Rodney_gold
R.I.P. 5 June 2018
It was a cold and somewhat rainy morning as KK, Dean and I headed for Ct international... Dean hadn't slept , KK was still asleep and I was grumpy - fokkit - 4 am is early.
Notwithstanding we were in high spirits as we boarded , the thought of an orgy of high end gear was foremost in our minds as we stumbled aboard the Kalulu bare bones flight - Dean wondered if they served a continental or full breakfast...
Flight was uneventful until the landing , the wings were dipping from side to side at around 20 degrees in an alarming manner , Dean was shouting "oh god oh god , we are all gonna die" , KK was praying loudly and I was sitting stoically ..thinking what a pity it was that I wouldn't be able to enjoy my G1's... the plane skidded down the runway and eventually came to a shuddering halt .. we had made it.
There was a slight chill in the dry JHB air , we struggled to draw breath , being used to CT oxygen rich climes.
Off we headed to Budget car rental - even tho I had made a reservation , we had to wait a good 30 minutes to get served by some sullen and unhelpful minion.
I had booked a Polo vivo , but failed to read "or equivalent and or equivalent turned out to be a 1.2l Huyundai or a Spark..Thinking the Hyundai would be at least decent , I plumped for that...BAD mistake..very bad...
Firstly I hadn't driven manual for 8 years or so , and I brake with my left foot - so getting going was a nightmare , either we had our faces pressed to the windscreen when I braked with my right foot or the car stalled when trying to take off.
Worst of all , the car was totally gutless , foot flat in 2nd gear and the thing wouldnt go faster than 80kph.
Anyway , we got a GPS and programmed in Joel's place (our first stop) , and the thing wasn't working properly , going mad..
So I took my phone and did the same thing in maps - and thats where the fun started , cos both of em did start working , but had planned different routes , so we had duelling GPs's , after taking many wrong turns and having a 40 minute journey take 1.5 hrs , we got there.
Dean had mentioned food 326 x in that short period!!!!!
We had a listen to a set of sonor audios at Joel and were mightily impressed - amazing speakers for the money - but we were keen to be on our way to Francois so left shortly and dealt with our duelling GPs's again.. after getting lost 3x , we finally got there.
Francois's place is a mans domain , yes there were some wimmen there , but WAF in respect of equipment is a non starter ... and there was equipment galore there - eventually about 7 rooms full of different systems.
You know you in male paradise (well according to dean) when breakfast is steak , pap , eggs , wors bacon and nothing green, orange or yellow on the plate (apart from the eggs)
We immediately felt at home , and meeting Francois and his roomates made us feel more at ease... I would never have thrown my home open to all and sundry like he did.. we all got on instantly.
In fact the real highlight of the whole trip was the fact that EVERYONE we met , was warm , welcoming and great fun to talk to.
To be continued....
Notwithstanding we were in high spirits as we boarded , the thought of an orgy of high end gear was foremost in our minds as we stumbled aboard the Kalulu bare bones flight - Dean wondered if they served a continental or full breakfast...
Flight was uneventful until the landing , the wings were dipping from side to side at around 20 degrees in an alarming manner , Dean was shouting "oh god oh god , we are all gonna die" , KK was praying loudly and I was sitting stoically ..thinking what a pity it was that I wouldn't be able to enjoy my G1's... the plane skidded down the runway and eventually came to a shuddering halt .. we had made it.
There was a slight chill in the dry JHB air , we struggled to draw breath , being used to CT oxygen rich climes.
Off we headed to Budget car rental - even tho I had made a reservation , we had to wait a good 30 minutes to get served by some sullen and unhelpful minion.
I had booked a Polo vivo , but failed to read "or equivalent and or equivalent turned out to be a 1.2l Huyundai or a Spark..Thinking the Hyundai would be at least decent , I plumped for that...BAD mistake..very bad...
Firstly I hadn't driven manual for 8 years or so , and I brake with my left foot - so getting going was a nightmare , either we had our faces pressed to the windscreen when I braked with my right foot or the car stalled when trying to take off.
Worst of all , the car was totally gutless , foot flat in 2nd gear and the thing wouldnt go faster than 80kph.
Anyway , we got a GPS and programmed in Joel's place (our first stop) , and the thing wasn't working properly , going mad..
So I took my phone and did the same thing in maps - and thats where the fun started , cos both of em did start working , but had planned different routes , so we had duelling GPs's , after taking many wrong turns and having a 40 minute journey take 1.5 hrs , we got there.
Dean had mentioned food 326 x in that short period!!!!!
We had a listen to a set of sonor audios at Joel and were mightily impressed - amazing speakers for the money - but we were keen to be on our way to Francois so left shortly and dealt with our duelling GPs's again.. after getting lost 3x , we finally got there.
Francois's place is a mans domain , yes there were some wimmen there , but WAF in respect of equipment is a non starter ... and there was equipment galore there - eventually about 7 rooms full of different systems.
You know you in male paradise (well according to dean) when breakfast is steak , pap , eggs , wors bacon and nothing green, orange or yellow on the plate (apart from the eggs)
We immediately felt at home , and meeting Francois and his roomates made us feel more at ease... I would never have thrown my home open to all and sundry like he did.. we all got on instantly.
In fact the real highlight of the whole trip was the fact that EVERYONE we met , was warm , welcoming and great fun to talk to.
To be continued....
