Wha's like us?

Damn few it seems.

Some of you may remember our last encounter with an expat British couple in 2017 which didn't end in a long-term friendship! (See What the Feck is that??? - 2/20/17)

When we were planning for our extended stay in South Africa this year, we realised that we would need to do a bit more homework to ensure that we would be able to make the most of our trip.

Needing to know about health care, property rentals, banking and other such stuff, we found a book on retiring in SA which was published by a British expat in 2017 and was written in a clear and informative style which covered all we needed - and quite a lot we didn't.

The Author had included his email address and when we were struggling to find out how to arrange our own Wifi set-up - since our landlady was not willing to help - Linda emailed him and he provided a very helpful response. We also found that he was living on the same estate as us and joked about bumping into him when we arrived.

Once we had settled in, we realised that we were almost neighbours so, as a way of saying thank-you, we invited him and his wife for a drink on Tuesday.

It started off well when he volunteered the fact that he would prefer a soft drink to a glass of wine - perhaps I should have just asked them to leave then.

Declining the offer of sparkling water, he settled for a glass of wine - his wife was much more enthusiastic in accepting the original offer and drank most of his wine as well - constantly swapping glasses with him - which meant that they stayed twice as long as was necessary.

She also did most of the talking - on the subject of the house they have under construction on the estate and on penny-pinching in life in general. As you can imagine, Linda and I enjoyed the evening immensely and were thankful that they must have felt the same since there was no suggestion of a return engagement.

Still at least we tried.... 

Time Flies.....

Thursday already - how did that happen?

After the ride on Sunday morning, I did little more that sit in the shade watching the Supersports channel - Pro 14 rugby, International Sevens from Hamilton and a ODI between SA and Pakistan. Managed to get out of my chair for long enough to brown a couple of steaks on the braai and drink a decent Shiraz from Delheim. Good practice for the Six-Nations weekends which are coming up.

Since I had managed to drop my SA phone and smash the screen on Sunday after the ride, I was back at the Mall on Monday to get someone to fix it - not quite a 'while-you-wait' job but hopefully not a terminal case. Heading back there today to collect the finished item - hopefully.

We have already settled into a routine which involves early morning cycling or yoga, followed by breakfast and an hour or so by the pool and then a bit of relaxing during the heat of the day - particularly on Monday and Tuesday pm when it reached 39-40C in the afternoon. Even at 6.30 in the morning, Linda's found that we need the AC on for yoga.

We had our first visitors on Tuesday evening - of which more to follow. I'm not sure if its just me, but there do seem to be some odd people around.

We had a day off yesterday and treated ourselves to tickets for the One Day International cricket between SA and Pakistan at Newlands.

This was the deciding game in a 5 match series and it was great to see SA win by a comfortable margin. Thankfully it was a cooler day and we had seats in the shade. We even managed to get back to the clubhouse at Pearl Valley in time for curry night in the restaurant. Not the greatest curry but better than having to cook a late dinner at home.

I'm trying to get my cycle training in as early as possible so usually on the road by 6.30am and home between 9.00 and 10.00. Managed about 50Km this morning including one of the bigger hills but will need to do more in preparation for Sunday's 70Km ride which is over a very hilly route.

Cycling - the reality

I was out at 6.00am on Friday for my first ride on the new bike - managed about 25km - riding laps around the main road of the estate - a good road surface, no traffic and all on one level. On Saturday it was similar but I managed 30km slightly faster.

For the first race this morning, I left the house at about 5.00am, was registered for the ride and drinking my first coffee by the time Ally and Cameron arrived, and set off in the third group for the ride at about 6.30. As a gentle start to the training we had signed up for the 38km ride around the winelands with a couple of gentle hills, leaving the 91 km to the serious riders.

Amazed how many people were taking part between the two events - a very busy place at 5.30am.

Had a fairly easy ride, but happy enough to finish at just over 90 minutes - 1st in my age group. Cameron had a puncture with less than 1km to go and as a result finished outside his 80 min target time, while Ally seemed happy with her result - a few minutes behind me.

Next Sunday, we are signed up for a 70km ride north of Paarl with a couple of larger hills - that may be more testing - I need to get some practice on the hills - and the distance this week. However I have identified a couple of rides which involve sufficient distance and a few hills and finish at a winery so Linda can meet me for lunch and drive me home!

I've got the wine but where did I park the car?

Cycling – It seemed like a good idea in September

On the last day of our September trip, after we had completed the Bains Kloof hike and were relaxing at a winery outside Wellington with a refreshing glass of something or other, Sue and Ally and a couple of their friends suggested that since we planned to be here in March, I should join them and enter the Cape Argus cycle ride. 

Obviously, I jumped at the chance and we had hardly unpacked when we got home before I was registered for the ride. Over the course of the last few months, I have done a bit of extra Cardio exercise and few spin classes to prepare me for this ordeal but as ever I am now feeling woefully unprepared with only 6 weeks to go. 

I have rented a very smart road bike which weighs substantially less than my Dawes Galaxy at home – and costs more per week than my average wine consumption at UK prices – and I am now signed up for three training rides with Ally and Cameron – 38km this weekend, 70km the following weekend and 91km a couple of weeks later.

Slightly disappointed to learn that Sue will now be busy doing her hair – or something equally important - on the day of the ride but looking forward to finding out over the next few weeks whether or not I am really up for this. I am sure that there will be some fun along the way and it is almost guaranteed to feature in future blog posts, unless I give up and focus on wine drinking instead.  

Linda insisted that I should include a photo of the OMIL (don’t think I qualify as a MAMIL anymore) with his flash new bike:-

Delheim

We had originally planned lunch at Delheim for our first day, but the organising and settling in took longer than we expected so it had to wait until day two.

After a quick trip into town to pick up my new bike – more on this later – we made it to Delheim in time for a tasting followed by lunch. Without doubt, this is our favourite winery and we have probably been here at least half-a-dozen times. As we arrived we bumped into August who has handled our tasting visits on at least 4 occasions – including our last visit in September. He claimed to remember us but I’ll bet he says that to all the girls!

August was even more impressed when I produced my tasting notes from September and alongside some of their standard wines, treated us to a tasting of some of the exclusive range including a couple which were not even on the tasting list.  We bought a few bottles to last us through the weekend and headed off for lunch in the restaurant. Excellent as ever and despite our best intentions, we succumbed to the temptation of three courses and accompanying wines.

It really is a magical location – one I will be happy to return quite regularly – although as Linda points out, there are quite a few other wineries with restaurants that we haven’t tried yet. It is a rough old life as Jimmy C is constantly reminding me.

Thankfully we remembered to collect our two boxes of wine as we left the restaurant and returned home for a well-earned siesta. 28C on the deck – with some shade when we got home and a pleasant cooling breeze – understand it’s cold and damp back home and even colder in Mississauga.

Arrival

Our trip was incident free – after boarding at Edinburgh – and we arrived about 45 minutes early in Cape Town.

Unfortunately, immigration took 45 minutes while the car hire queue was even longer. Finally made it out of the airport about 2 ½ hours after landing, found our route to our home for the next three months at Pearl Valley – it helps when the car has a built-in satnav – and managed to unpack, get some essential shopping and have a walk around the area before we crashed out.

Our new home is a very comfortable townhouse with a lakefront view. It's on a golf estate, which is part of a larger ‘lifestyle’ estate called Val de Vie where our friend Ally lives. We have managed to find the Clubhouse, with bar, restaurant, and outdoor pool, been finger-printed by the security team and managed to negotiate the biometric system which appears to grant us access to all the facilities – at least I don’t have to remember any more passwords.

After our second trip to the local Mall, we are now online and both equipped with SA phones which entailed a lot more memory challenges since I had to remember a number of passwords for all those things which normally connect automatically. It didn’t help that my notebook with all these details is locked away in Edinburgh – and of course changing one password seems to have a whole series of unexpected knock-on effects.

Looking forward to lunch at one of our favourite Wineries tomorrow – we set ourselves a rule that we could only buy wine direct from the source so the cupboard is a little bare at the moment. However that is sure to be a short term issue.

A little bit of authority......

Travelling to the sunshine, I have my Montecristo Panama - in its handy travelling bag since it wasn't really Panama weather in Edinburgh. As we boarded our flight - having already been checked through, I was pulled up by ground staff at the neighbouring desk with a shout of ' you can't board with three bags' to which I replied ' it's a fecking hat' placed it on my head  in its travelling bag and walked on to the amusement and support of our fellow passengers.

And it was all going so well.

And the journey starts

Relaxing with a glass of fizz in the lounge at Edinburgh airport. Evening flight to Heathrow and overnight connection to Cape Town. Bit more luggage this trip since we are away for nearly three months.

So far all on time and our favourite seats on the upper deck of the 747 for the overnight flight. Let's hope I'm still feeling this relaxed tomorrow lunchtime.

A very chilled weekend

Our Yoga weekend was a great experience - some challenging yoga classes, excellent food, a massage and great company.
The castle was very comfortable, stylishly decorated with some interesting artworks. Clearly they were targeting the wedding market since I can't imagine who else would want a bathroom with side by side showers!

Life's one long holiday!

Before we head south to find some warm weather we are off to Carlowrie Castle for a weekend Yoga retreat with our regular yoga teacher - Sharon Iacono - and her husband - Bongo - who is a chef and will be managing all the catering for the weekend.

About 6 hours of yoga over the two days, the opportunity for a massage or two, a stunning venue and  Bongo's food - should be just what we need before we head to the airport on Monday.

Just for a change, we are heading to South Africa this year and instead of our usual routine, we have decided to rent a house in Pearl Valley in the Winelands to give us a base. I am sure there will be some travelling around while we are there but we will be surrounded by Wineries so may not get that far!

Since the snow in Edinburgh lasted until March last year, we will be staying in SA until the beginning of April this year - home just in time for Easter. There are bound to be some interesting people and adventures so will see if I can keep the Blog going while we are away.

I'm signed up for a big bike ride in March - more on that later if I actually make it to the start and, at Ally's suggestion, have already registered for a 38km ride next Sunday - that should let me know what chance I have of being ready for the main event.

Feeling quite organised at the moment - I'm sure there will be something which I'll remember at the last minute but so far so good.