Jamie - This was going to be a big day! It was finally time to buy all the camping gear that we had been anticipating for ages! We jumped in the Atos with Kelvin and headed for Outdoor World; a big supermarket type place just full of compressors, jerry cans, axes, fishing rods and all the other stuff that us lads love to just look at for hours at a time! This place was like heaven!
We basically went round the store while Kelvin told us what we needed and what was ‘cuck’. And trust me, when Kelvin says you need something, you take it, and when he says its crap, you stay well away! We bought a big cooler box type thing, an axe, some ammo crates to store stuff on the roof rack in, some grilling equipment and some mean looking wood saw along with a load of other random bits. By the end of our session, we had 7000 rands worth or so of equipment waiting behind the counter. I shakingly got my credit card out of my wallet and handed it across wondering what had just happened.
It was then time to head to the next camping / outdoor place type shop. Now if South Africa does anything well, its camping shops. This was another place kitted out to look like you had just walked into a forest or something. We quickly grabbed a winch rope and some other small bits and bobs, before stopping to admire the knife collection and then head out into the Johannesburg traffic.
We got back to base (Kelvin’s garage workshop area which is full of random cars and jeeps he is working on) and got to work prepping the Land Rover. We put on some funky looking green cover to protect the radiator and make us look like overlanding pros, before starting to tackle the removal of one of the benches in the back. This stubborn thing just stopped us fitting the cool box in the back, so it had to go. The thing is though, that all the bolts were stuck, so Kelvin, being the man he is, told us to stop wasting our time and pulled out his flame thrower gas burner thing and literally melted the bolts off in a shower of sparks and light. We watched on in awe!
So we ripped out the bench and went over to look at the engine. Our new gasket had arrived and we had to help drop the engine head back on. It all went fine until Kelvin went to clean off some rust with an air gun thing. We were all happily watching as he placed the nozzle to the side of the engine. He turned it on, put it to the side and then muttered out a swear word. We didn’t know what was going on until we noticed water peeing out of a hole in the side. This was bad, but Kelvin just coolly walked off. We all just stood there staring at each other, not daring to say a word. He returned with a smile on his face explaining how lucky we were that he just happened to have the right spare in stock which he then put in place.
That night we went back to Kelvin’s place where Sonia, his wife, had cooked us up some Spaghetti Bolognese. And wow, it tasted good! I decided to be extra cheeky and help myself to normal cheese AND parmesan cheese. We heard tales about Stu’s cousin, Thor, who had once cut a zip line wire… as his sister, Fallon, was whizzing down it. He also rigged up some parachute to the back of a quad bike and got his sister to be the guinea pig for it. The story ended with her sliding George of the Jungle style down a tree after the experiment went wrong and she collided into the top of it.
We then went for a coffee and a chat at Fallon’s place before heading home and going to bed.
Wednesday, 29 July 2009
Day 7
Sean – We woke up at half 7 so we could bring the Landie to kelvin’s place so that he could check it over and tell us what needed to be fixed and fine tuned on it. After looking it over he told us that we needed to get the shocks changed as the previous ones had seized on it and have a new head gasket fitted in the engine. Since we had a bit of spare time in the morning we decided that it would be a good time to fix the jerry cans to the roof rack, which required a bit of drilling and hard work.
Once we had the bracket and cans fitted onto the girl it was getting about 3pm so we decided to drive to the supermarket in the Atos to grab some lunch. After we got the food we headed back to the Atos, jumped in then remembered we needed to grab some pad locks for the fuel caps of the Landie, so Stu jumped out and passed me the keys to the car as he went to the hardware store while Jamie and I stayed in the car. After a minute or two me and Jamie decided to jump out and see how he was getting on but soon realized after the doors were locked the keys were left inside of the car leaving us stranded in a supermarket car park. Luckily the key ring that the keys were on were facing upwards on the back seat and had the number of Avis on so I got on to the phone and called them up to send a spare set down.
Once we got the keys and the small bill we were ready to set off again back to kelvins where we could finally put the padlocks onto the Landie and chill out again.
After an hour or two playing around trying to see what we could do to the Landie we headed back home so we could get ready to go out for sushi with Fallon and her friend Candice.
So me Stu Jamie and Fallon got to the sushi restaurant about 7 o’clock and waited for Candice to get there, when she did arrive she said she parked her car into a hole (see pics) in the car park and needed help getting it out when we finished our dinner. When she said that I thought that it would be a small pot hole in the middle of the car park where it was a bit dark so she wouldn’t have been able to spot it, but when we finished dinner and headed to the car park we soon realized she parked it in a massive crater underneath a huge light, no idea how she didn’t see that. So us men being the gentlemen we were helped her push the car out of the hole whilst the security guards were watching in amusement. After that we headed back home to get ready for the next big day ahead of us.
Once we had the bracket and cans fitted onto the girl it was getting about 3pm so we decided to drive to the supermarket in the Atos to grab some lunch. After we got the food we headed back to the Atos, jumped in then remembered we needed to grab some pad locks for the fuel caps of the Landie, so Stu jumped out and passed me the keys to the car as he went to the hardware store while Jamie and I stayed in the car. After a minute or two me and Jamie decided to jump out and see how he was getting on but soon realized after the doors were locked the keys were left inside of the car leaving us stranded in a supermarket car park. Luckily the key ring that the keys were on were facing upwards on the back seat and had the number of Avis on so I got on to the phone and called them up to send a spare set down.
Once we got the keys and the small bill we were ready to set off again back to kelvins where we could finally put the padlocks onto the Landie and chill out again.
After an hour or two playing around trying to see what we could do to the Landie we headed back home so we could get ready to go out for sushi with Fallon and her friend Candice.
So me Stu Jamie and Fallon got to the sushi restaurant about 7 o’clock and waited for Candice to get there, when she did arrive she said she parked her car into a hole (see pics) in the car park and needed help getting it out when we finished our dinner. When she said that I thought that it would be a small pot hole in the middle of the car park where it was a bit dark so she wouldn’t have been able to spot it, but when we finished dinner and headed to the car park we soon realized she parked it in a massive crater underneath a huge light, no idea how she didn’t see that. So us men being the gentlemen we were helped her push the car out of the hole whilst the security guards were watching in amusement. After that we headed back home to get ready for the next big day ahead of us.
Day 6
Stu - Another 4am start and we set off back to Joburg, this time me in the Atos and Jamie and Sean in the Landie. 1km down the road and Sean pulls over! I was thinking he was already missing the beastly Atos and wanted to change car but after being called over and seeing Sean waving a broken gear stick I soon realized we had a slightly bigger problem on our hands!!!
We locked up the Landie and drove around the small town trying to find out where and what time we can find a mechanic. We ended up waiting 3 hours till 8am for everything to open and after going to every single garage, one of the garage owners kindly towed us to his friend Stanley, who owned his own metal construction business and he was able to weld the gear stick back on. He had a quick check over the car and gave us a jerry can of water to keep the radiator topped up along the way back. As it was a Sunday he said he wouldn’t change us and even gave us the jerry can for free!!
The rest of the journey was OK other than for Sean nearly plowing through a toll gate at 80km/hour as he wasn’t used to the standard Land Rover brakes and Jamie having to pull the handbrake to stop them in time! The 12 hour drive back and the 5 hour delay in the morning meant that we only reached Joburg around 9pm and the ring road to where we are staying was a bit mental with cars flying by either side of us and numerous people flashing us to move out the way.
We were all pleased to get back to the guest house safely and had the best sleep so far that night.
We locked up the Landie and drove around the small town trying to find out where and what time we can find a mechanic. We ended up waiting 3 hours till 8am for everything to open and after going to every single garage, one of the garage owners kindly towed us to his friend Stanley, who owned his own metal construction business and he was able to weld the gear stick back on. He had a quick check over the car and gave us a jerry can of water to keep the radiator topped up along the way back. As it was a Sunday he said he wouldn’t change us and even gave us the jerry can for free!!
The rest of the journey was OK other than for Sean nearly plowing through a toll gate at 80km/hour as he wasn’t used to the standard Land Rover brakes and Jamie having to pull the handbrake to stop them in time! The 12 hour drive back and the 5 hour delay in the morning meant that we only reached Joburg around 9pm and the ring road to where we are staying was a bit mental with cars flying by either side of us and numerous people flashing us to move out the way.
We were all pleased to get back to the guest house safely and had the best sleep so far that night.
Day 4 & 5
Stu - It’s been a pretty hectic few days here but we are now the proud owners of a 1973 Series 3 Land Rover with a monster 4.1 litre Flat 6 engine!!
Friday started early with us getting up and setting off for the 1200km drive to a place called Sedgefield in between Knysna and George on the South Coast. Me and Sean split the driving and saw some awesome sights along the way. A large part of the journey was driving down straight rounds into the horizon like ones you see in the movies. We arrived in George in the dark so was too see the Land Rover and decided to go the next day and pick it up so stayed in a Chalet that night.
Got up early the next morning and met Henri and Aubrey, the guys selling the Land Rover. They were very helpful and took us for a test drive and then for breakfast at an old railway station now converted to a Cafe. We were all relieved to see the Land Rover actually there as we had transferred a deposit of R10,000 on the basis of trust!
We stayed and chatted with Henri and his wife as they had done a very route to the one we are planning. They gave us lots of tips and advice which will come in very useful. We also bought a roof rack and some jerry cans from Henri’s friend Carl and we fitted them there and then. We then set off, Sean in the Atos and me and Jamie in the Landie aiming to do a lot of the journey that day. 400km later (due to the Land Rover sitting at around 100km/hour) and it was now getting dark so we decided to stop in Graaf Reinet and got a Chalet there for the night.
Friday started early with us getting up and setting off for the 1200km drive to a place called Sedgefield in between Knysna and George on the South Coast. Me and Sean split the driving and saw some awesome sights along the way. A large part of the journey was driving down straight rounds into the horizon like ones you see in the movies. We arrived in George in the dark so was too see the Land Rover and decided to go the next day and pick it up so stayed in a Chalet that night.
Got up early the next morning and met Henri and Aubrey, the guys selling the Land Rover. They were very helpful and took us for a test drive and then for breakfast at an old railway station now converted to a Cafe. We were all relieved to see the Land Rover actually there as we had transferred a deposit of R10,000 on the basis of trust!
We stayed and chatted with Henri and his wife as they had done a very route to the one we are planning. They gave us lots of tips and advice which will come in very useful. We also bought a roof rack and some jerry cans from Henri’s friend Carl and we fitted them there and then. We then set off, Sean in the Atos and me and Jamie in the Landie aiming to do a lot of the journey that day. 400km later (due to the Land Rover sitting at around 100km/hour) and it was now getting dark so we decided to stop in Graaf Reinet and got a Chalet there for the night.
Thursday, 23 July 2009
Day 3
Jamie – We got up at 7:30am dead and it was FREEZING! The guest house owners cooked us some sausage and eggs for breakfast before we headed to Stus’ relatives house again. We had been told that we would be riding the Rhino in the mealie fields which left me and sean thinking “what on earth??”
So we got to their house and Fallon (Stu’s 2nd cousin) rocked up on some off road quad bike (the Rhino), told us to jump in and then drove off in search of the mealie fields.
At first we drove along the roads, but Fallon soon got bored and decided to take to the dirt track by the side of the road that led to the fields. We blitzed around the fields, Stu in the front, me and Sean hanging on in the back, which was awesome.
We got back and scoured a hot off the press release of Autotrader for potential 4x4s. Kelvin helped us look for decent ones and then went on to show us all his ‘toys’ (Land Rovers, Jet skis, boats and his mega trailer with built in drinks bar, sleeping compartment and loads of other stuff.)
On the way out we decided to put my driving skills to the test. Sean and Stu gave me some tips (I made sure to ignore Sean’s motorway advice) and I slowly crept off up the driveway. We went for a few loops of their land before I jumped out and left it to the pros to get us home.
It was time for lunch now, so we headed for Wimpy where we could get a greasy burger and the strawberry milkshake that Stu had been raving about since that fateful morning in Daventry. The milkshake arrived and let me tell you; it was immense! If one thing should be imported to England, it is a Wimpy strawberry milkshake (and no, those crappy Wimpys off the side of motorways in England are not the same!!)
We chilled around for the afternoon and now its time for dinner, so we are off to Fish and Chippa, the local chippy for fish, chips and 1kg of Prawns, highly recommended by Stus’ relatives.
So we got to their house and Fallon (Stu’s 2nd cousin) rocked up on some off road quad bike (the Rhino), told us to jump in and then drove off in search of the mealie fields.
At first we drove along the roads, but Fallon soon got bored and decided to take to the dirt track by the side of the road that led to the fields. We blitzed around the fields, Stu in the front, me and Sean hanging on in the back, which was awesome.
We got back and scoured a hot off the press release of Autotrader for potential 4x4s. Kelvin helped us look for decent ones and then went on to show us all his ‘toys’ (Land Rovers, Jet skis, boats and his mega trailer with built in drinks bar, sleeping compartment and loads of other stuff.)
On the way out we decided to put my driving skills to the test. Sean and Stu gave me some tips (I made sure to ignore Sean’s motorway advice) and I slowly crept off up the driveway. We went for a few loops of their land before I jumped out and left it to the pros to get us home.
It was time for lunch now, so we headed for Wimpy where we could get a greasy burger and the strawberry milkshake that Stu had been raving about since that fateful morning in Daventry. The milkshake arrived and let me tell you; it was immense! If one thing should be imported to England, it is a Wimpy strawberry milkshake (and no, those crappy Wimpys off the side of motorways in England are not the same!!)
We chilled around for the afternoon and now its time for dinner, so we are off to Fish and Chippa, the local chippy for fish, chips and 1kg of Prawns, highly recommended by Stus’ relatives.
Day 2 - Arrival in Jo'burg
Sean - After finally leaving doha which felt like a couple of days we boarded the flight to jo’burg (again with the ample leg room) and I had another irritating passenger sitting next to me trying to take up my seat as well as hers.
When we arrived at jo’burg we picked up the beast from avis car hire(see photos). Outside Avis Stu pointed out a local celeb; the South African cricket captain, not that Jamie or I knew who he was.
The drive to the guest house was quite interesting as the roads are quite dangerous (with me on them) as I nearly took out another driver when there was a minor misunderstanding and a late change of direction on the motorway (we got our first beeping and hand signals from a rather irate driver in his massive 4x4), but in the end managed to get to the guest house which was located in a secured estate.
Got into the guesthouse which is pretty plush (again see picture of Jamies room) and the owners are friendly. I had the elephant themed room complete with tusks as the beds head board, Stu had the zebra room with the Hugh Heffner style bedding and Jamie had the lion themed room.
After we settled in the guest house we went to the legendary Steers burger restaurant for an amazing meal. We then went to see Stu’s relatives 10 minutes down the road and spent the rest of the evening there. The place is HUGE and they are all really cool. We had a nice game meat meal cooked with the warthog and other meats which Kelvin had hunted.
After returning home we had a few game of cards before retiring to our ice cold beds (its hot in the day but freezing at night) to prepare for the early morning.
When we arrived at jo’burg we picked up the beast from avis car hire(see photos). Outside Avis Stu pointed out a local celeb; the South African cricket captain, not that Jamie or I knew who he was.
The drive to the guest house was quite interesting as the roads are quite dangerous (with me on them) as I nearly took out another driver when there was a minor misunderstanding and a late change of direction on the motorway (we got our first beeping and hand signals from a rather irate driver in his massive 4x4), but in the end managed to get to the guest house which was located in a secured estate.
Got into the guesthouse which is pretty plush (again see picture of Jamies room) and the owners are friendly. I had the elephant themed room complete with tusks as the beds head board, Stu had the zebra room with the Hugh Heffner style bedding and Jamie had the lion themed room.
After we settled in the guest house we went to the legendary Steers burger restaurant for an amazing meal. We then went to see Stu’s relatives 10 minutes down the road and spent the rest of the evening there. The place is HUGE and they are all really cool. We had a nice game meat meal cooked with the warthog and other meats which Kelvin had hunted.
After returning home we had a few game of cards before retiring to our ice cold beds (its hot in the day but freezing at night) to prepare for the early morning.
Day 1 - The Flight!
Stu - After an eventful night last night we all had about an hours sleep before we had to load the car and head down to Heathrow. Sean made up for yesterday by sweet talking the lady at check in and getting up extra leg room seats!
No other dramas on the flight to Doha, the seats were great and the extra leg room made a massive difference as well as the friendly stewardess'. The views over Baghdad and Basra were pretty cool and the desert heat when we got off the plane was unbelievable. Cherie and the girls, when you go to Thailand make sure you ask for extra leg room seats too and get to the airport 3 hours before as there wasn't a queue.
We are now sat at the airport waiting for our connection flight to Joburg, the airport is quite small and the 8 hour wait is going slowly. We weren't allowed to go out of the airport so are just charging cameras whilst watching the planes taking off and landing and also catching up on some sleep. We are all looking forward to getting to Joburg tomorrow and checking into the Guesthouse, I forgot to note down what the road we need to find is...so will be an interesting drive :-)
No other dramas on the flight to Doha, the seats were great and the extra leg room made a massive difference as well as the friendly stewardess'. The views over Baghdad and Basra were pretty cool and the desert heat when we got off the plane was unbelievable. Cherie and the girls, when you go to Thailand make sure you ask for extra leg room seats too and get to the airport 3 hours before as there wasn't a queue.
We are now sat at the airport waiting for our connection flight to Joburg, the airport is quite small and the 8 hour wait is going slowly. We weren't allowed to go out of the airport so are just charging cameras whilst watching the planes taking off and landing and also catching up on some sleep. We are all looking forward to getting to Joburg tomorrow and checking into the Guesthouse, I forgot to note down what the road we need to find is...so will be an interesting drive :-)
Tuesday, 21 July 2009
Day 0
Welcome to our diary. Writing a diary is probably one of the saddest things I have ever done, but here it is anyway. Our trip around Southern Africa!
I was on some packed commuter train heading towards Luton Airport Parkway where Stu was going to pick me up and I was sweating like some sort of ill animal thanks to my mega journey which took all day on a coach and two trains. So I perched on the edge of the seat to try and give the guy sat next to me a chance to breath something resembling fresh air and read one of the those free London papers. Whic begs the question; who actually texts in to these things asking for some random girl they saw on the tube to text back so they can go for a drink?
Anyway, I got to the station and after popping back to Stu's house for a shower, we set off for our last supper, 3 platters full of chicken and chips at Nandos in Milton Keynes where Mac was already waiting for us. Oh it tasted good, but then again Nandos always does! Stu got snap happy with his brand new 12billion megapixel or something camera showing off. Even the flash was bigger and better than normal cameras, what with it burning innocent little childrens' retinas if you weren't careful.
Lots of thanks to Stu's mum and dad who picked up the Nandos bill! Legends!
Then we whizzed back to sort out our rucksacks ready for the morning. It was getting late and a 3am start beckoned, so when Mac, who had the rental car in Jo'burg booked under his name, looked up with a worrying look across his face and shakingly said "I've left my driving licence at home", we all shat it.
He called his dad back in Birmingham who didn't sound overly happy at the news and we agreed to meet half way at a hotel next to an industrial park just outside Daventry, which later turned into a meet on the verge of a dual carriageway near a motorway junction at 1 in the morning or something crazy. It turned out that Sean's dad had been on the beers, so when we met up he got out of the car along with Sean's sister and a family friend who had been given the role of designated driver. Unlucky guy!
We pulled off the shady looking handover and went back to base camp... i.e. a living room full of our crap spread all over the floor.
It was then time to sort out the bags, moving things from one person's bag to the other's, in the vain hope of getting all of them to weigh less than 20kgs. In the end we got it pretty close which was good enough, especially at 2am when you have to be up at 3! So bed time.
Jamie
I was on some packed commuter train heading towards Luton Airport Parkway where Stu was going to pick me up and I was sweating like some sort of ill animal thanks to my mega journey which took all day on a coach and two trains. So I perched on the edge of the seat to try and give the guy sat next to me a chance to breath something resembling fresh air and read one of the those free London papers. Whic begs the question; who actually texts in to these things asking for some random girl they saw on the tube to text back so they can go for a drink?
Anyway, I got to the station and after popping back to Stu's house for a shower, we set off for our last supper, 3 platters full of chicken and chips at Nandos in Milton Keynes where Mac was already waiting for us. Oh it tasted good, but then again Nandos always does! Stu got snap happy with his brand new 12billion megapixel or something camera showing off. Even the flash was bigger and better than normal cameras, what with it burning innocent little childrens' retinas if you weren't careful.
Lots of thanks to Stu's mum and dad who picked up the Nandos bill! Legends!
Then we whizzed back to sort out our rucksacks ready for the morning. It was getting late and a 3am start beckoned, so when Mac, who had the rental car in Jo'burg booked under his name, looked up with a worrying look across his face and shakingly said "I've left my driving licence at home", we all shat it.
He called his dad back in Birmingham who didn't sound overly happy at the news and we agreed to meet half way at a hotel next to an industrial park just outside Daventry, which later turned into a meet on the verge of a dual carriageway near a motorway junction at 1 in the morning or something crazy. It turned out that Sean's dad had been on the beers, so when we met up he got out of the car along with Sean's sister and a family friend who had been given the role of designated driver. Unlucky guy!
We pulled off the shady looking handover and went back to base camp... i.e. a living room full of our crap spread all over the floor.
It was then time to sort out the bags, moving things from one person's bag to the other's, in the vain hope of getting all of them to weigh less than 20kgs. In the end we got it pretty close which was good enough, especially at 2am when you have to be up at 3! So bed time.
Jamie
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