2019

My good friend Theo often jokes at the end of the year that some people stay up until midnight on New Year's Eve to welcome in the new year, while others stay up to make quite sure that the old year ends! In my case, 2019 definitely falls into the latter category — it has been quite a year, to put it mildly (Liz Windsor[1] might even refer to it as an annus horribilis, but then she's posh!).

The year got off to a good start. After a good break in January with Theo, Brenda, Caleb and cute kittens, it was back to work with a vengeance with a full, busy term of teaching. In the middle of February, Mindy arrived to join the household — an SPCA rescue pup with a stack of energy and attitude!

Liz arrived for her annual holiday at the beginning of March, and we did our usual road trip to Cape Town for the Argus, including popping in to see Kevin and Caryl in Pringle Bay on the way down. The Argus was really windy this year, which meant I had my slowest ride ever (but finished in my best position ever, so it looked like everyone else suffered even more than I did!). Liz and I enjoyed our "usual" break in the journey in Wilderness on the way down to Cape Town and back again — Wilderness is a really magical spot on the Garden Route.

At the end of Liz' visit to Grahamstown she and I headed up to Gauteng and then on to Botswana where a very kind and generous friend had invited us to spend a week at their game lodge on the banks of the Limpopo River, along with John and Elaine Broom, who had been the pastoral couple in our church when we were teenagers. That was a very special week of connecting with good friends, enjoying good food, and having wonderful game drives in the reserve. I would list all the game we saw, but that would make for a very long post (and I'm sure I would forget a whole lot!). One of the highlights was the daily sightings of the magnificent fish eagle who presides over the section of the Limpopo River that the lodge is built along. We also had very close-up sightings of a couple of lions, a rhino, several elephants and a large number of giraffes. Sadly, that was over all too quickly and we returned to Pretoria, from where Liz flew out back home to the Isle of Man, and I spent a few more days with Theo and Brenda. I got back to Grahamstown just in time for our annual graduation ceremonies, which were a wonderful celebration of our students' successes, as always.

Sadly, while we were in Botswana, I received the news that my good friend John McNeill had passed away from complications of kidney disease and leukaemia, which was the first major loss of the year. John and I had studied together at Rhodes, and then worked together for several decades, he in Information Systems, and myself in Computer Science. He had been ill for a while, and had been forced to take early, medical retirement, but he had handled the challenges with his usual good humour and grace.

Over Easter I had the opportunity to travel with a group of people from our church to Mozambique to deliver aid to the victims of the cyclone that had hit the area around Beira. That was done in conjunction with a couple of churches in the Durban area, with whom we have had a long-standing partnership in mission work just outside Maputo. The trip all the way up to Beira, on roads that were bad before the cyclone hit, was a testing time for all involved, but it was a privilege to be a part of the trip and to make a real difference in the lives of people who had lost almost everything. Our ultimate destination was Dondo, just outside Beira, which still had no mains water supply, six weeks after the cyclone (they had had electrical power restored by the time we got there), and so were reliant on bottled water and a well. On our return journey we stayed in a small village, Muxungue, where they still had neither power or water. We distributed food and clothing at Nhamatanda and at Dondo, working closely with Youth with a Mission (YWAM) in Dondo, who hosted us very graciously and generously. One of the blessings of the trip was our stop-over location in Vilankulos, where the owner of a lovely holiday resort with its own private beach had allowed us to use their camping facilities free of charge. That provided a very welcome oasis of rest, particularly on the return journey when we were able to spend an afternoon on the beach relaxing.

In June, amongst exams and various other things, there was a very good Rhodes Reunion for student from the 1980s and early 1990s. In July, I flew up to Pretoria to spend some time with Theo, Brenda and Caleb, including a trip to Ramsgate on the Natal coast. While I was in Pretoria, we had a visit from Brett, a Christian worker with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship in Ecuador. I had got to know him through Jared and Jessica Hobson (he was one of Jared's groomsmen at their wedding), and he was visiting South Africa for a missions conference, just North of Pretoria. It was great to be able to show him around a bit before his conference started.

Theo, Brenda, Caleb and I headed down to Ramsgate after church on Sunday morning, arriving quite late in the evening. Sadly, a few hours after we arrived in Ramsgate the second loss of the year occurred: I received a phone call to inform me that Dad had passed away. He had been struggling with his health in recent years, in particular heart problems that had been slowing him down a lot. In June he had ended up in hospital in Port Elizabeth for a week, most of it in a cardiac high-care unit, due to excessive water retention, which was a side-effect of the heart problems. He bounced back very well from that, and seemed to be doing well, but then passed away rather suddenly, but peacefully, at home in the night. I managed to get a flight back from Durban to Port Elizabeth the next day, abandoning much of my belongings in Ramsgate and Pretoria (in particular, my laptop, ID book, etc. had been left in Pretoria when we drove down to Ramsgate). Mum handled the situation very well, but was obviously very shaken by it all (they would have been married 57 years in December). Liz managed to get a flight out to South Africa, and I flew up to Gauteng to meet her and reclaim my stuff from Theo and Brenda's. The memorial service was a very good celebration of Dad's life and his Christian faith, including three hymns that he had chosen in advance to be sung. The church was packed with a very wide range of people, testimony to the impact that Dad had had in many circles in Grahamstown, since they moved here in 2003.

While Liz was here, we applied for a visa for Mum to go and spend some time with her, and particularly to be there when Liz was recovering from a scheduled gall-bladder surgery. Unfortunately, the visa did not come through in time for Mum to be able to be there for the surgery. To compound matters, Virgin Atlantic cancelled Mum's flight from Jo'burg to London after a number of delays, and messed up the alternative arrangements badly. By the time Mum got to Liz, 24 hours later than scheduled, she was stressed-out, exhausted and dehydrated. When she complained of abdominal pain we assumed it was related to the stressful journey and recent loss of Dad. However, when the pain did not go away after a week, Liz got her to the hospital on the Isle of Man, where they did a very thorough battery of tests, including a CT scan, and discovered that Mum had advanced pancreatic cancer. Fortunately, Discovery Health was amazing and covered all the medical expenses in the Isle of Man. They then paid for Mum to fly back in business class, so that she would have a comfortable trip, and for Liz to fly out with her in order to assist her on the journey. I had flown up to Pretoria for our short mid-semester break, and stayed on to travel back to the Eastern Cape with them when they arrived from the U.K. Soon after we got back we saw an oncologist in Port Elizabeth who recommended a programme of chemotherapy to try to manage the progression and symptoms from the cancer (there was never any chance of a cure). The chemotherapy was a very new treatment, with minimal side-effects, but did require trips to Port Elizabeth for the medicine to be administered by drip, once a week (a treatment cycle consisted of two weeks of chemotherapy, followed by a "rest" week). After the first cycle of treatment, blood tests suggested that the cancer was still advancing, and half-way through the second cycle Mum became to weak to continue with the treatment. Mum's 81st birthday on 21 October was the last day she got out of bed for any extended period of time, and she passed away peacefully on the night of 9 November, with Liz and I sitting beside her, holding her hands.

We had been very blessed during that time to have visits from Liz' friend Kirsten from the Isle of Man, and Theo and Brenda. We also had amazing support from the local Hospice, both practically in terms of borrowing equipment from them and getting advice (I now know far more than I ever wanted to know about bed-sores and their treatment!), and emotionally in terms of dealing with the progression of Mum's disease. If you you're looking for a worthy cause to support, look no further than your local hospice organisation.

While going through Mum's cancer was a horrible experience for all of us, we were very grateful that Mum's suffering was not prolonged. Through it all she never complained, and only the last day did she report any pain (she had been on morphine, albeit fairly low doses, to control the pain since she was diagnosed on the Isle of Man). We were also very blessed and very grateful that Liz' employers were so understanding about her taking an extended period of leave, and that a very generous friend of Liz's was able to support her financially once it became unpaid leave. We had a lovely memorial service for Mum, which, again, was a very rich celebration of her life and her Christian faith. It was very special to have Theo with us all the way from Pretoria for the memorial service. Liz and I spent a few days in Cape Town after Mum's service, partly just to get a break, but mainly to spend some time with our cousin Jayne from Edinburgh, who was there as her father was undergoing surgeries for colon cancer and fluid pressure on the brain. That was a very good break and a good time to spend with Jayne, but too short, as always.

On our return to Grahamstown, Liz was a huge help sorting out Mum and Dad's things and helping to clear out their flat, before she had to return to the Isle of Man at the start of December. The next few weeks were spent wrapping up the end of the academic year, including a brief visit from Theo and Caleb who had come down to fetch Dad's car, which they had bought.

I ended the year by heading up to Pretoria for Christmas and New Year, where I am writing this, surrounded by good friends and cute foster kittens again. That has been a lot of fun, including taking the plunge to buy myself a new bicycle (which I have managed to put more than 200km on already!). New Year's Eve was spent watching the new Star Wars movie, and enjoying an evening of food, fun and laughter with a group of good friends.

As final thought for 2019, which has been very true for me through everything the year has brought:
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort
(2 Corinthians 1:3)

The Argus (Cape Town Cycle Tour)

Liz and Mindy in March

The game lodge in Botswana (that's the Limpopo River)

YWAM base in Dondo outside Beira

Me and Brett

Jayne and Liz in Kalk Bay in November

Caleb and Theo taking delivery of Dad's car!

Cute kittens in Pretoria in December

Me and John (photo from a few years ago)

[1] Also known as Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith.

2018

Once again it is time for the annual newsletter. 2018 was a very full, busy, good year again.

The year started in Pretoria, with a family of lovely foster kittens and the celebration of Theo and Brenda's 25th wedding anniversary. They actually went camping to celebrate and saw some wonderful wildlife, while Caleb and I were left at home (we got up to some fun ourselves!). All that came to an end far too soon, and it was back to Grahamstown for the start of a very busy semester of teaching.

At the beginning of March my sister arrived for her annual holiday (and escape from the Northern Hemisphere winter!). We enjoyed a good road trip to Cape Town, stopping off for a night in Wilderness, where we had a small apartment a stone's throw from the beach. The reason for the trip was for me to ride the Cape Town Cycle Tour (or "The Argus") again. Fortunately, the weather played along this year and the conditions were almost perfect (the fitness levels and health a little less so, but I still managed a reasonably good time!). On the way back we stopped off in Wilderness again, and enjoyed its excellent beach.

Liz celebrated her birthday with us and a few days later she returned to the Isle of Man, with Mum. I flew up to Jo'burg with them, and then spent a few days over Easter with Theo, Brenda and Caleb, before returning home just in time for Graduation.

The next big event was a trip to the USA in June/July for Bryn and Taylor's wedding. I flew via London and LA, with quite a long lay-over in LA before my final flight to Sacramento, so went into town and visited Bryn in his home there. Soon after I arrived Colin's brother and sister-in-law arrived, and we headed off to Lake Tahoe for a couple of days camping. We did some hiking and floating down the Truckee river while we there (and had a quick visit to the site where Jared and Jessica were married four years earlier). After that, on the 4th of July, we headed down to Santa Cruz where the wedding was to take place at Taylor's parents' home. There was an excellent fire-works display (actually several) that evening along the beach close to where we were staying. The wedding events started with the rehearsal, and the rehearsal dinner, hosted by Colin and Janet (a big part of the wedding traditions in the USA). They had organised a fun Survivor-themed event for the bridal party. The wedding itself was a lovely celebration, with the ceremony conducted in the front garden, and the reception around the back. The Californian coastal weather even provided a surprisingly warm, balmy evening for the day.

The next day we packed up and headed to San Francisco airport from where we were flying to Mexico for a week in a beach resort just south of Cancun, on the Caribbean coast (and coincidentally, the same resort where Bryn and Taylor were honeymooning!). We had an amazing week there, enjoying the many swimming pools and restaurants of the resort, visiting Mayan ruins (at Tulum and at Chichen Itza), and snorkelling on the coral reef. On the final night, Colin, Janet and I went to the Cirque du Soleil show, Joya!, which was staged just across the road from our resort. That was my first time at a live Cirque du Soleil show, and was an amazing experience. We took the dinner package, so watched the show from our table having enjoyed a magnificent three-course meal, themed to reflect elements of the show, with champagne. Early the next morning we were off to the airport for the long trip home. That included a very long layover in Houston, so we hired a car and headed into town where we did some shopping and watched a movie.

We got back to Sacramento and headed out to Lake Tahoe for another camping trip (in South Lake Tahoe this time). That involved more tubing along the Truckee river, and time spent enjoying one of the lovely beaches on the Eastern side of the lake. Sadly, that was the last part of my time in the USA and I had to head back to SA, with lectures calling. My flights back got "interesting" when I arrived in Dallas from Sacramento to discover that BA had cancelled the Dallas-London flight. Long story short, they made a complete mess of the rebooking, which culminated in them having to book me on SAA for the London-Jo'burg leg in business class, after rerouting to London via Houston (deja vu from the previous weekend)! Fortunately, the use of a business class lounge at Heathrow, with showers and mountains of good, free food for the long layover was a good compensation for the frustration and stress of the chaos they had caused. Ultimately, I got home on time (although my luggage took another two days to catch up with me!), and was ready to start lectures bright and early on the Monday morning.

Soon after I got home, Dad headed over to the Isle of Man to spend a couple of months with Liz and Mum. In August Caleb flew down to check out Rhodes, where he may come to study in 2019. He managed to pick the coldest, wettest few days of the year for his visit, but was able to attend a couple of lectures, have a meal in a student dining hall, and check out one of the newer men's residences. There was also a surprise visit to Grahamstown in August by three old school friends: Chuck (who was giving a seminar in the Classics Department), Geoff and Roger (who I hadn't seen since we left school).

Mum and Dad got back home towards the end of September, having had a lovely long break with Liz, including a few days of sight-seeing in London before flying back to SA. October brought the Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit (GLS) in PE, which was as inspiring and challenging as ever. It also brought Mum's 80th birthday, which we celebrated with a nice lunch, and had several friends around for tea.

The rest of the year rushed past in the usual frenzy of exams, year-end planning, end-of-year dinners and celebrations, etc. then enjoying a quiet Christmas at home before heading up to Pretoria for some much-needed rest and relaxation. That, again, involves a lovely family of foster kittens (only just starting to walk as I arrived). Just after I arrived we went to a friend's for a braai, and walked up to the Union Buildings, which looked spectacular in the evening light. In a few days we will get Caleb's matric exam results.

And so another full year comes to an end, and another year is about to begin with all the promise and challenges that lie ahead. I hope you have had a good year in 2018, and that 2019 is filled with hope, faith and love.

2017

As is now customary, here is the 2017 newsletter/blog. It has been a very full and very good year — there is much to be very grateful for, looking back on the past year.

The main "thing" for the year was that I was on sabbatical for the entire year, which provided some very welcome respite from a very busy period at work (in HoD and Acting Dean roles up to the end of 2016). While I didn't make as much progress on my research programme as I had hoped (probably the common experience of anyone who has taken a sabbatical!), I did get a paper published and made some progress on the next steps of my current work. However, the sabbatical did also provide some much-needed time to (1) move house, and (2) take an extended trip to Australia and New Zealand. But I think I am getting ahead of myself!

The year started in Pretoria with a short break with my friends Theo and Brenda. A real highlight of that visit was an opportunity to see the Moscow Circus in Jo'burg — a stunning show with excellent acrobatics and stunts (the "cage of death" with several whirling motorbikes in a tiny steel-mesh ball even survived a sudden power-cut!). I headed back to Grahamstown in mid-January for the Department's annual planning session, and the supp exams (with which I was still involved from my teaching in 2016). I also started the mammoth task of packing up my old home, which was no small feat after 27 years! A week per room was just about enough time with the move scheduled for 1 March. February brought a few work commitments (staffing selection committees and assisting the new Dean with with the registration of the Pharmacy students).

March started with the big move. On the first, my parents and I moved a few bits and pieces with a borrowed bakkie and trailer, then the removal company did the "big move" on the second. To say that was exhausting and stressful would probably be something of an understatement! I had always said that I would never move from the old house until it was time to carry me out in a box — this time I really mean it! The new house has been a wonderful blessing, with much more space than the old one, including lovely indoor and outdoor entertaining spaces. Having a study that opens onto the pool area has also been wonderful on hot days while working from home during my sabbatical. We had just moved in, when my sister arrived from the Isle of Man for her annual visit. When she asked if we would be moved in and unpacked when she arrived, I only committed to being moved in, but the guest bedroom was at least habitable. A week after moving, and a few days after Liz' arrival, we headed down to Cape Town for our annual road trip. We stopped off for a night in Wilderness en route, which was lovely (we had previously found a wonderful AirBnB just a few metres from the beach, and a short walk into the town). Cape Town was great, as always, although the reason for the trip fizzled out — the Argus/Cape Town Cycle Tour was cancelled due to extreme high winds. I had made it to the start line only to find that they were turning people back. That was probably wise, as the short ride from where my old school-friend Allan had dropped me had already proved rather hair-raising with very strong, and gusty/unpredictable winds howling through the streets of central Cape Town. Anyway, we enjoyed our visit to the Western Cape, and made the most of our time there. One of the highlights was a lovely dinner with good friends to start the celebrations of Liz' half-century. On our way back to Grahamstown we spent two nights in Wilderness, and used the opportunity to explore the Garden Route. A major highlight there was spotting a pod of dolphins frolicking in the sea between the Knysna heads (we had found a quiet beach at the base of the heads to have a snack lunch and looked up to see the dolphins, probably also snacking for their lunch!). Liz left at the end of March, after a quiet, but good celebration of her birthday with family.

April saw organisation for the planned Australia and NZ trip getting busy with visa applications, X-rays and medical clearance, etc. all underway. My plans to spend an extended time at a NZ university faltered, and so it turned into a shorter trip with one month each in Australia and New Zealand, but did mean I had more time to spend at home organising and furnishing the new house. In mid-April I flew up to Pretoria to spend Easter with Theo and Brenda — always a highlight of the year. I got back in time for the Rhodes Grad ceremonies and celebrations, which were good (and a little more relaxed, no longer being acting Dean!).

May started with a lovely house-warming party on 1 May (taking advantage of the SA public holiday!). Later in the week I flew up to Pretoria for a couple of days before flying out to Australia on the weekend. I won't go into too much detail, as there are several detailed blog entries on the trip on this site (see the blog entries below). Suffice it to say that it was a wonderful trip taking in Perth, Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, and Tasmania in Australia, and Palmerston North/Ashhurst, Rotorua, Auckland, Wellington, Nelson, Christchurch, Geraldine, Queenstown and Dunedin in NZ. While the countries and the sights were wonderful, the best part was reconnecting with numerous old friends and family members, some of whom I hadn't seen in decades. As that brief summary implies, after two months of non-stop travelling around the antipodes, I needed a holiday, which was serendipitously provided by Theo and Brenda who were heading down to Ramsgate for a ten-day break on the day I arrived back from Australia! They swung past the airport to collect me en route, and a lovely, relaxing mid-year break on the beautiful Natal South Coast ensued.

The remainder of the year has been spent doing some research, finishing off the process of furnishing and decorating the house, riding whenever the weather and circumstances permitted, and on various work-related activities (including two months on a University task team, which swallowed far too much of my time!). In August I was back to Pretoria for a very interesting seminar (Half-Time — essentially a good exploration of what the second half of one's life might involve in terms of meaningful contribution), and also for Theo's birthday. And October saw me in Port Elizabeth for the Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit, which was as challenging and inspiring as ever. It was great to see Jody and Gina in Grahamstown in November, visiting from the U.K.

The end of the year was fairly busy, with planning underway for the 2018 academic year, Christmas preparations, and various dinners and lunches. As has become customary, I left on Boxing Day for a few weeks in Pretoria again, where I am writing this, while enjoying a relaxing break, the company of very good friends (who are about to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary — no idea how that happened as their wedding was just the other day!), a lovely family of very cute foster kittens, and the lovely hot highveld summer weather and spectacular thunderstorms.

The year ahead is looking interesting, with some new teaching assignments on the cards for me. Liz arrives in March for her annual trip, and, hopefully, the Argus/Cape Town Cycle Tour happens this year, wind, fires, protests, etc. permitting! I'm also starting to plan for a trip to the USA in June/July, as my friends' Colin and Janet's son Bryn is getting married in July. All in all it promises to be another memorable and blessed year.

Whatever 2018 may hold for all of us, I hope and pray that the best of 2017 will be the worst of 2018, and that we may all enjoy a happy, healthy and successful year in whatever endeavours we undertake in the year that lies ahead.

New Zealand - Part 3 (South Island)

After a brief, but full visit to Wellington, on the morning of Tuesday 27 July, I got up early and headed to the ferry terminal for the next stage of my trip: New Zeland's South Island. The ferry journey was beautiful, particularly going out through the Wellington harbour bay and then into Picton through a series of sounds. In Picton I collected a hire car (a very nice Toyota Corolla hatchback with CVT automatic gearbox) and then drove to Nelson. After finding the very nice self-catering cottage that my cousin Lorna had organised for me and doing a bit of shopping, I went into Nelson and had a lovely dinner at a restaurant in the town centre.

On the Wednesday I drove down to Christchurch. Due to recent earthquake damage, the scenic coastal road was closed, and so I had to take the less scenic (and rather busy) inland route, which still went through some very, very pretty scenery. In Christchurch I stayed with Ian and Wendy Dore (ex-Grahamstown and Rhodes friends).

Ian had taken the Thursday off to show me around, and we started with a drive to the port hills, and then through Lyttleton, stopping for coffee in Clifton. From there we headed into the city, where the damage from the 2011 earthquake was still very apparent. In particular, the cathedral was in a very sad, semi-collapsed state with concrete and steel supports (visible in the picture above). We had lunch in the container mall, a very vibrant temporary shopping area. We had parked near the botanic gardens, so spent some time in the museum and the botanic gardens on our way back home.

On Friday morning Wendy and I took Probie the dog for a walk at Styx Mill dog park/reserve, which was lovely. After that I packed up and headed out via Airways NZ where Ian works. He gave me a very interesting tour of their facilities (essentially managing air traffic control through most of the Southern Pacific area). I then drove to my next stop, the small town of Geraldine, South-West of Christchurch. That journey took me through the very beautiful Rakaia Gorge, where I found a geocache. There were good views of snow-capped mountains in the distance for a lot of the journey. In Geraldine I was staying with Jayne (an old university friend) and her husband William. We ended the day as I had started it, walking their dogs in the "domain" (local nature reserve/park area).

On Saturday morning Jayne made some delicious blueberry pancakes for breakfast, after which we visited the lovely village church next door to their home. I then set off for Queenstown. My plan to take the scenic mountain route was thwarted by recent snow, which had closed the pass between Fairlie and Twizzel. Unfortunately, that meant that a scenic 4-hour journey became a 7-hour rather-less-scenic journey back to the coast and South before heading inland to Queenstown. I did get enjoy a delicious salmon pie for lunch in Fairlie (world-renowned for its pies apparently!). After arriving rather late at my AirBnB in Queenstown, my supper venue was chosen for convenience and speed at Burger King!

Sunday started with a very nice breakfast at the B&B, and doing some laundry, before driving into Queenstown proper. After visiting the i-SITE and getting some information, I headed to the Queenstown gondolas. Unfortunately, the top of the cableway was shrouded in mist, so I gave up on that and had some coffee and a scone at the nearby kiwi sanctuary. After that I headed back into town and walked along the waterfront and through the town centre, doing some geocaches in the Queenstown Gardens. Queenstown is a beautiful little town, nestled on the banks of Lake Wakatipu and surrounded by mountains (all covered in snow). I had a panini in a little bakery for lunch, after which the mist was clearing, so I headed back to the gondolas and and took a gondola to the top of one of the hills overlooking Queenstown. The views from the top were amazing. After enjoying a hot chocolate in the restaurant I took the gondola back down (the mist was starting to close in again - I had been fortunate to take advantage of a brief window in the weather). I walked back through town to a restaurant near the Gardens for a delicious dinner of pork belly.

Monday had me back in the car heading South again to Dunedin. My phone's GPS managed to lead me astray and I ended up on a less scenic route than I had hoped (we won't blame the GPS operator!). The journey was still very pretty, with snowy mountains, rushing rivers, stark hillsides, and later rolling hills and green fields. I did some caching en route, picking up three geocaches in Balclutha, which now has the distinction of being the Southern-most place that I have cached. I also had some very tasty fish and chips for lunch in an old pub in Balclutha. My accommodation for the night was a lovely home in Brighton near Dunedin on the seafront (organised by Sarah — my cousin Lorna's cycling buddy).

On Tuesday morning I spent a bit of time exploring Dunedin itself. I visited the Octagon, the railway station, and a couple of art galleries, before grabbing a coffee and heading back up to Christchurch (the weather predictions were a little grim and I didn't want to risk getting snowed in as I had a flight to catch out of Christchurch the next day). So, most of the day was spent driving. The threatened snow didn't materialise, but the first part of the trip was in rain. That did clear up leaving sunny conditions for the later part of the day. That night was spent with Ian and Wendy again in Christchurch. It also marked the end of a too-short, but very enjoyable visit to the South Island, the less-developed and more rugged part of New Zealand.

On Wednesday morning I dropped off my hire car at the airport and took a flight from Christchurch to Palmerston North where Brett picked me up from the airport (with lovely views of snow-capped mountains from the plane). I got to meet Rhys, Kevin and Lorna's younger son, who I had never met before. He is studying at the University of Otago in Dunedin, but was home for the mid-year vacation. Brett headed back to university (in Christchurch) that afternoon. In the evening my aunt joined us for dinner, as it was my last night there.

On Thursday I packed (somehow managing to squeeze everything into my luggage, including various souvenirs and gifts). My aunt gave me a lift into Palmerston North where Lorna slipped out of work to meet us at the bus terminus to say good-bye. I took the bus to Wellington airport (some lovely Lord of the Rings and Hobbit features around the airport!), in good time for my flight to Melbourne and then a connection on to Perth, where I arrived very late at night and checked into a convenient hotel near the airport.

On the Friday morning I enjoyed a huge breakfast in the hotel and then relaxed and read for a while before meeting up for lunch with Darrell Baker (an old school friend from Zim). After a rather long wait around the airport, I caught my flight back to SA. That arrived in Jo'burg at 4:30am the next morning. I had some coffee at the airport and read for a while before being picked up by Theo, Brenda and Caleb who were on their way to a ten-day holiday in Ramsgate, which was exactly the relaxing break I needed after a wonderful, but busy time in Australia and New Zealand.

Some final thoughts: As this was my first trip to Australia and New Zealand, it was very interesting. One of my first observations was that Australia was a "first-world" country to an extent I hadn't expected (my preconceived idea was that it was somewhere between South Africa and the first-world, but it is properly first-world). New Zealand is a little more rough around the edges (in a lovely, down-to-earth way), and closer to what I had expected. The nanny-state issues are also less apparent in NZ than in Australia. As former British colonies, both countries felt very "comfortable" — the general way-of-life is not very different to that in South Africa (or Zim). One difference that was quite marked was that NZ seemed to have dealt with the worst parts of its colonial past far more productively and positively than Australia — there seemed to be far less tension with the Maoris than with the aboriginal people in Australia (possibly helped by the fact that the Maoris had not arrived in New Zealand very long before the European settlers).

The other main take-home from the trip was just how good it was to reconnect with many friends and family members from Zim and South Africa (some who I hadn't seen in decades, and the one second-cousin I had never met before!). I hope it won't be too many years (and certainly not decades!) until we meet again.