So I arrived at my sisters smallholding at 06h21 on Saturday morning and phoned her to open up the safety gate. Her phone rang and rang and rang and I am thinking (foolishly!) that she is in the shower getting ready for our trip to Vredenburg. Finally she answered and I realised immediately that madam was actually STILL SLEEPING!! But because I have known my sister for 53 years I already made up my mind that we would only leave around 07h00. So she opens up the gate, I drive in and as I get out she asks me to make her a cup of tea and tells me SHE ONLY WENT TO BED AT 05h00!! Anyway, she showered, I made tea and finally, just as my Frikkie came around the cormer on his way to work at 07h45, we departed. The trip started well and we reminisced and laughed and ate our snacks. And this was about the end of all that was good about this nightmare weekend! But I should have been warned when I phoned my son and he said we dont have to worry that we are late as they were still busy packing and cleaning. We arrived at their flat with Nels six meter double axle trailer (thank you for the loan of it Nel) and IMMEDIATELY I could see that if we could fit all their stuff onto the trailer that can bear a 1 ton load hell would probably freeze over!!! How did these kids who have NO FURNITURE accummulate so much stuff? That question will forever remain unanswered as I dont think THEY know how it happened. Pia and I took another look, unhooked the trailer and left to find help. We returned with two willing helpers and the trailer was loaded. It was clear that no amount of expert packing will get everything on so we decided that we would have to do two trips which will allow the kids to finish cleaning as the distance from Verdenburg to Touwsrivier is approximately 280kilometers. And we set off. The first part of the trip was interspersed with stops as the net covering the stuff kept blowing off but finally we had everything under control and we travelled through beautiful countryside. Past Hopefield, through Mooreesburg, Riebeeck West and Riebeeck Kasteel and then on to Ceres. I was stil fairly optimistic about this whole trip although I was spitting blood because the kids are so disorganised and because they have so much stuff and that we would now have to do two trips. Then we reached the first pass just before Ceres. And I knew this was going to be LLLOOOOONNNGGGG trip!. The Pajero valiantly started up the pass pulling the trailer packed to the hilt but it bled of speed at an alarming rate. So it took an ETERNITY to reach Ceres. And the worst was still too come. Through Ceres we got to the Theronsberg pass...now renamed by me Hells Pass and in front of me were two trucks. The forty kilometer pass took more than a bloody hour as I had to stay behind the trucks in second gear doing between 15 and 20 km/h. Anyway we reached Touwsrivier, off loaded and started back a lot faster as the trailer was now empty and I perked up a bit. But now the sun was setting and we approached the turn off to where we THOUGHT Riebeeck Kasteel was. The next thing we saw was the Welcome to MALMESBURY sign!!!!! I almost had a heart attack and was VERY tempted to just carry on home to my Frikkie. I put in diesel and finally we arrived back at Stevens at 20h00 to find a slightly more organised chaos. We packed the trailer to make an early start on Sunday morning. and went to bed. I cannot recall when I last slept so well. Sunday morning we left around 09h00 and although I had my doubts about Stevens little Datsun bakkies abilities I was impressed with its performance. Chantal and Le Riche travelled with Pia and myself in the Pajero. I told Steven to stay in front of me but as all parents know, children ALWAYS know better so he stayed behind me instead of ahead of me. As we turned off towards Ceres still doing well I realised he was no longer behind me. So we phoned. And this was his tale of woe. A truck passed him and SOMEHOW the bonnet of the bakkie flew up and bent completely out of shape. So he had to stop and bend it back. Of course this would not have happened had he travelled ahead of me. So now we pull off to wait for him to catch up. He arrives with a battered bakkie which was now overheating. All this has caused stress levels in the Pajero and no doubt also in the Datsun bakkie to rise to seriously dangerous levels. Up the pass Steven had to pull off into a layby to wait for the bakkie to cool off enough and we went on to Ceres with me alternately weeping and foaming at the mouth. And this is where my sister Pia showed her mettle. She held everything together and basically saved the day. Without her I probably would have killed my beloved son. We got to Ceres, stopped at the Spur and had something to drink. By then I had, with the help of my sister, calmed down. Steven arrived and we had something to eat. We bought anti-freeze for the bakkie and started on the last leg of this epic journey. But then my prayers were answered. The pass was free of all traffic and we practically flew over it except for the part where my grandson announced that he wanted to poo and he then had the experience most South African boys have at least once in a life time.....to poo in the veld! We arrived at the house they will live in and their reaction was worth every single agonising moment of this weekend. Thank you Tesna and Gerhard for cleaning and painting the house which we didnt expect you to do and THANK YOU PIA for all you support. WITHOUT you I would not have been able to do it and WITH you I will do it again. Lief jou. sussie. xxxx
Posted on: Mon, 25 Aug 2014 10:02:47 +0000