Home	Photo Gallery	Heraldry	Newsletters
Stephens History	World Trade Center	Hide History	Joke of the month
Bill Stephens	Soccer	Published	Thought of the Month
Brent Stephens	Links	Effective Management Training	Book

Our Trip 98 Week 4

Week Four started with a bang – or should I say “twang” as Paul and Vicky joined us, taking a few days off school to be with us. Once more we exchanged the “my how you have grown” routine, and judging by Paul’ size it’s surprising that they have any food left in the house… Paul had played the violin for years, and now is into guitar in a big way. So he brought his electric guitar and amplifier and provided the background noise that finally made the Beatles their fortune. When Paul becomes famous we will be able to say “we were there as his creative juices flowed and he practised different ‘moves’. But, reading Week 4 I notice I got ahead of myself, so let me backtrack a few days.

Soon after getting to Sedgefield, we took the historic “Outeniqua Tjoe-Choo” train, which leaves Knysna and runs along the coast for some breathtaking scenery to George and back. This is an old steam train with restored carriages and was a great trip. The weather was kind, we got some good seats and my dad – not one for communicating his life – told about his days as a foreman on the “Railways” and fixing engines like the one pulling us, and how the “puffs” told a story as to whether the driver was using his steam to best advantage, or making his poor stoker shovel coal at a tiring rate.

The next day we took the ferry to the “Featherbed Reserve” – a private nature reserve owned by the late JLB Smith – world famous for his identification of the presumed extinct “Coelacanth” or “old four legs” – supposedly being a fish that has evolved from land to sea. The reserve is now run by his family, and we met his son William Smith, a well known local TV personality. Weather was not kind to us, the trip over we were battered by wind and rain, the trip up the hill on a landrover treated us likewise, before clearing up and allowing Dee and I to make the hike back admiring the “Knysna Loerie” (bird) on the way. We returned on a different ferry, apparently featured on “Beyond 2000” for it’s technological development and it took us for a closer look at the “Knysna Heads” – two high cliffs with a passageway to the sea. Knysna is another of those gems like Cape Town and Umhlanga, having a large influx of business people who commute to Johannesburg weekly – a few hours flight. We then shopped the Curio Shops at a new development to lure the unsuspecting tourist (locals, not having the benefit of the exchange rate apparently seldom buy from them), before looking up Johnny Winfield, now a local optometrist, married to Glenda Sansom. The Sansom family and our family go back many years, out mothers having met in the maternity wards where Linda was born the day before Glenda, and the rest, as they say, is history. Peter was born a few months after me and they had a third, Janet (apparently I was so difficult as a child there were no more…) We arranged for the Winfields to come out for a “braai” on Saturday with their two sons and a good time was had by all.

On Sunday we went to visit a gold mine nearby – one of those that did not make it, as gold was discovered on the Reef and the rest is history, but the boys enjoyed crawling around tunnels lit only by the light on my video camera. We stopped at a picnic spot on the way back – very picturesque, stream running down the centre with a few picnic spots laid out.

On Monday we went over to the Timeshare Resort proper to use some of the facilities, pools, paddle boats and the like. Paul and I decided to try sailing one of the boats – the last time I sailed was probably in the 70’s so this was going to be interesting… it turned out to be the highlight of the trip for me, I laughed in total glee as hard as I used to when doing the High-Speed Driving at Kyalami (Race Track). In the middle of the vlei (lake) the wind does a sudden reverse of direction – perhaps coming off the encircling mountains – so, over we went! Paul used his young muscles to good effect to get us back up – but had forgotten to loosen his jib before doing so, so we almost went over again! By now the wind was blowing furiously – they ran up the red flag, meaning “no sailing” but we were out having too much fun. There was no trapeze or spinnaker, but did have straps to hang out with, so while I chuckled with glee, Paul hung as far out as he could to keep us upright. The next minute – without warning - he starts dipping his head in the water and I almost lost control again – partly from the drag, partly as I laughed even harder. We eventually made it back safely to find Vicky out on a windsurfer battling with the wind and the mast hold that kept coming out. We had a few efforts at fishing, Paul joining us and Vicky went with Dee and the boys to play in the rock-pools nearby, which Dee regarded as one of her highlights.

On Tuesday we left for Port Alfred via Grahamstown. Before leaving Grahamstown, I took a few moments with Linda to drive through Rhodes University where I had studied and she was now continuing her study, and her husband Nick lectured pure mathematics. (When I once asked him the difference between pure mathematics and applied mathematics, he replied “Imagine a room with a beautiful naked lady at one end, and you at the other. To get to her, you have to divide the room in half, then the half in half, and so forth. The pure mathematician never gets there, while the applied mathematician gets there – for all practical purposes…”) It was a nostalgic feeling, the campus has changed but the old residence is much the same, and the students look just the same! Apparently it is one of the only profitable university’s left – thanks to a business manager who works out how many students are needed per department in order to remain viable – or lose manpower. This creates a situation where departments actively campaign for students to continue studying that particular discipline. Whilst not popular from the departments perspective, from a management consultants perspective, it is superb!

We had a few good days in Port Alfred with my parents, dad had a friend loan him a Suzuki 4X4 which was able to fit us all in and go on the dunes. We fished while the boys played in the rocks – and they loved it! Caught a few fish in their nets and chased birds on the sand, and when mom and Dee came they were able to go for long walks on the dunes and admire the birds. Once we saw activity with the beach patrol as a boat was apparently involved in some illegal lobster or perlemoen poaching, but they were powerless, as as soon as they were seen, the boat up anchored and took off to sea. Apparently they return after dark for their “haul”. I caught a large sandshark or “guitar fish” and a few gully sharks (dad accused me of catching the same one every time), but as I caught more than he did I figured he was envious… The shark was the most fun to catch, being a decent size (about 2 foot) and giving a bit of a fight, but as we are not in the habit of eating them, back it went. Nothing else biting, so it was really an opportunity to chat and catch a “fisherman tan”. We went out to eat one night at a new restaurant overlooking the sea, and on Thursday Linda came down with her family night so we went to another restaurant - who tried to compete with my favorite “Lobster Thermidore” dish from Lord Prawn in Johannesburg, but did not quite make it. On Thursday there was also a reunion with the Sansoms (senior) as Sam and Jean called in on their way to Port Elizabeth. We enjoyed Jean giving us a running commentary on past friends from the Methodist Church in East London – where they were and what they were doing. Quite a few were in Australia, it seemed. We were sad to hear that the impressive Presbyterian Church across the road was for sale, part of the exodus from the town center to the suburbs, and possibly the dwindling number of aging members.

On Friday we headed to East London to stay with our friends, Dave and Elizma Melville. In a perfect example of miscommunication we arranged to meet at “Beach Burger” (a drive up open air ‘fast’ food facility) over looking the beachfront Not having been to this spot for years, the fond memories of years past did not match what we found. The signs as we drove in should have warned us “no hanging out of washing permitted”. We drove into a Transkei kind of situation (see Week 3!) and made a hasty exit. We retreated to the Friesland (a renowned milkshake parlor) and called David on his mobile to find he was hiding in the restaurant so we hastened to rescue him. It turned out that the Beach Burger owner had decided to “go with the flow” and with the mass beach gatherings on Friday’s opened an informal “shebeen” (black ‘pub’) where he ‘cut’ a few leaders in on the deal to maintain law and order! No more Friday night “smooching” in the cars in this vicinity…

Dave used to have a beautiful home on a hill overlooking the Nahoon River, but had sold to get his ever growing family (16 years down to a few months…) closer to good schools. He has bought a great old home in Selborne and kindly arranged a reunion at his home as we would be in town only for one night. We apparently missed an old friend Douglas Hayne by a few weeks as he had left for Wales (finally married) but his brother Anthony filled us in on their despair (brother Robbie and his) over the political state of affairs. They had been to Tony Leon (politician) meeting recently and were appalled at the amount of corruption that has been exposed, but they are powerless to do anything about. There is apparently NO accountability. (It’s a numbers game – 10% of the population can’t vote themselves into power!) The Haynes family date back to many enjoyable days at Hamburg (small holiday community 45 miles away on the Hamburg River) where fish, crab and prawn (shrimp) were but a few minutes away and success guaranteed). We even used to ride on the ox wagons down to the beach where they collected sand for building. The leaders with their 4 to 8 oxen spanned in were amazing with their long whips, making loud cracks and supposedly able to crack the fly off the ear of the front ox… Sorry, no video camera’s in those days, just have to take my word for it…

The evening was a great success, it was extremely enjoyable meeting old friends, but hard to have to “divide our time” meeting and catching up with old friends. Peter and Lynda Sansom and their three boys were also there, Lynda briefly as she was on her way to a funeral in Cape Town. Peter has been commissioned to make us a video of East London, my old “haunts” which we look forward to receiving. It was good to see Craig and Nikki Fouche (and Luke Drake her husband), they had been in Durban the week that Dee and I met. Nikki and I go back a long way, as we met at a Scripture Union camp and she was one of my “slaves” making sure I was suitably pampered. We kept in touch over the twenty odd years that have passed. They have grown into fine young people. It was great to see Shane Smith again and meet his family as well. He was hit by a terrorist bullet in the spine whilst teaching in a “black” neighbourhood. His determination to walk again has been a testimony to us all, and has paid off as he can now “shuffle” with a walker or between two people. His wife and family are also a testimony for their strength to support him. Kevin Potter was also there, although unfortunately without Gail and their daughter. Kevin is in radio and has aspirations for the UK or the USA. The infamous Alan Largue, also known as “Aargh!” was also there and we look forward to importing him and his sense of humor to Dallas as soon as we can… He now has a computer company so finding a job should not be an issue… (as long as it is before 2000?) We showed the video I had made of our life in the US to enlighten those present, apparently enjoyed by all.

We had a “farm style breakfast” (Elizma comes from farming stock) prepared and served by Mary, their long-time maid – a meal which roughly translates to 2 lbs of extra weight - before heading back to Johannesburg. As the central Sa is on a plateau, the first part of the drive (total 12 hours) is through beautiful mountains, before hitting the “Free State” – flat as Texas, we originally thought. Knowing Texas far better now, we can see they are different and each have their own beauty. The typical afternoon thunderstorm was on order and the great sunset arrived on cue before we arrived back at Trish on Saturday night.

On Sunday we spent lunchtime with my Uncle Barry (mom’s brother) and Aunt Louise, and cousins Kathy and Debbie and their brood and an in-law or two. Cousin Greg (a.k.a. “The Big Businessman”), was not in evidence, having a opening party of his big “beach house” somewhere in Durban. A great time was had by all, the second cousins all had a good time getting to know each other and a few of us risked ridicule by exposing ourselves in costumes (bathing suits) to have some fun in the pool. Barry is still the “Braai” Connoisseur but kept eating all the avocado (actually it was me but I blamed him). We hope someday to see the family history that Debbie has tracked down all the way back to Norway. We left to visit Dee’s “great aunt Vi” (her mom’s aunt - 86 years old) who also lived in Benoni and were pleased to be able to track her down in a friends “flat” (apartment) in a complex which reminded me of the American use of logic when numbering. She was in No. 114 which here would mean 11^th floor, no 4, but there you walk about aimlessly until someone directs you to the 4^th floor as the flats are numbered sequentially, and you have no clue which floor to go to. We had a great afternoon as Dee and Trish followed up on family history before leaving to have dinner with Tony and Sue Sonemann. This was an evening of great hilarity as Tony showed off his culinary skills and quick wit and Sue told the sad tale of the sudden loss of both parents in a short space of time. Fortunately they had met Tony and been a witness to the fact that Sue will not have a boring life being subjected to his endless jokes. Tony showed us pictures of Amy (daughter from a previous marriage) who had made great progress after hitting headlines for being mauled by two rottweilers.

Monday was spent frantically packing as Dee decided to bring home the “Noritaki” dinner service her mother had given her, so, loaded to the hilt, somehow never charged for being over the limit, we headed back, via Cape Town and more airport souvenir stores. In Miami we had to eat all the biltong before going through customs, before finally landing in Dallas where the welcome face of Larry, our neighbor, soon changed when he asked if we expected to fit all THAT in his van. It was good to be home, needing a vacation from our vacation.

In all, we had a great trip, were glad to meet old acquaintances and especially beautiful parts of the country. We don’t regret leaving, as even if we don’t get full benefit of the move, out children definitely will. Unless you have done it, you will never really fully realise the impact of immigration, leaving family and friends, familiar surroundings, culture. The break of grandparents from grandchildren must be the toughest of all. Dee’s parents having emigrated themselves blessed our move, while mine took 2 years to bless it, and more recently we have constant email saying “you did the right thing” – however tough it is on them. Email has been a great boon, as for those who had it, we spent less time catching up on news and more time re-establishing bonds. The friends from school days are definitely special and deeper bonds seem to be established. When asked the question “if all you say is true – HOW can people still stay?” My response is that most people make the best of their lot – as we had had to in a foreign country – and when some new change is made, ask the question “How does this affect me” – and if it does not, make the best of their lot. If it does, they make the necessary adjustments and move on. There is inequality in just about every society, the Europeans are proven to be the most resilient historically in their ability to adapt. So, to those of you who we saw – thank you for a great memory making experience, for those of you we missed – come and visit or we hope to see you next time! (although the visit to Australia and New Zealand is next on the list, maybe in 2000+…)