The Last Supper, Nanortalik
Extract from Bob’s Diary
27th August 1971
…… That evening we all dined at Lisa’s place. John and Pete were the chefs but I think the sous chef (Lisa) played a significant part in the meal preparation. We began with soup followed by our expedition Fray Bentos canned meat but with cream added (what a difference to the taste). This was accompanied by peas (properly hydrated for the first time on the expedition), new potatoes saturated in butter (I will never eat the dehydrated variety again) and a fresh salad of lettuce, mushrooms, radish+. This was followed by rice pudding and fruit salad (mmm!). During the meal we consumed five litres of wine. Richard excelled in his rate of consumption. After the meal (approx. 8:30pm) at the request of Lisa (is she hard of hearing I wonder?) we started to sing and soon, led by the indomitable Richard we were in full voice and really enjoying ourselves. We seemed to do nothing but sing and drink all evening and at 2am when we began to clean up I counted the empties – 2 bottles of whiskey, 1 of Cherry Heering and numerous Tuborgs. Only Richard seemed to suffer from the imbibing. He “honked” a few times and for a while he was completely out of action. After washing up we staggered happily back to our pits. But a blissful oblivion was not in my lot because Andrew, Tony and Richard (who had somewhat recovered) persisted in “bundling”. John (a sensible lad) escaped from the room saying he was going to bivouac and observe the stars. The last thing I remember before falling asleep was A & R repeating (endlessly it seemed!) quotes they had learned from their English master. This English teacher must have made a big impression on our Watsonians because they have quoted him (too?) many times throughout the expedition.