Travel blues... and greens, and reds

So there I was, bags all packed and ready to go to Durban to do some official sand sampling.
Stop sniggering.
Really.
Honestly, it's a valid occupation for an oceanographer. And no, it wasn't collected while sipping a cocktail and lying on the beautiful warm sands of South Africa's East Coast.

Travel blues:
We arrived at the new King Shaka international airport, all bright eyed, bushy tailed and armed with the latest Googlemaps printouts to get us to our destination.
Things were going swimmingly until we entered the city area itself - MAJOR Googlemap failure. Someone should tell them that the silly people who call themselves South Africa's government had spent valuable tax money changing all major street names in Durban.
It makes it rather challenging if not bloody well impossible to 'turn right into Smith'. We could turn right into a vehicle that might be owned by a Mr Smith, or run down a pedestrian named Mr Smith, but no-sirree, no Smith street anymore.
My colleague was doing the driving, and was by this stage seriously contemplating pedestrian ten-pin knockdown. They have absolutely no regard for cars, which don't have any regard for each other, regardless of race, colour, creed or belief. Hey, maybe that's the ultimate anti-discrimination example! After dodging our umpteenth suicidal pedestrian - this one armed with a shopping trolley and pushing it against traffic in the fast lane on a 3-lane road - we found ourselves heading out of Durban again.
Whoops.
So there we were, approaching Durban port via Pinetown, which could be likened to travelling from Cape-Town to Jo'burg via Canada. Throwing out the google instructions, we relied on memory and a sense of direction. We decided to head into the centre of Durban until we hit sea-water and then keeping our left tyre in the water, circle around the port to reach our destination.
It worked!

Travel greens:
We were very fortunate and had one perfectly wind-free / low wind day during which we did the majority of our sampling offshore of the Port. With barely a wind ripple on the ocean surface, it gave me ample opportunity to sample the slow rolling swell. Up and down, up and down, sand on-board & into bucket, scientist hanging overboard studiously studying the horizon and trying to catch a hint of the breeze without the glorious diesel fumes of an outboard engine. Apparently my face changed between glorious sea-green and pasty white during our sampling spree. But we got the job done.

Travel reds:
Yes, I have had another b&b run-in. Don't get me wrong - the location, welcome and set-up is fantastic, but I have the knack for experiencing the facilities in a way never quite intended.
The bathroom is beautifully clean and equipped with a lovely little automatic air freshener; y'know the kind that goes 'psssst' at a set time interval, bathing the room in a heavenly scent of lavender, citrus or rose.
Unfortunately this wonderful application of modern science was located on a shelf above the basin, exactly at say, oh, eye-level. Yep, you guessed it - the timing was perfect, the puff of scent smoothly delivered right into my left eye. It hurt like heck, but at least I had a citrus-fresh scented eye for the rest of the evening.

Travel joys:
A big thank you to the manufacturers of my new laptop backpack. I should write them a letter praising the carrying capacity of those nifty bags.
Not only did I have a laptop & the usual assortment of cables in there, but also a handbag, two tupperware containers of left-over braai bits, a camera and a book, but also a bottle of wine! Sometimes less is definitely not more!