Friday at school is disrupted by “cleaning” – learners knock off at different times during the day – some as early as 10.00am and clean the school. Well actually, some clean and others just seem to mooch around and at Sicambeni, Kevin and Thabo (or T-bone as the teachers call him) start a game of soccer. It gives us a chance to talk to staff about what computer training they are looking for and to chat about ECO Schools with Catherine from the EL office and with the co-ordinating teachers. The weather turns cold and mizzy, and I spend Friday afternoon asleep on the couch in our room, trying to sleep off my cold, while Pete takes a walk in the wind. The wind is so strong that he finds his cheeks shuddering as he walks back into it. He says it reminds him of the wind on the ferry from Picton to Wellington in New Zealand.
We actually start the “chilled” part of the weekend with a dinner in Port St John’s on Thursday night with Neil and Jane and Catherine from Eco Schools. Callie and Kevin join us and we set off for a charming and totally hippy restaurant on second beach, called the Delicious Monster. It is more like a lean-to with benches and sleeper couches covered with Eastern throws and the awnings hand painted. The food is fantastic – I have a Mezze platter with the nicest dukkah I have ever tasted, and home made pita breads. We like it so much that we go back for lunch on Saturday with Callie, Kevin and Thelma.
Before that, the “girls” go and do some shopping in Port St John’s – the main shopping area on a Saturday morning rivals Joburg for bad traffic. They are digging up half the roads and taxis, buses, construction vehicles and a variety of other cars and bakkies all vie with pedestrians who just walk across the road without even looking. We look for a bottle store that sells wine, but there doesn’t seem to be one, and the Spar doesn’t have a “Tops” as it is owned by a Muslim family. We want to go to a flea market on Second Beach, but it rains and the stallholders just don’t arrive, so we have a walk on the beautiful beach and eat scones made by the daughters of the restaurant owners.
Meantime, Pete and Kevin go fishing in a canoe. They set off up the river and then drift down towards the estuary. At the mouth, they suddenly get caught in a current and capsize. Kevin loses his rod and Pete loses his sunglasses and cap but fortunately they are able to stop the canoe from getting captured by the tide. They manage to right the canoe and let a wave help them to empty it but have to sprint a bit to catch the paddle so they can get back. The wind is freezing and they limp back to the jetty and try and warm up by showering. Pete says he felt warm in the shower but as soon as he stepped out he was shaking with cold again. And all in vain - as Pete says, “All they caught was a cold.”
After lunch at the Delicious Monster, Kevin and Callie set off for Mbotyi. We have a lovely walk along the Umngazi side of the river – I find some sponges – one a perfect oval and just right to exfoliate and then we have the Saturday night Seafood Buffet – I again try to be self-disciplined and don’t have a crayfish! But the prawns just shout at me “Eat me! Eat me!” Next week I will have to walk 10 kms each day and go to the gym.
We have a strange Sunday morning as we try to find somewhere we have enough reception to Skype Nicky and Ray and have a view to show them. Eventually, we have a very disjointed conversation, between changing dongles from Vodacom to MTN, losing battery on my laptop and having to move a couple of times. We have an audience of small children who peer at us as they walk up and down the dusty road and eventually sit on the grass in front of the bakkie and stare at us.
In the afternoon, we walk to Flat Rock and Pete catches a bronze bream which is cooked for our dinner by the chef. Delicious! The beach is flat and firm and I love walking on it. A walk to Flat Rock each day must make my thighs less flabby!
We’ve met so many interesting people – but I think that must wait for another blog!
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