First impressions

A safe journey to South Africa achieved. The flight was all that might be expected, although, I can not remember the last time I sat in row 63 of an aircraft (two from the back!). This is my first trip straight down south and I found sleeping relatively easy (because this was normal night time for me). The day had been full, making the journey down from Tamworth (coach from Birmingham airport to Heathrow) and going through all the hassle of boarding at Terminal 3. I met up with Richard Brand at Heathrow; he is going out to play in the qualification event. The dinner did not come out immediately, so we were pretty tired by the time that we had finished food.

We were met at Cape Town airport by Carole Jackson, who is President of the South Africa Croquet Association. We are lucky enough to be able to stay with her during the coming week. During the Championship, I am moving into a bed and breakfast, Little Scotia.

The weather was good on arrival and we could very quickly get a sense of the surrounds of Cape Town. We could see Table Mountain and Devil's Peak. As we drove along the highway, we could already see the shanties in the township of Nyanga. We briefly called in at Rondebosch Croquet Club and saw some of the preparations for the Championship, had a shower to freshen up and then went out for some touring. We went into wine country, passing over four mountain passes to see the countryside around Stellenbosch and Franschhoek (see the picture); all very beautiful. We had a wonderful meal at the Grand Provence winery.

Carole had just reminded me that one of the highlights (!) of the day was when we faced a driver coming down one of the passes on our side of the road! I am convinced that it was a tourist (but not from the UK because South Africa drives on the "correct" side of the road). Fortunately, Carole kept her cool and we lived to tell the tale.

In summary, I am here, feel very little jet lag and the Cape Town area is already making a great impression.