Pieter and Nicola’s wedding speech:

I first would like to congratulate the parents of Pieter and Nicola on this special day. I would like to also mention that the bridesmaid looks dashing...

The meeting and later befriending of Pieter can be compared to a good Red Wine!!! When you start to learn to drink red wine, it starts out as bitter and sour. As time goes by, you start to taste the chocolates, the nutmeg and berries in the wine. The wine becomes more complex and better with age....just like Pieter.

I will never forget the first time I met (could remember) Pieter. It was way back when I was a demonstrator for second year Biochemistry. Pieter had a lab partner by the name of Ruan .... The two of them knew everything and on that particular day they tried to tell me in ALL THEIR WISDOM that my structure for Vit C was incorrect! I knew my structure was correct and in the end I showed them that theirs were wrong because they had the wrong info. In reflection I can see that their hearts were in the right place, they were just misguided.

If you know Pieter at all you would know that he LOVES (no, lives for) the outdoors. And given half a chance, he would drag you kicking and screaming to an outdoor activity. The adventures that I have gone on with Pieter are both breathtaking and accelerating!!! Just to name a few: • We were hiking in the Drankensberge up some kloof (never remember the caves, koppies and kloof names, that is why you take Pieter with, the outdoor encyclopaedia). It was so steep, that if I stood in front of it, my nose touched the ‘short’ grass in front of me. And I needed to climb that!!! Too scared to look down!!!

• One morning Pieter and myself awoke (sleeping under an overhang) looking to the west. In front of us you could see the sunlight on the mountain tops and the moon to your right. Looked like a scene out of a Sci‐fi film.
• One morning it was so cold, that our shoelaces froze solid. And who can forget the snow in the Drakensberg. Building snowmen and sleeping on snow!
• Night kloofing was a real exhilarating and frightening experience. I just trusted Pieter blindly, if he said jump and you could not see anything, you jumped!!!

Eventually I moved on and got married to Nicolette, the person that I met on one of Pieters get togethers. The three of us used to get together often and ‘kuier’. I remember one time Pieter was depressed about a girl (again) and we made interesting food and who can forget the shooters and cocktails.

One day he casually told us that he has met someone that actually LIKES hiking and the outdoors. We thought he went gay on us!!! He always told us how difficult it is to find a girl that would go days without a bath, toothpaste and all the luxuries of a modern home. Were we glad to meet this strange creature of another planet!!! To our amazement it was not a guy, it was not a Neanderthal, but a beautiful girl that actually looks the part ..... Nicola!!! I can see that Nicola brings out the best in Pieter and I am so glad that their paths have crossed, fairy tales do have good endings. Just like a good red wine, their love will just become better as time goes by.

What character attributes can I assign to Pieter. He makes me think of a great speech that General Douglas MacArthur gave to West Point students in America. The title of his speech was ‘Honor, duty, Country’. That makes me think of Pieter.....I do not know anyone with more honor than Pieter. If he tells you he would do something, he does it! His sense of duty is unparalleled. You can call him up at 03:00 and he will come and help you. Always prepared to give a helping hand. Lastly, Not country, but friendship! He is a friend thru and thru. He will be a friend till one of us die, always there, always helping, listening. He is like red wine......as time goes by, the friendship and he just gets better and better, more complex....Please be upstanding and have a drink to a good friend, a good comrade.....Pieter!!!