27th June 2006 -Bakau
The sea lapped gently against the side of our boat: it was morning and we were at anchor several miles off the port of Turkmenbasy awaiting clearance to dock. During the night we had sailed for 320km from Baku across the oil rich Caspian, ahead of us lay several hundred more of desert to reach our destination of Ashgabad. As we sailed in to the small port town with its tiny house hanging lazily from the mountain backdrop, we were struck by the hot silent landscape and the seeming lack of any activity on shore. A small town on the edge of nowhere offering us no illusion of the harshness ahead. Its inhospitable profile mirroring our own feelings of heaviness as we reflected on the devistation news that four friends had been tragically killed only hours early; Gavin Thrush, his sister-in-law Liz Dengate-Thrush, his father Ron Thrush, and long time family friend Heather - all dead. We were numbed and as silent and emotionally barren as the landscape before us. This family had been Anthea's family's next door neighbour and second home since childhood. All tragically killed in a car accident in Wellington just two days before.
Our heart-felt sympathy and condolances to Cynthia, Ruth, Peter, Liz and Amy-Louise. My God comfort you and may they all rest in peace.
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