Holiday blues

It’s official. My family is off to Rarotonga for a pseudo-family reunion later this month. Friends of my brother Matt own property on the island and have made it available to the family for a week. Mum is going, as are Hamish and Karin, plus Matt, Shelley and the kids. Everyone has suggested we make it a 50th birthday celebration for me.

Sadly, Garry and I have declined the offer. We’ve decided we simply cannot take time out of the business now. As new owners, we’re still on a steep learning curve. The phone is constantly ringing as we rapidly approach our first Christmas season. It's the right decision, but gosh, it's hard to swallow. No big 50th celebration for me!

New Horizons

In 1981 I completed a high school science project on the Solar System. This simple exercise kicked off a lifelong fascination with planets, their moons, and other minor celestial bodies in our solar neighbourhood. At the time, I ran late completing my project. When questioned by the teacher, I explained that I was enjoying the task so much that I didn’t want to rush it. She agreed to let me take my time. I eventually turned in a handwritten book with dozens of pages containing detailed descriptions and data tables. It was illustrated throughout with images a local bookstore kindly let me photocopy from its pricy hardcopy coffee table books.

I couldn’t have timed my passion for the solar system better. The eighties were a golden age of discovery for planetary science. In 1979, two Voyager probes flew by Jupiter. They both carried on to Saturn, reaching it in 1980 and 1981. Voyager 2 then continued on to fly by Uranus in 1986 and Neptune in 1989. 

Various probes flew past Halley’s Comet in 1986 while others orbited and landed on asteroids in the following decades. In 1997, the first of multiple Mars rovers landed on the red planet streaming back some of the most stunning images ever taken from the surface of another world.

By the turn of the millennium, Pluto remained the only unexplored planet. Last month, this tiny, pixelated dot in the sky was finally explored. The New Horizons probe flew past the minor planet and its five quirky moons on 15 July. Launched in January 2006, this hardy machine has spent ten years flying more than 4.83 billion km to reach this far-flung destination. In the image above you can the best photo of Pluto that existed before the fly-by next to one taken by New Horizons last month.

After a nerve-wracking journey, New Horizons skimmed over Pluto’s surface at a height of 12,472km. Traveling at a speed of more than 13km per second, it completed 236 separate scientific observations of all six bodies in the Pluto system using all seven of its instruments. It’s incredible to think that the entire encounter lasted less than 30 hours. I cannot imagine spending ten years of my career focused on a single event that lasted barely a day.

The first images beamed back from the edge of our solar system are truly spectacular. Pluto has surprised and delighted everyone. This is a dramatic icy world, filled with vast frozen nitrogen ice plains, dramatic towering ice mountains, oozing glaciers, and dark stained craters. Its largest moon, Charon, has proven equally spectacular. The moon's surface is hewn by deep and dramatic rifts, a red-tinged polar cap, and plenty of photogenic craters.

Charon is an extraordinary moon. It was discovered in June 1978 by James Christy and Robert Harrington at the U.S. Naval Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. At the time, they weren't even looking for moons. They were trying to refine Pluto's orbit around the Sun. You can see their discovery image as a hazy blob in the inserted image above. The "knob" on the edge of Pluto's pixelated disc is Charon.

With a diameter of 1,214km, Charon is almost the same size as Pluto (1,400km). As a result, these two bodies are often referred to as a binary dwarf planet system. Not only that, their gravitational attraction is such that they actually orbit around a point in space midway between them. When viewed from above, these two objects appear to spiral along Pluto's orbital plane rather than move in a smooth arc.  

With so many extraordinary observations, it seems that the solar system has saved the best for last. As I remarked to my mother last week, she’s been lucky enough to witness in her lifetime the exploration of every major body in the solar system. We’ll never live through such a golden age of exploration again.

NOTE

The image above was added in 2023.  I took the photo above of a New Horizons replica during a visit to the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum in 2017.  Ditto for the replica of the Voyager probe. I've also updated a few links and added a spectacular oblique image of Pluto's ice mountains released in September 2015.

Putting on a big show

We’ve just completed our first trade show as the new owners of Artiwood. It’s been a frantic time since acquiring the business in June. Garry and I have been working long hours as we come up to speed. We’ve also kicked off a series of projects to modernise the company’s marketing and back-office systems. 

It’s been a rewarding experience so far. We can see early signs of strong growth, particularly for the forthcoming Christmas period. For example, orders placed at last week’s trade show set a new record. This is encouraging given that the company’s revenue is highly seasonal. 

We exhibited at the Australian Gift and Homewares Association’s (AGHA) annual Melbourne gift fair. This is the industry’s largest event of the year and operates from two locations in Melbourne. The main event happens at the Showgrounds in Flemming, supplemented by a small contingent at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC) in Southbank.

Artiwood has been exhibiting at the showgrounds for many years. This year we used a custom-built stand for the first time. It was designed and built by the previous owner. We saw it for the first time in February at an event in Sydney. It created a strong impression, encouraging us to begin serious discussions with the owner. We also used his team of temporary staff for last week’s event. They've been incredibly loyal to the former owner and really know their stuff.

I’ll share more about the business soon. However, for now, I'm grateful that our investment appears to be paying off. This is particularly reassuring for me personally. In March we convinced the National Australia Bank (NAB) to loan us a considerable amount of money to buy the business. 

Given my corporate heritage, I naturally built a detailed business plan, accompanied by a 23-page business case to support our loan application. After approving the loan our business banker commented that he’d never received such a comprehensive document from a small business owner. It appears this worked in our favour as the loan was approved in record time.

UPDATE: 22 December 2021

We've just paid off our business loan, three years ahead of schedule. Our big bet has clearly paid off. For the last seven years, Garry and I have kept a roof over our heads and successfully grown a thriving, reputable business. A proud milestone!

Now the fun begins!

Garry and I have bought a toy company. Yes, you heard that right. After almost five months of due diligence and fraught negotiations, we’re now the proud owners of Artiwood. The company was established in 1999 by its founding owner, John Daniels, who’s just sold his business to us.

We signed the paperwork, and handed over a fat bank cheque, at a signing ceremony at our solicitor’s office in North Sydney on 11 June. We’d already paid an initial deposit a month earlier. Here’s an industry magazine’s story about our acquisition. 

Since then, the last six weeks have been a blur. We closed the business for a week to manage the transition of its back-office systems and bring a new IT network up to speed. Garry’s burnt the candle at both ends to ensure we hit the ground running. John Daniels also flew down from the Northern Rivers to help with the transition. He based himself in the Meriton serviced apartment across the road for a week.

Now the fun begins!

First light in the East

Cape Byron is the easternmost point of the Australian continent. The cape sits on a narrow and rocky point less than three kilometres from the popular resort town of Byron Bay. The cape is capped by three hillocks.  Atop the easternmost, and highest, of these peaks sits Cape Byron Lighthouse.  Built in 1901, this dazzling white, 23-metre high, structure is Australia's most powerful lighthouse (A staggering 2.2 million candela).

The light continues to operate.  More than a century later it's still shining a beam that's visible up to 50 kilometres away.  It's also become one of the surrounding region's most popular attractions.  More than half a million people visit it every year. During Summer its popularity peaks as the cape is an ideal location from which to watch whales migrate up the Australian coast.  A local dolphin pad can also seen frolicking around the cape throughout the year.

This morning, shortly after dawn, I was lucky enough to be taken on an hour-long trek around the Byron Cape headlands.  As we walked we spotted the local dolphins and plenty of enthusiastic surfers. It was a perfect morning to experience the cape for the first time.  The lighthouse was simply dazzling in the morning sunlight, while all around, perfect feathery white surf curled its way along the shoreline. Even the odd wallaby was taking time out to enjoy the nation's first light for today.

UPDATE: July 10

You may be wondering why I’ve been visiting Byron Bay. Last month Garry and I bought a toy wholesaling business. The former owner was based in Mullumbimby, located about 18km inland from the renowned coastal resort. I based myself in Mullumbimby while conducting a final round of due diligence on the business in early June. 

Insurance that works

I've always been a little skeptical about travel insurance.  Over the years numerous anecdotes have convinced myself that insurance companies will do everything to avoid paying a claim.  I've even witnessed a health insurance company terminate coverage for breast cancer therapy midway through a patient's treatment plan. 

However, in the last 18 months, I've seen a couple of straight-forward travel insurance claims paid in full. Perhaps my cynicism is misplaced.  The first occurred two years ago when my parents made a claim for hospital treatment my father received while were in Montreal.  

We'd rushed Dad to the hospital after he'd woken with severely swollen legs.  At the time doctors suspected he was suffering from DVT.  In the weeks preceding his admission we'd made four flights, including one trans-Pacific flight and a trans-continent flight in Canada. After a series of blood tests, anti-clotting injections and an elaborate ultrasound scan the doctor's could find no clots. 

Dad was cleared to fly and urged to keep his legs elevated for the remainder of our road trip through Ontario. Extended periods of elevation eventually reduced the swelling and we all breathed a sigh of relief. Dad's treatment cost several thousand dollars.  Mum made a claim on travel insurance and was delighted when it was paid in full. 

More recently, the rental car that Mum and I used in Cape Town received a minor, but visible, scrape on its rear bumper. I'd declined the rental company's insurance policy as American Express claimed that it would cover any such damage under a policy attached to my card. For years its encouraged cardholders to refuse rental company insurance.

Earlier this month I received a final bill from the rental car for repairs to the bumper.  The final cost was a little over $300.  I called American Express and asked if this cost could be reimbursed.  They said it would and I duly submitted a claim.  Last week the claim was paid in full.  It's the first time I've ever claimed on a travel insurance policy.  I was delighted by this payment and the relatively straight-forward process for making a claim.

Beverly does Africa

That's it.  Beverly has done Africa. Overnight we departed Victoria Falls to join our connecting flight back to Sydney.  Our return flights went without a hitch and we both slept like babies across the Indian Ocean. Mum is now waiting at Sydney Airport to board her final flight home to Auckland.

We made the most of our final day in Africa with a grand finale helicopter flight over Victoria Falls. Weeks ago we booked the first flight of the day hoping that the weather would play its part. We weren't disappointed. The morning dawned with lightly overcast skies and calm conditions.  It was near-perfect weather for flying.

Our helicopter took off shortly after 9am on a flight route that took around 20 minutes to complete.  The tour company is based at Elephant Hill, about six kilometres north of the falls.  The hill is a low-profile mound rising from ancient floodplains that follow the Zambezi River towards Victoria Falls. Several years ago an impressive five-star resort complex was built on its crest.

As we took off a distant rain shower gave the landscape a wonderfully African flair.  The view was spectacular. We traced the Zambezi River's path towards the falls.  Our route took us over the berths for dozens of boats we'd seen traversing the river two days before and on towards the falls themselves. 

A curtain of white mist hangs perpetually over the falls. For the last two days, we've watched this "cloud" drifting from our hotel dining room. At times the wind had swirled the mist into a jagged mushroom cloud reminiscent of a fading atomic bomb test.  However, from the air, the mist proved insignificant.  It obscured only a small section of the falls giving us an unobstructed view of its majesty and its equally impressive neighbourhood.

Our helicopter pilot flew us in a leisurely circle of eight around the falls, the Zambezi Gorge and the frontier bridge. The falls stretch an incredible 1,708 metres. Only from the air is it possible to conceive of just how far the falls extend.  However, the trailing gorge that's been carved over millennia proved equally spectacular.  A series of jagged Z-shape ravines scar the surrounding plains for more than seven kilometres downstream.

Our flight included ten minutes of safari flying over a nearby national park.  From the air, we spotted several giraffe herds grazing on the treetops, as well as a large herd of elephants rambling through the bush.  It was very cool to see the animals from this perspective after spending so much time viewing them from ground level. Mum loved every moment of our flight. She told me it was one of the highlights of her entire African adventure.  The perfect way to finish an incredible vacation.

UPDATE: April 2024

Our helicopter flight over the Victoria Falls wasn't my first time seeing them from the air.  I was lucky enough to enjoy a similar experience in 1996. For a retrospective post on this first flight, follow this link.

Almost homeward bound

Tonight is our last night in Africa.  Tomorrow afternoon we'll begin retracing our steps back to the Antipodes and real life.  It's been an amazing vacation.  Mum has learned so much about Africa that her head is at risk of exploding.

The images posted here were taken earlier today.  After our morning Elephant safari, we returned to the Falls National Park to complete a walk along the crest of the falls. Our first attempt had been thwarted yesterday by a drenching tropical downpour so we were pleased the weather played its part this afternoon. The falls are truly dazzling in direct sunlight.

As for the ponchos?  They're a must!  As you walk along the rim you encounter a cascade of mist falling from the skies at various points along the way. These falls really are the "smoke that thunders".

Victoria Falls - a photo essay

The last couple of days have been a whirlwind of sightseeing.  We've taken two separate walking tours along the crest of the falls, gone bush with African elephants, and traversed girders underneath the local frontier bridge.  I've posted photos of our elephant excursion in a separate post.

Today's excursion to the falls was perfectly timed. We arrived at the national park entrance just as the sun broke through the clouds. As a result, the fall had a delightful sheen and vivid rainbows were visible from several vantage points. We walked as far as the rock platforms overlooking the spectacular "Corner Viewpoint". This is where the Zambezi River turns south and begins weaving its way through a gorge carved over the millennia.

Our bridge walk was a magic experience. Much to our surprise, we were the only people on the tour. As a result, we enjoyed a private guided tour that took us down grated stairs by the bridge's foundations in Zambia, along a northern gangplank underneath its road deck, and then up onto the deck in Zimbabwe. 

The gangplank offered spectacular gorge-framed views of the falls and a fascinating close-up look at its girders and other infrastructure. We then spent time watching fearless tourists bungy jumping off the bridge, while others screamed their way along a Zipline strung over the gorge.

We learned that the bridge was actually prefabricated in England, shipped to Africa via Mozambique, and finally opened after 14 months of construction in 1905. It's 198 metres long, with a main arch spanning 156.50 metres at a height of 128 metres above the lower water mark of the river in the gorge below. Interestingly, it carries a road, railway, and footway making it a vital transport in Southern Africa.

There's honestly nothing I could write that would tell the story better than the images I've posted here.  Therefore, I'll leave you in peace to admire the scenes we've been enjoying.

Finally, here are a couple of images we took on our first afternoon at Victoria Falls. The weather was rather inclement when we arrived in Zimbabwe, so we only ventured out briefly to get our first glimpse of the falls. These two images were taken overlooking the Devil's Cataract along the fall's western boundary.

Elephants at dawn

Today we went exploring with a group of African elephants.  I booked us on a small group tour with Shearwater Adventures. Our day began with an early morning pick-up from our hotel.  We were then driven out to the company's 4,000-hectare private game reserve where five elephants were waiting for our group. 

I was pleased to learn that our tour wasn't exploiting adult animals born and raised in the wild. The elephants we rode were conditioned to humans from a young age after being rescued by the tour company. Sadly, their mothers were either killed by poachers or culled by rangers (a practice that's since been discontinued). The reserve also runs a Black Rhino Breeding Programme that's working to rebuild and sustain this endangered species. However, we didn't see any Rhinos during our visit.

Climbing aboard these enormous creatures was an adventure in itself.  Our "Induna" or driver, got the animal to crouch down on the ground. We then clambered aboard using a small step ladder. As the elephant stands to its full height you suddenly appreciate how big it really is. It felt a very long way down. We rode sitting on a padded canvas saddle with simple stirrups for your feet.  This rustic saddle leaves you feeling far more connected to the animal than the platform-based ride I enjoyed in India.

Our 45-minute ride took us on a circuit through the bush down into a shallow river bed which we crossed before circling back and returning to base. We were then given an opportunity to feed the animals and take plenty of one-in-a-lifetime close-up photos with them. It was a genuinely moving experience.

To quote the tour company, "Sitting on a knee of these gigantic animals being able to stare into those big blinking eyes, feel the velvety softness of the ears and the rough hue of their skin, and to have them feed right for your hand with their incredible trunks – is deeply bonding and a visceral feeling for many."  I couldn't have said it better myself!

Perhaps one of the excursion's coolest highlights was something completely unplanned.  As we drove into the reserve we encountered a pack of Painted Dogs chasing a forlong little antelope.  It was fascinating to watch these animals on the hunt. The drama that unfolded couldn't have been scripted better by David Attenborough himself.

Hippos on the Zambesei

Today we've flown to Zimbabwe where we'll experience the magic of Victoria Falls.  After a full day of travel, we finished the day with a boat ride on the Zambezi River. For almost two hours we cruised along the riverbank, passing swampy islands while watching Hippos at play, before enjoying a spectacular African sunset.  This is clearly a popular activity. Our boat was joined by a flotilla of others, each packed with tourists like ourselves.