Last week, if you can believe it

I'm not quite sure if anyone out there is still reading this... but I'll keep posting.

Hard to believe, but this is my last week on the project - our contract with UNDP ends this Friday, March 30. So the transition process has begun, and Thursday is the last day at the Municipality. Friday morning I fly to Johannesburg and work from our Accenture office there. I've started to complete all my final documents to hand over to the Municipality and to UNDP. And when I started to reconcile all the documents we've created, and summarize all of our activites, I realized that in short time, we've actually accomplished a lot. Sometimes it doesn't seem so in the daily chaos around this place. But I am organizing files, templates, documents, reports, a transition plan, and everything else to handover to my Manager, Rodger (UNDP Project Lead) and the Municipal Manager.

I spent my last weekend locally in Port Edward and had a great one. Friday night, Heather and I joined Tanya and her husband Scott, and Christina, for the Friday curry buffet at The Estuary. So good. I think it might be the third Friday I've done it. Scott laughed when we walked in because everyone knew me and Heather, we were greeted by everyone. We have become regulars. So a huge Thanks to Gavin (the owner), Sara (manager) and her boyfriend Doug, Sacha, the chefs (including my sports watching pals Des and Boyd), Gugu (receptionist) - just a great bunch of people there who have all made our stay easy, comfortable, and worthwhile. If anyone ever comes through Port Edward on a trip through South Africa, a stop at The Estuary is a must.

Saturday added to the weekend, I certainly had an active day. I was up at 6:00 and on the golf course for 18 holes with Scott by 7:15. Then came home, regrouped a bit, then went on a strenuous yet scenic mountain bike ride through the Umtamvuna Nature Reserve with Heather and Tanya (about 14km, a good balance of up and down hill... I ached on Sunday). I had gone on the trails once about a month ago and loved it, so am glad I was able to make it there a second time before I left. Also a big thanks to Natalie and Jan at Clearwater Trails. And ended the day out for dinner, a few Castle (my favorite South African beer) and a chance to watch the biggest match of the Cricket World Cup thus far - South Africa v. Australia. Unfortunately, SA lost pretty badly.

Stay tuned for updates on the work front through the week...