To the farm.

Recap: We were staying at brothers house on Wednesday and thursday evening. Wednesday was that last entry in the blog and Thursday was an exciting day. Dad turned 81 today and Ingrid and I were going to do something with him as brother was only going to be back from Bloemfontein late Thrusday evening.

First on the list of priorities was a quick return trip to Jackpot as we were not intending to stay in PE on Wednesday and Thursday, so Ingrid had not packed enough of her pills and we had left our walking shoes at Jackpot. No stress, Dusty and I left early morning and drove to CSF to pick up the things we were needing.

No worries, no stress. I do like driving and the road is really not challenging, so it was a sort of walk in the park. On opening the house, I was expecting the alarm company to call me as they had been told that we were not going to be home the whole week. In thier system when the front door opens a sensor sends the company an alert and they phone us to check that the "entry" was not unusual (Robbers). No call, but I brushed it off.

I was not in the house for long and grabbed the few things and set off back to PE to Ingrid and the dog. On the way home I took the usual route to avoid the stop/go's on the highway and was happily driving along the old road that connects PE to Jeffreys Bay. At the turn off where we usually go back onto the highway the onramp was closed. I saw the writing on the wall. This would require us to go through the Van Stadens pass and if luck is on ones side, a lorry/truck might slow progress to a crawl. We (the other cars that had taken the detour) were in luck. No truck, but it was not the smooth familiar route that we are used to. I am not sure that we were held up too much, but the freeway would have been nicer.

I received a confused message from Mother in law in law to welcome us back to CFS and that she had thought that we were not going to be there. I was also confused. How did she know that we were back. 1 + 1 = 2. The alarm company phoned her when I had opened the front door as she had let them know that we were away and given her telephone number as contact person. That is why I had not received the expected call from them.

Back at brotherś I unloaded the things from Jackpot and Ingrid and I then left for our rendezvous with Dad. Dad was out doing some business and we arrived at his place earlier than him. We entered his number at the front gate and he let us is. The call from the front gate goes to his mobile phone and he then only has to press a button and the gate opens. He could be in Dubai or Australia as long as he has mobile data or wifi. It is a pretty neat setup I think.

We did not have to wait too long for Dad and soon he had put his briefcase down and we were back in Dusty to travel to "The grass roof" that had been Dad's suggestion. We had not even drove off the property when Dad asked if we should maybe go somewhere closer to home and that was not a bad idea on his part. Near to his home is the "Boardwalk" on the PE beachfront. We are familiar with the restaurant "Hello it is me" and decided to chance it and give it a go. It was only about 2km from Dad's house.

We really had a lovely lunch and the food was good. Win, Win! After lunch we dropped Dad off at home and Ingrid and I went back to brother's to walk the dog and wait for their return. Brother had phoned to ask which Pies we wanted as he was going to pass Nanaga (The farmstall previously visited by us and mentioned). They apparently have a name for the pies that they make and it is big business! It was too late for an afternooner so i wrote that last blog and Ingrid watched her series on the Flix.

Brother and sister in law arrived safely home with the pies and we were surprised when niece lady also walked in the door. She had thought to stay in Bloemfontein with her friends for the weekend and return on Monday (today), but had decided against it. Apparently the graduation ceremony was well worth the time and they all were happy to have gone. 6-7 hours there and the next day the reverse journey, rather them than me! PS. the pies were tasty. Brother and wife were soon in lala land and we sat up for a bit to watch TV and then it was bed time. Tomorrow was going to be a big day!

Alright, brother was going to be knighted by King Charles and become a member of the British realm. Citizen extraodinair! (Slave to the King!). Long live the King! Mom has a British passport and we are all eligable to obtain one should we wish. My oldest brother already has one and I could go for triple citizenship I guess. Sleep tight!

Roll on Firday morning and Ingrid and I were once again up at sparrows. We sent brother and wife off to work and lazed about for a while before going on our Mission. This weekend we are going to a farm somewhere with others (strangers mostly) to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the parents of an old (no really she is young. Almost a spring chicken) friend of mine from University. Those of you that read chapter eleventish of the blog know Nicki from when she kidnapped that poor dog in CSF a while back. Thankfully a voice of reason convinced her to give the doggy back and we were both rewarded with a gift voucher from the owner. We are setting up a business together next year! HEEHEEE!!

A farm in the niddle of nowhere and there were groceries to be bought to tide us over for those few rugged and harsh days. Where brother lives is very convenient for us to knock off the shopping list in relatively short order. Supermarket for most things. Around the corner another supermarket that stocked items that we did not find at our first stop. Next door was the bottle store for a refreshment or two. I figured that it being a farm in the bundus I would buy red wine because I was expecting the temperature to drop at night and red wine is a nice comfort drink in colder temperatures. HIstory lesson: Bundu is a state in west Africa. Probably difficult to reach by explorers of the very early years and they probably coined the phrase (I am calling this one)... In the Bundu's. (In the middle of nowhere), but I digress.

Supermarket, Bottle store and next on the list was the butchery. They are also on the same block as the bottle store and Spar. Pork rashes (Speklapjes) and some very tasty boerewors and bit of droewors (dried boerewors) went into the coolerbox. Time for a coffee to help pass a bit of time. Last stop was Woolworths, also an institution in South Africa. I have an idea that it is a Mark's and Spenser knock off from the Sanction years, but I could be totally wrong on that assumption). Woolies as we call has an upmarket supermarket and those that know shop there. Flowers and a card also found their way into the trolley, past the checkout and into Dusty. We were done with the shopping spree and think that we had sufficient to last the weekend.

During our coffee stop we received word that King Charles could unfortunately not make it to the ceremony, but they had found a last minute replacement to present brother with his citizenship. I know that he was disappointed, but brother did look dashing in his photograph. Photos courtesy of niece. Send me a PM should you wish to purchase.

At brothers we were waiting for the call from Nicki to set off for the rendezvous point Nanaga. We were perhaps too impatient and decided to leave a little earlier as we know the place and could sit comfortably and wait for her message. We sat at Nanaga with our coffee and Roosterbrood (A bread cooked on the fire) and got a message from Nicki that she was leaving and she sent us a "pin" so that we could follow her progress on google maps.  

Every so often I would check the app and update her progress. When she was near Ingrid and I sat at the front door on the wall waiting for her to turn off and then we would drive in convoy to the farm in the Bundu's. Next thing a Landrover drives past along the highway and her pin buggers off down the road! ?? The agreement was that they would stop at Nanaga and we would set off together. I phoned her to ask if she had driven on by and she confirmed that she was still on the highway. 

I felt like an American fighter pilot scambling to intercept a Russian Mig. Dusty vs a Landrover was not a fair fight, but we have something that they lack. Speed! Ingrid and I dove into Dusty and if I had've had sirens those blue lights would have been screaming! (Read that again...)  We had those bloody Russians on the radar and were closing fast. That is until we got stuck behind a truck on a long uphill. Hills in South Africa are not a bump in the road. They can sometimes be serious and if you are very unlucky a speed of 20km/hour can be achieved. 

Not much later my navigator conveyed the message that Tango 4 niner had stopped along the highway. Probably at the turn off to the next section of our journey. Dirt roads. Here the Mig had an advantage over Dusty and we found that Dusty had been appropriately named as the Mig was spitting up a dust storm to jam our systems. Potholes on a dirt road are like land mines to a road car. For King and country Dusty!

We were passed at high speed by a 5th generation fighter (Ambulance) . I do not think that the driver has any fillings left in his mouth! I guess that that fighter had other and more pressing business than to get mixed up in a fight between Dusty and the Mig. Next stop was border control Shamwari. Shamwari is the exclusive game reserve in the Eastern Cape and they even had Shamwari TV where camera teams did a sort of David Attenborough deal within the Game Park. (I had to Goole the spelling of his name as he is a true Champion of our Mother Nature!).

Lol. We are in a town car driving through an exclusive Game Reserve, chasing a Mig! Cool by the pool people!!! The road traverses the Reserve and we saw a beautiful Kudu ram (male. they have not yet progressed to other pronouns) and a giraffe and a few Pumba's (warthogs) and a few Water buck. A mini game drive in a private vehicle. What is not to love?

At the far side of the reserve we continued through the gate to towards the farmhouse. It reminded me of the early years as my Dad's family farmed at Tarkastad and we went a couple of times on holiday. Gates were swung open and closed behind us and on the farm the "roads" were really two tire track like paths through the countryside. Dusty was still no match for the Mig, but the navigator and I followed at a slow pace. The central piece between the "paths" tickled Dusty on her belly as we drove. Some people like to be tickled and some do not. A rental car has 4x4 I am sure.

When the farmhouse came into view we called off the fight and parked next to the Mig (probably had wanted to defect to the West anyhow). Job well done Dusty!