JULY 2016

By Sil - July 31, 2016

Hello my darling Emily-Ann,

I went hiking in Switzerland and Italy from 23rd June to 27 July. While I was away, Tammy posted photographs of you with Gumpie at Botanic Gardens. It looks as though you three had a good time!

I started my hike in the Swiss Alps, crossed the Grand St Bernard Pass (where the famous St Bernard Dogs are) and into the Aosta Valley in Italy. Then we got a bus to a hilltop town in Tuscany called San Gimignano and hiked from there to Rome. I loved the walk but I missed you very much. Every time I saw a little girl with blond hair I wanted to give her a hug. By the time I reached Rome I thought that maybe at 69 I was getting too old for this sort of long-distance hiking but there were other people five years older than me at 74 years. So, I might have to carry on for a few years still!

After I got to Rome, Gumpie flew to meet me and we walked 110km together to Rome. He did very well but I had a fall and broke a rib on the right side and pulled a tendon in my left knee. We were both looking forward to getting back home and seeing our family again! You and Tammy came to the airport to meet us and you brought us home. We were very grateful!

The weekend after we got home, Jeff and Gail came to Nottingham Road for a wedding so we all met at Barbz Café for a Sunday brunch. It was good to see Jeff because we haven't seen him since his operation almost 2 months ago. It was so COLD in Nottingham road because there was snow on the Drakensberg. I took this photograph when we flew from Johannesburg to Durban. The wind comes down from the mountains and blows all the way to the sea, making us all shiver!

There has been a drought in South Africa, with no rain for many months. Crops have been dying and cattle starving. You can see how brown the countryside is after no rain. Soon we will have water restrictions which means that we have to be extra careful not to waste water.