Bramley Famli

Friday night was Leish’s 20 year high school reunion. Mine was 2 years ago. So that makes me older and provides a little insight to the interesting feelings that float around at such events : ) I don’t know if there is a correlation, but one of Leish’s good mates pulled out on Friday afternoon around 16:00. Of course there was a good reason, but I wonder?

The 20 yr reunion shared the school hall with the 10 yr reunion and the school celebration of 25 years in it’s current form. So it couldn’t be and wasn’t the piss up mine was, and it did lack the intimacy of focus just the
20 yr reunion might have had, but it was a beautifully diverse and a proud night shared by all.

I enjoyed meeting Leish’s school mates and getting a taste of her world way back then. Some really good people have shared her world.

It’s not often, if ever, that I’ve seen such pride in a school, as speech after speech gave testimony to a school that made something very spectacular of itself over the past 25 years.

Leish contributed 2 years to the history that was unveiled last night. If friends, stories and teachers who remembered her are to go by, she certainly added more than what was expected of her.

Had I been her last night, I would have felt incredibly proud to have been a part of Stirling High School. But I’ll leave that for you to explore….

Leish and I are in Gonubie, East London this morning. We came down for Leish’s 20 year high school reunion. Because Leish lived in East London for a while, we picked a B&B in Gonubie to stay at.

We chose the Red Pepper. And we chose well. Picking a place off of the net can be risky. It can be exciting. But it is always fun. In the words of Forest Gump, slightly altered, ‘Picking a B&B off the Internet is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you gonna get?’

Colleen runs the place, and from our first encounter via email she was superb. Helpful, professional and welcoming. And she’s all that and more in real life.

Red Pepper is on the Main road through Gonubie. They boast views of the Gonubie river. To be honest we thought it was a bit of ‘poetic Internet licence’ to make such a claim. With Leish having lived in Gonubie, we just couldn’t picture how there’d be a good view of the river? But what a view we got. The sea to the right and this big, wide and gentle river off to the left. Sitting high up on a hill, second floor of the B&B, on our balcony sipping sundowners last night and coffee this morning. About as romantic as you could hope for, spoiled completely by Leish’s harsh cough and flu ridden body : (

If ever you find yourself in the greater East London area, and Gonubie seems like an option, find your way to the Red Pepper. I’d book in advance. It’s a 5 star venue, who’ve had some pretty impressive people stay at it, judging by the visitors book. Of course they’ve now also had us to add to their list of distinguished guests : )

Online you can find them at SA Venues and make a booking from there.