Feeling absolutely hammered after a rough day on Thursday (heat, hills, high mileage and hardly any sleep), I cruised into town to top up on food essentials at the only supermarket in Touwsrivier, but came out the shop to the lovely surprise of a puncture. Grrr! Attracting loads of attention, including kids wanting money, I set about repairing the hole… only to find that as soon as I pump it to the full pressure once back on Tootsie it popped one of the old patches! Grrrrr!
The combination of the heat and the slime in the tyres is leading to problems with the glue on the patches on the slimed tyres – so I am now rolling without any slime. So far so good. Hold thumbs though please…
From the shops it was time for the swimming pool, and again a crowd was attracted. All the staff [about six] came for their own individual story telling session… which meant I didn’t get to rest as planned, but at least I did get to swim and re-pack Tootsie with the new supplies.
Shortly after munching on lunch (tuna sarmies – yummy!) I headed out of town but was quickly stopped by a garage – it had an ice cream sign spinning outside. With an ice cream down the hatch I headed off to conquer the long road to Matjiesfontein. Knowing that I wouldn’t get there by sundown, I planned to stop just passed half way – or just past Konstabel train siding.
The climbs were long and the traffic on the N1 was unforgiving, with me having to stay alert at all times for oncoming vehicles travelling in the yellow line. A real pain, I often had to ‘throw’ Tootsie into the bush to avoid being squashed by a truck that simply couldn’t go further into the road because it was letting another vehicle overtake.
I took more breaks than usual, but kept them short and fortunately didn’t find my mind drifting too often. Although when I stopped in the shade outside Bijnstein Nature Reserve I did fall asleep! Oops! But onward I pressed and it was awesome to see some of the rock formations a little closer than last time – as I’d previously only seen them from the railway.
I could see Konstabel in the distance and, with the light and my energy fading, I decided that would be me for the day… until some 60’s music started playing. Hey, I was bopping and doing my thing down the N1 – and I am sure I looked like a mad man to some motorists.
As I pulled up at Konstabel I noticed some railway trailers standing in the shunting area… and they appeared to be empty. But, I had visions of being hitched up in the night and finding myself back in Cape Town just a few hours later. So I decided to get myself setup on the platform behind a building. But, as the wind picked up, I figured the trailer wasn’t such a bad idea. Walls for protection from people seeing me and the wind, no roof so I could see the starts… and off the ground so no creepy things. PERFECT! Now, what would I do with Tootsie? Simple, drop one of the side walls and lift her up. Easier said than done I tell you, but after offloading water and some food I got her up and we setup our new home in the trailer.
The sleeping solution I tried was just the mattress (3/4 length), waterproof / windproof bivi bag and a Coolmax liner, but sleeping on a metal base with the cold wind proved a little chilly so I pulled out the sleeping bag and got warm.
As the light faded, the stars came out – and boy did they shine. I can’t remember ever seeing that many stars – it was amazing! And then the moon came up and lit up the sky – but it was still spectacular and I shall remember that night forever.
