Castrol Magnatrek Day three: Childhood memories, social responsibility and Gauteng traffic

If you also have fond memories of shooting kettie when you were a kid, you would’ve loved the Start up your Engine activity, the first of day three on the Castrol Magnatrek Family Edition. Two members held the giant kettie steady, while a third shot bean bags into the air. The aim was to hit a certain target, and with the competition almost at its halfway mark, the memories might have been overshadowed by a will to win.

A different kind of slingshot

But seeing as we’re on the topic of childhood, we might as well think back to those fantasies of flying on a hovercraft, somewhere far away from your boring bedroom. Lucky for them, the teams got to do exactly that. Well, sort of. Smooth Operator had them building their own hovercrafts from scratch. Manuals and kits with all the materials were dispersed and they disappeared for about 90 minutes to create and decorate these magical machines.

The end result definitely wasn’t as epic as in the fantasies, mostly because they didn’t actually get to lift off the ground. They could, however lift off just enough so that they can be pushed across a tennis court with two brooms. To ease up the confusion, here’s the story in pictures.

The black bag section of the craft is pumped full of air so that the team member on top kind of floats above ground.

The other two push them with two brooms…

A big push

…and then they let go.

A quick slide

Needless to say, the excitement was followed by a buffet lunch and then we were ready to roll to our next destination. With the convoy back in place and the radio banter back on track, we headed back through Parys, but this time we were escorted by two fancy police cars. With sirens blaring and pedestrians staring, we made a rather elaborate exit, back towards Gauteng.

At first, this was my view.

View from the back seat

Then it changed to the craziness that is Pretoria traffic. We stopped off at the famous N1 Oasis BP for a quick challenge, appreciating the feel of civilization and left it behind again. Our stop for the night – Intundla Game Lodge on the other side of Pretoria.

Cruising down the dirt roads just as the sun was setting, we arrived to find a deck clad with snacks and drinks, overlooking a dam and surrounded by mountains. It was a truly magnificent moment, especially after spending the better part of the afternoon trudging through traffic.

Intundla Game Lodge

The challenge for tonight was going to be something completely different from all the previous ones. It was called Make life smoother for someone else. The teams found themselves in an apprentice-like situation where they had to come up with a presentation for a special event – budgeting for everything from food and drinks to entertainment. It was  going to take place the very next day. The best presentation will be the winning event and the teams will work together to make it happen on Thursday.

But it’s not just any type of party. KuierKidz is a small non-profit learning centre in Hartebeespoort Dam where nine children with severe disabilities (some of which include autism) spend most of their days being tutored on a one-on-one basis so that they can achieve their utmost capabilities and perhaps adapt enough to enter back into mainstream schools. They use the SNAP programme to help the children back onto their feet and they’re motivated to develop the project further.

The two-hour event has only one goal: to make the lives of these children, parents and caretakers a little smoother, if only for a little while. Teams had just about 2 hours to figure out how they were going to do this within a budget of R12 000 and everyone quickly forgot about the scenery and got cracking to plan the best event they could possibly imagine.

I’ll fill you in on the exact details of the winning event tomorrow. All you need to know is that the teams have used all their resources in order to make it an unforgettable day. I’m looking forward to the contestants giving out orders to the crew for a change and I’m excited to be involved in a different kind of challenge, where points and winners no longer matter.

To get in on the action, you can tune in to Jacaranda FM. Janina (@janinasays) will be doing live updates from the trek. You can also follow the teams on Twitter or find @Magna_Trek or @JacarandaFM. I’ll also be tweeting (@Adelgreen) from here. If you’re in the Gauteng surrounds and you spot the Magnatrek convoy (it’ll be hard to miss) tweet us a picture.

Watch the video below and answer the question at the end to stand a chance to win  a two-night stay for two at Intundla Game Lodge’s four-star Bush Spa valued at R4 230.

If you’ve missed out on some of the trek excitement, click here to read the previous posts.

Castrol Magnatrek Day 3

Intundla Game Lodge

The two lodges that Intundla consists of, are situated in a private game reserve, a mere 55 minute drive from Johannesburg and 30 minutes North-East of Pretoria. The rooms overlook a beautiful dam into which the bar area’s swimming pool flows. The bush spa promises to cure any city stress in a flash. Visit www.intundla.co.za for more information.

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