Nothing is ever straight forward!

Mr. Pickles cat being fed scraps of mussels

Mum’s last day was a little more restrained, we went to Portishead, to collect my new varifocal sunglasses, to Aldi to collect some food, and to the marina to have a mooch around and into the wetlands. Rounded off with scones and clotted cream in the garden.

Thursday mum went home, and we went booking... two days it took for flights out and return for mum, return for us, Exodus trip to get us from Johannesburg to Cape Town, car for the Garden Route, safari and lodging in Amakhala game reserve, which held us up, but did save best part of £1000 by speaking to a company in SA, and the other 10 B&B’s/apartments or other lodging B had selected on the web! Amazingly we only missed one of his choices, in Cape Town, where there is no shortage of other accommodation!

On our walk on the Gordano Round. This is at a place called 'The Bottoms'!

More from the 'Gordano Round' The sky was blue despite looking white

We booked the ‘guaranteed’ Exodus trip, which gives us a week to kill between it and the end of the Housesit. A week in Cape Town would have been preferable but if we’d booked on the trip going a week earlier, and then it had been cancelled we’d have potentially found ourselves with a big problem! So what to do in that week? A side trip to Zimbabwe to the Victoria Falls had already crossed my mind, and was suggested by one of our contacts at Trailfinders. And this is where it all becomes ‘difficult’!

I like photos like this; there are three major bridges in this photo (although it may be difficult to pick them out). The nearest one is the M5 bridge over the River Avon, centre left is the new River Severn bridge connecting England (in the foreground) with Wales (in the distance). It carries the M4 motorway running from London to Swansea in Wales. Behind that and only visible if you squint, is the old River Severn suspension bridge carrying what is now the M48 motorway between England and Wales. If you zoom in you can see the two white towers, one near the right, the other almost obscured by a wind turbine. Very difficult to make out, but it is definitely there

Abbots Pool, a local beauty spot on the Gordano Round

To enter South Africa we have been told we have to have a blank double page in our passports. Mum brought my passport down with her so I could check, and I do, but the Exodus trip goes out of SA into Swaziland and back and in to Lesotho and back so an extra trip in to Zimbabwe and back may have just been too much. Exodus said “it’ll be fine” the SA embassy said “you need a double page for each entrance!”

So, extra pages from the post office? Not anymore, so looks like a new passport then even though it doesn’t expire until 2021. Online application, three weeks, from date

I know what you're thinking, he's going to fall in!

of starting to process.... that would slow our departure to the Continent a bit. Go to one of the seven passport offices that fast track them. Well Newport is only half an hour away... so the one week, or the one day (at an extra £35?) looks like a day out in Wales on Wednesday then going for the one day, as we couldn’t realistically book a ferry till the passport is back in our possession! Is all this necessary? Probably not, but is it worth the risk? Who wants to get stuck in Lesotho?

We don’t even know if we’ll get stamped back into the U.K. on our return from the Continent. I actually hope we do, how else will we be able to prove when our 90 in 180 days in Europe runs from?

Made it, but wait a minute, I've got to get back out again yet....

Easy does it.....made it safely back

We are also getting stressed with tyres for the Continent, various countries (Germany and Austria) have a legal requirement for winter tyres, which we almost have, we have M&S (mud and snow, not Marks and Spencer) marked on ours, which used to be sufficient, but now you need a little mountain and snowflake symbol. We might be able to get away with it, they were fitted before 2018, and when winter starts is open to interpretation, but again risk v stress? We did look to buy some when the van was serviced, but in June winter tyres didn’t seem to be available...!

On the bright side, Wednesday is also the day that tenants finally move into Latimer Road! About bloody time!

So today was emergency dash to Portishead for passport form and photos, though the woman cast doubt “your eyes are blue, and look it on this photo, but in your passport look brown. Can you get someone to sign it?” “No, we know no one!”

Here's a short video of our walk:

A welcome pint in The George on our walk

Yesterday was rain and papers and Saturday was a 7.1 mile walk from the door. (I do like a walk that doesn’t involve the car) on part of the ‘Gordano Round’. Don’t ask me, I just looked for signs while Brian followed the route in the booklet Iain had left out! A good pint and sandwich at the George just over half way round worked out very well.

We’ve done lots of cat cuddling, I was pinned in bed by four cats this morning. Most unusual for Tinsel to actually spend time that close to the others, but she did and it was lovely. I’m writing with Mr P on my lap, while B has Millie. Shadow just wasn’t quick enough this time, though even when he does get there first it doesn’t always stop MrP from sitting on him! We are really going to miss this lot.

All four pussy cats on the bed with us at once, very rare

Mr. Pickles cat fast asleep on a lap - as usual!