Chapter 14 A Sinclair family friend, Dr Ziervogel, who practiced in East London, had visited Pat in Lusaka, and now told him that he�d like to set up a farm in Southern Rhodesia for his only son, Mickey, and asked Pat to have a look around. Sabi-Tanganda was terribly hot, and Pat was attracted by the nearby Melsetter area where, he learned, Bill Hanmer was doing well with sheep. The area was vaguely reminiscent of the Winterberg in the Eastern Cape where Pat had been brought up on a sheep farm. Dr Ziervogel visited Pat, and together they went to investigate. The upshot was that Dr Ziervogel bought Orange Grove and some adjacent farms and asked Pat to start developing the property when all arrangements had been made. This all took some time, and Pat did not expect to move from Sabi-Tanganda for some months. 1 visited Dr Ziervogel when in Hof Street Nursing Home after an operation, and when he came out he invited me to dinner on board the steamer in which he was due to sail back to East London. I left the office at about 5.30 on that very hot afternoon, and on board found that Ziervogel and his friends were drinking beer, so I accepted one. In due course, sherries were ordered before dinner - and then came champagne with the meal. In a daze I drove from the docks to the Cape Times, managed to cope with what George Wilson wanted me to do, and then had to run as fast as I could to the Ladies where I was violently sick. This happened twice, much to the amusement of Dudley and Victor, and then I felt quite all right again. One lesson learned. ~~***~~ |
