Superstitions

 

13 September 2013

Friday the 13th. A day everyone fears. So may dad decided to take us for a walk to the beach. On this walk I decided to push my luck, I looked for black cats, ladders and any other bad luck superstitions we may come across.

Is started off all good, but it seemed that the bad luck caught up to us, as we tried to stop at a restaurant for food and drinks. They told us they are not open yet.

Luckily we planned ahead and brought along glasses and just bought a 2l coke and shared. The bad luck hadn't won yet.

We looked around at all the different restaurants that were around. We decided to look at a monument first of a German family. My dad and I made a joke that I should grab the German women's ass. It was kind of stiff, so she must work out a lot.

We looked at the time as saw that the seal show would be starting soon at the aquarium. We bought a ticket and went in. The only people there was us, so it was our own private show. The one seal was still training so didn't know all the tricks and we sat laughing as he attempted try.

 

The other seals knew exactly what to do and put on a good show of jumping swimming and even taking out the trash. Yes, they taught the seal to throw away rubbish, so if you want a pet that cleans up after you, get a seal.

After the show we saw them feed penguins, pelicans and sharks. We also saw other types of fish like parana, turtles and even star fish.

 

By the time we were done we were all starving and decided to go to the restaurant next door, La Vida. We all sat down and my parents when out for a smoke, it wasn't even 10 seconds when they got back and said we are leaving. I knew exactly why. During those 10 seconds I looked at the menu, the price tags were more then the price of our whole net worth. The prices were outrageous.

Then we sat debating what restaurant to go to next. We ended up at a family restaurant that only had one waiter. We ordered 2 Cokes and one glass of tap water. We got the 2 Cokes about half an hour before the water. But I can understand, it is easier to get coke than water, its not like water comes out of a tap or anything. It is a long process that takes time to make, water is very rare, I was even surprised that they served water.

We all ordered a different meal and decided to have a little of each, my dad's pizza was the best. They didn't put much sauce on my rib burger. So wasn't the best meal in the world, but they did have a fun play ground for little kids. They have playstation, X-box, jungle gym and movies. So if you want to entertain your kid, that's where you should go.

We had a pleasant walk back where we stopped at a place that could print my dad's book. The lady there, Tammy, was very nice. My dad and I sat teasing her and keeping her giggling for the entire time we were there. I'm sure we made her Friday and her entire weekend.

Free Lunch?

 

1 September 2013

We had guests over for this weekend. It typical that we chose this weekend for guests to come over, because this was the same weekend that the sail past happened.

The weekend started off with cleaning the boat so that it looks half presentable for our guests. We never clean our boat, as far as we go to cleaning our boat is washing the dishes once a day. Yes, we sound like messy people. The one disadvantage of being a messy person is that you have a lot of cleaning to do when you have guests.

The first day was fun, we sat talking rubbish in the cockpit whilst my parents had a couple of drinks. The second day, Kenny, one of our guests, tried so hard to catch a fish. He finally got a bite just before lunch. As he struggled for half an hour trying to catch what seemed like a whale, his line snapped. Well I guess we aren't having fish for lunch, luckily my mom made a back up roast.

Now as I said, the sail past happened this weekend, and they included us in this game. Throwing water balloons at unarmed people. I ran up and down the decks trying to catch the water balloons to throw back. The other people found it amusing that I decided to be a hero and save our boat from the deadly balloons.

9 September 2013

Yesterday we when to visit Doreen and Nick. They invited us for lunch, its a free lunch so we went. We had fun talking rubbish and having a couple of drinks. And they do make a really good potjie.

We also said our farewells to Marimba. They had sailed here from Cape Town and were headed for Dar Es Salam. They were very nice people and we got a long really well with them. A good thing about the sailing community is that they never forget you, and when you meet up with them again, they are always more then happy to see you.

The dark depths of Lust!

 

26 August 2013

We have been waiting for weeks for my dad's first copy of his first book. Today we got a phone call. As my mom answered it I saw a massive smile on her face. Which meant one of two things, either we won the lotto, or my dad's book was here. We didn't play the lotto this week, so it had to be my dad's book.

We sprang into action and got ready to go showering. Now showering at East London....not sure if it is better than the bluff or not. It is a lot cleaner, there is more privacy, but there is less hot water. So we rotate on who gets to shower first, that way we each get hot water every 3rd time we shower.

After our cold showers, we got back to the boat and headed for town. Last time we went to the post office we decided to walk back, it wasn't too bad so we decided to walk there. My parents made one mistake in their calculation. They didn't take into account that we were walking up a cliff drop.

On our mountain hike to the post office there was a little tuck shop which had a special on a giant burger. We stopped here for lunch and had one of the best burgers ever! And there was this really friendly guy who just wanted to talk to us for no reason.

 

The little shop had a good sense of humour. They had a sign saying "Don't fall asleep. You might get robbed" my only question is, what happens if you get robbed whilst awake?

After our short hike, well according to everyone else in East London it is long, we reached our destination. Within minutes my dad was holding his book in his hands. All of us were so excited to have the book, but too exhausted to move so we went for an ice-cream at KFC.

We decided to do some grocery shopping whilst we were there. Now when we do grocery shopping it's more of "my dad and I cause chaos and pretend to do nothing" when my mom looks and packs the trolleys. We crash the trolleys, we push each other into other people, we make jokes of people who walk past.

I have said this before, my mom is a shopaholic. So we ended up with 5 trolleys of groceries. The lady at the till was shocked at the amount of groceries we had, and we ended up getting a free chocolate.

We waited outside the liquor store and were about to call a taxi when a random guy in a pick 'n pay uniform asked us how we getting home. We told him we will be walking home, then laughed and told him we will be calling a taxi. He protested and told us he'll sort us out. He came back with the store manager and told us he will be taking us home.

When we got home we offered to show him the boat, as we gets on the boat we saw the look. Everyone gets the look when seeing the boat, the look of, I want this lifestyle. The mainstay dream, it kills everyone. Lesson in life, don't look inside the honeycomb. Once you are hooked you now are in the dark depths of lust.

Nahoon Reef Hiking Trail

15 August 2013

Today was the most fun day of my life. We when to Nahoon Point. It was a hiking destination. It said it was a beach hike, so we when in shorts, T-shirts and slops.

It started on a wooden path way which we followed. It came to an end on a beach. So we took off our shoes and put them in our bag. Kyle and my mom kept looking for sea shells and I just jumped on every stone.

There was a big stone that I climbed up and asked if I could jump from the one to the other. There was a gap no bigger then I could step. My mom got her mother voice out and told me no. I obeyed and come back down.

We didn't walk along the beach for every long when it ended. There were rocks bigger than the one I just climbed. I went climbing amongst these rocks trying to fine the best path for everyone else. There was no best path and we all had to climb over.

That was the easy part. We followed the man-made stairs to find more and bigger rocks to climb. Everyone else decided to put their shoes on but I on the other hand, am a real man, so I when bare foot.

We ended up climbing up stairs and onto a cliff edge. I think this is the part where Death joined in the hike. We started walking around the cliff faces where you saw nothing but the violent rush of water 1000 feet below you, and you heard the little chuckle of Death's voice behind you.

My dad and I always went ahead to find the right route to our destination. There where multiple routes and we weren't sure which ones were safe or not.

Death always makes his games fun. He made us choose between going on a path but have no view of anything, or go along a cliff edge with a path smaller then the width of my foot. We chose the cliff edge.

We finally got to the blow holes and bat cave. We sat and had a small rest and watched how water shot out the blow holes.

We had a chose between going back and climbing all those rocks, and getting into the deadly taxi and coming home, or continue climbing cliff faces and walking home. We chose the cliff faces. This was my dream. To walk along a beach and just walk and walk and walk. Come cliffs, you just climb, come rivers, just swim. We didn't walk the whole of Africa, but we did walk most of East London.

After three hours of walking we hit the city. There were people. We finally saw human life. We stopped at Wimpy for a waffle and a break.

We don't know the city very well be we thought as long as we stick close to the harbour we will get home. We walked and walked. It felt like we were getting further away. We stopped and asked for directions into the harbour. The lady gave us directions to the container entrance and not Latimers landing.

At this entrance the guard told us we can not enter and we have to walk back to town and go a different way. We started getting worried because it was getting dark and now we have to walk through city centre. Not feeling safe I watched every one around me. Made sure they stayed away from me and my family.

After an hour we finally got home. Just in time, as we got home the sun set.

We all just washed our feet and went to bed. It was a long day.
Does anyone else know where we can go hiking in a dodgy area?

Out and about in East London!

 9 August 2013

Today my dad came up with a great idea to go for a walk though the icy winds of East London to a the Fish Market.

Ever since we got here he has wanted to go. Everytime he looked at the foredeck he saw the sign and said "We should go try their fish." Today he thought would be the best day.

So we all got dressed into snow suits and went out in the deathly winds to go for lunch. Firstly we weren't even sure if this was a restaurant. Let alone if there was food. But that's all apart of the fun.

The next step to our adventure to the unknown we how to get there. There is a big gate closing us off from the police station and the fish we craved was on the other side. We were trapped with an evil hunger.

We asked a stranger how to get there. He told us that we have to get on the road and go around the station. So we set out to conquer our curiosity. The path crossed over a train track that lead into a tunnel. I've always wanted to run though a train tunnel. I mean who doesn't? So I begged to go and my stubborn parents said no.

There was a new obstacle in our way. The NSRI building was now stopping us. It would take extreme skill to climb the gate because it had electrical wires from the ground up. I was thinking of trying to short circuit the power box and get some bolt cutters to cut our way the what looked like a fortified military base. But sad to say I didn't get to play my spy games and the NSRI just opened the gate as we got close.

We got to our destination just to find out it is a fish shop not a fish restaurant.
But we bought some fish anyway. We watched how they descaled and gutted the fish. It takes us 3 days to do this and it took them a matter of 30 seconds. I thought they were around highly trained assassins with the speed and skill they used the knife to cut the dead fish.

On our way home I nagged again if I can go though the train tunnel. This time they agreed. So I ran into the train tunnel and danced like a crazy guy. I have now ticked something else off my bucket list.

13 August 2013

We were told that there was a East London museum. Today we though it would be a good day the go to the museum. So we got all dressed up to go out and called our race car taxi services. They might have the highest road kill in East London, but at least they get you to where you want to go on time. When you get out of the car you might be traumatised but at least it is affordable.

This has to be one of the biggest museums I've seen. It took about three hours to walk though the museum. At least it was nicely layed out. Each thing had its own section. It had a square shape with three floors. First there was a little information about asteroids. They told me everything I already knew.

As we moved on there were sea shells and fish. Then it went onto land mammals and small insects like butterflies. There was a small passage that had all types of stones and crystals. Some of them had their chemical formula. I have never seen chemistry at that level before. I was scared, I hope I don't have to learn formulas like (Al3 Cu4)2 (FeO2 SnPb5)3 (6NaCl).

 

Up stairs had the evolution of East London, and the people and the fashion of certain centres. I found it amusing that 1920s has a similar fashion to the our fashion now a days.

At the bottom level we saw different types of guns and cannons used in the military.

We called the death trap to get us home again. Not going to lie she must save a lot of time. Late for work? Call eagle taxis.

We were all hungry after the long day. Kyle decided to make Jungle Oats. I on the other hand decided to have two minute noodles. Oops, my bad I mean five hour noodles. Kyle put the kettle on to boil at the same time as he made jungle oats. He finished cooking the oats and I was still waiting for the kettle to boil. A boat, the only place where you can cook Jungle Oats faster than two minute noodles.

14 August 2013

We had a family friend invite us to come have lunch with them. Bryan came to pick us up and take us to his house, but first he took us to the mall to get some shopping done. He needed to get some work done anyway, so we shopped whilst he worked.

Afterwards he took us to his house. His wife made quiche. It was the most amazing quiche I've ever had. My mom better learn to cook that quiche or I'm moving houses.

Shopoholic Mom

 

7 August 2013

The last three days have been town days. On Sunday we when to visit an old friend of my mom's. They haven't seen each other for seventeen years. So they had a lot if catching up to do. I just sat back and listened to old stories of when my mom was a kid.

I brought along my skateboard to entertain myself whilst at their house. I landed most of my tricks, which was shocking because I haven't skated in while.

On Monday we called a taxi. We needed to go to town to do some shopping and get some diesel. This small blue car with tiger stickers on claimed to be from the eagle taxi services. Kyle and I found this amusing because eagle taxis should have eagle stickers on, not tiger stickers. I'm not sure if it is bad advertising, or brilliant advertising.

This little car could barely fit the three diesel containers and the four of us. I wasn't sure if we would fit the groceries in the car as well. My mom said we are not buying much so it will be fine. We have different ideas on "not buying much". My mom thinks a whole trolley from Pick 'n Pay, and more items from other little shops isn't much. I think she is a shopoholic.

With the diesel containers full and in the boot we had to put the 150 packets of "not much groceries" on our laps in the back-seat. On our way home the taxi driver, Sharon, told is about her pet birds and pet monkeys.

Yesterday we need to get diesel and some cigarettes for my parents drug abuse. That's when Sharon thought it was a good time to show us her monkeys. So our first stop was her house.

Her and her husband, Raymond, lived in Westbank. That place made Brakpan look good. They owned about five or six houses that they rented out. They gave us a tour of their house. They were very friendly people with a nice house, I just felt unsafe in that neighbourhood.

I try and spend an hour or two everyday skating, because with this life you can't always skate. Here at the derelict waterfront there is a great area to skate. There are bricks that I can jump over, stairs that I can jump off, and a mini ramp to go down. I have my own skate park!

Woke Up in East London

 

2 August 2013

Woke up in East London. Yes I said East London. This is the last place I thought I would be today. This plan started on Monday. I was flying back to Durban from Jo'burg. That in itself was an adventure.

On Monday my gran took me to the airport. I checked in and was going to hand in my luggage when the check in counter lady asked for my visa card. Firstly I have no idea what a visa card is, let alone if I have one. So I asked "What is a visa card?" She politely replied "The credit card that you paided with." Now my mom paid for this flight and her credit card was in Durban. So I already started to panic. I phoned my mom and told her the problem and told her to send a picture of her ID and her credit card.

10 minutes later I get a phone call from my mom swearing at the phone because it won't send the pictures. After a little while I got the pictures. They weren't clear at all but the lady accepted it. Just shows you that a credit card isn't needed, they are just trying to annoy you. I told them I just want to hand in my bag and I'll carry my skateboard on.

After this time consuming exercise my gran, her brother and I when for a quick burger. Straight after the burger I had to board the plane. At the gate the guy told me I can't carry my skateboard on. This is where I got mad. I have flown from Durban to Jo'burg and back a few times already and I carried my skateboard on every time. Once I carried two skateboards onto a plane. What was different this time? So I had a big fight with this guy. After the argument I when back to the check in station. The lady that irritated me the last time calmly told me that I can't carry my skateboard on. It could of helped to tell me that when I was first there. Not when my flight is leaving in 5 minutes.

Then they still tell me that my skateboard might not make it because I handed it in too late. It would of made it if they told me the first time that they put in a new rule where I can't carry my skateboard on.

When I landed in Durban I waited for my luggage. First my bag came out. Then I waited for my skateboard. I saw bags come out and people taking their bags. But no skateboard. I waited and waited. Then a worker told me that there is no more luggage. I got so mad I wanted to go burn down the airport. They had lost my skateboard.

As I walked out my mom tried to calm me down by saying we bought insurance on my luggage. So we'll be able to buy a new one. We made our way to the lost property and there it was, my skateboard. I was extremely happy! So I didn't set the airport alight...... this time.

After I calmed down my mom told asked if I wanted to go to East London? I had a puzzled look on my face and asked what did she mean. She told me that the motors are repaired and that we don't really have anything that is keeping us in Durban.

The next day we sprung into action and got the boat ready. We handed in our flight plan and were planing on leaving at 8 am on Wednesday.

At 8 am we dropped our lines and head out the harbour. About four hours later my dad says we are heading back. My mom and Kyle agreed. I on the other hand was enjoying myself so I protested and we continued sailing.

I went to bed early so I could be awake at night to help. I had on-off sleep though the first half of the night. I woke up at 3 in the morning asking why they didn't wake me up?

I was up helping my mom for most of the day whilst my dad tried to sleep. It was a calm day of sailing at a fast speed. The max speed we got up to was 9.9 knots. And our average speed 7 knots. Which meant we landed in East London earlier then expected.

At 1 in the morning we decide to go in and dock the boat. We rafted up to an old steel boat. We then all headed to bed and said we'll sort everything out in the morning.

Today was the most shocking day of out lives. First we saw the navy set off bombs in the harbour, followed by a rude guy saying that we are causing damage to the boat we rafted onto.

We adventured out to find showers. But all we found was abandoned restaurants and non-working ablutions.

We sourced information out from a guy who seemed to be fixing a motor in his car. He told us where all the different clubs are. We then rowed to the yacht club. It seemed like a quiet place with only 3 or 4 people.

Luckily for us there were showers and we were able to get clean and look like normal people again. But we still have a lot to explore.