Visitors from home
It's always great to get visitors from back home. Of course, I can say "home" when I refer to either New Jersey or California. Much to my pleasure, I was greeted with visitors from both homes in February. Legendary local NJ surfer Kevin Morris made a cameo appearance in
Wellington in mid-Feb while on honeymoon with his lovely wife Dana. They arrived into Christchurch on the south island, rented a camper van, and drove around the south island and finished off on the north island, passing through Wellington on the way. There's always a sense of belonging when someone from passes through. It was such an odd feeling being all the way in New Zealand and talking about people and places from my childhood. We both surfed for our respective high schools back in the day, so we used to see each other out in the water quite a bit. I think the last time we saw each other was in 1999 when I passed through NJ at the end of my big 1998/99 around the world trip. We were able to get out to the Wairarapa for some surf, but the swell was too big, mixed up, and from the wrong direction. We did manage to squeeze in a surf, but it really didn't turn on the goods like we'd hoped!
Then about a week later, Frank and Marilou Radford from San Diego graced me with their
presence while doing a cruise around New Zealand. There was a stop off in Wellington, so I gave
them my number and had them ring me when they were available. Fortunately, my schedule on that day permitted and we were able to meet up for a while. I know them both from San Diego when I worked at Sharp Hospital. Marilou is one of my personal heroes, having undergone a heart transplant around mid-2006 if memory serves me correct. She had a difficult time during her recovery at first, but soon found her groove and proceeded to perform like the champ she is. I've seen a LOT of people with heart transplants come through the program and I will confess, they must've put the heart of a lion in her! We took a scenic drive around the perimeter of Wellington before dropping them off at the cruise ship terminal. A sad goodbye, but then again, in my world, a goodbye is merely what precedes our next meeting!!
It's always great to get visitors from back home. Of course, I can say "home" when I refer to either New Jersey or California. Much to my pleasure, I was greeted with visitors from both homes in February. Legendary local NJ surfer Kevin Morris made a cameo appearance in
Wellington in mid-Feb while on honeymoon with his lovely wife Dana. They arrived into Christchurch on the south island, rented a camper van, and drove around the south island and finished off on the north island, passing through Wellington on the way. There's always a sense of belonging when someone from passes through. It was such an odd feeling being all the way in New Zealand and talking about people and places from my childhood. We both surfed for our respective high schools back in the day, so we used to see each other out in the water quite a bit. I think the last time we saw each other was in 1999 when I passed through NJ at the end of my big 1998/99 around the world trip. We were able to get out to the Wairarapa for some surf, but the swell was too big, mixed up, and from the wrong direction. We did manage to squeeze in a surf, but it really didn't turn on the goods like we'd hoped!Then about a week later, Frank and Marilou Radford from San Diego graced me with their
presence while doing a cruise around New Zealand. There was a stop off in Wellington, so I gave
them my number and had them ring me when they were available. Fortunately, my schedule on that day permitted and we were able to meet up for a while. I know them both from San Diego when I worked at Sharp Hospital. Marilou is one of my personal heroes, having undergone a heart transplant around mid-2006 if memory serves me correct. She had a difficult time during her recovery at first, but soon found her groove and proceeded to perform like the champ she is. I've seen a LOT of people with heart transplants come through the program and I will confess, they must've put the heart of a lion in her! We took a scenic drive around the perimeter of Wellington before dropping them off at the cruise ship terminal. A sad goodbye, but then again, in my world, a goodbye is merely what precedes our next meeting!!
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