Our plan was to leave for Wakkerstroom early on the 17th but as always, things took longer than anticipated. We eventually got away at 11h00. I was driving Ufudu and Roger was in the Hilux, towing the trailer. He still had some stops to make en route so we decided to separate, seeing as driving Ufudu would be much slower. Much to our surprise he never caught up and we only touched base again at the Volksrust airfield where we stopped to meet Steven. Roger had been in communication with Steven about hangarage and had arranged to meet him.
From there I went ahead again while Roger stopped in at Tony, our architect, to borrow his dumpy level. We eventually arrived in Wakkerstroom in the late afternoon and went straight to Eikenhof where I had hired a small shop. The idea is to have a comfortable base where I can sit and paint and crochet while Roger is busy at the building site. It would also serve as a temporary storage space for tools and equipment until the workshop is completed. Once all that is done, and I have the shop to myself, I plan to establish a yarn shop.
We offloaded items for storage and then went for an early dinner to the Bistro. It was 6 pm and we were both famished. I cannot remember when last I skipped lunch! While we were having dinner a hectic storm broke over town, with even some light hail. It was totally unexpected. It made for a very wet arrival at our stand, squelching through the mud to open the gate, park and get level. Roger is very good at levelling Ufudu and once parked we just left everything else until the morning. It was a long day; we were both exhausted.
The weekend was spent flitting between music events and restaurants. We attended seven shows over the course of three days. It was great, as always.
Then the work started. The earthwork had to be done and the holes drilled for the foundation poles of the cottage. First we had to decide exactly where the cottage would be situated on the stand. The ground is more sloped than what one initially thinks. Once the position was decided Roger had to learn how to use the dumpy level. Next came the painstaking process of determining the floor level. The drop was more than a meter from back to front of the structure.
Roger: “We will have to cut into the bank”.
Me: “Yes, but that is a big job. You should get some help”.
Roger: “It won’t be too bad; I will manage”.
Me with arched eyebrows: “Really? OK”, and I went back to Ufudu.
Five minutes and two shovel attempts at the hard earth later: Roger “I think I must hire a TLB”.
Me: “What a good idea!”
The TLB arrived the next morning and the levelling was done and dusted in three-and-a-half hours. The operator certainly knew his story.
Next Roger had to drill 84 holes using an auger that Peter from LSF kindly lent him. He battled, thinking that he wasn’t doing it properly until he realised that auger bit was blunt and totally worn out!
Fortunately, Leon (Christa, my new landlady’s husband) offered his to Roger and what a difference it made. All the holes were drilled the next day.
The Wakkerstroom community is really open, welcoming, and inclusive. We were invited to dinner with our neighbours Geraldine and Owen and some of their friends, I was invited to join a walking group that walks between five and seven kilometres on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I was invited to join a group of ladies to go and watch sheep shearing. Paul has assisted us a lot with matters municipal e.g., getting our water connection installed. Leon lending us his auger, Kristi allowing us to empty out toilet into their septic tank, etc.
Speaking about the water connection. There was a serious leak on the municipal side of the meter. It caused a lot of mud that was really a challenge when opening and closing the gate. We reported it and a municipal vehicle eventually arrived and offloaded two workers with only a spade each. Roger went to chat to them and ended up providing them with all the tools they needed to do the job. It was a badly made joint that pulled apart soon after the meter was installed!
Meanwhile, Roger saw on Facebook that someone in Marloth Park was going solar and wanted to sell their 10KVA 3-phase silent Honda diesel generator. We are going to be completely off-grid, so Roger would occasionally need something like that for his workshop. After securing it with a deposit we started planning to go to Marloth Park. Rupert and Gwynne kindly offered for us to leave Ufudu in their back yard so we would only take the bakkie and trailer. The generator would then come back to Rosebank with us until we were ready for it in Wakkerstroom.
We left Wakkerstroom late on Saturday morning and arrived in Marloth Park at 6pm. Surprisingly, it is roughly the same distance from Wakkerstroom to Marloth Park as from Johannesburg to Marloth Park. The visibility for almost the entire trip was very low, with conditions changing between low cloud, mist, and rain. When we reached the top of the escarpment it suddenly cleared, and we catapulted from cold and rainy to the more usual warm weather of the lowveld. The trip was unplanned, so we had to fetch keys from Don and Trish who take care of cleaning for us. It is always good to see them though.
It was with great relief that we eventually arrived at the house with enough daylight left to settle in before relaxing with a beer and a glass of wine.
The next day Roger met Sluggy, an eighty-year-old ex-SAA pilot. After chatting in the road for a while he invited us to his house for drinks in the afternoon where we met his wife Norma. Sluggy loves to socialise, and after a pleasant afternoon talking all things flying we eventually managed to leave just before dark.
On Monday morning we went to the home of the guy selling the generator. After a cursory inspection Roger finalised the deal. It really was a bargain.
The self-seeded ziziphus at our braai area sadly died a while ago and had now fallen over. Fortunately, it missed the granite table. If nothing else, it would provide firewood for the duration of our stay!
While sitting in the open area Roger noticed a movement at the indoor braai. It was a snake peeking out of a crack in the floor. It was in the process of shedding so initially looked rather sinister. It kept popping out to see if we were still there and then disappeared again. Roger meanwhile got his snake-catching tube ready and after a ‘cat-and-mouse’ game of about an hour it was eventually safely captured. It was a Mozambican Spitting Cobra of about a metre long.
As soon as we got back to the house Roger filled the crack with cement. Now I am wondering ‘where will the next one hide?’
We wanted to make an oxtail potjie but our cast iron pot was in Ufudu so we decided to buy one that could stay at MP. We managed to buy the only one available and then spent the afternoon preparing it for use. The two of us were totally uninitiated so Google was our guide, as always. It was eventually usable, and we made the most delicious oxtail. Definitely to be repeated in future.
Tuesday was our day to visit Kruger National Park. What a disappointment! The state of disrepair is shocking.
When we got to Lower Sabie for our planned breakfast stop we were told that they can accept cash only due to ‘no signal since the floods’! And no warning at the main gate. Fortunately, we had enough cash for our meal, but really, who carries cash these days?
We decided to go to Skukuza for lunch but a few kilometres down the road we came up against a huge chasm where the road had washed away, so we had to turn back again.
All the roads that got washed away in the floods were still closed. Most annoying was that there was no information upon entering the Park. Afterwards, when we enquired at the Lower Sabie camp office we were shown a spreadsheet, which it seems we were supposed to have seen on arrival. I love spreadsheets but believe me, that one was meaningless!! The staff all just shrugged their shoulders with an attitude of ‘Really? It is not that bad, just take another road’.
We left the Park feeling frustrated and sad at the same time. Our National Parks were always so good. We felt let down!
My sister Cynthia has spoken about filling up their vehicle with diesel at a depot just outside Komatiepoort. It is apparently the cheapest 50 ppm of all the places they have been to. Every time we’ve been to Marloth Park she asks whether we’ve tried it out yet. So, seeing as we came out the Park at Crocodile Bridge we decided to do it this time round. But it was not to be. The queue of trucks waiting to get through the border was kilometres long and when eventually go to the pumps, they were dry. So much for that!
We left MP on Wednesday morning the 29th and were home in the mid-afternoon. It is always good to go and just as good to be back.
On the family front:
