Mid October 2008 News

Carina and Michael visited her niece Sussa in Melbourne and had a really great time there. They took the train there and flew back after 10 days. The Aquarium and Botanical gardens were highlights of the visit. Carina learnt how to make some of the really nice Coffee we got accustomed to here. I always thought Mugg&Bean had good coffee till I got here! We will be purchasing a proper grinder and machine as soon as the finances allow. I have on cup every morning but it is actually very expensive and works out more than the petrol we spend per month!

I started cycling to work and it is very nice as I found a cycle path through some green belts which is about 40% of the route. 80% of the route back from work is however uphill. Hopefully the fitness will build quickly. Going to work is nice though as it mostly downhill and I don’t sweat too much when I get there. Still only leave home at 08h00 and is back at 18h00. When I take the car or Motorbike I leave home at 08h45 and am back at 17h15. In Cape Town I left work at 06h00 and arrived back at 18h15 or later.

I took Michael for bicycle ride to a park where we could do some mountain bike trails. It was 4km uphill just getting there and we had to turn around at that point as he was completely finished. Kids these days are so weak from sitting in front of computers and TVs. I remember cycling alone from Manana to Whites Township at his age; this was about a 10km flat ride.

We experienced another first this month: Daylight Saving of 1 hour! It was quite a mission working out which way the clocks must move. Eventually I verified it on TV. Doug then gave quite a good way to remember which way to turn the time: you usually Spring forwards and Fall backwards.

Michael went to a birthday party at a Scalectric Shop near our house. This place has several 4/6 lane tracks which they use for championship races twice a week. They have a special birthday room with its own track and cars and medals get awarded for the racing during the party. Michael is now “hooked” and I can see us spending a few hours per month there. It is actually one of the cheapest entertainments I have found here. You can use the track for 3 hours for $7 if you have your own cars or if you need a car it is $11. A 5 minute ride at a theme parks cost that much.

We visited the shop when they got back from Melbourne and bought 2 cars that were on special. I haven’t had such fun “since I was a children”, as the last time I really raced slot cars was when I was a child. I bought a FLY car (the fastest out the box car) around 10 years ago but never got to racing it in Cape Town. Tried it the first time on Saturday and was very disappointed as it just didn’t go anywhere: the tyres had gone hard so had to have a tyre change but the newer “budget” cars are still much faster than those of 10 years ago!

We visited the Biannual Model Railway show and we were simply blown away by the detail in some of the scenery. I will put some pics on Picasa so check them out! We will be starting our own set-up shortly; just need to purchase some wood and get someone with a UTE (bakkie/van) or trailer to cart it home for me.

Carina and Michael visited Mawson Lakes late one day during school holidays, so I joined them after work and Michael attempted some fishing and we raced our Radio Control Boats. Carina brought a picnic along which we had beside the lake. This was such a nice experience; one of those “WOW” moments that made moving here worthwhile.

Make no mistake though, certain things are very different and I had the first moment of missing something from RSA very much! The culinary experience here is not very positive, apart from the Coffee. The Pizza we had on Friday evening really made me miss the tastes and foods of RSA. The cheese here is yellow, bland and dry. The chicken meat is spongy, tasteless and “slimy” due to too fast growth. Peppermint crisp is a blue in colour instead of green. No Tennis biscuits to make Peppermint Crisp Tart! Carina tried a local biscuit but it didn’t soak up the cream and stayed hard. You also can’t find decent spices, specifically for Braai (obviously non-existent) but even the BBQ spices are bland. The BBQ brickets for Weber is rubbish as getting it going takes a block of RedHeads (equivalent to Blitz) and they die as soon as the Weber is closed. OK enough bitching already. At least they have Hungry Jacks’ Woppa Cheese Burgers to make up for all this. Must find out where they get their cheese as it looks and tastes like proper cheddar!

Chris has collected 3 Webers from the side of the road and he was kind enough to donate one to me. When people want to get rid of stuff, they simply leave it on the side of the road. If you want, you take; otherwise the garbage guys take it. He has also collected good quality cupboards, dining and outside tables and camping chairs, a leather lounge suite and about 6 bicycles, even a mountain bike with Shimano group-set and dual shocks!

Although the weather is generally very nice and I certainly don’t miss the Cape South Easter, it varies a lot from day-to-day: Sunday was bone dry, very windy and 33oC while today is cloudy and only 17oC.

Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com.au/strumfie