Hi Catherine,

My husband John and I were on holiday in New Zealand in May this year and had just climbed the Franz Josef Glacier, in a very remote part of the South Island, when we met this couple who were interested in finding out more about the climb. They recognised my accent and asked me what part of Northern Ireland I was from. I said a little place called Gilford and she replied I'm from Gilford too! We were both so excited when we realised we knew one another as we both grew up in Castle Hill and had not seen one another for almost fifty years. The couple turned out to be Catherine (nee Conlon) and James Curran who live in Canada while we live in Australia.

Anyone who grew up in Castle Hill knows how close all the families were while we were growing up, Catherine's Mum and my Mum were great friends, and it was such a great surprise to meet up in these unlikely circumstances. We got together later that night and had a great time catching up and talking about old times. We asked one of our group to take our photo and we thought we should send it to you for your website to prove how small the world really is!

I really enjoy visiting your website. Keep up the good work.

Best regards,

Vera Burke (nee Doyle)