Piers and Lin du Pré bought their new Fleming 55 / 129, Play d'eau, in 2003.Well, we’re homeward bound. After a magnificent and glorious three weeks in South Africa, we have travelled from Cape Town to Durban to Amsterdam and will shortly leave for Guernsey.
Cape Town
After taking afternoon tea at Cape Town’s Mount Nelson Hotel (as a chap and chapess do), we flew to Durban and stayed at the Granny Mouse Country Lodge, some 90 minutes west of the city, for one night before catching an Emirates flight to Amsterdam.
Today, we take a Blue Islands flight back to Guernsey (via the ‘other island’) to be reunited with Play d’eau. In a strange way we know it’s time to go home, yet our hearts have been certainly captured by South Africa.
As Amy’s brother, Kevin, had said to us, ‘South Africa gets in your blood’.
How right he was.
Some last pics
Here are some last pics from the many we took.
 Our room at the Tala Private Game Reserve |
 Our 12m long room at the African Pride, |
 The Queen Victoria Hotel was close to the waterfront which buzzed with life |
 These guys were great |
 “The wheel on the front goes round and round’ |
 Traditional skills are still being used |
 The port and marina were so busy |
 Table Mountain was wearing its table cloth |
 The cloud disappeared… |
 …and window cleaners were suspended by ropes |
 Sandwiches, cakes, savouries, scones, creams, jams, breads and 'nibbles' |
 We indulged in afternoon tea at The Mount Nelson |
 Piers’ favourite |
 We stayed at the Granny Mouse Country Lodge |
 Our room had a wood burning stove – great because it dropped to -3C overnight |
 Granny Mouse overlooks the valley and its river |
 The fog stayed hovering above the river |
 As the sun rose, it was -3C, frosty, |
 A great sign by Reception |
 Water taps and corrugated iron |
 Nearby were the stunning 95m (310′) Howick Falls |
Piers and Lin
Granny Mouse Country Lodge
…on temporary leave of absence from
Play d’eau
Fleming 55
Thank you so much for sharing your South African experiences with us via your blog and for the lovely photos.
We almost feel as though we were there with you. Much cheaper!!!
What a fantastic time you have both had, with so many experiences and different vistas, with the added bonus of your youngest son’s wedding.
Back to reality now!
P&Pxx
I echo what Pip said (hope you don’t mind Pip!). It has been brilliant to follow your adventures. Wishing you the very best journey back and loads of hugs and kisses from Charlotte, myself and the weasels 🙂
What an incredible time you have had-and so have we- as we have followed you and been with you on your adventures. Thank you so much for taking us. It has been truly wonderful.
Lots of love from Hil x x