Final packing under way and it was a tad of a disaster. Somehow time had got away from me and I was throwing things in - hopefully what I needed rather than a load of junk.
At least the most important items had been packed. Pre-cooked meals. Many years ago I discovered the advantage of precooks- especially for a long trip. Only time would tell if I had packed the necessities in other departments.
At sparrows the following morning we were on the road. As per usual my mind was a whirlwind of "what have I forgotten?" Another concern was my one old lady (dog) at the age of 17 I was worried about her health - after all she is past her sell by date. Another concern was another little dog who had landed up at the vet every time I had left her for any length of time. The rest of the pack - well they would just be fat as pigs by the time I got home as they cope with separation by comfort eating.
The miles were eaten up as we bombed along at a steady pace - catching up on gossip and discussing our previous trips together. One thing I know for sure - laughter would be the name of the game.
The sun was peeping over the horizon when nature started calling. Being two woman alone we wanted to make sure we stopped in a place of safety. We eventually found a place - cannot remember where - but we decided it should be fine. Now the term spend a penny springs to mind - but fortunately the loo's were open and not the new trend of spend R2.00!
Back on the road feeling tons lighter we were highly amused by the "statues", artwork? on the middle mannetjie in the one town. For the life of me cannot remember where it was. (way too much has happened in my life - or I am going senile - not sure which.
Being a family forum - I will not share the comments regarding these works that took place in the car. I will leave it to your imagination and you can form your own opinion of what they symbolize. My problem is I sometimes have a mind like a sewerage works.
When one has a good travelling companion time goes fast and before we knew it it was time to re-hydrate a dehydrated vehicle as well as feed our grumbling bellies.
Jax noticed one of the tie-downs was not looking very healthy and on checking for a spare discovered they had been borrowed and not returned. Next stop was to find a place to purchase extra ratchet straps(if possible . We knew Kuruman would be the most likely place to purchase said straps. The sad thing about Kuruman is that it has become a den of thieves.
On our previous trip we were almost victims when we stopped at a stop street - fortunately there was no traffic and it was only quick reflexes that saved the perpetrator from being squashed like a bug. Knowing this, when we stopped, I was like a meerkat on watch. This didn't help - I was robbed of a bag containing all my documents (including our bookings for Botswana), my torches, head lamp and other items I deemed essential for staying in unfenced camps.
I sadly remembered the days when Kuruman was our overnight stop. It used to be such a beautiful, peaceful little place to spend a restful evening before the final stretch to KTP. If I had a choice I would avoid it like the plague - unfortunately it is unavoidable unless one wants to add many, many kilometers to the trip. (at least we got some tie-downs even if they were not of the best!)
At Hotazel I managed to report the theft. Our police force in Gauteng should take a leaf out of the Kuruman's police book. What a pleasure to deal with police officers who lean over backwards to assist. Not only that the mine security went out of there way to help me in reporting the theft.
Not in the best frame of mind we continued on to Vanzylsrus - where once again we had a thirsty vehicle. We also wanted to buy a couple of odds and ends before heading into the KTP.
We were staying at Leeuwpan a few clicks down the road from Kuruman. Due to the delays with the theft we would be arriving a tad later than expected but still well before sundown.
I got out of the car to open the gate and noticed a long black snake like thingamajiggie hanging down the fron of Jax's car - Now what!
