The Old Candle Factory

A wonderful Jo'burg thunderstorm is pouring soft rain on the road to the airport. I am flying home on Virgin Airways with a suitcase full of stories and pictures ready to share with YOU. Mike and Jeanette picked me up in their Rolls Royce yesterday and drove straight to a wonderful restaurant which had kept a parking space for us right outside. Once Jeanette had parked the Silver Spirit neatly we emerged from this grand old Lady to applause from both sides of the street as the open air diners showed their admiration of Jeanette's fine arrival in such style. I last drove this car in UK when this adventurous couple drove from Cape Town to London!! Click HERE. Enormous thanks for all your hospitality - very welcome and appreciated as I climb down from my 6 week 'High' and make my way home.

We shall all enjoy looking at each other's photos once we're back in Blighty. Here's a taster from Adam's camera taken at Africa House on a LOOOOOONG tether before releasing the rope and flying free. Another shot from Adam's camera of us inside the balloon before inflating and flying.

Time to head home now. The balloon's packed and will be shipped soon. Very much a feeling of 'end of term' as everyone tries to remember everything they should. It will be a strange feeling coming home to a big pile of mail - but also a broadband connection so I shall post more pictures and stories. Watch this space!!!!! Tourist!

3 glorious flights in Namibia...one at 30kts! Back in Windhoek now absolutely exhausted. More tomorrow..... Landed in a tree this morning - hilarious!! Here's a couple of images of the balloon taken by the lads. The trouble with being in it all the time, I never get a chance to take a picture of it! The 2nd flight over Namibia was the best of the lot. 30knots at 6,000 feet and the film taken from the plane was spectacular. I cannot wait until september - the transmission date. This shot is taken after the night inflation. Goodness know what the nearby Zebra and Oryx thought of the great big light in the sky.

s just We've wrecked the rear diff on our trusty Iveco. The noise was terrifying - and it was a fascinating exercise in progressively identifying sounds and symptoms. Put the clutch in - rear wheels lock up. Is that graunching sound coming from the gearbox? the transfer box? or travelling along the propshaft from the rear differential? Once we'd agreed it was the last we turned back to the nearest town (UIS) and got here by engaging front wheel drive which worked well provided we ignored the painful grinding of teeth in the back axle. The palava getting beds in one place, dinner in another in UIS would have been comical were it not for difficulty in keeping our eyes open. Yesterday morning Adam detached the propshaft - thus isolating the offending axle and she behaved beautifully all the way to ..... wherever we are now. So we are now safely at our final destination and jolly luxurious it is too!! The owner has just taken us on a recce of the area for our final balloon flights ...

Frank is our director, and a jolly good job he's doing! It's a gruelling task keeping control of the schedule with so many things that scupper his plans - not the least of which is the weather! We see him here preparing for a landing amongst a herd of Buffalo and you can see his calm demeanor reassuring his fellow balloon passengers that all will be well. Standing beside Frank is Becca from the production team looking positively excited at the prospect at landing amongst Buffalo - thus demonstrating her skill at not being phased by occasional dramas and generally spreading good cheer all around and keeping control of the rest of us. Will is usually seen with a video camera bolted to his shoulder, but is seen here singing 'Jailhouse Rock' into his air microphone whilst Becca is reassuring him that the this new covered basket with seats will protect him from Buffalo on all future balloon landings. The air mike is made from sugar cane and is simply delicious, and simil...

We have at last arrived at the Atlantic Ocean after a not uneventful drive from Windhoek! And since we arrived at sunset Adam drove straight to the TUG bar on the beach and ordered drinks. The town is Swakopmund and offers further architectural surprises, and a simply magnificent opportunity to clean up, listen to the Atlantic breakers and ponder over why the brakes failed in the middle of a dramatic bit of rocky terrain where the road meandered alarmingly. After watching the brake fluid slowly emerge from the reservoir with the engine running, and then retreat when the engine was switched off, we applied our minds to the brake servo. That didn't get us anywhere, so we closed the bonnet, and set off gingerly only to feel the brakes reappear shortly afterwards. The other episode which livened up our departure from Windhoek was when we stopped for diesel on the outskirts of town. Adam monitored the man pouring in the precious fluid and Jess went off to buy supplies in the servi...