Seeing Jono...

We thought when we arrived in South Africa our flying days were over for a while - how mistaken we were!  So, from Paris we flew to Malta to see Jono - we hadn't seen him for close to 18 months, with our change of plan and finding ourselves in France - we had to go and see him!

It was so good to see him after so much time.  We were there for 3 nights - Jono took time off work to be with us and we explored Malta together.

This is the superyacht that Jono works on.  It is presently in drydock having some major work completed on her over the winter season.  It is definately a boat full of toys, fast boats and set up for major partying!  It also has 3 Jacuzzis, Saunas, Steam Rooms etc etc...  It was great being able to meet some of Jonos work colleagues and for him to show us around.

He introduced us to the local beer - which he is quite fond of (ha ha ha ha ha)

Obviously his Dad thought it was pretty good too!







So we went driving the island...

Jono told us about a town called "Popeye" - it was where a town was built for the movie which starred Robin Williams (Popeye)... so we had to check it out..

It was soooooo good to see Jono again - who knows when and where we will see him next...?

Oh la la PARIS...

We drove up to Paris and had 2 nights there.  Our first night we went to a fantastic comedy show "How to become a Parisian in an Hour".  He is heading off internationally to do his show - we would highly recommend it.

This is the sunrise (about 8.30am) the next morning and a flower shop we passed along the way...

We headed to our next destination, which was see Paris by Segway - what a great way to get about and a laugh too!  Our guide - Jonny was fantastic - we had 3 1/2 hours of great site seeing

Heres a few more shots of some of the sights...

Cote-D'Or..

Each day we have been driving our area...  Here are a few photos we have taken

Mersault Church at Night

          

Our Neighbour

Chateau de La Rochpot

Look what we woke up to...

When we pulled back the curtains this morning, this was what greeted us ...

We headed to our local town Meursault, about 5 minutes by car, as it is market day.

We bought delicious cheeses, scallops, fruit and veg, Pate and then of course we had to go and buy Baguette and delicious cherry tart.  It really is very beautiful here!

From Our Rose to France...

The plan was for "Our Rose" to be launched today - instead we arrived in Paris...

Two Weeks ago, Rudi had a meeting with us - the outcome being that "Our Rose" was not going to be launched this year... Yes, we were pretty upset.

So, within a day of the meeting, we had looked at our options and following many past offers from our friends Peter and Nancy to enjoy their house in France, it was an opportune time to take up their offer.

So, we now find ourselves in Paris for the night - we had some lovely wine and "tapas" style dinner

AND the other side of Cape Town...

This morning we took a couple of photos to give an idea of how windy it is here.  Look how the trees grow...

At Kirstenbosch Gardens they have the Summer Concert series - concerts every Sunday evening for the duration of summer.  So, we had booked and went to "Mango Groove" - everyone brought picnics and wine - what a great way to spend a Sunday evening!

The other side of South Africa...

I have just completed what is known as "Ships Captain Medical".  It was a week of very intensive learning, finishing up with time hands-on at "Emergency" at one of the hospitals here in Cape Town.   Needless to say, I was not looking forward to the Hospital experience.  So, four of us arrived at 7pm Saturday night and Adrienne our wonderful instructor took us in.  What an experience!  I actually feel very sad as I write this morning - as the reality of what is happening here was presented.   I don't really know how many people came through last night - it was never-ending.  Probably about 30% or more were from stabbings from knives or blunt objects through alcolhol/drug fuelled violence - or just violence for violence sake!  One man had multiple lacerations, back, face, arm - some guys had wanted his cellphone and he didn't give it to them.  Another man had a large laceration to his forearm, which had cut the artery - his wife had hit him with a broken beer bottle.  Another guy a large laceration on his arm, he had been stabbed with a serrated bread knife by his nephew, who was a heroin addict.  The examples go on and on and on.  A lady, with 2nd and 3rd degree burns to 25% of her body - her shack had caught fire.  We cleaned up wounds, sutured (though I opted out of this one), gave tetanus shots, injected local anasethics, took vital and diagnostics - not to mention the multiple diseases they had, HIV, Tuberculosis etc - oh my...

The sadness is - what is happening here in South Africa and what will happen...  all of this violence from poverty, lack of education and lack of morals.

Despite this dialogue, this is not something a tourist would usually see.  South Africa is a very beautiful place.

PS:  if anyone is interested the training is with www.pec.co.za

Hout Bay to Saldanha...

We met a lovely NZ couple, Sue and Brian, who have been cruising for 12 years.  We had only met them the once.  We received a text from them last Thursday - "do you want to come for a sail with us from Hout Bay to Saldanha, come over Friday night, we will sail 5am Saturday morning, then you can get the bus back Sunday".  Well, what do you say, other than "YES, we would love to come".

Brian and Sue

AND, the name of their boat is:  "Sea Rose"! 

The weather was very calm with a 15 to 20 knot breeze.  We came across a pod of whales - we estimated there would have been 30 or more!

What an awesome sight!

We had such a great weekend - a huge thank you to Sue and Brian!

Seeing Vagabund Off...

Today we were so lucky to be invited by Rudi and Deslynn to go and see Zach and Magda off (another Maverick)... we all let their ropes off, then we followed them out in Paul's boat "Catarina" (another Maverick), and we watched them sail off, heading to South America, as we will be in a matter of months!  Wow, what a feeling!

Big Smiles!