Saturday, July 29, 2006
Update on update on....
Australia to host first Grand Prix in 2007
Australia will host the opening race of the 2007 Formula One season, local organisers announced on Friday. The race will be held at Melbourne's Albert Park track on March 18, pending final confirmation from the sport's world governing body, Australian Grand Prix Corporation Chairman Ron Walker said.
So, if this report is confirmed, we will be looking at a reunion date based on the weekend of March 24 -25, 2007. For people who need a definite date in order to start making plans, let's work to this date.
Thank you to the people who sent cards or emails on the occasion of my 60th birthday on July 17. Some people have extremely long memories, or else there has been a bit of correspondence going on behind my back. And thanks to Marg for organising a night out, which I was quite happy to avoid, but she insisted should happen.
It was during that night that Marg's work in looking for Barb Rozsa (Cooper) bore fruit when, as we were having dinner, Barb telephoned Marg. She and Andrew are retired and have moved out of Melbourne, and are living on the Mornington Penninsla at Sorrento. They have a daughter who has inherited the "travel genes". In an email Barb said:
I mentioned to Marg there was a girl named Sandy (can't remember maiden name) who went only London-Venice. I ran into her about 20 years ago and kept in touch until about 10 years ago, so when I remember her married name I'll try to contact her.
Can anyone help Barb on this?
Peter Ide has sent this larger size photo of the groups arrival in Melbourne in November 1971.
Some fine looking specimens.
Australia will host the opening race of the 2007 Formula One season, local organisers announced on Friday. The race will be held at Melbourne's Albert Park track on March 18, pending final confirmation from the sport's world governing body, Australian Grand Prix Corporation Chairman Ron Walker said.
So, if this report is confirmed, we will be looking at a reunion date based on the weekend of March 24 -25, 2007. For people who need a definite date in order to start making plans, let's work to this date.
Thank you to the people who sent cards or emails on the occasion of my 60th birthday on July 17. Some people have extremely long memories, or else there has been a bit of correspondence going on behind my back. And thanks to Marg for organising a night out, which I was quite happy to avoid, but she insisted should happen.
It was during that night that Marg's work in looking for Barb Rozsa (Cooper) bore fruit when, as we were having dinner, Barb telephoned Marg. She and Andrew are retired and have moved out of Melbourne, and are living on the Mornington Penninsla at Sorrento. They have a daughter who has inherited the "travel genes". In an email Barb said:
I mentioned to Marg there was a girl named Sandy (can't remember maiden name) who went only London-Venice. I ran into her about 20 years ago and kept in touch until about 10 years ago, so when I remember her married name I'll try to contact her.
Can anyone help Barb on this?
Peter Ide has sent this larger size photo of the groups arrival in Melbourne in November 1971.
Some fine looking specimens.
Friday, July 21, 2006
Update on Date
My attempt at setting a "Date" for the reunion which does not coincide with the Melbourne F1 Grand Prix may soon be settled if the this report is correct:
Melbourne still not guaranteed 2007 opener - 20 July 2006
'(The 2007 race) could be March 4, 11 or 18.'
While March 4 and 11 are likely to be season-open spots, March 18 - or the third weekend in the month - is traditionally the date for F1's second race.
Australia's 'Herald Sun' newspaper, meanwhile, reported that the latter date is most 'likely' for the Albert Park event of 2007.
'(The FIA) is expected to confirm the grand prix dates by the end of the week,' the newspaper article added.
It seems that "The Movers and Shakers" of Melbourne Events might have organised more events for March than "you can point a stick at". The city appears to have been double booked, with the World Swimming Championships set to commence on March 17.
Watch this space.
Melbourne still not guaranteed 2007 opener - 20 July 2006
'(The 2007 race) could be March 4, 11 or 18.'
While March 4 and 11 are likely to be season-open spots, March 18 - or the third weekend in the month - is traditionally the date for F1's second race.
Australia's 'Herald Sun' newspaper, meanwhile, reported that the latter date is most 'likely' for the Albert Park event of 2007.
'(The FIA) is expected to confirm the grand prix dates by the end of the week,' the newspaper article added.
It seems that "The Movers and Shakers" of Melbourne Events might have organised more events for March than "you can point a stick at". The city appears to have been double booked, with the World Swimming Championships set to commence on March 17.
Watch this space.
Monday, July 10, 2006
A reminder of times past – part 3
This reminder of the Africa trip has been written by Marg Curry.
The photographs are from “The Smith Family Collection” and the pathetic attempts at a Comic Strip are from my contribution to Graham’s journal from 1971. It may not surprise you that I did not pursue my artist talent!
African Overland Trip
After traveling 15,310 miles overland from England to India, the ship journey from Bombay to Mombasa was looked forward to as a pleasant change. Only 35 cabin class passengers, of which we were 11, the remaining passengers being bunk class and not allowed in many of the public rooms.
It was just as well we liked Indian food as we had spicy varieties for breakfast, lunch and dinner, including eating vegetarian meals with our fingers, consumed in the dining room of the cabin class passengers. Lazy days of reading, playing table tennis, sunbathing, visiting the bridge, a lifeboat drill (in which the boats could not be released) and fights with water and Gurkha badges! The only stop during the voyage was at the Seychelles Islands – a tropical paradise.
Finally, arrival on the African continent and an idyllic campsite at Whitesands Hotel, near Mombasa. We became acquainted with insects, ants, crabs and numerous black millipedes. It was in Mombassa that our tour group welcomed Jenny Jones who flew out from England to join the trip on her way home to Australia.
The camp at Whitesands was a relaxing time – swimming, sunbathing, writing, reading, playing darts and drinking at the bar, the latter our downfall as I believe we were politely asked to leave the campsite after more than one raucous evening.
Carole was not well here and had a visit to hospital. At first it was suspected hepatitis but this did not develop. However, our entire group had hepatitis injections, looking apprehensively at each other in the doctor’s waiting room, before going in one by one for a jab in the tail.
Christmas Day was a great celebration everyone helping with preparations and the cooking. Breakfast of fried eggs (no bacon) and bread with margarine for the first time since leaving Turkey. Lunch of fresh fruit salad consisting of plums, passionfruit, oranges, bananas, pineapple, paw paw, mangoes and fresh cream. Chicken and pork were cooked in a hungi on hot coals. We lazed around on Graham’s Kashmir carpet in front of a tree hung with Christmas cards. A few decorations of streamers and coloured paper and balloons completed the festivities. Afternoon tea of pineapple juice and Christmas cake. Exchanging of fun presents before dinner and plenty of drinks purchased duty free and kept cold by filling a trunk with ice.
Our next stop was Malindi 70 miles north where we camped on the beach in front of
the golf club. New Year’s eve was celebrated with dinner beside a swimming pool, followed by a discotheque. The New Year saw Brutus and Jenny being thrown into the pool, although many others went swimming.
Tsavo National Park was our first game park and time was passed by guessing what animals we would see first. When one was sighted no one knew what it was but we later decided on an Impala. We also saw elephants, zebra, gazelle, monkeys, squirrels, giraffe, foxes, rhinoceros and a hippopotamus. Mt Kilimanjaro barely visible through the cloud.
While in Nairobi, it was discovered that Graham had hepatitis so he was admitted to
hospital and each day people made trips into the town to visit him. We had to leave Graham here to convalesce but had lunch with him in the hospital grounds. Graham joined us in his pyjamas and insisted on going for a short drive checking that everything was OK with the bus. Graham was to join us later but here we farewelled Heather who left to fly home to Queensland.
We celebrated crossing the Equator by a brief mud fight and finally reached the
Ugandan border after being stopped for police checks – had to toot the horn and show that the wipers worked! The good roads near the border soon petered out and from then on we travelled on red dirt roads. The African people were always waving to us and calling out ‘Jambo’.
Our campsite at Murchison Falls National Park was memorable for finding ticks on ourselves, sleeping bags and stretchers so we spent some time de-ticking each other.
A disconcerting sign read “When pitching tents allow room for animals to roam amongst them”. Apart from in-ground loos there were no other facilities so intrepid travelers that we were resorted to having a drink in the bar at the lodge and visiting the modern toilets there to wash in the basins, having first armed ourselves with soap and towel.
Apart from seeing numerous animals in all the game parks we visited, on a launch trip up the Albert Nile to see the mighty Murchison Falls, we must have seen hundreds of hippos and crocodiles and also numerous kinds of birds such as eagles, cranes and kingfishers.
One day in western Uganda, whilst filling up with petrol, we observed a group of 20 to 30 people lying on the ground outside a police station. They appeared to be receiving some very physical interrogation from a number of police officers. In hindsight, it may have been connected with the overthrow of the Uganda Government by Idi Amin which occurred about a week later, after we had left the country.
Serengeti National Park was vast, and on asking one of the park drivers where to go to see the best viewing spots he advised we would get lost. However we set off alone and did managed to completely lose ourselves but soon saw the Park’s vehicles and followed them being lucky to see 7 lionesses in one group and also two leopards. After an afternoon’s viewing of many animals, we drove to our allocated campsite No. 9. On driving past No. 1 we noticed an elephant and there was much hilarity and apprehension as to what would be on number 9 and how we would fare during the night.
Sandy and Jean ventured to the loo but returned running back to the bus for safety having heard grunts and seen eyes shining in the darkness. Brutus who was in a tent, lifted up the flap and yelled to us to open the bus door then raced across the ground to land panting inside. In the morning we laughed over the incidents of the night before and found that some of our animals had turned out to be a tree stump and the eyes silver paper. Leaving Serengeti we witnessed the memorable sight of thousands of zebra, gazelle and wildebeest migrating across the plains.
We camped at a local police station near Ngorongoro Crater for two days waiting for a Contiki tour to arrive as we hoped to use their Land Rover to go down into the crater to view the animals, and also the driver of the trip – Peter, was Jenny’s boyfriend. The wait was worth it as before we left Jenny and Peter announced their engagement. However, Peter O’Neill was diagnosed with malaria there and dosed up on quinine shots. After about a week he was back to his usual self.
We set out to walk up to the first hut on Mt. Kilimanjaro – 9,000 feet and 9 miles up. It was a steep climb and after about two hours it started to rain heavily. We found a small hut to shelter in for lunch but then decided to return as the track was now like a miniature stream. We were drenched and slid down the track through the mud and slush eventually reaching sunshine lower down the mountain.
At Dar Es Salaam we were reunited with Graham who had travelled from Nairobi with a Contiki tour. They camped nearby and we made the most of the company sharing our travel experiences. We stayed in log cabins by the beach and the bar for the complex was like a miniature zoo, being frequented by an assortment of animals – dogs, cats, mongoose and monkeys that swung from the rafters, sometimes upsetting drinks.
Heading to the Tanzanian border we were delayed as the road was just mud and slush with numerous trucks stuck and others skidding. We had tea while waiting and others investigated the conditions. We later weaved our way between trucks, the rest of us following behind giving a push when needed or jumping on the back bumper for extra weight to stop the vehicle from slipping.
At the border into Malawi, the girls were politely asked by an Immigration official to wear a dress which covered the knees. We were prepared for this and had previously obtained lengths of materials to wrap around our shorts.
We arrived in the country on the weekend of their changeover to decimal currency. At one town on asking if there was a bank, the reply was “Yes, it comes on Thursdays”. We managed to change some money but there were long queues of people as many had come to the town with their money tied up in their handkerchiefs and wanted the exact equivalent coin for their old coins.
We camped on the edges of Lake Malawi in the grounds of a hotel for 7 days. It was a lazy time, swimming and reading, the boys going fishing and we watched the local fishermen using their dugout canoes to carry their fishing nets out into the lake then sit on the beach pulling them in.
A man who had befriended us here, and who owned a garage offered the group the job of driving some Australian Holden utes and panel vans for export into Zambia. Many of the people accepted
the offer and thoroughly enjoyed themselves slithering and sliding their way along the muddy, pot-holed roads. The cars were left at the town of Chipati near the Zambian border.
Good bitumen roads to Lusaka the capital of Zambia with many modern buildings, beautiful goods on display, and in general the most civilized place we had been in for months. The camping ground was the best since Turkey and it was luxury for us to have hot running water, baths and showers.
It was Sandy’s birthday so we celebrated by having dinner at a small cafe then going onto the Chilanga Club. It turned out to be a double celebration as during the
evening much excitement was created as Carole and Peter announced their engagement. Our night ended with a 2.00am return to the campsite. Talk of ‘Stan’ being the wedding vehicle led to the bus being decorated the next day with white toilet paper and driven into town.
From Kariba Dam where the middle of the wall separates Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia) from Zambia we headed to Victoria Falls – a tremendous sight. We wandered around the many viewpoints some of which it was recommended to wear raincoats and use umbrellas. We didn’t and got drenched.
At the camping ground in Salisbury the different tradesmen called at the tents each day, making it easier for buying goods but other more unwelcome visitors were hairy grubs which spun cocoons in our clothes and also white ants which took a liking to the tent bags.
Heading to Fort Victoria (now known as Masvingo) we called on a friend of Grahams, and although he was not at home his mother invited us in for tea and cakes while seated on a verandah from which to look out on a beautiful view. In exchange for petrol coupons which were used because of the shortage of fuel, we were given a turkey and roll of beef – most welcome.
Visited the Zimbabwe ruins discovered in 1868 before heading to South African border. Here we immediately became aware of the apartheid policy that existed at that time with separate entrances to Immigration marked “White” and “Non White”.
Arrived in the sprawling metropolis of Johannesburg known as “The Golden City”. Met Bernie Fisher, a friend of Grahams then headed to the camping ground only to be advised they only took caravans as campers lowered the tone. As it was late we ended up at Bernie’s home placing our stretchers around the various rooms, much to the bewilderment of his mother. The next day we found a camping ground to take us.
In Johannesburg the bus had major repairs, we held an engagement party for Carole and Peter, visited a diamond warehouse where Carole chose a ring, saw movies and slides of our trip and visited the Rand Easter Show. Then it was off travelling again towards Kruger National Park – but not for long. Just as we entered the town of Nelspruit the engine on Stan stopped. It was discovered the drive shaft in the fuel pump had gone and subsequently that the replacement part was rather expensive. As the engine generally was not in a good condition it was decided to end the trip now doing the uncompleted part prior to catching the ship to Australia.
Graham and Jean hitched back to Johannesburg to bring back a Land Rover to tow us while the rest waited patiently for their return the following day. We were towed the 230 miles back to Johannesburg in a long slow trip, while most of the group hitched to save on weight.
The following day it was job and flat hunting for most people. Carole and Peter were leaving the trip to return to Australia, and Graham hired the bus to a company doing a trip up to Nairobi. This was the end of our nomad life for a while, as, after almost nine months of travelling through numerous countries in the continents of Europe, Asia and Africa we faced the real world of work for the next 3 months.
The photographs are from “The Smith Family Collection” and the pathetic attempts at a Comic Strip are from my contribution to Graham’s journal from 1971. It may not surprise you that I did not pursue my artist talent!
African Overland Trip
After traveling 15,310 miles overland from England to India, the ship journey from Bombay to Mombasa was looked forward to as a pleasant change. Only 35 cabin class passengers, of which we were 11, the remaining passengers being bunk class and not allowed in many of the public rooms.
It was just as well we liked Indian food as we had spicy varieties for breakfast, lunch and dinner, including eating vegetarian meals with our fingers, consumed in the dining room of the cabin class passengers. Lazy days of reading, playing table tennis, sunbathing, visiting the bridge, a lifeboat drill (in which the boats could not be released) and fights with water and Gurkha badges! The only stop during the voyage was at the Seychelles Islands – a tropical paradise.
Finally, arrival on the African continent and an idyllic campsite at Whitesands Hotel, near Mombasa. We became acquainted with insects, ants, crabs and numerous black millipedes. It was in Mombassa that our tour group welcomed Jenny Jones who flew out from England to join the trip on her way home to Australia.
The camp at Whitesands was a relaxing time – swimming, sunbathing, writing, reading, playing darts and drinking at the bar, the latter our downfall as I believe we were politely asked to leave the campsite after more than one raucous evening.
Carole was not well here and had a visit to hospital. At first it was suspected hepatitis but this did not develop. However, our entire group had hepatitis injections, looking apprehensively at each other in the doctor’s waiting room, before going in one by one for a jab in the tail.
Christmas Day was a great celebration everyone helping with preparations and the cooking. Breakfast of fried eggs (no bacon) and bread with margarine for the first time since leaving Turkey. Lunch of fresh fruit salad consisting of plums, passionfruit, oranges, bananas, pineapple, paw paw, mangoes and fresh cream. Chicken and pork were cooked in a hungi on hot coals. We lazed around on Graham’s Kashmir carpet in front of a tree hung with Christmas cards. A few decorations of streamers and coloured paper and balloons completed the festivities. Afternoon tea of pineapple juice and Christmas cake. Exchanging of fun presents before dinner and plenty of drinks purchased duty free and kept cold by filling a trunk with ice.
Our next stop was Malindi 70 miles north where we camped on the beach in front of
the golf club. New Year’s eve was celebrated with dinner beside a swimming pool, followed by a discotheque. The New Year saw Brutus and Jenny being thrown into the pool, although many others went swimming.
Tsavo National Park was our first game park and time was passed by guessing what animals we would see first. When one was sighted no one knew what it was but we later decided on an Impala. We also saw elephants, zebra, gazelle, monkeys, squirrels, giraffe, foxes, rhinoceros and a hippopotamus. Mt Kilimanjaro barely visible through the cloud.
While in Nairobi, it was discovered that Graham had hepatitis so he was admitted to
hospital and each day people made trips into the town to visit him. We had to leave Graham here to convalesce but had lunch with him in the hospital grounds. Graham joined us in his pyjamas and insisted on going for a short drive checking that everything was OK with the bus. Graham was to join us later but here we farewelled Heather who left to fly home to Queensland.
We celebrated crossing the Equator by a brief mud fight and finally reached the
Ugandan border after being stopped for police checks – had to toot the horn and show that the wipers worked! The good roads near the border soon petered out and from then on we travelled on red dirt roads. The African people were always waving to us and calling out ‘Jambo’.
Our campsite at Murchison Falls National Park was memorable for finding ticks on ourselves, sleeping bags and stretchers so we spent some time de-ticking each other.
A disconcerting sign read “When pitching tents allow room for animals to roam amongst them”. Apart from in-ground loos there were no other facilities so intrepid travelers that we were resorted to having a drink in the bar at the lodge and visiting the modern toilets there to wash in the basins, having first armed ourselves with soap and towel.
Apart from seeing numerous animals in all the game parks we visited, on a launch trip up the Albert Nile to see the mighty Murchison Falls, we must have seen hundreds of hippos and crocodiles and also numerous kinds of birds such as eagles, cranes and kingfishers.
One day in western Uganda, whilst filling up with petrol, we observed a group of 20 to 30 people lying on the ground outside a police station. They appeared to be receiving some very physical interrogation from a number of police officers. In hindsight, it may have been connected with the overthrow of the Uganda Government by Idi Amin which occurred about a week later, after we had left the country.
Serengeti National Park was vast, and on asking one of the park drivers where to go to see the best viewing spots he advised we would get lost. However we set off alone and did managed to completely lose ourselves but soon saw the Park’s vehicles and followed them being lucky to see 7 lionesses in one group and also two leopards. After an afternoon’s viewing of many animals, we drove to our allocated campsite No. 9. On driving past No. 1 we noticed an elephant and there was much hilarity and apprehension as to what would be on number 9 and how we would fare during the night.
Sandy and Jean ventured to the loo but returned running back to the bus for safety having heard grunts and seen eyes shining in the darkness. Brutus who was in a tent, lifted up the flap and yelled to us to open the bus door then raced across the ground to land panting inside. In the morning we laughed over the incidents of the night before and found that some of our animals had turned out to be a tree stump and the eyes silver paper. Leaving Serengeti we witnessed the memorable sight of thousands of zebra, gazelle and wildebeest migrating across the plains.
We camped at a local police station near Ngorongoro Crater for two days waiting for a Contiki tour to arrive as we hoped to use their Land Rover to go down into the crater to view the animals, and also the driver of the trip – Peter, was Jenny’s boyfriend. The wait was worth it as before we left Jenny and Peter announced their engagement. However, Peter O’Neill was diagnosed with malaria there and dosed up on quinine shots. After about a week he was back to his usual self.
We set out to walk up to the first hut on Mt. Kilimanjaro – 9,000 feet and 9 miles up. It was a steep climb and after about two hours it started to rain heavily. We found a small hut to shelter in for lunch but then decided to return as the track was now like a miniature stream. We were drenched and slid down the track through the mud and slush eventually reaching sunshine lower down the mountain.
At Dar Es Salaam we were reunited with Graham who had travelled from Nairobi with a Contiki tour. They camped nearby and we made the most of the company sharing our travel experiences. We stayed in log cabins by the beach and the bar for the complex was like a miniature zoo, being frequented by an assortment of animals – dogs, cats, mongoose and monkeys that swung from the rafters, sometimes upsetting drinks.
Heading to the Tanzanian border we were delayed as the road was just mud and slush with numerous trucks stuck and others skidding. We had tea while waiting and others investigated the conditions. We later weaved our way between trucks, the rest of us following behind giving a push when needed or jumping on the back bumper for extra weight to stop the vehicle from slipping.
At the border into Malawi, the girls were politely asked by an Immigration official to wear a dress which covered the knees. We were prepared for this and had previously obtained lengths of materials to wrap around our shorts.
We arrived in the country on the weekend of their changeover to decimal currency. At one town on asking if there was a bank, the reply was “Yes, it comes on Thursdays”. We managed to change some money but there were long queues of people as many had come to the town with their money tied up in their handkerchiefs and wanted the exact equivalent coin for their old coins.
We camped on the edges of Lake Malawi in the grounds of a hotel for 7 days. It was a lazy time, swimming and reading, the boys going fishing and we watched the local fishermen using their dugout canoes to carry their fishing nets out into the lake then sit on the beach pulling them in.
A man who had befriended us here, and who owned a garage offered the group the job of driving some Australian Holden utes and panel vans for export into Zambia. Many of the people accepted
the offer and thoroughly enjoyed themselves slithering and sliding their way along the muddy, pot-holed roads. The cars were left at the town of Chipati near the Zambian border.
Good bitumen roads to Lusaka the capital of Zambia with many modern buildings, beautiful goods on display, and in general the most civilized place we had been in for months. The camping ground was the best since Turkey and it was luxury for us to have hot running water, baths and showers.
It was Sandy’s birthday so we celebrated by having dinner at a small cafe then going onto the Chilanga Club. It turned out to be a double celebration as during the
evening much excitement was created as Carole and Peter announced their engagement. Our night ended with a 2.00am return to the campsite. Talk of ‘Stan’ being the wedding vehicle led to the bus being decorated the next day with white toilet paper and driven into town.
From Kariba Dam where the middle of the wall separates Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia) from Zambia we headed to Victoria Falls – a tremendous sight. We wandered around the many viewpoints some of which it was recommended to wear raincoats and use umbrellas. We didn’t and got drenched.
At the camping ground in Salisbury the different tradesmen called at the tents each day, making it easier for buying goods but other more unwelcome visitors were hairy grubs which spun cocoons in our clothes and also white ants which took a liking to the tent bags.
Heading to Fort Victoria (now known as Masvingo) we called on a friend of Grahams, and although he was not at home his mother invited us in for tea and cakes while seated on a verandah from which to look out on a beautiful view. In exchange for petrol coupons which were used because of the shortage of fuel, we were given a turkey and roll of beef – most welcome.
Visited the Zimbabwe ruins discovered in 1868 before heading to South African border. Here we immediately became aware of the apartheid policy that existed at that time with separate entrances to Immigration marked “White” and “Non White”.
Arrived in the sprawling metropolis of Johannesburg known as “The Golden City”. Met Bernie Fisher, a friend of Grahams then headed to the camping ground only to be advised they only took caravans as campers lowered the tone. As it was late we ended up at Bernie’s home placing our stretchers around the various rooms, much to the bewilderment of his mother. The next day we found a camping ground to take us.
In Johannesburg the bus had major repairs, we held an engagement party for Carole and Peter, visited a diamond warehouse where Carole chose a ring, saw movies and slides of our trip and visited the Rand Easter Show. Then it was off travelling again towards Kruger National Park – but not for long. Just as we entered the town of Nelspruit the engine on Stan stopped. It was discovered the drive shaft in the fuel pump had gone and subsequently that the replacement part was rather expensive. As the engine generally was not in a good condition it was decided to end the trip now doing the uncompleted part prior to catching the ship to Australia.
Graham and Jean hitched back to Johannesburg to bring back a Land Rover to tow us while the rest waited patiently for their return the following day. We were towed the 230 miles back to Johannesburg in a long slow trip, while most of the group hitched to save on weight.
The following day it was job and flat hunting for most people. Carole and Peter were leaving the trip to return to Australia, and Graham hired the bus to a company doing a trip up to Nairobi. This was the end of our nomad life for a while, as, after almost nine months of travelling through numerous countries in the continents of Europe, Asia and Africa we faced the real world of work for the next 3 months.
Like, what’s happening, man?
Now, where was I before this World Cup interrupted my life. Oh, that’s right – the reunion.
Do you ever find that there just never seem to be enough hours in the day to do everything you want to do? As a kid I recall that time seemed to drag on into the distance. But, once you crack 50 it’s like you’ve joined life’s bobsleigh team, and you’re hurtling downhill and can’t find the bloody handbrake. Anyway, no time for introspection, let’s get to the “goss” update.
Jean Ide emailed to say that she had found that Colin and Carol Francis were on the 2005 electoral roll as living at 8582 Paeroa Kopu Road, Puriri, Coromandel in New Zealand and that she had written to them at that address. In a later email Jean said:
“No luck with Colin and Carol Francis - letter returned from their 2005 Electoral Roll address. Only possibility now is that when the new 2006 E/Roll books come out later in the year they may be in one of them - when people move their redirections are automatically sent to the electoral office for them to update records so hopefully if they have 'retired' in NZ they may be traced later.”
As far as Don Clark and Paul Foster are concerned Jean wrote:
“No word from the Clark connection in Masterton so far. Tried to work out Paul's second name as far easier to trace that way but unfortunately there were several born in the Wairarapa/Palmerston North/Wellington region - is there any possibility of someone having his second name?”
And added in a later email:
“Nowt back from Don Clark contact in Wairarapa, nor Paul Foster so it may appear to be a dead end with them.”
Jean had better luck in finding Rae (Lancaster) Drake as you may have read in the “comments” section to the June 9 post.
Rae and husband Bruce have recently been in Melbourne on business and we managed to arrange a mini-reunion last Sunday - July 2. Rae is terrific. Has not changed a bit. The conversation was along the lines of…..“as I was saying 35 years ago!” It certainly whet the appetite for the big reunion next year. Bruce is an aircraft engineer, who is battling his way through the bureaucratic nightmare of the paperwork involved with registering a new ultralight aircraft in Oz.
While on the subject of “The Date”, I rang the Melbourne Grand Prix office this week and they told me that the Melbourne race is provisionally set for the first or second weekend in March but that will not be confirmed until October. I’m thinking that the weekend after the Grand Prix would be an ideal date. That would make it March 10-11 or March 17-18. Any “petrolheads” amongst you, or anyone who wants to loosen the wax in their ears, can front up a week earlier and watch the procession around Albert Park. If you ask John or Sandy nicely, they might be able to arrange a view of the Grand Prix from a sailing boat on Albert Park Lake while the race is on.
Jennie Lee has been very extremely busy. On June 9 she wrote to say:
“I am trying to find Mike Jackson and have sent out a few emails looking for him.
I have always been in touch with Sarita, and she is coming to stay for a few days soon. She is following up with Alfi so hope to get her involved too.”
And a couple of days later:
“I have just spoken with Mike Jackson. He is living in NSW.”
Jennie included Mike’s email address, and I wrote to him, but have not yet heard back from him.
I had another email from Jennie on June 20:
“I am including Nereda Denington's email address.
Nereda was on the trip in the very begining. She went from London to Germany.
Nereda lives in Brisbane and we have kept in touch all the time.”
On June 29 Ned (Nereda) emailed me to say:
“I was involved very, very early in the trip travelling from London to Venice, from whence I had to fly home. I still stay in touch with Sandy and John, and of course Jennie, and know most of the people involved from the beginning of the trip. I had a little to do with the tour insignia/design on the buses, as Graham was a friend of mine in London. Also I was in Brisbane when they passed thru here and we put them up for a few nights.”
On June 26, Sandy had an email from Heather Dowling (Gillespie) in South Australia which said in part:
“Thanks for your letter about the reunion. I’d love to come, and usually arrange some leave around March each year, so it might fit nicely.
All the best. Hoppy”
I’ve also received emails from Bernard Fisher in Perth and Noel Maclachlan (Huntley) in Sydney. Both are very interested in the reunion. Apologies if I haven’t responded to your particular email.
Margaret is trying to track down Barb Rosa (Cooper) who we misplaced a few years ago in Melbourne.
Note to Lou, presuming you are reading this blog:
Any chance that you and Peter Ide could write an account of your journey from England to South Africa. (ie. before we met up in Jo’burg.) Would like some pictures to go with it, and will publish here. I would appreciate your thoughts, Lou. Drop me an email.
I would like to put together a list of people who have been contacted and their intentions as to the reunion. Could you email me as to how you see your situation, assuming that March 10-11 or 17-18 is the date. We may need to work out if it's necessary to hire a couple of marquees to accommodate everyone. I’m sure you would all look forward spending some more time under canvas!
This post has now dragged on for three days. Time to publish.
Do you ever find that there just never seem to be enough hours in the day to do everything you want to do? As a kid I recall that time seemed to drag on into the distance. But, once you crack 50 it’s like you’ve joined life’s bobsleigh team, and you’re hurtling downhill and can’t find the bloody handbrake. Anyway, no time for introspection, let’s get to the “goss” update.
Jean Ide emailed to say that she had found that Colin and Carol Francis were on the 2005 electoral roll as living at 8582 Paeroa Kopu Road, Puriri, Coromandel in New Zealand and that she had written to them at that address. In a later email Jean said:
“No luck with Colin and Carol Francis - letter returned from their 2005 Electoral Roll address. Only possibility now is that when the new 2006 E/Roll books come out later in the year they may be in one of them - when people move their redirections are automatically sent to the electoral office for them to update records so hopefully if they have 'retired' in NZ they may be traced later.”
As far as Don Clark and Paul Foster are concerned Jean wrote:
“No word from the Clark connection in Masterton so far. Tried to work out Paul's second name as far easier to trace that way but unfortunately there were several born in the Wairarapa/Palmerston North/Wellington region - is there any possibility of someone having his second name?”
And added in a later email:
“Nowt back from Don Clark contact in Wairarapa, nor Paul Foster so it may appear to be a dead end with them.”
Jean had better luck in finding Rae (Lancaster) Drake as you may have read in the “comments” section to the June 9 post.
Rae and husband Bruce have recently been in Melbourne on business and we managed to arrange a mini-reunion last Sunday - July 2. Rae is terrific. Has not changed a bit. The conversation was along the lines of…..“as I was saying 35 years ago!” It certainly whet the appetite for the big reunion next year. Bruce is an aircraft engineer, who is battling his way through the bureaucratic nightmare of the paperwork involved with registering a new ultralight aircraft in Oz.
While on the subject of “The Date”, I rang the Melbourne Grand Prix office this week and they told me that the Melbourne race is provisionally set for the first or second weekend in March but that will not be confirmed until October. I’m thinking that the weekend after the Grand Prix would be an ideal date. That would make it March 10-11 or March 17-18. Any “petrolheads” amongst you, or anyone who wants to loosen the wax in their ears, can front up a week earlier and watch the procession around Albert Park. If you ask John or Sandy nicely, they might be able to arrange a view of the Grand Prix from a sailing boat on Albert Park Lake while the race is on.
Jennie Lee has been very extremely busy. On June 9 she wrote to say:
“I am trying to find Mike Jackson and have sent out a few emails looking for him.
I have always been in touch with Sarita, and she is coming to stay for a few days soon. She is following up with Alfi so hope to get her involved too.”
And a couple of days later:
“I have just spoken with Mike Jackson. He is living in NSW.”
Jennie included Mike’s email address, and I wrote to him, but have not yet heard back from him.
I had another email from Jennie on June 20:
“I am including Nereda Denington's email address.
Nereda was on the trip in the very begining. She went from London to Germany.
Nereda lives in Brisbane and we have kept in touch all the time.”
On June 29 Ned (Nereda) emailed me to say:
“I was involved very, very early in the trip travelling from London to Venice, from whence I had to fly home. I still stay in touch with Sandy and John, and of course Jennie, and know most of the people involved from the beginning of the trip. I had a little to do with the tour insignia/design on the buses, as Graham was a friend of mine in London. Also I was in Brisbane when they passed thru here and we put them up for a few nights.”
On June 26, Sandy had an email from Heather Dowling (Gillespie) in South Australia which said in part:
“Thanks for your letter about the reunion. I’d love to come, and usually arrange some leave around March each year, so it might fit nicely.
All the best. Hoppy”
I’ve also received emails from Bernard Fisher in Perth and Noel Maclachlan (Huntley) in Sydney. Both are very interested in the reunion. Apologies if I haven’t responded to your particular email.
Margaret is trying to track down Barb Rosa (Cooper) who we misplaced a few years ago in Melbourne.
Note to Lou, presuming you are reading this blog:
Any chance that you and Peter Ide could write an account of your journey from England to South Africa. (ie. before we met up in Jo’burg.) Would like some pictures to go with it, and will publish here. I would appreciate your thoughts, Lou. Drop me an email.
I would like to put together a list of people who have been contacted and their intentions as to the reunion. Could you email me as to how you see your situation, assuming that March 10-11 or 17-18 is the date. We may need to work out if it's necessary to hire a couple of marquees to accommodate everyone. I’m sure you would all look forward spending some more time under canvas!
This post has now dragged on for three days. Time to publish.
Friday, July 07, 2006
The New Academy Award
There are a couple of World Cup rumours doing the rounds....which I’m starting right here.
The first rumour is that the next Academy Awards will have a new category for “Best performance by an Actor at the 2006 World Cup”. Nominations so far include:
Fabio Grosso for his spectacular effort in tripping over a blade of grass in the Australia v. Italy match, and
Thierry Henry in the France v. Portugal match for his magnificent performance in milking everything from a minor foot contact, and suggesting to the referee that his legs had been severed at the knee.
The other rumour is that FIFA is considering changing the team strips for the next World Cup to include goggles, face masks and flippers so that players are better equipped for the developing football skill of diving.
End of rumours.
In the past, the world game was played by people of integrity, not by a bunch of cheating millionaires. Don’t these dickheads realise that there are millions of kids around the world watching their antics. Will someone please rid a great sport of these fraudsters and con men.
The first rumour is that the next Academy Awards will have a new category for “Best performance by an Actor at the 2006 World Cup”. Nominations so far include:
Fabio Grosso for his spectacular effort in tripping over a blade of grass in the Australia v. Italy match, and
Thierry Henry in the France v. Portugal match for his magnificent performance in milking everything from a minor foot contact, and suggesting to the referee that his legs had been severed at the knee.
The other rumour is that FIFA is considering changing the team strips for the next World Cup to include goggles, face masks and flippers so that players are better equipped for the developing football skill of diving.
End of rumours.
In the past, the world game was played by people of integrity, not by a bunch of cheating millionaires. Don’t these dickheads realise that there are millions of kids around the world watching their antics. Will someone please rid a great sport of these fraudsters and con men.
