DAY 26. Tbilisi.

Our last day in Georgia has been very special. Tiko invited us to her home and to meet her parents. This was special for Joseph as he could personally thank Tiko’s mother, Marian, who provided the motherly advice to help Joe overcome his bout with food poisoning.

We were surprised to find Tiko’s 84-year-old father, Zarobi, at home. He is a maize breeder and refuses to retire. Every day he travels to the research centre to work in the fields to improve the maize hybrids that he has dedicated his life to. I assumed he stayed home because of the 36 degree heat but that wouldn’t stop him, he said. We had an interesting conversation about his long career in crop breeding over coffee and a yummy chocolate cake.

Joseph and I learned to say ‘thank you’ in Georgian on our first day here. Madloba. And yet it seems so insufficient to merely say ‘madloba’ to Tiko, Tamo and Kaxa for the selfless generosity and friendship they have given us since the moment we literally stepped off the airplane.

Joseph and I would have felt alone in this country but through our very good fortune – and a most appreciated introduction via my mate, Ken Street – we were able to visit Georgia and feel that every day we had our Georgian guardian angels looking after us. It made all the difference to us. I am not good at saying ‘thank you’ via gifts of wine or flowers or whatever.

I hope that my gift to our Georgian friends has been through my written words, my stories and my photos so that I can help tell the world of the truly wonderful people of Georgia.