This surely has turned out to be my year of VIP visitors! Right after I sadly waved goodbye to Mish, Colleen, Shingi and Temba, I begans counting down the days to another big event. In mid-September Townsville's un-remarkable airport was the arrival point for the city's MOST REMARKABLE visitor, by my calculation anyway. How many 85-year olds are jetting around on their own, anyway? Let alone following through with travel plans after undergoing a 5-month bureaucratic nightmare to get a simple tourist visa (yes, this was for Australia!) and last-minute medical intervention for a minor wound that became an ulcer needing a skin graft. Putting all that behind her, Jessie-Ma-Granny touched down here, late at night, after umpteen hours in the air since leaving Cape Town, and many more hours waiting in various airport terminals. She was travel-weary but smiling -- amazing! And despite her still- worrying leg, she was soon ready for an easy walk along the Strand waterfront (pic at right) in between many long coffee-and-chat sessions, both in the holiday apartment where we stayed and on board Jeshan in the marina (pic below). |
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