Recollections of life in Sri Lanka - Ed.Rowlands: Chapter 17 - 2012 Visit with Jacqueline and Percy and family

I traveled by Singapore Airlines from Melbourne and Jacqueline by Qantas from Sydney.

We met in Negombo and stayed at the usual hotel that we book for the overnight stop.

Next morning after breakfast it was off to Colombo.

Sights along the road to Colombo.

In Colombo, we had arranged to stay at a refurbished old mansion that used to be situated on a large block of land, but now with the expansion of the City of Colombo was hemmed in on all sides by new buildings.

An excellent re-refurbishment had been carried out with some of the original features in the bathrooms, etc retained in their original condition.

We the went for a walk to find new mobile phones, just to use in Sri Lanka and passed a Hindu temple with elaborate carving that covered the entire roof structure.

Then it back to the hotel for a nice cold beer.

The main reason for this visit was to intern the ashes of Marie Sybil May Rowlands in the family grave at the Kanatha Cemetery.

The next day we took the urn with the ashes of my mother to be interned in the same grave as my father's ashes and met the rest of the family at the cemetery.

Nicky and Michele

A cousin re-union

Christopher Don Carolis our cousin had arranged for a priest to conduct a grave side service.

Preparing a hole for the placement of the shes urn

Placing the urn in the grave

It was a pleasant surprise to meet our Uncle George's ex wife and her brother who by arrangement had attended the internment of the ashes ceremony.

Ed and Jacqueline

Percy, Pia, Nicky and Michelle

Nalini and her brother visiting the grave of her daughter Koomarine

As the memorials were covered in moss, I arranged with Christopher Don Carolis to have them all steam cleaned and that we would re-visit the cemetery after our short stay at a "Tea Trails" bugalow.

After the ceremony we visited our Aunty Christobel and Uncle Godwin at their house and met our other cousin Indrani who was also visiting her mum and dad.

Aunty Christobel on her balcony

Christopher was keen to show us the church that they attended so we all trooped off the St Paul's Church to view the inside and exterior, especially the statue and the front that was a donation from our Grand-father, A.P.Rowlands.

Then back to our hotel for some rest and refreshment.

Retained, orginal paintwork in bathrooms

Original pressed metal ceilings

After a drive up the mountains, we arrived at the boutique hotel that we thought that we had booked to stay, but due to some confusion with the names of the "Tea Trail" hotels was not the one that we assumed that we would be staying at. A frantic phone call to the travel agent sorted out the matter and we were taken to the "other hotel" that the travel agent had booked us in.

While the matter was being sorted, we had a refreshing drink on the verandah.

Our other tea trails hotel, where we stayed.

Afternoon tea on the patio

Next morning we joined some other tourists and visited the Norwood Estate Tea Factory to be given a detailed explanation of the production of "Ceylon Tea".

Back to our hotel for lunch and a swim and a relax before afternoon tea on the verandah.

We next arranged for the driver to take us see the Dickoya Sports Club and grounds where Rugby and Cricket were played by the tea planters and was now used by the local population.

We then were taken to Christ Church, Warleigh that was built by the planting fraternity in 1878 and was still used by the local Christians.

Catching up on some light reading

Next day we made our way back to Colombo.

I took the opportunity to visit Holy Emanuel Church, Locked Gate, Maradana to re-new my acquaintance with the priest who I had met on a previous visit to Sri Lanka.

I was surprised to find that the church had been recently painted and the original Parish Hall had been re-built on the much larger scale. The reason I was told was that the re-building was done to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the construction of the church.

When going back to the hotel I happened to look over the bridge parapet and lo and behold was the lock gates on the canal that ran beside the church, that gave the place it's name.

A quite night and next day Christopher Don Carolis picked me up at took me to the cemetery to see the cleaned Memorials.

A great job had been done during our absence.

Entrance to Kanatha Cemetery

The final day we visited my cousin Christopher Don Carolis' rowing club for a few beers and to inspect the honour boards and see some of the members getting ready for a training session.