Heading into month TWO

I guess if I had to get stuck anywhere for as long as 2 weeks, then Winkelspruit is a good place for it to happen.

I wasn't sure what the universe was doing dumping me here for so long, but on reflection I can say that my attitude today is vastly different to what it was when I first rolled into the campsite on that cold, wet, dark Friday night - tired, wet, irritated, camper limping along, dogs tired and hungry and me ready to rip someones head off in frustration. I can see if I had got the camper fixed the next day we would have continued down the road in the same frame of mind, now I'm relaxed, very chilled, pretty much into Durban time, which is the same as African time, I feel a lot happier about our adventure, more assured of what I originally set out to achieve, I think our hectic headlong flight over the first weeks made me lose sight of the big picture, I have a vastly more positive outlook now, and certainly I am no longer frustrated, far more prosaic at what will transpire with a believe that all will be well.

The Universe has a way of setting me straight, I'm just not always so good at reading the signs.

Time is of no issue, I think I have that concept now, money must become meaningless, that one will take a bit longer but it will happen. Opportunities to learn and connect will come along and I will only get them if I slow down.

my first mark in the road

my next mark in the road

I think the camper is fixed but in the morning when we take her for a drive we will know for sure, but for the first time I am not planning to move on and will only do it once Theuns is sure he has solved our overheating problem.

The cost of the repairs have skyrocketed but have resulted in some new friendships, some learning curves and lots of angst but on reflection I can see that my choices of mechanic in Joburg is where I made my mistake, my gut told me to go elsewhere but I did not listen, so the result is a beach learning experience, I can tell you a lot about radiators if you want to ask me>>>>>>

The road that is being built coming into the campsite has grown since my arrival, and it has my mark on it which will last into posterity, or at least as long as the road lasts.

The dogs are chilled on the beach, still run away from the waves but are less suspicious of their motives and happy to swim in the river when they can to vet rid of the sand and salt in their faces.

waiting for the ball

Lorraine, good friend that she is, went out of her way and brought me some pro Pac today, all the way from Durbs, apparently no-one else sells it so it looks like the dogs will have to find themselves a new brand of food, but they can enjoy their favourite tipple for a few weeks more, compliments of their new good buddy, I left them with Lorraine and went off shopping the other day, came back to dogs who have changed allegiance, it was Lorraine who managed to call Josie out of the bushes and away from barking at the monkeys today, Josie nearly barked herself hoarse at a group of monkeys that completely ignored her efforts to rile them, even though Josie tried climbing the tree and managed to get halfway up before she realised that dogs can't climb trees....

Josie mad with monkey fever

unconcerned local resident

So we are into month two of our travels and in a much different space to that we started with, amazing what the road can do to a persons psyche, I hope our next month brings the same amount of changes, (all positive) getting rid of Joburg fever is taking longer than I thought it would, and although people may be the same everywhere, they surely act differently once out of the big cities, more time for the important things in life, I've had some interesting fishing experiences, some strange conversations, stranger offers and met some really wonky people, but all innocently simple compared to the violence that attaches itself to everything related to Joburg life.

It's good to have an outdoor office, brings a fresh approach to what I call work.

Allows for friends to drop in whenever they want, mostly without needing to make an appointment, definately not a Joburg trait.

Been using the pool for the occasional swim, me and the dogs, they will chase the ball anywhere, even into the pool...much to Mickeys disgust, the locals feel it's too cold to swim, I think they're nuts, this is like a typical summers day in Johies, besides I seem to be the only one using the pool. They also think I have a screw lose because I sleep outside, Lorraine and I are trying to figure out the weather patterns to determine when I am likely to wake up bone dry and when I will wake up sopping wet with dew, which I can tell you is not too pleasant especially when the dogs insist on getting under the blankets with their wet, cold, hairy bodies putting nice brown paw marks all over my nice white sheets.....

So life is proving interesting, I'm learning to let things be and go with the flow, tougher than it sounds, also need to chill a bit more, let things happen as they will, plan less, stress less, talk to more people, even those who ask me if I'm selling ice-cream, wasn't that a slap in the face to poor old BUBBLES II, but she was cool, didn't blow a gasket or anything, oh wait! it happened  at a time when we were sitting on the side of the road with a blown gasket,,,,,

Theuns hard at work