Unlikely and Essential Links Among Gymnastics, Travel and the Art of Planning

As a teenage gymnast I was lucky enough to be an Olympic trialist. I was in the top 10 and that year New Zealand sent only one gymnast. Sadly it wasn’t me. My coach was John MacFarlane, who taught at the local boys high school, and I was the only girl in the gym club. John was an avid traveler and videographer and so, an important part of my training involved watching videos of the world’s greatest gymnasts – Vera Cavslavska and later the daring Natasha...