Tristan Trip...

As I have mentioned in an earlier post, Candace and I have some exciting plans for the future. One of those plans is to sail to the island of Tristan da Cunha in the South Atlantic Ocean next week! I have blogged about this island before today. An ore carrier ran aground on one of the neighbouring islands in March 2011. Many sea-birds were covered in oil in this ecological disaster.

But before we tell you more, we would just like to thank everyone who is reading this blog and has prayed for us, supported us, and encouraged us over our time with Mercy Ships in West Africa and at Zithulele. God has been so faithful and we feel very blessed!

That being said, we will be boarding South Africa's new polar research vessel, S.A. Agulhas II, and will sail to Tristan da Cunha, the most remote inhabited island in the world. We will be following in my grandfather's footsteps - he was the first person to accurately map the island in 1937. Allan Bryant Crawford also wrote many books on Tristan da Cunha and supported Mercy Ships throughout his latter years. He dedicated his final book, Memoirs - North, South, East, West, published in 2006, to Mercy Ships. This adds special significance to our trip.

Providing the Internet is fast enough, I will continue to keep this blog updated during the voyage and our visit on the island. Keep posted for more!

The photos here were taken by my parents and are of the island of Tristan da Cunha, as well as the S.A. Agulhas II. Enjoy!

 S.A. Agulhas II.

Antarctic map towards the aft of the ship.

Passengers wave farewell from the flight deck, as the ship sails for Tristan in September last year.

Exiting Table Bay Harbour, bound for Tristan da Cunha.

The settlement of Edinburgh as seen from the new volcano.

Island cottages.