After a whirl wind two weeks together in South Africa, Justin was
expected back in Brazil while Bron continued soaking up the African sunshine
for a further 3 weeks.
Walking on Hout Bay Beach with Sue
View over Cape Town suburbs from the top floor of my old department at UCT.
We were really spoilt with amazing views all around from that building!
This was our favourite picnic spot at Kirstenbosch when we lived in Cape Town
A mother goose and her goslings.
It was quite late in the season for baby birds but we saw quite a few new hatchlings around.
The first two weeks were spent with my parents in St Francis Bay where
there were loads of walks on the beach, watching cricket on the couch, chilling
at the bakery, walking the doggies, and learning to knit. Thanks Mom and Dad
for having me and looking after me! It was so nice to be back in the bay after
such a long time away. Thanks Mom for teaching me to knit! I’ve wanted to learn
for a while now despite Justin thinking I really am turning into a little old
lady. I really look forward to making my first wearable item! Watch this
space....
Walking on the beach with my Dad
Fish 'n chips!
Penguins at the rescue centre in Cape St Francis
Our little oak tree Leif!
Little guy is doing well in my Dad's care, thanks Dad!
View over St Francis Bay from the Links Golf Club
Cape ground squirell,
tortoise,
and meerkats at African Dawn Wildlife Sanctuary.
(They actually mostly have birds)
The third week was spent in Cape Town and what a jam packed week it was!
The first priority was visiting the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) to collect
our hopefully ready documents. Justin’s birth certificate was ready 1 week and Bron’s
passport 10 days after the application was made which we were completely amazed
and surprised by. However, Bron’s birth certificate was still not ready by the
end of her time in Cape Town, 5 weeks after applying. This we were much less
surprised by. We presume Justin’s was ready so quickly because he has applied
for one before so all his confirmed details were on the system already and only
need to be re-printed. (Why a whole week just to print it then? Let’s not go
there.) Bron has never applied for a birth certificate before so they have to
find the original birth register entry and check that all the information supplied
on the application form is indeed correct before issuing the certificate, a
process which apparently normally takes 6-8 weeks.
We are now in the 8th week since applying and it’s still not
ready despite twice weekly phone calls to the DHA helpline to request the
status and explain the urgency. The helpline cannot tell me any further
information other than the date it arrived at head office for processing 8
weeks ago. Apparently now that the standard 8 week mark has passed, it is due
to receive some attention as per standard protocol. I have heard some horror stories
of people waiting up to 12 months for a birth certificate only for it to be
incorrect when it finally arrived. We really hope neither of these situations
happens to us! In the previous blog, we were commending the DHA on their
improved and friendly service after making our applications. Now that just
needs to be extended into improved follow up actions and turnaround times. And
so we continue to wait. And phone. Shortly all the consultants at the helpline
will recognise my voice!
View across the bay from Granny's Pool
Scampering on the rocks at Cape St Francis with my Mom
View over the ocean and rocks
The Viking Bakery
Apart from all the energy spent on the DHA, I had a really great week in
Cape Town. I visited and caught up with many friends I haven’t seen in literally
years. Thanks to everyone who was willing and made the time to see me, I really
appreciate it, it was so great to see you. I did however miss some people I would
have loved to catch up with; I hope the next opportunity is soon and better
arranged on our part. I was also able to squeeze in some time for myself with a
drive around the peninsula past Simon’s Town on the best weather day of the
week and just enjoy being in Cape Town again soaking up the warmth and the
mountain.
A big thank you to Rob and Sue for having me to stay for the week! I had
such a great time, it really was lovely. Thank you for your friendship and
companionship and for helping me to squeeze so much into one week. I miss our
relaxed evenings on the couch watching Master Chef or the cricket. Wishing you
all the best for the year ahead and the arrival of your first special bundle in
August =) Missing you guys already!!
Thank you to my amazing husband for renting me a car for the week! I
loved driving and having my own wheels again despite feeling like a learner
driver whilst adjusting to the power steering and ABS brakes.
Thanks also to everyone who said they read our blog! Almost everyone I
met with said they read and enjoy it.
Thanks!! We don’t get much feedback on the blog site itself so it’s really nice
to hear that friends and family at home are still reading and enjoying it. Keep
reading!
The view from Cape Point Wineries overlooking Noordhoek Beach
The amazing view of the mountain and suburbs of Cape Town from Rob and Sue's place
Wine tasting at Groot Constantia with Rob and Sue
Vineyards and view from Groot Constantia
Walking in Newlands Forrest with Rob and Sue
Early morning mountain covered in cloud
A perfect cloudless day
My view during lunch at Kirstenbosch
No trip is complete without a little travel drama and I thought I had safely
escaped after a smooth 5 weeks in SA. I was wrong. We had managed to see a lot
of people and move around the country quite a lot but unfortunately
Johannesburg wasn’t on our list of places for this trip and this meant that I
would miss out on seeing my brothers, niece and other family there. My flight
from Cape Town was arranged such that I had a one and a half hour stopover in
Johannesburg before my connecting flight to São Paulo. Anyone who has
travelled, including myself, knows that this is not much time for an
international connection. But how could I say no when both my brothers offered
to get up early on a Saturday morning and make the long drive to the airport?
How could I say no to seeing them and my 3 year old niece? I promised myself that
it would be fine.
I totally missed my connecting flight to São Paulo. It was no other than
my own fault; I over-stayed at coffee because it was so great and I wanted it
to last forever. What’s wrong with that? I could have made it if I wasn’t held
up by the long queue at passport control and if the gate wasn’t the absolute
last one in the terminal. What a sinking feeling arriving at a deserted gate
and seeing your plane pushing back from the air bridge. My worse travel
nightmare had happened! I missed my flight!! Apart from the initial panic,
flood of tears and slight chaos getting another flight arranged, it wasn’t so
bad in the end. Nothing bad happened. I got another flight easily enough, I had
a place to stay for the night at my brother’s house, I wasn’t stranded in a
foreign place. Maybe it was good that my worst travel nightmare had happened,
so I could get over it. Ok, it was convenient that it happened in my home
country where I could speak the language and had contacts. But still. Needless
to say we made sure I was not only on time but super early for my rescheduled
flight the next day! This time passport control was empty and the gate was one
of the first in the terminal. Murphy’s law, isn’t it just.
Thanks to my brother Darrell and Claudia for coming back to the airport
to pick me up and having me to stay for the night. Thanks for the awesome braai
and your friendly hospitality. It was so great to finally get to see your new
home and catch up with you guys. I’m so glad you are so happy there =) Thanks
to my brother Craig for bringing a big bag of biltong and a big bottle of
grapetiser to the airport especially for me, I was super stoked you remembered!
Thanks also to my Uncle Hilton and my best friend from school Monet for coming
by at such short notice; it was great to see you too and catch up. And thank
you to my amazing husband for letting me wake you up at 06:00 after a long day
of flying yourself, for remaining so calm and not remonstrating with me, and
for spending so much time on the phone with the travel agent. You have
successfully earned your absolutely amazing one-in-a-million husband badge
*insert thumbs up here*
With my brothers and niece at OR Tambo Airport
Darrell on the far left, Craig in the center and my niece Michaela
Claudia, Darrell and Michaela
Michaela and her Dad
Bron and Michaela
Dazz, Michaela and Bron
A real life braai!
Chilling under the lapa at Darrell and Claudia's house with Monet
It’s already 3 weeks since I’ve been back in Vitoria and the temperature
is still averaging a toasty 33°C every day. After months of this blistering
heat we are looking forward to it cooling down soon. Gasp! I never thought I
would say that! Let me clarify, we are looking forward to it cooling down to
the very comfortable and pleasant winter average of 26°C. However, the beaches
are deserted as common belief is that it’s already winter. Apparently winter
begins the week after carnival, it’s completely bizarre. And our 90 days are
almost up again so we will be heading to Lima at the end of the month or so. C’mon
documents, get ready!
But first: roll on Easter in Rio! See you there next weekend!
Highlights and activities from 2 weeks in St Francis Bay and 1 week in
Cape Town:
- A walk on Hout Bay beach with Sue the Sunday Justin left.
- Enjoying the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra Summer Sunset Concert at
Kirstenbosch with Sue, Mariette and Patrick in the afternoon of the same
Sunday.
- Arriving in Port Elizabeth and seeing my parents again after 2 years.
- Seeing my Dad’s new home in St Francis Bay and how he has settled in.
- Seeing the extensions to my Mom’s bakery in St Francis Bay and how
well they are doing.
- Lots of walks on the beach, fish ‘n chip lunches, coffee dates with
friends, watching cricket on the couch, and visiting the penguin rescue centre with
my Dad.
- Having dinner with my Mom every night, scampering on the rocks at
Granny’s Pool and Cape St Francis with her, taking her spoilt rotten Jack
Russell’s for walks, brunch and tea dates together, and a little bit of
shopping together here and there.
- My Mom teaching me to knit.
- Visiting African Dawn Wildlife Sanctuary with my Dad.
- Having a rental car for a week in Cape Town! Thank you amazing husband
for arranging a rental car for me =)
- Burger Night at Cape Point Wineries overlooking Noordhoek beach with
Rob and Sue.
- Wine tasting at Groot Constantia with Rob, Sue, Kerry, and Wayne.
- Going for my first ever walk in Newlands Forrest with Rob and Sue and
then a second walk with Brenainn and Kirsten. How did we manage to miss this
gem while living in Cape Town for 10 years?
- A lovely relaxed Sunday evening braai at Abi and Frank.
- Tea with Kath Burke and meeting the beautiful 2 year old Emily and the
newly arrived Daniel.
- Tea with Nici Palmer and meeting the cute 2 year old Caleb.
- A lovely morning catching up with under-grad university friends
Michelle and Juliet, meeting their beautiful children, and a surprise visit
from Colin (living in the UK).
- A lovely real South African braai at Patrick and Mariette’s house with
Rob and Sue to celebrate Partrick’s birthday.
- A spoil myself half-day without prior commitments driving around the
Peninsula past Simon’s Town and back again including a walk on Fish Hoek beach
and brunch at Knead in Muizenberg.
- A last visit to Kirstenbosch with Abi and Josh including a healthy
lunch of scones and milo and a quick last walk around the V&A Waterfront on
my last day.
- Missing my connecting flight from Johannesburg to Sao Paulo and
getting to spend the night at my brother’s new home, meet his new girlfriend, and
seeing my niece, uncle and best friend from school.
Lowlights of the 3 weeks:
- Spending lots of time and energy on the Department of Home Affairs.
- Getting a 2 cm thorn stuck in the nice soft fleshy part of my big toe
and needing to have it cut out by a doctor. This was really painful and resulted
in my first two stitches ever. Not a pleasant experience and I do not recommend
it. This was also somewhat inconvenient and curtailed walks on the beach. Thanks
Mom for taking me to the doctor and holding my hand! Just goes to show that being
a parent doesn’t end even when your children are over 30.
- Kicking my toe on the pavement 3 days after the stitches came out and
splitting it open once more. Again, not recommended.
- Having a stomach bug during my short stay in St Francis Bay.
- Going to the dentist, twice.
- Power failures and the inconvenience of Eskom load shedding. Sigh.
- Not all the documents were ready from Home Affairs.
- Missing my flight to Sao Paulo and having to wait another 2 days to
see Justin again.
x
