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Aboard Dignity (Lagoon 420) Blog

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Sold

Final sign offs occurred in the last hour (plus the time it took to write this).  Dignity is effectively sold.  Settlement is still to occur so there remains a small risk this won’t complete but we feel this is unlikely.

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.

Random update

It’s been a few days since I last blogged. Now the family have returned to their respective homes life has got back to ‘normal’.

ie, hanging out with and helping the family here, getting on with the paperwork, some entertainment. Some random picks from among all this :

  • Skype – Had a rare call from Sam.  He seems to be doing fine in Australia.  He’s definitely looking to extend his visa there and considering residence.  Looks like we may have lots of reasons to return to Australia.  Frequently.
  • Taxes – got back to doing this.  Ran into some more road blocks and discovered I’d lost some previous work.  Progress remains slow.
  • Future – done some planning for our exit from South Africa.  We’re thinking of a road trip down to Cape Town before flying out.  I’ve also booked into the regional lymphoma support group for their April meeting and the charities AGM in May.  Always good to get more informed.  My doctor is the keynote speaker for the AGM so I’ll see him again there.
  • Made more progress towards announcement 3 which could now be hours or days away.  Or weeks.  I mention it now as we had a Twilight Zone moment.  We had to get a document notarized.  The only notary in town is a lawyer.  Ok, more $$$$, but it had to be done.  At the end of the session he said he doesn’t charge for notarizing (cue Twightlight Zone music).  A lawyer giving his time away free?  I’m still not sure we weren’t dreaming.  Nice chap though.
  • Entertainment – We saw Les Mis last night.  Well produced movie and great acting.  Just not our thing.  I’ve got back to playing Ingress.  For those who have a remote idea (Frank – that’s you I think), while the family were here, the opposition took over all of Grahamstown.  They’ve been out of town enabling me to take the whole town back getting me to level 7.  Now I’ve been knocked back.  All fun.
  • Shoulder – The impingement remains painful.  I’ve been back to the osteopath.  The previous injection has increased the range of motion before the pain really kicks in but no eliminated it.  The next step is physiotherapy.  There is no point starting that here so he wrote up a referral note which I can use in the UK.  Nothing more until then.

So it’s kind of life as usual.  Of course the main reason for being here at the moment is to be with my father who is quite ill.  He’s doing well and not in pain.  He is delighted with the latest development which is a home care visit each day, including a massage.  It’s fantastic being able to have this time together at this difficult time.

Bitter-sweet Farewell

We’ve spent the last couple of days with John and Bao before taking them to the airport today for their return home to the UK. It’s been a wonderful opportunity to get to know Bao. Even in the brief time we’ve had together Bao seems to have grown. Much of this must be due to her eventually becoming more relaxed around the new set of folks she’s had to get to know.

Helen has been a wonderful granny, full of smiles doting over her grandchild.

Saying goodbye to them today was bitter-sweet. Sweet knowing that we’ll be back together in just a months time. Bitter in the knowledge that our time together in the UK will again be brief. Bao’s mother has recently decided to return to her homeland, Australia. I know Helen was so looking forward to becoming a useful and helpful granny but now it’s not to be. Of course, one granny’s loss is another’s gain and we wish Penne all the best.

A few final photos, including a couple of Bao wearing her (belated) first birthday pressie from us which we picked up in Hong Kong.

Addo and Adieu

Having spent the night at Port Alfred we had an early start to get to Addo Elephant National Park. Avid blog readers will remember the pics from last year. But it’s hard not to visit as elephants are such marvellous creatures. And we weren’t disappointed. I’ll just let the pictures and video tell the story.

[youtube]http://youtu.be/oqLR9nV5sHY[/youtube]

After the park we sadly had to take Ben and Amy to the airport. They were off to Cape Town for the last three days of their vacation and it was time to part ways. Our time together had been brief but joyous. We could well be seeing them later this year as they seem keen on tying the knot sooner than later. Better still, it is highly likely Ben will be placed in London by his current firm for a year or two. Amy is excited by this as are we.

With a room now spare in Sue’s home in Grahamstown, Helen and I took Ben and Amy’s space (in Sarah’s room) for the next couple of nights. That first night we stayed up late (apparently) loosened by our efforts to trim the left over wine bottles from Sue’s recent 50th.

Port Alfred

On Wednesday Helen and I took our younger generations to Port Alfred where my sister Sue has a holiday home. We had a brief stopover in Bathurst on the way.

Upon reaching Port Alfred, our first stop was the west pier where we had an excellent view of the coastal dunes to the north. We took our legs for a stretch out to the end of the pier there.

Being already time for lunch we fed ourselves richly at the Ocean Basket restaurant by the river.

After taking our bags to Sue’s home we headed back to the beach taking a couple of rented dune boards for Ben and Amy to have their thrills with. The day had already gone off plan for them as they had had a tandem skydive booked in the morning but the pilot had had an emergency and couldn’t fly.

Ben and Amy did a pretty good job of the dunes but Ben surprised us little by eventually trying out the highest dune he could find.

Bao, on the other hand, was delighted by the waters edge. A bit of sand and water and she was in heaven.

In the evening we ate out again at Spurs in the marina area before heading back and polishing off a bottle or two of wine.