Eunice Mary Gerken

Big Hof and I have cut short our trip due to the unexpected and sad loss of my mother Eunice Mary Gerken and are heading home. Mum never really got over the loss of Dad. Who only passed away in February and the loss of both parents in less than six months is tough.They will both be sadly missed and we dedicate this Blog to Mum's memory.
May she rest in Peace. With Much Love Mark & Paul

Hup, Holland, Hup!!

Capetown, Semi-final day! It should have been us according to our plan which only had one flaw!? Just not good enough. So with a spare day on our hands we hatched a plan! A wine tour seemed to fit the bill and boy did we drop lucky! Polite enquiries with our B&B land lady hit the jackpot! Her friend Margie did occasional personal guided tours and the day was set fair!!40yrs ago Margie was a babe!! Now she is a charming lady, an expert in wine and who drives a Mercedes-Benz. She giggled away when two middle aged guests climbed in the car and declared "we are all yours and no spitting!!" By the end of the tour we reckoned we'd done two bottles each, enjoyed a lovely meal and seen some lovely scenery. Back at the B&B we turned our bike around in quick order and headed into town! Holland 3 - 1 Uruguay. Hup, Holland, Hup!!

Hup, Holland, Hup!!

England's secret summer camp exposed

The Leisure days are coming thick and fast. It's the semis and England aren't in 'em and so Big Hof and I continued with our Bafana-Bafana,cultural experience and headed for Robben Island, an un welcome home to Nelson Mandela for 18 years of his 27 years in captivity and that's when we stumbled across Lee Dixon and another bloke who looked familiar and who we eventually worked out to be Rob Lee. Lee Dixon was hiding behind his Oakley's
But when I challenged him with "it's no good hiding behind your Oakley's Lee, I know it's you and I know why you are here!? You are on a scouting mission for the BBC and you are thinking this would be a suitable place to lock the England squad up!?!" he laughed but didn't deny it!! Therefore in the words of the Sun Editor, it must be true, publish and be damned!! As further evidence to our expose, Henry Winter of the Daily Telegraph was also on the boat so if you read it in tomorrow's telegraph remember Big Hof & Gerks got there first!!

Moby Dick

Sunday was a day of leisure and so Big Hof and I set off for Hermanus to see the Whales. May-November is the whale spotting season and that's a fact! We spotted x7 and I tell you what, they're Big so big they were bigger than the boat we were in and the boat could carry 48pax! On the way we called in at Peter Taylors place at Erinvale. Pete told us it was locked up for the winter but Big Hof managed to find a shutter that was loose and I climbed in and passed a couple of beers through the gap in the window. I am sure that's what Pete meant when he said "if ever you are down our way you must pop in for a beer or two!?!"

The coming of the fourth Reicht

Trust me Germany are good. They play with skill, passion and flair and are pure class and I for one won't be subscribing to the playground logic of "well we could beat Argentina 1-0!?!" Bollocks we could! "who said you'll never win anything with kids!?!" these are kids and they are pure class. Trust me the fourth Reicht is coming!! I only hope Football doesn't turn into another Eurovision and we never win it again!?! Fabio should learn his lesson, drop Lampard, Terry, Gerrard now and Rooney should warm his arse on the bench. We should take no comfort from Germany 4-0 Argentina. Anyway back to our holidays, we watched the game in Sapphire, Camps Bay, Capetown with a load of ticket less Argies. It all started in good humour but ended with Boo's and a chorus of he is a fat cheating dwarf from Big Hof and I who were comforted by the German supremacy and surnames of Gerken and Hoffman!

Ghana Drama

The day started OK and on plan. A gentle flight to Capetown, a quick check in to our B&B, a wash under the armpits and into town in a taxi! A pit stop McLaren Mercedes would have been proud of!! We managed to catch the second half of Holland dumping Brazil out and the througher was set fair. More beers and dinner watching Ghana v Uruguay!! Enough beer to sink a battleship and with a full stomach after a wonderful meal on the Waterfront and not bothered to watch the end of extra time we caught a cab!! That's when the Ghana drama started. Our driver was as black as your hat. I am not being racist, it's a statement of fact!! He had the radio on and was engrossed in the game. Not a problem, we thought and so.the driver In an obvious state of high agitation, set off!! Uruguay handle on the line in the last minute of extra time, driver stops to listen to the penalty!Ghana miss! The driver shouts the whole team should be put in jail and sets off like a lunatic. Through the first set of red lights I politely enquire "why the rush!?!" he replied "I want to see the penalties!" not a problem!! Find a bar!! He does!! The. Whole of Africa were in the bar and were trying to suck the penalties in for Ghana. They didn't of course and Ghana were out. Our driver was apoplectic!! He drove like a madman through the streets of Capetown. In completely the wrong direction! We were lost!! But the legendary Gerks' sense of direction with the aid of a floodlit Table mountain and we were home!! The comforting snores of Big Hoff and the build quality of Bose Noise cancelling headphones soon hand me to sleep. What a day!!