The other night we went out to a specialist seafood restaurant on the riverbank, where Calvin had squid stuffed with mushrooms and herbs and I ordered fish and chips.  I realised I had never actually had real fish and chips before, and this despite being a Briton with a vast experience of them in UK, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

If the fish was 2 hours dead, I shall be surprised.   It was firm, sparkling white flesh, succulent, but not watery, and came enclosed in a beer batter so light it just coated each piece, without being an extra layer.   The chips were a uniform golden brown, lightly crispy on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside.  The way chips should be, and almost never are.   This all came with two sauces, one a mayonnaise full or chopped spring onions, and the other a mixture of coarse salt, coarsely ground pepper and lime juice.   Heaven on a plate.

March 29th

Last night was Earth Night and Vietnam also celebrated.   We were out to dinner with new-found French friends, dining outside as usual.  There was a procession of fairy-lit cycle rickshaws, to much applause and then the lights went out and the waiters provided candles, and everyone in the street lit a candle in a paper boat.   Delightful.  As we tottered home in the dark, we saw that many of the young folk had neon bracelets on, which made their arm movements surreal.

Vietnamese food is simply cooked but with ingredients as fresh as a daisy.   I have just encountered fresh soy sauce, and it is so different from what I am used to.   Sharper, saltier, altogether more intense and very thin.  It is mostly a dipping sauce and these come in many varieties, adding flavour and texture to many a dish.  Every table is replete with tiny shallow bowls no bigger around than a tiny coffee cup and you are never told what they are.    It is a case of suck it and see.

The Vietnamese, in common with most Asian folk, are obsessed with whiteness of skin.   Thus I cannot buy (so far) a body wash or deodorant which does NOT contain a whitening agent!  I know they travel on two wheels all the time, which leads to weather burn, but is it (in the tropics, mind) to wear a windcheater, or tracksuit top over your shirt, plus long trousers, socks, gloves, helmet and face mask?  As, when they are on foot, the outfit is much the same, minus helmet, but substituting hat who are they preserving this white skin f or?

19th March
Hard to believe, but we finally did it.   17th ,Got up at crack of dawn, so had been going 7 hours before the plane even took off.   Had a pleasant interlude with Vicky and Stewart at the airport and then settled into an 11 hour flight to Hong Kong, plus a six hour time change.  Several meal and movies later, we landed, and with a 25 minute walk from plane to check in, got the strength back in our legs a bit.   The flight to Da Nang was only two hours with one hour time change, the other way, so that in Vietnam, we are 5 hours ahead of South Africa and Europe.

The taxi was waiting as scheduled, and we finally reached our homestay at 10a.m. and fell into bed for six hours.  A short walk, an evening meal and then crashed again for 14 hours.

16th March   This has been a hectic time.  They came and took us away on 2nd. i.e. all the furniture and stuff for storage, so that the container looks like Tutankhamen's tomb, when it was first opened.   This left us with the real stuff, papers, keys, minutiae which take time, plus the painter arrived and we are sleeping on a borrowed mattress on the floor.

The net result was that we fled on 4th for Amanzimtoti, and 8 hours later, I fell into bed  at the coast and slept for 14 hours straight.   The next day was a wild and windy one for that part of the world, and the beach was closed, so we contented ourselves with the protected tidal pool, but the salt water certainly did us good.

On Friday 6th after breakfast out, we packed up and went into Durban where we had lunch at a Moroccan restaurant in Glenwood and then on to Kim in Pietermaritzburg(He is Calvin's son).  We got there before the family came home, so had a bit of time to catch up on emails etc.   They now have 4 dogs,   In addition to the two dachsunds, there is now the Doberman, Merlin, and Bahan, the Rottweiler.   Quite a household.

A lovely weekend, and a welcome break, then back on Monday 9th to the never-ending mess which is the house.   Struggled through the week, gradually getting things done, until Friday, when we left it for good and I went off to lunch at Blandford Manor with my three favorite ladies, while Calvin wrestled with last minutes and we drove off to Centurion to spend the weekend with Sarah and Rob (Calvin's daughter and son-in-law)  Real downtime, though we ate ourselves silly, and on 15th back to Joburg and Philip's house which is our last stop.    Even more eating, this time homemade pizzas in the pizza oven.
We have even parted with Calvin's other pride and joy.  See below

Sunday lst March 2015

A most interesting day.  We went to a lunch (another of those goodbye things, of which we have and shall have a string.   This was with old friends who are also not married and the other two guests were in the same position.  Beryl and Roger have been together for 20 years, Calvin and I for 4, and Sue and Hennie for only 7 months.   We are of an age group and all survivors of previous marriages with families.

Each of the men is South African and all the women are British!  And none of us is settling for grandparenthood and slippers by the fire.   Beryl and Roger's social life would leave most people standing, and Sue and Hennie have just started a new business making and selling solar-powered inverters for those times of electricity cuts, which we are suffering here.  And as you all know by now, we are off to a whole new life on another continent.

All right, like-minded folk find one another, but it is still quite remarkable.   We had to cut the lunch a bit short as we had to be back at home to finally part with this vehicle, which is Calvin,s pride and joy.  Still, it has gone to a good home, and sets off on its new adventures this next weekend.

Monday 23rd February 2015.
Of course, I have not actually gone anywhere yet - still in RSA amongst packing boxes, mile-long lists of ToDos and bureaucratic brakes on activity.

This is the worst part of any move, when you are still tying up everything in one place and haven't actually started on the adventure.   Time alternately drags, when nothing is achieved, and races when you add up how much time is left.  We are not good with time which we cannot manipulate.

Wed. 25th February 2015

The plan (remember always to have a Plan B as well) is to leave the house on 3/4 March and head off to Natal for a week.   May seem a strange direction, but there are folk to visit.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, as they say, the chaos only gets worse until it gets better.  Two lots of people came today to take away things, with two more tomorrow and two on Friday.

Sunday 1st March 2015
A lot of stuff has left since Thursday. and more to go today.   Tomorrow, the movers arrive and empty the house.   More after that.