Three Years Already

Three years ago when we visited South Africa.
Some very random pictures all with a story...
A shanty town, one of many.
My Mum and Dads house.....where they lived when my Dad was in the Navy, a little different in their day.

The train crossing the beach.....

John at one of the National Gardens.......what a view.

Very cute, and I am not a lover of frogs, but loved this picture.

One of my favourite pictures, at Spier.........what great nests.

John catching some rays.....

You could get close and personnel with these cuddly cats.

View from our place at Spiers...

I love teddy bears, this is the biggest I had ever seen and for the life of me cannot understand why John would not buy him for me.

We had a fabulous room at Spier and this is the biggest and most comfiest bed I have ever slept in.

A show home!

A plane coming in to land at the airport at Cape Town, flying over a shanty town.

I cannot believe that three years have gone so quickly. It does not seem that long ago that John and I said our farewells to everyone we knew in the UK to start our new life here in Australia.

When I was a little girl I listened to tales of Africa, the way of life, the people and of course the music. Perhaps this influenced my way of life and made me who I am today, I will never know, but hoped that one day I would be able to visit and see for myself. As John and I were starting a new life in Australia and knowing my deep desire to visit we decided that our half way stop off should be Cape Town for a couple of weeks...........Here is a sound that reminds me of that time.

What an adventure it was to be able to see for myself what South Africa was all about. As we flew over the Cape the view was just great, the sea, the green valley, Table Mountain and Signal Hill, all places I had read about and seen pictures of.

Now I have seen it for myself I have many opinions of the life there, confused in my own mind as to the way the country is, the affluent to the poor, in one brief glimpse. To see beggars in the street and living in shanty towns was an eye opener, could I change it? No, but it still makes me sad and I do not think I could ever become hardened to it. The rich and prosperous seem to live side by side with it and not blink, perhaps if you are born in that environment it is the norm, I will never know.

The countryside was amazing and so beautiful, sweeping hills to towering mountains, sweet flowers with heady scent and smells of the Mediterranean, whistling birds and sounds of the night, crickets and frogs. Ever changing landscapes around each corner, spoiling your choice of views, and just when you think there could be no more you turn a corner and the sea sweeps towards you with huge blue waves and icy white tops. The sea spray sends a mist soaring skyward and you could be walking through clouds if it was not for the soft white sand underfoot.

How much laughter can you take in one day? At first, each incident was one of total amazement as we saw cars held together with tape, car boots held on with string, cars that were whole but not belonging together, then you realise that it is the norm and you lose the shock value. We saw people run across 4 lane highways and hanging on in the back of wagons and when you parked the car a `Magical man` appeared who would be your personnel car guard: `What is that all about`!!!!!!. Could he be held responsible if your car was broken into? Walking is the norm for the shanty people and everywhere you went people either tried to hitchhike or walk along the rail line for miles, we were high in the mountains and people were walking, from where, to where? Who knows? Men hung around on corners, perhaps waiting for work, I do not know but it was rather intimidating. There were even upmarket shanty towns, where they had real walls and roofs, hard to believe unless you see it for yourself. Mile upon mile of shanty town, it was the first thing you saw when you came out of Cape Town airport, not a welcoming sight and it was only after we had gone up the N2 highway a few times did we realise there were even security people on the highway, to stop whom exactly, and from doing what? Indeed a very strange sight.

One of the many reasons I wanted to come to South Africa was to find the house my mum and dad lived in when my dad was posted here with the Navy, we did find the house at the second attempt, having only seen black and white pictures of the house it was so strange to see it in the true light of day, we have lots of pictures as it is now, in a built up area instead of the open space when mum and dad lived in it, but to see it was truly amazing.

We had a fantastic time in South Africa and would recommend anyone to visit it, we on the other hand had reached the end of our holiday and the time had come for us to go on our next adventure to Australia……….