Saturday 9th
February 2019
So we have
been here since Monday the 4th Feb. Such a time of peace and
simplicity – whenever in my life have I ever felt this untaxed!!There is
nothing that has to be done, nothing that can’t wait, nothing that demands my
attention, not one should – not one I must do this – or I haven’t done that or
finished this…. A sense of utter timelessness, of I will do this when the
moment feels right or I will do this now as this feels good …
It begs the
question about how we live our lives – however more to the point – how thankful
I am to be in this incredible position of ’being here now’ – right now - of no
sense of yesterday or tomorrow but right now and here in this moment – sitting
on the verandah and pouring my thoughts into my key board.
This
morning we heard that Loqi, our black kitty, had taken her last breathe –
gently and peacefully in the Glencairn vet – held by Denise and Shaun and
guided by Dylan our vet. What an incredible companion she has been to us and in
particular to John as she has kept him company through all the months while I
traveled to be with Luke and Mel in Seoul, and Ghana and journeyed off to
Nepal, India and Vermont. Thank you Loqi for your quiet and steadfast presence
for the last 19 years. What a gal.
Now we are
here in Mauritius – for those who don’t know the background – in a nutshell –
we sold our beautiful home in Simon’s Town in July last year to two couples
from Zimbabwe who wanted us to continue to live in it til the end of January.
During this time we decided that we would make the most of this time of being
footloose, fancy free and homeless to travel and visit family. So we have spent
the last 5 months packing up, redistributing, selling and giving away what we
didn’t want to put in storage! What a liberating experience – especially as it
coincided with our son, Josh and his wife, KL setting up a B n B so much went
straight into that – wonderful when your children are very happy to receive
your furniture and goodies! But as
organized as we felt we were and even with that amount of time to do
everything, it was definitely the most physically exhausting thing we have ever
done!! John reckons he has never worked as hard in his life – for me it was
like setting up a Montessori prepared environment or doing all nighters getting
the student’s portfolios ready for verification!! John’s garage presented the biggest challenge
– but even on the day the movers came - 30th
January, we were still packing boxes while they loaded them onto the truck!! It
just never seemed to end – where does all this stuff come from and why the hell
do we have it all!!! By the end of the day John had made an agreement with the
moving people that they could have all that was in his garage if they just made
sure it was empty by the end of the 31st!!! So a great solution for
all – they definitely scored and you know what, we definitely did too as
heavens knows where all that stuff would have been put once we set up home
again!!!
So this is
the plan – we stay in Mauritius until May 31st, then back to Cape
Town for a few days with Josh and KL in Greyton while we sort out a few loose
ends in CT, before flying off to Vancouver on June 17th to see our
older son, Luke, his wife, Mel and their two girls; as well as my sister, Kathleen
and her husband, Richard in the San Francisco Bay area until September 30th. By then we will hopefully know where we want
to spend the next phase of our lives – maybe back in Simons Town or in Greyton or
on another island!! – we’ll see….
We are
renting a really comfortable home which belongs to the family of a good friend
of mine. So fortunate – it has
everything we need and more, is right on the beach and has a beautiful
sparkling pool off the verandah to fall into. The beach is through a gate about
100 metres away across the lawn. The house is set between the beach and another
row of houses behind us, which front onto the main road where the bus stops! So
an easy walk away is the bus stop and a Food Lovers Marker where we can do
small shops. There are also a few restaurants within walking distance which we
have yet to sample. We need to catch the bus to do a more extensive shop – to a
centre called London Way – a R5.00 bus fare away!!! So it’s a case of if we
can’t carry it – don’t buy it!! John has
ventured out twice with his huge dive gear bag on his back and come back
looking like a sherpa laden with provisions – I was hands free so I could
record it all and find the money to give the bus conductor!!! What a peaceful
experience – not like the yelling guys touting for passengers in Kathmandu and Delhi or the constant honking
of the taxi drivers in Lagos and Accra. Very sedate and gentle by comparison –
but the same dripping heat!!
So to recap
a bit – we finally left 8 Horatio Way in Simons Town at 8.30 pm on Thursday
January 31st!! We had planned on leaving my car with friends who live on a wine
farm in Stellenbsoch to then drive though in John’s car to Greyton to spend
three nights with Josh and Kate Louise.
That was when we imagined we would hand over the keys to the new owners at 1 pm
– no ways!! We had help getting the
house ship shape and finally handed over the keys at 4pm. By the time we were
ready to leave it was too late to drive through to Greyton. We also had to take
both cars to Greyton as we were piled high with more stuff to give to the
Greyton Red Cross Society, stuff to
leave in the cars while they were parked
on the farm in Stellenbosch, and of
course our bags for Mauritius. We were finally rescued by friends in Somerset
West who gave this homeless couple a place to put our weary heads for the
night!!! Talk about the best laid plans gaun oft awry!!!
We set off
in the two cars, a day late, on Friday February 1st for Greyton – a
peaceful run except that we were pulled over at some point by cops who were
checking car and driving licenses…. Ha ha – when asked to produce them I
confidently dug into my wallet only to find no ID and license – I had given
them to John when he applied for my International driver’s license!! He
couldn’t find his original and had only a copy in his wallet!! John then pointed
to the mountain of stuff next to and behind him in the car and said the
original was in this lot somewhere!! I, in the meantime found my stuff together
with my international license which was in my bag – so they told John that it
was illegal to make a copy and then very tolerantly waved us on wishing us all
the best for our adventure!!
We then
spent a very relaxed two nights in Greyton – we were fortunately able to unpack
everything directly into Josh and KL’s B n B as their weekend guests had cancelled
– what a blessing as we could spread out and sort everything into the different
piles and not choke up their space in the house!!!!
After a
leisurely breakfast in Greyton, we had a teary goodbye with Josh and Kl and set
off in convoy for Stellenbosch. Judith
and Bill had arranged a farewell late lunch for us with some close friends
which was wonderful. The guys disconnected the car batteries and then covered
the cars with their car covers and we finally collapsed into bed for our last
nights sleep!! Four o clock saw us being driven to the airport by Judith’s
friendly Uber man. One last hurdle – check in!! and a hurdle it turned out to
be!! Our return date was May31st but the
airline computer would not accept our reservation as one can be given a visa
for only 90 days not 120 days as our ticket needed!! Much angst later and
running close to boarding time, we were able to change our return date to April
30th!! Add a few or not so few bucks and voila!!! Annoying but at
least we were now finally on our way!!
The flight
to Johannesburg and then the next to Mauritius was comfortable and effortless and
then hey presto we were in beautiful Mauritius where we were met by Gilbert our
pre-arranged taxi driver.
The beach
house is managed by Nathalie, my friend’s
niece. She organized the taxi and had thoughtfully left a roast chook
and a few basic supplies in the fridge for us. She showed us around, explaining
that Tuesday and Wednesday were the Chinese new year so no shops would be open.
We are also being very spoilt by having Natasha who comes in for a couple of
hours each day to wave a magic wand around!!! So we don’t even have to worry
about basic chores - seems like we have
no ’petty round of irritating concerns and duties’ at all!! This was the
prayer, attributed to Robert Louis Stevenson, which my dad used to quote at
every assembly when he was the head master of my primary school, which for some
reason I have never forgotten!
John is
having many opportunities to practice, and improve, his French. This was one of
the reasons for choosing Mauritius – to give him the chance to finally be
fluent in French. Natasha has told him
that his French is ‘not too good!!’ but it has certainly made a difference in
that he can make himself understood and understand enough of what is said to
him!!! We have ventured out three times – well John has – on the first night we
walked to Food Lovers to stock with a few essentials. We then fell into a heap
and wallowed for Tuesday and Wednesday – falling in and out of the pool and
taking short strolls on the beach. I waded out towards the reef – some 200 or
more metres in thigh deep water. There are no waves breaking near or on the
shore (to catch waves on my boogie board - my reason for an island holiday),
however they do break at the reef – some definitely large enough to give me a
ride if I can catch them that way out!!!
We have seen very few people on the beach or in the water in front of
the house. Maybe one or two people each day!! One kayaker, one stand up ski-er,
a couple of snorklers, a couple of fishing boats… so this is certainly a place
for us to unwind, to find ourselves, to reconnect, to reflect, to replenish and
definitely to restore!
So far we
have spent the days reading, snoozing, dipping, eating, drinking copious amount
of tonic water, playing cards – watch
this space as the great elevens series between JR and Pru takes place!! I have
battled a bit to get to sleep at night but had a better night last night after
we went shopping and found a baby down pillow to replace the one I left behind
in Stellenbosch!! John is the earlier riser with me finally emerging at some
time before ten!!! We eat when our
tummies tell us to and spend very little time looking at the time – John has
removed his watch. I am playing bridge and patience on my laptop and John has
started writing and of course spends some time watching TV.
So a
miraculous feeling of timelessness and quiet – as we remain in contact with
family and friends through whattssap. As yet I have not thought about our life
in Simons Town at all - at this
stage I read the news on the social
groups with relief and a feeling of it being from a different time zone and
certainly a different life…. Not better, not worse, just then and now this is
now…..
I will
attempt to add photos to this later – right now its time for a break and
another cup of tea!!!
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