the saviour of SAA flight 1370 east london to cape town

i think its fantastic that dedicated airline staff are looking out for the safety of passengers like me. there is nothing more satisfying than a sense of security when you are airborne. this is why i am extremely grateful to the man who pulled me over at east london airport and told me that i would have to take the scissors out of my carry on luggage to be confiscated. "scissors?" i said... i didnt even know there were scissors in my bag. but after a while i found them, flimsy, blunt nosed and half the size of my hand, they had been hiding in my first aid kit. shock and awe! i had come so close to being forced into hijacking an aeroplane. i handed them over at once, got on the plane, and killed the pilot with my insulin injection pens. it wasnt nearly as fun as doing it with scissors...

winter time

the year marches on and winter has arrived. temperatures have plummeted to around 20 degrees Celsius, brrr, chilly. the rain has stopped and the once green hills slowly start to turn yellow. in my homeland of capetonia massive storms and rain and even snow (on the high ground) are in full effect. what this means around here is massive swell and offshore winds, yes please!

the last weekend of may was spent at mdumbi backpackers. for us at the hospital its like a second home. the owner used to live at canzibe and romantic liaisons between hospital and backpacker staff are commonplace. its great to be treated as a local and not as a tourist. with a storm raging in cape town the weather was mild and sunny. the swell hitting the bay was anything but mild. the notoriously fickle mdumbi point refused to play ball for the first day and a half but then a stiff direct offshore picked up and it all cleaned up beautifully. i wish i was a good enough surfer to take advantage of it but i only managed one wave before my fitness let me down. the arms are aching at the moment, hopefully this bodes well for the rest of the season.

the rest of the weekend was spent relaxing and watching angus repair his new favourite board. the ocean has come to life. chad season has begun and the local fishermen are out in force. a whale was spotted during the surf session and dolphins can be seen everywhere. hopefully next weekend will be a repeat show :)

i am, however, looking forwards to going to cape town in june. distractions are important