No matter how many times we do it it is still a long way!!
We left Norwich at 6 20 on Friday am, arrived Amsterdam in 35 minutes then had a coffee and a bit of breakfast before we boarded the Cape Town flight which departed at 10 am (1 hr ahead of us in uk)settled down, had a bit of a doze , a drink then lunch, watched a film"Little Miss Sunshine"read a bit, oh it is still only 4 pm , another 5 plus hours to go. But it does go and we arrived safely got through immigration and customs , picked up our hire car and we were safely home and having a cup of tea 18 hours later.
Our neighbours are great , they keep a key and they had been in, switched on lights and got us milk and bread and butter in the fridge .
Guess what it's been raining !! some sunshine and blue skies but quite some heavy rain. So it hasn't been too hot!!
We have included a picture of the bougainvillea in our tiny garden , it is doing well especially considering how often it is ignored .
Every Blessing for 2007


Love from
Di and Paul

Getting ready to go!

It is now 20th of December and every one is looking forward to Christmas. We are also, but on 29th of December if all goes to plan we will be taking off from Norwich to Cape Town, South Africa and there we plan to stay until March 23rd. Before we go Paul is looking into setting up a web cam so we can still keep an eye on what our grand-children are up to!!! Please keep in touch via the blog and leave us your comments.
Love from
Di and Paul

Di and Paul Report

Di and Paul Report

Tereo Mission School

Friends of ours from Joburg, Wanda and Leo rented an apartment overlooking Strand Beach, with a beautiful view.



Then they came to see the house here in Chamonix, which is looking very smart now the garden has been fully paved.




We had a ride out to a very old wine farm called Muratie which was built in 1690 and enjoyed a tasting of their wines.



We learned at Church about a Mission School called Tereo, this started when one of the Home Groups were really concerned about the street children and after praying they felt that the children, who invariably came from bad homes, were receiving no education , they were possibly sent out to beg or the parents just didn't bother to send them to school and perhaps were unable to clothe them to go.

So in 1999 some of the home group members went out and picked up the children on the streets an took them back to the church, where they fed them, cared for them and taught them. From these humble beginnings the school started. The group became aware of more and more needy and abused kids and they continued to feed and teach them even when some did not have a roof over their heads, but they eventually got some premises in 2001 that they could turn into a school, they got some funding from the local council and today there are 50 children who are being schooled there. Because of their home conditions ,the normal schools in the area have not the provision to give the care and attention these children need as they can be be disruptive or figures of fun for the other kids.



Today Paul and I were shown around the school - it is marvellous to see what has been achieved, but there is a lot still to do.



Siemans the big conglomerate has now given finances to provide a home for children in need of protection and Tereo is now in process of purchasing a home where some of the children from the school can be housed and cared for.

There is a website and a blog it is www.tereo.org

Love from
Di and Paul

Return to South Africa

After returning from our trip to Egypt and arriving home at 4am on February 28th, we got some sleep, overworked the washing machine, repacked and left home again on March 2nd at 5 :25am for the early morning flight to Amsterdam and Cape Town. There was a little snow in Norwich but heavier falls in Amsterdam meant that only one runway was open, so we were delayed for an hour leaving Norwich. We still managed (just) to catch the Cape Town flight and so did our luggage. We arrived at CT at 11pm local time and were in Somerset West and our house by soon after midnight.

We just enjoyed the warm sun for a day or two and went out locally to a Dixieland jazz evening, bring your own picnic and wine. On Sunday however, after church and lunch we went into Cape Town with Richard and Molly to a sunset concert in the wonderful Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens beneath Table mountain. The concert started at 5 30 pm and was packed, it was by The Glenn Miller Band of South Africa.

We finally got the back garden brickpaved, then on Wednesday evening we were invited to a Church Family Supper at SW Baptist church, which is where we attend when we are here, as they are celebrating their first 25 years of the then new church being built. We are also going to their celebratory sports day followed by a spit braii tomorrow, (a lamb roasted on a spit) one of the Pastors said " you know I think we Baptists eat our way into Heaven!" They make us very welcome.

We still have our daily walks on the beach at Strand, yesterday there was a very high tide and there were dozens of big jelly fish washed up and left at the point where the tide turned.

Well that is about us up to date, please leave a comment so we can keep in touch

Love to all
from
Di and Paul

Nile Cruise - February 2006

A blog report about the Nile Cruise and Egypt.

( All the usual suspects were there, of course )

We set off from Norwich on Sunday afternoon 19th February by minibus as there were 15 of us with Anna joining us at Gatwick at 8 am next morning. The flight was 5 hours and 15 minutes after which we arrived at Luxor, collected our luggage - and were totally unprepared for the arrivals hall, crowded and absolute mayhem as people shouted at us about visas, porters tried to grab our cases and various holiday reps were loudly issuing orders as to where we should make for, however we finally got on a coach that took us to our boat.

What a contrast! It was calm, there were crew awaiting our arrival with hot towels and welcome refreshing drinks, our luggage was taken to the cabins and we went in for dinner. The dining room was attractively set out and we were shown to our tables and invited to the sumptuous buffet.

After dinner we had a look around the decks and sat on the top deck and enjoyed coffee as we sailed out of Luxor. It had been a long day and we went early to bed, not really to a wonderful sleep as the engines of the ship were quite loud, but never the less to awake refreshed next morning.

We sailed all the next day until 4pm and then moored at Edfu, the day was restful and enjoyable just watching the banks of the Nile drift by, and pending our time sunbathing on deck, some people splashed around in the pool - the temperatures were about 28 deg.


Early breakfast next day as we were taken on a tour to see the Unfinished Obelisk, cut out from granite and a tour of the area, our Egyptologist was excellent and also advised us how to get past the street vendors who were very insistent.



Each day from then on we sailed a bit then went on tours to see Temples and local historic sites, dating back 3500 years, The Valley of Kings, Valley of Queens and the temples of Karnak and Luxor as we arrived back there. We then did a bit of informal touring ourselves in Luxor, bartering for things we probably didn't need and exploring life in Luxor which appeared not to have moved on in 2 thousand years.


This was a most interesting and enjoyable holiday - especially for Paul, pictured here with his harem on the Egyptian Night we enjoyed on board.


Love from
Di and Paul