Our last blog posting was on September 7, 2011. Then, we had
just completed an epic 18 months in South Africa working at Mseleni hospital in
northern Zululand, exploring and travelling and then the last 4 months on a
spectacular road trip covering much of the lower half of Africa. We left
invigorated, refreshed and excited by our wonderful African experiences and the
prospect of life in our village in La Creche, France. Our last blog ended thus
“And so back to PMB; reunions with friends and my dad; farewells to friends and
Africa. Now to France, for a year we think. Will we be back? I
hope so, but I don’t know. Every step of our adventure takes us on a new
one. Carpe diem.”
History does repeat itself, even over our short lives, and
yes, we did go back. My job offer in Queensland, Australia didn’t excite Ilda
who exclaimed that “I don’t want my kids growing up as Ozzies!” and so an offer
to help develop Emergency Medicine and build the ED at Edendale Hospital,
Pietermaritzburg, South Africa was too good to turn down. My good friend and
colleague, trauma surgeon, George Oosthuizen lured me back with long e-mails
and a determination that we could change emergency medicine and trauma
management forever! And so we packed again and returned south to the country of
my birth and my home town, Pietermaritzburg.
That was January 2013. Fast forward six years to January
2019 and if you told me that we had been moved to Mars, I would almost have
believed you! January 2018, life was comfortable. Margot was freshly back from
Rotary exchange in Germany and fired up for matric. She hopped into the back of
a double kayak with me and paddled and portaged 120km down the Dusi from
Pietermaritzburg to Durban and despite puking her guts out, finished with a
smile on her face. She had a stellar
year; 1st team basketball, caring for and riding Grace, her lovely
Appaloosa mare, a busy social life with balls and beaches, school dux with 8
matric distinctions and offers at 3 med schools. Zara cruised through grade 9
and excelled in her music getting outstanding awards for clarinet and, when
motivated, rode a mountain bike like a pro. Ilda continued to run the show and
keep us all fed and organised. I had
completed about four-and-a-half years at Edendale hospital setting up the ED and
it was flying and so made the decision to move while things were good and took
up a position running the ED at the local private Mediclinic Hospital. This was a dramatic shift from the chaos of
state health to the luxury and decadence of private health care in SA. The ED there was a finely tuned machine under
the clinical management of Charlene Thomas and we only had to tweak things
around the edges to provide high quality emergency medical care.
The six years back in South Africa were probably one of the
best moves we ever made. Margot and Zara thrived in the relative freedom of
Africa and the colour, drama and warmth of life in Africa. They both excelled in an exceptional academic
environment and grew wiser and happier. Ilda adapted to Africa like a native
and was completely at home there. And I loved it more than I could ever
describe. To be back in my hometown and that of my father and school friends,
and to share that with my family, made for a rich and rewarding experience
beyond belief. We enjoyed five
incredible years with my father taking him to shows, music, art and dinners and
watching him enjoy his grandchildren. I spent many hours on his stoep with him
discussing work issues and plans and children and then puzzling over the
crossword. Margot and Zara would frequently wait with him for pickup and Zara
would acquire the TV remote or sneak a piece of chocolate. He loved to come with us to school functions
across the road and loved the Music over Maritzburg or “Festival of Praise”
which he came to every year. At work I met many of his old patients, friends
and colleagues and feedback was always effusive. Even the army awarded him a
medal for long service! We enjoyed a wonderful family Christmas together at the
end of 2017 at Giants Castle and even got him throwing a fly for trout. He
remained upbeat and determined until he succumbed to Leukaemia and died in June
2018. I miss him terribly.
We filled our six years back in South Africa to the brim. Our home in Hilton will always be one of the
best I ever lived in….I had always dreamed about living under thatch, expansive
gardens, native bush with birds and antelope, fruit trees and avocadoes dropping
at your feet and plucking fresh oranges from bending branches; bees humming on
beds of colourful flowers and a hive that produced nearly 30 jars of golden
honey on the first harvest. Mountain biking from the front door, lots of
storage for canoes and expansive views over the Pietermaritzburg valley to the
Valley of a Thousand Hills and the dirty, winding Dusi that carried us down to
Durban. To cycle to work is my standard and the ride from Hilton down to town
ticked all the boxes with single-track, jeep tracks, forest, speed and mud!
Coming back took twice as long but gave me time to think and sweat!
We had so many adventures in Africa! Rafting down the Orange
river sunning and swimming and watching spectacular scenes of shooting stars at night; horse
riding in Lesotho, watching Zara galloping at full tilt, horses climbing up
impossibly steep ascents and expansive scenery and tranquillity; numerous Berg
hikes camping in tents, caves or being spoilt at the Cavern and escaping to the
paradise of the high Berg with clean, fresh air, pristine, crystal streams and
views over KZN to the sea. We never tired of our forays into the game reserves and
were as happy examining a dung beetle deftly rolling his offensive ball uphill
as we were watching a herd of elephant. Our sighting of a relaxing leopard in
the fork of a tree at Kruger last year will always be our game-viewing
highlight and one we will never forget. Fishing trips to the Berg, the annual
Kamberg week-end (and our last one in the snow), surf ski paddling with Craig
Norris and catching beautiful Yellow-fin tuna and the epic adventures with
Norris family to Mili in Mozambique to fish, paddle, swim and feast on tuna!
Then there were all the races; just too many to recall……Mountain bike rides,
canoe races, trail runs, road rides. The ones that I remember best are the ones
with my family…Dusi with Margot, the Amashova bike ride with Zara to Durban and
the fabulous Fish river canoe marathon with Ilda. Dusi Dice every Thursday, Midmar
dice on Tuesday, Park run on Saturday followed by coffee or brunch, and
impossible to get out of Millstone too quickly because everyone was there! Beyond all that the social life wasn’t bad
either with music concerts, theatre, lots of dinners with friends, ‘braais’ and
‘potjies’ and amazing trips to Cape Town. Zara competed in the World Choir
Games in Pretoria and we continued from there to Kruger national park, God’s
window and Wakkerstroom. Road trips down to Knysna to stay with my sister and
family in their beautiful holiday home and surf lessons at Buffels or
wakeboarding on the lagoon.
It is your right to only remember all the good stuff and
censor the bad when you reminisce about your past. With South Africa this is
very important. Of course it was all
good! No bad stuff that I can remember. Anyway, where was I? Oh yes fast forwarding to
January 2019 and Mars. Somewhere in 2018, or was it 2017, we made the big
call. Time to move back to France. Better for Zara….better chances for the
future; better for Margot…better med schools and more options; better for
Ilda….nearer to family and friends; better for me, I think…..new job, new
life. Margot and I left RSA in mid
December 2018 (Ilda and Zara some months before to get settled into school) and
we were fresh from scuba diving in Mozambique, sun tanned and relaxed. We hit
Europe mid winter, cold and dark, and Margot headed straight for Courcheval and
Chabichou luxury to iron table cloths and hopefully ski. We had a tremendous
Christmas with 23 for Christmas dinner and 18 staying the night…Soon after that
we headed down to visit Margot and had a magical few days with her skiing and
seeing where she was. Then it was home and I was on my plane to Iceland to
start the new job in ED there. I think that was where Mars came into the
equation….from Africa sun, beaches and holiday, I was suddenly back at work,
new place, new country, very cold, very dark and a language that I could make
no sense of! But time heals everything
(at least that’s what I tell my patients that have waited hours in the ED!) and
Iceland has got a lot better and it is amazing how a few words of Icelandic
makes life easier! Then there’s those cinnamon rolls at Braud &Co bakery
that are definitely the best in the world, an abundance of great coffee, fresh
fish of the day or hot steaming soup served in a crusty round loaf akin to our “bunnychow”.
The public swimming pools heated geothermally with their abundance of hot water
and steam rooms, sauna and jacuzzies; tearing around on nail studded tyres in
snow and ice and cycle lanes like motorways and no need to cross a road and
drivers that stop for you and pedestrians! I’ve even had my initiation which
involved plunging into 2-degree sea and then into 35 degree hot pool to thaw
out!
So now we are into April 2019….Margot is done at Chabichou
and returns home wiser and richer and ready for her next chapter of travel and
preparation for med school; Zara thriving at school and recently travelled on
the “path of Arthur” to the UK on a school trip; she also performed
fantastically in an incredible symphony concert playing her clarinet. Ilda has
Air B&B taped and a steady stream of visitors including a film crew who
were looking for ghosts! Between guests
she is landscaping and organising our house and lives. Sadly her grandmother
died recently at the age of 94 but Ilda was there to help make arrangements and
grieve.
I’m now back in South Africa for 5 weeks for a variety of
reasons including instructing on APLS and ATLS, catching up with friends and
family, party and medic at Splashy fen music festival and cycling the 8-day
Joburg2C mountain bike ride as the medic.
In France I’ve just sat my French language exam to hopefully make level
B1 to allow me access to French nationality.
Plans ahead are hectic with more trips to Iceland, family summer
adventures, EM conference in Prague in October and a month in Pakistan teaching
EM in November.
Change is never easy and often one has doubt and maybe
transient regrets. But it is what
invigorates, stimulates, challenges and motivates one to new heights and new
goals. Without it life can become bland and predictable. Getting the balance right is the ultimate
challenge.
