A beautiful walk...

After having been to gym, we feel so much fitter. It really is great! After having done our exercises we could even relax in a vapour bath and take a leisurely shower!
We just came back from a beautiful walk in our quarter and took some photos of the sea to show you how nice it is here. We picked the perfect time, just before sunset. It shone directly into the white waves. We were amazed at all the flowers and bushes that grow here. There is such a wide variety almost unbelievable if you don’t see it with your’s own eyes… We even saw two cute little birds with white stripes and wondered what kind they might be. The light brown sand of the beach reaches all along the seaside and is so inviting for a long barefoot walk. Something we would like to do very soon…

Attention!

Just a quick remark. For some reason I cannot open my hotmail-address, so please send all the e-mails to martin.marianne.george@gmail.com. And could you do me the favour and resend the e-mails you have already sent within the past few days to the address mentioned above. Thank you so much!

We are getting settled...

We are really getting settled at our little place now. There are towels in the bathrooms, there is fruit in a bowl on our bar, the fridge is filled. By the way, we were so impressed at the offer for vegetarian meat. We've tried some saussages and hamburgers and they are really good...
Yesterday was such a nice day. We actually just stayed at home to give Martin enough time to study air law. He might have to do all the exams for the PPL (Private Pilot Licence) again because everything has changed since last year. So at the moment he is busy studying and catching up on all the stuff.
Our old BMW drives really well and it is in quite a good condition but we still took some time to get it cleaned and stop the rubber gaskets from brittling away. Martin sprayed them with a special oil and he also checked all the locks, which don't open and close as smooth as we would like them to. I cleaned the ceiling inside the car which was full of stains.
In the evening we drove to the beach closest to us (3 minutes) and enjoyed the beautiful view of the ocean. There was a light breeze and it was a warm evening. Martin also took me to Herold's Bay which is a stunning bay close to George. We sat there for quite a while looking at the waves, the sun, shining brightly into the red rocks covered with green bushes.
Before driving to town, we stopped at a big gym and signed up for a year. This gym looks fantastic, there is also a big pool, a sauna, obviousely lots of treadmills and fitness tools. They also offer classes like dancing, aerobics, fitness... We are planning to go there at least twice a week.
We then drove pass the Medi Clinic, which seems to be a great hospital, to George, where we bougth two cinema tickets for "Ratatouille". We loved this movie, it was so cute. The kind of movie that has got a lot of humour but still some sense, is unpredictable and just great! You have to go and see it!
When we got home, Martin had another chance to study, while I cooked a late night supper.
It's great to be here and we love to welcome everyone who would like to come and visit us. There is so much we would like to show you and share with you!

We've arrived!!!

We have arrived! Finally we report to you from George! Everything is fine. We arrived as planned in George on Thursday afternoon, where Wollie (who sold the old BMW to Martin) handed Martin the car keys of his personal car, so we could drive to Mosselbay. On our way we met Nita, who is the agent of Just Letting, the agency through which we got our apartment. Following her we reached our apartment building "Casa Grande" in Reebok. The apartment is really beautiful and the pictures hadn't promised us too much. We even have the view of the sea! After we had brought our stuff upstairs, we went out to have Pizza at a really lovely place. Yesterday and today we were running around the whole day to get the things missing in the apartment, buy grocaries, get the Internet connection, which costed us a furtune, but isn't even that fast, opening an account, settling all the papers connected with the car... This evening was the first time we could really sit down in our apartment and enjoy it. Martin got went pass the Flight Training College today and will start his lessons on Monday. I will also start on that day. But before that Martin still has to teach me to drive this oldtimer as it seems to be quite difficult... We are very well, happy and relieved that we could get so many things done within these few days. We even got Martins mobile phone number: +27 76 508 54 18.
The weather is sunny and hot and we are both very happy...

We've checked in...

This morning we packed up everything and met at the airport at 11 o'clock. After some repacking we could hand in our bags at the check-in desk and received our boarding cards. For the last time we drove to Winterthur together and walked through the town where we used to spend so much time during schooltime. The last evening with our families, before we meet each others at nine o'clock at the passport control and fly far far away to Africa...

Celebrations and parties before we leave...

On Friday we celebrated Martins promotion to lieutenant at the Casino in Berne. In the evening we went to the magnificent dance at the Palace Hotel in Lausanne, which Martin had organised. It was simply perfect: The salon was decorated with shinig candles, a band played beautifully throughout the evening, we had a delicious 5-course menu, funny entertainment and danced until the last dance. It was such a stunning evenig and I can only congratulate and admire Martin for having planned this whole evenig so perfectly. I felt so spoilt and will always think back at this day as one of the most special days in my life!
Yesterday evening Stefanie organised a surprise party for Martin, where family and friends came to say good-bye to him and also me. She had prepared a colourful Apéro-table with all Martin's favourite food. It was such an enjoyable and cosy evening.
Today we will have my farewell at our house in Winterthur.
We are both very busy with the last preparations and with trying to get everything we would like to take with us to South Africa into one suitcase of 20 kg.
Only one day left until we leave...

our postal address

If you feel like sending us a letter or something, here is our postal address in Mosselbay...
Casa Grande 9
Impala Weg Reebok
Klein Brakriver
Mosselbay
We are always happy to receive messages from dear friends and family...;-)

only a week left in Switzerland...

The time is moving closer quickly... only one week left and we will be off to South Africa for one year. Nothing can possibly stand in our way now. We have rented a beautiful apartment in Mosselbay, bought an old BMW from the 70ies, Martin has got place at the Flight Training Center in George and I am able to work at the Heatherlands Playschool in George as volunteer...