10 APRIL, 2015

The plane kissed the tarmac on Tuesday with the sun a golden ball in the Western sky over Brisbane. “Kissed” probably incorrectly describes the relationship between the wheels of the plane with the runway where the landing was attempted. We actually bounced and lurched, so I can leave it to your imagination to describe the intimacy of this relationship. Regardless, we were very glad to be home. We had actually landed in Sydney a few hours earlier, but continued our long journey to spend some time with Fiona and Don and meet young baby Casper.

The start of our journey was Easter Day in Stellenbosch. We found a United Church which is a reasonably close approximation to our Australian Uniting Church. The church is in a leafy part of the city and draws its congregation from the students and staff of the university. We were made very welcome, but had to make a quick exit as we had to make our uncertain way to the airport after refueling and cleaning the hire car. Car washing is a real treat. For around 45 Rand (about $5) a team of guys swarm over the car with hoses, soap, brushes and chamois, even though we were sitting in an actual mechanical car wash bay. It was an excellent job so we gave some extra reward partly in a bid to get rid of some our rand. Near the airport we again passed by the vast Khayelitsha township (400,000 people in about 40 square kilometres), a relic of apartheid and now home to among the poorest in South African society.

On arrival in Johannesburg we discovered that I had booked the incorrect hotel – a transit hotel inside the terminal with a limit of a six-hour stay. Too late to cancel, so we stayed in a nearby airport lodge where we were also able to leave our luggage securely while we went for an excursion into the city on Monday. We took the train to the city and were discharged at a shopping town where Jenny reluctantly surveyed some shops. However there was also an exhibition of lego sculptures by an American artist. It was not my first choice for an artisitic exhibition, but the works were truly stunning. If the exhibition comes to Australia, it is well worth seeing. We took the offered seniors discount so it only cost us about $10.

We had mainly planned to go to the Apartheid Museum which we thought was in the neighbourhood. It was a fairly long taxi ride, but worth every cent (actually not many rand at all). We booked the taxi to pick us up and take us the airport, so we could maximize our time here. The museum is a sobering experience. When you get your entry pass you are randomly selected to be a Blanke or Nie Blanke (white or non-white) so our first experience was to walk in the shoes of people from the apartheid era. For people who abhor racism and discrimination, it was a bit confronting. There is nothing much in the museum that is celebratory: it is stark and grey, and graphically illustrates this shocking period in South Africa’s history. Jenny found it very confronting and had to escape early while I found it quite difficult to tear myself away from the images and stories. One fact that surprised me was that there was more violence and deaths after Mandela was released than in any other period of the apartheid rule. (14,000 deaths between 1990 and 1994). I guess the few celebratory things are the images and stories of the men and women – white as well as black – who were part of the struggle for freedom, and the creation of a new South Africa with its values of justice and equality. It was a quiet ride back to the airport as we absorbed our experience.

Back in Brisbane we are settling in to our new roles as grandparents. Casper is, as can only be expected, a beautiful bonny boy, very much the centre of attention. He has a lovely calm nature and we were able to assure Fiona and Don that that probably won’t  last. They are lovely parents. Well, we are trying to catch up with family and friends while are here, as well as investing in as much Casper-time as possible.

We begin our drive home on Tuesday and plan to arrive home on Saturday 18th. Our experiences over the past five weeks have been wonderful: working with the terrific medical check team at the School of St Jude, and meeting the children again; having some quality and luxurious R&R on Zanzibar; and discovering something of South Africa. There is much to savour. We thank you if you have shared this journey through reading this blog. In writing it, I swing between feeling embarrassed to somehow imagine that others would find our story interesting to read, and a quiet pleasure in writing something just to preserve our experience and memory. Hakuna matata. Anyway, we do hope you have enjoyed it, and thank you for reading and the supportive comments you have made.