Cracked Lips and Washing by David

Cracked lips and washing

Smile......Yay,Hay! Apparently the catchcry I use every time I take a photo! No one ever knew until I started taking so many....

Well we’ve gone from the wind and dry of Perth to the gale force winds and even drier in Cape Town. Our lips have been smashed and are severely dried and cracking but Nat has been in washing heaven these past days. (although a washing machine instead of the spa in the hotel room would be handy!)

A big thanks to Pete and Janita for a wonderful stay in Perth. Great friends, great food, great city and great time. What an Australia Day: Lamb on the Barbie, a few tunes on the guitar, Cricket in the park, magnificent views over Perth and the Swan river, a 21 gun salute, a few beers, swimming in the backyard pool, a couple of loads of washing, a free fair for the kids with over 50 rides/activities, Esky racing for the Dad’s, a few more beers and a massive fireworks show over the Swan. Great to see you guys, your passion for life, your beautiful family and we hope you continue to enjoy your adventure out West. You always remind us of the quality of friends we seem to have chosen in life and you are always more than welcome to stay anytime with us in Brissie or wherever we end up.

We survived the long haul from Perth to Cape Town. 18 hours in total including an overnight flight and transfers in Johannesburg. The boys have shown amazing resilience and patience so far, no doubt the anticipation and excitement keeping them going. We’ve been lucky travelling off peak with half empty planes and small queues.

A big shout out to Nikki our South African travel agent. Service over and above the call of duty, meeting us at the airport and spending an hour with us going through our itinery, planning trips and offering great tips and travel advice. As a result we have added a few things to do that had otherwise not been planned and what amazing experiences they have been. We have travelled around the Cape Peninsula along amazing rugged coastal and clifftop roads similar to the

Great Ocean Road

. Seen wonderful small fishing villages, taken a seal boat cruise and experienced swimming with a colony of wild Penguins. We also plan to have personal up close encounters with Cheetahs. These have been such unreal experiences for us, they must be out of this world for the boys. Everyday so far they have mentioned they have had the best day of their lives. There is 30 or more to go yet!

Cape Town is a beautiful place. All rugged coastal line and mountains. Wild seas, wild winds, barren and striking mountain surrounds. The people are friendly enough but seem to lack real emotion and passion. Almost resentful and bitter. We have come across dozens of shops, hotel, markets, tours, restaurant, airport personnel and service providers. Whilst the words are welcoming, the body language and expression and emotion is not there. Friendly enough, but no big warm genuine welcoming smiles or enthusiasm. There is a much larger percentage black population than we imagined. I had expected it to be similar to Australia. The majority of South African friends we’ve met in our Australian and New Zealand adventures have been white and the cricket and rugby teams are still largely white. Security hasn’t been an issue so far although we have been extra cautious and on edge thanks to our Springbok friends back home!

With the amazing adventures and experiences this wonderful country has offered so far, we can’t wait to experience the rest.

We are certainly following the major world news. After the Brisbane floods, Nelson Mandela has been ill this week and our planned Sunday Robben Island tour we hope does not hold additional significance. We are also starting to worry a little about Egypt at this point with news of political unrest and rioting happening in Cairo, although it is still a week away before we are due there. Hopefully it settles down. We will be in touch with the Embassy etc before we get there. If you’re reading this Andrew Malon, we will need to get a real update from the ground over there from Intrepid. We’ll be in touch.

Smile...........Yay, hay!

DB.