Currency still weak

Well it looks like the South African Rand is still going to be weak for a while. This is good news for me at this stage.

The trip home

Finally on my way home! Here are a couple of snaps.


Driving past one of Johannesburg's mine dumps on the way to the airport


Saying final good byes at Johannesburg International


Waiting for my flight to board


Departures hall at Charle De Gaul


Flying over the pole


Air France plane cam


Air France GPS view


Flying over the Rockies


Flying over Seattle on final descent


Home sweet home

Gastronomic pleasures

I discovered a great little Italian restaurant at Cresta center in Northcliff whilst on my trip. Needless to say condensed milk and espresso is quite delicious!


Espresso and condensed milk


Fruit salad with ice cream


tiramisu

Dick Lee Paintings found

Picture of my mother (front)


Picture of my mother (back)


Picture of my father (front)


Picture of my father (back)


Cricket match (front)


Cricket match (back)

Text reads:

For Nick

Souvenir
A dull painting but
I'm afraid I'd have
probably kept
if it had been
better

Cows


Bridge over river.

My parents used to be friends with the English artist Dick Lee. Whilst we were busy cleaning out my mom's cottage and packing everything to be moved we found the following Dick Lee originals from when my parents where staying with him.

Tapas in Kensington

It was cheap by South African standards. Paying in US dollars makes it almost free!

Luke the skateboarding daemon

Tomorrow is Lukes birthday. Since he is into skateboarding Griselda and I got him some new wheels for his board. As you can see from the pics he is quite accomplished even if there were a couple of epic failures (which of course I'm putting up).

Some random snaps from today

Just a couple of random snaps from my travels today.


Queen Latiffa; the phone cat


Condo Security. Electric fences are the norm


Aids ribbons


African sunset

Art quest

On the way back from packing items at my mother cottage we went past a street painter that we liked the look of. So without any hesitation I snagged two paintings for my mom's room. Unfortunately for the painter it started to rain a few moment later so we where lucky to get them when we did.


Some of the paintings


And a few more


And then the rain came


The painting mounted on the wall. Unfortunately we didn't have time to get it framed.

All the things you miss...

I have been on a mission to taste and experience all the South African things that I though I missed that I can not easily obtain in the United States. The biggest suprise is that a lot of the things did not elicit the reaction that I thought that they would.

For example Nandos is a popular

Mother Squared

It's complicated, it's bizaar, but this last week has made me realize how lucky I am. To celebrate we went out for tapas at this amazing little restaurant near Kensington.


Ann and Di


Ben and Di

How to speed in SA (and get away with it)

Don't attach your license plates. It's that simple. Apparently the local fine for not having your license plate on is ZAR 60.00 (about USD 6.00), whereas the fine for speeding and being caught by a traffic camera can be several thousand. What makes this truly wonderful is that your chances of not being stopped for not having a plate on in the first place are excellent so you probably wont ever have to pay the ZAR 60.00 fine either.


Unlicensed Porsche GT3

Car sold today

As you all know my mom has not been well and I came over to South Africa to help wrap up her affairs. One of the things that I needed to do for this was to sell her car as she is no longer able to drive or has anywhere to keep it now that she has moved.

I called and visited to get a couple of prices and to see what was involved with selling the car. Needless to say this is a huge pain. Luckily for me I came across an advert in the Northcliff times for "webuycars".

WeBuyCars is run by Dirk and Fanie van der Walt. The process could not be any simpler. Fanie came around to the house and looked at the car. I was a little concerned as it was my only source of transportation whilst I was here and wanted to be able to keep the car until at least Saturday. Fanie then wanted to give me a cash deposit for the car which I was uncomfortable accepting so we arranged to have the deposit transferred into my mothers account. Anyway imagine my surprise when I check the bank balance a few days later and I see that they have transferred the complete amount for the vehicle instead of just the deposit.

Fast forward to today I get a call to arrange for the pickup of the car as agreed. Two drivers arrived on time and helped complete the final paperwork and then took the car. They were just as professional and pleasant to deal with as Fanie and made what was a rather sad moment for me as pleasant and professional as possible.

On my side I filled up the car with 3/4 tank of gas, checked the oil, water and tire pressure and made sure that I had a complete hand off packet consisting of vehicle registration, 2 sets of keys, all license records and all service records.


Hand-off to Fanie's team.


My mom's VW Polo Classic 1.4i


My hand-off documentation.

Tea at the botanical gardens

On Saturday we went to the botanical gardens to grab a cup of tea and go for a walk.

Charles and Mum

Someone needs a diet

Someone needs a diet

Taking a dip to escape the heat


Chubby little porker but cute as can be.


And a pregnant bitch from the dog show on Sunday for comparison