Wowee Cape Town!

Wowee. That was a 2 week visit to Cape Town that seems to have gone at break neck speed. Even catching up with friends happened to coincide with other activities or jobs, to make best use of time. I finally caught up with the gorgeous Wendy Theron on the phone (while trying to sort out some laptop issues for mom), after a couple of years of trying various internet based routes at home. She sounded just the same, with an effervescent laugh in her voice; I could just picture how she looked as she spoke. My lovely friend is definitely one of the best things I gained at university in Grahamstown all those years ago, and hopefully with new email addresses swapped, we will stay in touch.



I was also lucky enough to spend 4 days with my lovely friend Shelley who flew from Durban to spend time with me. Shelley was a massive help in sorting some stuff out for mom with me, and helping us get some jobs done – if she hadn’t have been there I would never have got as much achieved as I did, although even then I left a lot undone. But the most important part of Shel’s visit was that we actually spent 2 days behaving like tourists! If she hadn’t have come, my mom and I would have worked away like little beavers, as it was we got to spend 2 days travelling on the open top buses seeing the sights, hearing the sounds and smelling the smells of Cape Town.

There is something about this place. The last time I was here, for about 5 days this time last year helping mom move, I felt it as well. The city seduces me. I visit, and before long I am imagining my little family and I living there. Okay, I will admit I have never been there for winter, but hey, I live in the North East of England, I’m sure I could take what Cape Town had to throw at me! There is just something about the place – it feels, in a strange way, like a mix of the two places that are home to me, South Africa and England.

Beach side of Camps Bay

Mountain side of Camps Bay

Stunning Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens

The weather was amazing, and such a welcome relief after the brrrrrr of Whitley Bay! I didn’t really get much time to soak up the sunshine, but it was just so nice to strip off the layers, expose my pale flesh (nice for me, of course, not so for the poor people who had to witness it!) and pad around bare foot. Mom and I got a lot done, including removing her clunky old pc and replacing it with a sleek laptop. I kept all the stuff on it to a minimum so that mom wasn’t overwhelmed when she switched it on – my main aim was to get her feeling competent enough to be able to check and send emails and to use Skype to see and talk to us and Lara’s family. Sadly it doesn’t seem to have worked – perhaps I just wasn’t there for long enough for Mom to feel one hundred per cent sure of what she had to do, but I must admit to feeling a bit disappointed that all the work we put in seems to have come to nought.


Hey ho and moving on.

I was very lucky and got to see quite a lot of Anton, the hugely pregnant Jules and my delectable nephew, James!  (But more of them in another post...)

Coming home was accompanied by a tumultuous mess of mixed emotions. So pleased to be going home - to see Steve, to give my boys nonstop cuddles but also so sad to be saying goodbye to my mom, Anton and his family.

Living cross continents from family sucks.