I have plenty about my own father but I need time to pick the right one - so for now I'll do my favourite story about my mother's dad - who passed away November 2019. Grandad was named Donald, but none of us grandkids could say Grandad or Donald properly so one child settled on "Dons" and it stuck. It's even on his headstone now :) ------ Dons went to the same University I went to, and the one I now work at. Shit we even attended the same High School and lived on neighbouring farms on the Clutha Delta. At University he did his Masters in Music Composition. He was an incredible pianist, which is a key part of this story. So after finishing his Masters, he and 4 of his friends planned their OE to Australia - they hopped on a ship leaving Dunedin and eventually landed in Sydney. After exploring the city a bit, one friend got the wild idea to have a race down south, to Melbourne. Everyone split into pairs except Dons who had a masterplan he wanted to try by himself. One pairing opted to try and bus down, the other pair tried hitchiking. Soon after they had left, Dons headed back to the port they had arrived in, found a ship headed for Melbourne and offered to play the piano during the nights in exchange for lodgings and food. They accepted, and he spent a leisurely time sailing down the coast taking turns with other musicians at entertaining the wealthy guests. He arrived 3 days before anyone else, left a note at the CBD post office that read "Eat my dust - find me at the [local watering hole]". The two other pairings of friends made their way in and enjoyed the rest of their trip swapping experiences. ----- Knowing what I do of my grandfather, he seemed the least likely to ever try some wacky stunt like that. But I've only ever known him as the master gardener and pianist, an ex-teacher with a stern frown when you misbehaved but nevertheless a warm embrace when you arrived. It was just quite cool knowing he pulled shit like that in his heyday, just like any other youth with life ahead of him. I will continue pondering something on my own father!