Senior Morton's World Tour

Kids are done, work is done, Grand Kids…Eh… they'll be here when we get back!

Catching up

Posted by laurie and jill in Adventures on 04 27th, 2013

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.