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MOSSEL BAY NEWS AND VIDEO - John Thackray, who lives in Spain, wrote this delightful account of a surprise he planned for his parents, Ena and Ray, in Mossel Bay. He decided to write it in the third person.
Mother's Day was indeed very special for Mossel Bayers Ena and Ray Thackray.
They got a massive surprise when their younger son, John, was sitting at their table at their favourite Mossel Bay restaurant that is normally booked for just the two of them for events like Mother's Day - as both their sons live abroad and can't normally join them for all special days.
Although John started planning the surprise months ago, his parents had no idea that he'd left home in Valencia, Spain on Friday to arrive at their Mother's Day lunch a few minutes before them.
He even pretended to still be in Spain by posting pictures of city views and the cat kids in the family WhatsApp group until Sunday when he landed in George.
In-between all the flight planning, his booked Turkish Airlines flight got changed three times and he ended up with a longer nine-hour layover in Istanbul into Saturday morning.
He left home in Valencia, Spain, on Friday morning at 10am, landed in Istanbul that afternoon, then flew to Cape Town at 1am on Saturday.
He spent Saturday night in Stellenbosch before getting the morning flight to George and caught an Uber straight from George airport to arrive at the Mother's Day lunch venue before his parents - with his luggage! "My brother and I had to remind my parents that their reservation was at 1pm because the Mother's Day buffet started at 12:00 but we wanted to ensure that I got there before my parents.
"I wasn't sure if Uber operate from George as my dad normally fetches me from the airport when I visit, but luckily I just waited 15 minutes for my driver to arrive; so, I got to the restaurant a few minutes before my parents!"
The last time the Thackray family were all together was before the pandemic for Ena's 70th birthday party in Mossel Bay which took place at their same favourite restaurant venue in February 2020. Plans for them all to celebrate Ray and Ena's 50th wedding anniversary in February 2021 and a family Christmas in December 2021 in Mossel Bay were also cancelled due to Covid and Omicron flight disruptions.
"I have been lucky to come to Mossel Bay at least twice per year since 2021 even with travel disruptions and PCR tests from Spain; but things have been trickier for my brother from the Middle East where they had strict restrictions on travel," said John.
A reunion has been planned in Europe for the Thackrays later this month which has been coordinated by the Thackray sons since last year. Ray and Ena are due to travel to Spain this week and will visit John in Valencia for a week before their elder son Craig and his wife Anna fly into Barcelona to join them on an eight-day cruise in the Mediterranean.
VIDEO - John Thackray surprised his parents on Mother's Day this year. They thought he was in Spain, but he popped up at their favourite restaurant in Mossel Bay. John usually plans a Mother's Day treat for them to eat out at the restaurant, but this year he was there himself too. He works in Valencia in Spain. (Video: Supplied)
"I figured that it might be easier and less stress for my parents if I accompanied them as it is a long journey to my home. And we are travelling by Business Class so get to experience Qatar's Qsuite together which should be epic! We leave George on Saturday, then fly to Cape Town; then have an overnight flight to Doha before our third flight to Barcelona. From Barcelona we catch the speed train to Valencia where I'll show them around. Then we go back to Barcelona, meet my brother and Leanda and we depart on our Disney cruise to Italy and France."
John attended Pre-Primary, Park Primary and Point High School in Mossel Bay and founded the Mossel Bay-loving Facebook group, Growing Up in Mossel Bay, which now has over 6 000 followers; and he started a hobby travel blog at www.thacksawards.com with some South African friends and his brother Craig, following his keen love of travel since he left Mossel Bay for overseas the first time in 1996.
John worked at the Dias Museum Complex for seven years while he completed his studies and, in that time, he served as an ambassador for Mossel Bay and South Africa at Disney's Animal Kingdom in Florida for a year.
The brothers both moved to the UK with their spouses after they finished their studies in South Africa and Craig then settled in the Middle East with his wife, Anna, also a Mossel Bayer, who is the successful artist and author/creator of Shamal Comics. They now live in Abu Dhabi.
John and his partner, Hassan, moved back to South Africa in 2011 but have now permanently settled in Europe where they moved to in 2018 with their two cats from Little Brak and Cape Town.
Ray and Ena will visit John in Valencia next week and then the long-awaited family reunion will take place on the Disney Magic cruise ship from Barcelona to Italy (Naples, Rome, Pisa) and France (Cannes and Nice), back to Spain.
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