1) He was an adventurer, and loved to travel. He went extensively to Europe, to Africa a couple of times, to Australia a few times, to India and other parts of Asia, and he emigrated to live and work in New Zealand (from London) in recent years. I know he wanted to see more of Australia and many more places in this world, so I aim to see as much of this world as possible, on his behalf (and mine too, ok).
2) He was intelligent and wise. He loved to do (and finish!) those insane cryptic crosswords (that are definitely in the too-hard basket for me). If I ever had a tricky question or problem about life, i.e. practical matters, job and career things, study issues, running or race questions etc, then I would ask him or seek his advice. (Although nothing too personal or about my love-life hey – after all, we’re Adderleys!)
3) He always supported and encouraged me, in whatever I was doing or was about to embark on, no matter how ridiculous it may have sounded (or maybe he kept that to himself anyhow), such as: potentially buying a cleaning business with all my savings (lucky escape that I didn’t), starting a mobile spray-tanning business, or quitting my original course at uni to rethink things all those years ago.
4) He was keen sportsman: always active and playing sports, his favourites being: golf, running, and walking/hiking, but he also liked to go fishing, cycling, skiing, and play tennis. I remember him going on his annual golf trip away with his friends to battle each other for a coveted trophy they took turns in winning each year. On other y ears, Dad and I would join our friends on a skiing trip to the French Alps. If it weren’t for my dad, I may not have picked up running at all. He was a keen runner, and I have vivid early memories of him sitting down, puffed out after a good run, with a pint of squash (cordial) in hand, on a Sunday morning in London. He ran the London Marathon back in the day too, and got an awesome time of 4:11 (one that I’m still yet to come close to matching), and countless other runs and events. I miss talking to him about running and times in races etc. Everytime I run, I think of him, and especially when I cross the finish line of races – I’d love to be able to tell him my time and talk about the run with him. He also climbed up to the TOP - the SUMMIT - of this mountain (Mount Taranaki) in New Zealand!
5) He really appreciated good food and good wine and good beer. He was an excellent cook, and would spend hours making a good meal, on a Sunday or at Christmas or a special occasion. He would also make a completely different main dish too, for when I was vegetarian as a teenager, or if I wasn’t eating red meat at the time, or whatever I was doing, so if he was cooking a Beef Wellington for Christmas dinner he’d make me a whole steamed salmon, for example. I still have cravings for his awesome tiramisu too. He loved good wine and good beer, and would never just drink for the sake of it. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him drunk or off his head, maybe the most he would have had would have been a few glasses to a bottle. But he never drank anything strong, or ever drank too much, his joke being he was ‘one pint Nick’ (so, I guess being a lightweight must run in the family!). He never smoked either, and he worried about those who did smoke (although in a non-judgemental way: he would FULLY support those trying to quit and would tell them often but not in a pushy, overbearing way that ‘we are all behind you’ or ‘you have our full support’).
6) He was an animal lover and a lover of wildlife. He was a veterinarian so his career was in helping animals, but he also got involved in conservation work. For example, check out this adorable baby Kiwi bird that is named Adderley as a tribute to and now in memory of my father:
7) There are so many more things I could write or say about him. He was ultimately a great man. A man I love and respect so much. I wish I knew him more as a friend as well as father (especially later in my life and now), as his many many friends may know a whole lot more and have different aspects that they would remember about him, but I am so happy and proud to be his daughter. I miss you Dad, you are forever in my heart and thoughts. Wish you were here.