A good surf at Margate.

Friday 10 July.

 

We didn't go for a walk this morning but set out after breakfast for Margate. We planned to be back for lunch but Moira filled a flask with coffee and packed a couple of muesli rusks for a snack. We left at 9 am and when we reached Margate Moira parked the car at the beach front. There was a good surf running but nobody out on boards though in the bay a number of people were in swimming.

 

The coast at Margate.

 

 

Where we parked lots of stalls were being set up with people selling African type ornaments, trinkets and paintings. We walked along and headed up to the main street through the town. On the way there was a curry take-away advertising genuine Indian spicy cuisine. We checked the menu and a small curry was R25 for

lamb and R20 for chicken. We decided to get some later to take home for tonight's dinner. We walked through the town but there wasn't anything much of interest. We continued to where the road cut down to the far end of the esplanade. Once there it was a pleasant walk along beside the sea. There were some lovely sandy bays with rocky outcrops at the sides. The surf burst over these rocks sending a spray high into the air. Another place where the waves broke was the pier which was lined with fishermen, but again we never saw anyone catch a thing. We continued past where we had parked and went to the curry take-away where Moira bought one lamb and one chicken curry. The curries was already cooked and the woman was going to heat them up in the microwave but we told her we would take them as they were and heat them at home.

 

We left Margate and headed back to Shelly Beach and the South Coast Mall. There was a power cut and all the traffic lights were down. This caused a back up in the traffic as the junctions were now operating as four way stops. It was slow going until after the lights in Uvongo then we got moving bit quicker. We cut down to the sea front at Shelly Beach where we parked and had our coffee and rusk while watching more fishermen and the waves. One angler looked as if he had caught a huge fish as his rod nearly bent double while he tried to reel in. It turned out that his line just got snagged on the rocks.

 

At the Mall we went first of all to Game where I bought a high pressure water cleaner. We also got a light bulb for the bathroom where the light had gone, they still stocked the old fashioned kind not the power saving variety that you can't read with. Another thing that I got was an adjustable rose for the shower head. The next stop was the builders merchants next door where I got a chisel to chip out the adhesive from the area where I have removed the broken tiles. I bought a packet of adhesive to stick down the new tiles.

 

It was home then and we got back at lunch time. I put the Ashes test match on to watch while we had our sandwiches. England were doing very well and at their lunch break they had Australia all out for 308, this gave England a first innings lead of 122. I then turned over for the cycling. The route today was 190.5 km from Liverot to Fougeres. It was flat and a classic sprinter's stage. There had been one small hill early on and the MTN African rider picked up another point so is assured of the polka dot jersey for another day.

Karcher K2.36 High press. washer.

 

There wasn't anything exciting in the cycling at the point it was at with over 100 km to go. There was the usual trio in a breakaway but they were gradually being caught and wouldn't hold out to the finish. Until it got to the exciting stages we put together the power jet cleaner and tried it out. It worked perfectly and I concentrated on the brick patio at the back where the bricks were very dirty. It removed the dirt easily and it is now looking very clean.

 

I also gave the walls on that area a spray down and it is all appearing respectable again. I was filthy with getting soaked and covered with sand and gravel from the ground. I had a shower and tried out the new rose I had fitted, I worked well and gave a more concentrated jet.

 

 

It was time to get back to the 'Tour' once the work was finished. I settled down with a cup of coffee and watched the final 50 km. the peleton was gradually reeling in the breakaway trio and caught them with about 10 km to go. All the teams then began to get into a line to place their sprinters in a good position for the final few kilometres. The teams don't seem to be as disciplined as previously and Cavendish managed to get himself isolated again. Fortunately he picked up Griepel's wheel, that's the guy who has beaten him twice in the sprints so far. This time Cav held his position on his wheel until just before the line then spurted forward to get the win. He was relieved to get a stage win at last.

 

After that it was over to the cricket again. England were progressing well at the time, 187/4. After that they seemed to go mad and were flashing their bats at anything. They lost their last wicket in the final over of the day. They finished with 289 and a lead of 411. I thought with two days still to go they could have taken it easy until about lunch time tomorrow and hopefully reach an unassailable lead of over 500. It remains to see if they made a mistake or not. I didn't bother with the tennis, Murray had made some mistakes, he lost to Federer in straight sets.

 

We had our dinner while the cricket was on. Moira boiled some rice and made naan bread to go with the curries we bought at Margate this morning. They were very nice. Later, on TV we watched the celebrity version of the 'Chase'. It wasn't bad but I think they make the questions simpler for the celebrities. Later there was the courtroom drama series, 'Silk'. We hadn't seen this one and it was quite good. Off to bed at the normal time.

 

 

 

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