South Africa - October

October was upon us and we all knew it was nearly time to head back to Trinidad and Calypso. 

Our house in the trees on the left

We took advantage of the beautiful spring days and visited some of the surrounding wine farms. On one particular day we ended up at Hillcrest Quarry for lunch.

You may be wondering why we didn't have Andrew's side of the family to the farm before we left. We had invited the entire clan, all 30 of them, but unfortunate events meant we had to cancel the lunch. I have mentioned the dreaded loadshedding which got more intense at one stage. With no electricity on the farm there is no running water, as the water is from a borehole. This would mean no washing up, no hand washing or loo flushing. On the Sunday we had invited them for a wonderful family braai, we were due to load shed for 6 hours straight. It was also the same weekend that one of the worst storms hit the Western Cape, flooding roads including the N2 highway and causing mayhem. After that we never found a time to get them all together.

I did, however, manage to have my friends, Chariesse, Delyse and Elizabeth Ann and their families out to the farm for lunch. Sadly we didn't take a photo of us all.

Tree blown over in the storm

Enjoying the last few days

Hoopoe in the garden

Weaver birds rebuilding their homes

Laura was able to see most of her friends. She invited some of her friends over for a braai one Friday night while we were staying at Anthony and Debbie's house. 

She also spent a morning at the little play school where she used to work. She absolutely loved the morning and I am sure she would have liked to spend more time there. Her friend, Thomas invited us for a Sunday lunch with his parents at his house in Pinelands.

We had a wonderful family lunch at Sean's house. Saskia didn't make it as she wasn't feeling well and Wendy and Sinead were off gallivanting somewhere. The rest of us had a lovely afternoon, with lots of laughter!

We decided to move to the southern suburbs to be closer to Matt for the last few weeks of our stay. We missed the cows and the green fields, but we didn't miss the long, traffic clogged N1 drive to town.

Just enough space for the all important braai

I met up with my friends, Carol Chromhout, (retired RBPS teacher) and Chariesse Cann (current RBPS teacher) for snacks and drinks at Kelvin. 

Carol, Siobhan and Chariesse

Chariesse is usually my walking/running partner, so it was wonderful to spend time with her again as we traversed the Rondebosch streets, our words working as fast as our legs.

We started to see more spring weather. Kay, Moira, Laura and I went to Kirstenbosch for lunch. After lunch we went for a walk. The gardens were looking lovely with all the spring flowers on show.

As our days in Cape Town were nearly over it was important to see as much of the family as we could. The entire Henshilwood family, including the grandchildren, came over for a braai. It was mayhem with the two littlest grandchildren, who are just one, toddling around, and the older cousins wanting to play cricket in the garden. But it was lots of fun and wonderful to see them all.

Cricket with the cousins

Supper with the Burmeisters

Before we left Calypso in June, we had brainstormed a long list of things we needed to bring back with us. Boat parts and spares were high on the list along with dish towels, cotton bath towels, and new summer clothes. We also had boat cards made as well as shirts and caps embroidered with Calypso and her butterfly.

Calypso Crew

While Laura spent a day working at Wag-A-Lots making dog biscuits with her friends, Andrew and I took ourselves off to The Cove, in Harfield for breakfast. We are seldom on our own and this was very special.

Andrew bought Matthew an early Christmas present, a new webber braai. 

Farewell dinner at The Avenue

We spent the last few days at Anthony and Debbie's house, packing and sorting our things. It's amazing what one can accumulate in a few short months. We arrived with one suitcase and two soft duffel bags and left with two suitcases, two duffel bags packed to the brim, and a backpack each.

Our last lunch at Forries

Father Christmas and his Elf

Finally on 19th October, at least a month later than expected, we said a sad farewell to Matt and Kay at the airport. We won't be away as long as before, as we have a wedding to attend! See you next year, Cape Town!