Unintentionally in George

Yesterday morning I left home before 4 am. That is quite early. Together with Bishop Musawenkosi Biyela I wanted to be in time for a one-day conference at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) in Cape Town about the identity of the mainline churches in South Africa. I fetched the bishop at LTI and we arrived in Durban about 1½ hours before departure.

When we approached Cape Town, the captain informed us about the weather. Not good! Not good at all! We circled above the mother city a while but soon the captain spoke again:

It’s too foggy. Only 10 meters free sight. We must go to George, to refuel. Then we’ll try again.

What can you say? We stayed in the aeroplane while they refuelled and then we went back to Cape Town. We landed about 2½ hours late. We made it for lunch and could appreciate, not a one-day conference but a half-day conference, before returning to Durban. When I touched base it was past 9pm. Next time I will leave the day before and get accommodation with friends. Here some photographic evidence:

 Only four aeroplanes can land in George at the same time. We were lucky, because some had to fly all the way to Port Elisabeth, to refuel.

Bishop Biyela was not discouraged by the delay.

Bishop Biyela talking about Lutheran identity.