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.