Bye bye Appelsbosch

Last night was our last sleepless night at Appelsbosch (whining dog ALL NIGHT LONG outside our window). Today we finished packing before breakfast, left the Bosch about 10ish, and arrived at the ship early afternoon. And how great it is to be back onboard! It's hot (no a/c yet on Decks 5,6 & 7), and still only partly lit, but we're back in our own cabin with carpet, our own toilet, wi-fi, and only a short walk from the facilities. Slowly life will return to normal over the next couple of days as more generators are turned on and I get my office space back. Then I'll be able to get back to blogging, with photos. Meanwhile, the kids are very happy to be reunited with their toys and shoes, and spent an hour making a mess with them whilst Sally and I tried to unpack and bring order to things. Then we went for a very refreshing swim in the pool - yes, it is open at last! Olly

Beard update

2nd Officer Charles and I have stopped shaving, and aren't going to shave again until we sail. Every day we are delayed in Durban is being reflected by the length of our facial hair. Olly

Update update

Things are pretty crazy here. The ship is moving into a new phase of "almost being completed". This coming week the engineers will test one of the new generators - please pray for that. The test will show what further work needs to be done, and will give a better indication of when we can all move back onboard. Meanwhile, 30 or 40 of us are travelling daily to get the ship into shape before we sail - cleaning, loading, unloading, stacking, preparing for sea, etc etc. My team and I are converting 3 of our oldest Land Rovers (333, 482 & 784) in to patient transport ambulances, so we can shuttle patients between the ship and our Hospitality Centre in Sierra Leone. And over the last week the number of crew staying at Appelsbosch has grown daily - I reckon we must have gained another 30 or 40. So, please pray for a speedy and safe conclusion to the dockyard phase, and successful tests and trials, and a prompt departure from Durban. Thanks, Olly

Family photos

Here are some of the photos we took whilst my parents visited over the last 3 weeks...

At the waterfalls at Harburg:

At a crocodile farm outside Ramsgate:

On the beach:

At our holiday home:

At the garage:

On the river:

At Oribi Gorge:

On the beach:

Sadly, today we returned to Appelsbosch after a fantastic 2 weeks living in a real house like a real family...and surprise surprise, the place was shrouded in mist and rain, yet again. It was good to see friends again, but we CAN'T WAIT TO GET TO SIERRA LEONE! Olly