Sunday 25 December 1983 – Xmas Day – Ringwood NJ
We slept
very well indeed and were woken at about 07.30 when Jennie Lee phoned from Johannesburg. It was very
sweet of her. She had just had the family – Dad and Lucy: Steve and Judy – for
lunch. The whole house was awake by then so we had coffee and cookies in the
kitchen. It was terrific looking out on the frozen world – the temperature had
dropped about ten degrees during the night and the thermometer now showed –
16°C although it was a bright sunny day.
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| Clearing the drive - what fun! |
Matt was
wise enough to grab a bowl of cereal and a couple
of slices of toast before Uli
took us up to Skylands Manor for a walk – just Rab and me with Vicki and Matt.
It was lovely strolling in the sun although it was bitterly cold. We had
dressed up in our warmest clothing but the exposed parts – ears and nose in
particular bore the brunt. My moustache froze up! Matt and Rab again had a
disagreement – how I wish they could both be more tolerant. The only time they
have not been squabbling so far is when they felt sick on the ship.
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| Around the lake |
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| Terry Nora Uli and Rocky |
Uli took us
back via a couple of residential areas so we could see something of the
countryside which looked like a picture book under the snow. Preparations for
Christmas Dinner were well under way when we got home – turkey with boiled
potatoes and red cabbage followed by pumpkin pie. While Rab was helping Uli
make some thick, thick gravy, the rest of us played cards.
Mrs
Rosenthal disappeared from the scene with the same symptoms as Michael had last
night, but we all tucked into our meal with gusto and thoroughly enjoyed the
meal. None of us really ate too much but I started feeling a bit bloated so we
went for a walk with Rocky – Uli, Vicki, Matt and me. The lake was frozen solid
so we walked across and Matt had great fun sliding on the ice and doing his
“stunts”. He said that this was the highlight of his trip so far.
When we got
back, Rab wasn’t feeling too good and was lying down. She developed the trots
and was feeling worse and worse. I wasn’t feeling much better and we both got
violently sick at about 20.00 and then had one of the worst nights of our
lives. Rab was losing everything from both ends – I was just losing by mouth. I
thought of that old joke about seasickness – you’re worried you might die, but
equally worried you might not. At one stage during the long night I seriously
wondered how the Travel Insurers would get our bodies back – and how Matt would
travel.
Happy
Christmas indeed.
Monday 26 December 1983 – Boxing Day – Ringwood NJ
Came the
morning and we had survived only to find that both Nora and Vicki had succumbed
and that only Matt and Uli escaped the bug – at least so far! Hope they
continue to do so.
As a result
of all the nocturnal activity we had a very quiet day. Uli took Matt off to the
toyshops and Michael and I went along too. It was very good of him to take us.
We left at about 11.15 and Matt managed to get some more of his Star Wars
stuff. The three of them had lunch at a Burger King (to Matt’s delight) but I
abstained.
It was a
beautiful sunny day but the temperature was still below zero and there was a
lot of snow and ice around. The shops were all doing great business despite it
being a public holiday. (No shops opened
on public holidays in South Africa
or Zimbabwe
at that time.) we stoped off at the Grand Union down in Ringwood to get a
few bits and pieces that Rab wanted. What a selection there is of everything!!
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