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14/01/2009

Another day, no progress. No word from Pieter on the time frame or the costs. All we know is that he is busy with our job and by all accounts will do a fantastic job. We just hope for the best. Explore town and discover a lovely farm style eatery with a comprehensive breakfast.
Spend the rest of the day schooling the children, doing our own work, getting provisions and end it by watching ‘The Full Monty’ at our indoor campsite.

13/01/2009

Goodbye to Tietiesbaai and Paternoster.
Off we go through Veldrift and Dwarskersbos. Stop in Dwarskerbos to take a picture of a small housing estate and as I walked back to the car saw some oil spattered on the inside of the rear tyre. Back to Velddrift to have it checked out and the verdict is that the seal of the side shaft is leaking oil. As we previously had problems with side shaft and broken axles I knew this had to be looked at so we returned to Vredenburg where it was confirmed that the side shaft bearing has collapsed and the side-shaft is showing wear.
Big problem! The Toyota dealer is only prepared to look at our vehicle in 10-days time because they are busy. They refer us to Albie at ACD. Well now our mood swings as the verdict is confirmed and the options surface. Replace the whole shaft at a cost of R40 000 but that is no guarantee that the problem won’t resurface. Replace only the side shafts at R10 000 but the same problem will definitely re-appear within 150 000 km, or fit a “floating shaft” at R16 000, if it is available. Eventually Albie tracks down Pieter, who is a Toyota fanatic and does customisation on Land cruisers for the farmers as far afield as Namibia. Yes, he can help us by fitting additional bearings around the shafts and some more modification to the diff to make everything fit. He claims an increased load bearing capacity of 3x the existing capacity. That sounds great, just do it. How long will it take? How much will it cost? Uhh, how long is a piece of string? How fast does a cloud move? On this basis we hand our wallets to Pieter and we start our camp-out in Albie’s workshop.

When he closes for business at 17h30, we pitch our tent in the workshop. We cannot move outside because the burglar alarms are set on the property. Luckily, from prior experiences, we handle these kinds of situations well. We have a daily shower, prepare our meals, and take long walks into town.

12/01/2009

We bid goodbye to our friends and now feel as if we are starting our journey proper. From now on we have to rely on ourselves and make sure we all get along. First off to Malmesbury to pick up our tyre which could not be fixed. That means a replacement tyre at R2000.00. Then back to Riebeeck Kasteel to collect our camper’s side window which was forwarded by courier but arrived too late during our last stop over in Riebeeck Kasteel. An important lesson is don’t accept anybody’s word. If they promise it to you within 24-hours make sure to allow 48- or even 72 hours.
Off we go to Vredenburg along the coast and from there to a magical place called Tietiesbaai. The intention is to take the scenic route from Tietiesbaai, through Paternoster, along the coast to Lamberstbaai.
Well, Tietiesbaai was a hidden gem. Situated in a nature reserve the camping costs R87.00 per night and you camp along the coast, far away from other campers. The facilities are a bare minimum with portable toilets scattered through the area and, during our time, only cold showers available. However, the camping here is meant for nature lovers. No bright lights at night, no electricity and no shops so make sure to take everything along that you need, except water, which is on tap.

08/01/2009

Move to Langebaan to spend a few days at the coast and spend some more time with our friends from Riebeeck Kasteel.

07/01/2009

Travel from Cape Agulhas to Riebeeck Kasteel to visit some friends. Riebeeck Kasteel and Riebeeck Wes are two small towns located close to each other. Famous as a wine producing area.

As a family we have started our own challenge to see who can buy the best, or most, of anything with $1. At this stage everybody is still playing a strategic game of waiting to see what the other guys are going to buy.

We have also met some really nice people from Europe that has said to come visit them once we reach Europe so we decided to extend our One Dollar Challenge to any person, group or company that feel like making a contribution to our trip.

It basically works like this. You offer us anything you want for $1. We decide whether we want to accept it and if we do then once we meet up we will give you $1 in exchange for whatever you offered.

Example: You offer to buy us a beer when we reach Paris. When we reach Paris and contact you we will exchange you our $1 for a beer.

Of course you can offer anything. Maybe a room for a night, a meal, a guided tour or whatever you are prepared to exchange for $1. Once we take you up on your offer we pay you $1.

If you have something to offer us please e-mail us on ericus@north-bound.co.za Keep in mind we are 2 adults and 2 children.

You can enter your own offer here. Just remember to send us your contact details as well.

We will display everything that anybody has offered us on this page and our heartfelt thanks to everybody that has taken the time and trouble to respond.

Play along. It can be fun.