RIP Geoff

Today we farewelled our friend and caravan buddy Geoff C.  The funeral was sad, and funny too, remembering amusing incidents,  as people often do at funerals these days.  Geoff was remembered as “Mr Gadget”, particularly  for his propensity for anything new in the electronic line.  Geoff and Pauline’s caravan sported many a new gadget over the years, such as the robotic looking self seeking TV aerial to the rear view camera on the van. And Geoff and Robin were both founder members of the “Red Generator Club”.  Only those caravanners with the manly red Honda generator could join – anyone with one of those pansy yellow coloured ones were certainly not eligible.  Many a phone call from Geoff started with a request to speak to the President of the Red Generator Club.

Our 2012 South Island Odyssey trip started off with a conversation between us and Geoff and Pauline.  They were so keen to join us, and we spent quite some time planning where we would like to go and what we wanted to do.  We were eventually joined by two other couples and our journey began with a cruise over Cook Strait on the Kaitaki in mid February 2012.

Starting off on our South Island Odyssey trip

Geoff was quite a train buff, as we both are too, and we planned the start of our holiday to coincide with the timetable of the vintage Weka Pass Railway which ran from Waikari to Glenmark and return.  The Plains Vintage Railway and Historical Museum at Tinwald had a steam train running and Geoff managed to talk the engine driver into letting him climb aboard for a photo opportunity.  And we all had such a fun time down riding the rails on the Kingston Flier that we took part in our very own Crunchie Bar photo shoot.  (Who can remember that famous Crunchie Bar advertisement filmed on board the Kingston Flier all those years ago?)

On board the Kingston Flier

Geoff had spent some of his working life in the Air Force, so a visit to the Air Force Museum at Wigram was a trip down memory lane for him.  He had arranged a special “behind the Scenes” tour for us all, which was very much appreciated.

Air Force Museum at Wigram

One morning Geoff decided to whip up a batch of sultana scones for us all.  These were made on top of the gas hot plate, cooked to perfection in his handy “Bessemer” cast aluminium cookware, another one of his gadgets. It was excellent for making pizzas too, we can vouch for that.

Scones for morning tea

We have many happy memories of the time spent in the company of both Geoff and Pauline.

Rest in peace Geoff, your long fight is now over and all the pain has now stopped. We will sure miss you. We enjoyed your company on our trip around the South Island in 2012. We saw some great sights and stayed in some awesome places, many many memories. Who can forget some of the times trying to decide the next place to visit, some were fraught but most were hilarious. You will be sadly missed as you are one or life's all time good guys and a great character.

We had many a chat in the last two years since your diagnosis and to me you always put on a brave face but we all knew the battle you were fighting, but those chats will stay with me forever. You are a sad sad loss REST IN PEACE my friend - Robin