Each morning when we are set to leave we discuss the plan for the days driving. I usually like taking the morning drive as I seem to get tired in the afternoon when it comes to driving – we agree that we will stop every 2-3hrs and decide on the place for the night. Our end destination was Uluru, that’s about 700km – wow, that’s a lot of driving and we planned for two days of travel. I had an Australian College of Midwives (ACM) Special General Meeting that I wanted to attend via zoom, so we had to choose a place to stop that had internet coverage at 12noon SA time, this happened to be Marla 228km, which we could do easily and then we would free camp between  Erldunda and Curtin Springs – plan set lets go.

The weather has been brilliant, a bit cold at night but great during the day – we are getting slick at packing up the van and heading out, although we find it hard to start sometimes in the morning, we’ve yet to have an early start, I guess that’s the beauty of travelling in your own time.

I was excited to share the Uluru experience with Ian, he had never travelled inland and I thought it would be good for him to see the big red rock. I had last been to Uluru and Alice Springs with the ACM in 2010 and I was keen to see what changes had occurred.

Ready, set go – we made Marla in great time for the meeting, had some lunch and then set off again. One of my slight bug bears with Ian is that he likes to do all the driving and usually likes to push the limit to reach the destination, even though we have agreed on a plan. He just likes to drive…….

We hit the Stuart Hwy – it was kilometres of spinifex, low lying shrubs, or no shrubs, some beautiful yellow flowering natives and lots of roadkill, kangaroos. We finally hit Kulgera Hotel Northern Territory (NT) just across the border from SA– it was a great stop, our first encounter with the annoying flies – the pub had lots of character, great toilets and the inside of the pub was covered in bras and underwear, Ian was in 7^th heaven. Ian had a beer and we chatted to other travellers.

The drive was long, there were some interesting spring flowers appearing, getting Ian to stop for photos was a nightmare – so I got better at taking photos out of my window. We had driven past our agreed 4hours now we reached Erldunda Roadhouse about 4pm, refuelled, toilet break, I took some more pictures and rightly or wrongly we decided to continue down the road until we found a roadside parking stopover.

I was starting to worry as the sun was setting and we still had not found a rest place, so I said to Ian we will just have to pull over and rest anywhere that it looks ok – he was not keen on that idea, anyway we finally found a place that was acceptable. I went for a walk to look at where we were staying, I must have walked at least 2 km because when I got back Ian was worried as to where I had gone. He was unhappy about our location he could see the road and that cars could see us, so I relented and said ok, but if we don’t find one soon, we will have to pull over because it’s too far to drive in the dark – I silently prayed that we would find a dedicated parking rest place. Thankfully we only had to travel another 15mins when we found a rest place, with several other campers – Halleluiah, we were both happy. We had dinner and played a game of Qwirkle as I was so stressed it was the only way to calm me down – at least so I told Ian so he would play – it’s a great game and we both do love it – Ian won by 1 point.

Next morning – alas we had another flat battery. This time we had googled how to use the new beaut car battery charger, so I was not particularly worried – we tried it, alas it just did not have enough grunt to start the car. One of the other campers was walking his dog and came over to see if we needed a hand – we asked could he give us a jump start, he said he didn’t have jumper leads, no worries I said – we have a brand-new set. He came back with his mate who had a bigger new beaut startup machine for flat batteries – the three men stood looking and chatting about how it was best to attach this battery charger, finally they attached it – but it did not work, they had no answers as to why it didn’t work and we resorted to the tired and tested jumper leads- yeah the car started – thankfully  it was not as flat as the first time this happened  the car went into normal mode – all was good. I have to say that caravanning people seem to be very helpful and eventually someone will come to help you.

We don’t know what drains the car battery, but what we have learned now is to disconnect the power lead from the caravan when we are staying in free parking and we have not had another flat battery.

Now we were only about 120km from Uluru, I was getting excited –as you are driving along the Lasseter highway, in the distance you can see a huge red rock, you think you’ve made it hoorah! but this is Mt Connor NT often first confused with the Big Rock as it juts high above the flat desert plains, this is what you are expecting to see. There is a lookout for you to stop and take pictures of the beautiful Mt Connor – it noticeably has a flat top which makes it noticeably different to Uluru which is rounded. Mt Connor is on private property, you can buy tickets to tour Mt Connor from the Curtin Springs Station, we decided that viewing from the lookout was sufficient for us.

It is hard to describe the sheer joy as you drive around a bend and look up and you see this magnificent bright red rock against a bright clear blue sky – it’s just the town where you book in for Uluru (Ayers Rock) is called Yalara, there is the Ayers Rock Resort complex, hotels, shopping precinct and a few restaurants. We stayed at the Ayers Rock campgrounds. I booked us in to the campground for a powered site to my surprise it was $90.00 per night ($45p/p), that’s double of what we have paid anywhere else. I booked for two nights. We unhitched the van and went for a drive straight to the rock – You have to download the National Park passes at $37.00 each for a three-day pass, at least it was for three days. We navigated the caravan parking bay, unhitched and went straight to see Uluru, which is another 24.9km via Uluru Rd. My aim was for us to see both a sunset and sunrise of Uluru.

Uluru did not disappoint us, it truly is magnificent, there is something really special about this great rock, it’s such a natural beauty. What was different for me this trip as you walked around was the clear signage of the storytelling to understand the culture and story of this Aboriginal land and its people. The first afternoon I did the Mala walk to Kantja Gorge, it was an easy 2km return walk – it was a beautiful peaceful walk – Ian did a small section, and his feet began to hurt so he went a sat in the car. The weather was perfect, not too hot a nice 28 degrees and blue skies, not a single cloud.

Uluru has dedicated viewing sites for sunset and sunrise viewing – we went to see the sunset and Ian was surprised how full the carpark was. It was to capacity and the sunset was spectacular – the sunrise was predicated to be at 0705 – Ian stayed in bed, and I went, but I was a tad late, I left at 0620 but as I arrived, I could see the sun rising – still it was beautiful and I then went for a lovely walk, so peaceful and special. I got back and we had breakfast and we decided that we would do the base of Uluru but not walking as Ian’s feet would not be able to manage, so we used our bike and scooter – great decision Pauline!!! If I say so myself. It was the best fun – 10.6km and again so spectacular to be so close and in awe of this magnificent wonder of nature – it was on this ride that I spotted wild budgies, never seen them before, they are brighter and smaller than our tamed budgies – so delightful to watch, we spent ages watching them in their nesting tree.

We then went to see the Olgas Kata Tjuta meaning ‘many heads’ in Pitjantjatjara, one of the several local languages used in the Park. The Olgas is made up of 36 domes spread over 20 sq/km. We stopped at a shelter, and I went for a walk – it was a grade 3 walk and I managed about ¾ of the walk before I turned back as it was too hot and I was getting tired – so back to the car I went.

We both had the best time at Uluru, I’m so pleased that  Ian enjoyed it – my only disappointment was that it is a very expensive place.

Our journey around Aus continues, next stop is Kings Canyon then Alice Springs.

Today is the day or should I say I’m back after 5 years I’ve decided to add another post to my blog. To be honest I’d forgotten I had this blog until I received an email to say I need to pay – typical.

I have just re-read my blog from 2016, my trip to South Africa – what a great holiday, I really could have been more descriptive with my writing – my aim now is to really improve on my attention to detail and expand on my writing skills.

The problem has been I haven’t felt like writing, life has just been too busy, I could compare my life to London’s ring road the M25 – cars bumper to bumper, you could walk faster than the cars – it often looked like a car park. Well that’s been my life for the last 4 years. Now its time to clear the deck and make more time for me……………………….

My aim is to clean my office over the next week or so, complete an outstanding report and then I can spend more time writing – its hard to write amongst this clutter, my office is like; I want to say like a tip, but its not as bad, its not dirty just messy – like a jungle, no – its just full of stuff – papers, more papers, books, empty boxes, trinkets, crafts etc- I’ve got it – its like a maze, no – maybe it has the makings of a hoarder – that’s a better description.

That’s it for tonight – its bedtime and I have work in the morning – until next time

Ciao Bella

Jo’berg the concrete city – Joberg was very disappointing, its infrastructure failing, empty buildings and really for a woman travelling on her own not really the place to be. Thankfully I was only in Joberg for a couple of days – I needed to do something other than shopping – this was my last few days in Africa before going home and I wanted to connect with the land. By far Africa is one of the last wild frontiers so I decided that I would do another safari or some sort of tour. I had booked a Hot Air balloon experience which included a balloon safari, which I thought was so novel, fancy flying over the top of the animals of Africa. If you ever spend time in Johannesburg book a hot air balloon experience, it was one of the best things I did in Africa. Bill Harrop’s Original Balloon experience started with Mary collecting me from my hotel at some ungodly hour (4am ish) and then driving to her property – we were greeted with a beautiful hot cuppa and the  other 4 people who I was travelling with in the Balloon together with our pilot. We climbed aboard  had our safety brief and was ready for the adventure and watch the sun rise over the Magalies River Valley. It was breathtakingly beautiful experience, I never felt afraid at any point and saw many animals from the air – after we landed (by the way the pilot was amazing) we were treated to a fabulous English breakfast. I would highly recommend this trip for anyone who has some spare time. The hospitality of Mary and Bill was outstanding.

The second part of the day was spent with a remarkable man Tim Smith from WildSide Tours & Safaris. This was a one on one tour in which I had the most incredible experience getting up close and personal with the Elephants. We also visited a safari park, with lions (the one where a woman was killed by a lion). Lions are one of my favorite animals they are truly magnificent, as we are driving through where the lions were sleeping, I wondered how would anyone be so silly to get out of the car or even have their window down. In saying this when we were travelling through in the caged 4 wheel drive with a guide who was very knowledgeable about the lions, one of the men in the group asked the guide to “please can you wake the lions up so I can see they move” – i thought to myself you stupid fool….. there is one in every group.

Overall I had a fantastic time in Joberg – the city itself was a disappointing however I stayed in Sandton which is shaping up to be the new Joberg – The Sandton City Shopping Centre is first class – all the great  & exclusive brands – not that I really wanted to do any shopping I much prefered the safari’s.

  
This is the view of Port Elizabeth (PE) from the top of the lighthouse – this SA flag is the largest flag within SA and flies proudly in PE. 

I stayed at the Beach Hotel, which is just across the road from the beach and next door to the Casino (not that I visited the Casino). I spent quite some time on the beach front watching the waves – I have noted that the beaches I have seen have quite freroious waves at times – and when the wind is up all you can see is white caps on all the waves, it is fasinating to watch – I’m quiet capitvated by the waves, its almost hypnotic.

  
Port Elizabeth seems still quiet colonial and the buildings are reminsinant of a British influence, however some buildings are in need of repair. In is a rather pretty city and the people I met were gereally friendly.

My reason for going to Port Elizabeth was to go to Cradock where my grandmother was born. I hired a car and drove to Cradoch which was about 2.5 hrs north of Port Elizabeth. Driving in SA is easy the only thing you need to be weary about is not to stop along the way – make sure nothing is visible in the car that is worth being stolen, keep all handbags etc in the boot of the car- my phone and camera was kept in the glove box – before leaving Port Elizabeth I had contacted the pastor/minister of the Anglican Church I was visiting in Cradock to see the church records for my grandmother – he was expecting me around lunchtime.

It was a pleasant drive the roads were reasonably good, the speed limit was 120km (no reason to speed). I was monkeys and the occasional Baboon along the way. As I approached Cradock there where a couple of township close to the town, and it was easy to find the Church. The street was covered in Jacaranda trees, it was so quaint looking almost like a postcard.

After spending some time with the pastor of the church and going thought the church records we could not find my grandmothers records he suggested going to the Dept of Home Affairs – I thanked him, he gave me a blessing and I was further on my way, to the Dept of Home Affairs, thankfully this is a relatively small town and I didn’t have to wait long as I did when in Durban. You do have to remember when I Africa everything is on Africian time ( slow).

I spent several hours looking through the old birth registers, the one for my grandmother was destroyed in a town flood, however I think I found a sibling in a later register. For now I have come to a dead end however the searching continues.

I also went to the Dutch Reform Church to look at there records without any success …… I decided to have some lunch, the easiest was KFC and then decided to drive back to Port Elizabeth before it got dark.

The drive back was uneventful apart for stopping for a couple of photo shoots…..

Next stop Johanesburg …….

   
 My family journey has now bought me to Cape Town, my Grandfather William Ernest Botha was born here. The name Botha is far to a common name to chase, it is a typical Afrikaner name, as common as Smith and Jones is to the English. However my mother said he was a Methodist preacher and was very strict, so I wanted to explore Cape Town.

What a beautiful city – as I spied Table Mountain, I remembered twice leaving this African coast as a child once in 1963 on the SS Galileo Galileo (Lloyd Triestiono) and again as a teenager in 1971 on the FairStar – two long ocean vouages. I dont remember much except for watching the ship pull out of the harbour and seeing that beautiful mountain cradling the city and a long ocean journey.

  
  
On face value Cape Town seems a bustling cosmopolitan city with a diverse population. Mixed marraigeis the norm here, the disparity between the rich and poor is palable.  The population is roughly about 3.7 million in the metro area. The ethnic and racial make up according to the taxi drivers are roughly 40% coloured, 40% black, 12% while and the rest is whatever you see, I think he meant Asian or Indian. As opposed to Durban which has the largest Indian population outside of India.

Here the beggars are more prolific than in Durban and there are more security people here, so on almost every corner there is a secuity person, namely men. These secuirty people are there to make you feel safer. I have been relatively good whilst travelling in Africa, that is eyes forward and not engaging, for me this has been very difficult. However in Cape Town they come right up to you….”please madam, I am hungry, I need some food” not only are they saying this but they look hungry…. this one day I made the mistake and hesitated and looked at the woman, from then I was lost. She offered to go to the shop and let me buy her some food, I thought this was a great idea. We went to the local shop and she picked a large box of cornflakes, 2 litres of milk and a 500gm bag of sugar, she said for taste. I happily  paid and we both went our separate ways. A few seconds from leaving the shop a security man came up to me and said ” hello madam how are you today” I said good, have i done something wrong…. he said ” what does your heart tell you” I said my heart was happy… he said “then you have done nothing wrong…. and went on to say that I must not buy things for these people because they will sell them for drugs…that woman will sell it back to the shop keeper for money for drugs…..” I must say I felt very disapointed, did not know if what he said was true…but it stopped me from doing it again. Later that night I was buying my dinner from a chicken place simplar to Nandos and a boy maybe 10 – 12yrs asked for some food…. it was very hard….to know what to do…this was the ugly side to Cape Town.

The best way to see Cape Town if travelling alone is on the Big Red Bus tours, they are a great trip, hop on hop off…best way to see the whole of Cape Town, I did this as well as the Sun Set tour and the tour of a Township….. all though that was a bit unverving.

The other personal experience was I went to a Methodist service on Sunday All Saints day, I wanted to experience a Methodist Service and compare the difference between this and Catholism…. they were very friendly and welcoming… the service its self was slightly different but really the prinicples are the same… the Pastor Alan made a very impassioned sermon about the plight of the universtiy students and the need for calm and rational discussion…. I was truly capitvated by his sermon. We spoke after the service and he put me in touch with the the Rhodes University Cory Library in Grahamstown which houses the largest Methodist archives…. another step closer.

  
The weather was a little disapointing in that I had four days of cloud/sunshine and wind – wind meant that the cable car was not working to get to the top of Table Mountain…and to walk up was two hours, however the cloud also meant that the top was closed. Still I enjoyed looking down from the Table base and have had a fabulous time in Cape Town – it is well worth a visit….. next stop Port Elizabeth and I still have to write about Durban.

Durban host some great shopping centres. Gateway is a R50 ($5.00) taxi ride away from Umhlanga Sands Resort – I bought my new camera from there prices are comparable to Perth if not slightly cheaper – it has many shops very similar to the ones we have in Perth. It is comparable to Garden City or Morley Galeria. It also host several restaurants as you walk into the shopping centre – I have tried two so far, I usually buy a meal around 3-4pm then have something light if I’m hungry later. My bug bear is restaurants who say they are Italian just because they cook pasta  and it tastes awful, they have used to much sauce with little flavour – so now I have gone for steak meals or my mothers favourtie peri-peri chicken – the other food I really love and had forgotten how good it tastes – is samosa’s mince samosa’s – they just taste devine and I have only ever tasted good ones here in SA…… 

  

This afternoon I met a friend who lives in Bellair took me to this shopping center – it was lovely smaller than Gateway but shopping I’m used to – we had lunch at Mugg & Bean and I had my first real coffee from Gloria Jeans. I also bought my Big 5 African charm – LOOK a pandora – and Ian they even had a Jeep store. My friend lives in a secure complex with a secuity guard, she shops at this shopping centre and never goes far from home. Her friends and family all live in the same complex so she rarely has to travel far, she has created her own little world within the complex and she is happy. She rarely travels into Durban due to the crime rate and when she droped me back into Durban she was accompanied by her friend so she did not travel alone. 

Things I noticed; when I got into a car the doors where locked, handbags went in the boot or when I was in the taxi never on the seat, windows were never opened fully and you never stop for anyone – you never stare at anyone, and everything takes a long time to get done……A different way of living.
  

 

 
I remember Durban vaguely as a child when we lived in Africa, we visited my Aunt Violet who lived in Durban – 1971 and then again when I bought my children to Durban when we lived in Zimbabwe in 1987 – I remember my children commenting on the signs in Durban that said “for Whites Only” and the beaches were segregated – how times have changed, Durban has changed as you would expect – after doing the math it has been 28 yrs since I was last in Durban. I walked along the foreshore reminiscing when I bought the children to Durban and most of what was there is gone – much to my daughters delight as she was traumised by her mother treating the kids to a fun ride, which off course she hated and when she was on the ride she vomited over everyone – spinning vomit – well you live and learn, apart from that they did enjoy the holiday and the beach. If my mother had only shared her life I would have known the significance of Durban – it was her childhood place, but alas maybe for her she did not want to remember or share. From all accounts grandfather was a very strict man after all he was a Methodist Minister.

On my grandparents death notification it stated that they lived at 45, 6th Ave Durban which is in Morning side, so by all accounts they lived close to the city of Durban – it is really fasinating going back and tracing there footsteps. Most of the area has been rebuilt – it would be interesting to see if there are any old photos of the area – however I think I will do this via email, I dont fancy waiting in the long cues when dealing with government related issues – but I will follow this up before I leave.

  
The city its self is a bustling place and there are now many street vendors – they pay a small fee and can set up a stall – sadly the crime rate is through the roof and so is unemployment – I feel quiet unsafe walking through the city – I hid my camera and kept my bag close to me – both times I have been into Durban the taxi drivers have accompanied me and I must say I was grateful – off course there was a fee to pay but it was worth it.

Durban is also home to the largest Indian community outside India – both my taxi drivers were Indian one was 4th generation and he reported he only speaks English. I had forgoten how hilly Durban was – off course there is the Drakensberg – Durban has a fasinating history – from the Zulu, Boer and British wars – I am still confused by it all.

Apartheid my be over but you can still feel the racial tension between the different cultures – the taxi driver reports that there is approx 60% Africans, 10% Indian, 10% whites and 20% coloureds, my observation is that there is probably 5% whites, 15% Indians the rest African, I didnt see too many coloureds….but I only have a snap shot of one week I’ll have to consult Google when I get home.  The other thing that strikes me is the disparity between those that have and those that don’t – as many rich Africans there are twice as many that have none and equally I saw some young white beggers – its all very sad.

Africa is certainly a beautiful country, it has many political issues, corruption is rife and I am not sure how they will resolve their problems, however Africa will always be where my heart is – I feel at home here but could never live here again. I am grateful I live in a beautiful country which I now call home.

Go the Wallabies!!! 

Sitting at the Stellawood cemetry – I could not believe the transformation of the grave stone – from hardly being able to identify it to the restoration – it was just brillant – I also paid for a further 6 months maintenance   and will make a decision re what to do next when i get home. 

It is a beautiful sunny day, the birds are singing, the gardeners are working, I am sitting contemplating my life…..and suddenly I am over come with sadness then peace – In that moment I realised that my grandfather has been by my side guiding me all my life – I felt blessed and loved. I also realise that longevity is not on my side, my mother also died at 66 therefore I need to take care of me…. and my health is a priority.

I feel a sense of peace & achievement in finding and ensuring my grandparents grave is restored to how it should be – I also found out that at Stellawood Cemetry that the graves purchased in the 50’s are there for perpetuity – so if I wanted to be buried there I could be, not that I do – also now the graves are leased for 10yrs only – any grave without a tomb stone will be reused in 10yrs – even if the tomb stone fades and looses its writing they still can’t remove it, so my grandparents have there place in SA history – as for me I want to be cremated, none of this upkeeping of a grave. 

My job here is done, I will continue to find out more about William Ernest and Rose Jane, may you both rest in peace – God be with you. 

Your loving grand-daughter Pauline Rose xx
  
  

  

Arriving at Durban airport – King Shaka International –   once my bagage was cleared it was time to get a taxi – I had been given so much conflicting advice about catching taxis in Durban and how unsafe Durban was so I was a little bit cautious to say the least.
I went to an information counter and the African man was very helpful he suggested the Hotel Shuttle Buss only cosing R50.00 or a taxi at R250.00 and gave me lots of tips to keep safe in Durban – manily don’t travel at night alone, dont flash your camera around (point noted), make sure your bag is closed and close to you, dont let strangers get to close to you….and dont get in the white van taxi’s – so outward and onward I went. The Airport bus transport was perfect – a mini bus; several other people took the same bus – I was the first drop-off at Umhlanga Sands Resort – a perfect spot – well done Mr C ( I complained at the time it was 2omins out of Durban – but now how grateful I am at this decision).

The resort is just wonderful – everything in one spot; pool, restaurants, entertainment and miles of beaches – just devine only missing is my lovely hubby.

   

 Umhlanga is approx 15km north of Durban, it was initially inhabited by the San people, in later years it was inhabited by the Zulu pople who lived off the abundance of fish and the wild game in the area.

 There are close to 300 days of sunshine a year and the water is warm – the beaches are protected by shark nets and lifeguards. There is a promenade  that runs along all the beaches, and is dotted with restaurants, takeways, and ice cream sellers.

Today I have walked from my hotel end of the promenade to the other end (South) which is about 5 kms – i did note some lovely eye candy jogging along past me…..to my surprise when I got to the other side, I could see Durban City and the Moses Mabhida Stadium – it is just such a perfect day – not a cloud in the sky, temp is about 34 degrees. I decided to sit on the beach and watch the waves, they are so majestic, I tried to caputure them with the camera but it just does it no justice – the sound and beauty is just magnificent – a moment worth cherrishing.

The afternoons get a bit windy – it is now lunchtime for me getting hungry and its 2pm so have decided to stop at La Spiaggia trattoria and have a steak roll with chips and a carafe of white dry wine…. oh such is life….pure bliss.   Ian Skyped me on my way back to the hotel – so I managed to show him some of the sights, it was lovely to chat. Whilst I was talking to him a little African child came to keep me company – watch for the photo in the next blog…. he was very cute but sadly learning how to beg…. poverty is a big issue, the disparity between the rich and poor is quite evident – listening to the news and reading the papers, the politics of it all is very interesting. Currently one of the biggest issue is the university students striking and demonstrating stating they should not have to pay for education it should be free – one radio station was saying that politicans need to reduce there salary and that money should go to the students so they can have free enducaiton…. very intersting ideas going around.

In the evenings I am watching movies or reading – tonight I will go to the lounge in the Resort as there is a show on tonight…. so am going to have a look see. 

Well thats it for this one….. next will be my trips to Durban Central….and that is a tale.

I am yet to walk to the to Umhlanga’s Natural lagoon Nature Reserve… maybe tomorrow.