Drying out and getting into Kimberley (half way)

Posted on 3 February 2010

After a rough night, with thunder, lightning, more rain and a snoring donkey just a few metres away from me, I woke to a gorgeous cloud free sky and a stunning sunrise. While the ground looked like a dam had broken nearby, the day was looking brighter already and the best news of all was that there was at least part of the gravel track that was not flooded so I could continue without drowning Tootsie and managing to keep my dry pair of shoes dry.

I’d slept under the small cover of the entrance gate to the Magersfontein Battefield Memorial, so packed up quickly whilst having breakfast… as I couldn’t be caught by staff if they arrived early for work. Then I realised the time… 5:45am! Haha… if they only open at 8am, there’s no chance anyone would be THAT early. So I slowed right down, climbed back into my sleeping bag and enjoyed a little more comfy time whilst sorting things out ahead of my arrival in Kimberley.

Tootsie has been having a problem with her one tyre for a while, so I nursed it a little… hoping it’d last to Kimberley where I can spend time and figure things out. As I set off, I realised I would need to make some running repairs before Kimberley, so the Burgher Memorial was the perfect place to do this, as there was shade! The intense sun was already painful on my burnt lips and nose by 8am, and my eyes were taking strain without sunglasses.

I took a walk around the memorial and paid respect to those remembered and honoured by the memorial, before sitting down to address Tootsie. One of the spokes seems to have been longer than the others and had torn through the rim tape over time… rubbing slowly on the inside of the tube and causing problems. I filed down the spoke to be flush with the inner side of the nipple, re-taped the rim with several layers of insulation tape and then got the tyre and tube back in place. Holding thumbs and crossing fingers, I set off…

Flies became a massive problem, with cattle and buck lining the road for kilometres and kilometres. Sadly my bug spray works against mosquitos and similar things, but appears to attract flies and make them hyper. Luckily it only lasts six hours from application, so I should be fine by… oh, wait… another three hours of so! GREAT!

My Buff Visor ended up being waved around to prevent flies from landing on my face – as there is not much that I find more annoying than flies sitting on my eyeballs, trying to fly up my nose of landing on my lips. This was particularly important as my bottom lip was bleeding so I didn’t need to pickup some dodgy bovine infection because a fly sat on an open wound.

I got my first glimpse of Kimberley and suddenly things felt weird… very weird. Could I really be this close to half way? What? No ways…

The “yeehaa” effect then hit me and I pressed on, drinking and eating on the go and stopping only to refill my water bottles or have a pee. Eventually the go go go would get to me and I took a break alongside and enormous piece of land… where hundreds and hundreds of buck and zebra were running around. An awesome sight indeed! Sadly the military were in the area training their new drivers on the gravel road, so the peace and tranquility was interrupted the whole time by an oversized diesel truck.

Then, I was buzzed by a few low flying aircraft… VERY low flying actually. Was I already that close to the airport and Kimberley? Woohoooo! The airport was just other side of the hill, which meant not many kilometres to go.

Unsure of where I was heading in town, I called my hosts [friends of my folks] and got directions… way easier than trying to get directions for Hopetown. Landmarks and street names are so simple! Wish people in small towns would use them too…

I pressed on and passed the rest of the learner drivers, who all believed that the camera crew was around the corner and that they’d either made it onto Punk’d or the Amazing Race. After I’d eventually explained it was just me, that there was no crew following and that the odour was indeed me and not some animal that I was transporting inside Tootsie’s cargo boxes, I was free to go and made my way passed the military base (with some very strange looks) and passed the airport… onto the N8 and into town.

Felt weird being in a ‘big’ city again, but also nice to know that I had a few days of completely nothing and could just relax and let my body recover from the 34 days of non-stop go go go. I was originally looking at two or three days in Kimberley, but was now considering my options… could I stay a little longer maybe? My left foot was not in a good way, my left knee and hip could do with a break, I needed to evaluate equipment and see what needed to be done, I needed to see the sights… hmm.

It wasn’t long before I arrived at Keith and Kathleen, and was made to feel right at home. I’d met Keith briefly the other morning in Hopetown (he was driving through so popped by to meet), but what an awesome couple! After a shower and some coffee, Kathleen took me on a whistlestop tour of the town on her way to collect their daughter from hockey… but clearly I was absolutely shattered as I think I only took in about half of what was passing me. I promise to pay better attention when I return to Kimberley!

Back at their house I unpacked Tootsie and went through everything from Stage One, along with the resupply for Stage Two. Due to some pretty major failures on equipment and the potential problems this will cause during the second stage should equipment get any worse, I starting looking at options. More kit couriered up? Go shopping in Kimberley? If more kit, from who and how? Sizing? Reliability?

It was then that the idea of shooting back to Cape Town hit me… my wardrobe is filled with kit I know and trust, and suppliers / manufacturers are close at hand. There’s also some major developments on the cards which cannot really be delayed, and I did make the commitment to the learners from BRIC last year to attend (and cycle) in their 25hrs Cyclathon.

Hmmmm… what to do… what to do…

A few calls were made and e-mails sent, and the replies all came back the same. Head back to base and execute from the ‘known’ location where things can happen effectively. After all, departing from the house would keep ‘unbroken footsteps’ in place so all was fine. Hmmm… could it be done.

One quick call to the rail company and a ticket was reserved. Tootsie and equipment fit to continue would remain in Kimberley with Keith and Kathleen while I did what I needed to do in Cape Town, until I return on Monday. That’d give me sufficient time to rest, hopefully my foot to recover, and for me to deal with all the admin required, whilst also allowing me to attend the 25 hour Cyclathon.

Yes, that was it – back to Cape Town! Bags packed and ready to roll, Keith shuttled me to the station and next thing I was sitting on the platform and waiting for the train – which, as it turns out, was running an hour behind schedule. Grrrr…

The wait was not without incident. Drunken locals, fighting locals, threats of “I’ll kill you!” being made to station staff by rowdy locals and the Blue Train all provided much entertainment.

I got my ticket, kept to myself and was happy to climb on board and put my feet up, resting while I could because while my time in CT was planned rest days, I knew it would be anything but. Working furiously to prepare things for Cape Town, I rushed dinner and ended up getting to bed far later than expected… but sleep I did! Boy did I sleep…






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