holidaydayseven

We headed off, in the morning, to the station at Rondebosch.  Today was the day for our big train adventure.  I can recall, as a kid, reading about children who would travel by train to spend their holidays with cousins Jack and Stella (or similar old British names) and this is how I felt – except we were just going for a short visit to cousin Alan and his wife Gertie.

Alan and Gertie live in Jo’burg but own a lovely house in Fish Hoek and I have been promising them for years to visit them in their soon-to-be retirement home on one of the occasions when we’re in Cape Town.

After an uneventful journey we arrived at Fish Hoek station and stepped onto the platform, immediately spotting first Gertie and then Alan.  Once Jerry and I had trawled through the smelly subway we were gleefully greeted by my cousin and his wife who had found parking directly across the street from the station.

We were rushed, first, to the house for some refreshing Coca-Cola, and where we oohed and aahed (... in sign language ... did I mention that Alan and Gertie are deaf? ...) at the splendid view from the house and the truly superb dining room upholstery and curtains lovingly made by Gertie.

Alan then drove us to a marvellous view of Fish Hoek from the shark spotter’s hut.  These are the blokes that keep a look out for the sharks that frequent the area and alert folk on the beach who sound the alarm for all in the water to get out of the sea and onto land, post haste.  The magnificent view having been once again marvelled at (in sign language) we were then driven to the next tiny village on the coast called Glen Cairn.

Alan treated us to a lovely lunch in a restaurant at Glen Cairn and then we returned to Alan and Gertie’s house so that Jerry could have a swim in their awesomely warm pool whilst we continued our visit over delicious Christmas cake and milk tart.
All too soon our visit was over and we were being shuttled back to the station.  Upon arrival, we discovered that our train was already there, sitting waiting and Jerry and I had a good giggle when Gertie took off at high speed to get us there before it pulled out of the station.  The dashing (literally) Gertie was followed by a giggling Jerry, me with a large grin followed by a huffing Alan carrying our travel bag.  It was only long after we had hugged, kissed, boarded, waved and left that I remembered about poor cousin Alan’s pace-maker.  Hee Hee, but he seemed no worse off and the pink in his cheeks suited him.  The sms from him later also confirmed that his sense of humour was still intact.

The return to Rondebosch was quick and exciting (I simply LOVE train trips).  What a lovely adventure!

Happy Day!!! J

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