The view to Rainbow Beach

When we got up this morning we decided to head down South. After we ran some errands of course. It might be good just to recharge so to speak. Always good for the soul. There was another reason as well: Marlize is seriously considering a career change. (Who can blame her, her mom took that brave step!) It so happens that the Defence Force's recruitment offices are located there. At first I was a little concerned but I have to set my feelings aside and let her make her own choices. She is still young and have the world at her feet. Afterwards we drove to Point Danger to see if we were lucky to see some whales migrating north. Unfortunately not today.

When we got back home I got a text message from an old friend of mine. They also migrated to Australia and lived here since November last year. She said they were on their way back to South Africa. I was totally shocked and thought of it to be a joke. Turns out that she was dead serious. Her husband settled in well in his new job and her son was just as happy as a year 11 student. She couldn't adapt. She said that she missed her country too much and that after trying for months now, she couldn’t get her heart settled here. I couldn’t convince her to give it another go - at least for another couple of months. It is very sad because often families settle in well, all but maybe the wife or the children. Some just can't cope with the 'demands' a migrant has to put up with. Migrating is not for everyone. You give up everything and have to start all over. There is the initial culture shock. Yes, I do admit there are things here that differs like day and night from South Africa. So it should be because this is Australia. There are literally thousands of South African families living in Australia and I thought it might of helped her to get in touch with them. She lives about an hour's drive from us and I so wish I could have made the difference for her.

My fears for them are that they would not settle back into life in South Africa again - after tasting life here. It is so safe here. You don’t have to live behind bars to sleep soundly - you don’t have to have armed response on top of your electric fencing... I could go on and on. Yes I do miss my friends (both black and white) dearly but I also have many new friends here. They might not be as close as the ones I had but Rome wasn’t built in one day either.

I am sad for them. I am grateful for what we have here. This is where we chose to be. This is the future, for us. I am not in her shoes so I can't say she has lost her marbles, although I seriously think they should reconsider.