So, an uneventful journey - a bit longer than Mr Shatner's recent space trip - but probably less controversial and more comfortable! If I could get Scotty to man the transporter room and beam me up from Edinburgh to Pearl Valley instantly, I'd be quite happy but in the absence of that option, the Qatar flight from Edinburgh to Cape Town via Doha is probably as good as it can be.
The Port Health and Immigration clearance in Cape Town was efficient enough - about an hour in total from landing, while the bags were waiting on the Carousel as we got to the baggage hall. The weather was decidedly more like Edinburgh - cool and wet - but that had been forecast.
Then the Car Hire company had to spoil the whole experience. I'm not going to name them yet on the basis that they have promised to make everything right - watch this space.....
Despite having booked a specific vehicle on a long term mini-lease about 3 months ago, it took them nearly an hour to tell us that they didn't have the vehicle available and could only offer us a smaller temporary replacement. It was only a small SUV for god's sake - nothing special!
They promised to deliver the correct vehicle today and failed - again - apparently they cannot find an available vehicle in this class in the whole region???
Our drive home was fine - a little wet, but the house was in good shape and the rain stopped as we unloaded. Amongst the unpacking - and figuring out again how everything worked - we managed a quick shopping trip into town and got a replacement SIM for my SA phone which had been disconnected while we were away - I'm sure this will generate a few more problems with online banking and a couple of other services - but thats next week's problem.
One day on and we're pretty settled - everything unpacked and in its place - wine and beer in the fridge - Friday night cocktail and Sushi in the clubhouse and a very pleasant Elgin Sauvignon Blanc from Vrede & Lust to accompany our fish stew.
Tomorrow is promised wet but then the Sun is due to return and the southern spring will be here. We've already booked Sunday lunch at our favourite winery
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