Pure nostalgia: Acting in school plays at St Georges

One of my greatest joys in high school was acting.  Like my grandfather, I really liked to act on stage and I took part in several school plays.  Here are the ones I remember best.

Oliver!  (Aged 8)

I played the part of the one of the orphans in Oliver and various other roles I cannot remember. I loved the music, especially the song "Food, Glorious Food!"

A movie poster from the movie version of the musical "Oliver!"

Playing Huckleberry Finn in "Tom Sawyer" (Aged 12)

I played the part of Huckleberry Finn in the school stage production of Tom Sawyer. This was a major school production and it was many, many hours of work but I enjoyed every minute of it.  My most vivid memory was having to smoke a pipe on stage in one of the scenes.  I used my Gramp's pipe and he taught me how to smoke it!  Those were obviously the days when smoking had not yet been vilified.

Playing an elderly spinster in "Hijack" (Aged 15)

Because our school was male only, I did have to play a few female roles and I reluctantly admit I was pretty good at it.  My highlight in this regard was playing the part of an elderly, prim and proper spinster on a plane who foils a hijack attempt.  I studied my grandmother's mannerisms for hours to get inspiration and I really gave it my all.  I was really chuffed when I won an acting award for the role.

Playing Spokesperson A in "Us and Them" (Aged 16)

This was a play with a profound message and though I was worried it wasn't going to be good (so much so I asked mum and dad not to come), it turned out to be a triumph. It was directed by Graeme Allen, a student from the year above us (the son of my Sub-B teacher), and he did a great job.

Playing Pharaoh in "Joseph and his Technicolour Dream Coat"  (Aged 17)

I decided to leap out of my stereotype as a female "actress" with avengeance  in my final year.  I applied for the role of Pharaoh in Joseph and his Techni-coloured Dream Coat.  I had to cycle onto stage on a bicycle in a cycling suit with a padded crotch and grab a microphone and sing an Elvis Presley type song while gyrating my hips. I had a ball doing it and it made me popular through out the school which I hadn't experienced since Prep School.  The only embarrassment about the whole thing was having to perform on the 3rd night when my grandmother was in the 2nd row.  I made the gyration of my hips a little bit more subtle on that night.

Pure nostalgia: UCT Ballroom Dancing

My favourite memories

• Joining in my 2nd or 3rd year of university.
• Maureen Shargey, our indomitable teacher, a live wire of wonderful energy. She was so awesome.
• All the fantastic dances we learned including Walz, Viennese Walz, Foxtrot, Quick Step, Rock n Roll, Jive, Cha Cha and Lambada (dirty dancing).
• Doing some private lessons with Maureen and two lovely fellow students ( whose names I can't remember). 
• Learning rock n roll throws where we had to throw up our partner and then bring her down onto the knee. "Bend from the knees" Maureen said!
• The wonderful socials that we had where we got to practice our steps.
• The Viennese Ball that was held in the main hall of UCT. I went to two balls; the first with the girl I did lessons with (a medical student who I was so attracted to!). And the second with Ally.
• Meeting Moira and going with her to a dance at Robben Island.
• Dancing with a girl in a sexy cat suit at a social and then discovering she was Rayburn's girlfriend!
• Nicola taking up ballroom dancing and becoming extremely good at it.
• After UCT, taking up Ceroc dancing, taught by Amanda and Johnathon.

Pure nostalgia: David Attenborough's Life on Earth

As a child, watching Life on Earth and The Living Planet on television was where my love of nature and wildlife truly began.

These series opened up a vast, living world far beyond my immediate surroundings—ancient forests, oceans, deserts, and creatures I had never imagined. They made the natural world feel coherent, intelligible, and deeply fascinating, shaped by evolution and interconnected systems rather than random facts.

Just as important was the presence of David Attenborough himself. Calm, precise, and quietly passionate, he didn’t sensationalise nature or talk down to the viewer. He explained, observed, and invited curiosity. His approach modelled respect—for evidence, for life, and for the planet.

Looking back, those early encounters didn’t just spark an interest; they laid foundations. A lifelong appreciation of wildlife, a sense of wonder about the natural world, and a deep admiration for David Attenborough—now one of my greatest role models—all trace back to those evenings spent watching Life on Earth and The Living Planet.

Interesting facts about Life on Earth

• A television first: Life on Earth (1979) was the first major TV series to attempt a complete, global narrative of evolution, from single-celled life to humans.
• Record-breaking audience: The final episode drew over 500 million viewers worldwide, an unprecedented figure for a factual documentary series at the time.
• Thirteen years in the making: The concept gestated for more than a decade, drawing on Attenborough’s earlier travel-based natural history programmes and his growing conviction that evolution was the unifying story of life.
• Filmed in over 100 countries: The production spanned six continents and thousands of locations, making it one of the most logistically ambitious TV projects ever attempted.
• The Galápagos moment: The famous sequence with marine iguanas in the Galápagos was not planned as iconic—but it became one of television’s most recognisable images and a visual shorthand for evolution in action.
• Attenborough on screen as guide, not host: Unlike many presenters before him, Attenborough positioned himself within landscapes, speaking conversationally, as if inviting the viewer to stand beside him rather than lecturing from above.
• No environmental activism—yet: Life on Earth is notably non-polemical. It focuses on wonder, complexity, and explanation rather than warning. Attenborough’s explicit environmental advocacy would come much later in his career.
• A turning point for the BBC: The series helped establish the BBC Natural History Unit as the global gold standard for wildlife filmmaking.
• Changed how evolution was taught: After broadcast, the series was widely used in schools and universities, profoundly shaping public understanding of Darwinian evolution.
• The book was a bestseller: The companion volume Life on Earth became one of the best-selling science books of all time, translated into dozens of languages.
• Set the template for everything that followed: Every later Attenborough landmark—The Living Planet, The Trials of Life, Planet Earth, Blue Planet—can be traced back to the narrative ambition and tone established here.
• Attenborough’s own view: He has repeatedly said that Life on Earth was the most important project of his career, because it gave him “the chance to tell the whole story.”

Interesting facts about The Living Planet

• Follow-up to a landmark: The Living Planet was the direct successor to Life on Earth, shifting focus from evolution over time to life across Earth’s environments.
• A different organising idea: Instead of taxonomy, the series is structured around ecological zones—deserts, oceans, rainforests, mountains, grasslands, and polar regions.
• Eight years in production: Planning and filming took most of the early 1980s, reflecting the scale and ambition of the project.
• Global in scope: Filmed in over 60 countries, capturing some of the most extreme and remote habitats on the planet.
• Pioneering wildlife footage: The series included some of the earliest close-up filming of deep-sea life, rainforest canopies, and desert survival strategies.
• Less presenter, more observer: David Attenborough appears less frequently on screen than in Life on Earth, allowing landscapes and animal behaviour to take centre stage.
• Early ecological warning signs: While still measured in tone, the series contains subtle references to human impact, hinting at concerns that would later become central to Attenborough’s work.
• Influential companion book: The Living Planet book became a major international bestseller, reinforcing the series’ educational reach.
• Technical ambition: Filming required new approaches to underwater cinematography, aerial shots, and long-lens behavioural filming, pushing BBC Natural History Unit capabilities forward.
• A philosophical shift: The series presents Earth as a dynamic, self-regulating system, foreshadowing later ecological and systems-thinking perspectives.
• Part of a trilogy: It sits between Life on Earth and The Trials of Life, forming a foundational trilogy in Attenborough’s career.

Pure nostalgia: Discovering the joys of birding (1987 - 1989)

During my last couple of years at school, I developed a really strong passion for bird watching.  This was first ignited by Tony Verboom, a very close school friend of mine, who took me off on one of his birding trips. We spent the morning at Rietvlei, a local wetland, crawling on our bellies, getting knee deep in mud and thoroughly filthy in our pursuit of lesser spotted thing-a-me-bobs.  And I absolutely loved every minute of it, especially when a beautiful osprey flew over our heads.  

My love of birds was kindled into a passion shortly after when dad and I went camping to Uilenkraal. I lay in the sand by the lagoon, with close views of gulls, terns and pied kingfishers. Later, to my utter delight, an African Fish Eagle appeared in the distance.

From then on, I lived and dreamed birds and cycled to the local birding spots every weekend in pursuit of new species (or ticks as we call them) in order to increase my  life list. My favourite birding haunts included Rondevlei, Kirstenbosch Gardens and Devil's Peak.

Another favourite haunt was the Harold Botanical Gardens in Betties Bay for wonderful encounters with sunbirds and Ground Woodpeckers.

I also joined the Cape Town bird club. I loved the monthly get-togethers at the University of Cape Town to see presentations and amazing photos from people like Nico Myburgh. I remember vividly a wonderful weekend with the club at Swellendam.

In Std 9, I went on an unforgettable trip to Botswana (Okovango Delta and Chobe) where I saw birds like Gymnogene and Jacana.  Our family also went to Natal including Midmar Dam and the Drakensberg, where I saw lots of new birds.

Dad really supported my hobby. He and I went on an incredible trip to Zululand (Umfolozi and Mkuzi wildlife reserves) where I saw many birds.  My favourite memory is attracting a Green Coucal by playing its call on my tape recorder.

In matric, I went to Kruger National Park with a Colin, a close friend. I also went back to Zululand with Tony and his mum (Ndumu and Mkuzi) where I saw Pel's Fishing Owl and Narina Trogon.

They call us birds "twitchers" because when we see exciting new birds for the first time, we get so excited that our legs start to twitch and then our arms - so much so that it becomes hard to see through our binoculars. 

Since my school days, birding has continued to be a passion and I have travelled the world in search of new ticks.  My goal when I was young was to see 1000 birds in the wild.  In 2007 at the age of 37, I achieved this target.

Memorable birds seen during this time

Redbreasted Sparrow Hawk, with Tony, on a school camp a few years before

Black Eagle, slopes of Devil's Peak

Pied Kingfisher

Malachite Kingfisher, Rondevlei

Sandwich Tern, Uilenskraal

Curlew Sandpiper, Uilenskraal

Blacksmith Plover

Fish Eagle, Uilenskraal

Blackshouldered Kite, Rondebosch Common

Diederich Cuckoo, our garden

Little Bittern, Rondevlei

Burchell's Cuckoo

Orange-breasted Sunbird, Kirstenbosch

Cape Batis, Kirstenbosch

Ground Woodpecker, Harold Botanical Garden

Spotted Eagle Owl

Half Collared Kingfisher, Natal

Crowned Eagle, with Tony, Natal

Palmnut Vulture with Tony, Natal

Narina Trogon, Ndumu

African Rail

Green Coucal, with dad, Mkuzi

Pel's Fishing Owl, with Tony, Ndumu

African Finfoot, Nature's Valley

European Bee-eater

Favourite bird books