Not Just a Granny

hi folks, long time no blog!!! I have an excuse…..it’s called a holiday or in this instance a ‘trip’.  There was no holiday tagged on at the end….too much rushing around.

So here are the stats as worked out by my daughter:

11 days, 7 airplane flights, 4 of which: long haul flights, 5 airports, 3 provinces, 3 countries, 5 friends not seen in 10 years (or more), 21 family members, 3 Wimpy visits, 3 MilkyLane visits, 2 Spur visits, £77 spent on my phonebill (her phone bill…not mine), add to that 1 island (the UK), 2 continents, a lot of driving and very little sleep!!!  And 1 lost baggage!!!!

CJ at Wimpy in Johannesburg

What a trip. We flew out from Heathrow at 15:05 on 14th June first stop Doha in Qatar.  A short wait and then overnight to Johannesburg for a connecting flight to Durban where we were collected at the airport by my daughter’s father.  We spent 3 days in Durban visiting the old folks and then flew to Cape Town. Met at the airport by my sister and hubbie we met up with CJ’s friends at the Waterfront and eventually drove through to Somerset West where we stayed for 3 days and then to Johannesburg, again met at the airport by the ‘Daddy’, stayed at his place for a day (this was the only time we knew for sure it was winter-it was freezing), then off to stay at my sister’s house for a day, had supper and the kids all visited. Left Thursday23rd at 4pm for the 21:50 to Doha where we had an 11 hour lay-over and after 40 hours of no sleep we arrived at Heathrow at 22:23 Friday night!!!! sans my luggage!  “Oh, it got left behind in Johannesburg”. hurrumph!!!

Our transport went as such: taxi, bus, plane, bus, bus, plane, bus, car, legs, car, bus, plane, bus, car, bus, plane, bus, car, car, bus, plane, bus, bus, plane, bus, taxi….home!

We evaded elephants in the urban jungle of Durban,

elephants in Durban

watched monkeys climbing through the trees, got woken by the hah-dee-dah birds in the morning, paddled in the Indian Ocean, rode on a rickshaw,

a rickshaw ride

 saw sharks swimming about in the hold of an old delapidated boat that is now an amusement area, watched the lunar eclipse, walked on the beach at Gordon’s Bay,

Gordon's Bay

 strolled through the gardens in Cape Town, ate too much, had way too many milkshakes, a bit too much wine in Cape Town (my sister’s fault), a BBQ with family and friends, rubbish airline food, watched Blesbok running about and fighting in the veld,

blesbok in the veld....it was far away

watched the sunrise on at least 5 of the days, and sunsets on most, watched ‘Zeitgeist’ the movie in JNB (exceptionally great movie btw), and 4 movies on the planes: none of which I can remember the name of!

I traded-in my old trainers that I have had for 8 years for a new pair at Johannesburg airport domestic departures,

these shoes were made for walking......farewell old friends

bought 3 items of clothing in Cape Town and declared a no-more-buy policy at the prices, almost passed out from shock at the price of food and living in RSA compared to how it was a few years ago (now comparable or more than London), watched my budget go through the ceiling and was totally impressed by the level of service we received wherever we went.

We listened to stories and tales of life in RSA, then told our own, shared photos and captured more, caught up with old friends, made a few new ones, enjoyed quality time with the family; bemused at how quickly the kiddies are growing up and left just a teensy-weensy bit homesick……first time in almost 10 years, and considered the possibility that I may just be able to live in SA again….but only in spring and only for a short time….like a long holiday 🙂

We saw how bad the pollution is world-wide, and how blue the sky is above it, deserted deserts, lakes and dams, snaking rivers, the Black Sea (pretty damn awesome), the English Channel, the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Bahrain, snow on the mountains in Turkey, flew over Iraq (????), and Europe, walked in the Indian Ocean, saw the Atlantic Ocean from the air, massive mountain ranges in South Africa and spent 15 hours in the Middle East!

Doha Airport

So that was the trip……now for the holiday. Guernsey in August! yay.

oh! and p.s. the bag was delivered the next day! whew 🙂