HOWDY DOODY

I’ve been blogging about places we’ve seen, but you might be wondering about the nitty gritty’s of the trip. I’ve come to the realization that when you’re on the move you just can’t plan ahead cos things never work out accordingly and you only end up screwing yourself if you put expectations on where you’ll be next. I’m also holding thumbs that the bus doesn’t give any more problems cos Theo is learning about maintenance but I suspect he’s learning the hard way but so far we are still on the move and getting there.

I definitely prefer small one horse towns to the bigger cities since they have so much more character and you feel as though you’ve stepped back in time, also less chance of getting lost. We stopped at Bloemfontein, capital of the Frystaat, to visit Theo’s brother and wife, and the city is big and ugly and uninviting. It’s also raining which probably adds to the dreariness of this large brown city.

We spend most days driving (top speed is 80 km/hr), stopping to make food or tea and sometimes we do museums, some are interesting some are old and dusty, or a quick bit of shopping, but mostly its just us, loads of laybyes, and a changing view from the bus window. When we stop in the middle of nowhere you can feel the quietness all around – it’s cool.

My hands have cuts and the dusty cracks tell me my skin is dry but I make a bee line for soaking in the bath and a good pampering when we stay over with people. Whether or not you wear underwear is also determined by your dwindling cupboard and how far before the next washing machine stop.

We’re eating really well; braaing most nights, Theo’s lekker bread, divine buttermilk flapjacks for brekkies, vetkoek and carrot salad are but a few. And then of course the huge parmeham and pancetta which he made 4 months ago is getting smaller and smaller and works as a good standby.

We’re unfit and fatter and the birds and vegetation have changed so I can’t identify anything. I hope I do ok on the Field Guide course starting 21^st August but I’d better start learning to identify stuff around here. Yesterday we drove past either a jackal or a fox. It was roadkill which made it difficult to match up to the picture in my mammal book. I’ve noticed that the hundreds of termite hills around here have been broken open by animals but I haven’t seen them yet.

Other people collect teaspoons or porcelain frogs but we collect toilet paper from petrol garages for when you have to pee in the bushes (not that I’ve seen many bushes lately).

We mostly only have each others company although we don’t talk to each other too much when driving since the engine is noisy. The exhaust fumes generally billow around the back end of the bus, so when we wanna get goofed we pull over for matinee sex.

I sit with the map to see where we are and to get a sense of direction. Ha – my favorite pastime. Well I’m not lost yet although sometimes the Garmin doesn’t work so lekker. I’m learning where the provinces are, anything north of the karoo is unfamiliar to me. All those new names of towns and provinces are foreign but I see the Free State is still called the Free State according to my map.

It rains in winter in the Western Cape and then it gets cold. Makes sense. Now we’re traveling north, climbing altitude all the time, its still winter, it’s warm, we’ve passed snow on the mountains, the grass is dry yellowy browny and it rains in the summer. I’m confused as to when the people suntan.

Anyway so far I love every minute of the journey. Things will change I imagine when we run out of money but hopefully by then we’ll be qualified field guides and can look for work in that line.

Who knows what tomorrow will bring. I think I’m living life as it was meant to be, I'm enjoying it and I’m happy.