on the beach in Richards Bay
Sitting in a small rundown campsite made just for me, R55 bucks a night, hot shower, electricity, walking distance to Wikelspruit beach and I finally got access to 8.ta, first time on my travels Telkom has given me access.
So we had to stop here because the camper is giving us trouble again, stopped on the side of the road too many times and tried to fix it using mechanics 101, and just decided I need to do a more thorough job of fixing all the problems before moving on. So spent the first two nights on the beach as none of the camppsites I tried would take the dogs, today I found Shane who was kind enough to fit me in, I sent the morning under the van removing all the pipes, miles of them and he fitted a new radiator in the engine at the back which we thought would solve the overheating problem, by the time I left at dusk, raining, dark, cold and miserable, the problem resurfaced straight away and the gauge shot back up to 120, so clearly we have not solved the problems, I also need my ball joints redone, so I needed to find a campsite in a hurry as another night on the beach with everything wet, dirty and mouldy, with no shower and the locals galvanised to move me off THEIR BEACH, wasn't a pleasant thought, so I took this drive to a lonely place in the bushes, I had been told it's a crummy place run by funny people, so I was expecting dracula to greet me, couldn't have been further from the truth, I met Charmaine who was charming, park where you like she said, dogs no problem, lots of their own, electricity, hot shower, walk to the beach and the dogs are safe.
on winkelspruit beach for 2 nights
My roofvent is leaking like a sieve so will need to fix that tomorrow, but for now I am catching up on the blog as I have also managed to get an 8.ta connection for the first time on my travels, and the dogs are lying under the leaky roof covered in towels and blankets, snoring away, music blaring from my pc, and life is looking up.
Slicky is having a hard time, his hips have almost completely gone so I don't take him walking if possible, I think he may spend a lot more time sleeping in the camper on his own over the next few weeks, but we are going to drive a slower route from now on, being on the coast means we can stop often and for longer periods, inland proved difficult as there are few places to stop and be comfortable to let the dogs roam free. Too much of this country is owned by people who do nothing with vast tracks of land, seems wrong somehow, probably the problem the Bushman had with the settlers attitude to owning land and why they ended being wiped out as they did not believe in anyone owning land, especially on the coast, if a person lives on the beach it seems he thinks he owns it and others have no right to it;s use, I;m certainly walking on a lot of hallowed ground if that;s the case.
We were having one of our morning walks the other day when some kind local came to inform me that dogs were not allowed on the beach, I informed him that I would prefer not to have my clean dogs on his dirty beach, he thought I was pulling his leg, I said no my friend, I have never seen my dogs drop a piece of paper on the beach, or a packet or a bottle of beer, nor a stompie or a condom or wrap their shit in newspaper and discard it on the beach, I said your beach is full of the detritus of human waste and oil spills, I much prefer it if my dogs stay off it..................so as you can see, I am not endearing myself to the locals, so goes life.
I did get a visit from Greg and Greg, they popped past in their fancy BMW and enquired of my camper and it's snake handler sign and my lifestyle, they were impressed by my uniqueness and comfortable chatting for a few hours about life and spiritualism, so I guess I appeal to some....
So we enter week three and life is taking on a new kind of routine, not yet fully over being a joburger, but getting there.
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