University years (1989 - 1993)

"Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself."  John Dewey

Where I studied

I was very lucky to study at the University of Cape Town (UCT).  It is set in one of the most beautiful locations in the world on the green slopes of Devil's Peak with spectacular views of the city. The central hub of the University is the Student Centre and University Hall leading down to the Jameson Steps where we used to laze in the sun between lectures (and sometimes during!) and take in the beautiful views (often of pretty girls walking by).

My first year (Biology and Zoology)

During my first year, I studied Zoology and Botany.  I loved nature and bird watching and I had fantasies of becoming an ornithologist or even a game ranger.  I enjoyed my year, although, as I was prone to do, I worked far too hard.  In retrospect, I would have sacrificed some of the high grades and focused far more on the social life and club activities.  I had one particularly socially active friend, who when he scored 53% in a test (the passmark was 50%) looked disappointed and said he had done 3% too much work. Maybe he had a little bit of a point.

I was very happy that my best friend at school, Tony Verboom, was at UCT too, studying the same course as me. Our friendly rivalry at school to get higher marks than each other carried over into University life - and as usual, he almost always prevailed.  But I didn't really mind - Tony was always humble despite his remarkable brain and he never rubbed it in.

During our Zoology course, we had to dissect all sorts of unfortunate creatures like snails and frogs and horror of horrors, a rat.  I can still smell the formaldehyde on my hands. We had to draw what we dissected and not being much of a drawer, I found it something of a challenge.  A vivid memory I have is of one of the students getting so frustrated by the intricacy required to separate out the sexual organs of his snail that he gave a shout of frustration and smashed his snail with his fist.

During Botany lessons, I remember spending long hours hunched over a microscope drawing the internal bits of various stems and leaves.  I had a bit of a cricky neck anyway, and it certainly didn't help it. I didn't enjoy Botany as much as Zoology but Tony developed a passion for it and he would later become a Botany professor and renowned researcher.

Ironically, one of my favourite courses during my first year was computer programming. I enjoyed the logic of it and will never forget the elation I felt when our professor gave us a particularly challenging assignment to do for extra marks and I managed to complete it and Tony did not.  It was a rare moment to savour!  I was very impressed by computers (although they were positively pre-historic compared to the ones we have today) and it was during this time that my love of technology was born.

Another course I enjoyed was Maths.  We had an extremely fun and dynamic lecturer who really made it come alive and although I didn't regard numbers and equations to be my forte (and I still don't), I really excelled and ended up getting the class medal with 89%.  Something I am still proud of.

Apart from Jameson Steps, another part of the University that I adored was the university library.  It was enormous and smelt of old books and had a labyrinth of different rooms to explore and work in. In those days, the book index was not computerised and there were countless drawers containing many many thousands of index cards.  Amazing to think that was only 20 years ago.

My least favourite subject was Chemistry, particularly the practicals and especially the patience and attention to detail required in doing titrations. This involved sucking up liquid solutions into pipettes and then painstakingly adding the solution to another solution in a beaker tiny drop by drop.  It was agonising, and not especially good for my teeth when one lesson I sucked a little too hard and Hydrochloric Acid flooded into my mouth.  Thankfully I didn't swallow or I would have developed a very bad case of heart burn!

On another occasion, I inhaled highly poisonous mercury fumes during an experiment gone wrong and I had to go to the University Medical Centre to get checked out.  On yet another occasion, I was so wrapped up in a torturous titration that I didn't hear everyone finish up, pack up and leave - and they didn't see me hidden away in the back end of the classroom.  By the time I realised that everyone was gone, I discovered that I was locked in the classroom.

I didn't fancy an overnight stay in the bowels of my most hated subject so I opened a window and performed a daredevil shuffle along a knife edged ledge to another window in an unlocked classroom.  I was on the fifth floor and I have always been terrified of heights so it wasn't a very enjoyable experience.


Changing to Business Studies

At the end of my first year of study, I made a decision that would hugely influence my life - to give up Zoology to study business. To be honest, it was a decision that I don't think I thought about carefully enough.  But at the time, my neck was really sore from all the peering down into a microscope and I was a little scared of second hand reports that most Zoology students end up as school biology teachers on really low salaries. Not to mention the fact I didn't relish the idea of second year chemistry.

In retrospect, I was a very dedicated student and I'm pretty sure I would have ended up in whatever role I had wanted.  When I hear about what some of my old zoology class mates are up to (Ross spends months on exotic islands studing the behaviour of albatrosses and other parts of the year as a bird guide in the Seychelles), I wonder how life would be different if I'd persisted.

I started my business studies by majoring in finance, but after a disastrous accounting test, I decided I wasn't suited to the world of high finance and more suited to the creative world of marketing. I think that was one my better decisions.  Although to be honest, it wasn't made entirely with my career in mind - marketing happened to attract some of the most gorgeous girls in the university and the prospect of sharing a class with them was a very attractive proposition.

Although I didn't have a particular passion for business, I enjoyed studying marketing.  I especially  realised this when one day, Julian came around to my  place so we could study together as we regularly did.  Julian had his thick text book open and was revising Hugh's tangential equation of mechanical prediction.  I had my text book open and was studying about the use of sex in advertising.  I realised then that I quite liked marketing!

Willow Road

I was extremely fortunate that my Grandfather left me some money when he passed away and I was able to use this to buy a house at an early age.  The house was in Fernwood Estate, a particularly lush suburb on the slopes of Table Mountain, close to Kirstenbosch.  The previous owner had been a botany professor at UCT so the garden was a veritable botanist's delight of local species which had been allowed to grow wild.  The first thing we needed to do was a bit of trimming.

Mum and dad were wonderful as always.  They helped me paint the house and buy furniture and deck the place out.  It was all absolutely wonderful - one of the most exciting times of my life - although I don't think the unfortunate neighbours felt the same when they saw a student move into their peaceful and well ordered suburb. Especially when I decided to rent out my 3 other bedrooms to other students and our 4 cars (more when there were guests) lined the road in a street that didn't have a lot of parking.  But I was blissfully ignorant of all that at the time.

Housemates

I loved having house mates and I got to live and share a house with some wonderful people. It was a great social experience and it also helped me learn a lot about people.

 Dain was my first house mate and ended up staying the longest.  She was really tall and lean (like me, somewhat gangly) and totally passionate about sport including running and cycling and hockey.  She was an actuary at Old Mutual and relatively particular about things but I was happy to be tidy.

The second house mate I procured was Steven, a very jovial chap who ran his own plumbing business.  He used to arrive home after a busy, sweaty and poop infested day and have hot bath.  Being a man, he didn't think to scrub the bath afterwards and Dain (who shared his bathroom) deeply disapproved of the stain marks this left.  But she didn't like conflict so bit her tongue harder every day.  Until one day she exploded into a furious fireball and singed poor oblivious Steven's eyebrows right off.  I can still hear the yelling.  This taught me an important lesson - better to voice your discontent early and politely than let it boil over later.

Oliver was one of my dearest house mates as he helped me cope with the terrible ignomy of a receding hairline in my early 20's and the extremely likely prospect of being "domed" like my dad quite early in life.  Oliver was far, far balder than me and one day he described in vivid detail how he used to sit in the back of the car when his family went on outings and glare at the back of his dad's bald head  with  such focused vehemence that he was surprised his poor dad's naked scalp didn't smoulder.  We laughed so much that it suddenly felt like it didn't matter any more (well not too much, anyway).

Ben, another house mate,  was a tall unshaven man who looked just like Jesus in the old epic movies and he pulled gorgeous girls at a speed that would have made Casanova blush.

Steve was a hot shot paramedic who wore dark glasses like Tom Cruise in Top Gun and fancied himself as the fastest and most skilled driver in South Africa until he rolled his car on the hill just outside our house.  In his defence, he was in a rush to help a poor stranded motorcar accident victim.  Like policemen always look after their own, all the paramedics on route to the original accident scene did rapid U-turns to help Steve.  He was not physically wounded except for some bruising - but his swagger was a little less pronounced for a week or two after.

Ah, and then their was Andre!  He was really, really old (at least 35!!) and he had recently been ditched by his wife for another man.  He was determined to make sure he did the dumping from then on.  Like Ben, he had a wide range of girlfriends, but they only lasted on the scene for a week at a time, and then Andre would move on.  On one occasion, he juggled three (oblivious) girl friends at the same time.

One day, Oliver (who was a serial prankster) and I decided to pull a prank on Andre.  Oliver said he had a very juicy pornographic video that Andre should see to believe. Andre, needless to say, was very curious.  Oliver put the video on and started it and then handed the remote to Andre but warned him not to fast forward as then he might miss the important scene.  Oliver excused himself to go to the bathroom and I was in the kitchen, pretending to make coffee.

Right on time, as meticulously arranged, Oliver's pretty sister and female friend let themselves into the front door with a key we had given them and they came barging into the lounge.  Andre reacted quickly, pressing stop on the remote, but of course we had removed the batteries.  Andre then launched himself over the coffee table in a desperate attempt to switch the TV off, and that is how the girls found him, on his tummy, pressing buttons, while above him on the TV, all sorts of devious sexual antics were taking place.

On another occasion, I woke up to high pitched female screaming.  Convinced someone was being attacked out in the street, I ran as fast as I could, forgetting to put on clothes, down the corridor and out the door.  That's when I realised that the screaming was coming from Andre's outside room and they weren't screams of terror.  To the contrary!  The screams continued in an ebb and a flow late into the night and early morning but I was too embarrassed to interrupt.  Finally I fell asleep.

The next morning, Andre walked into the kitchen alone with a big smile on his face.  "My god, Graeme, I've found the girl for you!  I met her at the bar last night and we had some good fun.  I'm dumping her today but I'll put in a good word and you'll stand a very good chance."
"No thanks," I found myself saying.  "First of all, I don't want to catch anything.  Second, I like to get to know a girl before I shag her.  And thirdly, what if she doesn't scream for me!"


Free time between studies and on holidays

Some of my more vivid memories are as follows:

• Meeting my best friend to be, Russell, on Jameson steps.  He kind of liked Ally (who wouldn't?) and gave her a rose, but once I made it subtly clear she was out of bounds, we got on like a house on fire, fuelled by the fact we like the same silly jokes.  We've been friends ever since.
• Doing the Tsitsikama with my good friend, Rory - I met Rory in Maths class and we connected immediately.  He is a funny, zany guy and loves hiking as much as I did.  Later, Rory would work with me at Old Mutual.  He also became a house mate.
• Holidays to Betties Bay and Pringle Bay with the Rusconis
• Youth Club (Ambassadors) meetings and camps where I met and got to know special people like Ivor, Nicola and Shirley who remain good friends. 
• Taking up ballroom dancing and learning the waltz, foxtrot, quick-step, cha cha and Rumba.  I did it initially to meet girls at close quarters, armed with aftershave and deodorant - but I soon loved the dancing in its own right.
• Attending the Viennese Waltz in the UCT Hall with Caroline - oh, how I lusted after her but I was too scared to make a move
• Meeting Moira through dancing and having several fun dates including dancing at Robben Island
• Trips with Julian to the Grahamstown Festival followed by camping at Storm's River and Natures Valley - great memories
• Wonderful times with Ivor including games of Lazerquest where we learned to get to the top of the ranking by targeting the weak!
• Camps with Shirly and friends in Greyton
• My 21st birthday party at Willow Road dancing to the new music system that I bought and was very proud of
• Mum helping me type up my assignments - I would dictate and she would type and help correct grammar as we'd go
• Getting my first computer and trying to make the mouse work by holding it upside down and moving the ball with my fingers.  And how I loved Windows 2!
• Reading Anthony Robbins (Giant Steps) and Edward de Bono's lateral thinking books
• Wonderful trips with dad to Zululand and Knysna

Meeting Ally

I met Ally in the little town of Kleinmond on New Years eve 1992.  A sea gull's feather bought us together and we had a really wonderful romance which became committed and serious very quickly.  Ally had been studying Industrial Psychology remotely through Unissa but fortuitously she was accepted into UCT for February 1993 so we spent my last year at UCT studying in the same place.  Here is more about our early relationship.  Very special memories indeed.

Graduation

I graduated at the end of 1993 with my degree in Marketing.  The day of my graduation was extremely warm and we all sweltered in the hall, me especially in my black robes.  Still, it was a great moment.  Here are some pictures of me looking proud as punch with mum and dad.

After graduation

After my graduation, I applied to various companies.  I ended up with three job offers, one in Johannesburg which was never an option.  I chose to work for a financial services company called Old Mutual.  And so my working life began.


Related links

• Letters written to Jo in 1992 (while she was overseas).
• My graduation
• Spiritual journey (university years)
• All journal entries labelled as "university years"

.

Old Mutual years (1994 - 2000)

“I like work; it fascinates me. I can sit and look at it for hours.” Jerome K. Jerome

Getting my first job

When I graduated in 1993 armed with my degree in Marketing, I went to work for Old Mutual.  I felt very "grown up."  Old Mutual is South Africa's largest financial services company and although it is not exactly the most dynamic company in the world (Old Mutual and dinosaur have occasionally been used in the same sentence), I saw it as reliable and "solid" which was important to me in those days.

One of the reasons I got the job at Old Mutual is that I did my my final year university thesis for them to find out why young adults choose one mutual fund over another.

As part of the thesis, I sent out 10,000 questionnaires to Old Mutual clients.  I wrote a pleading, beseeching covering letter saying that I was a poor student desperate to pass my thesis and  I would likely fail if they didn't respond.  My contacts at Old Mutual "poo pooed" the letter and said people weren't that gullible or likely to be influenced by such a "begging tone."  We sent it out anyway and there were over 4000 responses!!  We had to hire someone full time for 5 days just to enter in the data.  Just goes to show, begging does sometimes work as long as you don't make a habit of it.


Being a "trainee"

I spent my first two years with Old Mutual on a special "management development" training program.  Sounds very fancy doesn't it?  I was certainly impressed at the time.  There were three of us on this program (Pippa, Bulelwa and I) and it involved two years of working for each and every department within the marketing division - including a stint out in the branches selling insurance!

Although the pay was really lousy (so much so, that Bulelwa left after only 3 months), it was a great opportunity.  It brought us into close contact with the senior management team as we had to do regular presentations to them.

The presentations we did that I remember most vividly were "How can we sell more life insurance to farmers?" ( truly riveting it was!) and "How can we make better use of technology in Marketing."  The latter presentation touched briefly on the Internet (relatively visionary being early 1994)  but unfortunately we didn't predict it meteoric rise - or maybe they would have given us a pay rise.

Being a management trainee meant we had to do the Financial Services "ILPA" exams and there was a high expectation on us to pass first go (as we were regularly reminded by the previous year's trainees who had all managed to do so), so there was quite a bit of pressure and the need for lots of late night studying after work.


Final project

For the last three months of the course, Pippa and I were allowed to work on a "sizeable project of our choice."   We chose the topic: "How can we improve the retention of our newly employed sales representatives?" - chosen because at the time, 80% of new reps left the industry within 2 years.

The project involved travelling to Old Mutual branches all over South Africa and doing interviews with branch managers and new reps.  It was a fun project and I really enjoyed collecting all the information and putting the report together at the end of it.

I am proud to say the report was very well received by the management team and Pippa and I were mini "rock Gods" for a (short) while.  But I'm sorry to say our report didn't cause immediate action that led to a massive spike in the retention of new sales reps.  But we did argue strongly for more salaried (not commissioned) sales reps and that did happen a few years later - maybe in an infinitesimally small degree due to us.  Who knows?  

After our two year course, I became a proper "Marketing Consultant" and I worked on various projects but nothing that really stands out.  Well maybe one thing; "a survival pack" for new sales reps with lots of motivational "pep up" quotes and a step by step guide on targeting your market  and then "penetrating" it.  God it sounds pretty cheesy now, but I was proud of it at the time.


Free time in Cape Town

I worked long hours but there was plenty of fun in-between.  Highlights of life outside work included:

• Braais on the balcony at Willow Road
• At one time or another having Shirley, Russell, Colleen and Rory to stay with us
• Sleeping out on the balcony under the stars on warm nights
• Camping with friends out at Palmiet River where Ally and I originally met - including Eleda (100 kg's of pure fun) and Peter
• Camping at Baines Kloof with Russell and Roger.  On one night, we arrived back at the camp site late after swimming to find the gates closed.  We managed to adventurously climb over the gate with all our bags in tow only to then discover that the gate was not in fact locked
• On one occasion, playing Burt Bacharach's "What the World Needs Now is Love Sweet Love" loudly from the car and then dancing out in the street to the music with Roger and Russell  (Infantile I know, but God, we had fun)
• Playing volleyball on Clifton Beach on Friday evenings, then watching the sun set
• Fencing with Russell with bamboo canes and knocking the hell out of each other
• Watching South Africa win the 1994 world cup with friends in our lounge at Willow Road and feeling pure ecstasy
• Watching South Africa losing to the Australians in the world cup cricket semi final on the final ball (run Donald, run!) - and feeling pure despair
• Walking in the forest above our house and enjoying the view down onto the city
• Playing furniture Olympics with Russell - for example doing long jumps over the coach (again, infantile I know, but great fun and pretty dangerous.  Maybe this was the precursor to our now famous Myburghian leaps.)
• Doing The Otter Trail with Rory for the first time - unforgettable scenery and lots of laughs
• Taking Meg, who I inherited after dad died, for walks
• Reading two books that had a big influence on me: Stephen Covey's "7 Secrets of Highly Effective People" and Deepak Chopra's "7 Spiritual Laws of Success"  What is it about the number 7?

Family Events

During this time, there were two big family events - one happy, one very sad.  In 1995, Dad passed away very suddenly and tragically.  The following year, my sister Jo, married Anthony -  a wonderful guy with a great sense of humour who we all loved.  I was lucky enough to do the speech at their wedding.

Ally moves to London

In 1996, Ally decided she wanted to work and live overseas for a while so she moved to London while I stayed at Old Mutual in South Africa.  I was a bit of a "fuddy duddy" and didn't like the idea of uprooting and moving to a strange place.  Ah, how that would change with time - once I'd got a taste for it!!

Before Ally left, we spent an idyllic week at Paradise Island in Mozambique at a ruined hotel that used to he opulent before the civil war.  We lazed on the beach and drank coconut milk and read by candle light in our room - only to discover on the last day that the room actually had an electrical light.  Still, candles were more romantic.

Ally and I managed to keep a long distance relationship going.  We did see each other for a month in October 1996 when I joined her in the UK for a holiday.  We had a wonderful time exploring the Lake District and Scotland  for 10 days or so.  The we went on an organised tour of Italy for two weeks.  We passed through Switzerland on the way and had our first experience of snow.


1997 - A year of travels

In early 1997, I decided that the world of Old Mutual was overrated and it was time for me to see the world!  But ever the cautious one in those years, I didn't resign - I organised a year of unpaid leave.

I flew to London in April to be re-united with Ally and then I focused on ticking off all the London sights.  I was very much a "driven" tourist at first - the more laid back but adventurous "traveller" would emerge later.

Ally was working at Ernst and Young and she was happy there and not keen to resign, so I did a solo trip of South East England, Whales and Scotland.  Then together, we spent an idyllic two weeks driving around Ireland.

Ally went back to work and I, still rather timid, decided to set my sights on Holland!  Why Holland?  I'm really not sure, maybe because I had heard raucous stories of Amsterdam.  Amsterdam was a bit disappointing except for my experience of the Van Gogh museum while "high" on a marijuana cookie.  But the highlight of my trip by far was watching a Michael Jackson concert - I feel very privileged to have seen him live.

Emboldened by my solo tour of Holland, I set my sights on Israel and Jordan and Egypt.  Needless to say, I found these countries to be more chaotic, hotter, less predicable and a whole lot cheaper than Europe - and I absolutely loved every minute of it.  My love of more adventurous travel had been born.  The highlight of the trip was undoubtedly Petra - I had no prior knowledge of it or any expectations  - and the huge, soaring temples carved into the rock face and the gorgeous red canyons totally blew my mind.

From Egypt, I flew to Greece because I had heard it was beautiful - and this time it was Meteora that really captured my imagination - monasteries perched on the top of "mountainessly" high boulders.  Another highlight was my 3 day climb up Mount Olympus with Russell and Kate, two wonderful people I met at the legendary Pink Palace on the Island of Corfu.

From Greece, I headed over to to the western parts of Turkey and then Ally joined me in Istanbul and we did the rest of our travels together - a chaotic and exhilarating four weeks in India,  followed by a far more relaxed and laid back six weeks in Thailand.


A taste of London working life

After Thailand, we were due to travel around Indonesia but civil unrest broke out just before we flew there.  Added to this, we were a bit jaded after all our travels, so we decided to head back to London in order for me to experience working life there for a a few months.

I ended up getting a job working for the Ministry of Agriculture based close to Whitehall - putting together brochures which included marketing British beef to the French.  Given that there was a massive outbreak of foot and mouth disease, this was something of a challenge!


Settling back into Cape Town life

In April 1988, Ally and I returned to Cape Town and I went back to Old Mutual and sat behind the same desk with the same manager doing the same things - and I felt very deflated.  I felt I had experienced and learned so much during my travels (I almost felt like a new person) and here I was stuck where I started.  I clearly needed a work change.

I had always had a love for technology and the Internet was becoming a key business tool, so I wrangled a position in the e-commerce department. I was responsible for helping business areas to use the Internet to market their products.  And what did I know?  In fact what did anyone know?  It was still a relatively new medium and a lot of it was trial and error at first.  But it was great fun and I felt stimulated and challenged.

The highlights of my work life during the next year and a bit was creating a dedicated web site for Old Mutuals sales force which provided a one stop shop for all the resources they needed to market and sell financial products. It involved persuading business areas to do away with their hotchpotch of different sites with different designs and passwords and to create one seamless site.  Needless to say, there was a lot of corporate politics involved because many of the business areas were very attached to their sites.  There was also a lot of technical challenges to overcome.  It wasn't easy but I learned a tremendous amount.


Life outside work

Here are some of the highlights:

• Doing up Willow Road - we knocked an archway from the kitchen to the dining room and bought new furniture and gorgeous curtains.  
• I went on the amazing 5 day Fish River hike where I got to meet the legendary James Wynne
• We adopted Feta, our cute cat
• We joined the "Hardcore Hiking Club" and spent some wonderful hiking weekends away with plenty of laughter
• Ten pin bowling and table soccer with Russell
• Paddle skiing with Dorian and his brother
• Some fun days at Rotanga Junction where we did some silly antics
• Playing tennis at work with my Dutch friend
• More volleyball on Clifton after work and watching the sunset
• Playing tennis with Mike and Russell at the UCT courts
• Playing paintball and breaking the record for number of shots fired in a game
• An amazing summer spent with Colleen, Mike and Russel, including the unforgettable day that the sea at Clifton Beach turned warm (usually icy) and we swam out to the yachts
• A hike to Hoar Hut
• Some special family Xmases in 1998 and 1999
• Doing the Otter Trail with Mike and Colleen and going nude
• An amazing time spent at Buckaneer's Backpackers in Cintsa
• More Willow Road memories

Deciding to move to London

After a year and a half back in Cape Town, Ally and I developed itchy feet with our 1997 travels fresh in our minds.  We had really enjoyed our couple of months living and working in London in early 1998, so we decided to try it out for a longer period.  The Internet industry was in a massive boom by early 2000 and there were jobs galore in Europe.  And so our London Years began.  But first there was a wedding.


Proposal and Wedding

To celebrate the start of the new century (year 2000), Ally and I went to a party in Swellendam in Cape Town.  On the count of midnight, I proposed.  We had been together for exactly 7 years - what better way to scratch a 7 year itch!

We got married 6 weeks later on 20th February so there was not a long time to organise the wedding. We were married in the garden of a lovely old hotel in Constantia.  One of the memorable moments was when I fluffed my lines and asked Ally to be my "wedded husband."   Needless to say, much laughter ensued.  We had a short honeymoon in the beautiful winelands of Franschhoek.  It was a very special time.

Related

• Spiritual journey (Old Mutual years)
• All journal entries labelled as "Old Mutual years"

Trips to Zululand (Hluhluwe, Umfolozi, Mkuzi, Ndumu)

Trip to Zululand with Dad (1988)

• A wonderful trip to Umfolozi and Mkuzi with dad. The highlight bird was enticing a Green Coucal into view using bird calls.

Trip with Tony (1989)

• At the end of 1st year university, I drove to Durban where I met up with Tony and we went to Mkuzi and Ndumu. The highlight birds were Crowned Eagle near Durban and Narina Trogon and Pels Fishing Owl in Ndumu.

New birds seen during these two trips

Durban

• Crowned Eagle

Mkuzi

• Black widowfinch
• Buffspotted Flufftail
• Crested Guineafowl
• Greater Scimitarbill
• Green Coucal
• Lappetfaced vulture
• Lesser striped swallow
• Longcrested Eagle
• Martial Eagle
• Melba finch
• Olive Bee-eater
• Paradise whydah
• Pinkthroated twinspot
• Redbilled firefinch
• Rudd's apalis
• Southern banded snake eagle
• Striped Kingfisher
• Tambourine Dove
• White-eared barbet

Ndumu

• Narina Trogon
• Pel's Fishing Owl

Umfolozi

• Lizard Buzzard
• Yellowthroated longclaw

Zululand

• Rattling cisticola
• Yellow weaver

Pompeii - The Final Day (Aged 17)

INTRODUCTION

“The great aim of archaeology”, Philippe Diole suggests, is to restore the warmth and truth of life to dead objects. “ Nowhere can that aim be better realized than at Pompeii. The following description makes this evidently clear:

“As my eye adapted to the dark, a pitiful cluster of skeletons emerged from the wet volcanic ash at my feet. They seemed to have been huddled together. Maggi is convinced they were a household in flight: seven adults, four children, and a baby lying cradled beneath one of the adults. The most striking skeleton lay with head buried, as if sobbing into a pillow. “Rick Gore (visitor to Pompeii)

Numerous scenes, such as the one described above, have been uncovered at Pompeii’s excavation site. Many are gruesome, others are particularly moving. All are tragic. Through them we have been permitted an intimate glimpse into the ways of an earlier people and much knowledge and insight have been acquired. It is Vesuvius whom we must thank. With her pumice and ash she achieved the impossible, bringing time to a virtual standstill. Thus she preserved Pompeii and brought her safe and intact into the twentieth century. And then, in the minds and imaginations of many, she was brought to life again.

“Blow on a man’s embers and a live flame will start, “ said poet Robert Graves. How true his words would prove to be. For at Pompeii, “the breath of science coaxes flames of knowledge from bare bones”. As Rick Gore says, “the dead do indeed tell tales at Vesuvius”. Life and death seem suddenly to be on intimate terms.

As a result of archaeological discoveries, we are able to reconstruct, in almost perfect detail, exactly what everyday life must have been like in Pompeii before the eruption. No mirror of the past could possibly be more vivid than the reflection offered us by this city.

But what of the actual day of the eruption; an August day when that whole busy world was brought to such an abrupt stop? Can it too be reconstructed? We know that the eruption itself occurred in the early afternoon, but what were people doing before then and what happened afterwards? These questions, and many others, fascinate me. It is difficult to answer them with any absolute certainty as the information available on the subject is often lacking. I do not believe this should be a deterrent for we should still be permitted to contemplate and fantasize. That is what I have done through this project. Using my imagination and all the archaeological evidence I can find, I have given my own personal impression of what life was like on that final tragic day.

THE FINAL DAY

Dawn on 24 August AD 79 broke like any other day. As the sun began her ascent, Vesuvius and her surroundings gradually lit up. It was a typical August morning. The air was warm and luminous and the sky was clear. In the distance, the Bay of Naples was blue and glassy calm. August was a hot month and the countryside was dry and parched. However, it had not lost any of its striking beauty. Cyprus trees dotted the landscape and in them birds sang, while along one of the roads in the area, a lone traveler covered the last stretch of his journey. His destination was Pompeii. A mule walked rhythmically beside him and as its hooves struck the dry path, puffs of dust rose into the air. Vesuvius looked down onto the scene, her imposing presence dominating all that was around her. Clothes in green olive groves and vineyards, she looked as majestic and noble as ever and the whole atmosphere instilled a feeling of peace. In fact, however, nothing could have been further from the truth.

For, beneath Vesuvius, huge violent forces were at work. Below her was a cavity, melted out of the hard rock. In it was a seething, bubbling mass of scorching, molten magma mixed with poisonous gases. Thousands of years before, this magma had been formed deep under the ground by the extreme heat of the earth’s interior and there it had been confined. Then, in an attempt at freedom, it had gradually melted its way upwards towards the earth’s surface. Not it was almost there. With great surges of energy, the gasses in the magma strained against the sides of the cavity in a frenzied attempt to blast open a vent in the mountain through which it could escape. Vesuvius strained under the tremendous pressure but continued to hold out. Occasionally the forces became so strong that the whole countryside trembled. It would only be a matter of time.

Blissfully unaware of Vesuvius’ agony, the slumbering town of Pompeii was on the verge of awakening. Along her narrow and almost deserted roads, a small band of sleepy-eyed clients made their way to their patron’s residence. In the patricians’ houses, slaves had already been up for hours, sweeping, dusting and polishing. Bedrooms were also alive with activity as maids groomed their ladies using combs, hairpins, mirrors and perfumes. Then, after the hair had been coiffured into elaborate styles, make up was applied – chalk and white lead to the skin, rouge to the lips and cheeks and black ash to eyelids and plucked eyebrows. The men of the houses had also awoken. A brisk wash with cold water, a simple attire and a hastily eaten light breakfast and they were ready to face the day. Then they went out to meet their clients who were waiting patiently.

Along the streets, the shopkeepers began to open their shops, preparing themselves for morning customers. Vendors, meanwhile, set up their make shirt stands and arranged their wares as always. There was nothing unusual about this day. It seemed destined to be like any other.

It is true that for several days now, mild earth tremors had been felt in the region, but in this zone they were not at all unusual. Besides, in comparison with the disastrous earthquake of 17 years earlier, they seemed slight and insignificant. The fact that the wells in the countryside had suddenly dried up was not a cause for concern. August was a hot and dry month and there was nothing rare about dry wells at that time of the year. It was to be expected and there was no shortage of water as an aquaduct from the mountains continued to supply it. Thus life went on as it always did.

Pompeii was in one of her gayest moods. It was the anniversary of the long dead Emperor Augustus and a festival celebrating this occasion had been in progress for days. Schools had been closed and, as part of the festivities, a series of plays was being held in the Theatre. Mornings were reserved for rehearsals. The festival attracted many to the city and as the morning progressed and the heat mounted, the roads leading to Pompeii began to stream with summer vacationers and peasants who had come to see the sights. Also present were numerous carts and other horse driven conveyances, each carrying commercial wares towards the city. One such cart was packed with fish, freshly caught near the Sarnus River mouth early that morning. Another contained olives and grapes, produced on a farm in the region.

Outside all the major gates of the city were lines of hawkers and vendors making the most of the good business. On sale were coral charms for potency, grapes, melons, glass trinkets, sulphur matches, sandals and shoes, votive images and numerous other items. Many of the produce carrying vehicles that arrived at the gates were too large to enter the narrow streets of the city. They were stopped outside and immediately a band of slaves set to work, unloading and transferring the cargo to smaller two wheeled carts and, in that form, it was delivered to its destination. The streets of Pompeii itself was bustling with activity. They were crammed with carts, litters, workmen, pedlars and citizens of every kind. All the shops had been open for hours and were displaying their wares while snack bars sold edible delicacies and hot drinks. Other shops selling grain, fruit and cloth also served customers. In one of the food shops, meat and poultry were suspended from the bar over the entrance and large earthenware pots, built into the counter of the shop, contained a variety of foodstuffs.

Along many pavements, street musicians played their instruments and the music they made, coupled with shouts of encouragement from passing pedestrians all added to the din and bustle.

In one of the streets, nestled between two shops, was a religious shrine. Above it were paintings of the Gods to whom it was dedicated and as people walked past, they offered sacrifices on a small altar. At the corner of the street, at one of the public fountains, poor women collected water in jugs while, nearby, a group of young boys waged mock gladiator fights.

In one of the many bakeries in Pompeii, an ass, its eyes covered by blinkers, plodded in endless circles as it turned a stone mill to grind flour. Braying in protest against its harness, it flicked away flies with its tail. In another room a baker kneaded dough into round loaves which he transferred into a hot oven. That the bread would turn out a success was assured – the phallic emblem over the oven would protect it.

Meanwhile, in all the small workshops, activity was at its morning peak. In cloth factories, women were weaving wool into material at the loom while fullers were busy at their vats, treating the cloth in solutions of pot ash, fuller’s earth and human urine, treading it under foot and finally stretching, brushing and trimming it into shape. Elsewhere mosaicists were busy with their tesserae – pieces of glazed stone and glass. Carpenters were hammering, sawing and shaping their wood with lathes. Marble workers were cutting and polishing polychrome marble and alabaster, while a tinker repaired a broken pot in his forge. A plumber plugged a leaking pipe and a wheelwright fixed a buckled rim.

The forum, busy as usual, was jammed with people who had come to do their chores or socialize. Ladies passed in litters borne by slaves or, if on foot, were protected from the sun by green parasols carried by their maids. Pedlars moved about bawling out the good value of their wares and next to one of the buildings, a professional scribe mounted a ladder to write a public notice on the wall. Along all the walls were numerous other written notices from past times. Games at the amphitheatre, forthcoming elections and theatrical plays were all advertised and graffiti had also been written, in a variety of scrawls, by ordinary citizens recording lost property and accommodation to let, amongst other things. There were also love messages, crude jokes and witty remarks galore.

Towering high above the scene rose the forum’s colonnades. Supported by columns of white marble, they surrounded the forum on three sides, giving it a characteristic narrow, oblong appearance. Below the colonnades, in their shadow, citizens mingled, enjoying relief from the heat, and hawkers set up their stands.

At every open entrance to the forum’s enclosure, rows of upright stones served as effective barriers to vehicles. Thus citizens walked without fear of being run over.

In the open part of the forum stood numerous statues of famous Romans and notable citizens. Among them a marble statue of a Roman senator on horseback glinted in the sunlight. Against it idlers lounged. Dead emperors looked down on them with fixed, lifeless stares.

Surrounding the statues stood temples dedicated to Apollo, Jupiter, Emperor Vespasianus and the city’s guardian spirits. These splendid buildings all added to the forum’s impressive façade.

The Basilica was empty because the law courts were closed during the festivities, but at its steps, gossip-mongers continued to gather. Other of the city’s buildings, including the town hall, treasury and the offices of chief magistrates were also closed.

In the north-eastern corner of the forum was the provision market. Its auction rooms were empty but butchers’ stalls, grocery and fruit shops were sill in operation. In the middle of the market’s porticoed space stood a twelve sided, domed building – the fish market. Inside the fishmonger gutted fish while, nearby, his helper prepared the first stages of his garnus sauce. First he mixed the entrails of sardines with finely chopped portions of fish, roe and eggs, then he pounded, crushed and stirred it into a homogeneous pulp.

Meanwhile, the men’s section of the forum’s baths had opened and assistants aided early comers to undress. Men lay down on marble slabs while slaves rubbed them down with oil scraping away impurities using blunt edged strigils. Nearby masseurs were hard at work, massaging skin and muscles. In the palaestra, naked men exercised in the sun, throwing balls, wrestling or fencing with wooden swords. All over, friends greeted one another with delighted shouts. The din was tremendous. In the caldarium, men sat or wallowed in steaming water while next door, in the frigidarium, a boy plunged into the circular bath of cold water. Nearby, a group of young bloods laughed over the latest amatory drawings on the white plastered walls.

As the morning lengthened, lunchtime approached. In patrician houses the slaves were busy in the shaded dining rooms, setting tables for the light luncheon that Romans preferred. The streets and forum gradually quietened as people left for their residences and the food that awaited them.

The inns and taverns around the city began to fill up. People from all the lower walks of the community gathered there to eat, drink, gamble and flirt with the slave girls who acted as waitresses. In rooms above the inns, ladies of easy virtue entertained their clients. The mood was festive and jolly.

Meanwhile the tinker had finished repairing his pot and was admiring his work. Elsewhere a man bit hungrily into a freshly baked roll. Suddenly, without warning, a violent crack split the air. The earth heaved and shook. Buildings swayed; tables collapsed and food spewed over the floors; statues and pillars toppled. The yellow sunlight turned abruptly to a grey overcast. Deafening roars reverberated around the countryside as people rushed, panic-stricken, into the street. Children wailed hysterically. Women screamed in terror. It was the seventh hour; the holocaust had begun.

The pressure of Vesuvius had reached climatic heights, so much so, that she had been unable to hold out. With an agonized, shattering, bull-like roar, she had exploded. Gases rushed through opened vents like water through a pipe. The newly formed crater vomited red hot boulders. Then followed a continuous rushing upward blast of friction pounded stones, cinders, ash and pumice. (1) Hurled into the air, the debris billowed into a gigantic mushroom shaped cloud which blocked the light of the sun. The world was plunged into darkness.

Then, overcome by its immense weight, the cloud scattered and opened up into branches which plummeted earthwards.

Next, the crater belched forth torrents of scorching steam which condensed and, combined with sea spray in the air, produced downpours which churned up the lava surface into a boiling mass of mud. This formed a torrid, treacly river which poured down the mountain into the countryside below. Meanwhile, showers of pumice were falling over Pompeii and red-hot, they burned or pitted everything they touched. Blackened stones and cinders, charred and cracked by the intense heat of the volcano, also rained down. Then came blankets of hot, suffocating ash and lethal gases.

Total chaos prevailed as hundreds of people rushed in the direction of the city gates and the open countryside beyond. Others hid in their houses, hoping that they would be safe, only to find that they were trapped. A few tried to save their precious belongings and paid for them with their lives while others frantically unharnessed horses and mules from carts and mounted them. All along the streets people collapsed under hails of pumice and were trampled in the darkness. The stench of sulphur permeated the air while ash clogged nostrils and mouths. A man fell to his knees and with his hands clasped over his face, choked to death. Nearby, a father lifted himself onto an arm and attempted to crawl towards his children but by the time he reached them, they had been consumed under a blanket of hot ash. All around pillars and masonry crashed to the ground.

In a certain house in Pompeii, the house of Euphebe, a man strained under the weight of his favourite statue as he frantically moved it from the garden to the atrium. There he covered it, protectively, in cloth. He died doing so.

Not far away, in the house of Cryptoporticus, a mother, with her tiny daughter in her arms, took refuge in an underground room. When it became unbearably hot, she squeezed through a skylight into the garden. There she was struck down, her child pinned underneath her.

Outside the house of Sallust, a mistress and her three maids fled for their lives, clutching jewellery, money and a silver mirror. As the mistress collapsed in a crumpled heap, the belongings she carried flew in all directions.

Meanwhile, in the house of Menander, slaves discovered that the front door was jammed. Realising that the roof was their only chance of escape, they charged for the stairs but ten died before they could reach them. The lone survivor made it to the second storey only to realize it was a death-trap. Desperate and panic stricken, he struck at a wall with a hammer in a frenzied attempt to break through but it was to no avail and eventually, he collapsed with exhaustion and death overtook him.

At a tavern, gladiators abandoned their drinks and fled for the gates, leaving their trumpets behind. They were more fortunate than over sixty of their colleagues who died in the gladiators’ barracks. Nearby, a man mounted a horse, already laden with clothes, food and valuables. With a pitiful scream, the horse toppled. Neither it, nor its rider ever rose again.

In a villa, just outside Pompeii, thirty four occupants took refuge in an underground vault. By taking bread, food and a goat with them, they prepared themselves for a long stay. And a long stay it was. For over 19 centuries passed before they emerged.

In one of the rooms of Publoius Paquius Proculus, seven children cowered in terror as the ceiling above them creaked and groaned under a tremendous strain. Suddenly it gave way and with a resounding roar, came down to meet them.

The Temple of Isis also began to collapse and priests grabbed priceless temple treasures and fled for safety. One fell at the corner of Via dell ‘ Abbondanza while the others managed to reach the triangular forum. There they were obliterated by crashing columns and their costly emblems scattered.

Nearby, in the house of Vesonius Primus, howls of agony and terror reverberated from wall to wall, as a dog struggled desperately against a chain. Through a hole in the ceiling, thick, hot ash showered into the room and piled up. Eventually, contorted in a grotesque position, the animal came to rest and was still.

In the southern part of the city, thousands of screaming, jostling people crammed through the gates and made their way towards the coast. Escape by sea was their only chance of survival. It was pitch black. Occasionally writhing, snake-like flashes of electricity darted across the sky, lighting the way, but only for seconds at a time. People collapsed like flies but many managed to struggle to their feet again and with desperate courage, they stumbled on, fighting exhaustion all the way …..

Hours had passed since the first violent crack had shattered the peace. Ash continued to rain down onto Pompeii in unrelenting showers but the terrified screams that had coursed through her were now silent. The frantic cries for help had ended. The hysterical crowds that had rushed, panic stricken, in all directions had disappeared. Even the bodies that had strewn the streets were no longer visible but covered under blankets of ash. No one stirred. Nothing moved. Pompeii was dead.

EPILOGUE

Daylight returned two days later. Only then was the shocking extent of the destruction revealed – the great cone of Vesuvius, that had stood so proud, was now a ragged stump. The countryside, once lush and green, and dotted with towns, farms and magnificent villas was a grey barren wilderness of ash. A deathly quiet hung over the land like a shroud. Where Pompeii had stood, only the tops of tall buildings and pillars emerged.

As the weeks passed, pathetic groups of survivors crept back to the site in search of the bodies of their loved ones and their lost possessions. They burrowed in the ash but it was to no avail. Eventually they went away to mourn.

Gradually, over the years, a new level of soil built up. The protruding ruins collapsed and Pompeii totally disappeared from sight. Slowly she was erased from human memory. The writings concerning her were lost or destroyed. Even her name was forgotten. It was as if the lost city of Vesuvius had never been.

Trip to Kruger National Park during my final year at school

 In my final year at school, I went to The Kruger National Park with a school friend, Colin Strain.  We stayed at his dad's holiday home on a reserve next to the park. The highlight of the trip was my first sighting of a leopard and beautiful Bush Babies in the trees as night.

New birds seen

• African whitethroated robin
• Blackcrowned tchagra
• Bluegrey flycatcher
• Brown Snake Eagle
• Cape Vulture
• Collared sunbird
• Crested francolin
• Dark Chanting Goshawk
• Goldentailed woodpecker
• Greyheaded bush shrike
• Halfcollared Kingfisher
• Little banded goshawk
• Longbilled crombec
• Openbilled stork
• Orangebreasted bush shrike
• Purple Roller
• Purplecrested Lourie
• Southern whitecrowned shrike
• Spotted flycatcher
• Terrestrial bulbul
• Thickbilled cuckoo
• Whitebellied sunbird
• Whitecrowned Plover
• Wiretailed swallow
• Yellowbreasted apalis

School Essay (age 17)

Science, Technology and a Limited Planet
G. Myburgh

In a topic of this nature, it is essential, I believe, to be objective. Writing as an individual human being, it is inevitable that one will be influenced by personal sentiment and the sentiment of others. This often blinds one from reality. We, as humans, were born into a modern technological world and we therefore, having never known it any other way, take the world as it is for granted. As a result, the true significance and seriousness of our situation is often not appreciated. It is far better to approach the subject as an outsider, free of all sentiment, looking down onto the world and human race from afar.

To see today’s technological world in the right perspective, it is essential to reconstruct what the world was like before. We know that man, whatever anyone may like to believe, had very humble origins. Homo sapiens evolved like all other plants and animals from simple organisms. This process took countless millions of years and he appeared in his present form only 2 million years ago. In early times, he was totally dependent on nature for his survival. He was, in fact, part of nature, just one of numerous species struggling to survive, that fitted into the world’s ecology. Nature was in perfect balance and all the world’s resources were constantly recycled so that nothing was ever lost. Then man gradually began to develop an awareness of his own self and an intelligence, greater than any other animal. As a result, he became very successful as a species and his numbers grew.

Then man reached a stage where he became ashamed of his origins. He refused to accept that he was just another species of animal and he chose to forget his part in nature. He covered his body, the body that nature had given him, with clothes and what is more, reminded him of his humble origins, such as sex and excretion, he became ashamed of. He eventually came to believe that he was totally above nature, convincing himself that the world had been created by a divine being and that, he himself had been placed on it with a special purpose. In other words, the earth and all that was on it, had been made specifically for him and his pleasure. He could do what he wanted with it. It was thus, that he began to plunder the earth’s resources, choosing to ignore all the natural laws that had dictated to him and all other species on the planet for so long.

And so came the era of science and technology. Man discovered immense new sources of power and he invented engines, electricity, machines, tools and numerous other things. Spurred on by his success, he became obsessed with his inventions and strove to discover more and more. Huge factories and industries came into being and man needed natural resources to feed his ambitions. These he plundered from the earth, snatching away vast quantities of coal, oil and timber. He took more and more but never bothered to put anything back and resources which had seemed limitless, rapidly dwindled. All natural laws he ignored and the delicate balances of nature, balances which had existed for millions of years, were shattered. But man did not see it. His obsession blinded him and drove him on. As he became more and more successful, he became more convinced of his superiority over all other species.

Man began to achieve his wildest dreams. He gained the power of flight and even managed to walk on the moon. He invented new warfare weapons, weapons which could destroy whole populations. He discovered medicine which could prolong human life so that everyone had the chance to suffer the indignities of old age – and man clapped his hands in glee and said proudly that he was bettering the quality of life, and as he said it, the world’s population soared and poverty, suffering and hunger increased to staggering proportions. As the population grew, man’s cities spread out; huge grotesque worlds of concrete and steel which devoured everything in its path, including natural ecosystems which had taken millions of years to develop. Pollution levels also rose as man pumped deadly chemicals into the atmosphere, soiled the rivers with his filth and the sea with his oil.

Then some individuals opened their eyes. They saw how man was ignoring all natural laws, how he was destroying the balances of nature which had to be maintained for the survival of all species. They saw how he was devouring the earth’s precious resources and how his population was rising – and they realized that he was approaching disaster. They cried out in warning and asked him to consider the future, if not for himself, then for his children – but he was too concerned with his own ambitions. Many did in fact, express concern, but they allowed themselves to forget and they did nothing. Some also believed that it was not their problem and that when man did pay the consequences for his actions, they would be in the safety of their graves. Many simply did not appreciate the seriousness of the situation and others still, believed that after the world had been so badly misused as to be rendered inhabitable, a supreme, loving God would step in to save them from all peril.

In conclusion, we are compelled to ask the question, “What is the solution?” That we cannot say however we can step in the right direction. First we have to realize that, as humans, we are solely responsible for our problems and it is ultimately we who must pay the consequences. We also have to stop denying that anything is wrong with our planet. Unless we acknowledge that the problem exists, we cannot solve it. We must also curb our arrogance and cease feeling superior to nature. There is no denying we are part of it and it is in this field that our main responsibilities lie. Responsibilities which we have shirked for far too long. Ignoring nature’s basic and logical principles and laws is, I believe, our ultimate failure. We must conserve what we have, not just for our children but also for the human race as a whole and for all the other species which share our limited planet.

School Reports

Vista Nova

Graeme has settled down exceptionally well at Vista Mara. He is a very hardworking conscientious pupil. His work is always beautifully done. He enjoys stories and remembers them well. It is a great pleasure to teach him. / J.A. Robson

Teacher’s Report:

Graeme has done excellent work throughout the year. He has been a delightful pupil to teach. I wish him well at his new school next year. / J.A. Robson



St George’s Grammar School


Sub B – 1978 Term 1

Teacher’s comments:

Graeme has settled into Sub. B very well. He seems to prefer being on his own in ‘free’ activity periods, either drawing or reading but happily integrates when he feels the need for company. He is a very neat worker and sets a high standard for himself. His arithmetic and story writing are good as is his reading which has improved considerably. He puts a lot of effort into his sporting activities always trying to do better. I am very pleased with Graeme’s progress. / S.A. Allen


Sub B – 1978 Term 2

Teacher’s comments:

Graeme must be admired for the way in which he has worked in spite of his problems with his legs in plaster and his wheelchair. He has worked with the minimum of fuss and has maintained his high standard in all subjects. Well done Graeme!   S.A. Allen.

Principal’s comments:

I’m most impressed with Graeme’s mature attitude. He remains quiet and conscientious with a good inspiration. He is able to mix easily with others. This has been good progress for Graeme.  C. Hodge

General Report:

Graeme is a mature, quiet boy with a good sense of responsibility. He is always helpful and polite and he communicates well with adults. He has shown great strength of character over his handicap this term. He has shown the minimum of fuss and has continued in as normal manner as he is able. Well done! Because he has a good organizing ability, he sometimes tends to organize others. He must watch this habit. He is an asset to Shaw House. / Jenny Mallett.


Sub B – 1978. Term 3

Teacher’s comments:

Graeme continues to work to the best of his ability and with the minimum of fuss. His reading, story writing and arithmetic are all of a very high standard and he is always keen to do more to improve them still further. He has become a little withdrawn this term and has preferred being on his own. Perhaps when he is able to take part in sporting activities once again, he will start mixing more readily with the other boys.  S.A. Allen.


Sub B – 1978. Term 4

Teacher’s comments:

Graeme is a quiet, neat, conscientious worker and is content with nothing but the best. He prefers his own company and this is happily accepted by the other boys who respect him for it. He has twice been elected Vice Captain and has coped quietly and efficiently with his duties. Well done Graeme.  S.A. Allen.

General Report:

Graeme has done extremely well considering he was virtually out of action for a term with both legs in plaster. Graeme is a quiet, polite boy who is as happy working on his own as in groups. He tries his hardest at sport and he never complains. He throws and catches a ball very well. He has good hand eye co-ordination and he bats well. He seems to tire easily in the swimming bath and although he can manage all 4 strokes, he struggles with the style. I look forward to seeing him in more Shaw House activities next year.  Jenny Mallett.

Graeme has had a fine year and is now ready to leave the kindergarten and enter Std. 1 where I hope that he will continue to give of his best.  J.A. Dods.


Std. 1 – 1979. Term 1

Teacher’s comments:

Graeme settled down quickly and easily to a new and longer routine.

He is a steady worker who always produces work of a high standard. His hand control is good and his handwriting is well formed and beautifully neat. It is a pleasure marking his books.

I am pleased with all Graeme’s work. His reading continues to be fluent and his stories are interesting and well written. He must take care with punctuation.

Graeme is attentive and co-operative. He finds new work a challenge and becomes totally absorbed in work which interests him.


Std. 1 – 1979. Term 2

Teacher’s comments:

Graeme is an industrious worker, always giving of his best in whatever work he does. He is very quiet and settles down easily to work. Graeme uses his spare time constructively and no amount you ask him to do is too much. I am very pleased with his results which reflect hard work and effort. It is a pleasure having Graeme in my class.  A.G. Basson.

Graeme continues to make good progress both in and out of the classroom.  G. Dods.

General Report:

Graeme is an extremely hard working boy. He tries hard in the classroom and on the sports field. He is a capable youngster and he is a popular member of the Std 1 class. He is quiet and he still prefers playing in small groups. He is always polite and helpful. Graeme has a fine sense of humour which bubbles out most satisfyingly! He has been a regular member of the Barefoot League where he always gives of his best. He runs hard and tackles well.  Jenny Mallett.


Std. 1 – 1979. Term 4

Teacher’s comments:

Graeme has had an excellent six months academically. I was especially pleased with his outstanding maths and science papers.

His new cursive handwriting is neat and well formed and he takes care to maintain this high standard not only in the writing lessons but in all his written work.

Congratulations on an excellent report. I have thoroughly enjoyed teaching such a conscientious youngster. A.G. Basson.

This has been a first class year and he so richly deserved the Industry Award. Well done.  J.A. Dods.

General Report:

Graeme has taken part in both swimming and cricket. His greatest asset is his constant striving to better himself and to improve in whatever he is taking part in. Well done Graeme. In swimming, he has worked hard and his crawl style has improved one a width. He tends to lose all style when racing over a length but this will come with more practice. He is an enthusiastic cricketer with a good eye for the ball and he is always awake in the field. I am delighted with Graeme’s progress and he has had an extremely successfully year.  Jenny Mallett.


Std. 2 – 1980. Term 2

General Report:

Graeme’s interests cover a large spectrum. He is an extremely conscientious worker in the classroom, he plays hard on the rugby field and once he is confidence of his position, he enjoys it. He is enjoying his singing in the choir and he enjoys his Art and Drama lessons. Graeme is a responsible youngster and he is always polite and helpful. He has done well to keep his place in the U10 rugby team as there are many enthusiastic youngsters longing for a game. He drives well in rugby and he is learning to get the ball back to his backline. He must learn to be a little quicker to the loose ball so that St Georges wins the ball and not the opposition! Graeme has had a good half year.  Jenny Mallett.

Graeme continues to make very good progress in all aspects of school life. Well done.  G.A. Dods.


Std. 2 – 1980. Term 4

General Report:

Graeme is a mature polite and reliable boy. He needs to do well and he still becomes anxious if he feels he is letting anyone down. However, he is learning to control his natural nervousness and he is now able to look on the light side as well as the serious. He has had a very full year. He is a member of the choir and he has thoroughly enjoyed the involvement. He has played cricket and squash. He has chosen to go to extra cricket coaching with Mr Leary. We hope to reap the benefit of this experience in the U11 cricket squad next term. He is a beginner at squash. He has learned the basics and is thoroughly enjoying the competition and the exercise. Graeme has had a very successful year in Std 2 and I have enjoyed teaching him.  Jenny Mallett.

Graeme is to be commended for an excellent term’s work. He is a credit to his school. Graeme has been promoted to Standard three.  S. Anderson.


Std. 3 – 1981. Term 2

General Report:

Graeme is a well adjusted, hard working, amiable boy with an enquiring mind and a sensible disposition. Everything he does he does well. His behaviour is always good and when given responsibility he has taken it seriously and carried it out intelligently. In short, Graeme is a pleasure to work with.

His contribution to the choir is to be commended. He has shown himself to be an enthusiastic, loyal and hard working member and he is to be congratulated on his excellent performance in the recent Eisteddfod.

On the sports field, Graeme has done well. He has proved to have a keen sense of competition within the confines of a good sense of sportsmanship. His swimming and athletics performances were more than pleasing. He will have to work hard at perfecting his high jump technique so as to enable him to break the record next year. It is certainly well within his capabilities. His rugby is also pleasing. In the opinion of his coach he is one of the top three players in his team.

In short, Graeme has worked hard, played hard and is a pleasure to work with. An excellent report. Graeme is a credit to his school.


Std. 4 – 1982. Term 2

General Report:

Graeme is a mature reliable pupil but he still gets into a panic when things don’t run smoothly, but he is learning how to cope with this. He produced an excellent performance in the high jump in the athletics meeting winning the U12 section with a record jump. It seems that whatever sport he participates in, he always gives of his best – in swimming, athletics, squash or rugby.

He is erratic at squash, sometimes everything goes right for him but occasionally he doesn’t get his feet into the correct position. He has done well to play in the U13 rugby team and has developed into a good No. 2 line-out jumper. An enthusiastic choir member –as one can see he participates fully in all aspects of school life. Hopkins (House Master)

Graeme is to be congratulated on some excellent academic results. I note with pleasure the “A” aggregate for both term and exam results. He is a very interested pupil who strives for efficiency. Well done.  S. Anderson.


Std. 5 – 1983. Term 2

General Report:

Graeme’s main sport in the first term was swimming, but he had to compete in the U14 age group in the gala which he found difficult. He enjoyed the competition of the Gordon’s Gala in Newlands although the distance was too much for him. He is always a conscientious swimmer and trains hard at practices.

He has had a very good athletics season, concentrating mainly on the high jump and long jump and he won both events in the school athletics tournament. Again the hard work and effort he put into it and the help he gave others is very praiseworthy indeed!

He has been a good counselor and a regular member of the school choir and he recently won a diploma in the Eisteddfod for singing. Very well done!  K.M. Hopkins.

An excellent academic report. Well done! Graeme is a credit to his school.  S. Anderson


Std. 5 – 1983. Term 4

General Report:

Graeme has had an excellent year all round. He has done very well as a counselor and he gained rugby, academic and athletics colours. He played the main lead as “Huck Finn” in Tom Sawyer last term and did extremely well in a role that was very unlike his natural character. (I hope he hasn’t taken up the art of smoking)!

He has been swimming this term and although he tries very hard, he tires easily. He must practice his breast-stroke for the inter-house gala next term.

He has been a prominent member of the school choir this year and made an excellent prepared speech in the speech competition. Congratulations also on winning the award for the “Most Determined Rugby Player in the Prep School”. We are delighted to hear he is staying at St George’s and we wish him every success in his senior school career.  K.M. Hopkins

An excellent academic report. Well done Graeme! He has been promoted to Standard Six.  S. Anderson.


Std. 6 – 1984. Term 4

General Report:

Graeme is a very intense and determined young man in everything that he does. During the year in the sports arena he has played tennis and water polo.

He also represented his house in a number of the track and field events of sports day. On the rugby field he was a most tenacious flank.

He is making good progress as a swimmer particularly at breast-stroke.

He entered the Mini Maths Olympiad earlier this year and is a keen hamster breeder and stamp collector. S. Howard.

His examination results are most satisfactory. He is very near the top of this very able and highly competitive class.


Std. 7 – 1985. Term 2

General Report:

Graeme displays an impressive array of talents over a wide spectrum – athletics (high jump, long jump), plays rugby, has received academic commendations and is involved in cultural affairs. All very good.

He is a personable and likeable young fellow who has many things in store for him. An asset to Shaw House and the School.  B. Sneddon (House Master).

This is a most satisfactory report. He has worked and played as hard as he is able and has achieved considerable success in a number of areas. C. Connor (Headmaster)


Std. 8 – 1986. Term 2

General Report:

Graeme is a good example of an all-rounder. It is very pleasing to note his sporting attributes (U16 high jump record), his rugby, his participation in the Maths Olympiad, Eisteddfod and his success in gaining commendations for every half term so far. A credit to Shaw House. B. Sneddon (House Master)

Excellent examination results which reflect both his ability and effort. He has performed most creditably. In every way, an asset to the school. C. Cannon (Headmaster)


Std. 8 – 1986. Term 4

General Report:

Another pleasing year for Graeme with sound indications of a wide involvement in many facets of the school life.

He swims, has gained many commendations, took part in the Maths afternoon at UCT and did well in athletics and took a leading role in one of the school plays.

Many congratulations on his industry and acting prizes and keep up the good work.  B. Sneddon (House Master)

This is a very good report in every way, both academically and extramurally, he is to be congratulated on his effort and commitment. He is an asset to the school.  S. Canoon (Headmaster)


Std. 9 – 1987. Term 2

General Report:

Graeme gives of his best in all that he does here at school and this half year has been no exception.

It has been edifying to see him excel at sport (athletics), drama, integrated studies and of course his school work.

He is always courteous and well mannered and is an asset to St George’s. B. Sneddon House Master

One or two of his examination percentages were unusually low for him. He is intelligent enough to know what went wrong and will, I am sure, rectify the situation by the end of the year. In all other ways, he has had a good half year. S. Cannon (Head Master)


Std. 9 – 1987. Term 4

General Report:

Another good year for him. He has made steady progress in his school work, achieving a commendable 73% aggregate in the end of year exams. He did exceptionally well in his favourite sport, high jumping.

I trust that 1988 will bring him many rewards for all his efforts. B. Sneddon (House Master)

His academic results have again been most satisfactory and reflect his tremendous commitment to hard work. The small “sets” in the matriculation class next year will increase his chances of gaining excellent symbols at the end of the year.  C. Cannon  Head Master


Std. 10 – 1988. Term 4

General Report:

Graeme was called upon very early in the year to shoulder the load of House Prefect. I shall not forget his unhesitating acceptance of the position and his sincere dedication to the task. My sincere thanks to him.

He has above all been the kind of young man who really has pitched in to a lot of what this school offers. He has shone however, as an athlete using his springy legs to good effect is the high jump year by year.

His academic work has been impressive through the years I’ve known him. He has a wide ranging ability and I rejoice that he gained the Special Latin Prize. Good luck and God speed for the years ahead.  B. Sneddon (House Master)

The way he stepped into the breach and became Head of Shaw and his work as one of the School Prefects gained him the admiration of all.

As a person this year, he was articulate and thoughtful, amusing and concerned about the welfare of others. I have greatly enjoyed working with him and thank him for his contribution to school life. He leaves with my very good wishes for the future. S. Connor (Head Master)

Mauritius (during final year at school)

In my matric year at school, the family went on holiday to Mauritius. My main memory is of a yacht cruise on my birthday where I unfortunately got very sea sick!  Other than that, it was a wonderful, relaxing holiday that put me into the right state of mind for my final school exams.