Paternoster

Monday
Today we set off to spend a couple of days at what turned out to be a beautiful unique fishing village about 120 kms north west of Cape Town. Jill thought it looked just like a Greek village with its white houses

there were three sisters

who had three husbands

the village had white houses

there were amazing sunsets

entertainment supplied by the locals

there were even mermaids on the rocks

these are fishermen returning from a day out on the seas

we even got to climb to the top of the lighthouse over 3milion candle power

We had a nice slow trip back, calling into many different bays on the way home. A fantastic couple of days away was had by all.

read comments (0)

Robben island

Sunday 5 May
Today we visited the place where political prisoners were housed during the apartheid days. We traveled the 11kms on the Sea Princess with Joan and Hugh on a nice calm sunny day, the trip taking about half an hour. When we arrived we were met by an African tour guide who took around the island showing us the quarry where the men worked and the special accommodation where Sobukwe the leader of the Pan African Congress spent his time. The thing that must have been most frustrating for the prisoners was that Cape Town looked so close but was so far away. We then had a tour through the actual prison. Our tour guide this time was an ex prisoner, Sparks, who served 7 years on the island for insurrection. We saw the dreadful conditions they lived in and we also saw the actual cell that Nelson Mandela was incarcerated in for 18 years. It is very sad that these things happened in our lifetime, but the Africans seem quite philosophical about it all now.

Our transport to Robben Island

and no-one got seasick

Nelson Mandela’s home for 18 years

Sparks our Tour Guide

read comments (0)

Table mountain

Saturday 4 May
We at last have Internet so now is catch up time. Today we went up Table Mountain, ,something I did 45 years ago. Fiona &Stewart took us up on a fair weather day as the weather was all over the place. We drove up to the cable car which is now a big flash one that goes around so every one gets to see the view. I had forgotten just how spectacular Table mountain is, it is only just over 1000 meters up but much more impressive than larger mountains. The sheer ruggedness and sheer walls have to be seen to be appreciated. When we got to the bottom of the cable car ready to start going up I realized I had come out with a flat camera and could take no photos!!!!! Fortunately though Fiona had her camera with her and took a lot of photos which we have copied, so we have a good record of our visit. The weather turned out to be almost perfect with a mixture of sunshine and swirling clouds. I am so glad we got to do this trip as the terrain around Table Mountain and on towards Cape of Good Hope really is a sight worth seeing <

/>

On our way up the mountain


sitting on the table C T behind


photos cannot do justice to this place


another one with us on top of the table

-33.88897618.504895



read comments (0)

Cape of Good Hope

Friday 3 May
Today Stewart and Fiona took us on a grand tour showing us the beautiful sights around Cape Town. We set out travelling through a number of townships along the back of Table Mountain until we came to Simonstown, which is where Stewart did his naval training. Here we met up with Just Nuisance, who held the rank of Able Seaman during the Second World War. This would not be unusual other than the fact he was a great dane dog. His story is very similar to Red Dog’s in Australia and there is a statue commemorating his contribution to the war effort. We travelled on through some very spectacular scenery and ended up at Cape Point where we had lunch after having gone up the funicular (a cable car) to the top. Usually there are loads of baboons around here, but today they must have been on strike as we didn’t see any. After a very nice lunch we headed off to the Cape of Good Hope nearby for a photo opportunity. This is the most south western point of Africa. We could see heavy clouds swirling out at sea, but we managed to avoid the rain and it made for rather nice photos but it did turn rather cold. As we came back along the other side of the Cape we saw some ostriches and finally came across a congress of baboons (a mob) eating pine cones alongside the road.
Heading back home we did the Chapmans Peak, Clifton, Bantry Bay, Seapoint drive. This beautiful area is similar to the Great Ocean Road and although we took many photos, they don’t adequately reflect the spectacular scenery, which has to be seen to be really appreciated. We could see Table Mountain in the distance as we approached Cape Town with Signal Hill, where the canon is fired at 12pm every day and Lions Head and then Devils Peak next to Table Mountain. The area around Cape Town makes it perhaps one of the most scenic cities in the world .

Cape of Good Hope where over 600 ships came to grief

One of the locals we were watching out for

Able Seaman Just Nuisance

read comments (0)

More SMS

Dad was so excited he sent me this message 3 times!!!

I’ll only post it once…

Had fantastic trip around Cape of good Hope. Table Mountain still under cloud. Going to Robin Island Sunday. Maybe internet next week Dad

LOL was about to post and got this one…

Took many attemps to send that this is Africa

read comments (0)

Johannesburg to Cape Town

Thursday 2 May
We have just borrowed Fiona’s mini card as there are problems with Wi-Fi so we’ll do a quick update.
Our last day in Johannesburg we went and saw Granny for the last time in the morning and left her in very good spirits with Jill having reminisced over old times and her showing her memory is in good condition. The rest of the day was spent relaxing, packing and organizing the car collection etc.
The next day we left Eagles Nest at 10 am and headed to the airport where we ultimately caught a plane for Cape Town. Fiona and Stewart were there to greet us after an uneventful trip.
Since our arrival there has been much laughter discussing old times with the Govans and Joan and Hugh who live very close by. We have spent a lot of time going through Granny’s albums retrieving family photos to bring home.
Today we did a tour of the Cape Town Waterfront development which was even more interesting because we had Stewart showing us around and he had spent a lot of his naval time here and had a very good knowledge of the place. We had lunch at a very old restaurant near the docks together with Joan which was very nice and tasted the local fish and chips.
We are booked to visit Robben Island on Sunday with Hugh and Joan so we hope the weather will be calm for the ferry ride.

Jill getting attached to a local

lunching with Stewart and Joan

I had a South African beer for lunch

view from Fiona’s lounge of Table Mountain.
As you can see we haven’t seen a lot of it yet

read comments (0)

Another SMS…

Woke (early) this morning to an SMS from Dad

Hello. We arrived safely in Capetown having great time but further problem with internet do not know when we will write next. This is south Africa!!!!!??

read comments (0)

Some background

Sunday 28 April
This morning we caught up with one of Jill’s old school friends Moira and her husband Andre, who she hadn’t seen for over 20 years. We met at a local cafe cum nursery, cum farmers market just around the corner from our accommodation and had a very nice brunch outside under the trees in the beautiful 24C cloudless day. The memories just flowed, as news of school mates long forgotten were discussed. Time stood still and it was as if they had just seen each other last week.
We went over to see Granny in the afternoon for the second last time. I think she has improved mentally quite a bit with our daily visits. What a shame no-one is around to visit her regularly. I just hope that my children and grandchildren will regularly come and visit us “down in Rosebud in our caravan” !!!
Shaun mentioned we have not discussed our accommodation, so here goes. It is in a place called Fourways which I used to visit on weekends when it was way out in the “bundu” (bush) 45 years ago. The premises are on a very busy crossroad, with police cars passing by on a regular basis, but with a 3 meter brick wall surrounding, a lot of the noise is cut out. There are a number of units here, but we have a large self contained flat, situated just near the swimming pool. The place is run by some very nice people and we have enjoyed our stay here. We will see if we can include some photos of the surrounds.

Checking for emails by the pool on a typical sunny day

This is the wall that surrounds us. Keeps the goodies in and the baddies out

read comments (0)

Memories of yesteryear ….

Saturday 27 April
This morning we went and visited Granny once more. On the way there we managed to get into the wrong lane and ended up having to go on a freeway that ultimately would have ended up in the Orange Free State! After a while we luckily found an exit and did a U-turn to re-enter the freeway and as we did so, we were pulled over by the police who wanted to check my drivers licence. As I gave it to him he received a phone call which was obviously more important than my licence check, so he promptly returned the licence, said thank you and we were on our way once more. We have previously mentioned the traffic here. There are many places where you can travel at 80kms per hour in suburban streets and on main roads you regularly find people travelling at very high speeds, weaving in and out of the traffic. The pot holes are something to behold, as they can be in excess of 50cm deep and if you hit them you could blow your tyre out. So there are many things to be aware of when you are driving here and you need to be very alert at all times.
This afternoon we went and visited the suburb where Jill grew up and where I used to go and see her. We found her parents house which now has a 12ft brick wall in front of it, topped with electric fencing and an automatic gate and you can only see the roof from the street. All the surrounding houses were the same which was a major change from 40+ years ago. We then drove up a few streets to the church where we were married, St Martins-in-the-Veld and walked around taking some snaps of the church and surrounds, then went on to Rosebank, Jill’s local shopping centre which has significantly changed and grown. On our way back we went passed the building where she worked just prior to us getting married. So it was a trip down memory lane for us both today.

Jill and Granny

No. 62 where Jill used to live

read comments (0)

Catching up

27 April
Well, going back to Perth, we did manage to leave on time at around 11.50pm taking off straight over Perth and Fremantle and once their lights disappeared, we were left with darkness until we reached Johannesburg. The flight was reasonably smooth except for a few bumpy patches, one in particular which lasted about 30 minutes. When we reached Johannesburg we could see the lights all spread below us, BUT the actual airport was covered in a thick fog so we had to go into a holding pattern until it had cleared enough for them to see the runway. Eventually we landed but because of the fog and their inability to see the landing lights properly we did a big bounce and landed twice!! The head stewardess advised us that the second landing was free! We went through customs and immigration very quickly, got our bags and went out and found our chauffeur waiting to take us to our accommodation. Jill commented that the drive was like low flying as our chauffeur sped along the roads doing 120+kmh!!! (the speed limit on the freeways here).
We eventually got to our accommodation which is actually on a busy cross road with high walls around it and electronic gates, all part of the security. We then relaxed for a couple of hours until a friend of Aunty Fiona’s arrived to take us to collect our hire car, a Honda Accord and a very nice car to drive, except that the indicator stalk is on the left and consequently I keep turning on the windscreen wipers every time I do a turn – very frustrating especially as the standard of driving here is a lot different to Australia and you need to be extremely alert as there are people as well as cars all over the roads.
We have visited Granny each day and were pleasantly surprised at how well she looks for 98. Some days she is very with it, but sometimes the effects of the dementia are evident. We have been tentatively exploring the local area and are getting more confident each day as I get used to driving here.
Jill is hoping to catch up with some friends over the weekend and then we head to Cape Town on Tuesday.

read comments (0)