Another tiring day was past and we headed back to Petes' place to catch a bit of shut eye and see what the next day would bring.

Cape Town, and beyond

I landed in Cape Town after a fairly bumpy Kulula flight and was met by Andres, who in true style hailed a golf cart to take us to his car... he later explained that this was the only way that we were going to get there without having to walk miles, as CT airport is under heavy construction. We got back to the house where we had the obligatory glass of red wine and started the phone calls to see where everyone was... Andy was the first we got hold of and after a while of trying to ascertain which Cubana he was at (because there are about 10) we met him at the Tableview one. I didn't realise at the time but he didn't know who he was on the phone to, and when he saw me was quite surprised, Pete was also there so we had a good party after which I drove him home... it was quite amusing because he couldn't remember exactly where he lived. Then we pickeled off home and chatted till early the following morning when Andres had to leave for Hermanus for work reasons.

The following evening we were meeting up at Shonga with Herman for a dinner and to do some catching up. It was a lovely evening chatting and laughing again like old times, with dinner only costing a fraction of what it would have in London... then it was off to bed because the next morning early it was off to George to see the folks.

Arriving in George was a surprise for mother as she thought I was only arriving in 2 days time. While there we watched soapies, went shopping, had coffee and lots of other things, but being that relaxed the exact time frame is a bit of a blur. But it was nice to see the folks again along with the animals. I managed to salvage some of the clothes that I had left behind and add a new suit to my wardrobe. But after 2 weeks there it was time to head back down to the cape for the traditional new years party.

Kevin fetched me on his way down from East London and we stopped over in Klein Brak to visit with Tom and Amber and their puppy wolfhound Hagrid.... who at 4 months is about as big as a normal alsation.

Week 47.1

So after taking 2H30 to get to the airport and then being told that I couldn't check in for another hour... in case they lost my luggage I was left wondering what to do, there isn't much to, especially this side of the boarding gates. So i sit and wait, have an overpriced airport coke and read my book, which at this stage is Terry Pratchets - Going Postal. Finally time comes for me to check in and I'm the first in the line.... "emergency exit seat if possible" I asked, to which the woman stood up from behind her counter and looked me up and down and said "but you're to small love"... Right... fine... i can handle that... then how about a window? All fully booked there too.... how could they be fully booked? I was the first one in line when they opened for check-in... anyway. Sulking I went through boarding where I got to the real side of International Departures... the area with all the shops. Having a good couple of hours to kill I mooched around the shops and then found myself a little corner couch where I could have a bite to eat and read my book undisturbed. Having sat in one position for the better part of 2 hours I made my way along the concourse towards my boarding gate where I came across massage chairs... they look something like a lazy boy.. and for £1 you get a 10 min massage... lovely. So once relaxed I made my way onto the plane and took my seat, in the middle. I had a lady on one side and a gent on the other. Unfortunately the gent had failed to shower for what must have been the better part of 2 weeks. Supper came around and it was fairly edible and there were some good movies on. So after watching 2 movies I decided to get some shut eye, which unfortunately was a lot harder than I thought it would be. The girl next to me must have thought in her sleepy state that I was her male companion and tried to snuggle against my shoulder, the gent next to me was hogging that arm rest... the little girl in front of me had put her bag of toys under her seat which effectively cut my leg room to zero and the guy behind me snored like a tractor... so with the idea of sleeping gone I watched another movie or 2 or 3. It's okay.... i'm landing soon.

I landed at JHB at about 6:30 in the morning where I collected my bags, changed from my snow suit into something a bit cooler and went outside to meet Mia, who I was staying with for the night before heading to Cape Town.

It was nice to drive in a car again. And within 30 minutes of being outside in the glorious SA sun I had managed to get a sun burn. We went and did a bit of shopping at Menlyn Park and had lunch, then it was back to her house where we relaxed for the rest of the day. Mia was off to Greece and London a couple of days later so I loaded her with an A-Z of London and a tube map, as well as some numbers to call in case of an emergency.

Then on to Cape Town....

Week 47 - to home

The time has finally come to try to fit all my summer clothes and christmas presents into one bag and still be under my weight limit for the flight.... how do they expect you to travel with only 25kg worth of luggage. So after packing and repacking and removing some things which aren't classified as essential ( like the 3rd pair of jeans) it's off to the airport.... I'm only flying at 6pm but I figure leaving at 2 is the safest option, since the tubes aren't the most reliable of things. It should only take around 1H30 to get to the airport, then I can find a nice pub to sit in and have a last beer before I fly.

Sunshine, here I come