On the 1st of June 2022 South Africa woke up to the shocking announcement that Comair had suspended all its kulula.com and British Airways flights. The news was only announced late the previous night. How devastating for all its employees and customers. On the 9th of June 2022, the business rescue practitioners announced that there was no reasonable prospect of rescue and that the company be placed into liquidation. Such a situation was unthinkable a few short years ago when Comair was the longest reining profitable airline in the world. Who would have thought? Just as well Roger did not hang on until retirement in order to get the associated ‘lifelong’ benefits. And I will keep my personal opinion of business rescue practitioners to myself.
But life carries on…
With the cost of fuel in mind I enquired on the hiking WhatsApp group for anyone willing to share driving for the Harties River Hike on the 5th of June. A guy called Jaron, who we met on a previous hike was keen, so that worked well.
It was cold and misty when we arrived, with frost crunching underfoot as we gathered for the group briefing. Roger was at Silver Creek Gorge and had promised a fly-past, but I missed it. There were various groups on the day so while he flew along the river, we were already on the other side of the hill. The group he spotted was not mine.
Breakfast was included in the hike fee and believe me the coffee, bacon, and eggs at the end of the hike was very welcome and delicious, especially on such a cold and windy day.
The owner of the stand adjacent to ours in Wakkerstroom had in the meantime accepted our offer to purchase so things are happening on that front. Now for the legalities…
Meanwhile back at Silver Creek Gorge Anthea had organised a social called ‘Winter Wonderland’ for the 11th of June. She always has amazing ideas and thrives on pulling them off. Each family had to bring a soup and she made all the sweet stuff, as usual. I think Sean was not all that impressed because he had to clean his hangar for the occasion. And that of course meant not being able to work on his airplane builds for two days. But it was a very successful evening and after the event even he had praise for her efforts.
On Sunday morning the 12th we were one of three Bathawks that flew to Mankwe Game Reserve to meet with owner Lynne. The objective was to inspect the landing strip and do a Bateleurs patrol at the same time. It was most interesting. What a mammoth task the game reserve owners have trying to protect their animals from poaching.
We decided to spend the long weekend (16th – 19th) in Wakkerstroom for their annual Arts and Crafts Festival. It was once again great fun being there, meeting new people and just experiencing the wonderful vibe. The festival artist was Flip Hatting, who we know from Johannesburg and the opening evening was held in his exhibition space. He is truly talented and very versatile.
For the Friday morning session Roger attended the ‘Creative Art Journaling’ workshop presented by Thelma van Rensburg, another artist that we have often encountered in Johannesburg, while I participated in the ‘FAST Oil Painting’ workshop presented by Elaine Marx. I certainly had a good time. Roger did too, but I suspect he enjoyed chatting more than the actual workshop…
I joined the ‘Chalk Painting’ workshop in the afternoon while Roger joined the ‘Craft Beer demonstration and tasting’. Again, lots of chatting and meeting new neighbours. The evening was spent with Geraldine, Owen, Charmaine, and Jan at the Red Rooster, celebrating Owen’s birthday.
We spent Saturday morning with our engineer/architect Tony and his wife Sonja. They came through from Volksrust in order to get a feel for the site. We spent a couple of hours discussing building plans and next steps and eventually parted ways just before lunchtime.
The next event was at the Papillon Venue for an evening of light classical music and a meal provided by The Bistro Restaurant. The music was by Malané Hofmeyr-Burger on flute, and Sonja van Zyl on piano. We’ve known Sonja for a number of years from chatting at gym in Rosebank. It was a truly enjoyable evening. We are just amazed at the diversity of interests and backgrounds of the people in such a small village. Every visit leaves us more certain that we are going to enjoy living there.
On Sunday morning Roger and I both attended a mosaic workshop with Candi at her house just a block away from our own stand. That was fun too. We were the only attendees. After the workshop we packed up and had our customary meal at Thyme Out Restaurant before heading home.
I attended a lunchtime concert presented by Sonja van Zyl – piano and Jean du Plessis – baritone on the 24th at the Theatre on the Square. Sonja played beautifully, as always, but I cannot say that I enjoyed the singing; personal taste I suppose. Nevertheless, it is always good to chat to Sonja. I combined the event with some shopping I wanted to do at Sandton Square, so I simply hopped on the Gautrain in Rosebank and arrived at Sandton Station 4 minutes later. So convenient.
On Sunday the 26th I hiked the Walter Sisulu trail with my friend Alessandra. Or rather I was supposed to but ended up doing it alone while she waited for me at the restaurant. Sadly, she injured her knee soon after we started walking but insisted that I complete the trail while she had coffee. It turned out to be a nasty injury. She had to have an operation to repair the ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) and the meniscus of her right leg and knee. How easily these things happen. I felt truly sorry for her, especially because she is so strong physically. The trail itself was new to me. Roger and I have often walked up to the waterfall and back, but I never realised that there was a trail that went all the way around the hill.
That’s Alessandra with her hand in the air.
Meanwhile Roger and Sean took part in a speed rally in Middleburg using Sean’s J400 with its newly done-up engine. They did really well for a first effort. They had so much fun that I think it will become a regular occurrence.
On the family front: Eugene and Marlene are back in Rustenburg after four months on the West Coast. They have done the groundwork; bought the plot, fenced it, and handed in building plans for approval. They will be back in North-West until such time as they are ready to settle in Trekoskraal permanently. But they first joined a motorbike trip of Route 62 with friends before packing up to come home. We are very happy to have them back.
Bottom right: Back home
Kevin and Lucy have moved to their new home, which is a more modern, ground level townhouse and much closer to Lucy’s school.
