Friday 4 May 2012

The Edinburgh leaves - without me!

I'm packed and ready to go.  But today I waved goodbye to the MV Edinburgh - which left without me. A sad moment.

The island is trying hard to find a ship that might divert and take me to South Africa. One shipping company has responded to say they are looking and has forwarded the request to sister companies.  So quite promising but no definite yes's.  I've also e-mailed websites that organise cruises on cargo ships and wait to hear back.

My plans to meet up with Simon in South Africa for a week's holiday and travel back to the UK together are starting to slowly unravel.  Tomorrow he will have to postpone his flight from London to Cape Town. Deeply depressing. I was looking forward to that so much.

I've been restocking my food supplies which I'd run down. Its hard to know how much to buy - especially fruit and vegetables which will sell out shortly (a consignment arrived on the Edinburgh earlier ths week).   I need to start to plan what I'm going to do while on this extended stay. I guess I can't go too far from the Settlement in case a ship arrives suddenly...  Maybe tonight I'll go to the pub to drown my sorrows, well have a few pints.  Tomorrow morning I'll do some cooking - which is always therapeutic.

Other news:
A birthday card from my sister in America arrived this week which cheered me up.  Thank you Catherine. But sadly still no sign of the outstanding Christmas present.

I took groups of school kids for a guided walk and talked about plants this morning. They were excited about getting out of the class-room - and probably because this is the beginning of a two week school holiday.

6 comments:

  1. I hope you have enjoyed your Botanising on Tristan, Sorry you missed the boat back so to speak. Things take a long time to catch up in the South Atlantic. I was taken off a flight home from the Falklands on Ascension due to being a bit unwell. I asked when the next plane home was, 5 days time! Eeek I first though but then made use of the 3 days I had when feeling up to it to explore.... green turtles, endemic plants etc. I hope you can find something to fill the 6 weeks and that your travel plans from SA aren't too scuppered! Hope the cooking is a success!

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  2. Thank you Kate, Cooking was a great success - pea and carrot soup and mushroom and red pepper pizza (with a home made bread base).

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  3. Jim, that must be deeply disappointing for you - and for Simon. I'm not planning in going very far until early September, so am happy to continue looking after your motorbike for you until your back in town. Love the concept of hitch-hicking a passing ship though… although standing on a cliff top with your thumb out could wear mighty thin after a little while ;)

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  4. Dang Jim that's a pain, although probably not unexpected eh? Hope you manage to hitch a lift back soon.

    Cooking sounds brilliant!

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  5. Thanks guys, yes pretty disappointing. To be fair, you are warned that sailings are subject to cancellation and delay - due to medevacs and weather conditions. You just never think it will have to you. Just before I start a partial unpack I completed a test full pack yesterday just to make sure everything went in...
    Waiting to hear about a possible lift in a passing container ship. Will keep you posted...
    Derek - thank you very much for continuing to look after the motorbike. I'm looking forward to riding (and driving) when I get back home. I've been walking almost everwhere for the past 8 months.

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