Ah, another year, another rambling letter where we try to convince you our lives are as interesting as they look in photos. Let’s start with real estate news: our original cottage is still standing and it’s for sale. Friends, family, acquaintances are welcome to snap it up. We’ll give you a discount, and promise we’re excellent neighbors.
On to cottage #2! After three years navigating Canada’s labyrinth of permits and red tape (seriously, we aged visibly), our new log home by the lake is finally complete. It’s everything we dreamed of, – serene, stunning, and the perfect escape from city life. We’re spending Christmas here, surrounded by snowbanks, frozen lakes, and the occasional deer looking judgmentally at our overeating. Richard’s mum, Gill, is with us, making it a proper festive gathering full of puzzling, reading, walks, and games.
Life hasn’t changed much otherwise. Alistair remains a driving force behind a growing running club, juggling coaching, organizing city races, and staying up to date on all the juicy gossip as the secretary of our lake cottage association. Meanwhile, Richard continues as an anaesthesiologist, occasionally taking time off from “putting people to sleep” to sit on advisory boards and committees. Turns out, when you’re smart and reliable, they keep giving you more things to do.
We’ve had some memorable adventures this year. In May, some dear friends decided that after 40 years of living together, it was finally time to tie the knot. Naturally, this called for a 10-day Mediterranean cruise aboard the world’s largest full-rigged sailing ship. The ship, with its billowing sails, was jaw-dropping, and the itinerary from Athens to Cannes was spectacular. But the real highlights? Trail running on the Amalfi Coast and in Sardinia and Corsica, where we climbed to breathtaking heights that rewarded us with magnificent views of the coastline and the sparkling sea beyond.
In October, we swapped Mediterranean breezes for African sunshine, spending a month exploring Namibia and Zimbabwe. Namibia wowed us with its stark beauty: we climbed the famous dunes of Sossusvlei, hiked in the Naukluft Mountains, and went searching for desert-adapted elephant in the Huab River valley. Etosha National Park was so dry that animals gathered at waterholes in scenes straight out of a wildlife documentary.
Zimbabwe, meanwhile, was a family affair. We joined Alistair’s siblings and in-laws, who are all absolutely fantastic wildlife guides, for eight unforgettable nights in Gonarezhou National Park, camping opposite the iconic Chilojo Cliffs. Our days were filled with wildlife encounters: elephants inches from our tents, wild dogs chasing impala through camp, and baboons using the tree above our tent as their nightly AirBnB. By chance, we also managed to gate-crash Alistair’s nephew’s 30th birthday party, which turned out to be a fantastic celebration. His mother-in-law made the most indulgent dessert which is probably responsible for half the weight we gained on the trip. We rounded off the trip with a few days in Harare, catching up with friends and family. Africa, as always, was magical.
Now, for the runners among you: no epic running adventures this year, unless you count a couple of local races. Alistair is still chasing his big goal of running a 5-minute mile at age 60 (just over a year away). Will he make it? Maybe. Will he enjoy every lung-burning, leg-cramping step of the journey? Absolutely.
That’s us for 2024—still bumbling along, collecting stories, and occasionally stopping to wonder how on earth we got here. Wishing you all a Christmas as magical as a baboon-free morning and a New Year filled with love, laughter, and fewer meetings.
Much love,
Alistair & Richard