Advertisement
Aussie Aussie Aussie
Day 325 (28/02/09)
We bid farewell to those awake and those asleep in our dorm and met our transfer to the airport.We arrived into Joburg after a hassle free flight, met our next driver for transfer to the Backpacker Ritz hostel dropped our gear off and headed straight to the Wanders stadium for Day three of the first South African Test.
We found our seats in the Centenary Pavillion stand just as Ricky dropped a catch. Fortunately things picked up and we eventually knocked over south Africa with Hughes and Katich heading into bat. Katich didn't stick around for long but Hughes was looking good until a light shower and poor lighting stopped play for the day. We hung around for a drink with some locals and met with Lena who was to become our taxi driver for the next few days. We settled for the local Brai (aka BBQ) at the hostel for dinner and a very early night.
Day 326
Keen to make it to the Wanders for the start of play we walked to the local bakery (where Jez thought he was in heaven) for breaky and some lunch supplies. We stopped at the
ATM which wasn't working but fortunately met a local who was also stopping at the ATM before heading to the cricket, he kindly offered to give us a lift to the next ATM and then on to the cricket! Unbeknown to either of us because of the shortened play yesterday the cricket had already kicked off but we quickly found our seats. Within the first four overs Australia lost 3 wickets and things were starting to look shaky! Haddin helped us over the 200 mark but we were all out shortly after lunch! Sth Africa went in all guns blazing and finished the day 167/2. Day five was now definitely on the cards. We called Lena and she dropped us back to the hostel where we enjoyed the luxuries of a couch, net, TV and delivered takeaway!
Day 327
We made an early start and walked to the cricket arriving before the start of play securing two front row tickets in the memorial stand right beside the tunnel beside a few fellow Aussies. It was a beautiful sunny day and the stands were relatively empty being a Monday. Bikini's and chests out we caught some early morning sun (turned
out too be too much!) and enjoyed a cold beer as the Aussies started to cull the South Africans. We made friends with some local Saffa's (who were skipping work), had chat with Alex Kountaris the Australian Physio and enjoyed some more beer as the Aussie's knocked em all over!
Lena dropped us home and we fell asleep soon after!
Day 328
Upon the advice of our potentially gay hostel mamger we headed to Rosebank shopping center. We spoilt ourselves at the Mug and Bean with some Smoked Salmon and Eggs Benedict for breaky. Our bargain hunting began as our funds had dried up, Carly picked up some cheap jeans but the remainder of day was relatively unsuccessful so Carly decided to get a hair cut before returning to the world of work and Jez caught an afternoon movie Kalkaryne starring Tom Cruise (alone hehe!). Keen to make the most the local seafood we dined on a seafood basket.
Day329
We headed to Sandton Shopping mall with the intention to use the net and catch up on some blogs but unfortunately there wasn't any so we spent most of the day shopping... again.
We checked out Nelson Mandela square (Upper class shopping district), then headed back to Rosebank mall to use the net, Jez purchased a pair of Oakley frog skin retro sunglasses (now his pride and joy).
and caught a taxi with a chauvinistic male taxi driver who gave us the in's and outs on the upcoming election.
Day 330
Our last day of our African adventure, we returned to the shops to pick up some gifts, reading material for the upcoming epic journey and lunch. Then back to the hostel to kill a few hours before our transfer to the airport, making the most of opportunity to soak up some more of South Africa's sun before returning to the UK. Through the ghetto area's of Jo'burg we made it safetly to the airport unscathed from one of the most dangerous city's in Africa. Jez battled to get our VAT refund for over an hour leaving us just enough time to grab a drink before boarding our Qatar flight back to London.
With a quick and seamless changeover we made it back to London, collected our baggage and booked a bus back to Birmingham. Exhausted we grabbed a curry for dinner (we were back in Birmingham after all) and an early night.
Back in Brum, we moved into Vicky's one of Carly previous colleagues who had kindly offered us board and both began working for Heart of Birmingham Trust at different clinics, joined the gym to help shed the extra African pounds and started planning the next part of our adventure... Europe!!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.04s; Tpl: 0.01s; cc: 14; qc: 24; dbt: 0.0221s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb