33.15S 18.075E

Langebaan - blood, sweat, tears & grey hair

Autumn

another toy!

As a kid, our neighbour used to say its NEVER too late to have a happy childhood...

Now that I have some grey hair of my own, I realise that life is simple: he who has the most toys... win! So I added another! Let's just say a beach house is worth a marginal amount without one of these. Now... just need to do something about the colour ;)

Italy - Capri

Ianni, Ros & myself set off for Naples early on Friday morning - we had a rough high level idea of what we might want to do, but had no idea how the logistics would work out! What a trip! And probably in the long run the most expensive ever... as now "Villa in Capri" has been added to my must have list of toys. Eeck!

The damn bus didn't pitch as expected and in fear of a late arrival at Gatwick, Ros managed to talk a cabby into taking us to some station to catch the Gatwick Express > my first ride in a London Black Cab!

Ros booked us in the best hotel in the dodgy-est part of Naples. Ianni did a sterling job of navigation and I tried my level best at being demanding! Before we knew what had hit us, we were off to Isle Capri!

Breath taking! I'm hooked - 4ever

We loved the (sp) bougenvillia! Marthie, esp for you!

Capri water front!

I could write an essay about our day on Capri... out of time & more great to come!

London

June 16 is Youth Day (a bank holiday) in South Africa. Ros & I celebrated by exploring London. I re-discovered a large sense of youth in me :)

Here is some memories:

My "artistic" view of charging through London

After a trip on the Eye (by now Ianni joined us), we had a fab dinner at a great Italian joint just off Trafalgar Sq. The sun had (finally) set and I took a couple of longer exposures on the way home!

One fairly large bicycle wheel :)

Thursday I had lunch & an ale with Gustav (old school friend) and joined Locky at The Ship for Lady B's birthday party! Whoop whoop! What a jol. Got home way too late and packed in the dark so as not to disturb my sleeping hosts. 2Morrow we're off to Italy at the crack of dawn, or just before!

June 2010 Travels

The Firm sent me off to Chicago to have my bios flashed - sadly they didn't realise that I'm already running a newer version. Little professional value added. Serious dent to the bank balance - they have such nice goodies in the US! I'm amazed at how many $$$ one can spend in an afternoon!

North Michigan Avenue - where I made my contribution to the US economy :$

My CMS A-team >> Buzz LIghtyear, Maverick, A-Lo & Wrench Man

The time at Q was a blur - again... and that's not attributed to the Q Pub. Friday saw me off to ORD at pace, once again.

Then I sponsored myself a trip to Munich on Saturday morning. Not a bad call at all. Received top class red carpet service. Artur collected me at the airport in his Mini John Cooper Works convertible. It loves the autobahn. Really loves it > 235km/h type love. Did the sights with the top down and made some additional purchases at the iStore after my first Bavarian beer at an authentic German Brewery! I stopped counting the Ferrari's, Maseratti's & 1000s of fancy BMWs. Story goes > if in Munich you want to drive in a Mercedes, call a cab!

Dinner at a lovely Italian restaurant - amazing pizza - and watched a bit of FIFA World Cup. Then cycled on to a prestigious Hotel & Spa for roof top drinks with Helga. 2x bottles of Moet later we cycled home!

The most impressive glass box atop the city

Artur (on the phone) with the Town Hall in the background

Sunday called for sleeping in followed by a run in the park! Excellent. Loving Munchen! Then lunch with Artur's mom at the most amazing Italian place. Incredible. Then off to BMW Welt!

Andy this one's for you!

Cute!

My kinda style...

Which one do I drive?

Artur had to leave for East Germany on Sunday night, so I joined Helga & Stephanie for the last part of the Germany - Australia 4-0 victory! Managed to work in a few extra turns on the way home - just to maximise my exposure to the pelting rain! Fun all round.

Monday started as grim as I'd expect Mud Island to be. Back on the bike to explore Munchen. Great! Also found a nice sports store and added some K2 RollerBlades to the quiver of toys! Then visited the Bang & Olufsen shop around the corner! And had to rush to the airport. A friendly blond blue eyed Munich citizen pointed me in the right direction - I hope you enjoy the world cup in Port Elizabeth! Off to London after checking in my "dangerous goods" - the only thing dangerous about a Ripstik Air is falling off it...

VIP red carpet treatment again >> Ianni & Ros waiting at arrivals for the globe trotter!

Today I'm visiting our office in Old Bailey. Very different to the one back home - but they do serve fruit mid morning, nice touch! And having lunch with Herr Lock!

The New Spot

2010

What a session! Fun in front of Friday Island.

He ain't heavy, he's my brother! Chris & I squeezing everything we can out of a brand new Hobie 16, Langebaan.

baby boom

there's something going on that I know far too little about... snap crackle & pop > its a baby boom! my future sailing crew, Josh Klue arrived today at 07:55 and weighed in at 3.2kg. congrats Steve & Mads. here's the little legend, shortly after arrival:

and Tyler's mom & dad announced today that he's in line for a brother / sister to arrive early May '09. well done Kirst & Ian!

anyone else that I should know about?

who would have noticed...

This morning my math genius brother called me to express his condolences / congratulate me on an annual event we all live through. He pointed out that my new age (yeah, you go do the math!) is a prime number. That the day of the month (17th) is a prime number. And that the month of the year (7th) is a prime number. My only conclusion is that I must be in the prime of my life!