Jozi (does my family look big in this?)

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This point really is the start of the second chapter of our travelling adventures. Having spent a great month backpacking around Southern Africa we are now in Jo'burg for 5 days and back in the warmth of Avril's place. Not only does this mean a full fridge and a real bathroom, but also the opportunity to unpack our rucksacks into a wardrobe. Simple pleasures.

The main point of this leg of the journey was to say hi to Marissa's extended family. And what a big family the Wolman family is, over our 5 day stay I must have met 20 people claiming to be cousins of Marissa, it turned out they all spoke the truth. Marissa's grandfather had 5 siblings and that leads to one hell of a lot of cousins. One evening I asked for someone to draw me a family tree, they ran out of paper.

Marissa's dad, David, was also out for a holiday too and we soon discovered South Africa were playing India at the Wanderers. What a great opportunity to take Marissa to her first test match, and for 3 quid a ticket a total bargain! So for the first time ever I prepared myself for a day supporting the Proteas. India had been going well, but we were due for a day of South African batting and I hoped to see Captain Smith score runs like he did against England. Instead they were all out for 84! Their worst test score in a very long time. It wasn't all bad, we did see Sean Pollock get his 400th wicket and some great Indian batting 😉

Other than that Jo'berg was mainly about eating and we thank all the family and friends there for their fantastic hospitality and generosity, a great time was had by all. Cape Town and the festive season now awaits ...

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This Week Likes:
*Beatie's Cooking
*Avril was babysitting a 13 week old kitten called Teddy, he was the best cat ever! I have never seen such a playful kitten. I really had to restrain myself from packing him in my rucksack.
*Casino Royal - we took some time out to see a movie and I thought it was the best Bond in ages. Mr Craig was excellent, blond hair and all.

This Weeks Dislikes:
*The Old Fort Prison - South Africa really did treat their black prisoners despicably
*South Africa's dismal batting display, not to mention the poor attendance for a test match.
*Getting behind on these blogs - hope you are all keeping track

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Elbow Update:
Swelling going down, but still very limited movement. Daily exercise in Avril's pool helped stretch it, but full movement a long way off. Saw a physio and given some exercises, they expect full recovery to be another 6 weeks away. So definitely no Golf for us here, or in Cape Town. On the plus side James is carrying all the bags, doing all the cooking and washing and dressing me!

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Photos

Looking good!
..Unfortunatly he missed the ball!

84 all out
South Africa didn't put up much of a fight.
(NB: James takes no pleasure at all about posting this picture)

Teddy
Posing for the camera. He wasn't normally this calm, most of the time he ran around the room like a nutcase looking for someone to play with him. Avril and James normally obliged, Avril had scratch marks to prove it.

Comments

[lamlee]

Prisons
Sadly, I believe the prisons are still terrible

[Joools]

3 quid a ticket!!!
That really is a bargain - and all in all a pretty historic day! Better than watching the Ashes anyway!! The emergence of some happy feelings after reading your last blog have subsided again after reading this one - you really have buggered yourself up haven't you! Such a pain in the arse (so to speak) - I'm so sorry! A little bout of the shits was all I was really looking for - with stories of anal wretching, and 2 days sat on the toilet - not something quite so debilitating as your blinking elbow! Oh well, I think I'd still be in your position ... actually scratch that ... there's no question I'd still rather be in your position! Stupid incompetent clients!