We rode our newly-acquired pea-green tandem in the scorching heat through the mountainous deserts of South America. When we took a tumble in the choking dust, we both remembered the advice to avoid injury and fell as if we were each holding a baby.

Meanwhile my sister J drove a battered old rickety coach along a nearby winding dirt track road. It was only with much begging that she was persuaded to stop the vehicle to collect three pink counterpanes strewn along the roadside. Nobody else knew that this precious bedding had travelled from Northumberland to land in South America. Our sister S would have been broken hearted had J not stopped to collect the counterpanes and carry them back home.