Our adventure has begun and so far, we are loving every minute of it!
LEAVING HOME
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As you can see from the picture to the right, we have moved out and the house is for lease. The agent has had a few people through - yet to sign on the dotted line but should be leased soon
The big container you see below is probably sitting in some yard in Malaga, but at some stage, we hope it will be on a ship to Durban to bring a few bits of furniture and toys for us to play with.
Apparently, our air freight has arrived, but that may take a week or two to clear customs. I'm really looking forward to its arrival as most of our clothes were accidentally put in the air freight pile and I'm getting really sick of the one pair of pants I have with me....
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| This is the 40m3 container for sea freight. |
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| Checking out how much space we have to fill up! |
THE FLIGHT
Simon - After just 2 days, is loving his job - sounds like it's going to be great fun with lots of new challenges and interesting people to work with.
William - "I want to see a hippo - it would be amazing"
Andrine - "On second thoughts, maybe it's a little bit more sophisticated than Port Hedland - more like a cross between Bunbury AND Port Hedland. Green and lush rather than red, but a lot of high vis clothing around, tidal creeks, blokes fishing and boating, and a massive shopping mall in the middle of town"
AND SO...
The flight over was great. William and I have taken a shine to Business Class which may have a detrimental effect on future holiday budgets. What luxury to actually lie down flat, complete with mattress and doona and be woken in the morning with a lovely cup of hot tea and a sumptuous breakfast.
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| Just on board - can you see the plebs behind us???? The ones with no leg room? |
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| Not looking my best after 9 hours, but the cup of tea perked me up! |
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| After a great night's sleep William tucked into a hearty breakfast! |
ARE WE THERE YET?
Richard's Bay is on the east coast of South Africa in Kwazulu-Natal, about 2 hours drive north of Durban. Our Lonely Planet guide gives it a population of 115,000 and is otherwise, not overly complimentary of the place. "The industrial port of Richards Bay is a mass of modern suburbia, aluminium smelters and a web of roads linking very little."
Well, we've found the aluminium smelter (thank God for that, as that is where Simon is working), we've found the web of roads linking very little, but we are still on the lookout for the mass of modern suburbia. Thankfully, Lonely Planet goes on to describe some of the amazing things around the region which we will no doubt be getting our teeth into in due course.
The drive up from Durban was uneventful - lots of rolling green hills and sugar plantations. The little Toyota Avanza we rented sounds like it is running on two large lacky bands, so getting a car is on our list of things to do.
On arrival, we settled into our temporary accommodation on the Tuzi Gazi Waterfront in Richards Bay, just over the water from the Yacht Club. Cozy little spot on the bay with lots of moored boats out our window. We had unseasonal rain and cold for the first 2 days, so there wasn't much action in the harbour. Now the weather has fined up, there is a bit more activity with lots of swanky looking boats heading out for fishing and whale watching.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Simon - "Mmm, the weather is cooler than when I was here 6 weeks ago - maybe we should have packed some warm clothes"
William - "Gee, there are a lot of black people here, aren't there?"
Andrine - "OMG, we've arrived in the Port Hedland of South Africa"
SECOND IMPRESSIONS
Richard's Bay is on the east coast of South Africa in Kwazulu-Natal, about 2 hours drive north of Durban. Our Lonely Planet guide gives it a population of 115,000 and is otherwise, not overly complimentary of the place. "The industrial port of Richards Bay is a mass of modern suburbia, aluminium smelters and a web of roads linking very little."
Well, we've found the aluminium smelter (thank God for that, as that is where Simon is working), we've found the web of roads linking very little, but we are still on the lookout for the mass of modern suburbia. Thankfully, Lonely Planet goes on to describe some of the amazing things around the region which we will no doubt be getting our teeth into in due course.
The drive up from Durban was uneventful - lots of rolling green hills and sugar plantations. The little Toyota Avanza we rented sounds like it is running on two large lacky bands, so getting a car is on our list of things to do.
On arrival, we settled into our temporary accommodation on the Tuzi Gazi Waterfront in Richards Bay, just over the water from the Yacht Club. Cozy little spot on the bay with lots of moored boats out our window. We had unseasonal rain and cold for the first 2 days, so there wasn't much action in the harbour. Now the weather has fined up, there is a bit more activity with lots of swanky looking boats heading out for fishing and whale watching.
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| This is the view from our living room and bedroom. |
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| William is doing amazingly well at settling in - although the fatigue shows at the end of the day! Here he is asleep on the couch at the end of our first day (5pm). The next day he fell asleep in the bath! Luckily we fished him out before he rolled over.... |
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Simon - "Mmm, the weather is cooler than when I was here 6 weeks ago - maybe we should have packed some warm clothes"
William - "Gee, there are a lot of black people here, aren't there?"
Andrine - "OMG, we've arrived in the Port Hedland of South Africa"
SECOND IMPRESSIONS
Simon - After just 2 days, is loving his job - sounds like it's going to be great fun with lots of new challenges and interesting people to work with.
William - "I want to see a hippo - it would be amazing"
Andrine - "On second thoughts, maybe it's a little bit more sophisticated than Port Hedland - more like a cross between Bunbury AND Port Hedland. Green and lush rather than red, but a lot of high vis clothing around, tidal creeks, blokes fishing and boating, and a massive shopping mall in the middle of town"
AND SO...
...there's so much more to write about, so we will get onto our third and fourth impressions soon, and maybe even a few facts about the place! The people we have met so far have been fantastic - super friendly and very welcoming. We're having a great time, settling in quickly and loving every minute!
