Last day of our timeshare holiday at the Peninsula - 7th December 2023

Uber to Andrew and Amy's house and went with Amy for Holly's scan nearly 23 weeks, beautiful and perfect Holly.

Drove with Amy to go and fetch the prawns for Christmas and then back to the Peninsula where we met Petra and Amy left is to go and do her second last gig.

Petra took us for lunch at Kleinkys deli and we really enjoyed the food, smashed avo on toast, salmon and scrambled egg, chicken mayo bagel.

After lots of catching up, we came back to the hotel. Petra drove back to Summerset West and Carlos and I went for the last walk on the promenade.

Great example of the so called devils peak with the smoke which supposedly comes from the folk-tale about a Dutch man called Jan van Hunks, a prodigious pipe smoker who lived at the foot of the mountain circa 1700. He was forced by his wife to leave the house whenever he smoked his pipe. One day, while smoking on the slopes of the peak, he met a mysterious stranger who also smoked. They each bragged of how much they smoked and so they fell into a pipe-smoking contest. The stranger turned out to be the devil and Van Hunks eventually won the contest, but not before the smoke that they had made had covered the mountain.

The tabletop covering table mountain.

Cape Town waterfront, harbour cruise and a drive around the Peninsula - 6th December 2023

Having coffee waiting for the harbour cruise.

We have been blessed with beautiful weather. After the cruise, we got back on the bus and toured the Peninsula, all the way back to our hotel.

Amy visited and we had tea and then went for a swim after which we walked to Mr Chan for dinner. We had the set menu that includes, fried rice, prawns, pork, chicken, duck and sesame prawn toast with crab and sweet corn soup.

The Jewish Museum plus Fish, Chips & Calamari - 5 December 2023

We went to the Jewish Museum and the Holocost, Genecide centre which was the first stop of the blue route in which we exited the red top bus.

The record of the Genecide of the Jewish people is horrific but necessary to assist in the avoiding a repeat of a tragic part of our history. Yet we seem set to do so again, Russia, Ukraine, Palestine, Israel all set to kill or be killed.

The contribution of prominent Jewish individuals portrayed in the Museum highlights their great contribution to South Africa. Barny Barbato, Cecil Rhodes and thousand amore all helped to advance this country to where it is today.

Walking back to the bus stop we saw the tablecloth start to cover table mountain and a beautiful mural. So many sides of buildings now have murals.

Our next stop was Mariners Wharf in Hout Bay where we enjoyed Fish, Calamari and chips with a bottle of wine. Never disappoints and the volume of people (every table was full) certainly shows its popularity and value for money.

After an excellent meal we got back on the bus and returned to the Peninsula. Carlos and I walked our 5 km but mom stayed and watched TV, it was a long but very enjoyable day.

Coimbra with Bertha and Carolyn - 4th December 2023

We went to Coimbra for brunch with Bertha and Carolyn and we drank great coffee and pasteis de nata while catching up.

We then went to the waterfront, and indulged in a  a Macha Frappuccino and other signature coffee drinks at Starbucks.

Returned to my beautiful bukkie with its brand new cover.

Caramba Restaurant - 03 December 2023

The day started with a 5km walk along the promenade with Carlos. We then drove to Caramba Restaurant and had  great traditional Portuguese food. Bacalhau and espetada, steak egg and chips, figados all Soooo good!!

Ending in a stunning evening!!

A Carnival - 02 December 2023

We woke up and Carlos and I went for a 5 km walk after which Terrance, Andrew and Amy joined us.

What a lovely day, warm, no wind but not too hot. Lots of street food. We started the feasting with jalapenos and samosas. Then calamari, chicken wings and several beers ending up at Mojo Market enjoying more drinks.

After taking Ouma to the hotel I walked back and got myself a coconut. Yum.

So many street vendors and art, well worth and so out of our ordinary everyday.

Peninsula Holiday with Mom and Carlos 1st Dec 2023

Drove down to Cape Town with no cover at the back of the bukkie and it rained a bit. Anyway, Thorp is fetching the bukkie to install the correct cover as the one that was couriered and received late Thursday afternoon was the wrong one.

Blu, the so named bukkie was a great drive coming down to CT comfortable and easy to handle.

We arrived late in the afternoon and the Peninsula Hotel is a beautiful lady. Well looked after and has a grace that the staff carry throughout the hotel. We had a great, easy check-in and our suite is beautifully maintained and looked after.

11 Nov 2023 Cape Town to see Darren before he goes back to Palma and to collect the GWM P Series LTD

Set off from St Francis just after 5 am and travelled to Cape Town. We collected the GWM P Series LTD from Thorp Motors in Plumstead. Shannon was great and explained most of the car media items, after which we drove to Cape Town.

Stayed at a lovely Airbnb, small and cosy and went for dinner at Don Armando as a goodbye treat for us and Darren. The food was great and very tasty.

Kingklip and salad with zucchini fries. A lovely evening with lots of mixed feelings as we then took Darren to the airport and went back to the flat.

Flowers from Darren.

The next day we had an uneventful drive back to Plett. Great to drive the GWM and get used to it. A very easy drive and I am looking forward to using it for the next 7 years.

We got to Nicky and Gavins beautiful house and enjoyed our time with them and Mat. A great dinner, slept really well and a beautiful walk the next morning with Mat, Nicky and Sheila.

We are now at Stanley island lodge. Was met and brought across on the ferry.  We going to Adrian's 60th at the Plett angling club at 6pm which is a 5 minute ferry ride across.

Zebras, buck, ducks and a blue crane.

Cruise to Japan Day 11 - Back in South Africa - 01 October 2023

Most amazing birthday today. Started with birthday cake for breakfast courtesy of Carolyn and Terrance, so beautiful and so yummy. 

Then together with Amy, Andrew and Michael, all 6 of us escaped from a room with clues based on a murdered journalist at a place in the waterfront, so much fun after which we went to JC Le Roux for wine tastings and a fantastic lunch - a complete Surprise.

Looking forward to the sexy sixties.

Cruise to Japan Day 10 - Flight back to CT - 30 September 2023

After some more retail therapy at Narita airport, we got on to our flight of 13 hours that included a stop in Seoul. We landed in Addis Ababa to catch the flight to CT. Michael tells me it is his last flight on Ethiopian Airlines. They are effective and efficient but their attention to detail is terrible. 

There were empty seats and after realising my monitor for the movies did not work, I asked the air hostess if I could switch. She said she would get back to me and promptly ignored me the rest of the flight, not a must but fairly irritating specially as the aircon also did not work.

Terrance fetched us from CT airport and after a good catch-up with Andrew, Amy, Carolyn and Terrance where we had dinner as take aways from the curry club we went to bed exhausted and happy.

Cruise to Japan Day 09 - Disembark - 29 September 2023

The last night saw Michael and I both indulging in a beer, I seem to have a taste for Asahi Super Dry a Japanese beer, whereas Michael opted for a Dos Equis.

A bit of a mess with the final bill, the cashier seems to think she gave Michael back too much money, unfortunately he placed the money in his wallet, so no idea of she was correct. Wanting to see the camera footage, which they suggested, became a breach of privacy for the other guests which were at the counter at the same time.

We left Yokahama international cruise terminal for Yokohama station walking. Had prepared the route last night only to find that my phone would not turn on. Out comes the Huawei, and using petal maps as the P40 does not have Google maps capability, we made our way and got there a lot easier than Google Maps had done. We went to the ticket office and bought 2 tickets one to Shibuya and the next one to Narita airport.

Got the train to Shibuya and changed over at Shinegawa to the green line train to Shibuya all so we could get to the One Piece Stores. We did our shopping and caught the train back from Shibuya station green line to Shinegawa station and then caught the train to Chiba and transferred to another train to Narita station clearly the path less travelled.

Magnet building for Mugiwara store and Parco buiding for Jump Store. Both had very limited stock.

Had great fun anyway and Michael and I bought some T-shirts and other merchandise, but no Luffy hat for Darren, all sold out.

Now at Narita airport waiting to board.