You are getting this email as a BCC with about 50 others because either one or both of Michelle and Andrew Sinclair thought you might like to hear from us “on the road”. If this is not the case and this email is misaddressed or banned by your workplace or our bragging simply sickens you – please let me know and you will hear no more from us.

Where to start? Why not here! We are currently in Cape Town where we are staying with our Australian housemate – Melissa. My odd coincidence she is here studying on a Winston Churchill Fellowship at the same time as we pass through. It really is a small world. This is just as well as Internet and phone access in Africa are both slow and expensive. To just be able to sit and type this (with and Earl Grey and a chocolate biscuit) with no $/time pressure is a real pleasure.

Today we toured the Victoria and Albert Waterfront and the beachside suburbs. Despite the cold there were surfers. There are also Great White Sharks here hunting the seals on the Island just offshore. We are –not- swimming. We also braved the Green Bay markets and bought curios and trinkets for us and for some of you. Size and weight is the only thing stopping us getting a 6 foot giraffe for our house.

We bought even more postcards for you lot but so far of the lots we’ve sent no-one seems to have gotten one. If you do, please email to let us know as we are beginning to think the SA Post is hopeless.

We have been in Africa for 5 weeks now and we simply love the place. We have hired a VW Polo which is a lovely car and a great way to get around. SA roads are wonderful and petrol is the same price as AUS. This is all good as the drivers have – shall we say – a unique way of driving. It keeps your head clear and the defensive driving course I did just before leaving is paying off. Once you get the hang of it, it’s quite safe – except the cities – which we avoid - and at night which we simply don’t drive in. The signage is excellent and navigation a breeze. Overall the level of “civilization” (shops, ATMs, facilities etc) is very similar to at home.

We have spent 2 weeks in Kruger National Park alone. This is a huge place which is a joy to camp and stay in for the animals and birds. So far it’s 220 species of birds including Vultures, the snake eating Secretary Bird, Hoopoo and too many other weird, wonderful and colourful ones to name. We’ve seen most of the game, Lion, Leopard, Giraffe (my favourite), Zebra, Elephant, Rhino, Warthogs, Buffalo, Hippo, Crocs and lots of boks (Antelope) to name some.

We also have seen a good deal of the country including the semi-desert Karoo (zero degrees at night), warm coastal parts like the sandy St Lucia (a bit like Fraser Island), the mountain Kingdom of Swaziland, the High Veld, the Drakensberg Mountains (where one adventure meant nude swimming at 2000+m in water that had just run down for 3300m peaks above us), cities including the dirty Pretoria, leafy parts of Jo’berg, polluted Durban, friendly Port Elizabeth and now the Garden Route and Cape Town.

We have done some brilliant walks and some great drives. It’s a bit scary that in SA they plant huge Gum tree plantations and in many places they are a feral pest. It does make us feel at home though.

Most of the people you meet are very friendly. We stayed in Port Elizabeth with some people we met in Kruger. S.Africans are great hosts and we were sad to leave. We’ve met Zulu and Xhosa people too. Swazi people are nealy all beautiful/handsome as were the Kenyans who are studying here too. All have heard of Australia and some of the dingos on Fraser! While security is often on most people’s minds here it seems like avoiding the wrong places is most of the battle and so far (touch wood) no problems.

Next we go to Namibia for 3 weeks, then the UK for 4, Europe for 8 and the USA for 5. Home in Dec.

Many thanks to those sending emails, it makes us feel like we’re not far away. It’s hard and expensive to reply individually here so sorry for any brief replies.

We are both hale and hearty and looking for to seeing “Pearl Harbour” on the big screen tonight. We trust you are all waiting with baited breath to see photos and hear of our adventures. Meanwhile, stay tuned for our next email update.

Andrew and Michelle