Back home

After a 20 hour trip during which I was impressed with National Express coaches, during which we were repeatedly thrown all over the sky (most especially above Nigeria) and during which the children were mysteriously (but thankfully) well behaved, we find ourselves back in Cape Town, where the Mountain is flat and the people are allegedly rather cliquey.
Not that either of those things bother us particularly, because although the excitement of the holiday is disappearing and although the thought of work looms large on the horizon, we have our own beds in our own rooms; our own sandpit and our own Nanny (where applicable) and I have my own Uitkyk potstill brandy.


All these places feel like home…?

And although in some ways, I wish we were still over on my beautiful Island, it is good to be back home. Routines can be reinstated, normal life can begin again. And yes, routine and normality have their highs and their lows, but if they didn’t then those times away wouldn’t be so special.
Of course, if when I win the lottery, I will be on holiday all the time and it will still be special, but that’s because I’ll take my own bed with me wherever I go. The benefits and security of home coupled with the enjoyment and novelty of being away. I think I could manage that quite nicely.

Many thanks to all of you who have made the last few weeks so special. You know who you are. Apologies to those of you who we were unable to see. You know who you are too. And you should also be aware that you are top of our list for next time. Whenever that may be. I would say “don’t hold your breath”, but that would be a little pointless, since I’m sure it’ll be longer than a minute or two and you’d get all uncomfortable.

And with that, I am heading off to pray at the temple of El Matresso, the Mayan God of Sleep.

All hail, El Matresso. We are not worthy.

5 thoughts on “Back home

  1. Flying over Nigeria is notoriously a rave party. Done that twice this year and a few times last year. When you see Kilimanjaro, that’s when I am very happy for alcoholic beverage on planes 😉

    Glad you all made it back safe and sound, kids in tow – $1,000. Back to spreadsheets and micro organisms – priceless 😉
    .-= Emil´s last blog ..Of beasts and monsters and noble savages =-.

  2. Welcome back. I hope my fray bentos made it past customs? 😉

    BTW Whilst you were away the IoM has caused some controversy in the business rags.. lol

    Boustred continues. “I’ve been accessing all my old records. I want to get an ancestry visa. I’ve got to find my grandfather’s birth certificate.”

    Boustred’s grandfather was mayor of Johannesburg between 1912 and 1913.

    “He arrived in Durban at the age of 20 with two shillings in his pocket, he arrived in the mid-1880s. He ended up mayor of Johannesburg in 1913, which is not bad,” says his octogenarian grandson .

    Boustred, it turns out, wants to secure an ancestry visa for the UK, the country of his grandfather’s birth. Would he move to the UK? we ask.

    “If the wheels come off? Yes! Do you know if the wheels are going to come off? Nobody does. My life has been spent catering for the downside. Any idiot can cater for the upside. The way you cater for the downside is to have somewhere to go.”

    So where would he go?

    “The Isle of Man. There are no Muslims, no blacks. It’s got a good healthcare system. It rains a lot, but so what? I’ll get under-floor heating and I’ll get a good mackintosh…. I’m going to the Isle of Man, for Christ’s sake.”

    http://www.bday.co.za/Articles/Content.aspx?id=75163

    🙂

  3. DW > I did see that. Very amusing. But I’m not sure that you can really blame the IoM for the controversy.
    And it only rained for one afternoon while we there.

    P.S. Home Affairs took your pie. Sorry.

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