This is the story of Shelby, Drew, and Coral the fish’s cross country South African adventure. I never took a blog class, but I am sure if I had they would tell you not to make one this long, but it was a 3 day adventure so I apologize for the length. Sorry there are no pictures, the cords I need are still in the car.
The plan was for us to drive with a car load of stuff and for Andrea to fly with Brie, Gabe, and Eli. Let me back up, when I say car load of stuff, I mean a car LOAD of stuff. It was packed to the gills. The back seats fold up, so we then began to stuff loose stuff in and under all the seats. Floor to ceiling, anywhere there was space, we filled it. In the front with us we had a small cooler, both of our backpacks with a few days of clothes for the journey, and a box holding Brie’s fish, Coral.
There are two routes from Durban to Cape Town. Known as the Northern and Southern. There are pros and cons to both. North is shorter, safer, but very boring when it comes to scenery. The southern is the just the opposite; little bit longer (20 minutes), a little more dangerous, but you get to travel the coast and the garden route. We choose the southern route just so that we could take in all the South African Splendor. The trip is about 1700 kilometres, which translates to a little over 1000 miles. Our plan was to do 1000 k’s the first day and be able to stop in Jeffrey’s Bay, one of the best surf spots in the world and then have a little easier trip on Day 2. The worst part about the southern route is what is known as the old trans sky. This is an area where you don’t want to break down and you don’t want to be driving through at night and try to not have to stop at all. So the plan was to wake at 4:00 AM and get on the road and through the trans sky in the morning. Andrea and her gang would fly out the next day and we would all be in Cape town the same day. We executed the plan flawlessly and we said our goodbyes and were on the road by 4:30 AM. Its about a 4 hour drive to the border of the trans sky and so we stopped had breakfast, topped off the fuel, used the restrooms, and were back in the car. To get through the trans sky takes about 4 hours, so our plan was to not stop for lunch until we got through.
Here I feel the need to take a brief moment to explain the South African roads. We don’t have interstates here like you are accustomed. They would be more similar to a highway. Once you get away from the cities its going to be a 2 lane road with a third lane periodically for passing. These roads will become main street in any of the towns they come too. The speed limit on these roads is 120 which is close to 75 MPH. You will see many things in the roads as they are not protected like interstates. Donkeys, cows, horses, and even pigs were some of the animals that we saw along the sides of the road. Cows in the road, are one of the big dangers in the trans sky.
So, as we begin our adventure in the trans sky we had to go into some mountains in which the temperature dropped to 1 Celsius, which is almost freezing. We were able to see some snow on the distant mountains. The trans sky lived up to its reputation and was very creepy at times. When you come into the city, there are people and cars everywhere. It reminded me a lot of Mexico. If I had to pick one word to describe the trans sky it would be dodgy. We finished up the trans sky portion about 1 and decided to skip lunch and just hammer on. We stopped for fuel, restroom, and a quick snack.
Even finding fuel here is much different. Exits are not marked with what fuel is there and how far. Many times you cant even see the fuel stations from the road and so it becomes another mini adventure. Some areas have nice one stop shops with fuel and food, but we didn’t always find one of those when we needed one.
We got to JBay around 6 and cruised around town a little before it went completely dark. We checked into our backpackers and had a fairly uneventful evening. Backpackers are a world unto themselves, but we will share those stories for another time. We made a plan for our morning and headed to bed early.
The day we woke up, headed to the beach, decided to fuel up, get a light breakfast, check out the shops and get on the road. JBay is know for it’s outlet stores, Billabong, Quicksilver, Rip Curl, all the big surf stores are there. We rummaged through 2-3 stores trying to find gifts for the family but after an hour or so just were not finding any great bargains that I couldn’t live without. We got a few small things and decided to check out the surf spots and then hit the road. We watched the surf for a few minutes and were back on the road by about 10. We had 6-7 hours to go and figured we would be home with the family for dinner.
This is where our adventure begins to unravel. We were on the road for about an hour when the car beeps and displays a warning; ctrl eng faulty, along with a red engine light. I quickly pull the car over. Its important to say here that I know nothing about cars. Nothing. I can change the oil, but that is about the extent of my knowledge. I look around the car, nothing leaking underneath, nothing seems to be over heating, so I look in the manual to see what the warning means. Something with the fuel system. I check with my mechanic back home and he confirms what the manual said and tells me it should be in “limp” mode and I should be safe to take it slow to the next town and get it to a garage.
We drive another 1-2 k’s when something else happens and I loose power. I put the clutch in to pull over and the accelerator acts like it is stuck revving up the engine. Drew points out that there is a trail of grey smoke and I switch the car off and coast to the side of the road. Now I can’t even restart the car. Sounds like it has a dead battery and when I turn the car on it says Oil level low. Now what do I do. Its obvious at this stage that someone is going to have to come and get me. I look around and there is a very small little group of houses to my left. Looks like government housing our something as all the houses look the same. I see a white man sitting on his porch eating a sandwich. Drew and I walk up and I guess at this stage I was hoping to find a phone book so I could call a tow truck or a garage. The man didn’t speak English only Africans, so we didn’t get very far there. We start heading back to the car when someone comes out of the village in a truck and I ask if he knows anything about cars. He comes over and takes a look and tells me there is a auto electrican that lives there in the village. We head out to his house. On the ride he tells me that this use to be housing for the employs of the forestry department but has since become low cost housing. He said it was a very poor community. The guy in the truck reminded me of the bad guy from Meet the Robinsons. We arrive at the mans house and he grabs his toolbox and drives out to meet us at the car. He says the battery is fine and a long story short after about 30-45 minutes I am no where closer to having my car fixed. We did determine that there was no oil in the car what so ever. There were no leaks anywhere. I was still communicating with my mechanic and he said check the tail pipe. That was where all the oil went. He said I really needed to get it to a shop.
By this time, Andrea and her gang had landed in Cape Town. Drew and I are sitting in our broke down car trying to figure out how to find a tow truck or a garage. Our friend Dave Emmerson in Cape town, heard of our plite and called and began searching to find me a tow truck. Within about 30 minutes (seemed a lot longer) a guy had called me and said he was in Knynsa about 30 minutes away and that he would come get the car for about R650 ($93). I asked if there was anyone cheaper and he said he would send someone from Plattensburg Bay which was a little closer and should be a little cheaper. Drew and I looked on our GPS to see how far this guy was and he was close to an hour away. Drew and I at this stage are starving as it is approaching 2:00 and we had nothing for breakfast except a gas station muffin. I am also aware that the longer we sit on the side of the road the greater chance we become a target. The two men in the village told me under no circumstances to leave my car or it would be stripped in about 30 minutes. I am also aware that closer we get to dark the worse this is going to get. At about 2:30 the tow truck shows up. The guy tells me it would be R1500 ($215) to take me to the shop in Platt. I was shocked. I told him the other guy told me R650 and he said he would call him. I guess the other guy wasn’t aware of how far I was away, but the guy did say he would do it for R1250 ($179). He could either take it to his shop in Platt, or he would take it to the Fiat dealer in Knynsa. I decided to go to Knynsa to the fiat dealer because I figured they would have the tools to help figure out the problem. So at this point do I have another choice but to pay the money? He looks at the car trys to start it and tells me my engine is buggered. Buggered? I asked, what does that mean? Buggered, blown, dead, gone, not good. I have got to get off the road and have to get some food. So we get the car loaded and set off. We stopped at a gas station so Drew and I could grab something to eat and drink and I could draw some cash for the tow. We drive for about an hour an end up at the garage in Knynsa. I pay the driver and say our good byes and he takes off.
There were lots of conversations at this point about people willing to help out. We were about 5 hours from Cape town, so at this point it was too late for anyone to come from there. There were some people who from the opposite direction that we wanted to go that wanted to help, but I had already scheduled the tow truck.
We push the car around to the garage and inside. I tell him the story of what happened, he starts the car and tells me it doesn’t look good. He thinks its rings or pistons or both, but can’t give me a price until Monday when he can pull the head off. Figures I heard that day ranged from 10000 – 60000 Rand ($1500 – 10000 USD). I only paid about R35,000 for the car. He said if he was able to fix it it wouldn’t happen till the end of the week. So the guy ask what I want to do. Didn’t seem to make any sense to stick around in Knynsa, so we figured we would take the bus to Cape Town. Drew and I grab a couple of things out of the car. There was a short discussion as to what to do with Coral and so we decide to take him with. Gary, takes us and shows us where the bus stop is and then takes us to checkers grocery where we need to buy the tickets. I don’t remember why at this stage I hesitated to buy the tickets. There were some people from Cape Town who had mentioned coming to get us on Sunday. I also hadn’t figured a ride from Cape Town to Fish Hoek (where my family was) which was about an hour. I got the info on the train and was on the phone with Pastor Julian when my phone died. So we left looking for somewhere to go eat and let my phone charge, but then decided we should stay close to checkers so we find an outlet in the mall and plug my phone in. What I didn’t know was that when your phone dies and you turn it back on, it will ask you for a 4 digit pin that came with you sim card in order for the phone to work. I take the phone to checkers and noone can help me. I try to buy another sim card for my phone but I can’t do that with out a passport which is in my car. So we again walk the streets trying to make a plan. I now don’t have a car, place to stay, or a phone. We see a hotel and go in and ask the lady if there is a pay phone around. Outside around the corner. Now its raining as we stand there trying to call. Problem is I don’t know anyones phone number. Drew has his ipod touch and is able to get some #’s off of skype, but I can’t get the phones to work. We go back into the hotel and she just lets me use the landline. We tried a few people and finally got ahold of Paige who was able to get me my wifes numbers so that I could call and let her know what was going on with my phone.
The lady then asked me what happened with my cell phone and I showed her and she took it upon herself to call Vodacom and get my phone unlocked for us. She allowed us to sit in the lobby and charge my phone while we made some plans for friends from Cape Town to come and fetch us and our stuff Sunday after church. We also learned at this stage that our Friends from Fish Hoek who we were house sitting for were only 30 minutes away on Holiday. They said they would come and fetch Drew and I in the morning and hang out with us.
So its now about 7PM and we decide to get some dinner. We were waiting for a phone call from someone who said they might have a connection for us to stay somewhere in Knysa, so we figured we would eat and if we hadn’t heard from them by the time we were done, we would just head to the backpakers. They lady from the hotel who was so helpful gave us a map of Knynsa and highlighted where the backpackers were. After dinner, we head to the backpackers. I truly felt like God was our Front and rear guard as we were walking around this strange town after dark, just Drew, myself, and Coral. We get to the first backpackers and they were closed, but they gave us directions to the other backpackers. As backpackers go, this one was a little dodgy, but at this stage we were so tired it didn’t really matter. I spoke with the lady there a little while about church and why we were here and she said there is a neat church in the local township and asked if I wanted to go. I said sure and we made a plan for the morning. I didn’t notice what she was drinking, but I noticed the bottle was about half full. When I came out in the morning, it was empty which I am guessing was part of her reasoning for changing her mind about church. We had breakfast there at the backpackers as we kinda stalled waiting to make a plan for our day. I had a concern that the person coming from Cape Town to pick us up wouldn’t have enough room in their vehicle to get everything and that I would still have to make another trip. I am also very conscious about being a burden to other people, so the thought of someone else taking 12 hours out of their day to come help was a lot for me. I was still searching for a plan that I could do without having to rely on other people. Yes, I know this is wrong and I am working on it.
So its Sunday morning and still no plan. We set out from the backpackers; Drew, Myself, and Coral. Coral is not looking well. The box we are carrying him in is getting wetter and wetter and I’m thinking you better live you stupid fish after all we have done for you. We stop at a small church and peak inside but it had already started and there was hardly anyone there. We walked and found a nice spot to stop and sit in the sun.
I have to say at this point, Drew was a real trooper. He only signed up for this trip because he was excited about Jbay and hopefully getting something from the outlet stores. So at this point he was already regretting his decision to come with me instead of Andrea. I know that he is bored out of his mind, but I know that he will remember this forever.
About that time our friend Mike who was holidaying about 30 minutes away called and asked to come get us. We told him where we were and grabbed a soda and waited. He took us back to the hotel they were staying at back at plattensburg Bay. The place was beautiful and it was right on the water. Drew and I climbed around on the rocks by the water for awhile. It was nice to relax and hang out with friends. Its amazing how much easier it is to think when your mind is clear and relaxed.
Mike had offered his pick up truck(back in Fish Hoek) if I needed it for anything. Someone called about noon and said they were willing to come get us and our stuff I told him I didn’t think it would all fit so to just hang tight for for a little bit while I tried to figure out a couple of options.
I was debating about having someone else come in Mikes truck to get us, and even though the odds were stacked against us with the car, I still felt like God was going to do a miracle. So much so that that morning I asked the guy at the garage to go start it again and see if anything had changed. Nothing had. So I was still debating about getting on the bus or having someone come fetch us and even regretting a little not having the guy leave right after church. At this stage Mikes wife Cindy said do you just need a women to tell you what to do? I said yes and she said to get on the bus. So we made a plan. Mike took me to checkers to get our bus tickets. They told us they could sell us tickets unless it was 8 hours before departure. We forced the issue and they called the bus company and made an exception for us. We booked two tickets on the 10:22 bus which would arrive in Cape Town at 6:00 AM
I asked if there was any way we would miss our bus and she said there is a one and million chance that we wouldn’t catch that bus, it was a good as guaranteed. (hah, remember how my week is going?)
We head back to the hotel and just hang out some more with Mikes family. We made a plan to have some dinner and then Mike would take us back to our car to get some things out of it and then we would go have some coffee and then catch our bus at 10:22.
Everything worked out great, good dinner, great company, we saw our car and got our stuff out, stopped and has some coffee. Our bus was right on time and grabbed our stuff and said good bye to Mike and stood in line to get on the bus. We got to the bus and the lady said the bus was full. I looked at her list and our names were on there. She said don’t worry, there is another bus coming about 20 minutes away. I called the number on the ticket and the lady told me there was another bus, but it was more like an hour away. We went back and sat in Mikes car and waited another hour for our bus. Finally at about 11:30 PM we boarded our bus. I think this was my first public bus experience. The bus was very nice, but almost completely packed.
By the first stop we made we had already caught the bus that left at 10:22 and we ended up getting to Cape Town at about 6:30 AM. We got our stuff and walked across to the train station to catch a train to Fish Hoek. It was on time, boarding and leaving in less then 10 minutes. We bought our tickets and rushed to find platform 5 so we could board our train. Outside and inside the train had been tagged with spray paint. Seats, windows, everything, but this would get us one step closer to home. An hour later we pulled into the Fish Hoek station where Julian awaited us to take us home. About 10 minutes later, we were finally home. No car and no stuff, but as a family we were united. Even Coral was still alive.
As I write, we are still awaiting word on our car. It does seem to be fixable. I will keep you posted. At some point that means I will get to reverse the procedure and take the train to Cape Town, Grab a bus for Knynsa, and then bring my car back the last 500 kilo’s of the trip.
Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed our adventure. God is Good even when things don’t make sense. I am still puzzled about why all this happened, but who knows it may just make for some good sermon illustrations some day.
Thanks to all you who kept us in prayer. Thanks for all of you that came to my rescue. It is cool to watch the body of Christ pull together to help out.
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