Joyce Miller

California

**************

David and Joan 

Washington DC

 5 September 2002

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I met Joan and David at the George airport on our first day. Unfortunately Joyce's plane flights had been delayed and she would only arrive the following day. 

After Joan and David's arrival we went straight to Overmeer guesthouse. We then went for a light lunch. Thereafter David and Joan very shrewdly got about 8 hours worth of sleep thus preparing themselves for the tour ahead of them. Straight after their sleep we went off to Changes Restaurant for a delightful dinner.

We stopped in for a latish lunch at the Knysna Waterfront as can be seen for the above picture.

Day 2

6 September 2002

Joyce arrives

Joan and David enjoying the view from the one side of the Knysna Heads.
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David and Joan coming out of the forestry area surrounding the Knysna Heads.

We fetched Joyce at the George airport 

We stopped in al Laila's arms in George for lunch where I played the teaspoon trick on Joyce and Joan.

Joan, David and Joyce at the Train museum in George.

In the evening we all went to La Loerie for a wonderful dinner.

Day 3

7 September 2002

Trip to Stormsriver Bridge

In the morning I coerced the trio to start their day by going for a walk on the Brenton on Sea beach

Brenton on sea beach with the trio being made to look rather miniscule in the bottom left hand side of the picture.

We travelled on to Tsala Lodge where I took this picture of Joan and Mikhalaya in one of the Lodge's rooms

Joan learning the freedom handshake from Mikhlaya

Joan enjoying the comfort of the Kings Chair at Tsala

The trio pose in front of the  the huge forest in Natures Valley

Joan and Joyce on the Nature's Valley beach
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Joyce, David and Joan with the beautiful Natures valley behind them.

On our way back from the Stormsriver Bridge where we had lunch we stopped in at the Bloukrans Bridge and watched the bungi jumpers leaping off the bridge.

We stopped in at Plettenberg Bay on our way back 
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On our arrival back in Knysna we "chased" the sunset and came up with this fabulous picture

In the evening we went for a wonderful meal to the Lake Pleasant Hotel

Day 4

8 September 2002

Travel back to the Winelands

Overmeer's baby labrador, Mowgli, was quite a handful as can be seen from the following two pictures taken at Overmeer. J

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On our way back to Cathbert we tool\k this photo outside Swellendam.

We stopped in at Belle Alliance Restaurant in Swellendam where I caught the trio unawares while taking in the daily news before our lunch arrived. J

After arriving at Cathbert Country House we travelled on to Rozendal where the inimitable Joseph and Tania served us a wonderful dinner.

Day 5

9 September 2002

The Cape Winelands.

The trio enjoy the facilities at Cathbert Country House
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David photographing the local peacock at Cathbert Country House.

We visited the cheetah foundation at Spier and here we see Joyce, Joan and David stroking Nyana while Viv keeps all in check.

We stopped in at a local restaurant "De Zoete Inval"  in Stellenbosch for lunch

We then travelled on to the township of Kayamandi where the following pictures were taken.

On leaving Kayamandi we spotted the rainbow that can be seen in the photo and just felt that it was worth a picture.

We returned to Cathbert after our trip to Kayamandi and had dinner at the guesthouse that evening

Day 6

10  September 2002

Kirstenbosch

We started our day by going to Kirstenbosch where as can be seen from the below photos we had a wonderful morning

Can you spot Joyce hiding away behind this statue in the gardens? J

We drove up to Signal Hill and took this wonderful panoramic photo of the trio standing in front of Cape Town and Table Mountain
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On returning from Kirstenbosch I took this picture of Joyce, Joan and David in front of Camps Bay and the 12 Apostles

In the evening we had dinner at Fujiyama Restaurant

Day 7

11  September 2002

The Cape Peninsula

The happy trio posing with Muizenberg in the background

The happy trio view take in the magnificent view of Fish Hoek
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We stopped in at the Penguin Colony at Boulders beach and took the below pictures

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We then travelled to Cape Point as well as the Cape of Good Hope and took the following pictures while we were on the Cape of Good Hope nature reserve

David, Joyce and Joan admire our car guard for the afternoon. J

Joan and David with the Cape of Good Hope in the background

We made it to The Cape of Good Hope.

On our way back from Cape Point we stopped in at Steenberg restaurant for dinner.

Day 8

12  September 2002

Table Mountain

This was going to be a free day for the trio however I was not going to let them leave Cape Town without ascending Table Mountain so that was what we did on the day.

Joyce does "The Titanic"  J

Not to be outdone Joan did the Titanic too.  J

We met the ladies from the Kensington retirement home atop the mountain.

A wonderful picture taken on Table Mountain to end a wonderful tour.

David, Joan and Joyce were a fantastic trio to travel with. The ladies were always game to try anything while David kept us at a pace they ensured that we did all qualitatively (excepting for the fact that his vote enforced us to skip the aloe factory in Albertinia) J We had enormous fun together and many a good story was also told on the tour by all with the one that I will remember most being a story of Queen Wilhemina and a couple of Messerschmidts as well as other planes (private joke that only the four of us would understand). All in all, this was a great tour which I certainly enjoyed mainly because of the enthusiasm that Joyce, Joan and David displayed.

Thanks a ton Joyce, Joan and David

Received 9 October 2002

Dear Selwyn,

Now that I'm settled for the month in Paris with my
husband and have somewhat digested most of my African adventures and experiences, I want to thank you again for your wonderful tour with the "liberal animals." 
You know we had a terrific time sharing your hidden
secrets and getting the personal angle on practically
everything we saw. The Kayamandi visit was an
insightful highlight, while your wine production and
Cape Dutch architecture lectures were most informative
and memorable. The choice of accommodations and the
fine and ample dining choices were terrific, too. But
most of all, Selwyn, YOU were/are the greatest. You
can be sure I will recommend you highly to all and
every person I know who intends to visit Cape Town. I
can't wait until I return to California and have those
rolls and rolls of film developed to have as more
concrete evidence of the wonderful time I spent with
you, Joan and David. Best wishes and good health to you and Bette (sorry we never met) and let's hope we do meet again.  If you get to California, you know you are both most welcome to stay with us.

Most fondly,
Joyce 

*

The below, very special writings, were passed on to me by Joan, David and Joyce at the end of our tour.