We were due to leave the Park on the day after Roger’s birthday. Since we arrived back at Twee Rivieren the previous day he had been fascinated by a very old Land Cruiser that had been converted into a camper with a tent/observation platform on top. He took the opportunity to go and meet the owners, Dave and Elizabeth Russell, before we left.
After a long chat with Dave and Elizabeth, and a further unsuccessful attempt at removing the offending wheel using Dave’s high-lift jack pole as extra leverage, we eventually left the Park. But not without some concern about the state of our damaged tyre and the 250 Km drive to Upington. We managed the first 80 Km before having to re-inflate, but as the temperature of the tyre and plug increased, so did the leak rate, requiring an ‘inflation’ stop every 20 to 30 Km!
While at one of these stops Dave and Elizabeth caught up and stopped to check on us. Just then our friend Robin called to chat to Roger. After explaining our predicament Robin mentioned that many of the Japanese trucks have a left hand thread on the left side wheel nuts and asked whether we were not perhaps trying to turn them the wrong way. Eish! We hadn’t taken notice of the ‘L’ stamped on the studs before. Sure enough the studs on the right hand wheels were stamped with an ‘R’! Fortunately Dave was there with his high-lift jack pole and we tackled the nuts again. Still no joy! Although we hadn’t managed to solve the problem, Roger was relieved that his mistake hadn’t made any difference after all. After another long chat we parted ways with promises to look them up when next we are in Port Elizabeth. We eventually arrived safely in Upington in the mid-afternoon on Saturday, after another plug replacement and many ‘inflation’ stops.
On Sunday we did washing and house-keeping. It was needed, believe me! Everything was dusty and in serious need of a clean. While we were getting our oxtail potjie going in the afternoon a yellow Range Rover stopped and the occupants came to say hello. What a surprise! It was Theo, Bernice and John, whom we met at Marakele soon after our trip started in October last year! They were also camping at Die Eiland, en route to see the flowers. We got together later on in the evening for a glass of wine and a chat and had a lovely time catching up on our respective travels.
Ufudu was scheduled for a service at 07:30 on Monday at Gordonia Motors so we were out early. I sat in Ufudu catching up on emails and blogging while Roger and Jan, the service technician, worked on Ufudu. After Jan had removed the offending wheel using a really heavy duty pneumatic impact wrench, Roger took it across the road to have the tyre patched. As the hole is on the sidewall we decided to keep the repaired tyre as the spare. With his manager’s permission Jan then kindly removed all the other wheel nuts so that Roger could apply Copper Slip lubricant to the studs. Even with the impact wrench a few of the nuts proved to be a challenge!
And by the way, Ufudu looks brilliant after his much needed wash after the service…
We did some necessary shopping and then spent the afternoon in camp. Roger replaced the leaking water pipe (it chafed through and was leaking, remember?) with a section of rubber radiator hose and refilled the water tanks. Hopefully we are now set for the rest of our journey!
Before leaving Upington on Tuesday we went for a wine tasting (and buying, of course) at the Orange River Cellars. The Orange River Wine Cellars is the largest wine cooperative in the Southern hemisphere and the second largest in the world so we were keen to go on a conducted tour. Unfortunately the cellar tours are only available during the harvest period from January to March.
Next stop Augrabies National Park.