Day 3

2011

Wednesday, 7 September

I met Dad down in the restaurant for breakfast and once again had waffles. They always taste better when someone else makes them. Last night Nigel had suggested that I catch the train to the airport rather than take a car. Dad told me that on a previous trip a truck had overturned on the freeway and it took him over two hours to get there by car. The train takes 10 minutes. Was not a difficult choice to make. 

The hotel had a free shuttle to the train station and I was the only one on board. It took less than 10 minutes to get to the Gautrain and the driver was kind enough to carry my bags to the lift. At the bottom of the lift someone else got my ticket for me from the vending machine (I don't know why they don't let you do it yourself) which cost R105 and I caught the 4 escalators down to the platform. The train was already waiting and I rolled my bag on and took a seat. Ten minutes later I was at the airport. It couldn't have been easier.  The train was clean, efficient and safe so I have no idea why you would attempt anything else. 

Joburg airport is equally clean and efficient. As with many other airports they have self checking kiosks and people there to show you how to use them. I got my ticket and then headed over to the bag drop counter. When I got there I was told that my bags were overweight. This is one of the very few economy class legs on my route and I'd forgotten that the allowances are less. I explained that I was on a 6 month round the world tour and had to cater for cold climates. The guy at the counter smiled at me and said, "You can pay me next time." This is the second time I have been to South Africa and I must say that on every occasion I have been amazed by the customer service.

I was about an hour early for my flight so grabbed a quick bite to eat and caught up on Internet including the obligatory chat with my BFF Simone. Finally it was time to board the flight. I was asleep before takeoff and only woke as we were descending less than an hour later. 

When I exited the terminal Bryan, the octogenarian friend of my parents whom I had met when he stayed with us for a few weeks a couple of months back, Bryan has asked me to stay with him when I came to South Africa so I took him up on it. So there was Bryan a tiny little man dressed in shorts and a t-shirt excitedly bouncing up and down as I came through. He grabbed my hand and shook it vigorously before hugging me. We then went out to his old white Opel and headed south about 150km to the little town of Umtentweni on the Natal coast. 

Umtentweni or Tweni to the locals is a sleepy little seaside town in the holiday area of South Africa. Given that it was off season, the town was especially sleepy. Bryan lived in a little compound with seven other houses surrounded by a wall. Unlike many of the other places the wall was not topped with razor wire and an electric fence. Bryan's house was much larger than I expected especially as he lived by himself. Originally he and his wife Mabel had moved there but she had died some six years back and so now Bryan was on his own. The house was immaculate with a place for everything. A huge shadow board (a board with an outline of the tools that are supposed to hang in various places) was in the garage. The kitchen likewise had a place for everything. Prior to Mabel's death she did all the cooking and Bryan had never ventured into the kitchen. Now he was forced to do it all himself but it was obvious someone had been through and helped him out. Most of the kitchen items had post-it notes on them saying what it was for. A tray said "good for heating up sausage rolls", a bowl said "best for salads", and the toasted sandwich maker said "butter the outside of the bread". It was charming but a little sad to see someone so lost in their own house. Yet Bryan is the happiest person in the village and gets on with life never complaining. He has his routines and is incredibly sprightly and active for someone his age. 

Whilst Bryan is full of life the one area he lacks confidence in is cooking. I've cooked for Bryan many times before when he stayed with us in Brisbane so he knows I can cook. Perhaps he was embarrassed about this so the first night one of his friends, an Afrikaan woman named Hanniki had cooked a meal for us. It was a lovely meat loaf coated in mash potatoes with separate vegetables on the side. She'd also made an entree and a dessert for us. We were very spoilt indeed. It had been a long day so after the meal we called it a night. 

Day 2

2011

Tuesday, 6 September

I only have one full day in Johannesburg so was determined to see as much as I could. After meeting Dad for breakfast at 7am, I went to the tour desk to see what I could organise. They were kind enough to customise a tour for me that took in the sites of Soweto and the Apartheid Museum. The tour was to start at 10am which was perfect as the phone shops opened at 9am.

After several visits to different phone shops I eventually managed to get a SIM card after obtaining a letter of residence from the hotel first. I sent a quick test text to my BFF only to get a response saying “Did you just group text me?”. At least the phone was working now and I felt more connected again! 

My driver picked me up in a new C class Mercedes and our first stop was Nelson Mandela’s current house. The suburb was very nice but due to security walls up everywhere it was hard to see the actual houses. After doing a drive by, we got back on the freeway to head to Soweto.

The first place we went to was the Soweto Memorial. It was an incredibly moving museum with stories and pictures of events leading up to that tragic day in 1976. I was a little disappointed with the layout of the museum and most of the photos didn’t have captions stating what was going on in them. Still it was worth the journey.

Next stop was Nelson Mandela’s home. This was the home that he and Winnie lived in. He spent about 15 years in the house but Winnie was there for the entire time of his incarceration. Despite being a tiny house it was crammed with memorabilia from his time there including his education qualifications.

After Nelson Mandela’s home we went to Bishop Desmond Tutu’s place which is quite literally down the road. No tour of this though. We then went to Winnie Mandela’s current residence. It was again, not far away and a lot more modest than I was expecting. Only the array of security cameras and deterrents gave an indication to the status of the houses resident. Some of the houses neighbouring Winnie’s were very humble indeed, with unrendered brick walls and broken gates or cracked windows. Certainly not the sort of neighbours you’d be expecting for a former First Lady.

The Regina Mundi Catholic Church was next. It’s one of the largest in the area and was famous for amongst other things, being the primary meeting place of the ANC during the troubled times. Inside you can still see bullet holes from the South African police that surrounded the church many times to try and arrest students or other dissenters. There’s further evidence inside of the rough treatment the police were dishing out in that period including the corner smashed off the marble altar.

The final stop on the tour was the Apartheid Museum. As the brochure states, Apartheid is exactly where it belongs, in a museum. It was an amazing experience. You could honestly spend 3 - 4 hours in there but I moved through relatively quickly and was out in about 2 hours. It’s a fantastic documentation of this sorry period in South Africa’s history and an absolute must see for anyone going to Johannesburg.

That night I met up with Dad and some of his colleagues. We had a drink at their hotel in Melrose Arch which whilst lovely lacked the edginess of Fire and Ice, and then went to dinner. Our first choice was a combination Asian restaurant that was reputed to be quite good but they fluffed around with the fact that there were 7 of us, even though the restaurant looked deserted so we moved on and ended up back at Pigalles. I had the langoustines again which were just as amazing as they were the previous night. So sweet and moist and a new favourite crustacean of mine along with Moreton Bay Bugs and Mud Crab. 

Everyone else left a little early so Dad and I wandered off to a unique little bar that he knew. It was called Try Before You Buy. You were given a smart card as you walked in and around the bar were dozens of bottles of wine behind glass. Each bottle had a tube going into it and a spout out the front. You inserted your card, selected whether you wanted a small, medium or large glass (all priced accordingly) and it was poured for you automatically. Such a great concept which I'm sure would go well in Australia. My mate Alok tells me there is place like this in South Bank in Brisbane so I will have to try it on my return. 

After sampling several (okay many) different wines and resampling a few favourites we decided enough was enough and went back to the hotel. A great day in Joburg. 

Day 1

2011
Monday, 5 September


So the first leg seemed to go off without a hitch although it was a long day.
Needed to be up at 4am to get ready but I woke at 3am and couldn’t get back to sleep despite my best efforts. Dad was staying the night as he’d arranged to get on the same flights as me. At 4:45am we were out of the apartment and wheeling our bags to the AirTrain for a 5am departure. Got to love living on top of the railway station!
Twenty minutes later we were at the airport checking in for our flights. After a brief visit to  the Qantas Business Lounge our flight was called and we boarded the first leg of the journey. An hour or so later we were in Sydney.
The First Class lounge was the busiest I’ve ever seen it. We couldn’t get a table but sat in the seats and had a lovely breakfast sent to us. Nobody does airport lounges better than Qantas. Naturally we also had a glass of Verve Cliquot however an ordering mishap actually had us ending up with 2 glasses each. Not to be deterred we drank both of those and then ordered a third. Finally it was time to board the plane.
Our seats were in the last row of business class which was conveniently close to the bar and the toilets. Our hostess, Fiona, poured us each a glass of Billecart Salmon (my favourite champagne) and we took off. Over the next few hours we proceeded to drink Qantas out of Billecart Salmon champagne and then finally settled down for few hours kip.
Thirteen hours later we were touching down in Johannesburg to one of the softest landings I’ve seen a pilot make in a while. Smoothly passed through customs, collected our bags, and met our driver. I attempted in vain to get a SIM card from two stores at the airport only to be told that they had both run out. Wasn’t amused.
We checked in to the fantastic Fire & Ice hotel, freshened up and then met in the bar for a pre-dinner drink. The bar, called the Milkshake Bar, was very swish with extremely friendly staff. Highly recommended. Then we were off to dinner to what Dad had billed as the best seafood restaurant he has ever eaten in. Very big call.
Our friend Nigel, real name Alicea, met us at Pigalle and we immediately downed a very fine bottle of South African Sauvignon Blanc. The waiter brought out a platter with live examples of all the days crustaceans. We decided on baby lobster, langoustines, and giant tiger prawns. The seafood was certainly some of the best I’ve had and cooked perfectly. With another couple of bottles of wine in us though, the 22 hour day was starting to take it’s toll. We said goodbye to Nigel, had a quick nightcap in the hotel and then shuffled off to bed. That was the end of a very long day.