Dominique and Serge arrived on Wednesday night in their “Geisha” camper van. I was delighted to have French Servas guests, a chance to speak and wine and dine in French. They live in Provence, in the country between Aix and Marseille. They joined Servas through their local coordinators, Phillipe and Sylvie in Aix-en-Provence, whom I met in 2008.
We made the most of their short visit. In the morning, after I had let Serge loose in the kitchen to cook us delicious bacon and eggs, we walked along Uretara River. The tide was on its way out and we saw so many different kinds of birds; gulls, shags, white faced herons, thrushes, sparrows, a kingfisher, scaup, mallards and white ducks. And of course we enjoyed the bird sculptures, the Haiku on the rocks and the murals in the town.
Serge is a rugby man and he was thrilled to see the Dave Gallagher mural at the local school. He was a very early rugby hero and lived in Katikati.
Again it was a pleasure to make new friends and to share in their adventure downunder. Today they have a clear, sunny day for their flight over the volcanic area at Rotorua. What a sight it will be. I sent them off with instructions how to find Kerosene Creek, off the road between Rotorua and Taupo and the suggestion to visit hosts Kevin and Noeline in Palmerston North.
Hopefully we will meet again, on my next visit to France.
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