Croatia: Trogier to Zadar

by schadymuller | May 22, 2019 | 2019, Introduction

Esprit’s route in the Adriatic.

After saying goodbye to Reini and Lynne, we spent another two days at Trogier Marina before setting sail to go northwest up the Croatian coast. The weather continued to be wet and cold, proving that at 44 degree latitude north in the Adriatic Sea, summer comes later than our friends who were sailing in Greece and Turkey, were experiencing at 37 degrees north.

Leaving Trogier old town.

Anchored in Vinisce.

Vinisce waterfront.

The first three days provided little in the way of wind, which meant a lot of motoring with fairly average scenery on land of new developments. We stopped at Vinisce, Rogoznica and Razanj. Once we headed up the Luka canal, the scenery improved as we reached Sibenik.

Sailing past Sibenik.

We were now in a massive inland waterway that took us about 10 nm inland to Skradin, which is as far as Esprit could go before a low road bridge. Tickets from the National Parks allowed us to take a ferry another 3 nm into the Krka National Park to the Skradinski Buk waterfalls.

Esprit’s route on the vast waterway of the Luka canal.

Going under the road bridge to Skradin.

Skradin town.

One of the many swans that welcomed us.

With the rains we had over the previous two days, the waterfalls were in full flood and quite beautiful – it reminded us of a mini version of the Iguazu falls between Brazil and Argentina. Back  on Esprit, the wind picked up to 40 knots from the northeast and we spent an anxious night anchored off Skradin town on the Krka river.

Entrance into the Krka Park.

The travertine falls.

More falls.

More falls as we climb higher.

Water everywhere.

Walkways so close, you can touch the water.

At first light the following morning, we ducked downstream to Vrulje to get into the lee of the land. Charlie, a local fisherman came over to suggest we re-anchor further into the cove, as there was an even stronger westerly coming through that evening. The following day, we motored to Zaton village where the anchorage was too narrow for us, so we carried on to Sibenik, and found shelter in a bay south of the town.

Zaton village.

This was a good choice, as we were near a ships chandler where we bought a discharge pipe for the toilet to the holding tank, to replace a blocked pipe. Four hours later and a new passage cut through two bulkheads with a 55mm hole saw, the job was done. We settled down with celebratory drinks, as it was the 15th May, our third anniversary since sailing out of Sydney.

Back in Sibenik, the barrel vaulted cathedral.

We enjoyed Sibenik before motoring to Vodice, seven miles to the northwest. The sun came out at last and we explored the town to buy fruit and veg at the market and groceries, wine and beer at the Tommy hypermarket. The sunny period was short lived as it clouded over the next day, but with a nice 25 knot south easterly to take us 20 nm north to Hramina where we found shelter.

Leaving Sibenik – WW2 shelters for submarines.

The Venetian fortification at the entrance of the Luka canal.

Opposite it, the lighthouse.

What’s wrong with this picture? The new hotel next to the town of Vodice.

Hramina, like most of the towns further north, has a marina for the exclusive use of a charter company. The company at this marina for example, had more than 80 vessels, of which about half were Jeanneau SO 439 monohulls like Esprit, with also smaller and bigger Jeanneau’s. These were in the company of about 20 American Lagoon catamarans.

Lagoon of course, wins the prize for building floating camper vans that least resemble sailing vessels, often challenged by Leopard catamarans. However, the Hummer military combat vehicle aesthetic of Lagoon cats, tip the scales in their favour. Different strokes for different folks.

Hramina peninsula – the sunken Roman town of Colentum at top left.

Colentum partially visible.

Walking up Gradina hill – the church and cemetery below.

View from Gradina to Hramina marina.

View up to the islands.

Fresh calamari paella from the market.

After some good walks around Hramina, a strong south easterly took us swiftly to Zadar, a large city, 22 nm to the northwest. We will spend a few days here to get prices for a new anchor windlass, as the original one sounds as though it will kark it at any minute. So, rather than wait for that surprise and pull up the anchor and chain by hand, let’s be ready with a replacement.

We will keep you posted on developments.

Cheers for now.

Croatia: Dubrovnik to Split.

by schadymuller | May 10, 2019 | 2019, Introduction

Due to very little wind, it was a 31 nm motor cruise from Montenegro to Cavtat in Croatia where we checked in with the friendly female harbour master and the police. This necessitated a quick trip to an ATM to draw cash to pay the 663 Kuna ($144) “Safety of Navigation” fees for 2019 and the 1,400 Kuna ($304) “Sojourn Tax Vignette” valid for 30 days. It therefore costs $10/day to sail in Croatia, before any other expenses.

Cavtat from the cemetery on the hill above the town.

Cavtat is a small and attractive town, 12 km southeast of Dubrovnik, built on the ruins of the ancient Greek settlement of Epidaurus. Two days later Reini and Lynne Adelbert from Cape Town flew in from Berlin to join us for a bit of R & R. The 28^th April marked my 72^nd birthday and we spent a pleasant day starting with coffees at the harbour, exploring Cavtat and finishing off with a BBQ on the boat.

Lynne & Reini on the Cavtat waterfront.

Kids playing on the statue of an old Cavtat luminary.

A local Mini – I owned a number of these beauties in SA!

The following day we caught a bus into Dubrovnik to explore the Old Town, which was bustling with people. The town has been restored since it was devastated in the 1991-2 war and is really worth a visit. With its breathtakingly beautiful streets, squares and buildings, the only downside are the exorbitant prices which take your breath away. After a pleasant walk about, we took the bus back to Cavtat.

The bridge into Dubrovnik old town.

Dubrovnik street scene.

A tragic war reminder on a Dubrovnik house.

A map of the old town – the black dots show the mortar and bomb hits.

Dubrovnik side alley.

Annie, Lynne and Reini on the Dubrovnik town square.

Visits to Zaton Bay, Ston and Kobas followed, before we anchored in Lumbarda for two nights, to bus into Korcula for a visit. Again, we were struck by the well maintained old town and were pleasantly surprised to find the local Asparagus festival happening on the town square. At the festival, young students offered savoury and sweet snacks free of charge, in exchange for a donation to the school.

Broce village on the way to Ston.

Lumbarda church and cemetery.

Lumbarda. The forgotten communist dream: A worker with the obligatory machine gun on his back.

At the entrance to Korcula old town.

Korcula town gate.

Kids following their teacher on a rope.

Marko Polo came from Korcula.

Walking around the town.

Interesting architecture.

The asparagus festival lunch.

Sailing out of Korcula.

A fast 34 nm sail to Vela Luka followed, ending in a robust rain storm which must have worried our guests, before we tied up to a town mooring. Two quiet nights at Duboka Vela followed before we wrapped up Reini and Lynne’s visit at Trogier Marina, 25 km west of Split. They kindly helped us clean the boat and do the laundry, before they flew back to Berlin on the 8^th May. The weather could have been better during their visit, but they confirmed that they enjoyed Croatia and their sailing experience.

We now continue our sail north through the Croatian islands and will report again in due course.

Cheers for now.

Albania and Montenegro.

by schadymuller | Apr 25, 2019 | 2019, Introduction

Esprit was re-launched at Cleopatra Marina in Preveza, Greece on Friday 29^th of March 2019. She was looking as good as new after the anti-fouling, ding repairs and hull polishing that was done during our absence.

Esprit relaunch.

We motored across to Preveza Marina, a mile away and tied up to one of their new refurbished pontoons for the weekend. Saturday morning was spent buying provisions for the boat for the next three months. The anchor was covered in rust after 4 months of idleness, so I treated it with 3 coats of rust converter in the afternoon, followed up with 2 coats of cold galvanising on the Sunday. We also re-packed all the lockers.

Esprit’s track through Albania and Montenegro.

Mogonisi – no tavernas open yet.

After checking out with immigration at the police, customs and the port police on Monday morning, we set sail in bright sunshine and a light breeze for Paxoi island, 37 nm to the northwest. We anchored in the quaint bay of Mongonisi for a BBQ and celebratory bottle of wine. Two more days of relaxed sailing and overnighting in Platarias and Kalami followed, before crossing from the Ionian Sea to the Adriatic and into Albanian waters where we checked into Albania at Sarande. There was still some snow on the Albanian mountains.

Platarias harbour.

Kalani in the north of Corfu.

A cold wind off the snow capped Albanian mountains,

Albania

Albania has been settled, invaded and occupied by many nations since the 8^th century BC. Albania’s history during the 20^th century has continued to be turbulent, with characters like President Zogu, who declared himself King Zog in 1928. At the end of World War 2 in 1945, the Communists under Enver Hoxha came to power. Hoxha ruled Albania with an iron fist until his death in 1985. Under his dictatorship 700,000 concrete bunkers were built along the coast and minefields were laid offshore, in case the country was invaded.

A few of the concrete bunkers.

Close up of a bunker.

Cramped quarters below.

Popular movement of disaffection and protest finally led to the election in 1992 of Sali Berisha of the Democratic Party. Unfortunately, he lost the next election to the Socialist Party (the former Communist Party with a new name). Finally, in 2005 the Democratic Party under Sali Berisha came back to power, shaking off the shackles of Communism. The country is gradually improving despite many problems.

Old systems persevere and the government bureaucracy requires sailors to employ agents at considerable expense at every harbour, to obtain entry and exit permits. Hopefully, this will change in time, bringing more sailors to Albania and growing their tourism industry. After employing Agim Zholi as our agent to do all the paperwork, we were free to go ashore and caught a bus to visit the historic site of Butrint which has been inhabited since the 8^th century BC.

A Venetian tower at the entrance, built in the 15th and 16th centuries.

Butrint, a UNESCO world heritage site, offers a remarkable journey through the ages of history and its structures bear testimony to the Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Venetian and Ottoman cultures and civilizations which occupied this place at some time in history. Most of these monuments have been discovered by the Italian archaeologist Luigi Ugolini who excavated the site from 1928 to 1939.

The Venetian castle, built in the 14th and 15th century. Reconstructed in the 1930s.

View from the top of the castle.

A chapel dedicated to the god Asclepius – 4th century BC.

Ancient theatre – 3rd century AD.

Roman baths – 2nd century AD.

The baptistery – early 6th century AD. The mosaic floor is covered in sand to protect it.

The mosaic floor below the sand – read the text.

The great basilica – early Christian period, built in the 6th century AD.

After a pleasant afternoon walking through the site, we returned by bus, collected the approved documents from our agent and got back to the boat just as the rains came down for the night.

The following day we set off in bright sunshine for the 20 nm passage to anchor at Palermos. This wide bay is separated in two by a peninsula, which is dominated by one of Ali Pasha’s castles which was built around 1807 to ensure his protection against the French attacks coming from Corfu. This castle, being relatively new, is still in excellent condition, despite it having been used as a storage facility for fuel and armaments during the communist regime. We anchored off the peninsula for the night, after our visit to the castle.

Approaching the castle from the sea.

Plan of the castle.

Castle interior.

Ali Pasha.

The weather prediction for Sunday indicated freshening southerlies, so we set off early and had a fast, cold and wet sail sail to Vlore, 38 nm to the northwest. At this point, the distance to the east coast of Italy is only 39 nm and this narrow gap creates a venturi effect on the wind. We anchored in the lee of a north facing bay and by 6 pm the wind was pumping at 30 knots with the rain bucketing down, requiring a close watch on our anchor. I was also developing a persistent and irritating cough.

Sailing past Dhermi, where Karen enjoyed a music festival last year.

Anchored in the lee of the land at Vlore, just before the wind and the rain came.

There was no point in sitting out the heavy winds and rain the next morning, so we set off for Durres, the main Albanian harbour further north, covering the 56 nm passage at an average speed of 7 knots. We were totally drenched and freezing cold due to the continuous rain following us from the south. We anchored off the harbour wall and consumed a few calming brandies. I woke up the next morning with a serious cold – my first cold in 3 years of sailing!

Beautiful Orthodox church in Durres.

Our new agent in Durres, Ilir Gjergji took care of the paperwork in the record time 0f 2.5 h and pointed us to a chemist for medications, supermarket and fruit and veg shops. It turns out I had contracted an upper respiratory tract infection, which could potentially turn into pneumonia. So, a 5-day course of antibiotics was called for, plus Bisolvon to clear mucus from the chest. The next four days was a blur of continuous coughing and very little sleep.

“Can’t quite place this style” in Durres.

On Wednesday the 10th April (our wedding anniversary) we departed Durres, Albania for Bar in Montenegro. It wasn’t the best anniversary we have had, what with me down below under a duvet, suffering coughing fits and Annie above in the pouring rain and wind, sailing the boat singlehandedly for 55 nm to Bar.

Montenegro.

Over the past few decades this area has experienced considerable turbulence, from major earthquakes in 1979 which devastated Kotor and Budva, to the knock-on effects of the wars in Croatia and Kosovo in 1991-1992, when the former Yugoslavia fell apart.

Bar is the principal port of Montenegro. The city is modern, having largely been rebuilt after the second world war. The officials at the harbour master’s office and the police were pleasant and helpful. We paid EU60 for a two-week vignette – cruising permit. Despite advice to the contrary, the marina is smart and clean with water and electricity included in the steep EU71.50 daily berthing fee.

Entrance to Bar marina.

Bar marina.

Sleeping dogs in Bar.

Annie had by now, also picked up a cold, so rather than duelling banjos, we had duelling phlegm and snot coughing fits. After two days, we headed north to Sveti Stefan, where we anchored off this beautiful little island for another two days of recovery.

Sveti Stefan.

Suitably refreshed, we motored to Budva, a large holiday town and anchored off the marina in the bay. The old town in Budva has been well restored and we enjoyed walking through the narrow streets and up the fortifications. Budva justified a two-day visit before we sailed on.

Budva old town.

Old town street.

Budva new town.

Next stop was the Bay of Kotor, just south of the border with Croatia. This extensive waterway is a cruising paradise and we spent the next 9 days exploring all the little bays and villages along the shore. If you only have a week for cruising in Albania and Montenegro, come and spend it here. Another plus was, we could buy duty free diesel at Porto Montenegro marina before departure to Croatia. At EU0.67/l, we filled Esprit’s tank as well as our 10 x 20l jerry cans.

Esprit’s cruise in the Bay of Kotor.

I attach some of our photos of the beautiful Bay of Kotor – untitled, as most of the place names are unpronounceable. From beautiful mountains, to small islands with churches and even a baby christening.

As a farewell gift, we were sent a dust storm from Egypt, the day before we left Porto Montenegro, This covered the boat in dust before a light drizzle turned the dust into mud. Amazing to see that the southerlies can carry dust this far up the Adriatic sea, but evidently it is not unusual. At least we had the opportunity to wash the boat down in the marina before we set sail for Croatia.

We will report again from Croatia.

Australia 2019

by schadymuller | Mar 26, 2019 | 2019, Introduction

New feature! This page now has a widget in the top right corner, where you can enter your email address to receive notifications of our new posts by email. No need to check the blog from time to time for new posts!

At the same time, we have updated some photos on our main pages to freshen them up.

The Qantas flight from Johannesburg landed in Sydney at 15:30 on Sunday 3^rd February 2019, where Michelle our daughter was waiting to pick us up and deliver us to our Airbnb in North Curl Curl, 150m from the beach.

View from our deck.

It was a 38-deg C day in Sydney, so after dropping off our gear at Giles and Cecilia Hill’s “Curly Beach Hideaway” we walked down to the beach for a swim. We were joined by Chantale Tremblay for sundowners on our deck overlooking the beach.

The next day, we started exploring some of our favourite coastal walks in this great city and attending BBQ’s at some of ours and the girl’s friends.

Dee Why to Curl Curl walk – Long Reef in the distance.

Dee Why to Curl Curl walk – North Curly beach.

BBQ at Luke and Monika: Chantale, Annie, Monika, Michelle and the chicks.

A busy week with medical and dental check-ups followed while we were trying to get over the jetlag. The weekend saw us catching up with Michelle and Karen who drove down from Newcastle for a birthday party. Michelle shares a neat house with three guys near the beach in Coogee, south of the harbour.

Boat equipment that needed repairs were our Yamaha generator and the two B&G VHF handsets – these were dropped off at their respective distributors. We also spent quite a bit of time looking at apartments in Dee Why, Manly Vale and Freshwater for investment potential in our Self-Managed Super Fund.

Newcastle – Bar Beach

Then we drove up to Newcastle, 160 km north of Sydney, to have a sticky beak at where Karen settled in a flat on “The Hill” with another female surgery registrar. They get on well and are close to Bar beach and about 20 minutes from the John Hunter Hospital. We walked, swam and had lunch before driving back.

The interesting Memorial Walk bridge in front of Karen’s flat.

Karen and Annie on the bridge.

Newcastle = Tattoo Central.

After a swim at Bar beach.

Back in Sydney, we continued our morning walks with Michelle Watson around the Northern Beaches.

Annie, Michelle and Hooper at Harbord Diggers.

Annie at Long Reef.

In a flash the three weeks at Curly Beach Hideaway was over and we moved up to Newport to house sit our friends, Gavin and Debra Birch’s house for the rest of our stay, while they travelled overseas. Their daughter Imogen and partner Beau stayed in the self-contained flat below the house. We enjoyed some great BBQ’s.

Beau, Imogen, Karen, Remi, Michelle and Annie.

The 9.5km walk around Narrabeen Lake.

Our various medical, pathology, skin, dental and eye tests went off without a hitch for both of us and gave us peace of mind for the next couple of years. Annie was concerned about the longevity of my RH titanium knee replacement, which has served me well over the last 15 years, despite lots of walking and climbing mountains. After an examination of the knee and looking at the X-rays, Ed Marel my orthopaedic surgeon, declared it good to go for at least another 5 years of sailing around the world.

The new Northern Beaches Hospital

Ed’s practice is now in the new Northern Beaches Hospital, less than a kilometre from our house – the hospital was completed in our absence. The new roadworks is almost complete with the Warringah Road/Forest Way/Wakehurst Parkway intersections still in progress.

Occupying our minds, was our future crossing of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, relying solely on “Ben & Gerry” our B&G autopilot. The autopilot has played up a number of times in heavy seas, as reported in our previous posts from Papua New Guinea and crossing the Torres Strait. I have become quite adept at fixing the autopilot in emergency situations at sea, but having to spend extended periods of time hand steering, is exhausting. The other worry is losing the boat’s rudder while at sea – there are a number of accounts of this happening on Youtube. The autopilot would be useless in such a case, but a windvane steering system will work in a way.

The Hydrovane system.

So, with some time on our hands, I started researching windvane self steering systems – the mechanical systems that have been in use since before modern electric/hydraulic systems. There are a number of these systems on the market, of which two, the Canadian Hydrovane and German Windpilot systems appeared the most suitable to mount on Esprit’s stern configuration. Both companies were most helpful with their advice, but the prices were quite high (between AUD7,000 and AUD9,000), so we will chew this over for a while.

The Windpilot system.

Another option is to buy an autonomous USA standby CPT autopilot kit for about AUD2,500 as backup for our B&G autopilot and install it, if the B&G breaks down. We plan to winter in Tunisia at the end of 2019 and will therefore have to order a system by November, so that I can install a system during December, if needed.

The CPT autopilot kit.

Annie in the meantime, joined a Yoga group for classes during our stay in Newport, while I kept busy doing some walking – essential after various dinner parties, lunches and a birthday with our Sydney friends.

We visited the Royal Motor Yacht Club to see the new marina extensions, catch up with the marina guys and have lunch with Jayson McDonald, CEO of the club. There were a few more dinner parties to attend to before our departure for Greece on the 27th March. One of these, Ron Watson’s birthday party, was a liquid affair.

Ice cream birthday cake for Big Ronnie, with Ilija and Ashleigh.

Dinner with Karin, Daniel, Annie, Lynn, Kevin & Malcolm.

We took the train up to Newcastle for a sleepover at Karen to say goodbye before our departure. She showed us around Newcastle, including her workplace, the massive John Hunter hospital and introduced us to some of her colleagues at the local food, wine and craft beer festival. We slept most of the way back on the train.

Annie and Karen having a coffee at Merewether beach.

Sunday arvo drinks at the Newport SLS club with Imogen and Beau.

On our last weekend, Michelle and her friend Remi from London came to visit and we said our goodbyes. Karen surprised us with a last visit for two days before we left. The girls have indicated they want to join us in October 2020, for our Atlantic ocean crossing from the Canary Islands to the Caribbean. We will keep you posted on developments.

Our next post will be from Croatia. Cheers until then!

Greece, Preveza to South Africa.

by schadymuller | Feb 13, 2019 | 2019, Introduction

Esprit was lifted onto the hard at Cleopatra Marina in Preveza, Greece on the 30^th November 2019.

I pondered this name for a marina and then read up on the history of this area. It goes something like this:

After the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44BC, a civil war was intermittently waged until 31BC, when Octavian’s victory over Anthony, decided the fate of the known world. Anthony had assembled his soldiers and ships here at Actium (Preveza), intending to invade Italy.

Now, as we know, Mark Anthony had a thing going with Cleopatra (she bore him 3 children), so she brought her Egyptian ships across to support Anthony. History tells us that Octavian’s fleet routed Anthony’s fleet here at the mouth of the estuary. Cleopatra fled, taking her Egyptian ships and Anthony followed, leaving his men and ships to be scattered by Octavian. So, Voila! a name for the marina, exactly where Anthony’s camp was.

On the 3^rd December we departed Preveza by bus for the 5-hour journey to Athens, where the bus promptly got stuck in traffic jams. It gave us ample time to study the graffiti covering every available surface on walls next to the main roads – even the trains were covered in graffiti. The thought occurred to me that if the Greek government levied a tax of 1 Euro on every can of spray paint sold, they could wipe out the Greek national debt within a year.

A flight to Istanbul at 8pm connected us on a flight to Johannesburg where we arrived at midday on the 4^th. The next three weeks was a whirlwind of social engagements catching up with family, school and uni friends. My twin brothers arranged visits to Pretoria, live music shows, BBQ’s with friends and a visit to our old yacht club on the Vaal dam, Pennant Nine Yacht Club.

After consuming too much food and drink over Christmas, we flew to Cape Town to spend January enjoying our old stamping grounds of years ago and catch up with friends. There were also fellow sailors in Cape Town who took the route from Thailand around the Cape to the Caribbean that we wanted to meet up with. Amongst them, Colin Villiers from the UK and Thant Zin from Burma on Burmese Breeze in Hout Bay.

On new year’s eve we got word from Karen that she was stoked to have summited Cotopaxi in Ecuador after five days on the mountain – quote: “the hardest thing I have done”. Cotopaxi is an active stratovolcano in the Andes Mountains, located about 50km south of Quito, Ecuador, in South America. It is the second highest summit in Ecuador, reaching a height of 5,897m (19,347 ft). It is one of the world’s highest volcanoes. Since 1738, Cotopaxi has erupted more than 50 times. The last eruption was in 2016.

And here I was, thinking our daughter was a sailor.

New Year’s eve was spent with Jim and Gail Petrie. Starting with sundowners at the Brass Bell in Kalk Bay, followed by a BBQ at their lovely house overlooking the harbour, concluding with the arrival of 2019 and Annie’s 64th birthday at midnight. A very happy and liquid affair! New Year’s day meant recovering after a late rise, with a swim at Muizenberg beach. It was rounded off with more sundowner drinks and pizzas at Reini and Lynne Adelbert in Simonstown.

Good weather gave us the opportunity to do a number of walks along the False Bay coast before we drove along the east coast to Hermanus. We stayed at the lovely waterside house of David and Patricia Bruce.

The five-day stay was busy, with visits to other friends in the area, walks in the mountains and sailing on Dave’s fleet of water toys. We also went to visit the Greek chapel where we got married in 1987 – sadly now, like everything else, behind security fencing.

Back in Cape Town, there were numerous dinner parties and catching up with fellow sailors at the V&A and RCYC. After two weeks of staying in Debbie Preller’s beautiful office/flat in Muizenberg as our base, we moved to Jim & Gail Petrie in Kalk Bay (Chalk Bay), a few kilometres to the south.

Our stay with the Petrie’s was most pleasant with walks along the coast to Fish Hoek, up the mountains above Kalk Bay and listening to music in Constantia.

We took a trip up to Langebaan on the West coast to visit some old friends.

There were outings to Steenberg, to visit the Norval Foundation gallery, the V&A to visit the MOCAA (Museum Of Contemporary African Art) gallery and the Cape Town stadium, constructed for the soccer world cup.

After 10 days of the Petrie’s hospitality, we moved to the deep South to stay with Reini and Lynne Adelbert in Simonstown for another 10 days. We were very grateful for all the hospitality we received in South Africa, but were worried about wearing out the thresholds of the various friends we stayed at.

The Adelbert’s immediately got us into their morning swim routine at the local tidal pool and beach. Very invigorating!

Simonstown has changed very little over the years and still has most of the Victorian buildings intact along the main street, next to the naval base. Although far from the city, it is a relaxed place to live.

We drove to Somerset West to have lunch with two of my primary school friends. We also had lunch at Constantia Nek with Annie’s old friend, Lanie.

Our last week in Cape Town was filled with numerous farewell dinners with friends. We were sad to leave on Saturday the 2nd of February to fly to Sydney for the following two months.

We leave behind a country with beautiful scenery, large numbers of refugees from the rest of Africa, a huge disparity between rich and poor, but despite this, friendly and hospitable people with a never ending sense of humour.

But sadly, with endemic corruption in the ANC government and bankrupt para-statals following the nine year presidency of Jacob Zuma, we can only hope that the new president, Cyril Ramaphosa, will be able to sort out this mess. From the country that gave you “Apartheid”, comes a new term, “State Capture” – a trite synonym for cronyism and corruption.

We will write again from Australia – cheers for now!