24 Jun. 12


We arranged a lift with Anne down to Amamzimtoti since she needed to go to Durban anyway. Coming back we all piled into my mothers car. I drove, so didn’t have to feel like a sardine in a can but Lola, the kids and my mother with her grandchild all sat on top of each other in the back seat. Fortunately it’s only a two hour drive so they all survived. Getting my mother onto the boat was an experience all by itself. She is getting on a bit, and at seventy has lost her eye sight in her left eye, and her right eye has cataracts so doesn’t work either. Coupled to this she also has a water phobia and can’t swim. Both my Mother and stepfather seemed to enjoy their time here even though it was only for one day. They were captured by the beauty of this place and I think they considered for more than a moment packing up their lives in gangster’s paradise and moving down here.

It was a very pleasant visit and I found myself understanding their lives a bit better. It is such a pity that sometimes it takes so long before you grow up and get wiser. Only now do I see things from their perspective, it took me nearly half my life to have this epiphany. Sadly parents are just big kids themselves and don’t have all the answers so just do what they believe is a good idea at the time. I don’t believe that there is any family out there that is perfect and we all have our own dysfunctional family relationships. Kids are born with no instruction manual and as such parents can only do what they believe based on their upbringing and their parents. Unfortunately this isn’t always the correct formula.

Toti Cabanas

Toti Beach

Keagan arrived after a very long bus trip and we collected him at McDonalds. His ear was in pain and I could see he was obviously irritated with the ride that took over two hours longer than advertised by the bus company. Last night he went out with some friends he has down here and I don’t expect to see much of him today as he will probably be in recovery mode.



This morning I bought a second hand Macski from another guy here that said they don’t have the space to take it with. It seems to be in fair condition and anyone that knows me is probably thinking why would I buy something that goes on the water. Yes I know we live on a boat but I am not much of a swimmer. In fact I think that I have a water phobia. I am okay swimming in a swimming pool, but as soon as I can’t see the bottom, I panic. A few years ago I tried to conquer this phobia and entered the Midmar Mile. This is a mile long swimming race in the Midmar dam. Lola had full confidence in me since I didn’t mention my phobia to her. So the big day came and she stood on the side watching as I prepared to run into the water along with about five hundred other swimmers. The gun was fired and I sped off towards the water. Upon reaching the waters edge I executed a beautiful swan dive and started swimming in the air before I even reached the water. My body glided through the air and landed perfectly on top of the water and since I was already swimming I took off like a bullet. Suddenly the hype of the starting gun and all the competitive racers around me wore off and I looked around. Discovering to my surprise that the water was muddy and I couldn’t see the bottom, panic set in. I wallowed and splashed, gasping for air. Fortunately an old man sitting in a wheelchair noticed my plight and taking pity on my soul, wheeled himself into the water till he was next to me. Then he reached over and grabbing my flailing arms he spoke in a calm clear voice. I will never forget those words of wisdom that were uttered to me that day. he said, and I quote, “son! You can stand.”