Mar 17, 2013

First of the Farewells with BFF from College

Yours Truly, Robynne, Denise and Gooch  (real name - Felicity, Maiden name - Gooch, AKA -  Flick)

Instruction from Gooch - "Right girls, chins up, slightly surprised, bite the apple." Much hilarity and mirth, Chez took about 10 or more photos and I really battled to get one where we were all looking the way we like to think we should look! 
I think this proves my point!

These are my best friends from College. We met in 1973 when we all started our Teacher Training at Edgewood College of Education in Pinetown, Natal, South Africa. We hit it off right from the beginning and have maintained our friendship since then. I have wonderful memories of us all piling into my blue VW Beetle (named Bessie Bluebug!!!) heading off for a holiday in Himeville only to break down outside a small place called Camperdown. Not to be deterred we arranged for Denise's boyfriend at the time to lend us his car so that we could go off on our holiday! My poor dad was left to sort out the problem of getting my car back to Pinetown!

We try to meet regularly but some years the gaps were quite big as we each got on with our lives and families. Denise and Gooch lived in Zululand and Robynne and I lived a lot closer to each other so I saw a lot more of Robynne than the other two but whenever we meet up there is plenty to catch up on and lots of laughs to be shared.

I had said that as the time is drawing close for my departure to live in the UK , I would like us all to get together. This weekend was the only time when we were all available - all arranged in less than a week! Gooch and Seaton live on a farm - lychees, bananas, crocodiles...yes, I did say crocodiles. They invited us to all meet there. Denise lives in Eshowe, Gooch in Glendale, myself in Umhlanga and Robynne in Westville. Gooch is sort of central so it is easier to meet there. By the way, everyone else calls Gooch 'Flick" but we call her Gooch which was her maiden name when we first met. Everyone at College called her Gooch and it feels really strange to call her anything else.
Ladies at work

We all duly arrived late afternoon in time to watch the Sharks play rugby ( the men did, we were chatting and sorting out food in the kitchen till half time but we didn't miss much!) The farm has a lovely covered veranda and we sat chatting in the gathering dusk. It is in the middle of nowhere and it is pitch dark all around you. The guys got a braai (barbecue) going and we ate dinner at the outside table. Such fun, good food, good company - very special and particularly meaningful as I don't know when we will all meet together like this again.
Our husbands from left to right: James (Robynne) , Chez (me), Alwin (Denise) and Seaton (Gooch)

Robs and Gooch - very relaxed listening to a tale from Alwin
Denise with the crocodile skull Seaton got for her to take home
The dining area
 Chez and Alwin chilling over a glass of wine
 Seaton looking very mellow
Our hosts - Gooch and Seaton

You can see the complete and utter blackness behind us - dead quiet and very isolated. Personally I would be very nervous staying there on my own but Gooch is not worried and takes it all in her stride.

Moving on to coffee and some serious discussion - or not! Note the skull taking pride of place on the coffee table.

Tired of waiting for us to go to bed - we did eventually start wandering off in the direction of the bedrooms around 12:30 am.
Next morning most of us were up early. Seaton was being fetched at 7:15am to go to the airport - he was attending a Conference in George and had to leave early to catch his flight. We sat and had coffee, yoghurt  and toasted hot cross buns for those feeling a bit peckish.  I still managed to fit in some photos of the garden before we said our goodbyes. What a wonderful time we had. Thank you my special friends - I am going to miss our get togethers. We will have to make a plan for the future so that we can all meet up somewhere, sometime.
I love this wheelbarrow with these succulents
Looking up from the bottom of the garden - lychee trees in the background
Eye-catching - love this plant
Pretty!
Looking through the arch towards the house
The mosaic mirror reflecting life on the farm that Gooch made - a crocodile can be seen bottom left
Hand carved wooden hippo
Nguni cow
Beaded African lady
So true!
Africa, my home for the past 48 years










1 comment:

  1. Lovely post and nice to see your friends again. It looks like you had a wonderful time and I'm glad it won't be too long before you see some of them again. I love all the photos and that you included some of the garden and decor - the mosaic mirror is fab! xx

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