So off we went along the M2 and we joined the N17 - that must be the longest road in South Africa I swear!
It was dark, so we didnt get much sight seeing done, but one thing for damn sure, we got lost a couple of times!One tip, when you download a google map, make sure that you read it properly first!
Somewhere on our map we were diverted onto the R50, off of the N17 in some farm dorpies that have nothing but POTHOLES for like 50kms. It was agonising and ridiculuosly uncanny how I could actually see how some people end up planting trees in the blooming gaping wounds on that particular stretch of road!
Needless to say, with a stroke of ungodly luck, we got a punctured tyre, at 11h00....at this point, we were still within the boarders of the Gauteng province, somewhere between Leandra and Govan Mbekhi, both of which I learned about at that specific moment of my journey and my life.
Imagine, out in the countryside, grassland and something growing (it was realy dark) for kilometers on either side of a godforsaken potholed mess, no streetlights and a car every 10 to 20 mins...It was like we were flirting with horror. We were not sure what would come out of the thicket, none of the two cars and 1 truck that passed us in the hour that we waited for the AA to arrive were stopping! It was unbelievable. When the AA did finally arrive in the middle of nowhere, they send Tweedle Boet and Tweedle Butch to us. These guys look like they are from a BAD 80's flick and can hardly speak a word of audibility to us.
Its Tweedle Buth who ends up doing the bulk of the work. Its strange how clumsy big Afrikaner dudes look when they are trying to be tough.
Anywho, after some moments of kissing and kickin up some gravel in an attempt to secure our punctured little, Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Butch get the car onto the tow-truck and Tweedle Butch sits in the towed vehicle while Tweedle Dumb drives, with us in the front with him.
Can I tell you that the entire ride to 'Anderkakfontein' where we got the tyre patched for like R 700, not kidding, my lovely lover and Tweedle Butch were in a fearsome starring contest.
My lover was adamant that le bunu would search through our ride and just be all up in our business, thus he felt the need to keep his eyes on him for the duration of the ride.
It was hilarious I tell you.
The sun came up as we were meandering our way through the New Castle's and Hammersdales of KZN.
I lost track of time and geography somewhere in the hills and the koppies and the long winding roads.
There was a point when I thought I could see the beach, then discovered it was a roadblock at a distance...
Then at some point, I was driving in the dark and there was mist and fear all over the road and the car, they said the place ku se Majuba.
I swear we drove for 13 hours straight....
By the time the sea salt and curry really hit my nostrils, my ears had popped and my body was replete with fatigue and sweat. By the time the drowning sounds of hooting, screaming, speeding and whistling on Central Street hit me, I was already thinking with an thick accent and negotiating with myself whether or not to get a cheap hotel and all!
Moral of my convoluted story? Use the N3 to Durban. It will get you there in 6/7hrs at about R 300 of road tolls, but you will enjoy your ride!
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