Meeting 11 May 2004
Oh dear what is happening to us? Since the last gathering, one member has suffered a minor stroke, another needed a knee reconstruction and yet another has personal plumbing problems. Are we falling apart? Surely not; age will not weary us.
We lunched on May 11 at the RAC Club. Cherry (45 – 55) reappeared from the Amazon and the Andes. He was late for the pre-lunch drinks; we wondered if the mudslides in Peru were responsible for his tardiness. He returned from South America just in time. He reported that he thoroughly enjoyed his two weeks in the Andes of Peru. He suffered a little from breathlessness with the altitude walking up to Machu Picchu, but assured us that the toil was well worth the effort with the magnificence of this fantastic Inca site. He stayed for one week in Ollantaytambo, a village in the sacred valley little changed since Inca times, visiting further Inca sites, schools and local weavers. He went aboard the “Polar Pioneer” at Iquitos to “Go with the Flow” down to the mouth of the Amazon, a distance of 2,110 nautical miles. It was an amazing trip down the mightiest of river in the world. Zodiac trips along tiny tributaries, walks through the rain forest, visits to small indigenous communities and a sighting of the excesses of the rubber boom (1890-1912) at Manaus, now a duty free port of over 1.6 million people, were recounted as some of the many highlights. A picture of Cherry with a new-found friend is attached.
Richard Moor was not physically present, but had been to a reunion at the school. He took the opportunity to press one of our projects, which is to further the connection between the school and the township of Holbrook in New South Wales. Holbrook was named in honour of Commander Holbrook VC OP. Any OPs travelling the road from Sydney to Melbourne should try and visit the museum there. They might even try one of the excellent meat pies from a nearby shop.
The worst news is that the drought has not gone away. After some unsatisfactory rainfalls the weather obstinately remains fine. It is not quite as bad, however as two years ago.
The next 4/5 meetings are on Tuesday August 10, October 12, ??? and February 22 2005. Jan Webber is in Sydney for her son’s wedding in October; hence timetable change. Possibly, we will have another meeting in December. Those of you with flexible travel plans please make a note; we love to see you. Gap year students, backpackers and others who may be short of a bob in Australia should not be deterred by the thought of an unsought expense; I am sure we can work something out.
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