[On approach to Port St John's]

I had an absolutely fantastic time with Rob during our navigational exercise. Yesterday, I took off from FAPA and soon enough we were thundering up the eastern coast with a cracking tailwind. After passing in and out of East London airspace, we approached Port St John's - an awesome outcrop with a desolate tarmac runway on top. Rob made the final approach and landing and we parked to take a quick whizz, while also taking in the terrific scenery.
Then it was back into the aircraft and we taxied back down the runway. Rob took off and swooped around between the two massive cliffs before getting back on course for Margate. Rob handled the radio and nav while I kept the thing pointing straight. Even though it was the simplest of flying I'd done, it was also the best flying so far. It was impossible to get bored with so much to entertain the eyes.We made brilliant time because the weather was on our side. But as we got nearer, the cloud base was lower. Temperature and Dew Point grew closer together, forming clouds lower and lower. Rob took the aircraft down to 500ft and we persisted. The land around Margate airport is very uneven and the air was quite turbulent. Rob completed the circuit joining procedure and hauled the aircraft around on base, leaving me to line up for the final approach. I managed to get it down OK, with the satisfying "screech" of my first tarmac landing. Rob seemed pleased with it too, which was lucky.We were picked up by Rob's wife; Mandy - who is a pharmacist, and their young son; Joshua. Their house is very cool, with a fantastic view to wake up to. We went out for dinner and a few beers. We had good old conversation about medical conditions and flying before returning to the home.

While watching the box, I thought I'd noticed Ben. After watching the whole episode of "New Street Law" I was certain and found that indeed it was him. This shouldn't have been so surprising as he's a small time actor, but it was still a little strange.


After a decent night's kip and a good breakfast today, we got back to the airport and into Papa-Echo-Uniform. We took off into the again turbulent air at 11:10. We had planned to fly up to Durban Int'l and practice circuits, but the wind was blasting back down towards FAPA. This helped us achieve a great time again for the leg, which was low level all the way like yesterday. Rob blocked the window with my map and I practiced some instrument flying, which is enjoyable, but quite intensive stuff as normally the priority is to look out at the real horizon. We got back onto the familiar molehill-ridden field at around 13:00. Rob had some important things to attend to thrust upon him after landing, so we're hopefully going to debrief tomorrow.

I am truly thankful to Rob for what has definitely been one of the most memorable moments so far. Glad to have gotten to know him much more, always had him down as a good bloke from the start!