Xmas Day
Merry Xmas to everybody. We got a nice Xmas present, a stick with a photo slideshow of the grandkids. Miss them terribly. Today was a do only what is necessary day. So what is necessary? Oil change and brake pads. I’ve been dreading doing the oil change and for this reason, I asked the question on the Adventure Rider forum. Sound daft but it is not the actual changing of the oil that is the problem but rather what you do with the waste and into what do you drain it since it is not very practical to carry an oil buddy with. One of the responses I got was from White Mt Guy. Probably the best tip I’ve gotten in a very long time, that and don’t be stupid.
But first the weather report – The @#@$ sun is shining! Amazing. So I’m out early to start the oil change before we have a late breakfast. Luckily there is a garage just opposite the Port St Johns River Lodge so I run out and buy some oil and made sure I got a plastic bag. While I was busy with all of this Izabel made a Xmas video for the kids which did not have the desired effect. It was meant to be funny but apparently, they saw it as sad 🙂
If you ever wanted a workshop with a view this is it.
It’s just past 7 and already the sun is beating down (not complaining) and this is why I’m servicing my Ural without a shirt as real Russians do. Svetlana wheer is my Wodka!
I drain the oil into a plastic bag. Just to make sure I double bagged. When I start filling the oil I will pour the old oil from the bag into the empty oil containers which I can then take somewhere to dispose of.
I was so chuffed with the way the oil change went that I rewarded myself with a nice breakfast.
And then we sat on the banks of the Umzimvubu River (place of the hippopotamus) like two little love birds feeling sorry for ourselves because we have only had each other for Xmas.
We decided to take advantage of the sunshine and drive up to the airstrip on top of Mount Thesiger. The runaway goes over a 342m cliff and used to be an old Transkei military base. It also stars in Leonardo DiCaprio’s Blood Diamond.
And 200m from the top I run out of petrol. I forgot we entered Port St Johns on reserve yesterday.
Getting ready to take a speed run. I’m a bit scared because Putin has a very high top-end speed but the brakes are not that good and a 342m drop awaits us at the end. We did manage to clock 100Km/h with a headwind before the end of the runway.
Port St Johns sadly has seen better days. The streets are dirty and potholed but the ironic thing is that there were maintenance crews out on Xmas day cutting the grass next to the road.
Our plan for the rest of the day consisted of resting and then going for Xmas lunch at the Waterfront Restaurant. It was quite an experience, or as some would like to say, something different. We park in the dusty parking lot that doubles as a taxi rank and a local park. After getting seated I noticed that the ‘bottled’ water was in fact on an old wine bottle that they refilled with water. Not knowing where the water came from I gave it a hard pass.
While we waited for our food the party in the parking lot/taxi rank outside was in full swing and their music totally drowned out that of the restaurant. At stages, it became this weird mashup of western and African music.
Lunch consisted of 3 courses – entrée, mains, and dessert. The main course was a huge plate of veg with meat of which I only ate half.
Today is our last day in the Eastern Cape and tomorrow we enter Kwazulu Natal but to be honest, it already feels like you are in KZN. Since we left the Sunshine Coast (in the rain) you could detect a difference in the attitude of people. There just seems to be more idiots per capita than anywhere else but hey, that might just be me getting tired. I doubt it though.
So tomorrow’s route takes us onto the South Coast where we will overnight in Amanzimtoti (The water is sweet).
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