Farewell trusty friend.

This is my beloved Tilley hat; we have now been together for 30 years. Tilley hats, self proclaimed the best outdoor hat in the world, are made in Canada from "Ten ounce USA treated cotton duck, solid British brass hardware, sewn with Canadian persnicketiness". The manufacturers promise to replace the hats for free if they ever wear out; you are even allowed to put them in your will!

Sadly mine has now worn out; the persnickety Canadian stitching is as good as new, the British brass is as strong as ever, but the USA cotton duck is in holes! So, tomorrow my old friend will be put into the post and sent back to his maker.

We have had some exciting times together. We have plodded through the rainforest in Borneo, climbed Mount Kosciuszko the highest peak in Australia, wandered among the llamas in the Peruvian Andes, walked on glaciers in Iceland, strolled along beaches in the South Pacific and Bali, watched whales in Canada, explored the deserts of the Middle East and North Africa, worked on wild dogs and hyaenas in southern Africa. We even shared the experience of an armed robbery in Fiji in which the thieves took everything that we had, except for my friend Tilley!