Source: Alex
Source: Van Onselen
We will always remember 2014 as the Year of The Great Trek.
The Great Trek (1834) from Grahamstown to Port Natal took about 6 months and covered 650km. Our Great Trek (2014 and 180 years later) from Napier to Sheffield via Graham’s Town and back took about a month and covered 37,000km.
180 years ago our Great Trek would have appeared to
have been conducted at a very fast pace. But as Mario Andretti famously remarked, “If everything seems under control, you are just not going fast enough”. Fortunately his workload helped in slowing Mike down this year and keeping him under control. Knowing his tendency to head off in the wrong direction, his wife and family also conspired in their plans to help him maintain his bearings.
The year started ominously with Mike heading south in the direction of Nelson on the South Island with the ancient Camry towing the even more ancient Venter trailer that has carried Gill’s Laser all over SA and NZ. Whilst Gill headed back out to sea, Mike pedalled his bike in the direction of the hops growing town of Motueka. Notable of these travels was a stop at a pub with the oxymoronic name of The Honest Lawyer and a paddle around the islands off the Abel Tasman national park.
Then the annual round of grandchildren’s birthdays had an extra celebration this year (Adara 1, Torgan 5, Kheva 7, and Rhyva 12). African tribal people describe personalities in terms of the characteristics of African game and so my daughter’s zoo now comprises respectively a baby jumbo, a Kakapo, a crocodile and a white Rhino. Rhyva will be going onto St John’s secondary school next year which is a local Hastings Catholic school. Generations seem doomed to repeat history given that Mike the mouse attended De La Salle in his youth which was also an odd choice for a non Catholic family.
A mid-year break at the Black Barn cottage aimed at helping recovery from the stresses of a plethora of complex new financial regulations simply served to confirm that Mike was now completely lost.
The appeal of island life made a stop at Hawaii seem like a means to put Micky back on track. Perhaps the outer islands are OK, but Oahu with the airport city of Honolulu is one almighty traffic jam with monster sized vehicles going round and round the island looking for a way out and preferably North. The only way out was to take the Japanese approach and look for Pearl Harbour.
The runways had been cleared of the litter left on the runways by the Japanese and so by heading East we ended up on the West coast of the USA. The Virgin America staff at Los Angeles airport seemed to have a better idea as to how to get further North by going East and suggested that plane tickets to pursue our baggage on its way to London might be helpful.
Once in London, the real fun started - if driving in the UK can be called fun. The modern GPS, where address input is by twiddling a dial, ensures that one has to take one eyes off the road and avert the terror of monster sized trucks travelling at 90 mph on wet motorways. To add to the fun of this game, the hurdles increased when the contacts list stored on Gill’s i-phone did not include postcodes. Here Mike observed the swallows heading south and our directions thereafter tended to be guided by going in the opposite direction to any flying bird (mice know the risk). Karma dictates his quote, which in later years would be attributed to Kimi Raikkonen “Leave me alone, I know what I’m doing”, would eventually catch up with him.
Notable of our travels around the UK were the many stops required to dry out rain sodden clothing and change Mike’s brown trousers. If we forgot to express our sincere thanks to all friends and family for their fine laundry facilities, please accept that these were much appreciated. Perhaps at this juncture it may help to mention the reasons for our Great Trek during October.
Essentially these were to join Mike’s stepmother in celebrating her 90th Birthday and Mike’s younger brother Graham in celebrating his 60th Birthday. Separating the various branches of the family are water filled moats of some considerable size. The Pacific Ocean has width to prove its worth and the Atlantic Ocean has the added benefit of permanent water hoses attached to its clouds to repel boarders. Ha, all to no avail as we flightless Kiwis resorted to Red Bull and Gill’s broom to fly in above the clouds.
The Big Day in the UK saw us attending Joan’s 90th birthday. With drizzle around, a walk in the local woods was required to exercise a black Labrador before the big celebratory lunch at a local pub. The pub lunch was excellent followed by a return home for tea and the celebratory birthday cake.
Then we had a week to catch up with friends (all ex Rhodesians or ex South Africans) before heading back to the USA to visit our son David and daughter-in-law Natalie living up and down the Eastern USA seaboard. They kindly treated us to a break in the Adirondacks before the next Big Day dawned for the 60th Birthday celebration for Graham at his son’s house in Boston.
Then it was back home again and the end of a “holiday” from the land of the white cloud to the rain soaked lands of grey clouds. The Great Trek took us half way around the world and back again in a time shortened period of less than the 80 days that it should have taken. Best part was meeting up again with family and friends and that alone made it worthwhile.
We trust that next year will involve a lot less travel but one never knows. Already the plans are that the mouse and the albatross will be celebrating their 40 years of marriage next January in the New Zealand lakeside town of Taupo. Best part is that this trip has only three mountain ranges to cross and should only take about 60 days by ox wagon. However as we both still work to find the income and escape the zoo, time is always an issue when a waiting.
Ouch, and you thought it couldn’t get any worse?
We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year.
Love
Mike and Gill
PS: Other than the loss of the author’s tale and a few bruises sustained by fending off criticism from an enraged seabird no other animals were harmed in the production of this newsletter.
