Tenna
Mose Rhiger was a delightful part of my life. She wrote to every
Australian Canoe Club she could find online in 1999 - as follows.
Dear Canoe Club
I'm a danish girl, canoeist and danish champion for
children 1998, and I'm seeking Australian Pen pals.
I'm canoeing myself in Silkeborg Kajakklub, the
largest canoeing Club in Denmark. Have a look at
http://www.silkeborg-kajakklub.dk/ ,my father is the editor.
I hope you've got some children in your Club; if so,
please help me to contact them.
A litle about my self:
I like canoeing and play the guitar. I allso like
acting and I'm very interested in Australia. I like school most of the time,
but some times it gets boring. I like all kinds of animals, but my favourites
are dogs and kangaroos. I have a dog my self, named Samson (have a look at
http://hjem.get2net.dk/rhiger_kajak/ , and he is very cute.
I hope you've got some kids in the age 11 - 14 years.
I am 12 years of age (but very soon 13 years).
I don't care if it is a boy or a girl, or if they like
the same things as I.
I hope to hear fron you.
Love from
Tenna Rhiger
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I think I was the only person to answer her email.
Gudday Tenna,
Thanks for your letter about
penpals. I have passed your letter on to one of our members who has children
about your age, but they are away on holidays at the moment so you may not hear
anything for a while.
Our Canoe Club does not have any children in it at all
- in fact the youngest person is a lady doctor about 32 years old. We quite
often paddle long distances on the open sea, in 30knot winds or more - so all
our members are reasonably experienced, and able to look after themselves. We
don't even have family membership - if a man's wife wanted to join, she would
have to prove to the rest of the club that she was a capable sea canoeist by
herself.
Our club is also unusual in that it doesn't have a
home building - all our meetings are held during a club trip, quite often on an
offshore island. This way we only have active paddlers influencing club policy.
I had a look at the two sites you mentioned -
obviously your club has a very long history, and is something to be proud of
(our club only started in 1984, although we were canoeing with an inland canoe
club well before that). I (and my wife) used to compete in slalom and wild
water races many years ago - but gave all that up to paddle on the sea. Your
site I couldn't read, but gathered bits and pieces, that your mother is Inge,
and is/was a typist? Your dog Sampson is great.
You are very welcome to send me mail if you want to
write to a grumpy old man - that's what all the girls in the club call me.
Regards,
Laurie Ford
****************************************
Hi
Yes, maybe it would be fun to write to a "grumpy
old man". I´ve got many questions about your canoe club, Tasmania and the
flying doctors. Where in Tasmania is your club? How many members is ther in
your club? Have you allways lived in Tasmania?
Have you ever seen the TV show "The Flying Doctors"? If so,
what did you think of it ? Is there an R.F.D.S. base in Tasmania? Have you ever
been in a R.F.D.S. base? The pictures I´ve sent you is of two of the actors
from "The Flying Doctors", Robert Grubb and Brett Cilmo, fine actors,
Robert Grubb is actually born in Hobart. On our home page my dad has writen
alot in english now. Now you can read about me and my family.
Thats all for now, hope to hear from you.
Tenna Rhiger
tenna.rhiger@get2net.dk
***************************************
"G´day
You are realy good at writing, and I realy enjoyed
your last letter. In englishlessons we learn about Australia, but a book is not
as good as you(ofcourse you cant tell me everything). Maybee you know this? The
Operahouse in Sydney is made by Jørgen Utzon from Denmark. That´s cool. Have
you ever seen the Oprahouse?
When I get older I´ll go to Australia, maybee I could
visit you on Tasmania. If you want to, you can always come visit me. I would like
your address so I allso could write to you by normal mail, and you maybee could
write to me, anyway here is my address:
Tenna Rhiger
Ørnsøvej 29
8600 Silkeborg
Denmark
looking forward to hear from you
Tenna
PS: Can you
please teach me some Ausie words? (If you know some)
PPS: Ø =
Oe"
We wrote to each other
almost daily for some years - sending each other birthday presents and
Xmas presents. It slowed down a bit when she went to High School.
I sent her a poem one Xmas.
In
2009 my partner Elli Tappan paid Tenna's return air fare to Australia
so she could come on a 4WD drive with us. This was actually a bit
sneaky because I had absolutely no idea she was coming to Australia. The
two of them had been planning it for 18 months - to surprise me.
See Tenna in Oz
The following year Elli paid Tenna's return air fare to the USA to spend a few weeks with her.
See Tenna in USA
After Elli's death in 2011 I visited Tenna and her family in Denmark for 5 weeks. It was one of the nicest holidays I have had.
See Tenna in Denmark