South Africa 20.April 2013

20th April 2013 Life after Shoestrings 

4^th April 2013

Soweto and the Apartheid Musuem

In our last couple of days at Shoestrings, We have been to visit the home of Nelson Mandela in Soweto and we also went to spend a day at the Apartheid Museum.

On our visit to Soweto, we were accompanied by Tabitha  who was keen to show us Soweto and to some extent to see it for herself as she does not herself often visit. Soweto was very interesting. Far from the impression that we had that it is mostly seriously impoverished and rather desperate. It has now in fact developed into a sprawling town in its own right. Most of the ramshackle dwellings that we have come to recognise from the television are gone and replaced with more modern and substantial buildings often modelled on the same lines as before but now good quality homes Soweto is a city with a real history, it played a critical part in the overthrow of Apartheid. The city now is a thriving community where, it is said people really choose to live. Some of the old shanties still stand as do some of the long single storey buildings that use to be mass hostel accommodation for rural workers who had to come seeking work in the old days. I found the most striking feature of this huge community was that children play out in the clean and tidy streets everywhere.

Nelson Mandelas home in Soweto is now a museum open to the public. It was quite interesting but It is owned by a foundation of Winnie Mandela. The history that is expressed there seems to airbrush out any reference to some of the excess of Winnie’s part in the struggle. I feel that this is a great pity as I have come to learn as is so often the case with South African History that all is not always what it seems, and that there is an important view to be expressed and that such cynical editing rather detracts from the integrity of this view of history. I felt that this may be the case in order to protect the reputation of  Winnie. In the spirit of truth and reconciliation I feel that If there is a point of view then let it be out there.

Interestingly we went the next day with Rob at the Apartheid Museum which was a moving and fascinating day. It seems that whole story is laid out in incredible detail and that all the main players get a platform from which you are able to make your own judgements. I really liked that.  It was also for me an opportunity to get some of the historical facts clear in my head. Names, dates and so on which I had recalled inaccurately  I suppose that visiting this place is something of a requirement for the visitor.

6^th April 2013

What a stupendous day we have had today!

A picture of me having a stupendous day.

We had quite a long drive yesterday which took us up to a place called the Blyde River canyon. We got up early this morning and drove to a number of points along the canyon that are of truly astounding beauty. There are several that are quite well known. The Three Rondavels, The Potholes and Gods Window. They are all stunningly beautiful vista points.

         The Blyde River Canyon,  Stunning!

As we drove away through the beautiful rugged countryside we saw a sign directing us to a vista point and ‘South African food’. As it was lunch time and we were kind of peckish, we went to see what’s what.  We had to cross a river and drive around a quite long rugged road until we arrived at more signs for food.  I was rather expecting the equivalent of hot dogs and lukewarm tea.  Not so, we eventually found the ’Bush kitchen’. All in the open air was a restaurant made of bamboo with tables made of logs and an open air kitchen where the cooking was being done on Braais (barbecue) made from lorry wheels. They were serving simple but fantastic huge steaks with vegetable and pap on enamel plates. This was possibly the most simple and inventive business I have seen. The food was great and the setting close to idyllic. 

The wonderful bush Kitchen

So after a lovely lunch and having spent a little too long enjoying the site of the canyon we had to start making our way across to the gate of the Kruger Park, which turned out to be rather further than we had estimated.

First  impression of Kruger

           Although we knew there was a time that they closed the park we did not actually know what time that was.  We did guess, correctly as it turned out, that we did not have very much time. The last 40km of this journey was a completely straight road and we were the only people on it. So I was able to get a move on. We arrived at about 4.40 at the gate and we were told that we would have to drive directly to our camp and not to stop. Rules in this park are strictly, even ferociously enforced. So off we went the speed limits are between 40 and 50 Km/hr which is really not very fast. And whilst we were not to hang around,  we could only drive slowly. The first impression of this incredible place was that the roadway was littered with the biggest turds that can be imagined and everywhere was manure of all kinds.

Our first zebra

 And then, within 10 minutes of being in the park we saw a zebra and then a buffalo. As we drove on we saw several herds of various deer and antelopes. By the time we reached our camp about an hour later we had encountered half a dozen giraffes, had our path blocked by a herd of zebra, seen an elephant from a distance and witnessed  4 hippos swimming in the river. We arrived at the camp and it was getting dark. We got a major telling off for arriving after the gate closed.

  As we settled in we were greeted by a man and his son, Leslie and Roland Childs who were initially interested in our van and our adventures. Interestingly we had in common that he had also been a policeman. It soon also became clear that as regular visitors to the park they had between them some considerable experience and as they took us over to see a small group of hyenas who were massing on the other side of the fence, we were able to glean a great deal of benefit from their experience, for which are very grateful and we had a very interesting evening. 

                                                                                  

Unusual to see Hyena in the daytime

  All in all, it was a pretty full and satisfying day. We are meant to be up and out at 6 am to find more animals. I am warning them they had better be there if I have to get up at that hour now I am retired.

7^th April 2013 - Carnival of the animals 

I always look like this in the morning

We did not see him till he was almost in front of us

 Love means never having to say you are soggy

Beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder

Traditional African lunch

There is no rule that says aliens must humanoid 

                                                           Never smile!

'This is our park.  Move on!'

Today was equally exciting we have seen so many animals. Elephants giraffe, warthogs, more deer of various kinds  than you can shake a stick at. I think the deer and other lesser animals constitute a kind of fast food service. I haven’t seen any mopeds but I have a mental picture of the predators sitting around in easy chairs with the football on, as the delivery arrives.  “ Who ordered the waterbuckburger”?  “ MMM not me,  mine was the family bucket of squirrels”! 

There were crocodiles, hippos. I could go on … Now Ping a person not easily satisfied She is considering asking for a refund if she doesn’t see a lion soon!  This despite the fact that we saw a leopard lying on the branch of a tree which is something seasoned visitors here don’t get to see. We spotted the leopard, thanks to the wonderful binoculars that we were given!

Having got up at 5 am but having all this excitement am I tired?  

Oh god yes!

Of all the animals in the park these are the top of the tree for me. Graceful beauty.

At one of the camps that we stayed at, we found that a disused railway line that ran through the park. It was discontinued in the 1970's. It used to serve Harare in the north and Maputo in the east, joining them with the major south African Cities. Now defunct we were delighted to learn that the station which is located inside the camp has been put to use as a restaurant. When we went to investigate we found that the station had been restored to an incredibly high standard and there was even a couple of carriages and a locomotive at the platform and the track going off  into  a curve in the far distance. Honestly it was really as if it had been held like that, frozen in time! To make the restaurant they had simply added tables and chairs around the station. 

The wonderful Railway Station Restaurant in the Kruger National Park

We couldn’t resist so we decided to have a meal.  We had to book which is a bit of a surprise for a restaurant really in the middle of nowhere.

When we went for the meal we decided to get dressed up a bit. I even had a shower. The meal was truly incredible, first class no pun intended. It was simply a beautiful meal in a beautiful setting. As we left we looked up into the most fantastic starry sky. ‘Perfik!’ as they say here in South Africa.

Having had a further exhausting couple of days for me, the Kruger Park has been an excellent experience. I really would not have missed it. Ping was quite disappointed not to see any Lions. She really had her heart set on seeing them. Despite my reassurance that there will be plenty more times that we may get to see lions and plenty more.Having said all of that we have seen animals that many who visit do not get to see: Leopard, 2 Cheetahs, rhinos , both Black and white.as well as all the others that are common in the park but are an absolute joy to see.

We're lucky to have seen a Cheetah

There was a small fly in the ointment in a way. We paid each night for our camp fees together with park conservation fees.  On our last day we discovered that there is a kind of loyalty card scheme called the wild card, where you pay so much for the year and if you visit more than a few times it is effectively free.  Each time we paid the reception staff omitted to tell us about this until we had already paid for 4 days. We put up a spirited case that we would like to buy this card but that as we would have bought it on the first day, had we known about it. So could we please put the money already spent towards the price of the card? We were quite annoyed to find that no one was prepared to discuss the matter.

This is disappointing, as the South African National Park Service which sets itself up to be a kind of ‘Patron Saint’ of conservation, appears on this occasion at least, to be just another money grabber organisation with little real interest in the loyalty of its customers. Even when a customer ask for such matter to be put right, none of their ‘managers’  considered themselves to have the authority to make a decision or to alleviate the sense of ‘being cheated’. If you plan a trip to Kruger, and you should, then be aware that you should ask for a ‘wild card’ and you can also use this for all the other National Parks in South Africa. We didn't allow this to spoil this amazing experience. 

Swaziland

Beehives type accommodation - not suitable if you'r over 5ft

So off we set once more now bound for Swaziland.  Swaziland is an independent Kingdom surrounded on three sides by South Africa, and on the fourth side by Mozambique.

We were greeted by absolutely wonderful mountain scenery lovely lakes and rivers.

We made our way to the Mlilwanie Wildlife Sanctuary.  This a much less intense experience than Kruger but delightful in its way.  There are very few of the restrictions that apply in Kruger We have decided to just kick back for a day or so and enjoy the wildlife that just walks casually around the campsite which would never happen in Kruger.  Really lovely!

Passing the time of the day with the  local inhabitants

We have been told that we have to visit Mozambique as it's an unusual place, rather different to South Africa, so we will be going there and return to South Africa via Lesotho. As usual, we love to hear from you all, do write.

Love

Ping and Noel

pingbow54@gmail.com

noelbow51@gmail.com

April 2013 - Johannesburg

A bit of an interlude.

First things first - Thanks to Pam Northing for answering the question everyone had on their minds. This is what she sent us

“I have just looked up Belgium and it covers about 30,528sq km.......ranks 141 in size in the world…..like Lesotho.…...and Rwanda is 26,338 and.......UK 243,610” 

Thanks Pam.

So now we know when we are told that we should compare to an area the size of Belgium we know exactly what we are talking about. I don’t see any reason to use Kilometers, I feel it would make me quite, well, French!

I also looked up the other place that is used for meaningless comparison and I found out two things.

1.       Wales is 8,022 sq. miles in area and

2.       if they flattened out all those mountains it would be bigger than England.

Fascinating fact -  Lesotho is about the same size as Belgium.

17^th March 2013 

Having had such an interesting few days in Durban, where we were reunited with our home, we then spent the week end with Sheryl and Gary's family and friends, where we were thoroughly spoiled and well looked after. Our experience of South African hospitality just got better and better....wow!

Dinner with Sheryl (L) and Gary 

Eating again in their beautiful garden

18th March 2013

We returned to the Shoestring Lodge in Johannesburg  after an exhausting 8 hour drive.  The journey was so tiring partly because we are now driving on 1^st world quality roads and so we found ourselves driving 600 km in such a short time. It is easy to underestimate how much traveling you can cram into such a time.  Some folks are never satisfied.

We visited my old friend Charles whom I have known from our nursing days. Charles has had an astonishing career, having left (then) Ian Smith’s Rhodesia many years ago to arrive in Britain as a student nurse. I am delighted to find that he has gone on to have a distinguished academic legal career in South Africa. Wow! Professor and Doctor, not sure which title to use.  We had such a nice reunion having not met for more than 30 years. I very much hope it won’t be the last.

Shoestrings is a different kettle of fish. The place and the people have not changed, but the ever generous owners, Rob and Tabitha, now have us camping in their huge and lovely garden. They have allowed us to take our time and do all the cleaning and maintenance that is now needed on the van after the punishment of driving through West Africa.

Pegasus parked in with the incredible fleet of Wicked hire vans.

Rob has even permitted us to use his workshop, I am overwhelmed with such generosity.  So we are taking a fairly leisurely time to get all our housekeeping and repairs done.

The van is clean and serviced. YES! We have had the electrics sorted out, we hope, once and for all. We have decorated the van a bit and I am currently making some structural changes inside the van to give us a bit more storage space.

Rob preparing for one of his legendary Shoestrings barbecues

Life at the Shoes String Lodge is never dull. Many visitors come and go, some stay for a night, others for longer, but they all have a story to tell. Like our previous encounters with other travellers  we find ourselves meeting and talking to the most fascinating of travellers - people of all ages, backgrounds and nationalities. We’ve experienced many interesting meetings; some people we very much hope to meet again. It has been enjoyable stimulating and informative.

The different nationalities gathering daily at the dining room table can sometimes provide a good anthropological study of social behaviours . It's difficult for me to be an observer, but one particular afternoon, I found myself doing just that. As it happened, there were a number of people around the table when I sat down to drink my tea. Around the table were: a young American with an unfortunate sense of humour, a very quiet young German Girl, two Indian men, whose English was good but their comprehension of what was happening around them was a bit lumpy. They also appeared to have a bit of an agenda going  between them, a little bit of friction. There was also a vocal Swedish man who was really quite deaf but seemingly unaware of the fact.

I sat and watched / listened to the most spectacular display of miscommunication which burned steadily for most of the afternoon. It was quite chaotic and largely unproductive. Added to this, a quite distracted woman would enter the room every now and then, and try to join in with the conversation, either make a statement that would reinvigorate the discourse or ask a question but not stay around for the answer. With the two Indians sniping gently at each other and the Swede making some provocative statement and then failing to either understand  or sometimes to hear the responses. It became a little like a pantomime. Nobody was actually listening to anyone, if they did, they appeared to respond as though they have not understood what was said.........but they seemed to be enjoying themselves.

This went on all afternoon,  that was until, with the house fully booked, the group of non English speaking Chinese turned up with no reservation and proceeded to join in, mainly to try to get someone at the table to help them meet some seriously unrealistic wishes and expectations of their coming days touring. There was much gesticulation and arm movements, in the end, I felt sorry for them and asked Ping to see what she could do to help. She could not manage German, Swedish or Hindi, but she did step in and, in Chinese, she soon sorted them out. No small undertaking. The others carried on as though nothing had happened.

25th March 2013

We remain living at Shoestrings, Rob & Tabitha have adopted us and refused to let us leave. They have allowed us to be very much living as part of their everyday life rather than as hotel guests. This has been such a benefit and Ping has been doing what she does so well and producing some pretty good dinners.

Good Friday

Tune in ,Turn on, drop out., but do the cleaning first

There are still some jobs to be done on the van and we are stalled a little as our next move will be to drive to Kruger National Park but we are strongly urged to leave it until after the school Easter break. Apparently it gets seriously crowded during the holidays.

Easter Monday

What of our plans?

In a week or so we will set off for Kruger National Park which sounds like a truly fascinating place to be. We plan to spend 3 or 4 days there and maybe finally  get to see some lions and tigers. We will then travel to the coast and to do some serious tourism along the way. We have made plans to meet with our friends that we travelled with for a short time way back in Morocco. That seems like a lifetime ago. We hope to link up with them in Namibia or there about.

Just before submitting this I would like to add three 'stop press'  items . 

• Having spent a fortune on electrical work  our fridge has again stopped working. this is really not fair! Auto electricians full of apology, taking van back tomorrow.
• The Chinese left having a fairly major disagreement between themselves  but nevertheless  they trooped off to Kruger to see the lions and tigers.  However one of them has just returned alone!  No real explanation, according to Ping,  as to what became of the others. Hmmmm!
• We have just met a chap over breakfast. He seemed a nice enough chap. When I asked him what he does for a job .  He told me that he has a job in Cape Town where he  pushes people off a bridge!  'Oh' says I how do they feel about it. He held my gaze and with a stony expression he flatly said " some of them scream and some of them go quietly"

The  Executioner

So there we are, we're off to Soweto now, and day after tomorrow, we'll set of to Kruger

Love you all! 

Cheers

Noel+Ping

We are unable to reply to  people who comment on the blog. We would like to but it won’t let us. So drop us an email and you will get a reply.

Noelbow51@gmail.com   pingbow54@gmail.com

Saturday 17th March 2013

South Africa.

7^th March 2013

Arrived in Johannesburg. The van is on its way. We tracked the ship this morning and it is well on track to arrive on Sunday evening.  We now have words from the shipping agents that Santander have finally managed to transfer the money to pay them, so they will release the necessary paper work.

On Monday we will travel to Durban to find out how quickly (or not) we can get our van.

Before we go into detail about our onward plans it seems appropriate to just review the trip so far. We have done very little classic tourism. This is partly because much of our attention has been directed to just getting about and the belief that this kind of travel is about ‘being there’.

When we passed through France and Spain we saw lots of evidence, especially in Spain of great developments during the ‘economic boom’ that had been halted. This continued into Morocco where it was still plain to see and became less pronounced as we continued through more impoverished countries.

It seems to be that as we have moved further away from the better off and arguably more sophisticated countries we were more likely to encounter people who were more interested in the stranger and often displayed great kindness and generosity. 

We have visited places where people struggle to find a living. We have seen the gulf between rich and poor expand and contract in different places. We have met people who are against all odds are trying hard to make a difference where it really needs to be made. We’ve seen countries where the government simply fails to meet the needs of their people as well as in places where the people are driving the government to make changes.

We have made the personal acquaintance of people as poor as church mice, but would still unconditionally give you their last ‘rollo’ if it were needed.

Our patience has been tried to extremes by petty officials and bureaucracy. We’ve been frustrated by the inability to get things done or get done the way we want them done. This is often accompanied by a shrug of the shoulder, a sigh and the phrase “Ah this is Africa” - sometimes used as an explanation and other times as an excuse.

We have visited places that are dominated by the sight of numerous Big White Toyotas of the UN, major NGOs and many charities. These are such a controversial symbol of Foreign Aid – often we question the fact that the cost of providing fleets of Toyota 4X4s and some of the seriously plush accommodation for the foreign workers could fund another ‘water, food or health’ project in a village for longer – let’s not get started on this……. 

Ping and myself have spent many hours over the scrabble set discussing the pros and cons of foreign aid – who benefits more, the provider or the receiver? The more we discussed / argue, it seems that there is not going to be a right answer. We've been forced to reconsider again and again, our views on the right kind of aid and foreign intervention, some we see are misguided and some really creating positive change. 

We have met people, some motivated by religion and others by humanitarian desire, all working hard, some for little or no pay in order to make a difference to people who live in great hardship. It may seem like we are criticising how or what they are doing  but, whatever views may prevail there is one important feature in all of them, and that is they all have a desire to a greater or lesser degree to make the world a better place. We will never criticise that. We continue to learn alot about ourselves, the people we meet and the difference between frustration (eg because the air conditioning is not working) and desperation and despair. To us everyday is a school day!

Deforestation:

We have all heard of talk of forests being destroyed at a rate of an area the size of Belgium each year; you know the kind of thing.

Does anybody know how big Belgium is? I don’t.

One time rich deep rain forest

Driving through Cote d’Ivore was a bit of an eye opener, most of the landscape is savanna grassland, vast areas of what was once dense rain forest, thousands of years old were gone and with it, the habitat of much of its wildlife. A feature of much of West Africa is the absence of wildlife not just the interesting stuff, but simply the absence of wild life! I withhold comment but that was what we saw (or did not see).

African cultures:

We were lucky to participate in some great music especially in Senegal and we have been kept awake by drumming which can sometimes go on for long periods. It can be very exciting but can also keep you awake. 

We have seen innumerable wooden carvings which are everywhere. Some are, frankly poor quality tourist trash and some have been breathtakingly beautiful.

I am building up to the most bizarre piece of art of all.

On our last day in Ghana, so I was unable to include this in the last offering, we were taken to an art gallery.

There were a lot of exhibits of all kinds but far and away the strangest of all was a display of coffins!  Not just any old coffins, but these are wildly special.  As you will see they are modeled to represent everyday items that reflect the deceased person.These are not meant to be comic or lighthearted they are intended to reflect and to celebrate features and aspects of the life of the departed. Take a look and judge for yourself.

Its not the cough that carries you off its the coffin they carry you off in.

Everything  on the top floor is a coffin and you can get your phone topped up or get your fridge mended downstairs.

Was it worth it?

So after all of the frustration, disappointment and sometimes sheer hard work, has it all been worth it?  Oh yes! it has been worth every moment. We have been permitted to visit the lives of others not to change anything just to have a look, for no greater purpose than our own fulfillment. Thank you West Africa we are really glad to have met you!

• We have met some remarkable fellow travellers who have touched our lives
• Bikers pushing their motorcycle on, sometimes to the limit just  for the enjoyment of it
•  Adventurers pushing their 4x4 cars to the limit just because they can
• Other overlanders all travelling their own way in their own time
•  Extraordinary travellers riding pushbikes from Dublin and Poland all across Africa. A special message to Oliver and Dermot “Don’t give up on your extraordinary odyssey! Hope you manage to catch up with us some time”.

Dublin2Cape town

From each and all of these people we have learnt so much.

There are people, expats, who have offered us extraordinary hospitality, support and assistance who for a variety of reasons do not wish to be mentioned here but who must be acknowledged and thanked just the same. You know who you are. Thank you.

This might sound a bit like the end credits. Not so, but this has been such a period of challenge and reward that it seems important to have a round up at this major juncture.

Despite innumerable punctures and one significant mechanical problem, our van has performed very well sometimes in punishing circumstances.

10^th March 2013

Sometimes it is necessary to report contemporaneously here. As I write I have just flipped over to look at the vessel tracking thing. I looked about 12 hours ago and the ship was just passing Port Elizabeth. Now I look again and see that not only has it made good progress but it has bypassed Durban and sailed on to Maputo. This is Sunday evening and there is nothing to do until the morning but it is seriously looking like our van is in Mozambique, which is a bit of a concern. And there is nothing to do but to carry on with our blog!

Shoestring Lodge

We are in Jo’burg it is very nice here and we are staying in an extraordinary place called the shoestring lodge. It is an inexpensive Hotel type place run by a really nice family. The place needs a full description, which would make the Hotel Inspector turn pale.  However once again, having settled in and started to get to know the owners, I feel this place is an absolute gem!

Breakfast at Shoestrings

Once a large family home built in a rather grandiose Mediterranean style, the original owner had decorated the whole place and its grounds with statues and artworks from an age just gone by. For the last 18 years it has remained largely unchanged and run as a backpackers hostel/hotel by Rob Hicks and his wife, Thabitha.

This quirky and rambling residence does kind of defy description. It has a lovely huge garden full of exotic birds, traditional African out buildings and a fleet of minibuses that are parked here.

Nothing in the place is new by any means. Much of it has seen better days but don’t be misled, it is so hard to say why but this is quite the nicest place that we have stayed in ever. Rob, the owner will pick you up from the airport and from what I have seen, at pretty much any time. He does not ever grumble. Nothing seems to be too much trouble.  The place is not so much a diamond in the rough, much more the very nicest ‘Mushroom’ you have ever tasted. We have now been here 4 days and feel very comfortable, we come and go as we please and if we need to go shopping or other small errands then Rob is usually willing to fit it in with one of his numerous trips to the mall or the airport. 

More about Shoestring lodge later. We will return there as we have been told that once we get the van back we are welcome to camp here and to do the various repairs and servicing that we need to do. I just know it will be a pleasure to return.

I have to interrupt this entry further to say that while I have been writing Ping has phoned Dickson from the shipping agents in Ghana. It is Sunday evening, and without a trace of complaint he has phoned the shipping company who say that it is still ahead of time and assures us that it will be returning to Durban on Wednesday.

Rob has just booked us on a bus which specialises in catering for backpackers and will take us to Durban on Wednesday.

Thursday 15th March 2013
We are now in Durban having had an 8 hour bus journey yesterday through stunning countryside. The bus dropped us outside our hotel which we chose as it is close to the docks.

Last night we tracked the ship as it approached Durban. This morning we awoke to check again to find that not only had it berthed during the night, but also the map was sufficiently detailed, that it showed the berth and our hotel.

'Sittin on the dock of the bay whatchin the ships roll in'

I rushed to the window and looked out and there it was. I have a picture to prove it.  We were both very excited and we walked down to the docks found the ship, took some more pictures and while I took them Ping spotted our van sitting in the car park nearby!

That's our van!

We really are thrilled.  I phone the clearing agents to find that far from our assumption, their office is not in the docks but is actually 30 km away across town. How inconvenient!

Any how the clearing process has begun and the agents seem again to be really helpful. They do say that it will probably be cleared by Monday which of course means we will be here for a few more days.  But really we have nothing to complain about,

Flushed with our surprise and excitement of all this we went and took a long walk in the city.

The central area that we walked around was very interesting with a combination of architectural styles that, while smaller in scale, rivals many other cities that I have seen.Some modern buildings sit comfortably alongside art deco blocks and a city hall that I can only describe in my ignorance, as baroque, very beautiful. Lots of interesting shops and very very busy.

The magnificent City Hall Durban

We then walked back to the hotel, taking in the magnificent beach and a really interesting block of restaurants and tourist shops. I accept that any seaside resort has to have a pier or an esplanade on which they sell whatever the equivalent is of rock and ‘kiss me quick’ hats.  This was the best I have seen the shops were interesting and the restaurants nice and a good choice.

We ended our day with Ice cream and coffee. I had a large Bubblegum flavoured double thick milk shake. It was about a litre of ice cream with a marshmallow on the top and I am ashamed to say that I just could not manage to eat the marshmallow.

Friday 16^th March 2013

We need to get our van cleared from the port by this afternoon or we will have to stay in a hotel for at least three more days. Our non existent hotel budget is  being stretched considerably. This whole shipping business has really tested us out, financially speaking.

The day started with a call from the shipping agent to say that he is working on our case. Rather disturbingly a while later we got a call from another person asking, actually for the fourth time, if I knew where our customs indemnity (carnet) document is. So for the fourth time I explained that I have it but I am only 10 minutes walk from the customs building and I will bring it. By now it was heading for midday and I realised that this enquiry meant that they had so far failed to make an appointment to clear the van. The agent had already said that they need 48 hours to make an appointment.  Going into the weekend not only meant that we would have to pay for accommodation, but also the dreaded storage charges would kick in.  

What really happened above all was that we both switched from the excitement we experienced at seeing our van locked in a car park to something close to panic and a need to take charge of events.

We went immediately to the Customs office. I confess I was really expecting a kind of blind bureaucratic response to our woes.  Far from it, an officer, a dog handler as it happens, sensing our distress, offered to help. It was once again an act of unexpected kindness, he heard our tale and he explained that they have the 48hour rule in order to manage their backlog, but not to worry “I’ll get the boss out so he can help you”, which he did. The boss said, “no problem we can fit you in”, and he then set about finding out who the ‘Cargo agent’ is. We keep learning the new language of the secret society that is the ‘world of the docks’, the upshot of all this is that suddenly everyone kicked into gear and the cargo agent ‘Lucien’ was helpful, pleasant and professional.

I almost run out of adjectives to describe his qualities. He rounded up a tame customs man who he knew would be helpful. It seems odd but I got the impression that he was off duty and out shopping at the time. He was in civvies and was wearing sandals. This also posed problems later when he was not allowed into and area without safety shoes. “It’s more than my jobsworth” said the guard. Once we realised that he really was not kidding, Lucian, like a magician produced not one but two pairs of safety shoes, so I was able to go in as well. I spent the afternoon doing the rounds with Lucien and others getting all the paperwork  done and all the clearances completed.

Lucien now a proud member of our hall of fame 

Meanwhile Ping was sitting in the reception at the customs office.  As it now turns out the guys at the clearing agency were responding magnificently to being berated by Ping (God it makes a nice change to  have somebody else to be getting this treatment!) they were actually moving heaven and earth to get all their procedures completed.

At 5 pm we rolled out of the dockyard in our van!

finally moving on

Our thanks go to all of the people involved sorry if we got a bit upset. Most especially to Rishaad and his team whom we did not meet in person. Really good job guys!

Once again, completely knackered we returned to our hotel locked the van in their garage for the night. We went and had a lovely meal followed by ice cream and for me a rather smaller milkshake, this time with no marshmallow. 

And so to bed………

Now look all you lovely readers. We love that we have so many readers. It is truly astonishing how many people are looking at our ramblings. Although we are getting some emails telling us about what is happening to you, we would certainly love to hear from more of you, please keep the emails coming.

By the way if it ever appears that we gloating over the weather Be assured that we really are aware how truly awful it has been in Britain over the winter.

Love you all

Cheers

Noel+Ping

By the way. We are unable to reply to  people who comment on the blog. We would like to it won’t let us. So drop us an email and you will get a reply.

Noelbow51@gmail.com   pingbow54@gmail.com