Mark graduates

Friday the 13th has some superstitious connotations, but it was a good day as Mark graduated with his BEng (Mechanical) engineering degree. It was not without drama however as we discovered hours before his graduation that his name was not on the list. By chance I was staying at the guesthouse owned by a Professor in his faculty and we enlisted his help over breakfast, with 2 hours to graduation, to get MC instated in time to graduate. This took a few phone calls and we then visited the Engineering department to unscramble the omission. Once his missing module was found authorisation had to be obtained from the powers that be to add Mark to the graduation list, print his degrees (English and Afrikaans), get the scroll across to the graduation hall and slot MC in as number 401A amongst the graduands. Otherwise we were told MC would have to return in March to graduate!! I was fortunate to be on hand to see it happen today. Congrats MC.. 4 years of hard work paid off and now another 2 years of Masters ahead.

 

More pics on Facebook here.

 

Proud Dad with Mark (MC)

Of course the sun only sets after 7pm so post-grad beach at Koelbaai was on the cards followed by a braai with Jono and Grace and then a Stellies jol to round up an awesome day.

Cousin Josh joined us for grad and we had lunch at a wine farm the next day

Back home to Durbs for Christmas

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mark of the Warrior

Further to mark my son's 21st, we designed a family emblem - the mark of the Warrior - which we each had tattooed on our ankles yesterday. Something Mark and I will carry forward together. Here are the pics..

Justin from Body Art on Florida Road did the inking

It was mate Dain's 21st present to MC

The finished job

Dad and son

MC's tattoo done

 

21st of MC - the Event

It was my son Mark's 21st last night at our guesthouse, a few days early as he has to be back in Cape Town for the start of his 4th, final year engineering at Stellenbosh by his 7th Feb birthday.

 

The weather was playing up so the rooftop party had to be moved downstairs to the lounge/bar/dining area, which was probably good for the neighbours as the music would have ripped through the night from the rooftop.

 

 

The rooftop was incredible and the sky cleared as the night progressed. The jacuzzi was full and the party took to the pool as well. The last pic was taken about 4am with the sun rising.

 

VillaFranche and Monte Carlo - day 5

For our second port of call, the quaint French village of VillaFranche, was a tender stop so we had to catch the ferry/tender to the dockside where a flurry of waterfront restaurants waited for our return for lunch. First mission was to catch the train to nearby Monte Carlo, Monaco, made famous for us more recently when our Charlene married Prince Albert. So the South African flag was compulsory and I waived it at the changing of the guard at the Royal Palace.

This is my yacht.. ha ha.. only about $10 mil. We just missed the Monaco International Boat Show but many of the boats were still on show.

This little car is my Ferrari.. mmm

Steep hillside Principality of Monaco, that I first visited in 1979. I had just finished my BA degree and had bought a little campervan with my brother, travelling with him for 3 weeks through Europe from Amsterdam to Austria, Italy and Mote Carlo.
 

Right here at the quayside, I had telephoned my grandfather in Jan 1980 with the last franc in my pocket and my grandfather confirmed that I had passed my exams completing my BA degree. He gave me one or two subject results then my money ran out and the call ended abruptly. I only got the rest of my results a week later in Amsterdam.

The view of Monte Carlo from the royal palace on the hilltop

Bought Kate-Lynn one of these bags and we got some ceramic plates in this llittle shop

Knock knock Princess, are you home?

Waving the SA and Monaco flags at the changing of the Palace Guard. I was once Guard Commander of the State President in South Africa in 1976 during my national military service.

The view of the dockside on the other side of the Palace and hill

The Royal Palance of the Prince and Princess of Monaco

Mc - is part of my surname and my son's school nickname was Mc; so when we discovered that Monte Carlo was MC country, we just had to have the cap and number plate. Knew there was a place in the world for us and our Princess.

Another first - muscles in creamy wine sauce with a bottle of white wine on the VillaFranche dockside before re-boarding our ship. Yummy.