Aunt Sally

To call 'Aunt Sally' a local game is an understatement, as one guest was heard to say, "I live 20 miles from here and have never heard of the game!" With the mystery deepening, and after a tour of the local brewery, the intrepid GSE team from District 9320 was inducted into the club of the knowing as we enjoyed a few rounds of Aunt Sally.

In South African terms, Aunt Sally is like Jukskei on a tarmac (but the kitty sits on top of a pole - which makes things pretty interesting!)

Needless to say, after a few goes, the District 9320 team was crowned king of Aunt Sally - was it my imagination or were the Witney Rotarians not so keen on the proposed rematch after supper?!? hee, hee... Of course they reminded us that it was just an ellaborate April Fools prank!

What a good evening!

Good Friday!!

Its been a busy week at Witney and it has been great all the Rotarians have recieved us with much enthusiasim and excitment. After our Rotary GSE Rally on Monday evening we got down to some serious business. I visited BMW Mini Plant in Oxford for my vocational day on Tuesday, and it was spectacular to see those shiny Mini's rolling off the line. Its unbelievable that BMW Mini produces 230 000 units per year. The Oxford plant manufactures the Clubman, Cabriolet and the 3DR!! The Austria plant is set to produce the Crossover Mini, looking forward to seeing that on our SA roads.

Wednesday the team set off to Oxford for the day!! We toured the Christchurch Cathedral, had lunch at a lovely Itailian resturant and did a major walking tour of Oxford and its various colleges. After freezing and getting rained on (which is part of the GSE experiance) my host Chris took Moipone and I out or maybe i should say took us inside a coffee shop for a warm hot chocolate. One of the criteria of being on GSE is that you should have a huge appetite, so off we went for dinner to a Malaysian resturant that served delicious food and large servings of everything including wine. After dinner we dashed off to the Sheldonian Theatre to watch the Messiah and the performance was outstanding, it left me with a warm fuzzy feeling!!!

On Thursday we embarked on a minibus tour of the Cotswolds. We were lucky that it was not a walking tour as it was raining constantly throughout the day. The team was happy to have an English style pub lunch around a crackling fire!! Upon returning to Witney we went on a brewery tour at the Wychwood Brewery. I'm not much of a beer drinker so that beer tasting at the end proved to be a challenge!! Dinner was served at the Witney Snooker Club, where we were introduced to a game called Aunt Sally, I'm not going to try and explain it all I can say is that the GSE team won thanks to our Aunt Sally SA Champion Andrew Evans and rookie Geoff Antrobus!!!!

The past few days have been great!!!
Cheerio
Poppy
P.S. The GSE Team was also in the local newspaper (I'm a celebrity :-))

GSE Rally

Monday night in Witney saw us gathered for a combined meeting of Rotary Clubs (hosted by the Witney Rotary Club). The evening was a rather festive one and our presentation was well received. The Mayor of Witney joined us too - which was great.

The attached picture is of our team with the Witney Rotary Club President, Keith Crawford (left) and Ken Mumford who led a GSE Team to India some 23 years ago.

Gardens

Spring is finally arriving in England and I have had the fortune of visiting some gardens in the last few days.

On Thursday, as part of a vocational visit, I went to an organisation called Thrive (bottom picture) which specialises in using gardening as therapy. I'd never heard of a 'Gardening Therapist' until Thursday, but it's clear that the work is very popular and very successful.

Then on our weekend off in London, I went with Geoff to visit the Kew Botanical gardens. It was a fantastic day out (and we only managed to see about 1/5 of the place!) There were even two areas specifically deoted to South African plants - we felt like we were home for a moment.

We are now in Whitney and are looking forward to a productive week.

Honda - It's BIG!

Went to the Honda plant today, It's BIG!! Had an amazing tour of the plant and then a great lunch with our tour guide Sam. It amazed me how free they were with information and so we got some good insight into their business and people philosophy - impressive! I was particularly amazed at their focus on quality and the fact that it takes 1500 people to assemble an engine.

Enjoyed another excellent Rotary meeting with the Reading Matins club in the evening (more chicken to eat!)

The district 1090 conference 2010

Saturday started at 9:30, a number of presentations were delivered, mostly centered around the work inn Africa and Haiti. Rotarians are doing an incredible job, helping out where help is needed the most, hence the theme of the conference 'hands on rotary'.

The foudation session, which the team feared the most, gave our 12 minutes presentation and a song. Simphiwe did his thing, singing and dancing, most ladies liked him & he enjoyed it.

A light normal lunch at the hotel, toasted sandwishes and a glass of wine/beer.

Then the foundation rally a general knowledge quizz. GSE vs the ambassadorial scholars, the GSE team did us proud, they won.

The DG pre-dinner drinks at the grand hotel then the DG's banquet and ball. Wooow all the ladies dressed up and the man looking good. Poor us we were stuck with our khaki pants and blazers. Lots of ballons flying over, not suprising the average age is 80 years or so. We enjoyed a lovely performance, oooops!!! I forgot the name of the group.

We then snigged out with Poopy to sleep.

Honda manufacturing of the UK

Full details coming soon

The Reading Matins experience

Breakfast with hosts. Met at the Reading Town hall at 10:00am for the reading the tour of Reading area. Our guides for the day were my hosy Ian, Jason and Linda.

A short visit to the St Laurence Church where we had an opportunity to see Lizzie Webb and her crew in action. Lizzie was also a guest speaker at the district conference last weekend. She works with disangaged youngeters and is doing an amazing job. I enjoyed the Michael Bubble track they danced to, I must admit I miss music, though I brought my ipod with me.

Leaving the St Laurence church yard we passed throuth a stone arch dated 1791, then to the Forbury Gardens. At the center of the garden is an iron lion believed to be the largest standing lion in the world.

The Abbey Ruins, we couldnt goo through them because of safety issues.

Went to the blade, 13th floor, it offers an amazing view of Reading and its surroundings.

Off to the Civic center where we met the Reading Mayor and his wife in the Parlour,

Had a light but great lunch at Jason & Emmas home.

Madejski stadium tour at 2:00pm. We went through different sections of the stadium, very impressive, we even had a change to go to the trophy room (I wont comment about the collection) and also the directors suite. We were given a 10% discount vouture but none of us used it, we are minding our 20Kg baggage allowance with SAA.

Had tea at LSQ2 at greenpark the meeting place of the club.

A quick tour of the wind turbin at greenpark, which apparantly supplies wind energy to the greenpark office park and a remarkable number of homes.

The Nags head pub for beer tasting, I fancied a stout.

Finally the sweeney todd for supper, which is a pie restuarant and happens to be located near a barber shop.

We finally called it a day

My day at the Ordnance Survey as an overseas visitor

Ordnance Survey is Great Britain's national mapping agency, providing the most accurate and up-to-date geographic data, relied on by government, business and individuals.

Travelled 50 miles or so to Southampton with Linds Nix of the Reading Matins Rotary Club.

I had one of the most rewarding days of my trip. Welcome and introduction to the OS byPeter Standen, the communications manager. Followed by a GPS data collection demonstration by Nigel Vincent-|Piper, the technical specialist. Then a demonstration of GIS products and applications by Danny Hyam, the Operations Manger.

Of course there is teeaand biscuits. Then a presentation of use of digital mapping by central and local government by Ian Carter, the strategic development manager. It was interesting to note that we England & Lesotho are facing all most similar problems when it comes to political support in investing in GI.

Then a light lunch and discussion with Dr Egbe Eguavoen on GIS and remote sensing application in land use change and vulnerability mapping. Dr Eguavoen was very helpful and resourceful, she even geve me a copy of her PhD thesis.

Then demonstration of photogramatry with Mark Tabor, amazing and facinating stuff.
Finally the print floor tour with Dave Freemantle.

I was initially afraid tthat Linda was going to be bored, but she seemed to have enjoyed the day & presentations as much as I did.

On my way out, I got photographed with the OS chairman.

It has been an amazing and very informative day. Thank you Rotary for making it possible for me. This is once in a lifetime opportunity I will ever remember.

Off to dinner witth the rotarians

Street Child Africa

Today, seems to be a down day for me, which basically means its an easy going day. I'm visiting an amazing NGO in London that raises funds and supports African organisations that work with street children in Africa. I am amazed at the amount of work it takes running an NGO. We'll be having a talk later on this afternoon about various ways to raise funds.

Oh and yesterday we had dinner at Sweeney Todds and there is a baber next door and a eery cellar downstairs!!!!!

Reading Day 1

With the conference over - breath a sigh of relief! - we began our visit to Reading with a tour of some of the sites, including the Reading Football stadium and a visit with the mayor of Reading - whose name is Fred.

Heading for the District 1090 conference

Its Poppy's birthday today.

A relaxed morrning, my last day at Slough with with Roger & Anne, I miss them already. Ouch!!! Driving out of the gate it starts raining. Had a 2-2.5 hours drive to Eastbourne, I slept most of the time along the way. Arrived at Eastborne 1:00pm, had a fish & chips lunch, for change I am eatinng a plain meal no 3 course meal.

Checked in at the congress hotel, enjoyed a relaxed afternoon, chilling in the hotel.

Had ann Italian supper. We feel like clubbing with Poppy, but rainning and cold and besides this seems like an old age town.

This morning was quite relaxed as we prepare to go the the District conference in Eastbourne. Went with Gordon to see the St Mary's Hedgerley church (pictured here) and then for a walk in the woods around the church. Traditional English weather has finally arrived with a drizzle that I'm guessing can get quite depressing.

Conference awaits and I'm sure there wont be any updates until monday or Tuesday when we find ourselves in Reading.

Weird & Wonderful

I've seen some strange things here today. Firstly, the Evangelist Pub - mmm, go figure? Then a statue of John Wesley in the gardens at the St Paul's Cathedral - ok so I know he died an Anglican, but I didn't think the organised church liked him too much!

St Paul's took my breath away - quite literally as I climbed the 500 and plenty stairs to get to the golden dome (which gives you an outrageous view over London). It is grand on the grandest scale!

Eating and eating

My first time tasting Turkish food. Yummy yummy!

Vocational day

Took a train to London with my host Roger. Then headed for the University of the Kings College London. Had 11:00am appointment with Dr Debby Potts one of the remarkable scholars in Southern African studies. Meet Dr Daanish Mustafa was very informative and helpful.

Then went to the natural history museum, it had all sorts of interesting things. Back home, rested a bit.

Super at Brian's place. A three course meal. My God, I have been eating too much, since arriving here. But the food is great, I cant resist.

Sun, sun, sun

Been in England for four days and it's been sunny every day - what, you don't believe me? Well check out the photo - sorry Paul, I stole your idea!

I spent yesterday at Central Hall in London - pretty amazing setup! Malcolm White was my very colourful guide for the day and I learnt oodles. Woke up this morning with stiff thighs from climbing all the steps tho. We're off to London again today to visit, amongst other things, St Paul's Cathedral - more saw legs I think!

The Great London Trip

Today was the teams first official London trip. The teams rendezvous was Brian's (Rotarian) house, where we would leave all the vehicles and walk to Gerrads Cross. Team London was comprised of the 5 South Africans (Geoff, Andrew, Moipone, Simphiwe & Poppy) & Slough Rotarians Roger, Robin & Brian.

We took the train from Gerrads Cross to London Marylebone, on the way we saw Wembley Stadium, which gave us a bit of an idea of how large it is. We then walked to the underground @ Baker Street and took the Jubilee line to Westminster. The vibe in London is quite electric, infused with the magnificent historical buildings.

NOTE: The word "walk" will be used frequently as we did a lot of walking today. I think it is the most walking I've done since I lived in Queenstown.

The team then got on a Tourist Boat and we went down to Greenwhich, along the way the guide was telling us a bit of history of the Thames River and how it has chaned, developed and at the same time maintained its history and heritage, it was actually quite amazing.

One of the stories that got us talking was how pirates were excuted by being drowned for 37 hours and if they survived that would mean they were innocent (just a bit of a history lesson). We then disembarked at Greenwhich, where we walked to the National Maritime Museum. The museum was originally a hospital built for sailors and the room we saw was their dining hall that has magnificent paintings all over the walls. The team had a hearty English lunch at Trafalgar Tavern. We then worked off the calories by walking up a very, very, steep hill to the Royal Observatory. It was built for the purpose of finding longitude at sea, it is home of the Greenwhich Mean Time and the famous Prime Meridian of the World - Longitude 0 degree0'0''.

The team then walked back to Greenwhich to catch the Docklands Light Railway (DLR), which is a driverless train, it took us through Canary Wharf business district. Our trip took us to Tower Gateway, where we walked over Towerbridge along the embankment to the Globe Theater.

The Globe is William Shakespeare's famous theater, that was rebuilt over 50 years and reopened in 1997. We were fortunate enough to take a guided tour, which was very entertertaining and enlightining. The theater is an exact replica of the first theater that was built over 400 years ago. The developers used original materials that were accessible to the people back in the 1600s to rebuild the theater, basing it off the Rose Theater archeological findings and journal entries from eye witnesses who had been in the original theater, as the Globe had never been sketched.

The team then had dinner at Wagamam (Japanese resturant). The meals were delicious and we had a great time catching up on the days sights. Well, after a long day, we back tracked our steps and headed home.

Overall the day was remarkable and the weather was warm and sunny.

Thank you to Robin, Roger and Brian for taking us out for the day and making every moment memorable, eventful and educational.

Till next time
Cheerio

Second day

Attended church service at The Farnhams and Hedgerley community church.

Meet the rest of the team and Slough rotarians at rotarian Richard Mingard's home in Langley. Great food, but missed yummy deserts.

Went to the Cliveden with Anne for a walk, went down the banks of the Thames River. Its woooow. Pictures will follow shortly.

The first day

My host Roger Homes takes me to his home in Farnham Common, met Anne, Roger's wife and their son Chris. They are lovely people.

After freshning up at the host's homes, the team and hosts meet at Robin Weatherbee's house and Mike Canon, the GSE coordinator briefed the team about the intensive 4 weeks programme in district 1090. We also had a lekker lunch. Called home to let them know we travelled safely.

2:15pm went for a walk in the woods with Roger & Anne, its a bit chilly but refreshing after a heavy lunch and 11 long hours in a plane.

6:00 pm went for ice hockey match in the Slough ice jet arena, watched Slough Jet vs Basingstoke Bison. Had supper with my hosts and finally went to bed.

Last day at Port Elisabeth

Poppy picked me from the bus station.The bus is delayed & Im worried she is going to be late for work.
The team met at 3.00pm to finalise the presentation at Simphiwe's office.

Attended and presented to Port Elisabeth clubs. Followed by supper. The team recieved constructive comments.

Had a good night's sleep at Poppy's place. Thank you Poppy.

The begining of the 31 days

Said final good byes to my colleques and friends at work. Collected the team's golf shirts from Dr Frank Baffoes place, and they are lovely.

Drove to Mokhethoaneng to get picture of a water play pump project sponsored by the Whitney and St Alban,s rotary clubs.

Caught a taxi to Bloemfontein to get an overnight bus to Port Elisabeth where I am meeting the rest of the team.

Final Preparations

A big thank you to Andrew for putting up all the pictures and the scripts into a great powerpoint presentation within a short time.

We're here at last!

Well, but for some entertaining gliches in our journey, everything went smoothly and we arrived at Heathrow early on Saturday morning to a hearty welcome by the District 1090 Governor, Terry Kenyon, along with members of the Slough Rotary Club.

The sun was shining, for about ten minutes, but seems to have gone back into hiding for the moment. It's a bit cold, but no rain - yet!

The warm welcome was fantastic and our hosts have been amazing! The pic here was taken at Heathrow as we arrived.

Ahh for B.C. Days (Before Computer)

Someone asked me the other day, 'Whatever did we do before computers?' After the last few days, I would have to answer, 'We were productive!' All this techno nonsense takes us forward two steps and back 1 1/2. I've decided that when I get to the pearly gates (that's assuming I make it that far), of the questions I will ask St Peter, one will be, 'Do you have computers in heaven?' If the answer is yes, I will seriously think about putting in for a transport. Of course, heaven might actually have pc's that work - I guess hell would have a computer like mine which the opperator spends eternity trying to get to work.

Well at least the presentation is done, and now final preparations are under way. I think I might even be getting excited!

TEAM LEADER
GEOFF ANTROBUS – Rotary Club of Grahamstown
TEAM MEMBERS
ANDREW OWEN EVANS from Ladybrand
MANTSEBO MOIPONE AMELIA LETSIE from Maseru
SIZAKASI SANDISA MATSHAYA from Port Elizabeth
SIMPHIWE DAVID MADYWABI from Port Elizabeth.

Rotary Group Study Exchange Thames Valley Team 2010

Group Study Exchange is an overseas vocational and cultural tour supported by The Rotary Foundation as part of the Rotary International programme to build understanding and better relations between the people of the world.