Our holiday in South Africa 1997-1998

Friday 28 Nov 1997

8.10am Cindy is in the kennels and we leave this am. We are all packed and the house is clean and tidy. No last minute rush as we (or rather Joe) has planned it carefully so we were able to relax last night.
We leave at 10 and I am dressed and just have face and hair to do and breakfast.

Weather dull and severe weather expected. The sun is shining on Treliske Hospital - so it cannot be that dull. We depart on SA 0239 at 2015 from Heathrow and are travelling up by coach.

9.15 pm We caught the coach on time. Everything went swimmingly until we got side tracked at Reading due to an oil spillage on the motorway. Instead of arriving at 5.20 pm at LHR we were about one and a half hours late, arriving at 6.50pm - so Joe, who was planning a leisurely double Scotch, had to forgo this pleasure, and we rushed through the terminal.

The Saga rep was not available at the terminal so Saga was a disaster. They should have booked us on an earlier coach - it being a Friday and the roads were horrendous the closer we got to London.

We caught the plane OK and are now flying 571 mph at 27,000 feet. We left 45 minutes late!

Because we arrived late at the gate they were going to split our seating but we complained that we had been booked for months and months so we are seated together after all.

We are now over the River Seine and Le Havre.

Saturday 29 November 1997

As expected, an uncomfortable night. Both pleased we are nearing the end of this part of the journey. We left Jan Smuts Airport five minutes ago - time now is 10.50. Lunch, or whatever, now being served.

Sunday 30 November 1997

We are now at Sani Pass Hotel. A hectic day yesterday. Chris, Kathy and Walter met us at Durban Airport and took us back to Pinetown. Mechel had a birthday party that evening in a hall in Pinetown.  Home by 12.30.

Woken at 8.20 this morning with tea and biscuits. We were to leave by 9 for this hotel. It was a 3 hour trip, stopping on way for scones at The Pickle Pot.

Later: Had lunch at the hotel with Chris, Kathy and Walter and they left soon after. Whilst they were there I took Walter down to the play park for a short while.

Our room is very comfortable - 3 foot twin  beds, TV, bathroom with shower, lockable wardrobes, ceiling fan and a great view. Good helpful reception. We were lucky to get in because the school holidays start right after we leave.

We sat out after dinner. It was still and black and silent with a profusion of brilliant stars glittering down on us.

Monday 1 December 1997

I woke early this morning and took a peek out of the window at the mountains and then woke Joe for him to come and see the dawn, which he videoed.

When the sun touched the distant mountains and rocky outcrops the snow glowed pink and lilac and the growing shadows looked like a ’paint by number’ picture of light and shadows. A mist was slowly rising above the river and the birds, woken by the light, started a gentle morning chorus while a solitary black cat made his way across the grass in search of game. It was a very special moment for us.

We had arranged to meet Simon and Ann at 8.30 am  but they arrived early at 7.30 and we met them a little later downstairs. They were staying nearby in a backpacker hotel which they soon found was uncomfortable. We breakfasted together. Meal prices at the hotel are very reasonable. Breakfast R25 which is about £3. A large orange juice and half a pint of lager cost R8.50 which is about £1.

They left at about 10 and we bought postcards then sat on the terrace writing them out while sipping cold lemonade. The view is quite magnificent from the hotel terrace. Hills, mountains and trees in the valley.

It is very hot and Joe has just gone to change into shorts. I, as usual, sit in the shade. Being so high up the air is a little thinner, so is a little tiring for us.

We have arranged with Simon and Ann (Dot) to go up  Sani Pass to Lesotho on Tuesday. It costs R100 per person plus R35 for lunch. That is about £12 each for the trip and about £4 for lunch. 

When we were flying from Jan Smuts to Durban the weather was overcast and snow had fallen on the Berg . It had also been raining but that has stopped and the sky now is  clear. All is peaceful and quiet outside, and the sky is filled with stars.

Tuesday 2 December 1997

We went up Sani Pass on a Bedford ex Army  truck, and into Lesotho where we visited one of the huts and met one of the local ladies who made a local beer and then had lunch at the highest pub in Africa from where the scenery was breathtaking. 

The hairpin bends and sheer drops on one side of the road both up and down the pass are quite terrifying. Perhaps worse coming down because one is travelling with a sheer drop on the left.

A wonderful trip and well worth the money. The driver was very experienced and well worth the R40 tip we gave him.

Wednesday 3 December 1997

Took a walk to a nearby waterfall and back. A hot but pleasant ramble through beautiful scenery and passing a waterfall on the way. Thora back home had asked me to bring back a little SA soil to be buried with her and I collected this on the way. We sat under the trees for a while and on the way back watched some horses wander out into the water to drink. Joe was not feeling too well on the return walk. Too much travel? The altitude? No! Too much sun.

Thursday 4 December 1997

Spent the day out with Simon and Ann. They drove us to Underburg where I bought some presents to take back to UK. The hotels entertainments director is interested in someone learning line dancing and persuaded us to give a teaching session tonight at 8.30.

11^th December 1997

We left Sani on the 5^th and spent everyday until yesterday at Pinetown which was a good rest for us. Chris and Kathy are both out at work all day and Walter was left with us which though it was a little tiring and not as restful as we had hoped, allowed us to get to know Walter. He was not a problem when he is with us, probably because we give him attention. He understood the rules we made. Through the day I would read to him for about half an hour, Joe went swimming with him in the pool for an hour or so and we played games with him but when we were tired he had to behave. And he did. Really he just wanted a little normal attention.

This morning at about 8.30  Kathy said we shouldn’t leave too early because we were driving to Margate for breakfast. I said I couldn’t go long without food because  it made me feel ill. She said it wasn’t far but it was one and a half hours later before we had breakfast. Poor service at the first place we stopped for breakfast so we left.

Joe sat in the front and I sat in the back with Walter and he didn’t play up with me and listened when I gently curbed his behaviour.

We drove on and crossed the Transkei border and visited the Sun Casino. Kathy and Walter went to the children’s play area and we went into the casino and blew £40 on the machines. Actually Joe got fed up and gave me half his money so I blew most of it.

We met up with Kathy and Walter and going down in the lift Walter got out too soon and was left on his own and was in a panic, in tears and yelling from the fright for being left on his own. Kathy was yelling at him ‘Stay where you are’. (He got lost in Woolworths a few days earlier and had panicked then.) I got out on the next floor and ran up the stairs.  The weather was foul, both there and back.

12 December 1997

We are now in Scottburgh for a couple of days. Chris wasn’t with us all the time as he had a job which kept him at the workshop. He went down one morning and found he had locked his keys in the car so had to drive back to get a second set. Since Kathy wanted the car he had to drive back and pick up his own car before going to work.

We spent part of the day on the beach and Walter enjoyed himself splashing around but it was a little too hot for Joe and I so we walked up to a café to cool down.

13 December 1997

Weather excellent. Chris was making a braai for us but I felt very ill with my stomach which was playing up again. So I went to bed and missed it. There was an electrical storm late in the evening when the braai was over and Joe video-ed it while I watched it from the bedroom window.

14 December 1997

Weather is bad again today. We are back from Scottburgh. The flat we had was two bed roomed with a lounge and kitchen off, a stoep which went round to the  front and large terrace at the back with a built in braai.

Before leaving this morning we visited the owner of the block of flats we were staying in. He had converted four flats on two levels into one. It was very airy and spacious.

Tuesday 16 December 1997

Public holiday today and Chris and Kathy organised a Harley meet (Chris is the Chairman of the local group and Kathy is the Secretary) at an airfield at Cato Ridge. Chris arranged for Joe to fly up there with Greg, an airline pilot, who had a 1937 Tiger Moth. This was truly a treat for Joe who thoroughly enjoyed the trip from Victoria airfield on the coast. They left early, at seven-ish and he took lots of video during the flight.

Meanwhile at 8 Chris drove us up to Cato Ridge but first we had a stopover at a place called the Pavilion, a shopping Mall, to meet up with other members of the club. Kathy was with us on her own Harley. It was well after 9 by the time we left.

It was fairly windy at Cato Ridge and  Joe and Greg had trouble landing and had to go round twice and soon after landing it was decided to close the field because of cross winds. 
By the time we arrived sometime later  Joe was beginning to wonder where we were, having arrived there at about 8 am. It was the hottest day of the year 
The rest of the club then arrived and everyone started eating lunch at about 11. Fortunately a friend, Jo, who had once worked as a game ranger, shared her lunch and drinks with us.

Kathy rode her Harley there and back, wearing only a singlet shirt and jeans and when we arrived back at Chris’s workshop she collapsed, a combination of low blood sugar, heat exhaustion and lack of liquid. The ladies gathered round and tried to persuade her to take off her jeans, which she strongly resisted.

As soon as she had partially recovered Chris took Kathy and I home and returned for Walter and Joe. I quickly got Kathy into the pool and gave her something to drink and she soon recovered. As she undressed she explained  the reason she had been reluctant to take off her jeans. She was wearing a thong! She said that because her job involved visiting factories such as Toyota, she found they which often had no facilities for women’s toilets so  she drank very little during the day and did not need to go to the toilet. This had become a habit and today was no different and through the heat she had hardly drunk anything.

18 December 1997

Kathy had business in Pietermaritzburg, about 42 miles away and she picked us up during the morning for the trip. On the way we visited the Comrades Marathon wall. (The Comrades Marathon commemorates those who fell in WW1.) The weather closed in with a thick mist so we saw very little which was a pity however we did see some of the buildings which appeared in a book of photographs sent from SA by someone in my grandfather's office back in about 1910.

20 December 1997

Hot day - sunbathed and swam and had a braai in the evening but Chris had to return to work and was working all night with a motor cycle he had promised to complete by tomorrow.

21 December 1997

When we first arrived in SA Kathy said she would arrange any trips we wanted to make. We wanted to visit to a game reserve for 3 or 4 days and she said she would arrange it.

We were going to drive up to St Lucia today but Jo (who shared her lunch with us at Cato Ridge and who had worked as a game ranger ) arranged to take us up to the Hluhluwe Umfolozi Game Park in Zululand which is 280 K (about 174 miles) from Durban. She and her friend John would arrange a vehicle and do the driving.

Kathy said we should leave at 3am but we were reluctant because Chris had been working late last night still we were up at 5.10am and on our way shortly after in Kathy‘s car. It was a long drive to where Jo lived and her partner John met us on his motorcycle because Chris was not sure of the way to their place.

We then went to John’s place for coffee and we hung around for ages waiting for someone to say ‘Let’s go’. Considering we had been expected to get up at 3am we thought it strange that no one seemed to think it necessary to get going.

The vehicle was a four wheel drive buckie which had a covered area, a bit like a hatchback and behind were rear bench seats which seated three. In the front were two bucket seats. So it seated two at the front and, at a squeeze, three in the rear. We were seven and Chris and Walter had to sit in the unseated back area on a blanket. Chris suffers from back ache so it was not a comfortable ride for him. I sat between Joe and Kathy because both wanted to video or photograph.

Eventually we were off and after another long drive arrived at last at the game reserve.

Jo was a good driver but John’s driving made Joe and me nervous because he didn’t keep his eyes on the road and if he thought he had seen something would turn his head to watch it while still driving.

We stopped for lunch at about 2. During the drive we saw lots of game, rhino, giraffe and, just as we came out of the gate at the end of the visit, wart hogs.

22 December 1997

I don’t think we have had two consecutive days of good weather whereas we have certainly had more than two consecutive days of bad weather. Today it is raining however we need a day‘s rest after spending yesterday cramped up for so long in the buckie. Kathy has left to pick up a cheque from Toyota.

23 December 1997

Weather today is bright and sunny. We are off to Durban beach in half an hour with Kathy and Walter and his friend, Braveman.

Later: We spent the morning to mid afternoon in Durban , on the beach. Visited Sea World, which I remembered from my visit in 1990. We were not disappointed, especially with the sharks but they were not feeding - they just ignored the food which was being offered to them - too well fed, I guess.

We left Kathy and Walter at one of the pools, which Walter thoroughly enjoyed and went to look at the funfair. We took the chairlift, which made us both feel distinctly nervous but we got some good shots. The weather was hot and sunny. Back at Pinetown later we found that the weather had been overcast all day - so perhaps our experience of the poor weather means that inland the weather is worse than that at the coast. 

24 December 1997

Spent day at home.

25 December 1997

Christmas Day. Up at about 3.30 to watch Walter open his presents. Later to Kathy’s parents, Ken and Ann, for the rest of the day. They have the whole family over for an all day party including Christmas lunch.

Sunday 28 December 1997

Spent the am and part of the pm at Umhlanga Rocks where one of Kathy’s brothers has a flat overlooking the beach.

We stopped there for drinks and then walked down to a natural tidal pool a short way along the beach. We had to rely on the good grace of the others who allowed me the full use of a large umbrella and cool drinks. It was far too hot for me to sit out on the s but was great fun playing and swimming with Walter in the pool. Joe was very good with him and kept trying to get Walter up on to his shoulders so he could jump in from there but it was a struggle which they gave up in the end.

1 January 1998

Kathy and Chris had a small New Year’s Eve Party and we showed them a few line dances which Ann was most keen to learn because of the exercise.

Later when the fireworks started two terrified Alsation dogs, who lived nearby,  ran into the house for shelter. They refused to leave and wouldn’t be chased off. They had probably been left alone by their owners and wanted our company.

When Ken and Ann were ready to leave, during this, Ken opened his car door and one of the dogs jumped in and sat in the driver’s seat. Ann was disgusted and horrified at the amount of dirt which it had on its paws and which were all over the front seat but everyone else thought it was funny.

We are now coming to the end of our holiday and are looking forward to getting home but I am dreading that long flight again.

Sunday 18th January 1998

We returned from our SA trip on 3 January. The weather when we arrived was truly awful. Gales, wind, rain and the facilities at Heathrow for coach travellers is a farce. The coach terminal café, with steamed up windows, was full of people trying to get out of the rain and outside there were just an over hanging canopy in the waiting area which provided very little cover in the driving rain . Apart from this it was cold. We were frozen and wet and were glad to get on the double decker coach where it was nice and warm. 
It rained almost all the way to Plymouth where the wind was so strong that before crossing the Tamar Bridge we had to change to a single decker coach to cross it being closed to high vehicles containing passengers. We then changed back on the other side.

When we arrived in Truro there was no sign of any taxis and no shelter and Joe had to go up to the taxi rank in Boscawen Street to find a taxi.

It was good to get home and start settling down again. We had a good holiday and Chris and Kathy made us very welcome but it is always nice to get home.

Cindy was in an awful state when we picked her up from the kennel. It isn't owned  by the same people who owned it a couple of years ago and who looked after her so well.

This time our lovely Cindy had lost 10 lbs in weight, hadn't been brushed or cleaned properly and her eyes and ears were very mucky. She was very subdued and being blind couldn't see us at first but she heard me talking to her at a distance and perked up. Thank goodness, with lots of good food, snacks, love and attention, she has made a quick recovery and is back to her normal happy self now.

I had a lot of correspondence to catch up on but at last am almost up to date. We've been home over two weeks now and had to hire a car to get around but last week we bought a Toyota Corolla for £4000 from Falmouth Garages and they will deliver it this coming Wednesday. It will be good to be mobile in our own car again.