There’s something about getting older that makes us want to do everything far too early and that really was the only problem we experienced on getting to South Africa this year!


Our good friend Dana picked us up from St Cyran on the dot of ten on Tuesday morning and drove us to Tours where we had an hour or so in hand to wait for the TGV . Not too bad - just time for a cup of coffee and a croissant. What an amazing train and I am not surprised that Harry (my grandson) is totally in love with it. It whisked us virtually silently to Charles de Gaul airport in an hour an a half which gave us a mere ten hours before our flight left for Johannesburg at 11.30 that night. With only one very expensive restaurant and no comfortable seats in which to take a nap, it was a long old day!


The flight was fairly effortless with the help of a few drinks, good food (Air France) and a sleeping pill. We arrived in Jo-burg at 11.30am local time and had just a teeny weeny time to wait (3 hours) until our flight to Port Elizabeth. Again the flight was effortless and a taxi was there to meet us and take us to our hotel - The Chapman. Named after the ship that took my g-g-g-grandfather from Simons Town to Algoa Bay nearly 200 years ago, it was yet another reminder of how important a part of my family history PE is . Actually, PE itself is a bit of a dump (a bit like Scarborough with lots of cranes on a very hot day) but just half an hour away is the house (Hougham Park) that my g-g-g-grandpa Hougham Hudson built in 1835.


The next morning we were up bright and early to meet up with some newly-found family and Richard Thomlinson, who is a leading light in the PE Historical Society. Richard took us and Clive van der Reit (Sarah Sophia, buried at Hougham Park, married Alex van der Reit) in his car and Valdy Johnson and his wife, Vivienne, followed in another car. She is the great-granddaughter of Hougham Hudson and looks superb even though she must be 83. Their daughter and grandson were also with them.


At the house we met up with Andrea Shirley and Paul Martin, both of whom work for Coega Development Corporation (CDC now own Hougham Park and all the thousands of surrounding acres) who opened up the house for us . I think we were rather honoured to be joined by Graham Taylor who is their Special Developments Manager. He gave me such hope - they will not pull down Hougham Park and will continue to maintain the cemetery as far as their funds will stretch. Our best hope is that the house will be used as offices for tenants at CDC which of course means that it will be better maintained. I have to say, it looked rather sad on a wet and windy morning and although it was interesting to see the inside of the house, it is very neglected. Beautiful real wooden floors and panelling are its saving grace but all sorts of birds and creatures are taking up residence.


Afterwards, we all went over to the cemetery which is being kept back from the ever-evasive bush by CDC. However it was rather odd to find that someone called Steve Hudson-Lamb had decided to put a new gate up and worse, in the graveyard, bury something small - a dog, we presume. The grave is very amateurish and has no name and I feel as though our beautiful little cemetery has been defiled. Strangely, he has left his name and telephone number on the gate, so we will try and get in touch. There are other Hudson-Lambs buried in the cemetery - but a dog? 


From there we drove down the very bumpy track to the beach which is quite heavenly - big waves on a wet and windy morning - and totally spectacular . Now wonder g-g-g-grandpapa loved his home there. The building you spotted at the end of the track, Mike, is a failed prawn farm.


So sorry if this is boring non-family members but I write this blog as a diary too, my brain being the sieve that it is. I will move on. We picked up a hire car after our visit to Hougham Park and on Friday, drove up to Graaff-Reinet, which is about 4 hours north of PE, but still in the Eastern Cape. Our reason for spending two days there was to find more Hudsons (sorry, more boring family stuff!) but also to visit this fascinating little town which was founded in 1786. Not only was Hougham Hudson a magistrate here, his son Hougham Hudson jnr was a leading light in its politics and then his son, Hougham Charles Hudson became a doctor there. Charles went on to have two sons, James and William, who were also doctors in G-R. Vivienne Johnson (see above) lived here with her father (Hougham Charles) and we went to see their house (beautifully maintained) and also discovered lots of fascinating stuff about all the Hudson medical men in G-R in Reinet House, the museum . G-R is full of museums and indeed, the lovely little cottage we stayed at is one of the original cottages in Parsonage Street. It is a delightful town and surrounded by impressive mountains and scenery. At the Anglican Church we found a stained-glass window dedicated to the original Hougham-Hudson and at the graveyard we found the graves of Hougham Hudson jnr and his wife Frances Carlyle, as well as Hougham Charles and his sons.


We had lunch at the Drostdy Hotel which has been beautifully restored. Erected in 1804, it served as a Drostdy and would have been the offices of the Hougham Hudson magistrates.


Our beautiful little cottage in G-R had its own swimming pool and everything we could want for a very comfortable few days. Perfect for a braii at night by the pool and a gorgeously comfortable brass bed for a couple of nights. It has been very hot - 40+C - and without a cloud in the sky.


Today (Sunday) we drove down from G-R to East London to our first exchange house. It was a long drive but we enjoyed the amazing ever-changing scenery of the Eastern Cape on the way. Our 7 bedroom house here overlooks the sea on a gated estate some 25 minutes from the city and is very comfortable, with a huge deck and gas BBQ .  


Next blog will be in a week or so but meanwhile, please send us a message (you can do that on the same site) - it’s lovely to hear from everyone when we are so far from home!