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Story OneReunion 16th November 2003
Neville Mitchell
Yesterday, I had a wonderful reunion with two of
my old school buddies from RAAF School Penang, Matt Waixel and John
McConnell, along with our lovely wives and my daughter Sally.
The day was meticulously set up by Matt Waixel, and we had a fantastic
time talking about old times and reminiscing about the good old
days of Penang, and what we have all done since.
We all met under the "Elmer Fudd" statue at Crown Casino
in Melbourne, then went on a Yarra River wine tasting cruise. This
was followed by lunch at Crown Casino, eating Asian cuisine as we
used to do together in Georgetown, Penang. I can tell you, tears
flowed freely as we hugged each other like long lost brothers under
"Elmer Fudd".
I haven't seen Matt since 1972 when we met at the Melbourne Recruiting
Centre as we joined up into our respective military services,
the Army for Matt and the RAAF for me. I last saw John around
15 years ago, and believe me, he hasn't changed one bit. He is
exactly as I remember him.
Cynthia, I owe you a huge debt of gratitude. You have brought to
me such a great feeling of joy and happiness through your website,
and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. You've made an old
guy very happy indeed.
Best wishes to you,
Neville Mitchell
Matt Waixel
Just to let you know that
John McConnell, Neville Mitchell and myself finally teamed up
again after 31 years. It was great seeing them again. We had been
keeping in touch by email over the past three weeks.
We all met at Crown Casino by Elmer Fudd statue (photo 0285).
John was the only one who has not gone grey. An intro to our partners
and the stories began over a cappuccino. Listening to us talk,
you may never have guessed that so many years had gone by without
us meeting. It was old home week and it was as though we were
still in Penang.
An emotional time as we instantly remembered our closeness as
school friends.
We took a leisurely stroll to Victoria Harbour, laughing and remembering
all the way. A cruise on the Yarra with plenty of wine (thanks
goes out to Golden Grape Estates for the excellent wine and boat
trip)(photo 0284).
Lunch at Crown (photo 0281) before we departed back home with
vows of keeping in touch and sharing the odd bottle of wine and
port.
It was a fantastic day as we all remembered bits and pieces of
our time at Penang and filled in the gaps to bring us all up to
date with what has happened in our lives since.
My sincere thanks to you for your site, for without this, we may
never have crossed paths again.
Matt Waixel
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