Tributes to Gavin

Sidney Shipham

I will always remember fondly the many fun times I spent with Gavin. One such time was in France when we decided after attending an International conference in the South of France to hire a care and tour other parts of France. Not surprising for South Africans unused to driving on the ‘wrong’ side of the road, we ended up driving a one-way street but the wrong way. Of course, we made the well-known quip that we were only driving one way but that did not impress the officer concerned. Gavin and I always disputed who was driving at the time as he was convinced it was me and I was just as convinced it was him??

We also spent many happy hours cycling and typical of male egos used to always ‘compete’ against each other. One such time, when we did not compete, was in Magoebaskloof . I cried off competing in that race due to a cold and I heard this story afterwards. Gavin arrived at the starting line in full cycling gear only to find that most other competitors although in cycling gear also had a pair of takkies tied around their necks. Gavin thought this hilarious and asked someone why the takkies. The reply he got was ‘you will see’. Well, he did see as sure enough somewhere along the way there was a hill (mountain?) and everyone was climbing off their bikes and putting on their takkies to walk up the hill. Gavin had to do the same but not with takkies and anyone who has walked any distance with cycling shoes will know – it is not fun. After the race he suggested I knew all along of this hill and had ‘invented’ the flu. This was another of those unsolved mysteries between Gavin and I.  

As our personal sporting attributes diminished (although we were loath to admit it), we became greater and greater armchair critics. Rugby was our main interest and it was always good to watch with Gavin as he had played rugby to a high level and was therefore able to add insightful comments. However, the main competition was focused on who could decide the winner of certain matches, especially the 6 Nations. I cannot remember what the score was between us but we had lots of fun especially when one of us was way out in our forecasting. 

There were of course many other fun things that we did together and I am thankful that we shared them together. I also remember Gavin for his generosity as I know of a number of friends he helped out in times of crises. Thank you Gavin, my life is the poorer without you.