I will be joining Great Britain for Leg 4 to race against Tamsin, and probably carry on with them if all goes well. So I wasn’t going to go back to the UK and then back out to Fremantle, was I. So what to do?

I decided to hire a car to explore the Garden Route, visit Bloemfontein to walk a Boer War battle site, stay with Niall and Caroline Beazley in Johannesburg and then go to Tshukudu Bush Camp, near the Kruger National Park, with Jan and Kitty Potgieter, JP’s parents (JP is a good friend in the Greenings crew).

First stop was Mossel Bay where I did not a lot for a couple of days. I couldn’t stay much closer to the beach 😎, and walked, visited the Diaz museum, eat fish off the braai, drank great coffee at the Blue Shed Coffee Roastery and generally recharged my batteries. From there I went in to George via Plattenburg Bay and Knysna, but forest and bush fires had taken their toll and the countryside is still very much in recovery mode.

When I served in the Gunners, I commanded Q Battery who had won a collective VC at the Battle of Sannas Post in the Boer War. I knew the story well, but couldn’t understand how the Boers had been so successful; I had wanted to walk the ground for many years.

I won’t go into the details here as they can be found on Wikipedia, suffice to say I now understand and have great respect for what was the first Boer commando-style action.

I have known Niall since Army days where we sailed together, and he moved to South Africa in the 1990’s. It was a great opportunity to stay with him and Caroline in Johannesburg for a couple of nights. It was a fabulous visit and Niall showed me various aspects of the northern part of Joburg. It really reinforced my feeling of South Africa being a land of incredible contrasts, socially, politically and geographically.

JP (Janette, pronounced Yanette) is South African, living in England, so her parents came to Cape Town to spend time with her. Consequently they had to meet many of the crew too. We got on well, and Jan offered to take me into the bush one day. We all thought this would be in a year or two’s time, so when we put Polly on the beach, the opportunity arose. Jan and Kitty took me to Tshukudu Bush Camp for a fabulous couple of days, for which I’m massively grateful. Saw lots, including lions, rhinos and buffalo, but the elephants and leopard eluded us. I’ll just have to go back 😉. A special moment was with Etombi, below. She was raised at the camp, but lives wild and visits when she wants to!

I’m now in Fremantle and Great Britain is due in on Saturday evening. To give the crew some days away following the tragic death of Simon Speirs, the new joiners and some supporters who have flown out specifically to help will clean and prepare the boat for the next race.

Time to get back into it. Tamsin arrives next Monday to join Sanya Serenity, and will be staying with us in the Greenings house. Battle commences on the 2nd Dec . . .

Love to all, xxx