Last week was both hectic and relaxing.
Hectically relaxing :-P
You see, a scheme had formed. We had a few days with no flying, and my sister and her family were holidaying in Buffels Baai. And they had room in the house they were renting, so they said I could come across for a few days.
Now it’s over 400km, 4.5hrs’ drive. But it would mean seeing my niece.
Decided, I set about finding a hire car. We would be flying in to PE so I figured I would just hire a car from there. I checked prices on the weekend, but waited until Tuesday to book (because stuff changes, right).
We things did change. Big time. All the cars were booked. Every single car company in PE.
Uh oh...
Ok, after we leave the plane in PE we will drive to Grahamstown, I will get my car, and then set heading for Buffels. There wasn’t even a car available for that.
Gulp...
Right, so we would stay in PE a night... make that two nights because there were STILL no cars available on Thursday.
It looked like my Buffels plan wasn’t going to work. But I was glued to the Avis website, refreshing every 5 minutes. And. All of a sardine, a car was available. I quickly phoned my office to tell them so they could book it. Which they did. My plan was back in play!
So on Wednesday I packed and got to bed early. Thursday was going to be a very long day. We had a 06:45 take off out of Kwandwe. So we had to be there by 05:45, which meant leaving by 05:00, so I was up at 04:00.
It was a beautiful day. Cool and calm. With some dramatic clouds enroute.
After we dropped our clients in PE, we were done flying for the day. At 07:20. Tough life, hey!
But, we had to sort out the plane and do a compressor rinse, which meant waiting until 10:00 for the engine to cool. The rinse is a case of running water over the compressor blades to clean off salt and other deposits.
Job done, we headed to Avis to fetch the car. It was about 11:00 and we only had it booked for 13:00, so I was a little worried it wouldn’t be ready. But, it was. Today has been going really well!
We set off on the 130km drive home, stopping in Nanaga for a burger roosterkoek. Yum!
Once we got home I resisted the urge to dive into my car and hit the road- I still had a job to do. So I finished up my paperwork from the day’s flying, checked I had everything, and only then set off.
Talk about criss-crossing the area! First about 130km in the air, then going back 130km by road, and now going back again!
Fortunately it is a nice drive. And I like driving.
Long story short, the drive was uneventful. And I don’t recommend the Steers chicken mayo sandwich at Stormsriver... anyhow, I got to Buffels at about 19:30. I was pretty tired and approaching zombie status.
But seeing my niece smile made it all worth it!
We all ate dinner and chatted, and I was in bed by 21:00.
I slept like a brick. And I was up early enough to read stories and chat with my niece (she normally wakes up by about 6am).
It was a beautiful morning and we headed to Knysna to go SUP-ing on the lagoon. It was great fun! Then we had an early lunch at the Knysna Heads. I am searching for a chicken mayo sandwich to match the one Franky’s Diner makes. This place has probably been the better one so far. Not as good as Franky’s, but yum.
The rest of the day was spent reading and dozing and listening to the sea.
On Saturday my sister and I did a walk/hike in the dunes. It was beautiful, do watch out for mozzies though. Starting the day with a walk always makes the day feel like a success!
We headed to Sedgefield to the market, which was awesome. Lots of yummy tasters! And a fudge store that makes delicious, silky smooth chili chocolate fudge. And swiss chocolate fudge. And lemon fudge. And turkish delight. And and and. And I don’t even like fudge!
After the market I met with a friend at Pause Coffee Roastery. Their food is really good- I got a huge chicken salad. And their carrot cake is one of the best I have had!
Then I made my way back to Buffels, stopping to fill the car for the return trip home. I was still undecided as to when I was going to leave though- Sunday or Monday.
Another afternoon was spent reading and relaxing.
My niece showed off her new cycling skills and we spotted some dolphins. Cool!
I decided to leave on Monday morning. It takes a lot for me to relax and I was having such a good time.
On Sunday I was up early and walked to the main beach to watch the sunrise. It was cloudy, but still great to watch the ebb and flow of the sea and listen to the waves.
We headed to Totties Farm Kitchen in Rheenendal for lunch. And what a lunch it was. A huge buffet with everything from soup to thai green curry mushrooms, to fish, to roast beef, to malva pudding.
Naturally, I tried a little of almost everything. And completed pigged out on the pumpkin pie. And chocolate cake. And malva. And almond cake. You know when you get bend forward because your stomach is so full it hurts. Yeah.
I somehow rolled to the car and dozed on the drive home. Everyone had an afternoon nap and I dozed on the couch, reading a page of my book every now and then. Food coma of note.
On Monday I caught a spectacular sunrise. What a fitting way to end off my break.
I was on my way by 08:30, and the miles ticked over steadily. I stopped at Nature’s Valley Farmstall for a coffee and wound up with a pie and coffee. I thought I would be clever and take the winding scenic road and miss the toll gate. I was wrong and still had to go through the toll gate, but at least the drive was good.
Then I pulled in to JBay for what has become my favourite bacon and egg roll from a place at Nina’s.
And once in PE I did a bit of retail therapy. I got back to Grahamstown at around 17:00. The drive went by so much faster compared to Thursday.
Yesterday (Tuesday), it was back to work and back on the road. To PE. :-P at least I got to drive an i20 which was lots of fun!
Topic: My African Dream (Read 224613 times)
