Hello again from a rainy Stellenbosch!

The past week has been quite hectic, but very exciting. The thought of leaving for Malaysia for F1 in Schools on Thursday has kept the adrenalin pumping constantly. As a result I haven’t had time to read a good book for quite a while now.

I enjoy reading, especially on rainy days in the holiday when a to-do list is non-existent. I’ve read a few really good books, but there has to be one series that really overshadowed the rest, and that is the Harry Potter series.

Now you’re probably thinking I’m the magic-hat-midnight-parties-at-CNA-while waiting-for-the-release-of-the-new-book kind of guy. Unfortunately/Fortunately I’m not. I only have a mild case of Harry Potter fever.

It’s quite hard to explain what keeps me glued to these pages. It’s probably a combination of the suspense and the way it relates to me. It’s not that I’ve got some secret wizard blood in my veins or something, but I guess Harry is kind of a fantasy-personality for me.

I was also fortunate enough to start reading the first book at the age of 11, which meant that I “grew” with the book and its characters. This made it a whole lot more exciting.

When I visited London recently, it was quite interesting to see Platform 9¾ at King’s Cross Station where Harry’s trolley “disappeared” into the wall! The staff at King’s Cross actually created a trolley that’s halfway into the wall - quite interesting to see. I also visited the castle where the Harry Potter the first two movies were shot – which made the stories feel all the more real!

At the end of seventh (and last) book, I felt kind of empty, as if a certain part of my life had been destroyed. Guess I got too attached to the story.

In the end I would definitely recommend the Harry Potter series to anyone looking for a good, adventurous read. If you read closely, you might even find a bit of science in the book...