Trot, re-living, stewpot and silver road.

1. Rosey, Eva, Anne and I went riding. It must be 15 years since I was last on a horse, and my rising trot was never very comfortable for me, the horse or my instructor. But on our ride through the bush I managed to get the rhythm right a couple of times, so I didn’t feel quite so much like a sack of potatoes.

2. ‘Haven’t you finished that yet?’ I had seen Claire very near the end of The Da Vinci Code the day before. ‘I’m just re-reading the good bits.’

3. In the truck’s domestic locker is a cast iron little cauldron rather bigger than your head. It makes getting at bin bags, new Detol soap, sandwich bags and dustpans very difficult, and Wayne is determined it’s going back to Australia with him, but isn’t sure how he’s going to get it there. We discover that despite all this inconvenience, the potje is worth having along. Francis fills it with meat and potatoes and vegetables and buries it in the charcoal embers. A few hours later, dinner for 19 is ready.

4. The moon on the lake. It was very fat and full and made a silvery path across the water.

Kande Beach, Malawi