Friday February 22nd

Friday 22^nd February 2019

Well amazingly this is now our 18^th day – so many thought and feelings. The initial euphoria, call it the honey moon phase has settled I feel. The wonder and disbelief that we could have found ourselves in such a beautiful and comfortable spot, with no demands, nothing that had to be attended to, no deadlines, no appointments, no commitments has settled now. There was a window when I felt a feeling of maybe emptiness stretching forever – a feeling of what are we going to do with ourselves for the next three months!  The mind is such a powerhouse of negativity if we give it half a chance!!

So that feeling of not really fear or even discontent creeps in – always wanting space where ever we are – so mindfulness and the need to watch where my mind wanders is ever present.

So back to the here and now – today is beautiful – the sky is a pale washed blue, the sea is low , the waves curling on the reef, the rocks now visible because right now low tide was predicted 6 minutes ago!  The birds are saying hi , there is very little air movement but above me the fan is whirring and I am covered in tabard to keep the little winged guys at bay!!

A week ago John and I went on an adventure to check out the waves at Tamarim beach – we caught the bus armed with my trustee boogie board and found the beach.  Rather disappointing in terms of waves but we had been warned. We sat peacefully under the trees that grow on the beach munching on baguettes that were for sale at a little kiosk on the beach. Interestingly contrary to what I expected, we have met very few  South Africans – most people we see on the beach or in the shops are French speaking – hardly acknowledging a smile or a greeting!! Although I have had a few conversations with a couple on the beach but it is definitely the exception…

So after our sortie to Tamarin beach – about R 15 bus fare – we jumped off the bus to find a Charity Centre I had googled so that I could find some second hand books. We had a great browse in their really well stocked ‘library’. 

Then as we were walking back to the bus stop, a car stopped and out climbed Dylan, a varsity friend of  Luke’s!!!!  We knew he and his wife lived on the island but we had not yet contacted them. What were the chances of that – he spotting these two grey nomads sweltering along the road complete with boogie board and books!! He and Nadia had returned from a week or so in SA the day before…. I love the synchronicity of this – had we stayed 2 more minutes in the Charity centre, or he left a minute earlier…. You have to feel that the universe or the god of your understanding is supporting you – or simply that you’re on the right path – literally and figuratively!! No pushing or pulling of strings just holding the thread. (Eve sent me a poem about this by William Stafford).

So that ‘çhance’ encounter opened another door for us – we spent an enjoyable evening on Saturday in their home, which – here you go!! – is about 5 kms away further down the main road. They live in a really great Marina complex. Nadia took us shopping to a new centre called Cascavelle where we did a big shop at a place called Winners where items were definitely cheaper than at London Way or Food Lovers Market. Just to give an idea – a litre of milk costs about R 15 but tomatoes are about R 20 each, a lettuce about R 34, a bottle of Chardonnay or Shiraz is in the region of R 185.  So it is more expensive than SA but we are getting to grips with it and beginning to be able to see which are the better / cheaper things to eat!!

Dylan, Nadia and their darling 7 month old baby have visited a few times and had great swims in the pool.

Once again I shall post this although I would love to add some photographs  - lets hope I can do that soon!! But at least my thoughts / writing to this point are all posted.