4 November: Magical moments, sitting in the dark tonight while waiting for the braai to be ready watching flying ants emerge from the ground and fly off en-mass. Their wings glistening in the moonlight was just stunning! Sometimes the small “wildlife encounters” are just the best. That was until we switched the lights on to see what we were doing only to be bombarded and have our wine glasses invaded. A simple reminder that magical moments are what you make them and can be fleeting….
9 November: The last week has been mostly beach friendly weather with some reasonable surfing days but the rain has come back, just in time for us to move a little bit.
12 November: How easy COVID can be caught was brought home to us the last few days, having visited one of Tania Aunt and Uncle in their new retirement home on Sunday, we got a call the day after to say they had been in contact with a positive COVID case. So we have been sitting tight and self-isolating as best you can when staying in a public campground. Thankfully today we got the good news that they have tested negative and so in theory we should be okay too now.
19 November: Had a lovely day in Hluhluwe game reserve ( and for once we appreciated the grey overcast weather) despite a small “breakdown” on our way out, at least Mr J chose to do this at a viewing spot on a hill. At irregular intervals we are suffering from fuel starvation and have yet to figure out why, the positive side is a quick opening of either the fuel tank cap or the drain plug on sedimenter releases some air and a quick bleed of the fuel pump and we are good to go again. Wish I knew what the problem was.
25 November: Last few days have been wonderful, good weather and great location but last night the wind come in and once again we find ourselves being battered by the wind. Nothing we can do be but ride it out..
27 November: Another day of waiting! Lately all we seem to be doing is sitting out the period of either Covid to pass or the weather to improve, sure there are some days were the weather and location are great and “perfect” for facebook/instagram but it seems we have more days of grey, windy and/or wet while waiting….
28 November: This is getting tiresome, another equipment failure! Last few days have been very overcast and thus minimal chance for solar panels to charge batteries but it also seems to have highlighted a “weak” house battery, overnight it dropped to 11volts. As we rely so heavily on the fridge this is not good and very frustrating considering the battery is only 2 years old and they are not cheap!!!
29 November: Today we realised how “starved” for company with like-minded people we are (even if we meet others on the road they are often just away for a short break and not full-timers). Enjoying conversations, with Ernesto & Paul, across a broad range of subjects while enjoying an alternative view of life brought this home. Do you need all the material trappings even if you probably have them or could have them?
30 November: Life feels so much better when the wind isn’t blowing! For the first time in forever we had a calm morning with no wind, and then Tania walked into a monkey thorn and sunk it 2cm into her big toe – ouch!