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: Playing table tennis as a kid

Oh how I loved table tennis!  Gramps took out English lottery tickets for Jo and I and one day, I won £ 200.  There was no question how to spend the money.  We promptly got a wonderful table tennis table that allowed one to raise the one side up so you could play against yourself.  We put the table in the outside room and I spent many happy hours playing myself and others.  To this day, I still play table tennis whenever I get the opportunity.

 

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