Aboard Dignity (Lagoon 420) Blog

There is no ‘broadway’ in Grahamstown so we have to make do with the local entertainment. At 1pm we visited the town center cathedral where some local school boys from the choir were making their last ever performance. They seemed to enjoy themselves and had a good crowd of their peers along to watch and support them. I searched for a word to describe my experience and the word that came to mind was riveting. ie, about as much fun as watching someone riveting. On a more positive note, Helen was rather more enthralled by the performances than I was.

In the evening we went to see some local schoolgirls of varying ages perform various dances including two numbers in which our niece Sarah performed. The family involved added a level of interest, Sarah after all was quite cute. But it was all largely girls of various ages in leotards doing, as Helen described it, work outs to music. Worked well for the younger kids but the older ones fell short on potential artistry. (Is this another sign of age in that I’m taking my entertainment in the form of young girls in leotards. No – I’m going further with that thought and it’s not what you might be thinking)

The day ended with a KFC feast. Food again. But good.

Thursday was my mother’s birthday and American Thanksgiving all at once. We all carry British passports and love turkey so given that Helen and I happen to have US passports as well it was a damn good excuse to lay on the bird for a birthday dinner.

For lunch Helen cooked up a good fry up with pork sausages, bacon and eggs and were joined by sister Sue and brother-in-law Jay. In the evening, Jay did a great job of cooking the turkey and in the evening we went round to their place to feast together and enjoy each others company. (Is it a sign we getting on when our highlights of the day are defined in terms of the food we eat?)

Visit to the dentist went better than expected. Neither of us need any work done and the rebuild on Helen’s tooth performed in Fiji was declared sound and solid. No crown required. All good news.

After our dental appointment Helen and I had a little wander around Grahamstown before returning to my parents. In the afternoon we were involved in some school collection for niece Sarah and got a sneak preview of a dance/show she’s preparing for on Friday. In the evening we all headed out for a meal with the very extended family (some of brother in law Jay’s family are in town too) and had a good time.

Jet lag is still disturbing the balance. Up at 4am this morning although Helen’s sleeping through despite my tapping away.

Happy Thanksgiving to all those reading and celebrating today.

After three flights with combined air time of around 18 hours (plus some for all the taxying around) we finally arrived in Port Elizabeth. My sister, Sue, greeted us at the airport. It was good to have the flights behind us. Our two items of luggage came out first and third sandwiching (in second place) that of one of Sue’s colleagues who happened to be on the same flight.

Once in Grahamstown we were reunited with my parents. It was really good to see them again after just over two years. We stayed up chatting longer than we had expected before crashing. Despite the lack of sleep over the extra long Tuesday (we had an extra 11 hours added) we still woke by 4am. Actually – that’s not too bad. Hopefully in a couple of days we’ll be synched up with the local clocks.

Today we each have a dental visit planned. While we’re here in SA we hope to catch up on any and all dental work that may have accumulated. While not schedule we really should do the same for our general health.

13h30m flight behind us. We’re now in Johannesburg and feeling a little tired. Boarding final flight soon.