Tuesday, July 24, 2012

New Job Prospects

I just found this post in my drafts section - it brought it all back to me so I decided to post anyway even if it was months ago!

I have decided that if OAP and I hit the poverty line, I will become a Hotel Inspector!  Actually, I would happily do it for free right now.  Here we are in Upington - this place really is the arse-end of South Africa - and yet it was impossible to get a room for the night under R600!  OAP really objected to that and we had just decided to drive on to the next town (like heck! The next town is Kakamas which is 145km away and it was already dark) when we saw a place called Azalea Guest Lodge.  We phoned and talked the owner down to R350.  I now understand why.  At first glance it looked nice and we could bring the car in where our tons of stuff (we don't travel light) would be safe.  Then OAP made like a very old man so the owner's husband carried our car fridge into the unit and plugged it in and then went home to nurse the hernia he had suddenly developed!  I unpacked the fridge into the one in the unit and mopped out the milk that had spilled - no use crying about THAT! OAP went for a shower only to find the bracket holding it to the wall broken so he used it in one hand while soaping with the other.  I then went to shower and totally flooded the bathroom as the jet hit the wall at the end of the bath and water cascaded everywhere.  I was washing my hair and was totally oblivious.  Serves them right as there were no towels (luckily we had two small gym towels in our bags).  Then the one and only bedside light wouldn't switch on and after much plugging and unplugging we decided the bulb was gone.  No other bulbs in the house as, can you believe it, all the other lights are strip neon tubes!  TV is the limited bouquet sort so I missed Strictly Come Dancing and Downton Abbey - outrage!  What else is wrong?  Well the tiles are chipped, the fittings are plastic, the furniture is mismatched and saggy.  The mattress is saggy so God help my back in the morning.  There's gaps in the walls, saggy stained ceilings and although it's superficially clean I can see grime in every corner and hairs everywhere - oh yuk! 

How is THIS?!!!  I will never view the mountains in the same way again!  I have flown in over the alps to Geneva in winter, but today we were flown in a small, single-engined plane called a Robin, over all the areas we have ever walked in (and a few we haven't!).  What a thrill!  Years ago when we first had computer difficulties here we enlisted the support of a computer geek in a village below called La Poste.  As he spoke NO English he enlisted the help of a friend who did and Remy has remained our friend ever since!  A smashing guy who has lived in Australia for a few years so his English is good, each year we phone him or he phones us and then we meet and catch up on our lives.  Normally, if it's winter, he comes to ski above us and then skis down to visit us, after which he skis off the edge of our patio and home through the forest!  In summer, he will walk up the mountain and hike for most of the day in the peaks above us then visit on his way home - he makes us feel OLD!!!!  But in the nicest way!  Anyway he announced this trip that he has his pilots licence and would like to take us up so we met at the tiny airfield in Bex in the Rhone Valley below at 11 am and up we went.  First down the valley and out over Lake Geneva, then up over the mountains to Gruyere and Gstaad and then over the Diableret Glacier (a picture of which is above) and then he steered the tiny plane along all the hiking routes we have ever done!  And I was impressed - with US!!!!!  It is absolutely formidable up in the mountains and yet we, OAP, my sis and I, managed some great hikes.  Sis, the only one we didn't fly over was that hellish high lake set in a sort of volcanic crater place in the mountains where it was SO steep that we never thought we'd get there, then SO steep walking back that it was almost as hard going down as going up!! The hike around Anzeindaz was incredible and here I must add another picture of the 'miroir' where we sometimes see people climbing - like tiny ants against the rock face!

,Whether there's anyone on the rock face I don't know but doubt it as today is Tuesday and they normally climb over the weekend.
In the pic above you can vaguely see a zigzag path going up and there were people on the path heading for the summit of this mountain whose name I can't remember but we actually look out onto it.  On the 1st August - Swiss National Day - there will be a blazing bonfire on top and today the climbers were hauling the firewood up to the summit for the bonfire!
And this is our little Robin with OAP on the left and Remy, our pilot, standing on the wing. 
What a day!  Which, I might add, began with a panic as we suddenly realised we'd double dated ourselves as the car was due for it's MOT (Roadworthy to the SA readers!) at 10am.  We got there at 9, no one spoke English, my French was understood but their replies were not understood by me and we caused havoc by placing ourselves plonk outside the doors when we should have parked in the little diagonal bays at 90 degrees to the doors!  But being Swiss they were incredibly polite and just drove round us until it was our turn!  I had to do it as my French is better than OAPs and it was fascinating - and fast!  I'll tell you about it in an email!

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Brother in Law Memories

What do you say to someone who knows that it's only a matter of time before he leaves this adventure for the next?  Is most of our sadness for ourselves, those of us who are being left behind and who will miss him terribly?  This man who was once so vibrant and full of life and who I held in such high esteem when I was young and unmarried, has now reached the end of the road that we are all walking towards and I want to share some memories that have been comforting me for nights now.

I remember the days when he and my sister first met.  We were living in Clifton, Cape Town, and the sun seemed to shine every day.  He taught me to surf and introduced me to his many navy friends.  I was never without a date in those days!  I remember when he and my sister got married in the Naval Chapel in Simonstown and I stood behind the bridal couple and saw that their legs were shaking with nerves.  I remember when I met my husband to be and the first people I wanted to tell were my sister and brother in law.  I spent hours in their flat in Plumstead playing with my new niece and was always made to feel welcome.

He never used my name but always called me Sister in Law in a fond way.  He looked after me and saved me from many a disaster and always made me welcome in his home.  When he and my sis lived in Gordon's Bay they had a dog called Dfer and a cat called Cfer!  They also had a black hairy spider called Fred made of fluff and pipe cleaners with which we used to play tricks on each other.  One day I placed Fred in Brother in Law's naval cap and he got a fright when he went to put in on in the morning!  I thought that was great till I went in the kitchen to get some fruit and saw that he had placed Fred on top of the box.  Laughing at his crude attempt I picked Fred up only to discover to my horror that this was a real Bobbejaan Spinnekop (Jumping Spider). I screamed wildly as "Fred" jumped out of my hand and onto the wall.  Our mom (also staying there) came running and beat poor Fred to death with a bottle of Coke!!  We never mucked around with Fred again!

Brother in Law had hundreds of brothers that I could never quite get straight as they all seemed to look alike, sound alike and, as most of them followed B in L into the navy, dressed alike!  He was one of the first people I knew to get a computer and I used to love babysitting so I could play Space Invaders and Pacman on the green and black screen until my eyes nearly fell out of my head.  

I went to parades, launching of ships and parties and dinners and met loads of interesting people all through B in L and will always be grateful for the support he gave me through most of my adulthood.

After losing touch with him for years we met again over the internet and it was with great joy that I was able to communicate with him again. My kids were always made welcome and loved him and after a long break in communication seem also to have found him again, sadly only to lose him so soon.

We love you B in L and look forward to seeing you on the other side where, no doubt, you will once more show us the ropes just like you did this side.

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Being far away

It's hard to be far away from ones family.  I've had to make a decision to be where my husband wants to be and he wants to be in France where we will live a much more free life with no burglar bars on the windows and doors and no worries at night.  We chose a tiny hamlet of 5 houses - only one other permanently occupied by an English fellow - and made an offer.   Until the offer goes through we are holding back on the excitement/nervousness of moving - after all it might NOT go through.  I'm ambivalent about whether it goes through or not but I think OAP would be devastated.

For me the worst thing is leaving my family behind.  I'd always hoped they would travel abroad and settle in other countries, then I could go and visit and live elsewhere myself.  OAP is now 74 and feeling that he can't protect me any more (my cave man!) and his quality of life is affected by the tension.  When we leave our house to go to town or gym or whatever we set the alarm, lock up as if its the Bastille and worry the whole time that we will get home (again) to a ransacked house.  I must say that leaving our car in a car park in SA we wonder if it will be there when we come back!  I've had two cars stolen - once from under my nose - and it's a horrible experience, but not half as horrid as being hi-jacked.   OAP is SO nervous about that that he makes my life miserable, so I finally relented and decided to try the living abroad.

One thing we have discovered is that we are not eligible for any sort of medical cover and our SA medical aid will not cover us for more than 4 months away so we will be back in SA every 3 months - which, actually, is probably about as often as I see the kids anyway!!  This will ensure QUALITY time is spent together.  We are not selling our SA house as we both dearly love it and will come back every European winter to spend SA summer there for 4 months.  SO actually it probably wont be any different to our life now except we will, hopefully, have a cute house and small garden in the French countryside and a much cheaper way of life than at present!   Anyone fancying a holiday in France in the Limousin countryside is very welcome - there's a small river nearby, a gorgeous lake 5 kms away and lots and lots of smashing walks.