2008-11-06 -> 2009-01-27
I was amazed at how many people read my blog 
I continuously get asked.. “So when are you going to update your blog”. This for me, is great, because it tells me I’m not doing it for nothing
We left for Jeffreys Bay on the 15th December and only arrived 15th January 2009. It was awesome as always. The weather was somewhat strange as in there was loads of wind this year. Yes I know it’s known as the windy city, but we had gale force winds. There were moments that I wondered if the roof would stay on.
Due to the weather, we only went out in our boat twice. How sad is that? LOL. The only reason we cannot use the boat when its windy, is because it has a small battery operated motor which is great for normal weather, but not strong enough against strong wind.
With this in mind, we made the decision that we need to buy a bigger boat with a proper motor, so we went looking at boats. We looking at specifically Ski/Leisure boats. We saw quite a few beautiful ones but we need to shop around for the best buy.
Once we move down there permanently, we will be getting visitors and naturally we would like to take them into the canal and for that we will need a decent boat, come rain, wind, or shine.
At one point we were looking at pontoons, but then we limited to just booze cruises 
Most of this holiday, we also stayed indoors and relaxed. We watched a lot of complete series, e.g. Supernatural, Dr. Who, NipTuck, House, etc…was great not having to wait for the following week for the following episode
So ultimately, we had a very much needed chilled break with the occasional outing which I will cover further down.
Let me tackle the other issues one by one:
HOUSE
Before we went down to the coast, nothing much had progressed except that the buyer, who had opted to buy the property in a CC, changed it to a Trust. The paperwork had to wait until January to get signed as that is when we returned. Everything is now in motion again. We are hoping that our final date is 28th February 2009. I don’t want to stay here one day long!!! Let’s see what happens.
We also can’t leave before the end of February as we have tickets for the A1 race at Kyalami 
GYM
My contract terminated and I’m happy to say that I lost in total 12kgs. The 13th kg comes and goes but it will be gone
PHOTOGRAPHY
You will recall from my last blog that I entered 3 photographs into a competition held at the Pretoria Botanical Gardens.
Well the excellent news is that one of my entries, got me 1st PLACE in its category:-) How awesome is that? Here is the link to the winning entry: http://www.flickr.com/photos/leo69/3048884196/
During the course of November I had the great privilege of being shown the ropes to studio photography, by a very good friend who is a professional photographer (V). His website is: http://www.fletchersphotography.co.za.
V recommended I buy the 50mm “portrait” lens and what an awesome lens that is. He was kind enough to invite us into his studio and boy did he grill me on what I had learnt at the photography course. Somehow I don’t fair too well on unfamiliar territory when I have my back against the wall, but at the same time it showed me how little I did know and how much more I had to practice….practice practice practice.
The photography terminology still baffles me when under pressure to get a decent shot, but I hope it will come with time and I will feel more comfortable.
I have subsequently acquired the Canon 100-400mm lens and just yesterday, I went and bought myself a manfrotto tripod with the joystick head and an extra joystick for my monopod. The Vanguard tripod I had, was far too heavy to carry around. I also had to buy a bigger bag Cameraland loves me
My LAPTOP
You will recall that my laptop was struck by lightning in Novembe 2008. It was the first claim we put forward to the Insurance company in 6 years or more. Needless to say, it took 1 week for them to pay the money in my account and I was able to purchase the exact identical laptop, which made me extremely happy
RATES
Still no outcome on this issue, but then I’m not surprised. They still billing us Business rates instead of Residential rates. Please check your accounts to ensure you being billed the correct rates.
CAR ACCIDENT
You will recall that N had a minor car accident in September 2008. It has taken since then to today, to obtain release forms from the other drivers insurance company, to pay out the damage. But they were a bunch of sharks because they are only paying 80% of the damage.
What happened was, 2 lanes went into one. The truck was STATIONARY, so N, moved half his car into the main lane. For whatever reason, the truck driver decided he is going to move forward. By doing so, he didn’t break in time and hit N’s car.
Now the reason they are not paying 100% of the damage, is because they saying N made an “unsafe lane change in front of their driver which didn’t allow the truck driver to brake in time” Now which part of STATIONARY don’t they understand???
Nevertheless, if it makes their little hearts happy to do us in by R2000, then so be it. We not going to waste our time taking it legal as it will cost more than R2000.
MY BROTHERS 50TH
We flew from JBay to JHB for my brothers 50th. What an awesome party!!!
JBAY – DECEMBER 2008/JANUARY 2009
Although we were indoors alot, we did however take some time to visit a few places.
We went to Seaview Lion Park, African Dawn, MonkeyLand, Birds of Eden (largest free-flight aviary in the world), Bayworld (Oceanarium). If ever you are in the Eastern Cape, these are places well worth visiting.
Places we still want to do include Addo Elephant National Park and other Parks and Nature Reserves. I love wildlife photography
I am still posting my photos onto my flickr account so you can either click on the MY Flickr tab and view my photostream there or you can go straight to my flickr account: http://www.flickr.com/photos/leo69/ Happy viewing If you have any comments or questions, then drop me an email, or sign my guestbook here on the site and I will get back to you , but please leave your contact details so I can get back to you
Until next time !!!