be a lot of stuff) and point Mufasa in the direction of the long hard road
to somewhere. Not that we envisaged an epic trip, but some new places to
explore and hopefully some memorable experiences to enjoy.
Our initial point of call was Amanzimtoti and the Prince Residence. The long
hard road was to Durban, long yes, hard not really. We escaped the lights of
Joburg at the ugly hour of 05h00 Tuesday (23rd) morning to miss the mad rush
of all those crazy people desperate to get to work, fools. As usual we
ambled along at Mufasa's cruising speed, a bit faster than slow, and set
about making the usual tough decisions about the trip on the long N3 south,
where to get fuel and more importantly where to get breakfast! Now for those
not in the know in far away distant lands, the breakfast thing can be a
tricky one. Different fuel suppliers partner different restaurants. We
wanted Wimpy, cant beat a good fry up to keep you from nodding off, and that
means an Engen fuel stop. Now for most people who dash along at great speed,
obviously obeying the speed limits (!?), this is not an issue as distant
objectives are quickly reached. For the Mufasas of this world who plod along
it is a different story. Distant objective, hunger pangs, the contest.
Thankfully not long before 09h00 we made it as far as Harrismith (S28.27263
E29.13145) and the Engen just before it. One has to say an inspired choice,
usual good food and coffee, and excellent service. With our bellies filled
the next objective was Mufasa's. We checked the diesel price at the Engen,
nearly had a heart attack. With plenty of juice still in his belly we
decided to find an alternative, which as it happened was not too far down
the road at Tugela. A good old truck stop (S28.45316 E29.56616). We rolled
in, amongst all the huge HGVs and were delighted at the price these folks
pay, over 50c a litre cheaper. So we made use of most of the available cash
in our pockets and took the cheap fuel on board in both of Mufasa's bellies.
Back on the road it was not long before we descended down to the coast and
the heat got turned up a bit. By the time we arrived at Roy and Adele's
(S30.03898 E30.88320) we were sweating buckets, very hot and very humid.
Unfortunately as Mufasa is too big to fit in the parking at the house we had
to unpack all we needed from the truck for the duration of the stay, even
sweatier by the time we had done that. Mufasa has his own private secure
parking at an undisclosed location, well undisclosed for those who don't
know where it is!
Well, our reason for visiting Amanzimtoti, well apart from seeing the
family, was Adele's birthday. Which one, not for me to tell! Simone, Adele's
daughter who lives in the UK made a surprise appearance. Nearly gave Adele a
heart attack when she saw her. I don't know, you should be careful shocking
people at that age, cough. Anyway. We had a smashing dinner that evening at
one of the local eateries courtesy of Mr Prince snr. Well it would have been
if his credit card had not been refused, cunning plan! Thankfully Mr Prince
jnr was on hand to bail out his old man. I guess its one way of getting the
rent paid!
Our time at Toti also thankfully coincided with the holiday visit to South
Africa of Philly and Jo, the parents of the three girls that Sue looked
after in UK when she went travelling back in 1989. They happened to be
staying in Umhlanga at the Oyster Box, only about 40 minutes away. So we
popped along and were treated to coffee and lunch with them before they made
their long way back to the UK later that evening. It had been a while since
we had last seen them, back before we sold up and hit the road over 5 years
ago. With the magic of the internet and wonderful Facebook Sue had managed
to get in touch with them again towards the end of last year. Isn't
technology great, when it works of course.
After a couple of rain spotted days the sun returned on Sunday (28th), for a
bit at least. So Sue was delighted to get on top of our washing, especially
with a machine at hand!! Once it was all washed and put away she had a grin
from ear to ear.
Sadly it came time to say our goodbyes on the Monday (1st), fetch Mufasa,
and load up for the next leg on the trip. Back to the camping life again,
well for a short while at least!
Internal Virus Database is out of date.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 8.5.435 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2702 - Release Date: 02/21/10
19:34:00
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