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Published: April 19th 2024
MAURITIUS
Mon Choisy BeachThe waters between Fremantle and Mauritius were quite calm, not what we expected! After long days at sea we finally arrived in Mauritius a little earlier than planned....what a welcome sight Port Louis was and John and I were quite excited to be there as our bestie was picking us up at the Caudon Waterfront at 10am. So off the ship as soon as we could with Renate and Ivan and had a quick look around the waterfront and also the Central Market, I always like to stroll around markets wherever we go as it gives an insite as to how the locals live their daily life. Caudon Waterfront is relatively new with lots of shops, bars and restaurants a busy little area. Then a few blocks away to the Central Market to have a stroll around, very colorful, buzzing with people and a beautiful array of fresh produce from the rich soils of the island. John and I beelined back to Caudon Waterfront and met Gilbert and Rhonda, was fantastic to see their smiling faces and what a warm welcome to their piece of Paradise. It took us about 30 minutes to get to the holiday house they were renting
RESILIENT LADY
Fivesies each arvo on the ship for their family holiday, GOSH! what a spot it was, a beachfront house where you just walked out the door and through the gate to the beach with their beach chairs set up on the sand and to swim in the blue waters was so lovely, the sea was the perfect temperature as it was very warm and even though not cold it was very refreshing. It was great to see Paul and Tegan, Alexandra and Jarred....all enjoying this family holiday. We were spoilt rotten....Rhonda and Gil packed so much in for us to get a feel of where they love to holiday. First up was coffee at their local coffee shop with beautiful fresh french pastries, then we went a bit further north to visit Mon Choisy Beach which was absolutely stunning with lots of trees on the reserve where you could relax under the shade in the heat of the day, further along to near Grand Baie to get some of the best Dahl Puri on the island, the way I can describe them were chickpea pancakes with lashings of sauce and curry rolled up like a souvlaki and geez they were absolutely a taste sensation. The beaches
EXTRA VIRGIN
One of our fave restaurants here are just out of this world and after seeing where the boys played golf the day before and more little areas along the coast we ventured back to the house for a lovely lunch and a couple of beers before swimming and a little bit of shopping. After a wonderful day Gil and Rhonda took us back to the ship and we were well onboard before departure. Another three days at sea, and the seas around Madagascar were pretty wild, especially in the Mozambique Channel. We arrived in Durban just after sunrise on 14th April. Pat and Gordy left us as they had booked a 4day/3night safari out of Durban and will meet the ship back in Cape Town, Ivan and Renate were lucky enough to get on a day safari from Durban and had a wonderful day seeing lots of animals. Jude, Chris, John and I decided to walk along the Golden Mile Beach to the very impressive Moses Mabhida Stadium which was operational in 2009 for the FIFA world cup in 2010, which was about 7klm, the presence of police and police cars was very obvious but we didnt have any problems, we were hoping to get
the SkyCar up to the very top of the stadium but it was not operating and they didn't know when it was going to be either, like lots of things here, broken and not working! So from there we walked to the Cube which is perched up on a hill overlooking Durban, lots of puffing and panting getting up here so fortunately it was the downhill run then towards the markets in Cape Town, ran into a lovely restaurant and had a very refreshing couple of pints, very much need and soooo enjoyable! Everyone at this place were all done up for their Sunday outing, we felt a bit out of place in our walking gear but they welcomed us with open arms, we were wondering what we would be stung for the pints of beer, but pleasantly surprised at $2.50 AUD for each pint....BARGAIN! Next stop Victoria Markets.....NOT OPEN! Closed early as it was a Sunday. Didnt get many photos in the middle of Durban as it was a little bit scary, people wanting money if you took photos, the poverty was very obvious and we just hightailed it back to the port area and settled into a brewery
RESILIENT LADY
Lovely wait staff from all different countries, this one from Mauritius! for another cold beer after walking 17klms for the day. Our sail out time from Durban was 8pm so it was a decent amout of time in town. Following day about 7pm just outside of Port Elizabeth we had a medical evacuation, saw the small boat coming up to the ship as we sitting having dinner in Pink Agave, looked like about 8 people on the boat to evacuate the patient. Would have been a tricky manoeuvre!
WED 17.4.2024 Cape Town....awoke about 4.30am could see lights and said to John we might be docking early as supoosed to be in dock 7.30am, jumped back into bed and looked out again 6.30am, thick fog could not see a thing! 7am captain Nick came over speaker, port authority has closed port 0 visibility! So our ship was bobbing around the bay outside Cape Town. Finally arrived into the port 1.30pm and what chaos it was with people lining the corridors to get off, supposed to be back on board by 3pm, but as we waited the captain made another announcement that we would be spending another day in Cape Town and we could get back on by 7pm so everyone happy campers.
SCARLET NIGHT
When the ship was swathed in red! We spent a few days in Cape Town in 2017 so we were not too worried about missing out but I really felt for our mates who had never been before but now everyone happy. Docked right in V&A port area so straight off and to the shops to get some wine to take back on board, the waterfront is a beautiful spot with lots of shops, restaurants bars and around every corner Table Moutain is such an imposing sight looking over the port. Pat and Gordy were waiting in Cape Town as they flew in from Durban early arvo having had a fantastic time on safari seeing more animals than they could imagine! Thursday we all spent the day exploring, some went to Robben Island and Ivan, Renate, John and I got up reasonably early so we could get the first hop on hop off bus leaving the area, still very foggy around port area, but once we got as far as the CBD the fog had lifted. So a lovely journey through the city, botanical gardens in the countryside and wineries but as soon as we came down again to Houts Bay and Camps Bay the fog was
SCARLET NIGHT
The boys even dressed in red! thick and you could not see a thing, so we got off the bus at Camps Bay and ordered an Uber to take us straight to Table Mountain, best move we made as we had prepurchased our tickets and were able to get straight on the cable car and up to the top. We were glad to do Table Mountain as when we were here previously it was shrouded in cloud and it was closed. We spent a bit of time walking around and enjoying the views, then decided to go and get the cable car back down but different story getting down, we queued for a good half hour to go down. Once down we ordered another Uber so we could go direct to the V&A mall and get a couple more bottles and Ivan to get some whiskey, fortunate for us when reboarding they did not scan bags etc as this was done at immigration. All aboard 3pm, sailaway party at 4.30 and by that time all fog had lifted and views of Table Mountain were fantastic. Namibia, Walvis Bay here we come.
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