WILD AND TAMED

ROLF HARRIS & THE NOLANS

Harris was touring the country with the Nolans in support.

We went to see them at the Orient Theatre on the beach...really enjoyed it. 

MOTHS(MEMORIAL OF TIN HATS)

This was the organisation for military veterans in SA

There were all kind of events at the hall the MOTHS owned incl quiz nights in which I got involved.

Dad became the Entertainments chairman as the facilities were hired out to all sorts of activities.

Every year the old soldiers put on a show called 'DOWN MEMORY LANE at the town hall, Sadly every yr there were less of these heros.

One yr it was also taken on the road to small towns,Butterworth, Idutchwa & Tarkastad in the region...always a sell out. There were also dancing girls that brought a little change to the war sketches.

The DAM BUSTERS was a regular feature.

Sadly all have gone now 

 They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them. 

1977

JENNY KRIEDEMAN

I was driving in Mum's Mini to the Holiday Inn on a Friday evening when 2 good-looking girls appeared in front of me hitchhiking.

It was the beginning of my 1st romantic relationship. Before then there had been some groping & smooching followed by blushes. Jenny, one of the girls was 10 yrs my elder...she was 28 & thought I was older

Whereas I thought she was younger. Nevertheless, we had a short & entertaining relationship. She was very pretty. We would remain friends after we split & still enjoy each other's company.

TRANSVAAL

I moved up to the city of gold...Johannesburg... initially hitchhiking from EL then back again to pack & take the train up. I felt my prospects would be better. Also, I had met a family...Mr. & Mrs. Elliot (Minden & Desney( & their 2 children Tim & Mirelle who were on vacation in EL. They were from J'burg & I stayed with them.

The Elliots were a loving & caring family & whilst I was looking for work would help Mrs E by driving her on her errands. She had the habit of stopping for every Tom,Dick & Harry offering them a ride in the pick up on our journeys.

I became very friendly with Maro Battazzatti next door...& his Momma's cooking was outstanding. He had an old Fiat which we would knock about in. We organized my 19th birthday party in his garage & made some lethal punch.

Well that was that. Most either collapsed, faded or fought each other. Sadly, many yrs later I heard Maro had died in an auto crash.

I moved to the nearby town of Kempton Park after getting a job at the airport. Working for Indo/Atlantic airfreight was a terrific job. We shipped perishable goods all over the world...mostly fruit & vegetables but also meat, flowers & blood plasma. I grew strong hefting 60/70 kg sheep carcasses. Mostly I dealt with customs, paperwork & loading...very precise in the airfreight business. We had a charter coming in from Kinshasa twice a week. They used an old 4-engine Canadian Air Force plane still with its military markings (they were shot at once crossing Zambia) They shipped onions back to Zaire (DRC). The pilots were French & enjoyed their night out in J'burg. They certainly spruced up for it. I had to take care of them within the freight section & supervise loading. Man did that plane stink of onions...no wonder the pilots liberally emptied scent on themselves for the return flight

It was the 1st yr after the Soweto riots & there was a big security presence. We were running very late with a shipment & I had to dash off to the customs building with paperwork & got done speeding. I took it to the magistrate's court which was sympathetic & knocked off 75% of the fine.

My accommodation was interesting. I was a lodger at a home where I had a room only to share on w/e with a boy who was away at school during the week. Went out one night with the older son & 2 girls whom I can remember nothing about. Drank something awful & felt even worse. His mum was unhappy with me saying I was a bad influence on him & was probably happy to see me go ...although I did flood the bathroom. Think the drain was blocked...anyway that's my story & I'm sticking with it.

Sadly I got itchy feet again & headed off for pastures anew. I moved back into the city for a while into Dunrobbin...no really...never stole a thing! It was a rooming house with kitchen facilities in Berea, a high-density living area of J'burg. Hillbrow was next door, an even more highly densely populated area. It was the hub of J'burg's entertainment. Now, though a cesspool of the worst imagination.

When I had the money I would go to a little cinema which showed British TV & sport. But there was a time when I was 'Brassing' (no money) & actually starved so it was a struggle to walk by the lovely restaurants with their delicious aromas.

I joined Wits Uni Soccer Club & enjoyed the contact with Gary Bailey, (later of Manchester United & England) albeit in the junior squad.

I then worked for a firm selling encyclopedias. We traveled all over the Transvaal. Hard work...often not getting through the door. But I did have some success. Some guys did it to meet young ladies living alone. Whilst I met a few...who were very friendly!... I did have to move on to feed this rumbling belly of mine

Later I sold carbon paper over the phone...Don't know what that is?...ask someone older.

Just down the road from Dunrobbin was Ponte, a huge cylindrical apartment building so evident on the J'burg skyline. It was a luxurious building & years later I would stay there on a visit. It had become an eyesore by then. The apartment I stayed in was so high the clouds were often lower than the windows.

CAPE TOWN

After getting back to EL on the train I bought a rucksack, packed the tent that Mum had brought back from Holland in 74 & set off for Cape Town or at least a town near it...Somerset West.

I got as far as my old school town KWT but stood outside for up to 3 hours in the blazing sun when a 60's Volvo raced past, climbed the hill & did a u-turn. He had come back for me & was headed for CT. Wow! What a ride...& it was.

He had one speed...flat out!! We screamed through towns & countryside often well over 100 mph. It was in the days of petrol rationing & we ran out around halfway into the journey.

My ride was a young guy & good fun. He had a cunning plan. We stopped at a town called Swellendam at about 1.30 am. He called the sleeping police sergeant & spun him a yarn of his granny dying so the very sympathetic cop phoned the filling station manager & got him out of bed. Off we went roaring with a tiger in the tank. I asked about Granny. "Oh, he said, "never knew I had one!"

We reached SW at 4am; far too early to knock on the friends' door so I walked around a deserted town.

SOMERSET WEST

The Weepeners were a lovely family as always. With 3 beautiful daughters, it was difficult to concentrate on job hunting.

I had kept in touch with Carol through the yrs since we met in 72 plus our vacation meets but with my itchy feet I was not much of a prospect. I took the train into CT frequently & whilst there were 1 or 2 temp jobs...nothing with prospects came up.

It was then that I remembered a Dutch friend of the family who had a son...Ben... or BIG BEN as he was more affectionately known who lived in CT

BIG BEN

Ben was a larger-than-life character...literally...He was 6'8 in his...well...bare feet!. Although we had never met, he had heard of my family. He was very generous & let me stay with no time limit, gratis. I was fed & watered & took part in his everyday life.

Now Ben was well known & people of all backgrounds & races would come around to visit his converted stables in the middle of Gardens, one of the oldest areas of CT, very near the Parliament. He had made the stables into a 2 roomed affair with a small kitchen. I stayed upstairs...it was cramped & very hot.

I would wake up to the smell of stewing Rooibos tea & whatever was being cooked for the day by his live-in girlfriend, Marlene who was 21 plus her 2 yr old boy from a previous relationship. She was quite arty like Ben who was 38 then, extremely talented, in many crafts, putting his hand to most things. He had also built houses, had a forestry degree & dabbled in politics, incurring the wrath of the authorities due to his liberal views. He had strung up the bed he & Marlene slept in downstairs to chains that could be hauled up to the ceiling making the room a lounge.

Another part of the arrangement was a large room which was a studio but also housed a toilet & cold water shower. It also had a double bed & so I moved into the studio...cooler & more private...or so I thought. My 3 hosts had a habit of walking around in...well...no clothes & thought nothing of parading in front of me. I tell you I became a connoisseur of the stars or the ground & Marlene was quite a looker. We all got on really well.

Ben would make his own clothes, often out of leather. One day He was building a small foundation near the jungle gym he had made for local children, in the yard. When I asked, he said, 'watch!' And I did...after the foundation had dried & set he cemented a bathtub above it, filled it with water & lit a fire underneath. I was flabbergasted & amused as Ben began to undress & jump into a steaming bath. He got some stunned looks through the large wired gate to the property.

We climbed Table Mountain one day & were rewarded by some of the most stunning views in the world.

Ben was a  fisherman of crayfish. One day we set off for Camps Bay over Lions Head mountain & as usual, we walked. I was to be on the lookout for the Fishery Inspectors looking for folk just like Ben who was fishing without a permit. The crayfish is a protected animal although Ben only fished for his own needs. Down he went with goggles, bag & knife. If I saw someone I was to throw rocks where he was to warn him. No one did come & he hauled up 2 big ones. I did enjoy them & perlemoen (abalone) although will not touch shellfish now.

He was often invited to functions, either as a celeb or a novelty. The women loved him, the men felt threatened. I went with him to cheese & wine gatherings at art studios...they in their evening wear, he in his khaki & leather, me well...just jeans & t shirt.

As I said Ben could walk. He once walked to SWA, now Namibia & back.

I met Mario one day as he was spending time in Ben's yard. He was a yr younger than me & we got on really well. He lived nearby with his sister, her husband & their 2 boys. He & his sister were the results of a prostitute mother who was still practicing (until she got it right...sic) Mario & I got up to a number of things & it was he that showed me a Playboy, the first time I had seen anything like that. He had a friend who was queer but we all got on fine. He was from London & grew up a typical street urchin until he joined the army & eventually became a mercenary. I heard later he was killed in the Rhodesian war.

One morning after a heavy night I woke up to find a bunch of pretty school girls, in their last yr sitting around the fire hearth, smoking. Apparently Ben said they could come there in their breaks from the prestigious school they went to nearby. I kept very still as I was naked in the bed. They never did know I was there. Another time I had just finished showering & was toweling down when they came in again for another nicotine fix. My clothes were on the bed. I worked out from then on when the breaks were & when we did finally talk; all had a big laugh although I did see some naughty looks.

Ben's generosity went a little too far one time. I had been out & returned late one night a little worse for wear. I undressed & promptly fell into bed looking forward to a good night's sleep only to fall into the arms of another man! I leaped out of bed in horror, covered up my modesty & stammered,' who are you?' 'Marius', he said,' the bed is big enough for 2,' smiling all the while. With that, I grabbed a blanket & slept under a lean to in the yard until my over eager bed mate left a few days later.

We gathered a bunch of children together for a day at the beach or at least the rocky part of it. You see, one of the best beaches on the peninsula is Sandy Bay...a nudist beach & we had to walk through it to get to the rocks. It was a really hot day & I was ever so keen to go back to the parking lot to buy ice creams for everyone. I did feel a little overdressed though.

Ben moved to Port St Johns in Transkei some yrs later. He made a deal with a local chief. He would take on some land, develop it, live on it & it would return it to the chief when Ben died. He got into trouble with the law there for having sex with a young girl in a public lake...Yes, that would be Ben for you always seeking publicity.

I did make a journey back to the Western Province, visiting the Weepeners & Ben in '78 &'79... both times hitching. I got rides with drunks...soon hopped out of that one...back of pickups...removal trucks...short rides...long rides... waiting in the blazing sun, rain, and cold & propositioned by some girls once...I was shy, so refused...did get a ride once with a beautiful lady...that was a joy. One of the best rides was with a young farmer who let me stay at his farm...had a great breakfast & set back on the highway the next morning. Other times too, I was given accommodation. It was a great way to see & meet & it was relatively safe. I would try some more in Europe but it was not the same. Now it is a no, no!

Ben has now moved back to the Cape Town area...He was 80 in 2020.

On the way back I stayed a couple of nights with an old Dutch friend from Rhodesian days...Bill Verboom who had lost his wife... traveled the world & was now settled just outside Knysna on a small farm 'Emberton.'

His son Billy had just got married & had brought his bride, Mary from Rhodesia down on honeymoon. He was a professor at Salisbury University but was only interested in talking about the civil war where he had seen terrible atrocities, incl seeing friends killed in front of him. He was part of the Selous Scouts...the famed, if not the best Bush War practicioners.

BACK IN CAPE TOWN...GIVING A BRIEF ON HIS HISTORY...WANTS TO LIVE ANOTHER 77 YRS & HAVE 4 BEAUTIFUL GIRLS TO KEEP HIM COMPANY...NOT SURE WHETHER THEY WOULD BE ALL AT THE SAME TIME...(2018)

1978

EAST LONDON

I was back living in Selborne & as they say it never rains, but pours. I got 2 very good jobs in 1 week. The 2nd job was as a trainee manager with the outfitters Hepworths but before that, I had landed a job as a trainee reporter with the local rag... The Daily Disgrace...I mean Dispatch.

Mum had answered a ph call from the paper only to tell them I had got a job! I tried in vain to ask them for another chance but they had offered the position to the next in line. Curiously I was to do some work for them in the distant future & I was to go into journalism as a career. The paper's political stance was very left-wing & it might have been a problem for me, but I was young with no particular views anyway.

And so on to Hepworths. It was a good job & I learned a lot about fashion, materials, design & clothing in general. I learned to measure up for suits & some of our clients were overjoyed to have suits fit their oddly shaped bodies. We had the Prime Minister of Transkei make several visits & Bob Marzo , the manager & I got on really well.

One of the bizarre stories was when Transkei got their quasi-independence from SA & trading stores on farms were ideal for local communities. Some farmers who had these stores on their land had decided to sell up in 1976 at that transition. Friends & families of the new black leaders were given the jobs of running these stores. Naturally, they were delighted at making money from this lucrative pot of GOLD.

So when a scheduled salesman came by one of the stores to make out an order, he was confronted by a shiny new Mercedes parked outside & a virtually empty store of stock. He asked the new manager why there was no stock & why he had not ordered any. The manager scratched his head & said...'You know everything was going so well & now it is not so good...He had simply pocketed the money without replenishing...expecting the stock to magically appear...a typical system of the way black Africa works & ultimately crashes!

Bob passed away in 2018.

Syd Kitching who was based in Port Elizabeth would do his rounds of the region doing the windows. I really enjoyed helping him & his friendship. We, too have kept in touch. He now lives in the USA. We would hit the town for a night out.

During my time there, the family went up in a chopper. Dad was retiring & he had regularly been flown to Umtata, the capital of Transkei to work...so far a parting gift we were given a flip.

IST ALBUM I EVER BOUGHT & STILL THE BEST

GLADWIN

Just a few doors down from Hepworths was a clothing boutique. Every morning on arriving for work I could hear very loud music causing the windows to vibrate...all this before opening time.

I got to know Peter Gladwin, the manager & we spent a lot of time together, clubbing generally but enjoying the various watering holes as well. We kept in touch over the years & I would help him with his disco work which was fun.

One day while visiting him during the lunch hour, we were merrily yakking away when a ginormous black woman darkened the doorway & proceeded to waddle downstairs to the lady's section. Some short time later we heard a huffing & a puffing as she made her way back up the stairs. The phone rang & it was one of the girls downstairs. She said that the woman had casually started stuffing various garments into her ample bosom & other crevices of her overflowing physique. The girls had been too frightened to confront her so left the problem to Pete, who was a skinny sort. He immediately rushed to the door, locked it & then we waited for the monster's head to appear at the head of the stairs. All credit to Pete, he got up & demanded she hand over the stolen items at which point she swatted him aside like a fly & proceeded to try opening the door. When she failed, she came again for Pete. Up until this point I had been busy munching on my lunch & watching this drama unfold with increasing enjoyment & then alarm. I ran to his aid only for both of us to get flattened by a meaty claw.

The girls were now peeping at this scene through one of the clothes rails after having called the cops. Finally, after being chased around the store by this wheezing freight train demanding the door be opened, the cops arrived. It took 2 hefty, beefy cops plus ourselves to manhandle this big mama into the vehicle, only for her to come bursting out. It was quite a while before she was secured. No one volunteered to look for the garments secreted on her body though. And that was my lunch hour over.

The music vibrating the windows at that time was Bat out of Hell by Meatloaf.

1979

FIRST CAR

The big day arrived & I walked uptown to pick up my 1st car...a 71 VW Beetle, 1600, navy blue. Even to this day after more than 25 cars later & driving numerous rentals & company cars, that one remains the most memorable. It was Feb of 79 & I was 20. They made that simple car well & it was my pride & joy.

DEMEREITZ

Rob was a buddy from school days & we fell into friendship again, mostly bar hopping & such like.

I got to know Dan Wilson who was also in retail & his girlfriend Eileen. Now they had been top ballroom dancers & were running a school. I had little interest in learning but joined Dan's dancing school anyway. I must say I did enjoy it. But to be honest, it was more to meet girls & girls love a good dancer & I was a quick learner & fairly smooth on the floor.

So Rob & I joined & soon met up with Sharon & Vanessa. Rob dated Vanessa & me, Sharon, who was only 17 & in her final school yr. It was fun & we did a bunch of fun things but it petered out for us all & we parted as friends.

Rob & I continued chasing girls but he dropped out of the dancing. Dan was also a big movie buff & would put on movies at the Windsor Hotel every Sunday. These were the days when TV did not have much to offer.

VANDAGE

This period in my life would probably be the most adventurous, if not necessarily the wisest, but it would teach me some significant lessons. I would encounter danger & delight, sadness & satisfaction, but mostly it would all happen when I was young enough to learn from the experiences & know later that God had always been my constant companion & protector.

And PROTECTOR here is the key word because I was oftentimes, in my adventurous spirit, quite reckless. It would certainly be a period where I could have died more than once. As yet I did not know God...That would come later, much later.

CHOCOLATE CITY

They were playing at the Windsor Bowl, Dan Wilson's movie parlor. The Bowl was used for all sorts of functions but now for 3 months, we had the resident band CC.

They were from England & whilst very good chart mimics & musos, were the most ill-fitted group one could hope to put together. Putting them together was Keith & Derek, who I would later meet again in the UK & a friendship would blossom for a while. Many of the band hated each other although I got on with them all.

As time moved on in this period I became more involved eventually becoming an assistant to Derek Grainger who was the sound technician. I would help with equipment & any other jobs that needed to be done. We partied hard & I introduced them to the EL scene. Most of the boys had girls either for short periods (groupies) or live ins even though one or two were married with wives back in Blighty.

EL had its annual Carnival & I got them a prime spot on Oxford St (main st) in front of the town hall. Yes, there were drugs around, the soft ones, if there were any hard ones I never saw them. I thank God I never was interested. I did have a drag a few times with them & others over these years of dope but it did nothing for me. People were staggered that I was never affected. I put it down to God...He had bigger & better plans ahead for me.

Soon their time in EL was up & I had to make a decision.

MINA...For a very brief time, I had a sweet girl at my side. She came from a very disruptive & difficult background & was looking for security...I was 20, she was 18 & I was an adventurer & restless. I do hope she found peace

CC COVERED THIS REALLY WELL

SWAZILAND

Took a trip to Cape Town to sort out some passport work.

Spent a few weeks back in EL working as a clerk in the harbour office...working...youv'e got to be kidding...

The day dawned excitingly. My itchy feet had me on the move again. CC had got a 3-month gig in Swaziland. Before EL they had worked in Durban, Rhodesia & J'burg as well as doing a tour with John Paul Young.

They had set off earlier & now I was on the road, driving through Eastern Cape, Transkei into Natal & then onto Swaziland.

I slept in my car in Newcastle before taking a small border post into Swazi. Because I was traveling on my Zambian passport, I was unaware I was incurring the wrath of the S African immigration. That I would find out later to my cost.

The band worked out of a hotel in the Ezelwini Valley, full of casinos & high-end hotels. It was in the days when gambling was illegal in SA so many would go to Swazi for a naughty w/e. There were pornographic films being shown in the club & breaks were entertained by strippers. I stayed with one of the guys, Neil, who was a Scot. After dumping a married woman in EL he already had another girl, Emmerentia shacked up with him. The others were in the hotel whereas Neil had a holiday bungalow. Things started to go bad when I stopped getting paid & ran out of money.

No one in the band seemed to care as I was a latecomer so figured I did not count. It was a pitiful time as I began to starve, literally. Eventually, I had, had enough & left, disgusted, only to find that my real problems were only about to begin. I tried to leave via the main border post, only to be told I did not have a re-entry visa back to SA. I was astonished & realized I should have paid more attention previously & in preparation. I was now stuck with no job & no money.

The band finished their contract & left. They could not also renew their work permit for SA & so had to leave & return to the UK where they parted company, going their own ways. I in the meantime was in trouble.

Fortunately, one of the girls who was also singing in the club was visiting SA for a few days & agreed to deal with my visa which did entail some detail. She did so, very sweet of her & I was able to leave. ​What I did not know was that God was now going to protect me from certain death.

With my re-entry visa firmly in place, I raced out of Swazi but it was late in the day. I wanted to visit some family friends in Eastern Transvaal & the best way to reach them was to take the northern border through Piggs Peak. It soon got dark, and the road was difficult to see but I kept on plowing on a little too fast as I knew the border closed at 8 pm.

As I was negotiating the bends around the mountains I came upon what I thought was a straight piece of road... it was, so I raced ahead only to find myself flying in the air My rear came down hard (Beetle had a rear engine) & then the front. I stopped to take a look at the car which was fine & then peer in the dark at what had caused this fall. As I walked back I was in a state of shock at what I had discovered. The road through the mountains was unfinished but passable. But here was a bridge over a ravine not quite finished. The 2 ends were about 5 meters apart. Had I not been going fast I would surely have plummeted to my death into the ravine below.

I sat down to gather my thoughts & realize what had just happened or what MIGHT have happened. This was Africa...no warnings just chaos!! I crossed back into SA with great relief & spent a week with the Sanders family in Malelane near Mozambique & now also met Leon whom they had adopted.

This was the Dutch couple who ran a fruit farm & nearly went under due to the incorrect size of their grapefruit, one year, which they specialized in. At that time earlier in the 70s we had visited with them & had grapefruit coming out of our ears..but they survived.

It was a wonderful week of relaxation after the hectic few months. Just what I needed, ready for my next adventure & I was only a month shy of my 21st year. Later in the years as things began becoming increasingly bad & unsafe in SA, Willem Jan & Betty, who were then retired left to live with Leon who had married & settled in Texas. He had been crop dusting & later ranching. Willem Jan died in 2017, Betty the following year, then in her 90's.

I left the car with a friend in Ermelo & hitched to J'burg where I visited a few folks asking about work There was nothing happening so I got some money out of the bank to finance my trip back to EL. Whilst in J'burg I stayed at Dunrobin & met up with some familiar faces.

After picking up the car I motored down to Pinetown where I visited with the Hepburns who were old friends from Rhodesia & EL, and also with the Lutmer fam in Durban from Rhodesia days.

The final leg to EL went well apart from stuttering to a stop for lack of fuel. The embargo was still on but it was good to be home.

PORT ELIZABETH

It was not long after celebrating my 21st that I was given a great contract for a good job in PE. I packed my rucksack & hit the road...no money for fuel for the car.

I was interviewed by Ken Ralph, one of the group of brothers that ran high-end fashion stores in PE & EL. I had changed into my suit only to find I did not pack shoes so I interviewed in my pumps. Ken thought it was funny but I was laughing the loudest when I was offered the position of Ass. Manager in their North End Branch of Gatsby. The main branch was down town with others scattered in the city.

I met with Neels Strydom, the Gen Manager & he invited me to stay at his luxury apartment on Summerstrand for the night before hitching back to EL & make ready to return in my car. I kept in touch with Neels over the years... He was a Christian but sadly died of cancer at age 56...so young...so sad

It also happened to be the best money I was earning & I had always liked PE so all looked really rosy. I found a great room in a boarding house (Inchkeith... which would turn out to be quite prophetic for years later I would be living in Scotland near the towns of Inch & Keith) in Central within walking distance to work.

Whilst setting up the hi-fi one evening I short-circuited the whole building...no one knew it was me. The YMCA was just up the road so I ate there quite often & watched TV there on w/e's.

The work was great & I made friends with many of the staff. The other brother partner George would be in the store a lot. I worked with Neels on fashion design & we worked with other designers at shows. I became very friendly with Joe Kamish our tailor & would keep up that friendship till he sadly passed away in his early 60's.

We were naughty too. One day our messenger came cycling over with stock transfers & walked into the store smelling really ripe. We joked he should use 'Doom', a bug spray as a deodorant. He took us seriously & a few days later came in smelling even worse...no flies on him though!

Next door was South African Breweries & we had quite a bit of custom from the fellas. I got friendly with them & every Friday they had Sausage & Beer evenings...free! Naturally, I connected with the Golightly boys who were studying at the local university. Time had moved on & I did not take to their circle of friends. We carried on with our sports interests & it was during one of these events I broke the other fingers on my hand. It was now a full set! The doctor at casualty was astonished when I declined a local anesthetic as I knew I would have to stay in overnight....& that frightened me more than the excruciating pain I knew I would be in for when he pulled my fingers straight. After 3 weeks I got fed up with the cast & cut it off myself. There is still a lump there from where the bones fused incorrectly. I would break fingers again in the future & not even have them attended to. The evidence is clear to see.

I also connected with Syd Kitching from Hepworth days. He had also moved on to another fashion house... ​Markhams.

From my balcony, I could see the ocean & part of the port. I longed to see the world & little did I know I would soon be doing just that. Down the road & over the war memorial park was the Phoenix Hotel which was a hive of activity with the Stagedoor being the hub. I believe it still holds its iconic status in PE. Here musicians plied their trade, beer was sold & friendships were formed. I spent many an evening there enjoying the craik & sampling their supurb Irish coffees. No wonder I was always skint!

John Wainwright, who was also from Rhodesia & whom I had briefly been at the same school with also had started to build a terrific reputation as a musician. I had first seen him at Imandi; part of the Windsor Hotel in EL (sadly no more...condos have replaced that jewel in a bad boys' memory) in a duo called Peter & John. Now on his own & doing the circuit, He had got a resident contract at the Stagedoor for a spell...so it was always packed. He could do Billy Joel better than...Billy Joel! I was to see him again in the early 80s again elsewhere, married now with a bairn. But, wonderfully he had become a Christian. He died far too young the same year as my Dad did & I would be involved in a benefit concert in his memory.

Again my little Beetle was at the center of another incident that nearly killed me. I was driving home for a few days over the Xmas festive period in December. It was raining heavily & on approaching a bend to a bridge, I began to aquaplane, losing all control before slamming into the barrier on the other side of the road. The car crumpled & I was very fortunate to survive. I was a little hurt but the pain of seeing my car was worse. Some locals in Kleinemond helped out & I stayed with them for the night before being picked up the next day by Dad. ​I sold the engine & the car was scrapped.

After hiking back to PE & feeling lost without a car, I set off for the new year's break heading for the folks that had been so kind in Kleinemond only to get picked up by a van with 3 people...2 fellas & a girl. They lived near me & had seen me around, so stopped. I ended up spending a few days with them in Port Alfred where many Rhodes Uni & UPE students were partying. I suppose it was the late '70s version of a rave. I just remember the punch being lethal.

We camped & woke up one morning to see a couple of young black boys stealing one of our pairs of boots. We chased but lost them. We hired a boat & enjoyed the Kowie River. I enjoyed the larger crowd of friends they were in over the next months just chilling out a lot. There were guys & girls yet nothing unsavory. I guess that made it so refreshing. We would often play crazy golf or hit the famous Red Windmill in PE for a burger or just listen to music.

Cliff Richard was touring & we went to see him at the Feathermarket Theatre... But the crash had really shaken me & in those days there was no concern about the after effects of major incidents... my feet were itchy again & yet I really thought I would settle in PE.

After packing up I took a trip to Cape Town to get my Patriality stamp in my passport from the British Consulate. I was now ready for the next stage of my life.