So far we’ve been faring very well on the ship. It’s been an extremely smooth sail, with a very steady horizon and very little pitching. We haven’t felt in the least bit seasick, although Caleb claims to have a headache and a bit of nausea. Our cabin is roomy and comfortable, and has an en-suite bathroom – definitely more luxurious than the c-deck accommodations we had on our outbound voyage. The ship’s water, because it goes through a desalination process, is inclined to draw the iron from the pipes as it goes along, simply to try getting some minerals back into itself, so it comes out the taps looking orange. After a shower the towels are orange. The food is as good as always, although last night we had the Captain’s Cocktail party beforehand, so weren’t much inclined to a large meal afterward. Nick only had soup and dessert, while I still did my best to finish a grouper fillet. We have two ladies with us at our table, who certainly make very interesting dinner companions.
Let me get back to Thursday, our departure day. It wasn’t nearly as traumatic as I thought it would be, although I think the rush at the airport which cut short the goodbyes helped with that – we were severely overweight with our extra luggage, so had to request an extra allowance at the airport, which was awarded us with not too much trouble. After retrieving all our luggage in Cape Town, we had to wait a few minutes for Nick’s friend Greg to arrive. Then we went to hire a car, a Getz – very nice to drive. I got landed with the driving, as the credit card is mine and so I had to present my own drivers’ licence. Greg had all three boys (ours plus his own, Caleb’s age), and we had all the luggage. Amazingly it fitted in the Getz with the back seats down. We went straight to Greg’s house in Observatory, offloaded all the luggage, had a cup of tea, and by about 10.15 we were ready to go to the Waterfront for some final shopping. We decided to reload all the luggage and take it with us, as Greg said it would be safe in the covered parking at the Waterfront. We had to just take his word on this – not something we would have done in Joburg! I did the shopping while Nick and Greg supervised the boys in a play area. It was a lot of walking to find a vacuum cleaner, pillows, and some shoes for the boys. Back in the parking lot, we quickly boxed up the bulk of our purchases, then found our way to the Mission to Seafarers, our meeting point for embarkation. It was now 1 pm, and our hire car was due for return at 1 pm. However, all the luggage was in the car, and the Andrew Weir people weren’t on hand for luggage receiving – what to do! The trailers and kombis were waiting for the hold baggage, but it hadn’t been tagged yet. No problem, we just amended details on our original cabin tickets, crossing out “Cabin” and writing “hold”, and changing the cabin number. That apparently was fine. Then offloaded the rest of the luggage to a spot in the shade, where Nick was left in charge, and Greg and I sorted out getting the car back. Once that was done, we waited for about half an hour before getting on a kombi that took us right to the gangplank of the RMS St Helena. Finally we were on the ship! All the stresses over, we could relax at last. We sailed at about 18h10. Our usual supper arrangements hold, with the boys eating at 17h30 and us at 18h45. This works so well. By the time we get back to the cabin after our dinner, the boys are soundly asleep, even though the sun hasn’t yet set. Last night we watched the sunset, which was at about 20h10. Will be getting earlier as we head further north.
Let me get back to Thursday, our departure day. It wasn’t nearly as traumatic as I thought it would be, although I think the rush at the airport which cut short the goodbyes helped with that – we were severely overweight with our extra luggage, so had to request an extra allowance at the airport, which was awarded us with not too much trouble. After retrieving all our luggage in Cape Town, we had to wait a few minutes for Nick’s friend Greg to arrive. Then we went to hire a car, a Getz – very nice to drive. I got landed with the driving, as the credit card is mine and so I had to present my own drivers’ licence. Greg had all three boys (ours plus his own, Caleb’s age), and we had all the luggage. Amazingly it fitted in the Getz with the back seats down. We went straight to Greg’s house in Observatory, offloaded all the luggage, had a cup of tea, and by about 10.15 we were ready to go to the Waterfront for some final shopping. We decided to reload all the luggage and take it with us, as Greg said it would be safe in the covered parking at the Waterfront. We had to just take his word on this – not something we would have done in Joburg! I did the shopping while Nick and Greg supervised the boys in a play area. It was a lot of walking to find a vacuum cleaner, pillows, and some shoes for the boys. Back in the parking lot, we quickly boxed up the bulk of our purchases, then found our way to the Mission to Seafarers, our meeting point for embarkation. It was now 1 pm, and our hire car was due for return at 1 pm. However, all the luggage was in the car, and the Andrew Weir people weren’t on hand for luggage receiving – what to do! The trailers and kombis were waiting for the hold baggage, but it hadn’t been tagged yet. No problem, we just amended details on our original cabin tickets, crossing out “Cabin” and writing “hold”, and changing the cabin number. That apparently was fine. Then offloaded the rest of the luggage to a spot in the shade, where Nick was left in charge, and Greg and I sorted out getting the car back. Once that was done, we waited for about half an hour before getting on a kombi that took us right to the gangplank of the RMS St Helena. Finally we were on the ship! All the stresses over, we could relax at last. We sailed at about 18h10. Our usual supper arrangements hold, with the boys eating at 17h30 and us at 18h45. This works so well. By the time we get back to the cabin after our dinner, the boys are soundly asleep, even though the sun hasn’t yet set. Last night we watched the sunset, which was at about 20h10. Will be getting earlier as we head further north.
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