Friday 22 June 2007

Back to South Africa for a visit

20th May 2007 - Back to SA!!

Team Shayile was heading home for a holiday! Well, some say how can that be as we are permanently on holiday, sailing the seas! Well, we see it as a lifestyle, as do many others. Our lifestyle over the past 2 years had been living on a yacht. Yes, the break back in SA would be a holiday for us; spending time with family and friends and enjoying the attractions that SA has to offer.

We landed in Jhb International Airport, now called O.R. Tambo International Airport I believe?! Already there were changes back home, but it was great to be on "home turf".

Belinda: A sad by-product of being home in the crush of Africa, where personal body space is so much less than in the polite East, was that I immediately felt the need to hold my handbag really tight. That said it was great to see the whole mix of humanity that is the real SA! African porters buying half loaves of bread, overweight Afrikaners eating huge bacon and egg breakfasts, Indian children screaming and plenty of wealthy looking folks. One needed the wealth to afford coffee and pastries at the bakery at the Airport!. Wow, welcome home to the "Cost of Living". On walking to Domestic departures we almost froze, well Dan did, he stopped walking and refused to go any further as it was really chilly and we had no jerseys on. Apart from a freezing ferry trip we haven't been cold in 2 years. After changing, we checked in for our flight to Durban and phoned our parents to discover that they thought we were arriving the next day. The joys of flights that leave at 00h05 but you board at 23h30. Well done to Bill and Sally, Trudy and Anne and Pete for making a dash to Durbs to give us a warm welcome home. It was great to step out of the plane and take in the humidity of Durban air.  As we drove back to Kloof, we took in the changes over the past 2 years. There were new buildings and plenty of progress but we were stunned by the change in tree line on our way up Fields Hill to Kloof. The recent cyclone had knocked down so many trees that we saw houses that have been concealed since we were kids. The verges were lined with cut up trees and lots of views had changed but it was great to see our neighborhood again. Even better, once we got home, to take a long hot bath, the first of many, and fall into my parents beautifully re-decorated guest bedroom. Dan and Jens were thrilled to see their old teddies and we were all charmed to see our noisy Siamese cat, Kita, who greeted us so loudly that we were sure she remembered us, and in fact was asking 'Where the hell have you been?'

The day after we arrived we enjoyed a large Bentley family luncheon which carried on late into the evening. We caught up on Trudy/Dinny's roast chicken and salads and all the family news. Cousins Carol and Linton, Rene and Andre and 2 of their brood Chanelle, the Lizzy sponsored surfer Chick, super-cute, and big brother Zane and their gran, Auntie Anne, was in great spirits and we loved seeing her enjoy herself so much. Glad she and Rene stayed for the after-party! Cousin Gary was good company as usual and Anne and Piet Van de Bank and their son Justin and his girlfriend Kate were also part of the family gathering. Cousin Pam sparkled all afternoon and late into the evening, Go Girl! Hope I've remembered everyone and thanks for your love and support and good-humour.

The next day was Monday and we went into Pinetown to renew our passports. Of course we had the 'ugliest photo's ever' taken and headed into the passport office. It only took 2 hours, fairly painless by SA standards but the wait was yet to come.

A day or 2 later, Rob's godparents (Uncle Angus and Aunt Kay) joined us for lunch at the Bentley's. Their daughter, Gwynneth, was out from England for a week or 2 and we were able to catch up with them. Trudy put on a fantastic lunch and we all sat on the verandah and caught up on the past 2 years. It was special to see Kay and Angus again . Truly wonderful folk!

We had a few days to rest, relax and chat madly before going to 'Mom's Timeshare' at Champagne Lane in the Drakensberg. We were meeting up with my brothers and families. Mark, my brother, and I had been shopping in the morning as we were cooking a Thai meal the first night for our family, my Aunt Jill and Uncle Pete, Cousin Roy and his girls Samantha and Robyn. Kevin and Dawn and there gorgeous twin girls Bianca and Megan were unpacking wine and golf clubs when we arrived. We were all thrilled to see each other, although Dawn did kiss the coffee machine before me but as she has bravely brushed off Lymph cancer while we have been away, I would forgive her for anything! The kids all ran into each others arms and spent the rest of the day as physically close as they could get. The bond between cousins is so amazing and they get on so well. Soon after Mark and Penny arrived, my family re-union was complete. Our Thai meal turned out great but my mom and I exchanged heated words that night which was sad; we never could share a kitchen!

We had a wonderful week playing golf, drinking wine, so wonderfully cheap in SA, and talking non-stop. Both my sister-in-laws had endured epic years, Dawn beating cancer and Penny undergoing grueling and emotionally draining fertility treatment. She was about to embark on the final treatment and wasn't feeling too optimistic. ( I am extremely happy to note here that it was a success and we are holding thumbs for a happy, healthy baby in March) It was a wonderful week in the mountains and my mother made sure we were all well fed whilst Kev and Dad ensured we were all well-wined! The girls dressed up and performed the Thai Fingernail dance and set up a florist shop at the front door. Rob and I were pleased to shoot some reasonable scores on the course and I can't remember hitting the ball so sweetly. I love golf and look forward to playing regularly again one day. We quit on a good note and sadly didn't play a full round again. We also spent some fun family time with my youngest and most beautiful cousin Donna, her ever-handsome and suave husband Mark, and their smart and good looking children Shaun and Megan. Megan may not be tall but she is growing into the most amazing looking lady with a dazzling smile. The Tonkinson's also enjoyed an adventure and lived permanently in Knysna for a year whilst Shaun and Megs attended a more rural school, but have moved back to their home on Durban's Berea. We also enjoyed a short but fun visit from Patricia and Steven Smith who drove up from Kloof with Michael, (2) fluent in English and German and his sweet and new little brother Robert. We also enjoyed some great meals with Jean and Keith and owe her a hill-tribe hat from Thailand.

                       

The Family gathering at Champagne Lane                      Bibi, Jenna and Megs doing the fingernail dance

Our second week in the berg was at our beloved Mountain House with Rob's parents and family and a visit from our Ladysmith friends Vaughn and Judy Wood, and their pigeon pair Roarke and Tess. The children had hours of fun riding their bikes along the road and playing in the colourful maple leaves lying in piles under the trees. Jenna had not ridden without training wheels, however it took her one afternoon to be up and off. She's fearless and fast but we had no disasters, luckily. After the hectic pace of The Picks, the more laid-back sit and chat style of Trudy 'What can I get you?' and Neville armed with his hiking boots and binoculars was just what we needed. Sadly Glen had school commitments and only Alison could come to the berg with Cousins Kayla and Connor and again our children felt so close to their cousins. Kayla and Jenna get on and are into the same things and Dan and Connor definitely share the same, vaguely crude and naughty sense of humour! Despite the age difference they have a great time together. We had a great game of cricket on the lawn one afternoon and enjoyed roaring fires and bedtime stories. It was great spending time with Alison, the very mature and responsible Kayla, the frisky and funny Connor and catching up on the family news. Now that we had appropriate clothes, we enjoyed the cold weather even if we did wear them every second day. No point in a new large wardrobe as we were headed back to the Tropics.

                       

                Rob & the kids out riding                                        Judy, Tess, Vaughn and Roarke Woods

One grooming detail that was necessary was a trip to the hairdresser. Rob and I set off to Hillcrest and settled in for the coffee and cut. It was a very pleasant experience until we were charged R700.00 for 2 cuts and a colour.  We physically flinched and Rob pushed back the notes and proffered the trusty credit card. Wow, have we been living in Cuckoo Land or had we just come back to it? The East is definitely cheaper and we are on the "Grotty Yachtie" budget these days.

One of Rob's oldest friends, Brian Keddie offered us the use of his home. He works in Durban but his wife and her daughter live in Johannesburg so he actually moved out of his bedroom for us and lived in the room outside the kitchen door. He then went to his family for the weekend and we luxuriated in the space and hot water of his bath! It was great to be living in the hub of Kloof again and we walked up the road to cheer on the annual Comrades runners. We immediately bumped into old neighbours and school friends and made plans to catch up. There is no place like home! Thank you so much Brian for your friendship and your generosity. You certainly went above and beyond the call of duty.

We enjoyed a great kids party for Connors 5th birthday and then we toasted, over and over Guy Harpers 40th birthday. Again it was a huge catch up with old school friends and golf buddies and a brilliant party. We were treated to lunch at Sprigs with Dave and Stephanie Pons who had sailed with us from Malaysia to Phuket. My old school buddy Trish Munch spoilt me with breakfast there too! It is still one of the best coffee shop restaurants ever and I could eat there everyday. A planned golfing trip to Zimbali was cancelled but "The Awesome Foursome" of Kerry Harper, Sue Lee, Lesley Hanger and I consoled ourselves with omelettes and cappuccino's at ....???? Sprigs of course.

Kerry Harpers good husband Guy turned 40 and we had a great party around the pool at their house. Garth Hanger told us all how Guy does not stop talking and is always forthcoming with all the news on work, and work he does! A great time!

Rob and Daniel managed to find some energy one weekend and, along with cousins Charles and son Spider, they headed up to Richmond where they participated in a mountain bike race! It was Dan's first ever and although he complained throughout, he did it and was rewarded with a medal! Rob thoroughly enjoyed participating in a sporting event, albeit in no competitive form at all!

We were flattered to be asked to do an interview for The Crest magazine and were amazed at how Peta Lee managed to listen, type and make sense of our adventure. It has since been published and we received some lovely warm emails congratulating us on our spirit and thanking us for inspiration. We really hope we can inspire some people to step out of their comfort zone and experience a new life, even for a short while! I just wish I hadn't been wearing my oldest baggies for the photo that made the front cover!

With the cold weather we were experiencing in SA, (it was winter!) we were hoping for some snow in the mountains. True to form, a front came through and covered the Drakensberg with snow. Quick off the mark, we got hold of Gregg and Sheryl Petzer and, along with young Luke and Tanna, we headed off up to Himeville in the Southern Breg. Sheryl kindly arranged the use of a holiday cottage in the picturesque town of Himeville. On the way up we came across the snow, now lining the road and covering the trees and vegetation. (From tropical heat to snow!!) We stopped the vehicles alongside the road and for an hour or so we all played in the snow, enjoying the coldness. The rest of the weekend was spent at the cottage and in and around Himeville and Underberg. An enjoyable weekend in the snow was had by all and thanks to Sheryl for arranging it!

                           

The kids in the snow - Southern Drakensberg



6 July 2007 - Umdoni Cottage

Off to the beach. We had a week due at our little shared beach shack in Pennington and set off with the car bulging with everything we needed and more. We were in high spirits as we were looking forward to seeing our good friend Dr Gavin Jones and his lovely wife Sam whom he married while we were away. Darn, we love weddings!! Well it was a long afternoon as Rob forgot that his keys may be obsolete after 2 years. Eventually we fetched a set from the lady who runs the cleaning service and accessed the cottage. From the elevated position of our cottage, we were able to look out over our awesome, wild and exposed sea again. The waves rolled and crashed into the rocks and the gulls soared around, the dolphins swam by but, best of all, was the whales breaching and crashing way out. I don't think we will ever be able to live far from the sea again. I spent hours in the next week staring out at it, smelling the sea breeze and exclaiming at how quickly it changed from flat to choppy and calm to wild. As we live at sea level it was a treat to be looking down at it. Whenever I saw a ship I laughed that, if it was going to come at us, it would be in far more trouble than we would be, usually its visa-versa!! 

                   

        Our Umndoni Cottage                                                Gavin & Samantha Jones

Gavin had booked flights from Cape Town to Durban weeks before but the airline made an error and it involved listening to recorded info from his initial booking and to their credit they made good on the booking, despite it being one of Durban's busiest weekends. We enjoyed a late night glass of wine and a good chat before collapsing into bed after a long day. The Saturday morning was glorious, no wind, warm sun and blue skies. We walked on the rocks, watched the busy Dassie (Rock Hyrax) colonies and Gav even braved a chilly swim. He's still in great shape! Sam is delightful and Gavin is so lucky to have found her and we hope they live happily ever after. That afternoon we watched the Tri-Nations, SA vs NZ at the golf club, ate Beef curry and drank beer. With the rugby over, we set off for Scottborough to put some money on the annual July Handicap. Not being too familiar with the horses, we asked the dodgy locals hanging around the tote who we should back. Well what a success, we were back at the tote a couple of hours later after watching our horses romping home and picked up a healthy reward that more than paid for lunch and drinks. That afternoon Dan and Jen's certainly learnt all about gambling. It was a relaxed, exciting, comfortable and wonderful day and we look forward to spending more time with Gavin and Sam. We were all sad to hug and kiss them goodbye the next morning. Ok, Rob didn't kiss Gav goodbye but I did. Lucky me!

While at Umndoni we spent some quality time with my cousin Roy Hockey and his fast growing up girls Samantha and Robin. Roy has to be the most devoted Dad I have ever known and seems to be handling a demanding work and family life really well. Sam is so grown up from the last time we saw her, so much more confident and Robs is no longer the baby we knew before we left and she has never battled with confidence!

Ben Pretorius and his fishing buddy Paul Weingard were our next visitors. Sadly it was too windy for fly fishing but we enjoyed great conversation and some lovely beach walks. Paul works as a deep-sea diver and lives for weeks at great pressure in a live aboard dive chamber in the North Sea. Incredible! His stories of phoning Ben from the chamber and not being understood because he speaks like Donald Duck on helium had me in hysterics. (Being in a decompression chamber for days on end has the effect!)

We then went back to Kloof for a couple of nights to attend the boat show in Durban. Whilst away some local vagabonds broke in through the roof of the cottage. Luckily the alarm sounded and the security company were quickly on hand and nothing was stolen. The place is like Fort Knox yet they still find a way in - through the roof! Sleep didn't come so easy after that. The kids were unphased and just pointed to the huge hole in the ceiling and said "that's where the Baddies came in".



Back with Kloof friends

Our Kloof neighbours Lori and Greg Booth also joined us, just for a braai and an unsuccessful days fishing. It was great relaxing with them, we also spent a great evening at their home drinking wine and chatting about our plans. Lori is so enthusiastic about everything but was still in mourning about their beautiful old plane tree that got blown down in the big storm. She was more upset about the tree dying than the fact that it destroyed their garden wall and would have squashed them and their house flat had it fallen the other way!

Speaking of great neighbours, we were spoiled with a great steak dinner in a restaurant by Derek and Carol Salzman and had a super time catching up on each others news and being impressed by their daughters achievements. Moira Ford and Pat McKay from "Happy Days" (Dan & Jens old school) 3 doors up, also spoiled us with a great lunch which they prepared on a cold windy day, prawn curry and beef stroganoff with piles of veges. They invited our mutual friends and we all had a great afternoon together. Ben and Pam Pretorius worked their usual magic and we spent a couple of glorious evenings with them, although we did remember why we stopped drinking red wine. Ouch! Such generous neighbours made us long to move back into the village and live in our beautiful big house. All in good time. Then Kathy and Stephen Smith treated us to an unbelievable dinner at one of our favorite restaurants - La Pizza Pazza in Kloof. Kathy, who did my books for me at the Adwarehouse is a wonderful person; one of the hardest working people that I have experienced! She is really committed to getting things done and did wonders for me at the Adwarehouse. Such a special person but, like so many other SA citizens, is planning to emigrate to Australia, where she and Stephen will join their kids.

Furthermore we had a fun family evening at Carol Ansara's New Patio party at her home in Kloof. Steve and Trish Smiths treated us to a delicious braai, along with other close mates. Heather and Megan Cook generously opened their home for a braai. We were joined by Justin, Kirsten, Jeremy and Domenic King, Joanna and her 3 girls, and Quentin and Alison Hurt and their children. We also squeezed in a couple of visits to Mark and my special friend Jean Gibson and Dan's oldest friend Scott, and our adorable God-daughter Katie. Despite talking flat-out we didn't half cover the news! I look forward to long afternoons chatting to Jean over coffee while the kids entertain each other. Bruce and Leigh Scott also entertained us with a great meal; their dogs greeted us joyously, their cats treated us with distain and their Koi fish nibbled on our fingers. We spent a therapeutic afternoon with my cousin Donna and Mark, Shaun and Megan Tonkinson and Anton, Helen, Oliver, Jack and Timmy Koch. We also joined our good friends Steven and Candy Farrell for their son, Michaels, second birthday. Always great for Rob to catch up with his old army buddy from many years back. We felt so happy to catch up with everyone's news, and really look forward to spending time with all of them when we return. If I've forgotten anyone I'm sorry this is being written long after the fact and we have lost our diary which would have served as a reminder. It was wonderful to see everyone, but there were people we didn't see and we regret that but unfortunately we were pretty flat out! Never mind, we will be home in a year and look forward to catching up with everyone.

                   

            Steve, Michael and Candy Farrell                                    Alison and Chris Strauss

We spent a quite a few nights camping on The Bentleys huge laundry floor as they have no spare room. Luckily I now love washing machines and any discomfort was negated by the warm and loving attention of Trudy. Neville stole the show by getting two new puppies. Kayce and Monty wriggled into our hearts, adorable little fox terriers. Jenna was smitten until they chased her with loud yaps and sharp nipping teeth. She forgave them as they fell asleep in her lap. Poor Trudy, she would rather have 10 grandchildren all at once than 2 puppies but true to form, she never complains. My parents put us up in grand style and tolerated our mess and frequent washing loads. My mother found us a bit carefree and we found it a bit hard living by her rules which was a pity. I think we best stick to our own addresses in the future!

Finally after 11 weeks our passports were ready, we collected them in Pinetown. All too soon we were preparing our bags for our return trip to Malaysia. After saying our goodbyes to family and friends, we loaded the bags in our Toyota and headed off to Johannesburg. Here, we stayed for a week with my brother Kevin and his smart and funny wife Dawn. We met their friends, ate too much red meat, drank too much wine, stayed up too late, lolled in the Jacuzzi and generally had too much of a good thing. Rob drank liters of Kev's home brewed beer and became a complete convert, which inspired a last minute dash to the Brew Shop. So much so that there was even plans to buy the business! Talk about inspired! It took some explaining to get our brewing syrups through the airport checks!

We also managed to see Rob's old work colleagues Riaan and Calman. Riaan kindly invited us all over to his house for a braai and, again, we caught up on many years. Riaan and Calman worked with Rob back in the Unilever days and reminisced quite a bit. Both have since moved on into corporate positions where Riaan is an Account Executive with SAB and Calman works for a company in Dubai marketing FMCG goods in South Africa. With their wives (Natasha and Sharon) and kids we all took in a great Saturday afternoon SA braai! We LOVE braai's with great friends!

                   

            Sharon & Calman with kids                                                Natasha and Riaan and kids



All too soon it was time to pack up and head off. Again, it was very sad to say goodbye at the airport. The cousins were very close and twins Bianca and Megan were a complete joy. They even shared their beds at home with their Coussies Daniel and Jenna!!

 

Daniel, Bibbi, Jenna and Megan



It was an uneventful flight back to Langkawi via Kuala Lumpur where we reveled in the heat and humidity and felt incredibly happy to see Shayile and to be home again in our own space, whatever country she may be in!