As I write, we are safe and warm in our apartment at the waterfront in Cape Town, enjoying the comforts of home and the last few hours of our wonderful stay in Cape Town.
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| View of the Oyster fleet from our balcony safely berthed in the V & A waterfront Cape Town |
Legend IV is fully stocked with Woolworths food and Steenberg 1682 and heaving on her mooring lines, anxious to keep heading west.
Al and I have loved spending time with family and friends but with Nicole now back in New York (on the Dean's list at Pratt !) and Ryan ready to start his masters at the University of Cape Town, we now have no excuse but to get going and finish our last Ocean crossing...encouraged mainly by the thought of the last few Oyster parties along the way!
Since my last post we have crossed more miles, survived more big seas and weathered a hectic Christmas and New Year, possibly more trying than the storms and the seas.
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| New Year's Eve @ Den Anker in the Waterfront...might adopt the mask full time ..cheaper and less painful than surgery! |
With limited internet time left (why do I do this at the last minute! Alan reckons its a personality disorder) I'll cover a few highlights of the living that went on in the aforementioned deafening silence.
Mauritius
Always one of our favourite holiday destinations...mainly because the hotels had kids clubs so that Al and I could get some quality time on our own.
What were we thinking!
We have had enough quality time together over the last year to fill several lifetimes.....anyone reading this blog who is the parents of little kids, heed my words and spend as much quality time as you can with them.
There will be plenty of time to be together when you're old and grey...and not only if you choose to cross oceans together.
Being moored in the harbour at the Port Louis waterfront gave us a different take on the island.
I never realised that the shopping is so great...and I can normally sniff out a good shopping experience in the most unlikely places. (Another one of my personality disorders..according to Al again. I think its a skill.)
The Waterfront mall is a treasure trove of factory shops selling cashmere jerseys, designer scarves and pashminas at excellent prices...all "just in time for Christmas back home" was my explanation for the parcels that kept arriving on board.
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| We also can't resist a handmade model boat...we have bought one every time we have been to Mauritius, they get progressively bigger and this one could have been used as a lifeboat if we ran into trouble on the way home. |
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| Mall with a distinct Mauritian flavour..the umbrellas were in honour of the Hindu Diwali festival and signify the triumph of Krishna over the evil god of rain. |
Reunion
Amazing island with a fabulous variety of scenery. We took a helicopter ride to see the Volcano craters and spectacular valleys and waterfalls that can't be accessed by land or sea.
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| Breathtaking bird's eye views. |
The flight took on a hair raising aspect when the door of the helicopter flew open leaving more than one fellow Oyster owner white knuckled.
The situation deteriorated when the pilot responded by exclaiming "Holy Shit" and descended rapidly, landing us in a frighteningly remote crater.
Once on the ground he remedied the situation by slamming the offending door shut with many more choice expletive deleted mumbles delivered in a charming French accent.
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| Brave sailors ...Glad to be on terra firma...would rather cross oceans than have their fate in the hand of a volatile french helicopter pilot. |
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| Lagoon views..but 8 shark attacks in Reunion in 2013. (Some of the victims were dogs though ..real dogs not just ugly people!) |
From Reunion we headed to Durban in the company of Rudi...a young sailor from Cape Town who provided us with an extra pair of hands and eyes and some much needed extra hours of sleep on the trip. Thanks Rudi.
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| He also washed dishes.. |
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| Happy to be home finally...South Easter blowing a table cloth across Table Mountain. |
