Umhlanga Lighthouse

Thank goodness for incompetent meteorologists! The forecast was for rain from the early morning and as it had rained hard all night I was surprised when we awoke to see brilliant sunshine. Gavin and I went for a run (he did double the distance I did!) around the area where we are staying and while I was admiring the opulent mansions in the area, I was at the same time disturbed to see a number of people sifting through the garbage that had been put out by said houses in the hope of finding something of use. My sister says they are a common sight and known as 'the shoppers'.

After breakfast I wandered down to the beach and although it was warm it was incredibley windy, the sand blowing off the beach and reaching us walking on the promenade above the beach level. I was pleased to see the lighthouse, a familiar landmark from my childhood, and it looked glorious against that blue sky. My family arrived and after we waited hours for Gavin to finish his conference calls, we finally went out for a late lunch and then had a lovely drive along the Durban beachfront, noting all the positive changes but also noticing some derelict buildings near the harbour area. It was a lovely trip down memory lane for all of us except the boys, but I think they found it interesting. My mum was then really tired and so we took her home and have had a quiet night in of yummy take away sushi for supper (from the local supermarket that has a sushi counter with a sushi chef making it fresh all day!). I have been trying to catch up on blips and as the wifi is so slow it seems to have taken twice as long as usual.

If you wish to see more photos of Umhlanga and Durban, there are some here