Well… to be honest, we didn’t have the best of starts after arriving in SA on Jan 9th…
But before we get into that, we did have a fabulous time over Christmas and New Year, prior to heading off. Christmas Day at Lepe Farmhouse with the Redmans and Heeley/ Stevens and their families – Boxing Day in Kent with Martin’s family – New Year in Staffordshire with Amanda’s Mum – numerous suppers and lunches with mates before, between and after – culminating in many of our very local clan joining us for a send-off drink or two at Montys pub in Beaulieu. Hectic – as it seems the South Africans say.
Until three years ago we were accustomed to coming and going from home, off on sailing and work travels. In fact in 2019 it was the end of June before we spent more than four consecutive nights in our own bed! This time, preparing to leave after being largely home based since the start of the pandemic, we were surprised to discover we’d put down roots! Our families aren’t actually very close to us geographically, but we’re definitely close. And our community of friends is amazing.
So all the farewells added up to us feeling pretty emotional and wrung out.
We landed in Cape Town, picked up a hire car for the drive to Knysna… and the rampant UK flu bug hit us. Properly. As many of you know, it can be quite severe and we were the most ill that we’ve been so far this century.
Fortunately, we’d booked a great apartment to live in while the boat is completed but it took almost three weeks to stop feeling rough, stop coughing and get our energy back. We weren’t up to spending much time at the factory and anyway, we really didn’t want to infect the team.
Don’t feel sorry for us. Fat chance. There are far worse things going on in the world and we’re now back on form, in South Africa and focussed on the boat… while it freezes back home!
There are a fair number of outstanding finishing jobs on the boat, some caused by supply issues, some just taking time. The upside is that we’ve been able to participate in many decisions (including detail changes such as interior flooring, which we’re now happier with than the original plan) with a visibility we wouldn’t have had from home.
We’ve been here nearly a month and settled into a pleasant routine. Most days include a visit to the CM factory or one of the local suppliers (upholstery, graphics, domestic appliances etc), local sightseeing and walking, coffee at White Wash Café served by the very smiley Mr Stone and Abigail, swimming from the stunning beaches around Leisure Island, Wednesday evenings at the Yacht Club, Friday late afternoons at the Knysna Gin Distillery with a semi-permanent bar akin to Solent Cellar at Bucklers Hard (mind you at 280 Rand for a round of five G&Ts and two beers, there’s a difference – that’s about 14 of those British Pounds) rolling into a pizza next door and, Alison will be relieved to hear, Tuesday morning Pilates.
We’ve met a couple of American families collecting catamarans from one of the other local brands, Vision Yachts. One of them has a surplus set of Starlink gear which we aim to snap up as it’s not available in SA. Apparently the Starlink RV service now works offshore in many regions; it’s affordable and with streaming level speed could be a sat comms game changer (don’t tell the mother-in-law).
As we mentioned in our Travel Post last year, Knysna is on the bottom of Africa on the well-known Garden Route. In addition to being a working town it is also a very popular holiday and retirement destination. It is, for sure, Africa “lite”. We’ve found nearly everyone to be extremely friendly and welcoming. Everywhere you park an unofficial guy directs you in and out of the space, expecting a tip, which takes a little getting used to. But they are trying to give a service rather than simply asking for money, so we respect that and go with it.
Frustration with the government has definitely increased since our first visit to SA. Perhaps the most visible demonstration of the way things have deteriorated is the electricity shortage, with several scheduled power cuts (known as load shedding) every day. Some days there’s no electricity for almost half the working day and some of the evening. Apparently several new power stations don’t work and some old ones are starved of maintenance. Businesses are folding. Unemployment is growing. People are concerned about how the downward spiral can be ended. It’s very sad in such an amazing country.
Tour Guide Amanda is planning a few mini breaks within South Africa over the next couple of weeks.
