Chris Meistre

We set out this day intending to sleep over somewhere between here and PE.  After breakfast we set off to Durban.  We take it easy on the roads, and are amazed the amount of traffic officers we see along the road.

As we drive into Durban, the first thing we see as we go over a little hill is the ocean.  It’s amazing when we realize how much we’ve missed the ocean that we last saw 8 days ago.  We’re so used to seeing it everyday.

At around 12pm we stop at Ushaka Marine World.  When we planned on going through Durban on the way back to PE, it was decided that we will definitely need to stop off at Ushaka.  We’ve heard so many wonderful things about it.

First we struggled to find our way to the actually marine world entrance.  After walking through the shopping mall we spot it, and go get our tickets.  We’re about 10 minutes late for the dolphin show, but we go anyways as the next one is hours later.  We’re used to PE’s little marine world, so when we come around the corner and spot the massive pavilion that is almost packed we’re a little shocked.

We watch for about the last 15 minutes before it’s over.  Bernadette got some nice photos.

Ushaka

Dolphins

After the show we walked around and saw a handful of the other things the park had to offer.  I was getting a bit annoyed because I was looking around and thinking why did we just pay so much to come in here, and there is so little?!  Another while of walking around and we eventually found the entrance to the aquarium.  Thank goodness for this, because I was really thinking we’d just wasted money.  I’ve been in the PE aquarium, as well in the Cape Town one, but this one in Durban is truly awesome.  The displays and everything that they’ve done there is just amazing.  So many different types of fish and creatures.

We spent quite a while walking through there, forgetting that we still need to find a place 2-3 hours out of Durban to sleep for the evening.

Aquarium

We headed back out to the mall to grab something to eat.  Although it was our initial plan to to sleep over somewhere this evening, and then do the final stretch back home the next morning, we decided we were missing our puppies too much.

Even though we’d have to travel through Umtata and the Transkei at night, which is always very dangerous, we decided to just do it.  So at around 16:00 we left Durban and start the 8-9 hours drive to PE.

It’s funny how quickly the sun sets once the sun gets close to the horizon.  The driving was a bit slower as there were a lot of cars on the road.  At one point I turned off the main road and took a side road.  This went a bit quicker.

Once we hit the Eastern Cape’s border, you could immediately see the lack in traffic officers and traffic rules not being obeyed.  Strange how it can be so different between provinces.  The roads through the Transkei has been done over, but there’s no marking on the roads.  So a road that would for instance cater for 2 cars into 1 direction and 1 car into another direction was now transformed into 2 cars in 1 direction and 2 cars in another direction.  All this while dodging cows and goats and people in the roads at 22:00 at night turned out to be an adventure on it’s own.

As we approached the last fuel stop we would have before getting into PE, I estimated we would have enough fuel to reach home.  Hah!  I forgot I wasn’t in my own vehicle, and the needle dropped faster than a stripper’s pants.  Luckily I had filled up our jerry can with an extra 10L of petrol the 5 days before, so we were in luck.  I pulled off the side of the road, and quickly put in the last 10L of petrol before doing our last 10km to stop at home at 01:30 in the morning.

Our puppies were so excited to see us!  And we were glad to be home after a glorious holiday!

18 July 2009

We got up this morning with lazily.  It was cloudy and the sun was struggling to come through the clouds.

After breakfast we lounged around our cabin reading a bit more.  Over us was hanging the sad feeling of having to go home the next day, but we were missing our puppies very much so it was a bitter sweet feeling.

The most exciting thing to happen today was the awesome lunch we had which was WAAAAYYYY more than we expected to get when we ordered it.  We washed it down with a few beers before walking around the reserve.  I also took a short drive to see where the rest of the cabins are.  I ended up driving quite a distance because the roads were too narrow to turn around.  I wondered if those people came and ate at the same place we did, because they would have a long way to walk to eat.

We had a nice dinner and then watched a movie before heading to bed to sleep there for the last evening.  When we get to the cabin though, I decide to quickly pack everything so that we have the minimum left for the next morning.  So we pack as much as we could onto the bakkie, leaving only 2 bags left to pack in the morning.

Around the Reserve

Around the Reserve

Wednesday 17 June 2009

This morning we woke up and decided to drive through to St Lucia to see what the little town has to offer.  So after breakfast we head off towards St Lucia.  Driving there is an adventure on it’s own with this 4×2 that we’re driving.  The roads are quite sandy with a million and one different routes we can take to get there.  I obviously take the one with the most NON-tar roads   With no load on the back of the bakkie, it’s backside is quite loose on the gravel, so it really makes for an interesting drive.

On the way there we saw this HUGE dog on the back of a bakkie.  So we just had to take a photo.

Big Dog

The first place we stop is at the St Lucia Crocodile Centre. We do the touristy thing and go in there.  It turns out to be a lot bigger than I expected, and we see a lot more crocodiles and alligators than I could’ve imagined.  We got to see a lot of hatchlings, teenagers and big adults.

Crocodiles

There is also a little cycad garden with some very nice lookings cycads in there.

Cycad Garden

After the crocodile centre, we drive through the little town of St Lucia to see what there is to see.  We stop off at two of the beaches they have there, just to see what it’s like.  It’s quite different just for the fact that you’ve got these huge trees that look like they’re growing out of the sand dunes.

From there we headed towards a river, and Bernadette almost jumped out of the window with excitement when we saw hippos in the river from afar.  I think that it’s probably some sort of nature reserve that we’ll need to pay to get into, and we start driving towards the river.  We get there and it’s a public park with people sitting and walking along the banks of the river and some are even fishing.  I just look and Bernadette and we both decide this seems to unreal.  Further down the river we see crocodiles playing around in the water.

Carefully we go down to the river’s bank, take a photo, and get away from there.  I know hippo’s look like slow creatures, but I’ve read somewhere that they are actually very fast movers on land.

Infront of the Hippos

We sat around and watched this for a while, just to make sure we are really seeing it.  The whole time we’ve been in the area I’ve seen Beware of Hippo signs, but I never really thought you’ll actually see them.

After checking out the rest of the town we started heading back to Nibela Lodge.  On the way there we saw a board with a sign on for a Bird Park.  We decided to go and drop in.  It’s privately owned, but they have the most amazing birds there.  You can see it’s been built by someone that loves birds.

Parrots

It’s also the first time that I’ve seen birds dig holes in the ground, especially parrots and ringnecks.

Birds digging

On the way back to our lodge, we had a nice little lunch at one of the quick stops.

My beautiful Bernadette

All the way back we were just in awe of all the trees that surround the main roads.  It’s a pity they’re just being grown to be cut down for paper.

Trees

Tuesday 16 June 2009

Today is a public holiday in South Africa, Youth Day.  I’m glad that up to now I haven’t had a lot of business voicemails to attend to.  It’s always the schlep about going away, worrying if there is going to be an emergency at the office or with one of the clients.  Gladly we’ve now got a reliable technician that is doing an excellent job of running things when we’re not here.

After basically doing nothing the previous afternoon, we were both feeling very relaxed and ready for something exciting to do.  We went to have a leisurely breakfast, almost not being on time.  It was nice having such variety of things to choose from that you don’t have to make yourself!

On the way back to our room we went to enquire about the quad bike trails we saw they’re offering.  We decided to take on a 3 hour drive in the late afternoon.  I was wondering if Bernadette was nervous about driving the quad bike, if she was, I didn’t notice!

Waiting for the afternoon, we decided to lay around and catch up on some reading.  Bernadette had bought me this great book by Clive Cussler.  But for me to start with that I first had to finish my other book.  So I finished that off by the time our guide came to fetch us for the quad rides.

At the entertainment area he briefed us, and showed us how the quad bikes work.

Bernadette on Quad Bike

Bernadette on Quad Bike

She looked so cute on the quad

For the first few while we were driving, I was getting used to the gearing.  It’s the first time I’ve been on a quad that makes use of gears and it was always something I wondered about.  I’ve also never driven a motor cycle before, so it was quite new to me.  I got the hang of it easily though, a lot easier than I thought I would!

Our first stop would be the bat caves.  As we went into the small cave, it smelled terrible.  I didn’t know there were bats though, and when we finally saw them I understood why it smelled so bad.  At first when I saw them, I thought they were little mice.  Looking more carefully I saw they had wings!

Batman's Cave

Bernadette in Batman's Cave

From here we drove onto the Boma, which is a section in the reserve that looks out over the Lake where they normally have functions.  The guide told us they normally organise Zulu dancers and entertainment for the people.  Looking around at the place, you can easily see how that can just bring a whole night’s fun!

The Boma

Eat

Drink

From here we were taken to fossil corner.  This is a section next to the Lake where there are thousands, if not millions, of fossils embedded along the ridge of the Late.  It’s amazing to think of how long the earth has been here.

Fossil Corner

Fossil Corner

Heading away from Fossil Corner we went on the final game drive before heading back.  We saw some Zebras in the bush, and being on a quad bike they look so much bigger than you normally think watching them in a car.

Bernadette on Quad Bike

Chris and Bernadette

The first thing we do, after thanking our guide for the afternoon, is head to the bar for a well deserved drink.  The first beer goes down so nicely that we just have to have another one before we head off the cabin to go clean up.

Once clean we headed back to the bar to sit and wait for dinner to get ready.  The only thing about the cabins that we don’t like, but would later be a blessing in disguise, is that they don’t have TVs in the room.  This means we need to go to the bar in the evenings to catch a movie.

In the Bar

Monday 15 June 2009

Today was my birthday, but I woke up not even thinking about it.  It was the last day of our competition, and I was excited about what other events it would hold.  Bernadette made me realize it’s my birthday when we she kissed me and wished me happy birthday.  For a moment I was thinking right, but then I clicked, “Today IS my birthday”

I’ve never really been someone to worry too much about this specific day, so I went on getting ready to go have breakfast without feeling or thinking any different just because 28 years ago I was born.

After breakfast we all sat down with Sarel to have  briefing about one of the events we’d have during the day.  It’s a navigational style rally course whereby you follow a few drawn maps.  I was confident that we’ll do well, because last year we were one of the 2 or 3 teams out of the 300 that actually completed it, and got full marks for it.

But before Sarel started explaining it, he started talking about stuff that happened in 1981.  I thought this to be very strange because funny enough that was the year in which I was born.  But I thought he was going to tell us about one of his famous stories.  He then walked over to me, and said that also on this day in 1981 someone was born, and pointed to me.  To say I was shocked is an understatement.  He wished me Happy Birthday and then along with all the other people they sang to me.  That was quite a special gesture to have him of all people sing happy birthday to me.  I found out later Bernadette organised it all, which was really awesome of her.

Sarel van der Merwe

After the briefing we headed off to go take part in the last 4 events.  It was so sad to think that within a few hours we’d be finish and be leaving.

The first event is a speed section.  I drive it and it feels like it went very well, and we put up a good time.

The next event is the navigation section, and we’re very confident and keep on talking about exactly how we’re going to do things.  When it’s our turn we head off.  First turn comes fine, second one fine, third turn, BIG FUCKUP.  I did the navigation and Bernadette drove.  I had her turn about 100m too soon and we only found out 800m later that it was the wrong turn.  Too much time has passed and we wouldn’t be putting up a score anyways.  I radio to Sarel that we’re out of it and we take a detour to get back to them.  We both sat in silence, because we knew it was stupid to make a mistake at that event, because we’ve done it so often!

Third event is a speed section again.  In the previous year a car has rolled here, and people normal debead their tyres on one of the corners.  So everyone is cautious, but I’m not too worried.  This is what we’re there for.  I go through in my mind exactly what I’m going to do, because I know the course from last year.  Unfortunately last year we made a mistake that cost us about 5 seconds.  When it’s our turn to go I feel very confident about this.  And we’re off, I get to the first hair pin turn, gear down from 3rd to 1st, let out the clutch and take the corner as I start accelerating.  I’m amazing at how well it worked because it’s the first time I get to test that in a Triton 2.5.  Building up speed as I approach another hair pin turn, same thing, gear down and accelerate as I’m in the corner.  It works wonderfully and we put up a very good time.  I’m so chuffed that we forget about our disaster the previous event

Then it’s our turn to drive with Sarel while he goes through the course.  It all seems so much faster, and he puts up a time of about 8 seconds faster than any of us.  But that is with a vehicle with 5 people in, so it would be slower because it’s heavier.  As we drive with him, he explains exactly what he does.  I feel so happy that everything he explained, is exactly the way I did it when I drove.

The last event is another speed section.  I explain to Bernadette what I did in the previous event, and told her to try the same.  So the last event she drives.  I tell her to not be so worried about the tyre debeading, and all the other stories they’ve told, because I see she is a bit worried about it.  Anyways, she ended up putting up a very good time.

Back at the campsite we quickly get ourselves packed.

The final scores are up.  We’re 3rd.  Something we didn’t expect, because the previous day we were laying at 5th place, and we didn’t do so well today.

Score Sheet

After saying good bye to everyone we drove off.

Back to my mind came the little problem we had as we got to the camp site, NO FUEL.  I work out we have to drive about 30km to the nearest petrol station, and we head off.

The problem with the first 10km is that it’s all sand, and with a 4×2 you have to apply a little more fuel than normal.  But it’s not going without fuel in the first 10km I’m worried about, because all the other teams will then at least come past us, and hopefully help.

We reach the point where there’s about 10km left to go.  Now I start counting off the km’s and work out each time how far I’m going to have to walk to get petrol.  When we get to 2km I think it’s fine, I can at least walk 4 km   Then 1km, then we reach the petrol station.  Thank goodness   We fill up, and realise there was 3L left in the tank.  Definitely the most empty I’ve ever driven a tank.

From here we were more relaxed and took in the scenery as we drove to Nibela Lodge where we would spend a few days.  I can see Bernadette is getting a bit worried as we’re driving through one informal settlement after the next to get to the lodge.  I must say, at one point I was wondering about how the lodge would be as well.  We’d booked it through our holiday club, and with these things you never know.

We arrived there after about 80km of dirt roads, to be pleasantly surprised at how nice and well kept the place looks.  After booking in we headed off to our cabin to catch up on some sleep.

Around the lodge everywhere there are signs to be aware of crocodiles and hippos, but that will come in another post.