After an all day drive from Swaziland, we arrived in the seaside town of Uvongo, on the south coast of Kwa-Zulu Natal for a reunion that I had been dreaming about for a very long time…
Once we passed Durban, I lapsed into an emotional silence, my vision blurring occasionally as I thought about my parents who I had last seen almost three years ago… Patricia seemed to understand the emotions bottled up inside me, and made little attempt to lure the spoken word out of me…
She clasped my hand tightly as we neared the turnoff to Uvongo, and I could see that she was as emotional as I was… I parked the car in their back garden, leapt out and rushed across to greet the two people I had missed the most over the past three years…
I hugged my father tightly, my tears wetting the shoulder of his shirt, while my mother hugged and welcomed Patricia… My father, always stoic, grinned back at me when we finally stood back to look each other in the eye… I could see that he was as emotional as I was, but was trying to keep a straight face in the presence of Patricia…
“Well done son…!! You made it back…!! I’m proud of you…!!” Those few words of praise somehow made the adversity I had faced all the more worth it…
Then it was my turn to hold my mother tightly, and tell her how much I had missed her, while my father hugged Patricia and told her how long he had looked forward to meeting her…
The return of the vagabond…
…and brings with him a new member of the family…!!
My parents very quickly took to Patricia, and within a short space of time, a new pecking order had been established in the Borrageiro household…
First in line of course, was Patricia; followed by my sister’s Labrador Nikita; and relegated to a distant third place, was yours truly…!! It had been quite a while since I last experienced such as a massive drop in status and popularity…!!
When we weren’t being winded and dined by my folks, which took up most of every day we were with them, Patricia and I spent time on the coastline just half a mile from the house…. The Uvongo Lagoon is in the background of this photo…
Manaba Beach with Margate in the background…
High wind and overcast conditions kept us from swimming, but did not stop us from taking walks on the beach… Or “skips” as Patricia demonstrates here…!!
The beautiful Mrs. Borrageiro on Margate Beach… I’m still pinching myself…!!
On a sunnier day at Orange Rocks, a place where I used to walk my dog Jessie whenever I got the chance…
My father’s cousin, Ronald and his wife Judith, who live nearby, dropped in to have lunch with us on our second day down on the coast… They recalled the night I had spent on their farm in February 2010, just before I left to make my ride to the southern point of Africa at Cape Aghulhas…
That was the last time they and my parents had seen me since my journey around the world began…
Tres Borrageiros…
With my mother and Judith… We spent a quiet afternoon catching up on local events that I had missed over the past few years…
All too soon, the three days we spent with my folks were at an end, and I had spent a restless night before we left, wondering when I would see them again…
I had enjoyed watching Patricia interact with my parents and their complete acceptance of her… Watching them laughing together or skipping about in the garden, chatting about my father’s recipes, and finding out more about the mischief their son had got up to as a much younger man, made my heart sing…
“Perhaps you should have given me a call before you agreed to marry him…!!” I think I heard my mother say at one point…!! “He was easily the naughtiest child I have ever come across…!! My hair started going gray from the moment he started to walk…!!”
Not quite the advertisement I was hoping for…!!
My parents In the room you are most likely to find them; the kitchen…!! They kept Patricia and I very well fed…!!
We left Uvongo with mixed emotions… It had been a joyful few days, filled with laughter and happiness, and our departure was understandably tinged with sadness and more than just a few tears…
We made promises to return as soon as we able and with a final round of hugs and kisses, left to make the long drive back to Johannesburg…
Hey Ronnie (and Patricia)
Whilst I realise time was very limited (and very precious), I am really sorry that I didn’t get to see you whilst you were in KZN. Not only would I have loved to meet your lovely wife, and hear more details about your EPIC trip, but it would have also been a blast to see that part of the coast again. Our annual April school holidays were spent at Uvongo, and I have many good memories of that place (jumping off the cliffs into the lagoon, waffles at the Blue Lagoon, getting drunk at the La Crate Hotel with Bob Gulle and Leonard Roux…..aaah the good old days!)
So if you ever find yourself in that neck of the woods again, please let me know. (I will put the beers in the fridge in anticipation)
Cheers
My heart is full of joy because of your happiness.
Big tights hugs,
I can definitely provide evidence to what a “naughty child” you were…. The image of you sitting in class with a Puffadder in a bag that was stuffed into the front of your shirt is only one that comes to mind!
AAAaaahh!!! Papa and Mama are so special…
You right about the kitchen – a week with them and you can easily put on 5 kilos. No matter how old we get, parents are always precious.
I’m sure they are still re-living every moment…you better visit soon, again..
BIG kisses
k
Pity your time with Mom and Dad was so short. They really would have loved it if you guys had stayed a month or two. Three days just wasn’t enough. Ian, what scary memories we all have of Ronnie and his snakes….they were everywhere, in our cupboards, on the curtain railings, behind the fridge, in shoes etc. They always seemed to escape his room and find ours. Good old days…at least we have lived to tell the stories.
We miss you already,
Enjoy the island life,
Love to Patricia,
Charmz xoxo
Hi Ronnie,Im glad to see that you showed Patricia my favorite part of SA, the South Coast, Im sorry I never got to meet you down there, i missed you by a week, I went down to my place at munster and I saw Ronald and Judy and they told me that they had spent some time with you, Patricia and your folks. Ronnie im sure our paths will cross at some stage, I wish you and your beautifull wife many happy years of marraige, I have just celebrated 22 years…plse know that your Dalton highway dedication is forever in my heart and even though we have not met so are u.
God Bless