Halong Bay, Vietnam - day 3 China tour

We sailed into Halong Bay, Vietnam, close to the capital city of Hanoi, on the 3rd day of our South China Sea cruise. The morning was fascinating as the boat sailed up the archipeligo of the Red River before anchoring in the bay where the ship's tenders took us to shore. 

An excursion was organised on a Junk to see the spectacular caves inside one of the limestone mountains that rise up out of the mist and fog around the 3000 odd islands that dot the coastline. We then enjoyed some fine Vietnamise seafood on board the Junk and had a little time to explore the village along the seaside. The ship left for Hong Kong at 10.30pm that evening for our final day and a morning of Conference on board.

The tenders take us to and from the shore at Halong Bay

We enjoyed the "Cango caves" as well as lunch on board a Junk

Mountains of limestone rise up out of the sea



The boats are adorned with Dragons - Halong means descending  dragons - the locals believe the mountains were created by them



Enjoying the scenery from our Junk

Street scene in the village

A large modern bridge connects two main parts of the city

Everything works better with a beer

A deal is being struck with one of the many street traders. Pearls are a major product of Vietnam

See more pics here....

Contrasts of China - day 2



The Phoenix development with ocean terminal



Sanya, China

The weather was perfect to catch some sun around the pool-deck on board

Street scene in Sanya

Lovely beaches, warm South China sea



Street shop with a row of dentists' chairs and patients



From celebrity apartments to slums - China is a country of stark contrasts. Our ship docked in Sanya, China, mid-morning, so there was time to laze around the pool deck before disembarking for a whistle-stop tour of the city, the beautiful beaches and the city streets before sailing again for Vietnam.

Walking back to the ship after an afternoon in the city

Check here for more pics..

China adventure begins - Day 1

The Royal Carribean ship docked at the Ocean Terminal Hong Kong

Arriving at Hond Kong immigration after a flight via Singapore

The Hong Kong skyline from the pool deck of the Legend of the Seas

We arrived in Hong Kong to board the Legand of the Seas for our short trip and KFML SpecSavers Conference to China and Vietnam.

More pics here.

Mom's 78th

Difficult to believe my mom is 78 and to bring her up to speed, here's her new flat-screen LCD tv we brought for the occassion, whilst we enjoyed a beef roast I cooked at home and brought around to share. 

Llewellyn's family and friends

Guinnea Fowl

 Sunday afternoon we went up to Umhlali to visit Llewellyn's friends Linda and Rigby. Llewellyn's Dad was also out from Los Angeles and down in Durban to look after the kids whilst Llewellyn and I, as well as Louise (kids'mom) are off to Hong Kong on Wednesday on a SpecSavers' Conference.

Caitlin (10) with the little pup

Calvin (10), Linda, Llewellyn, Caitlin (front) and Lauren (back) with Rigby, Llewellyn's Dad Owen and new wife Karen (right)

Sharks beat Bulls in semi-final 16-12

It was Sharks all the way yesterday as they beat the Bulls to get through to the semi-final of the Currie Cup. It started off cloudy, then the rtain lashed down and we ended up freezing and then slightly wet as we made our way to the car. Calvin came with me using our 2 season tickets.

The view of Moses Mabhida Stadium from the Rugby Stadium

Garage fixing

It was fix-up time yesterday with Brad trying to get the quad bike going and couches loaded to take to Hillcrest in the trailer.

First camera pics

Sadly my camera got stolen on our trip to Cape Town and I needed a new camera for our trip to Hong Kong next week, so here are the first pics with my new camera, a Nikon CoolPix camera with 12mp resolution and 5 x optical zoom... don't really need too high specs for a camera as most of my pics are foronline posting and I need to reduce the resolution... so I am satisfied.

Hong Kong would have been the place to buy a new camera but we are getting straight onto the ship from our flight sailing to China and Vietnam and only stopping back in Hong Kong for a day on our way back.

Enrolled as Notary Public

When my articled clerk, Mark (left) failed his first attempt at his Notary's exam, I promised that when he re-wrote it, I woulld do the same... so not only did Mark come first in the KwaZulu-Natal exam, but I also made it out of only 3 attorneys to qualify and today we were both admitted to practice as Notaries Public in the High Court at Pietermaritzburg. Pat on the back for teaching old dogs new tricks.!

Prawn Fest in Durban

Enjoying a taste of prawns from 25 participating restaurants at the Prawn Festival in Durban last night are myself, Dave (left), Ian (centre) and Llewellyn.

By the end of the evening we still had food vouchers left after eating more than a dozen prawns each prepared in a variety of ways - the best being the Mozambik restaurant in Ballito. Very yummy.

Visit to Cape Town

Lovane Wine Farm in Stellenbosch is one of our favourites and winemaster Philip shows Llewellyn and I some of his award-winning wine.. briging home some bottles to share here.

We looked at this apartment to purchase with roof-top views of Table Mountain.

Mark rides the lion at Rhodes Memorial, reminiscent of a similar photo I took when he was about 10 years old.

it's Table Mountain of course, as seen from the Victoria and Albert Waterfront.

The view of Table Mountain from across the bay at Bloubergstrand.

We love visits to Cape Town - so here was a chance this weekend to catch up with my son Mark and get him some good food as well as promoting our Guesthouse to some of those we visited during our short stay... all taken with my Blackberry as my camera got stolen the first night we were there.

Amsterdam Guesthouse at the foothills of Table Mountain.

Long weekend at the beach

Having fun at the Scottburgh Caravan Park the Heritage Day longweekend are Brad and Kate-Lynn and myself. Clean sea, bit windy but the jumping rock was cool.

Jacaranda studies

The rule in Durban is that if the Jacaranda trees are in blossom it is too late to start studying for your final exams at Varsity. So the flowers are blossoming now.. and it's just as well I have long finished Varsity... but every year I remember.

Evening walk

We try and get out for an after-work walk each week, so here Kate-Lynn, myself and Llewellyn take a stroll from the Guesthouse, wandering a few ks up the road and back to the Terrace for supper.

The week that was

I forgot to take photos the last week, but did some fixingup around the home.. put up the clock Kate-Lynn made for me, a new towel rail in the bathroom, fixed the guest loo and planted some herbs. I also made a pretty decent chicken curry and made potatoe salad.. part of my 2010 pact to experiment and make a few new recipes each month.

I have also been looking at property on the net.. keen to buy a little place in either the centre of Cape Town or the de Waterkant area. We will be going down on the 1st October to see if I can finalise something. Wouldlike a 1-bed loft apartment for our own visits there and also to refer guests to who are visiting Cape Town after staying with us in Durban.

In a flash

The week went by in a flash and Mark is already off back to Cape Town. See you in 3 weeks Matie Mark!

Evening with Mel

A nice surprise was the whistle-stop trip former Idols star Melanie Lowe made to Durban this weekend giving a performance at the local St Clements restaurant in Musgrave Road. We thoroughly enjoyed the show - Mel you are a real star! Seen in the pics are Llewellyn, Melanie and her girlfriend Gaye.

Llewellyn, Melanie Lowe and Gaye

Llewellyn enjoys the prawn pasta

Llewellyn, Melanie and Dave

Melanie sings one of her own compositions from her latest Album

Mark back for Sept vacation

Mark arrived back from Stellenbosch on Saturday morning for a week vacation before the final term of his 1st year Engineering at the University of Stellenbosch.

Kate-Lynn meets Mark at King Shaka Airport on his arrival

Mark, Kate-Lynn and Brad at North Beach

A stag-party at the Beach front ha ha