Weekend: Friday 15th to Sunday 17th March 2008.
During the week I visited Cape Town on Business and was able to see Nicci and family. Christian had his tonsils removed and was not feeling his best. He had a bad time of it for over a week after the operation.
The following weekend 16th and 17th January Ally had a sleep over at her school. We pitched tents on the Clarendon Field and ordered Pizza’s for supper. Craig and Shane Giddy with Lara were our next door neighbours and the Kotze’s, Colin, Lolo and Jarred made up the group. Both Barbara and Cheryl had decided to go home for the night. The children had a wonderful evening paying in each other’s tents in a totally safe environment.
The grown ups sat in little lagers enjoying the mellow evening with no worries about where the children were. Sharks played the Western Force and won the game to add to our fun of the evening. Barbara introduced me to a friend of hers (Edna) who does Power Plate. Edna is friends of Don and Cathy and fitted into the little group very well. As did her friend Lorinda. I think that they both enjoyed the sherry I had brought for Barbara. Desire (and Kenny) also joined the group. Ally and I went to bed at about 10 or 11.
It was some time after I had fallen asleep that I felt something in the tent. A young boy was looking for his mother and had come into our tent by mistake. Later I wondered if he ever found his mom. At the time I had been too deep in my sleep to think about what was going on.
Ally & I left early as I had to see a customer that morning. Later we went to Red House to register for the River Mile. By being early we qualified for vouchers for free Crocs. This is a plastic shoe that has become quite popular. That afternoon Ally had a party. I took a lift with Donald to the Nippers evening at Summerstrand. Aunty Mary and Gail came to visit Barbara.
We had a wonderful evening at Summerstrand, starting with a swim. Donald, Alex and I caught some amazing body surfs. Back in the club house we were able to acknowledge the Nippers who had participated in Carnivals. Summerstrand had won the last two carnivals. We then had a Lucky Draw for the Nippers. A host of prizes were handed out. In addition each Nipper and sibling received a small gift of chips and cold drinks.
Donald showed a DVD of pictures taken by Terry at the two Carnivals. Varrin explained the rules of a Carnival such as Plett where Nippers are “missing” at the time of their event. Warren spoke about the need for succession in the committee as some of the existing committee members would leave Nippers after the next season. He also appealed for sponsorships or for parents to search for financial assistance for Nippers Nationals in March this year. Warren thanked the people who work hard to make Nippers and evenings such as these, a reality.
The adults then had a Lucky Draw 100Club. Lots of prizes were handed out. I would go as far as to say hardly anyone left empty handed. After this we were treated to a supper that Clint had prepared; chicken Pootjie and rice. Clint has a very tasty but healthy recipe with plenty of vegetables. As you may know, Clint puts together a huge quantity of supper and despite this, the pot was empty at the end of the evening. Certainly no one went home hungry!
If you missed this evening I hope it was for a good reason as it turned out that there was this amazing vibe for parents and Nippers alike. Donald brought the Ice Princess as well as a Penguin musical movie. This was a surprisingly popular attraction. Many of the adults watched the Super 14 matches where, to the great delight of Bulls Supporters such as the Clint family, the Bulls beat the Stormers. Predictably the Cheetas beat the Lions. This had been an excellent evening with great support from parents and Nippers alike.
Sunday morning I was up at 04.30 and drove down to the Fig Tree where I met up with Achilles for a run. It was drizzling slightly but warm and perfect weather for a run. I started off in the slow group with Liz, Mary-Grace, Tom and Leslie. Gail and Pat surged ahead. Liz was quite beside herself as she had not anticipated being able to go to Two Oceans this year and Jock had phoned her to say that it would now be a possibility. All Liz now has to do is to enter the event. It will be her tenth Two Oceans and she is very excited at the thought.
During the run we had some really interesting and solid discussions. The route is up 17th Avenue and right into Buffelsfontein. Up to the top at Boundary road and down on the new Seaview road. Roy Cartmel was providing welcomed seconding. As we headed down Seaview; Bob, Theresa, Earl and Cathy caught us. From there Bob and I chatted for most of the way home as we went up the Chelsea Tea gardens road past “Much in sight” and over to Longbarn and back down Buffelsfontein and Constance roads.
Bob tells me that he is getting married in April. The faster runners such as Bruce, Mike, Baron, Andrew and Bradley had passed us along the road. It had been a most pleasant 24kay training run with some of the runners doing a bit extra as they ran home. I drove straight to church where I showered and then met Ally to attend the service.
After church we drove down to Redhouse. At registration I met up with Rob Ermes who was delighted as he had been chosen to represent EP at Triathlon. He had a stunning Olympic standard Tri in East London.
At registration we had body marking done and were handed caps to wear. The ladies were first off. Ally, her friend Kaylee and I walked to the start. It was these two youngsters first time to swim the River Mile and they were a little nervous. This could be heard in their conversation as they walked downstream. I left them to go the final bit to the start on their own.
Cheryl & John were there with Greg and once the race got under way John took a few pictures of Ally. She and Kaylee swam the whole way together and did an excellent time of about 24 minutes. Other ladies we saw included Carmen, Ashleigh, Tara and various other Nippers. Arlene (from church) is now a regular swimmer in the ocean swims on Sundays. Jenny you may be interested to know that your friend (Zelda?) from Croft McGill, also took part.
Michael had brought his family to watch Ally. He reminded us of his younger years when our whole family had taken part in this event. Clint was there with a tent and braai. He was cooking boerewors rolls for about 80 people as there were about 35 Nippers and family taking part in the mile. He was delighted to see that the whole lot had been consumed.
After Ally had swum her event she gave me her goggles and I walked to the start. I arrived and walked straight into the water and the race started. It was perfect timing. The run in the morning had taken its toll and I cramped up in my calves and feet a number of times and had to lie on my back to stretch the muscles. I was quite surprised to see how many people were walking on the shallow banks. John had said that some people were being disqualified.
I was able to finish in just over 30 minutes. Others who I had seen enjoying the outing were: Bradley Joubert, Kaylee’s Dad, Markus and MC, Warren and Jason, Imraan Moosagie, Roger and Christian, Kurt, Luke and Adam, Giovanni, Matthew and Luke, Donald, Matthew and Jonathan, Greg Kotze and a number of other Nippers.
Donald was cutting it fine as he had to get to the airport for a 17.00 flight to Cape Town. We all sat around enjoying the afternoon. It had been overcast and windless. Conditions were perfect for the river. At about 4 the prize giving started and, after a number of lucky draws, Matthew McGillivray was given a motor scooter as a prize. This was a highlight for the Summerstrand crowd.
Last year 720 swimmers had taken part in this event. This year I saw numbers on participants well into the 800’s. This event has been an annual swim for the PE public since 1924 and is the oldest event of its kind in South Africa. As the afternoon drew to a close, John & I reflected on the incredible vibe in the area as people mixed and had fun together with active participation in sport as the catalyst.
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