Holidays > 1997 > 12 November - 13 December: Around the World > South Africa

Contents

• South Africa
• Wed 12/11/1997 Stratford-upon-Avon and Heathrow
• Johannesburg
  • Thu 13/11/1997 Arrival and Wedding Rehearsal
  • Fri 14/11/1997 Braai at the Wolf's
  • Sat 15/11/1997 Simon and Nasyah's Wedding
• Cape Peninsula
  • Sun 16/11/1997 Arrival, Robert's Family and Cycling around Fish Hoek
  • Mon 17/11/1997 Sun Valley, Drive around the Cape Peninsula and Waterfront
  • Tue 18/11/1997 Mussel Picking, Shell House and Waterfront (Cantena Tequila)
  • Wed 19/11/1997 Fish Hoek Beach, Mike Geering, Lee's and Milnerton
  • Thu 20/11/1997 Milnerton and Fishing in Langebaan
  • Fri 21/11/1997 Langebaan, Sun Valley, Sean Oxford, Aunty Peggie and Uncle Cameron
  • Sat 22/11/1997 Flight to Johannesburg then over the Indian Ocean towards Australia

• Part 2 - Australia >>
• Part 3 - New Zealand >>
• Part 4 - Hong Kong >>

South Africa

Wed 12/11/1997 Stratford-upon-Avon and Heathrow

I still had a lot of packing to do this morning. My Mother helped trim it down a bit. Most of it was Simon’s though, with his finances in two Lever Arch files, Catalogues, Hockey sticks and finally, a Teddy-bear doorstop, which weighs 8kgs. The latter was the last straw, as I took a large and medium suitcase and a tog-bag. The tog-bag weighed 12kgs to begin with and I decided to "throw" the doorstop in at the last moment. I knelt down to pick something up with the tog-bag on my back and overbalanced. I suppose the Lever-Arch file containing my Mathematics Preparation was also to blame!

I made a quick trip into Stratford-upon-Avon to fetch my second pair of glasses, which SpecSavers assembled in record time (for them anyway) of four days. I also bought a Calendar of Stratford-upon-Avon for Uncle Tony.

I caught the Flightlink bus from Warwick Little Chef southbound at 15:35. I found an empty seat on the second deck, so got a good view. I alighted at Terminal 4 at 18:35 - three hours before my flight (BA055). I beat the queues and checked in early. The two cases weighed 28kgs, but they didn’t mind. I don’t think they really bother about excess baggage at the beginning of the check-in period. I lifted the tog-bag to show I had hand luggage and the strap broke with the weight (20kgs). Simon’s Teddy-bear doorstop strikes again!

I went through to the departure lounge / duty free area and decided to brave a McDonald’s Vegetable Burger, which is a total waste of money. I also burnt my mouth. I polished it off quickly enough and decided to find a comfortable chair where I could compose my extremely witty Best Man Speech. I had borrowed "The Best Man’s Speech" and "The Best Best Man" books from Wayne, so knew what the structure should be like. I procrastinated some more by reading "The Best Best Man" before starting my speech. I started to panic, as it looked as if the Best Man runs the whole wedding. I made a summary of the book and finally got down to writing the Speech.

Half way through, 21:45, I had to make my way to the Departure Gate. I left it until later on in the flight, where I made the final touches and hoped for the best.

The Aircraft was a new 767 with a small screen in the back of each headrest, which meant you could choose the television channel you wanted to watch. The only difference between Business and Economy was you could control the film like a video in Business Class. We were given supper at 01:00 and the first film, "Contact", was shown shortly afterwards. I have seen this at the Cinema, so quarter of the way through, I decided to get some sleep, as it was night time and I would be arriving in Johannesburg at 11:00. It was only an 8 hour flight, compared to the thirteen hour one with Air Namibia. I woke up four hours later, as I usually do during a flight and watched the second film, "For Roseanna". It was a "warm comedy" about a man trying to fulfil his wife’s dying wish of being buried in their Italian town’s graveyard. The problem is there are only three lots left.

Johannesburg

Thu 13/11/1997 Arrival and Wedding Rehearsal

10:40 Touchdown!

It took half an hour to get through passport control, as I was travelling on my British passport. I fetched my luggage and struggled around with it until the next load of trolleys arrived. [Is it just me, or am I being very negative here?]

Simon and Gerry were there to greet me. We made our way to the Domestic Arrivals terminal, where Daddy was due to arrive at 11:45. His plane arrived on time and we made our way to Gerry’s Mercedes Benz which had a registration which started with GP (Gauteng Province). My Dad made the comment, "Gangster’s Paradise", which is an indication of the crime level in the Johannesburg area. It is also featured in a song by Leon Schuster (South African Comedian).

Our first stop was the Junxion Footwear factory, where we met Peter and their cousin Brandon. I bought some Roman Sandals and All Terrain’s (sandals with Velcro straps).

We then went to the Wolf’s house at 26 Graphite Road in Roodepoort. It was a bit disconcerting to see the houses with barbed wire on top of fences and electric gates.

I had a shower at about 15:00 and shortly after, we went to the Church for the rehearsal.

My Dad and I stayed at Peter’s house, which is two blocks away from the Wolf’s family house.

Fri 14/11/1997 Braai at the Wolf's

I woke up at 06:00. I don’t know what my body clock is up to. If anything, I should be waking up at 09:00, as South Africa is two hours ahead and I only wake up at 07:00 in England. I didn’t get out of bed of course, but lay there until Nadine arrived at 08:30. The rest of the Robertson’s and Granny Smith went to the main house. I showered and dressed while Nadine unpacked. She had a shower afterwards, as she had been travelling in a bus from East London for 18 hours. My Dad and Peter arrived shortly afterwards and we were taken to the main house.

The first Robertson I met there was Debbie, who was in a mood, due to lack of sleep. She reminded me so much of Kate.

Aunty Christine appeared from one of the bedrooms a few minutes later, but Uncle George only made an appearance at about 12:00. Granny was in the back bedroom talking to Granny Wolf and I only saw her about an hour later.

Simon drove Debbie, Brandon and myself to the Eastgate shopping centre, where Debbie bought a Mad Dog peak cap. Simon and Brandon bought some Castle beer and I, as usual, didn’t spend anything.

We returned to the main house, where they were setting up a marquee for a Lamb Spitbraai (BBQ on a rotisserie). Debbie is also a Vegetarian, so wasn’t too pleased with it. Fish was provided for us instead, but I don’t know if she really eats that either, as she only ate half of it. She hasn’t eaten meat since Std 8, when she walked past a butcher shop which had three pig heads in the window. They played the Leon Schuster tape, which I mentioned earlier. He took popular songs like the Spice Girls "Tell You What I Want..." and changed the words to a mixture of English, Afrikaans and Xhosa. It is very funny, but you would have to be South African to appreciate it.

We phoned my Mom at about 20:00 and she asked if we had received the Telegrams. We hadn’t, as they were sent to number 20 instead of 26. My Dad and I went to check if they had received it, but there was nobody home.

Yvonne, Nasyah’s Mother, gave me two Calmettes to give to Simon the next day before the wedding just before we made our way back to Peter’s house at about 22:00. I wanted to get a lift back with Simon, but he was going to be busy until about 23:30, so my Dad and Uncle George started walking. I really didn’t want to walk, as I didn’t feel safe, which led to much jeering from the men in the Wolf family. I caught up to them and my Dad and I watched Uncle George from the bottom of the road as he made his way back to the main house. Even though my Dad was one of those saying don’t worry about walking, this showed he was also worried.

Sat 15/11/1997 Simon and Nasyah's Wedding

The big day! Simon and Nasyah’s Wedding.

We were all up by 06:30, as we had to be at the Greek Restaurant by 7:15 to decorate it for the Reception. Debbie, Simon, Brandon and I took some balloons, a tank of Helium, decorations and a cake box full of chocolate Teddy-bears. The balloons were inflated and attached with ribbon to 2 litre Coke bottled covered in foil.

We had to be at the Rhema Church in Randburg by 11:00, so rushed back at 09:20. We were all ready by 10:20 and arrived in plenty of time. My Dad, Simon and I were seated in the front pew at the right hand side of the church. My Dad and I started saying things to Simon like "We were trying to decide who would give just cause". We had to do something, as he was too calm. This lasted as far as when Nasyah and her Father walked down the aisle. Simon’s breathing became ragged and I realised he was crying! It was fantastic!

In the words of my Dad, "The wedding was Magic!".

Peter took my Dad, Nadine, Brandon and I to the reception in his Honda. It turns out the Greek restaurant was initially going to be a Sea Food restaurant, but it was painted the wrong colour. When the proprietors saw it from a distance for the first time, they thought it looked more like a Greek Taverna, so decided to go with that instead.

The photographs took about forty minutes and were taken in front of a Pagoda and Fountain. Simon, Nasyah, Rowena (Matron of Honour) and myself (Best Man?) took our seats at the main table. Peter, the Master of Ceremonies, decided to say a speech at the last minute. I sat there mentally crossing off the paragraphs he said, from my speech. Then it was my turn to say my abridged speech:

Ladies and Gentleman. If I could say a few words, I would be a better public speaker.

(A few tumbleweeds swept noisily past)

Thank-you, Simon, for the honour of being best man.

Thank-you, Gerry and Yvonne for the wedding, the Bridesmaids, Rowena, Peter and everyone else who helped to make this wedding such a memorable occasion.

It is at this point you expect me to make fun at Simon’s expense, but they have been so high recently, I will be passing a hat around later.

I would like to wish Simon and Nasyah all the best from myself and the rest of the family in England who regrettably could not be here on this special day.

Remember, you always have a home in England. [I forgot to mention this, as I was starting to panic!]

I would like you all to raise your glasses in a toast to Simon and Nasyah:

May their troubles be little ones,

Their hopes big ones

And happiness fantastic.

[01/01/1997 Unfortunately, my Father and I watched the video today, and they cut out the last three lines!]

We had another family meal that night and Simon and Nasyah opened their presents. They were then taken to a bed and breakfast in Randburg for their first night together.

I wouldn’t see the Robertson family the next day, so I said my goodbyes before going back to Peter’s house.

Cape Peninsula

Sun 16/11/1997 Arrival, Robert's Family and Cycling around Fish Hoek

Gerry gave me a lift to the airport, but stopped at the Bed and Breakfast on the way to say goodbye to Simon and Nasyah. It is probably just me reading too much into things, but I should have spoken to them as a couple more. I said I am sure I will see Simon again soon, but should rather have said "them". Oh well, I suppose I should be used to saying the wrong thing by now.

I checked in and said goodbye to Gerry and my Dad at the airport and made my way to the Departure lounge. As soon as I was through the metal detector, they announced a delay of 45 minutes in the flight to Cape Town, SA309, due to low lying clouds in Cape Town. A while later, they announced a further delay of half an hour, making it a total of 1h15m delay. I phoned Robert to let him know about the delay. He was very grateful for the notification.

We finally boarded the plane at 11:45. It was only a two hour flight, but there was a lot of turbulence and I wasn’t given a vegetarian meal. Beef roll is most definitely not Vegetarian, so I only ate the roll.

I regretted not wearing warmer clothes when we touched down at 14:00, as it was pouring down. It had been 27 degrees in Johannesburg. Robert was there to meet me and his father was waiting in the Combi. He said the weather had been really good until the day before. We drove back through Kenilworth and Prince George’s Drive. We passed Kenilworth Racecourse, which was sold for housing development. There have been numerous changes in the three years since I was last there. One of them is the price of things. An example is a tin of Coke, which I last remember paying R1.15 for, which now costs R2.50! The top sports field of the Senior High School has been sold to make way for housing like Peers Hill, only more compact. Robert’s brother has changed the most, as he is now almost as tall as his Dad.

Robert’s Dad had hired the video Jerry McGuire, which I had already seen, so I decided to do some visiting, as I had a lot to do in the six days. I phoned the Malherbes and Barnes’s and organised to visit them that afternoon.

I borrowed Robert’s bicycle and cycled into Fish Hoek. It is the best way to see changes, as you can cycle where a car can’t go. I cycled along the cycle track which goes past the road leading to Peers Cave, Squash courts and finally onto the road leading to Peers Hill, where I visited the Malherbe’s. It was good to see them and Megan (their Staffordshire Bull Terrier), who is now a lot less active. The last time I saw her she was still a puppy. John had just bought a new US Robotics X2 modem, which he couldn’t get to work properly. I installed the new drivers for it, but it only connected at 40kb as opposed to 115kb (with compression) on his old 33.6k modem. I was also offered some Tequila, but it tasted like pure alcohol to me. John was quite happy to drink the rest of it. I spent longer there than I had intended, so I phoned the Barnes’s to say I would be late. Gerry had gone off to do some work at Busy Bees (their stationery shop), so I said I would pop in later on in the week. They offered me supper during the week, but I had to decline, as I just didn’t have time. I am sure I offended a lot of people on this holiday!

I took a leisurely cycle through Peers Hill towards Nerina. So many more houses have been built on the road connecting Peers Hill to Fish Hoek. I was offered a toasted sandwich when I arrived at Aunt Peggy and Uncle Cameron’s, which I accepted. I passed on my Dad’s excuse for not turning up for supper, which was - "He and Gillian arrived back from Cape Town at 18:00 and Gillian wouldn’t take him through to Fish Hoek, as Madeleine was coming for supper at 19:00". The impression I got from their response was he hadn’t phoned them, but it turns out he did. I was given a book about New Zealand to borrow until Wednesday. They offered me a lift to the Bromfield’s and Lee’s home in Bergvliet for that day, so I would return it then. Robert is doing a MCSE course on Monday and Wednesday nights, in Cape Town, so I will get a lift back from Bergvliet with him when he returns. I am taking some computer games for Amanda’s children and she would like me to set up email for her, which should keep me busy until 21:00, when he finishes.

I then cycled back to Robert’s and discussed the itinerary for the week.

Mon 17/11/1997 Sun Valley, Drive around the Cape Peninsula and Waterfront

I awoke early and walked to Sun Valley Shopping Centre, where I bought a Postcard from Cardies.

I tried to phone Sean’s parents, but there was no answer.

At about 10:30 Robert and I went into Fish Hoek to look around the shops. I had my first look around Mr Prices where Zhauns used to be. I then bought a Tedelex Stainless Steel Pressure Cooker Ring from Wakefords while Robert went looking for something from the electrical shop.

We then went for a drive around the Peninsula. It started to rain half-way to Simonstown and only one of the Windscreen wipers worked, which meant we had to stop at each lay bye and manually move the wiper across the screen. We didn’t go into Cape Point, but stopped outside to look at the ethnic art on sale in stalls. We had an interesting conversation with one of the stall keepers, but didn’t buy anything.

The next stop was Scarborough, where I took my first photograph of the trip.

We carried on through Kommetje and stopped off at Pick ‘n’ Pay to buy a Roll Mop (Gerkin rolled up in raw fish and soaked in Vinegar) to have with Salad.

When we got back to Robert’s house, Stephen said Sean’s mother had phoned. I returned her call and organised to go to the Waterfront that night.

I tried to contact Aunty Hope, but she wasn’t at home.

Sean’s Mom and Dad, Myrtle and Avron, fetched me at 18:00. We stopped off at Cheryl and Nicki’s to fetch one of Avron’s colleagues to give him a lift to Retreat. The Waterfront has changed dramatically. The Marina and Oceanarium have been completed and 98 new shops added. I thought we went in the main entrance, but it turns out it was actually the new addition. We went to the Sport’s Cafe for a Cocktail. Avron and I had a Dear John, which contained every liquor you can imagine. I was chuffed just to be inside the place, as the last time I was refused entry due to being younger than 24. We then went to "Willoughby & Co.", which is like a Paris Cafe, but the chairs are in the walkway as opposed to the pavement and the food was served through a serving hatch. It was a lot better than the picture I have managed (or not) to paint here and thoroughly enjoyed it! I had two baby Soles, Calamari and Chips. The next stop was the Mug & Bean for Coffee.

As part of the conversation, I discovered the Cable Car now costs R56! This is okay for a tourist, as it is about £6, but it is a lot of money if you are earning Rands.

I was dropped off at Robert’s at 21:30 and told they would drop by again during the week to give me Sean’s Christmas present.

I read some of the New Zealand book and fell asleep at 22:30. Robert only came back at 23:50, as he had been to his MCSE lecture and a work party afterwards.

Tue 18/11/1997 Mussel Picking, Shell House and Waterfront (Cantena Tequila)

I woke up at 06:00 again, read some more of the New Zealand book and did some of the Mathematics preparation. Robert finally woke up at 09:00 - it must have been a good party.

Robert and I went collecting Mussels in Scarborough. You are only allowed to collect 25 Mussels each and you have to collect them yourself. Robert checked the tide before we left and it was supposed to be going out. I think he got this wrong, as I was totally drenched by a wave when standing in the same spot he had been five minutes earlier.

Robert braving the crashing waves to pick mussels.

We met a fisherman who was sitting smoking a cigarette while his wife and daughter collected various shell animals for a Sea Food pie. Robert mentioned we were to go fishing on Thursday, so he recommended we dig for Wonderworm in Witsands (White Sands), a reserve on the way back to Fish Hoek from Scarborough. Witsands was therefore our next stop and we didn’t have a clue what these worms actually looked like or where they were to be found. We hazarded a guess they must be underneath rocks just below the waterline and it paid off. We collected about twenty half metre long worms, which we wrapped in newspaper and placed in the freezer back at the house.

We went for a swim in the pool in the back yard, as it was very hot and I was sticky from the Sea. Robert cooked the Mussels and we ate them with Salad and some Late Harvest wine.

We were going to go into Cape Town in the afternoon, but Robert had second thoughts. At the last moment 16:00, he changed his mind and organised to meet up with Leslie, Samantha Carter and Richard McGeorge, her fiancé, at the Waterfront. This meant I could try see Aunt Hope at Shell House if I was lucky and we made good time. We arrived at 16:55 and I waited around in case I saw her leave the building. I asked the Security Guard if he could put me through to her desk, but the best he could do was the general S.A. Eagle number, which by that time just had an answering machine. I waited a further 15 minutes and decided to give an envelope to the Security Guard to forward to her. It contained a Christmas Card and Simon and Nasyah’s Wedding Service card. I hope she received it.

We met Leslie and Sam at the Ferryman’s at the Waterfront. Sam has cut her hair short - she used to have very long hair in two ponytails. She is getting married next year, 1998, to Richard, who was due to meet up with us later. Robert asked if everyone wanted a Springbok and I didn’t know what he was talking about until he turned up with four shooters of a mixture of Mint Liquor and Cape Velvet. How could I forget?

We went to Cantina Tequila for supper afterwards and met up with Kirsteen Campbell from school. Half way through the meal, a waiter came around asking if anyone wanted Tequila and Lime. Robert shouted, "He’s the tourist", pointing in my direction. I was told to tilt my head back and mixture of the two was poured into my mouth. I had to keep it there while he shook my head. All I could taste was the Lime, so it wasn’t as good as it could have been according to the experts at the table. Richard arrived just after the main course. Sam didn’t like hers, so kept it for him.

We walked around the Waterfront afterwards and I double-checked the names of "Willoughby & Co." and "The Mug & Bean".

Wed 19/11/1997 Fish Hoek Beach, Mike Geering, Lee's and Milnerton

We were going to go fishing and have a Braai (BBQ) in Tokai forest, but Robert didn’t feel like doing anything today, as he had some MCSE coursework to do. I was going to cycle into Fish Hoek, but Robert’s Mom offered me a lift. I went to Mr Prices and bought a pair of Chino shorts and a Maroon Sweatshirt. I also looked at all the Garages for a South African flag bumper sticker, but without success.

I took some photographs of Fish Hoek Beach, which I have stitched together for a crude panoramic view.

There appears to be a Radio Fish Hoek.

I headed towards Peggie and Cameron Barnes' house and took the following photographs along the way:

	Fish Hoek between the Spur and National Lifesaving Institute.
	Another one of Fish Hoek betweek the Spur and National Lifesaving Institute.
	The road perpendicular to Nerina Avenue and Crescent.
	The cottages in Nerina Avenue where we stayed in 1975/6. I know the years, as Simon was born when we lived there.

We had tea at the Lee’s and Uncle Archie gave me a suit and an army shirt of Ivan’s. Amanda would only be back at about 19:00, so I decided to get a lift to Blue Route and walk back later. I went to the Hypermarket and bought a 500ml yoghurt, which I found to my disappointment I couldn’t suck through a straw.

While looking around the other shops, I noticed Mike Geering, who I worked with at SANTAM. He is now doing contracting and said Brent Engelbrecht, who also did his work placement with me, is now working for SANLAM. Mike would really like to work in England, but doesn’t have a British passport. I was constantly reminded how lucky I am to be living in England during my stay in South Africa.

I had some more time to kill, so tried to phone Aunty Hope at home. I didn’t have her number, so phoned directory enquiries, which only had one Giles listed, but with different initials. I tried the number anyway and it turned out to be her sister-in-law. She gave me Hope’s number, but she wasn’t in anyway. I then phoned Matthew Adams on his mobile phone number. He said I should give him the number I was phoning from, but I told him I still had a lot of money in the telephone anyway, so not to bother. I soon regretted this, as the telephone call probably cost me R12! Anyway, he is half way through a MCSE course and has been doing networking work with CISCO for almost two years. He said we should get together for lunch, but I told him I was leaving on Saturday and would only get back from Langebaan on Friday afternoon. There just wasn’t enough time in six days to get everything done.

On my way back to the Lee’s, I took some photographs of the clouds using different shutter speeds and managed to get some interesting results.

	The sky from Blue Route shopping centre car park taken on 100 ASA film at 200 shutter speed.
	As above.
	As above.
	Retreat, just past zwaanswyk school,
	Retreat, just past zwaanswyk school.
	Retreat, further past Zwaanswyk school.
	Retreat, further along on the way to the Lee's.
	Retreat, even further along on the way to the Lee's.

I returned to the Lee’s and managed to set up the email and was half way through installing the games when Robert phoned. He said he would be there in five minutes, as we were going to stay at Richard’s house in Milnerton. It is part of the way to Langebaan, where we are going to go fishing and stay in a chalet tomorrow.

We returned to Robert’s house, where Leslie was waiting and hurriedly packed the car and left for Milnerton at 21:30. We stayed at Richard’s flat that night and I slept on the couch.

Thu 20/11/1997 Milnerton and Fishing in Langebaan

We woke at 06:00 and repacked the car, as we had taken the contents inside for fear of it being stolen. We left at 6:30, which gave us some magnificent views of the sunrise almost over Table Mountain.

	Sunrise in Milnerton. Robert wouldn’t stop the car, so I had to take a photograph out of the window.
	Shortly after taking the above photograph, Robert decided to stop at a Petrol Station for some crisps and Coke. This photograph came out better., but unfortunately included part of the forecourt roof in the top right corner. I am still very pleased with it though.

The mist looked really good rolling over the hills on the way to Langebaan, but I didn’t risk another smudged photograph.

We arrived at 8:30 and got down to some fishing straight away.

Langebaan vlei.

I only caught one fish, which I was surprised managed to fit on the hook. Robert, Leslie and Richard all caught at least one each, although Robert kept reeling in redbait. We decided to book in to the chalet and offload some of the things in the car at 11:30 and restock some tackle. I was the main culprit of lost tackle.

We also bought some lunch and meat for a Braai later. They decided to have meat and leave me the fish, which was a good incentive not to lose any more tackle and start catching fish.

We went pumping for prawns further up the beach along the vlei. This consisted of pushing a cylinder with a plunger into the mud just below the waterline, pulling the plunger up, lifting the cylinder out and emptying the contents next to the hole. This was very effective and we filled half a two litre Coke bottle with prawns about five centimetres long. The sun was out in full force and I wore the Windbreaker the whole time. I must have looked a prat, but I don’t like the harsh sun.

We returned to the same spot as before, but my luck still didn’t change. After losing my tackle (fishing!) again, I lost my patience and went for a walk up the beach. I was skimming some stones on the water when I picked one up which looked as though it had a tiny fish fossil - yes, smaller than the one I caught. I went back to fishing again, but half an hour later it started to rain heavily, so we packed up and went back to the chalet.

We finally managed to start a fire, after two unsuccessful attempts. It was underneath a veranda, with water pouring off on all sides. It wasn’t really the sort of weather for a braai, but it was dry underneath and helped warm up the chalet. Their meat boerewors (sausage) didn’t need any preparation, but the fish had to be descaled and filleted. There was hardly anything left of the fish, but there was enough with five fish. The neighbourhood cats had a feast on the rest of the fish, which we put outside on the lid of a cooler box. The fish tasted like Crayfish. I suppose this is because it lived in the vlei.

Fri 21/11/1997 Langebaan, Sun Valley, Sean Oxford, Aunty Peggie and Uncle Cameron

We only woke up at 8:30, as we were up until 01:00 last night. Richard, the true fisherman, had been up at 07:00.

We decided to try a different spot this time but the wind was very strong and blowing across the beach, which made casting out almost impossible. Robert walked half way out to sea in his waders, so managed to get the furthest cast, but still didn’t get any bites.

We gave up after forty-five minutes and decided to headed back to Milnerton to drop off Richard.

Richard, Lesley and Robert in "The Red Flash" - a Mazda 323.

We stopped for a McDonald’s Milkshake on the way from Milnerton to Fish Hoek. We arrived back at the house at 15:30. Robert’s Dad was already home and had hired a video, which looked suspiciously like Alien(s), but wasn’t. Robert went off to have a bath and I went for a swim in their pool. I then hand washed my clothing, as I had to wash the new maroon sweatshirt by hand anyway. It took me ages to get all the fish guts off everything, even the windbreaker, which is waterproof nylon. I put the washing on the line, but it started to rain, so it had to go in the dryer. I put my boots in front of the hot air outlet to dry. The water had come in through the holes in the soles.

I had a quick shower, sorted through my luggage and confirmed my flights for the next day. Robert finally emerged from the bathroom and he phoned Sean Oxford to organise to visit him. I also phoned the Barnes’s to visit them shortly beforehand.

I returned the book on New Zealand to Uncle Cameron and Aunt Peggy about half an hour later. Uncle Cameron gave me Susan and John Hall’s contact details in New Zealand. I was only able to visit for five minutes, as Robert and Leslie were waiting in the car outside. Uncle Cameron was very morbid, as I said I would see them again soon, but he said, "Don’t be ridiculous, you know where I will be then!".

Sean Oxford still lives on the way to Kommetjie with his family. He has had laser treatment on his eyes, so he no longer has to wear glasses. He is still in the Navy and will write his trade tests in Radio and RADAR next year (1998). He would also like to do the MCSE course, but needs to save up for it. That isn’t so easy, as he gets R2000 clear a month. His Dad is Scottish and his Grandmother on his Mother’s side was British, so he should be able to get British Citizenship. I told him this and how much he could be earning if he did the MCSE course and moved to England. His Dad didn’t recognise me, but then I never really had much to do with his parent’s anyway. His mother did, but I think it was more as one of the friends Sean used to hang out with up to three years ago. Sean was eager to go out and party, but Robert, Leslie and I were too tired from all the fresh air, so unfortunately had to decline. We took three photographs of Robert, Sean and I under a bright light, but there was no way the ASA100 film was going to come out.

Sean Landsman's nephew (St. John), father (Avron) and mother (Myrtle) who came to Robert's to say goodbye.

Sat 22/11/1997 Flight to Johannesburg then over the Indian Ocean towards Australia

I woke early, as my plane was due to leave at 13:00. Robert and I stopped off at Busy Bees in Valyland to say goodbye to the Malherbes. I am doubly glad I did, because John suggested Weavers as a source of South African flag bumper stickers. I don't know why I didn't think of it, as it is one of the few tourist shops in Fish Hoek. I said goodbye, posted the really tacky Postcard and went into Fish Hoek.

I bought a four-pack of 24 exposure film at Clicks and had a look around some of the shops. John’s suggestion of Weavers paid off and I bought four South African flag Bumper Stickers here.

I was going to go to Shoprite, but ran out of time, as we had to get back to Robert’s to get a lift with his parents and brother to the Airport. I tried to take a photograph of his family, but found the film had finished, which gave me a chance to try the new ASA200 film I had bought. [It really made a difference, as it is much brighter and clearer for close ups.]

Benjie, Stephen, Robert, Yvonne and Martin Brandt with "The Red Flash" in the background.

We then hurried off to the airport, but missed the turn off to the N2 and ended up on the N1. I finally took charge and told them to turn around and try for the junction on the way back. It was better sign-posted this time - there wasn’t one before. I thanked them all for everything and made my way through to the check-in, as it was now twenty minutes before the flight and you are supposed to check in an hour beforehand. It was only a domestic flight to Johannesburg, so didn’t need the two hours necessary for an International Flight.

I had hoped to get more into the week, but just didn’t have time. Some of the things were:

• Greenmarket Square - I didn’t go here, as I didn’t trust the safety on the trains into Cape Town.
• Cape Town Castle - Same as above.
• Robbin Island - There just wasn’t time
• Stellenbosch Wine Route - We were going to do this on the Friday, but we were too tired after all the fishing.

The flight was much better than the one from Johannesburg and there were very strong tailwinds, which meant we made it there in 1h50 minutes. It was just as well, as my luggage went missing. I went to lost luggage and there were ten others there, so it al least I wasn’t alone. It turned out they put the luggage in with the Cargo, so we had to wait half an hour for it. This meant I wasn’t early for the connecting flight as I had hoped. By the time I arrived at the International Terminal, the queues were very long. I ended up with a seat in the centre of the plane, but it was a good flight.