Category: Blog

26th February – 5th March, 2019

It’s always good to be back in Africa. This trip we met up with friends, Jennifer Martin from South Africa and her sister Caroline Van Rensburg from Scotland all meeting at Nairobi International Airport for our flight to Kilimanjaro.

So excited to see our friend and guide Solomon Mkumbo (Solly) who was waiting for us. We stayed the night at River Trees Lodge where we had a very pleasant night with Solly’s beautiful wife and my three Tanzanian grandchildren. The following days we drove through the Central and Southern Serengeti, spending the last two nights at a lodge near the Ngorongora Crater.

Solly made sure we saw the Big 5, the Great Migration across the southern area where half a million wildebeest calves are born and a quarter of a million taken by lion, hyena, jackal, vultures and other predators. Not comforting to see, a few tears shed by us girls when a baby springbok was caught by a female hyena and her cubs, though no different to the poor creatures trying to cross the Mara River during our last visit, being taken in such a gruesome way by crocodiles. Life here is just eating and breeding. Every living thing is food.

Our entire trip was wild. Lunch was had out on the Serengeti plains surrounded by mainly wildebeests, lions, hyena, zebra and gazelles. Our tented accommodation was unfenced only protected by Masai Warriors. Lovely people living a simple life. They take nothing from the earth. All plant life is for their cattle which is a show of wealth. They eat only meat for breakfast and dinner which has been preserved in sheep fat. They drink milk and only when celebrating do they mix it with blood. Masai can have many wives. Their children sleep with the mother until the age of approx. 10 when they are taken away for 2-3 months to be taught how to be men, protect their village from predators especially lions and finally to be circumcised with any available knife. Once they are healed they come home to stay in another mud hut for young men their own age.

Solly is well educated and experienced with African wildlife, flora, birds, Masai and tribal customs; even gave us a star gazing session one night with his laser light. An amazing man! He answered every question we had and said no question is a silly question, we could ask anything. Philip didn’t think so! He said some questions are ‘kak vra’! In Afrikanse, a really crap question and an award should be handed to the worst ‘kak vra’. Well, what happens on holiday stays on holiday and we won’t mention names but someone asked why our Masai Warrior had strips of leather standing up on his shoes.

I guess the only way to answer a ‘kak vra’ is with a ‘kak answer’.

Solly replied, ‘It’s an antennae for his WiFi’!

You see ….. Solly knows everything!

Swahili words learnt: Jumbo means ‘hello’. Asanti means ‘thank you’. Hakuna Matata means ‘no worries’. Simba means ‘lion’.

A huge amount of preparation is required for our next adventure. Selecting crew; courses to prepare the ones not experienced; dental and medical checks; travel documents for all crew; Carmen at HelloWorld Gladstone prepared with all details of crew for last minute flights; Insurance coverage for global rescue (hopefully not required); Insurance cover for high altitude restricted areas; clinics through UK, Norway, Svalbard for medical checks; Arctic clothing; provisions list including a good rum or whiskey to celebrate crossing the Arctic Circle; yacht preparation – a spare for every possible thing that can break; safety equipment all compliant; navigation equipment updated; ability to download weather reports wherever we are; visas and customs entry requirements for France, Wales, Scotland, Norway, Svalbard; return documentation; refreshing our knowledge and reading all books on sailing north; using cameras, videos, go-pro, drones, our IT guy Geoff on-call 24/7 for internet – iPhones, iPads and laptops! Not to mention finalising finances, homes and business here before we leave. Leaving that all up to our son-in-law Grant. All made possible by our son, Aston who is doing a brilliant job of managing the ‘Monster’.

Leaving our two girls, Shona and Ashleigh who we will miss … till the plane lifts off the tarmac in Gladstone!!!

Our grand’children’, Habana and Huxley who we will miss a little further into the flight. See you all in 7 months.

With just 3 weeks to go before we head back to French Kiss in Cherbourg Marina, France, we enjoyed the company of those who love Friday night’s gathering at the Breezeway, Curtis Island. Owned by Alan and Ailsa Smith, the Breezeway bar overlooks the Pacific Ocean with it’s welcoming breeze after a hot humid Australian day. A beer, wine or favourite thirst quencher goes down very well. Good music and company, chatter and laughs is a pleasant way to enjoy the night life. Other night time activities are turtles nesting between October to January with hatchlings pushing their way up through the sand, down the beach to the ocean from January to March. An experience never forgotten by new comers. It’s our best kept secret with a 10km beach, Turtle Street’s beautiful water and bay, grasslands, lagoon, marshes, woodlands and wildlife.

We even have our own Royal Sandfly Golf Course created and maintained by Alan Gardner covering an area over grasslands and mudflats. There you go Alan… you are in my blog!

A full day trip from Cherbourg to Mont St Michel was an awe inspiring experience. Before the construction of the first monastic establishment in the 8th century, according to legend, the Archangel Michael appeared in 708 to the Bishop of Avranches and instructed him to build a church on the rocky islet. It is approx. 1000 acres surrounded by tidal ocean. On top is God, the abbey and monastery; below, the great hills, then stores and housing; at the bottom, outside the walls, houses for fisherman and farmers. It was only accessible at low tide to the many pilgrims to its abbey, but defensible as an incoming tide stranded, drove off, or drowned would-be assailants. The tides vary greatly, at around 14 meters between high and low water marks. The Mont remained unconquered during the Hundred Year War, a small garrison fended off a full attack by the British in 1433. The population today approx. 50. The reverse benefits of its natural defense were not lost on Louis XI, who turned the Mont into a prison. Thereafter the abbey began to be used regularly as a jail. One of France’s most recognizable landmarks, visited by more than 3 million a year (second to the Eiffel Tower), the Mont and it’s bay are now a World Heritage Site.

Congratulations to the French on their triumphant World Cup win in Russia.

Mei, Rick, Philip and I celebrated along with the restaurant staff with great jubilation in the restaurant, on the streets and in the city square.

The French are crazy!   They painted their faces (us too), dressed in anything red, white and blue (us too), chanted, lit flares, rocked cars, jumped on buses, hooted, blew vuvuzelas, climbed and swam in the central fountain.  Anything went while the police weren’t around!

Now Philip says, they have the right to call the English Channel …. the French Channel!!!  That didn’t go down well with the English!

 

 

This is Philip’s normal day on the yacht:  fixing ropes, stitching sail bags, making off his own loops on the ends of the bow, stern lines and springs.

Pass time when work is finished:  fiddle and tweeking, socialising and drinking.

Our French neighbours Valerie and Jean-Charles invited us to the local organic markets.  They are both retired journalist.  I wish I could remember all the details of Valerie love of sewing, knitting, crocheting and tapestries which lead them into an incredibly interesting life analyzing the art and writing several books on the subject.  Publishers couldn’t understand what she wanted and refused to work with her so they went ahead and published their own books with great success.   They created galleries with exhibitions that turned what they didn’t expect into huge interest from thousands of people.   A well known Gothic Church in France allowed them to display an  ancient treasure, their alter rug.  Gothic churches were built between the 12th and 16th century, so goodness know how old this rug was.   They turned a hobby into a successful business which they recently sold.  Now its time to enjoy the grandchildren, their holiday house by the sea and all the new adventures with their new yacht will bring.

Market day in Cherbourg with Valerie and Jean-Charles….

Well, what a solemn day!  Our hearts were heavy!

Firstly we asked, why did they call it D Day?  D Day is a day chosen for an important event to begin.  From then you can use -1 for the day before or +1, +2 for the days after.  So, D Day for this event was the 6th June, 1944.  The largest seaborne  invasion in history which changed a world at war towards victory for the liberators although it still took another 18 months to end.

USA & British Commanders, Eisenhower, Montgomery, Bradley, Dempsey against German leaders Rommel, Rundstedt and Schweppenburg.

Operation Overlord was initiated in 1943.   Five beaches along the 80 kms of Normandy coast were chosen points, we saw two of them:  Utah Beach and Omaha Beach named after Operation Utah and Operation Omaha.  156,000 allied troops against 50,350 Germans, 170 coastal artillery guns and rocket launches.  The German machine gun could fire 1,040 runs per minute.  At the end of the day, 4,414 confirmed dead plus 185 German  tanks.  German loses not clear approx. 4,000- 9,000.

The day and times chosen were precise for the weather, tides and currents.  Months before, the allies mislead the Germans through military deception as to the date and location of the landings, code named Operation Bodyguard.  Knowing the beaches were heavily protected it was crucial for heavy aerial bombardment before the infantry arrived.  Just after midnight 24,000 paratroopers were dropped.  Aerial assault 0510.  Infantry landing 0630.  Unexpected fog hampered the aerial assault forcing fighter pilots to drop their bombs behind their targets.  Paratroopers were dropped up to 2 kms off their target zone.  One, John Steele landed on the Saint Mère I’Église church steeple.   He acted dead whilst watching his mates below being shot by Germans in the street.

Movie:  The Longest Day’.

Amphibious vessels where blown east by strong winds and currents landing them on a beach which very few Germans were protecting.  Resistance was minimal.  Others landed where their bombers had missed, right in the firing line where they unknowingly believed their back up air artillery had bombed an hour before giving them free access.  The waves were 12 feet high causing sea sickness in most of the men before they arrived on the beach.   It was only the total surprise attack that shocked the Germans into submission and surrender.  The bravery of the men to step over their dead mates, push through the obstacles of wooden stakes, metal tripods and barbed wire lining the beach, to within hours take German prisoners of war, shows shear guts and determination for a free world.   Though the allies failed to achieve many of their goals on D Day, just to access the coast and drive Hitler back gradually liberating each country was a mighty feat.   Hitlers  tanks were far superior to the British or American tanks but America produced 49,000 and were able to replace their tanks quicker then the Germans.

Thank you to the brave men who gave their lives and the woman back home building the tanks, making the ammunition and components, supplying the food packs and a million other things!  It’s insane!  The world was insane!  Together, we can change the world.  The human race must stand up against tyranny at all costs.

13th Century Saint Mère I’Église Church

Paratrooper, John Steele plays dead hanging from this parachute off the St Mere I’Eglise church steeple watching his friends being shot by Germans.

Philip lit two candles for his mom and dad who met during the war years and spoke often of D Day.

Utah Beach ....

Andrew Higgins designed the ‘Higgins Boat’.        Supreme Commander, Dwight Eisenhower said ‘Higgins was the man who won the war for us’.

Omaha Beach….

Three monuments known as ‘Les Braves’ now stand in the sand on Omaha Beach.

‘Les Braves’                                                                                                 ‘Wings of Hope’ :   So that the spirit which inspired these men on June 6th, 1944 continues to inspire us, reminding us that together it’s always possible to change the future. 

‘Rise, Freedom!’   :  So that those who are against barbarity helps us remain standing strong against all forms of inhumanity. 

‘Wings of Fraternity’  : So that the surge of brotherhood always remind us of our responsibility towards others as well as ourselves. 

On June 6th, 1944, these men were more than soldiers they were our brothers!

USA  Cemetery…..

174 acres given to the American people from the French government, free of payment or tax.   9,273 marble crosses are only 1/3 of those who died here.  Others were taken home by their families.   The marble Star of David represents our Jewish brothers.  The Wall of the Missing lists approx. 1,900 soldiers.  A small bronze rosette beside the name states the soldier was later found, identified and buried.

What does peace mean to us….