1 November: After the craziness of last week we decided not to rush back to the farm and carry on with jobs but to rather take a mini “holiday” (yes even we need holidays) and so drove just over halfway back to Durban before stopping at Spionkop dam. Very glad we did as the time out has been good and we have already decided to stay at least one more day. We have even got the SUP out and taken a gentle paddle this morning.
2 November: Woke up this morning to find the SUP has lost quite a lot of pressure, looks like the repairs made in Cape Town earlier this year have not held up very well.
3 November: Internet showed good waves so took a quick trip to the beach for a surf
8 November: It’s been an interesting few days trying to come up with a suitable setup for the installation of the linear actuators but we have it figured and they are installed. It’s going to make such a difference to the daily opening process of Mr. Jones roof BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY means that now either one of us can open or close the roof as it is not dependent on muscle power.
10 November: Another day of small but fun waves
12 November: Took the SUP into an inflatable dinghy shop for repairs, hopefully this time they will last. The guys certainly seem to know what they were doing.
18 November: removal and re-installation of radiator multiple times today after having it “rodded” in an attempt to resolve the “overheating” issue. We are fairly certain Mr. Jones isn’t actually overheating as the digital gauges are more accurate than the mechanical one which is giving an issue but it is off-putting and we would like both gauges to work.
21 November: The radiator and coolant saga continues. Now been dealing with leaks caused by the re-installation. The good news, Stuart can remove and re-install within an hour these days.
25 November: Yesterday South Africa reported the discovery of a new COVID variant of concern (Omicron) and half the world has already implemented travel bans on us. Our anger and emotional devastation is currently indescribable as the long awaited holiday with Devon & Hannah has once again gone up in flames!! The so called “developed world” has taken this knee jerk reaction when their case loads are vastly higher than ours and they clearly don’t have their own “houses in order” yet we as South Africans must suffer!!! Who is to say they don’t already have this variant but are unaware as they don’t know what to look for?
28 November: We have been desperately hoping for some sanity to prevail and the travel bans to be reversed but it doesn’t look likely so a collective decision has been made to cancel tickets, the fancy game park booking etc. Such a waste because of a bunch of self-serving politicians (possibly using this latest drama to deflect attention from their own failings???).
30 November: With the Christmas holidays in tatters we decide to take a short break down the South Coast until the school holiday rush and associated exorbitant camping prices kick in. Back to Trafalgar and Port o Call it is.
14 December: The day Devon should have arrived in South Africa and the UK decides to lift the red list with effect from Midnight. Never mind the economic ruin and losses caused by the 3 week ban and the fact that Omicron has now been discovered all over the world and in some cases in samples from before South Africa announced its existence. Anyway, on a positive note, some hasty decisions have been made and Devon booked a ticket for one days time – to hell with the consequences. Hannah will try and follow soon thereafter. Our anger has become relived joy.
15 December: a crazy day of trying to rebook local flights, secure the game park booking again and gambling on various dates. In the end it all works and the family holiday is resurrected, just in a slightly different form and at a great deal more cost to Devon & Hannah.
16 December: Devon is in South Africa! But we won’t see him until Monday as he is off for a boys weekend in Port Elizabeth
20 December: Finally reunited with Dev. Thanks to COVID it has taken 18 months and 3 attempts at flights for him to be able to get to us.
26 December: End of a great week of generally just catching up and being together as family, including our first Christmas with Devon since 2018.
30 December: the three of us drove up to Joburg today so that we can pickup Hannah tomorrow from the airport. Long time since we have done a “road trip” together. On hearing that we were on our way, the Goosen’s kindly offered us their house even though they weren’t home.
31 December: Our first “in-person” meeting with Hannah although we all know each other pretty well already thanks to video calls and our first long call wayback in October 2019 when Dev just left her to chat with us while he went off to make supper.