Yesterday we visited Prof Linch in London to discuss my recent symptoms (which have been slowly deteriorating) and the results of the MRI. The Profs. conclusion is that the disease I had has begun to return. What is less certain is what was the disease I had and what may be returning. There is a possibility of the Epstein-Barr virus being involved and to confirm or exclude this as a possibility my brain biopsy taken nearly a year ago is currently being examined. It will still be lymphoma (I understand) either way but the treatment would be different. So, more waiting for more results but one thing is certain, treatment will begin soon. Joy.
What was a real joy was meeting up with Mike and Anne from Callisto who are in the area (the boat is in Malaysia). They visited our home for an hour or so before we all went out for a Chesham Tandoori. Yum. We took them to Anne’s parents after the meal who live in the next town, Amersham. Funny connection when one thinks we first met Anne and Mike in Costa Rico after they’d recently been ht by lightening.
I’ll keep all of you updated as best I can via private message and/or this blog. Next results are the brain and cheek biopsies and the proposed treatment plans. In between all this we still may get to visit a few houses so we’ll keep you up to date with that too.
]]>We returned to our lodgings for 2-3 hours to rest and to pack. In the evening we went to the V&A docks area. Our first stop was the marina just in case there was someone there who we knew. There weren’t but it was nice to be down by the water. It was a bittersweet experience though as it is already beginning to look like another life, one which we sometimes find it hard to believe we’ve experienced for ourselves. We ate out in the docks area.
Upon awaking on our final day we discovered an email from South African friends of ours (Ruth and Rob on Albatross III) who are now domiciled in New Zealand. We first met them, briefly, when we were in the Rosarios in Colombia and then many times across the Pacific (including New Zealand). They have a daughter, Savannah, in Cape Town who they asked us to go and see. The biggest sacrifice cruisers make is separation from their families so we knew how much this request meant. So we dumped some admin on my sister (sorry Sue) to make time to go and give their daughter a surprise visit and proxy hugs from her Mum. We then visited the District 6 museum in town followed by a walk in The Company Gardens.
Soon, our time was up. It was back to the lodgings, pick up our luggage and off to the airport, drop off the hire car, and take the long flights home to the UK.
]]>There is much I want to say about the whole selling process in Australia and [...]]]>
There is much I want to say about the whole selling process in Australia and much I shouldn’t. I need to think carefully. I will compose myself and say more at later date.
But for now I want to thank, publicly, those that helped us get to this point.
First, middle and last has to be for Sarah and Russ who looked after us through the dark days, weeks and months last year. It’s hard, even now, to think back to those days. They were truly difficult and you guys were so good to us.
Big thanks have to go to Trish and Peter Cronk for all the support they gave to Helen, working out what to do with the boat when it was stuck in Fiji and Peter for your support during the sale.
Huge thanks and admiration to Peter (and supporting wife Christina) for getting Dignity and especially our son Sam to Australia despite the dis-masting along the way.
Thanks again to Brian and Janine for all your help and friendship.
And thanks to all our cruising friends who helped look after Dignity and get her to sale. Special thanks go to Bert and Ingi (Boree) and March and Pam on Passages.
There’s a saying that the two happiest days of a boat owners life are the day they buy their boat and the day they sell it. There may be a big relief today but the phrase is not true. Our happiest days were all those we spent with our family and friends along the way. The exotic places, the sundowners, all of that helped of course but when we look back, it was always the people that mattered the most and brought the greatest happiness.
This was the third and final pending announcement, if you hadn’t already figured it out. Ben and Amy’s engagement has brought us by far the most joy. My hair, it continues to grow along with my health, strength and optimism for our future.
]]>All too soon it was time to leave as Helen and I had to get down to Grahamstown to meet my side of [...]]]>
All too soon it was time to leave as Helen and I had to get down to Grahamstown to meet my side of the family there. We had opted to go via bus – a scheduled 12 hour journey.
Diane and Gerald took us to the bus station and saw us off. It was nice to have them there as the bus departed half an hour late resulting in our having a little extra time together.
The bus arrived in Grahamstown two and a half hours late. You can imagine how much of a chore it was. My sister, Sue, picked us up and we made a brief stop off at my parents to say hello. They were facing their final evening in temporary accommodation before moving into their new home the following day. It was a nice surprise for them as they hadn’t expected us to show for another couple of days.
We ended up back with Sue and quite uncharacteristically drank too much wine before going to bed.
On Tuesday it was nice to be able to help my parents with their move and settling in. Sue has done most of the work organising their move but every little helps.
Since then it’s been a matter of spending time with my parents in their new home. They’re both more active than we’d expected which was great to learn. For now we’ll spend the next few days helping to sort things out resulting from the move and gradually ramp up dealing with our future (and past – taxes !!!!) which all needs to be done. Joy.
]]>Around midday we left our bags with [...]]]>
Around midday we left our bags with hotel and headed out. We had lunch at the Lie Heung Tea House in Central Hong Kong. The food didn’t impress us but it was a real experience eating with the press of Chinese that frequented this popular spot.
After lunch we decided to watch a movie, Django Unchained, at the movie theatre in the very posh IFC Mall in the area. We really enjoyed it and at 2½ hours long it certainly killed some time. It had to be one of the most comfortable theatres we’ve ever sat in, complete with polished leather chairs to sit in.
After the movie we headed to the roof of the mall which we’d read had great views. It did, as long as we ignored the building work going on in front of us. We did have a small surprise when we recognised, nearby, the building from the TV adaptation of Nobel House by James Clavell. We had thought it might have been torn down since the TV 3 parter. It did look a little dwarfed by the very tall buildings nearby which had gone up since the series but it was there.
Feeling as if we hadn’t quite had enough of the crushing press of Chinese locals in the street market we headed off to Chunking Manions and Mong Kok to pic up some last minute pressies.
We decided to go to the airport early which was good as the taxi driver dropped us off at the wrong terminal. We then waited at the wrong gate and nearly missed the plane but were found by the airport staff in time. D’Oh.
After many interminable hours of flying we had a fast change over at Joberg before flying on to Durban where we were met by Dianne and Gerald from Whiskers.
The conversation, beer and wine carried on from where it left off back in French Polynesia in 2010. We’ll be here in Durban for a few days before heading down to Grahamstown to visit my family there.
]]>I have to make a [...]]]>
I have to make a comment about Tiger Direct. They have a bad rep here in Australia. Everyone ‘knows’ they’re often late. We’ve flown with them lots. The only delays we’ve had were due to runway closures at Brisbane which affected all planes. Yesterday, either Sam caught the wrong plane or his arrived 25 minutes early. Both hypotheses seem implausible but we can think of no others. All good.
On Wednesday Helen and I went out for a walk to Jell’s Park again. We hunted down two geocaches. The first required us to traverse long grass so we passed on it. The second we found. I took a ‘photo sphere’ of the location. Take a look. Use your mouse to drag the image around. It goes all the way around. You can even go full screen. Cool don’t you think? (Turns out the following links hammer Chrome so for now I have put in a break and you can choose when to head on and look)
Here is another photo sphere taken when we were in Melbourne a few days ago.
And some more pics.
Finally, we have now booked all (bar the flight from here to Sydney) of our flights to South Africa travelling via Sydney and Hong Kong. We have a lot of ideas mapped out on how to spend our time in both cities. We will be flying into Durban on the first of February where we’ll meet up with Diane, Gerald and Bee from Whiskers before bussing it down to Grahamstown to meet up with my family there a few days later. We’re excited by all of it.
For me, Hong Kong will be geek heaven (I hope) as I can buy and drool over much stuff before it gets out to the rest of the world. I am already building my shopping list.
Today it is hot, hot, hot. 40C. We’re all off to watch Life of Pi. The cinemas are cool. Helen, Sam and I will be watching it in 3D while the Barber’s will be watching it in 2D.
]]>I have spent a fair bit of time working on connecting to the UK health system, in particular, getting connected to the consultant I want. We’re not there yet but the fight is on and I intend to win it. I am confident I will.
Helen and I went out yesterday to buy in our last pressies and stock up on seasonal refreshments. That’s now all done and everything wrapped, except for the things still on delivery. And that leads me on to ….
In my last blog I asked how can life get any more exciting. Well. When I learned that Ben had indeed received my Nexus 4 in the US I cancelled the order here. Twice. Once through a support ticket and once through the online support chat line. Just to be sure. This morning I received and email informing me they had shipped the unit. I have discussed this with Helen. If it is delivered, she’s going to have one too. The second one of course. Life is more exciting. We’ll now be able to play scrabble, without a board, just like Sarah and Russ.
]]>Tuesday was a big day in terms of meeting [...]]]>
Tuesday was a big day in terms of meeting with the haematological oncology specialist, Michael MacManus, at the Peter Mac Institute. There was no direct feedback on my current condition except to say things are still going pretty well. He was able to confirm that there really is nothing more we can know between now and the final MRI in Jan followed by meeting with my overall specialist, Prof Opat, in mid-Jan. This means we can go about booking flights out of the country now without incurring any greater risks than we might do by waiting. More importantly, he agreed to refer to Prof David Linch in the UK. With help from the UK Lymphoma society, my own research and confirmation from Mike (Callisto) we are certain he is the top guy for my condition. We need to visit my family in South Africa so it’s good to establish this connection in advance of our return to the UK for many reasons. We also managed to meet the assistant to Prof Opat who promised to ensure he would make a similar referral. She’s the sort of person who will make sure her boss does what he’s supposed to so this was another bonus.
With this news and Dignity left in the hands of professionals and friends we entirely trust I left the hospital feeling incredibly buoyant. I felt as though I’d crossed an invisible boundary in my life where we’d gone from the balance of our activity’s responding to the past to now being fully focussed on the future.
Since then we’ve begun really sharpening our thinking about the next few months. We’ve already booked our flight from South Africa back the UK. We are close to arranging our dates / flights from Australia to South Africa. We hope to spend a few days in each of Sydney and Hong Kong along the way. We’ve shelved our plans to visit cruising friends in Malaysia so we spent some time chatting to them yesterday via Skype and giving them the news.
Another treat yesterday was the return of the Sarah and Russ’s son, Chris, from his first semester in Stanford. We’ve been here so long that even we feel the family is now back together.
In the evening we joined the family at Ros’s school where she was presented an award for community leadership. We are all proud of her.
Last but not least we’ve decided to have Ben mail my Nexus 4 to Australia. There’s a chance it’ll be here by Xmas. How can life get any more exciting?
]]>On Saturday Bert and Ingi popped by to say Hello / Goodbye. Just like when we’re out cruising we often say goodbye to people many times and sometimes never get to say goodbye. The former [...]]]>
On Saturday Bert and Ingi popped by to say Hello / Goodbye. Just like when we’re out cruising we often say goodbye to people many times and sometimes never get to say goodbye. The former is always better. But as the French say, it’s always Au Revoir as we really hope to see our friends again in some future time and place.
We had another viewing in the afternoon. Seemed to go pretty well but there are so many factors for each party to consider we will have to let this play itself out as far as it goes, if indeed, it goes any further. One thing both Helen and I agreed on was the professionalism of our new broker was orders of magnitude better than the last.
In the evening we had drinks, nibbles and conversations with Jack & Jan from Anthem and Don and Marie from Freezing Rain. A lot of very interesting discussions were had including some about the devastating news unfolding surrounding the tragedy in Connecticut.
Sam visited us on Sunday. It was great to spend most of the day with him, chewing the cud, giving parental advice (hard to avoid), etc. With his work with Greenpeace getting more and more interesting and involved (he is now coaching the next batch of workers) and our random movements between here and Melbourne, we always wonder if each visit we have together may be our last in Australia. We had a nice walk together along the Esplanade to Wynnum and back treating ourselves to ice cream in the park on the way back. I have to be honest, I still find the 30c ice creams at MacDonalds the best.
This was a really good weekend. And there is still some excitement to share. Ben let me know that he has received notification that the Nexus 4 I ordered has been delivered to his office. Assuming he confirms physical delivery I can cancel my order here in Australia. Then all I have to do is wait two and a half months (argggghhhhh) until we meet up with Ben and his partner, Amy, in South Africa i. But getting to see Ben and Amy and giving them big hugs is what I’m really excited about.
Healthwise I still feel like I’m on an upward bounce from the last chemo. I have had a few bouts of extreme tiredness over the last few days. I think the sail we went on knocked a bit more out of me than I imagined but I look at this only in a positive light. Today we’re heading back to Melbourne where tomorrow we have an appointment with Michael MacManus at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. Lot’s to talk about and hopefully we can take a few more steps towards building a bridge to the UK health services.
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something to do with the port receiver here which is either not receiving and/or communicating positions of all the vessels out here. Oh well – no geeky fun to be had. At least I know the transponder works.
In the afternoon we had a visit from Peter Cronk who bought Lagoon 420 hull #26 around the same time we bought Dignity. We’ve been in touch with him over the last 7 years and met him for the first time yesterday. He was one of the folks giving Helen tremendous support while I was seriously ill. He’d even offered to sail the boat over from Fiji but was understandably glad he hadn’t. It was great to finally meet him and thank 
him in person for everything he’s done.
Shortly after Peter left, Ed and Cornelia from A Cappella arrived to take us out to dinner. We went back the nearby Chinese restaurant and had a very pleasant evening together.
Back to my rant from yesterday. Have I calmed down? Yes. Am I more sympathetic? No. Calling out faults that simply don’t exist is deceitful. Completely misidentifying parts of the boat is simply incompetent. Just one error like this implies the surveyor had, at best, a broken/faulty process which exposes everyone involved to harm. Bad, bad, bad.
What’s done is done. Moving forward we can learn some lessons. For our next trial we will have someone aboard who will make sure the surveyor points out all the faults they are going to list in their report and to make notes of each issue. If the surveyor later adds anything we simply won’t accept it. I’ve wasted too much time on this. If I were the previous potential buyers I would want my money back. If I were the surveyor I would be ashamed and either improving the way I work or looking for a different profession.
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