My wife Shirley and I have just had a wonderful week in New South Wales. Frankly we have been to Sydney so often over the years that looking at the Opera House doesn’t do it for us anymore so this trip was all about catching up with friends.
We had great mates arriving in Sydney from Maine USA to begin a tour of Australia so we arranged to spend time with them whilst they were in Sydney. It was just great to catch up with them as we hadn’t seen them since 2008 when we visited them in the States
We then travelled by train up to the Hawkesbury River to meet some Australian friends. We had originally met this couple in Queenstown during a South Island holiday. Since then they have been to stay with us and we have visited them several times in Australia. Again, it was a real thrill to catch up with them and there was certainly no shortage of conversation over a very long lunch.
After a relaxing day spent with Shirley’s brother and his wife and friends on the Hawkesbury we set off by rental car to Walcha on the New England Tablelands.
Back in 1973 I worked as a loader driver for an aerial spraying company. I became good friends with the pilot and his family but as so often happens, our lives moved in different directions and we hadn’t had any contact for 36 years.
Late in 2009 I decided I wanted to find them again and through the marvel of the internet, I was able to track them down. Sadly, I was able to do so because Carolyn, the pilot’s wife, had written a book to help people cope with the loss of a loved one – their son Ben who was born whilst we were working together had been killed in a topdressing plane at age 21. Ben was a great baby and my own eldest son is named after him.
So 37 years after we last saw each other we met up again and it was just great.
David is still mad keen on flying so in no time we were up in the air, checking out the whole district. And there was a bonus to come. He owns an ex NZ Air Force Harvard and both Shirley and I in turn were treated to flights with full on low level aerobatic manoeuvres’. Barrel rolls, Aileron Rolls, Hesitation Rolls, a Half Cuban 8 it was an amazing experience and it took two days to get the smiles off our faces.
So a lot of fun but now it’s back to the grind. And I notice that one or two of our sleeping local body politicians are coming out with their triennial populist hobby horses, so it’s going to be a fun year.
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