Moving.

Next week we bid farewell to our beautiful flat in Tamboerskloof. I can scarcely believe it, but we've been living there for over 9 years. In that time a lot has changed.

In February 2001, when we moved in, it was part retirement home, part insane asylum.

In our stairwell was Tannie Elise. Who bore an almost uncanny resemblance to Betty White from the Golden Girls.

Here's Tannie Elise posing with Mr T.

She was prone to bouts of grumpiness. But they paled in comparison to the furious anger that erupted from her next door neighbour. A tiny woman who looked a bit like a badly shaved Ewok. Her name was Mickey, but she called herself 'The Bergie Queen'. Never really figured out why.

For such a small person, she could really push out the decibels. Like a monotone air raid siren, her rage would fill our back stairwell, sending shivers down our spines. Swearwords that would make sailors blush. And it didn't take a lot to set her off. A trickle of water past her back door and it was "Ooooh! Blerry hell! Fok!" Followed by the sound of 5 flats nervously locking their doors.

And madness roamed the halls.

Belinda, the caretaker of the block, was a schizophrenic with piercing blue eyes, who wasn't keen on her medication. "They're watching me, Aaron. The cameras are watching me." She would say, shifting her gaze nervously towards the empty ceiling.

They've all passed on to the great sectional title in the sky. (May they rest in peace.) To be replaced by young professionals, student hipsters and the occasional pop star.

But beyond the people who live within its walls, the building that has been such a large part of our lives for so long, has a character all of its own.

It's more than the considered Art Deco lines, the Oregan pine floors, or the beautiful mountain views. Our block has soul. And we'll miss being a part of it.

Life's A Beach.

It took us a long time to decide where in Thailand we should go. The search was a little bit like Goldilocks mucking around in the Three Bears' house. Some places were too hot. Others not hot enough. Some were too touristy. Others not touristy enough. Some were too remote. Others not remote enough. Eventually we settled on Ko Lanta. It was just right.

For those of you who don't know the geography of the Andaman Province. Ko Lanta is about 2 hours south of Krabi Town. Unlike most other islands, you can access it by road via two car ferries.

Once we decided on Ko Lanta, planning was a lot easier. We spoke to people who'd been there before and began to gather information. Yes, it has a hospital. Yes, it is malaria free. Yes, it is mindblowingly awesome.

All that was left was to book some accommodation. Emma, a friend who we met in McGregor, had travelled in Thailand with her kid not so long ago. And she recommended the Narima Bungalow Resort. It's the kind of place we like.

Bungalows that are large and air-conditioned. With a nice big porch to sling a hammock.

 


 
Nature all around us. None of that manicured lawn, package tours twaddle.

And a beautiful beach as standard.

We've booked two weeks here. Which is nice.

A Place To Rest Our Heads.

Things are falling into place quite nicely. I picked up Sam's passport yesterday. Which, disappointingly, was not scaled-down to a Sprog-sized booklet. And we've booked accommodation for when we arrive in Bangkok. The name of the place is the Phranakorn Nornlen Hotel. And it's literally a work of art.

The interior of the hotel is decorated with hundreds of charming, handpainted masterpieces. This is a detail from the bottom of a staircase leading up from the garden.

And this is what it looks like in one of the bedrooms.

The hotel also has a central garden, so Sprog can run around away from the craziness of Bangkok. 

The only drawback to this island-of-calm is that it's 100% vegetarian. Not a satay chicken stick in sight.

I'll let you know how that goes.

18 Days To Go.

Like sand through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives.

In our case, the sand has been replaced by tiny Velcro balls. Hours pass like days. Days pass like months. Months pass like ...  well, you get the idea.

And this is what we're counting down to:

There are only 18 more days to go before we set off on our 2 month epic to Thailand. Me, Wifie and the Sprog. 

It's not all breathless anticipation though. There's a lot that still needs to be done. Travelling with a 16-month-old means that we're having to prepare a lot more carefully than we normally would. And we've begun to acquire all sorts of unusual stuff, just for him.

Like this thing:

It's called the Travel Bug. It's what they call a pop-up cot. And it's most redeeming feature is that it weighs less than 4 kilograms. Which is very important, because I have to carry it.

It's quick to put up. Has a self-inflating mattress. A sleeping bag. It's mosquito-proof. And it's quick to take down. 

Not that we'll be leaving Thailand in a hurry.