Roger had for a long time been dreaming about freedom. Freedom from the ‘flying schedule’. Freedom to travel more and do interesting things. The way the dream would play out is as follows: he would resign from Comair and do a PC12 conversion. That would then be our passport into the world of charter flying. He would take wealthy folk to interesting destinations and I would go along whenever possible; even perform ‘air hostess’ duties if I had to…
So, it was with great excitement and anticipation, and not just a little nostalgia I might add, that he completed his last Comair flight on the 29th December 2017. He had been with the company for just short of 20 years.
Marlene had booked a holiday home in St Lucia and we were invited to join them there for the summer holiday. We left Rosebank on the 30th and arrived in St Lucia in the late afternoon. The feeling of euphoria was wonderful. No time lines, nothing to think about besides having fun.
We joined the Fishing Club’s New Year’s Eve party at the Ski Boat clubhouse. What a fun evening. The whole extended family was there.
As the clock struck midnight the inevitable happened: someone popped the cork off a bottle of sparkling wine and proceeded to shower everyone with the sticky liquid. Me trying to hide behind Roger was in vain; the guy shaking the bottle just followed me to ensure that I got drenched as well! Now, anyone that knows me will also know that I am not a keen swimmer. But I was covered in mosquito repellent as well as sparkling wine. So, when the same guy jumped into the pool I thought “what a good idea” and jumped in as well, clothes and all! I can assure you that there was general disbelief amongst my family. It took just a second or two before they followed suit. It was such fun; all the messy stuff washed off and a wonderful cool-down from St Lucia’s heat and humidity.
Thanks to a touch of over-indulgence and lack of sleep we were all lying low on New Year’s Day. And, of course, to avoid the traditionally over-crowded beaches on that specific day of the year.
The main activity for the guys was deep sea fishing (the whole family angle at a competitive level; both Eugene and Francois are in the Proteas team as skippers). They went out whenever the weather allowed and provided fresh Dorado for dinner. I joined them for a trip on the boat and got horribly sunburnt, but it was fun nevertheless. For the rest of the time I just enjoyed the fresh air, walking on the beach and soaking up the sun.
Cooking is a very important activity in our family. Roger and I took turns with Eugene and Marlene to prepare the main meal of the day but mostly everyone chipped in and did their bit.
After a wonderful, relaxing few days Roger and I left St Lucia on the 5th and took a slow drive back home, stopping over at the Isimangaliso Wetland Park for two nights and one night at the Birdlife Campsite in Wakkerstroom before heading back to Rosebank.
We arrived back home on the 9th. It still felt like holiday; the feeling of being ‘free’ was intoxicating…
The charter market is, by all accounts, usually very quiet during January and February. Besides which, Roger could not do much until he had done his conversion. So, we decided to go to Marloth Park for a few days at the end of January; why not, after all! We could not be away for too long because I still had project obligations and his conversion would take place in February. I even had a Skype meeting while we were at MP; the beauty of remote consulting work.
Of course, Marloth Park also means a day trip into Kruger National Park.
Roger picked up a bat that had somehow fallen out of its roost at the Afsaal picnic site and put it as high up in a tree as he could reach. Bats need enough body heat and a significant drop to enable them to become airborne in the late afternoon; they are unable to take off from the ground.
This time we only spent four days away. There were things to do and arrangements to be made for the year ahead; we were anxious to set our plans in motion.