SA Roadtrip - Bela Bela

Bela Bela 1- 12 September

We slept late the next morning because we knew we had the whole day to complete the setup and then took the process slowly so that nothing could go wrong – go wrong – go wrong.  The process was a lot more organized than at Elangeni with Ethan taking charge of the dance floor (which had to be re-built in spite of my efforts to  pack it sequentially).    Paul arrived at around 11.30 having flown and then all hell broke loose again.  At this venue we were using a lighting setup that we had not used previously and as it turned out the stands for the lights were not there.  He accused us of leaving it in Durban (which we hadn’t).  Then there was the 3 phase cable for the lights – same story and finally there were some metal bars that were needed for the screen.  In this case we had in fact left them in Durban and we admitted it, but for the rest of the day he continued to belittle particularly the younger guys) and tell his customers that we had left all his stuff in Durban.  The setup was completed at around 8pm as the other vehicle from Durban had some of the equipment (staging in particular) that was required for this even (which was much larger than the previous one)  The next day (Sunday which had originally been a rest day) we spent most of the day standing around or taking tape of the stage and painting both the stage and some scaffolding that would be used for the lighting.  Paul continued to treat everyone badly and at around 4pm accused us of leaving a particular script that would be needed the next day at home.   Like a good Taurean, I had reached my limit – particularly when I found the script in a different place from the place that he assured us that he had left it – I pointed out that possibly he had also mistaken where the other stuff that he said we should have was which in turn set him off on one of his most impressive rants so far.

Miraculously by dinner time, the shouting match may not have happened and while not really civil, he was a little more friendly.  I had a bad night that night.  I was wondering if it had been such a good idea to take on this job (which I had been told was the next best thing to an all expenses paid holiday).  I had not been told about the carting about and setting up of equipment.

We met at 7am the next morning and set up a small outside sound system  and Paul and myself went through the script (I would be assisting him – doing the sound and lights while he did the videos).    It was a highly tense session as I have not done sound and lighting since my school days in any big way.  There were a couple of small errors and each time Paul came down hard on me – as a result I would miss the next cue.  Eventually I asked him to wait until afterwards to shit on me.  After that (apart from a few moments where I missed the subtle signals from the people in the event to lower or raise the sound) all went well.

Paul did the evening function and I had my first time off Elangeni.

So we are up to date.  This morning we set up a second smaller venue using the equipment from the other vehicle.  The process went like clockwork with no serious issues.  Amazing how knowing a little about what needs to be done helps in the process! After that (Joy of Joys) 4 of the 5 of us were allowed the day off.  Much of this morning was spent connecting  to the local hot spot (R50 for 150Mb) and sorting out the e-mails that I received as a result (recall I have not been able to connect properly for over a week!).  This afternoon we attempted to visit the game reserve but it turns out that it is one of these that you have to go on the rangers’ vehicle.  At around 4.30 I went to visit the metropolis of Bela Bela.  The town is dry and dusty and fairly run down.  Many of the shops had already closed for business.  The main shop seems to be a large Spar but I noticed that there is also a Shoprite.  Still I always enjoy wandering through a different place.  This evening I enjoyed one of the beers that had come all the way from the Elangeni on the veranda of our cottage which overlooks a lake and watched the bats try to catch the insects that had not already been nailed by a somewhat irritating electric bug killer.

SA Roadtrip - Durban

Durban 28 - 31 August

As Elangeni  had functions in the room where we were due to set up, this was a free day – the last for a long time!!  Got up fairly late, had a sumptuous breakfast and walked along the beach.  Efforts to get my computer connected were mostly unsuccessful because of problems with SMTP settings for Cell C and even when I eventually used the hotel logon, I still could not send e-mails.

The room was supposed to be available at 5pm but when we arrived there we were told that this was not the case and that we would have to wait until the function was finished. “Don’t worry, it shouldn’t be long – its mostly ladies and speeches”.  The speeches went on and on – we had some food  and the speeches continued.  Eventually at around 11.30 pm they told us that we could go in.  By this stage we had moved the equipment into another room close by but now had to move it into the function room and set it up.  Ethan was the DJ so he took the Disco equipment – which included putting together a large dance floor made up of small squares which had to be fitted to reflect PEP stores and their new logo – and Corbin set up the sound.  It should be noted that (with the exception of Corbin) we had never seen this equipment before and there was a lot of equipment that was not even required for this function.  As a result we spent the first hour or so going through the boxed and deciding where the equipment had to go.  Paul (the guy who ran the equipment and operational side of the show) had provided some layouts of where he wanted the equipment to go in the room so we had to work out which equipment was which before we could set it up.  I assisted Ethan with the setting up of the dance floor which turned out to be a major operation as it had never been put together in this format before.  Once that was completed we needed to put up two large screens, wire up two overhead projectors, lights and a large backdrop.

To cut a long story short we eventually finished at around  5am and got some shut eye before a meeting scheduled with Paul and 7am.  When Paul arrived he immediately went on a major rant.  Complaining about the way that the cabling had been done, the exact positions of some of the items on his diagrams.  As is the way with people who rant, no sooner had he found one problem than he found 10 others.  Of course, while it was true that the sound wiring was a mess,  none of us had any idea of exactly what was required so we bore the brunt of his fucking this stuffing that and how useless we all were etc etc etc.

It was clear that the ‘fun’ part of the trip was now over.

The function went smoothly  and Ethan’s disco went well in the evening.  We had to be there at 7am next morning to remove all the cabling and to re-do it and to be honest this was necessary.  As the senior person I guess I should have checked the cabling but I had assumed that Corbin was aware of what was required as he had worked with Paul before.  Anyway, it is true that once it had been re-done there were a large number of cables that we had used that were not actually required (a definite no-no in sound engineering)

That day’s function started at around 1pm and I had to assist Paul as I would be doing the sound in Bela Bela.  Once it was finished (at around 5pm), the second vehicle arrived with the second crew of two.  The main guy there was Dean who is a lecturer at the tech in audio production and a rapper by night.  His assistant was David who lives in Imizamo Yethu and originally made contact with Paul when he did some painting at his house.  Dean is very man about town and (like Corbin) takes a keen interest in anything that moves in a skirt (or that could wear a skirt)  Both claim to have serious girl friends.  We had to assist with the  set up their function in the Durban Casino having earlier picked up some equipment that had been flown in to Durban.  This was a similar set up to ours but a bit smaller (no dance floor thank God).  Even with 4 of us working we only completed the set up at about 9.30 so when we returned I was starving (not having had any food that day!).   We checked in with Paul and he had started striking (breaking down) our system (in the dark as the disco for the function was still running).  I went off in search of food – the main buffet closed at about 10.30 so I ordered room service (R170 for a steak – a lot to bay but it was a great steak!) .  Slightly refreshed I returned to find  Paul ranting again about how much time I had wasted having dinner and I should have ordered the food to be delivered to the function (which is what the other guys subsequently did).  Striking the equipment took us to around 2.30am and we had to load it the next morning to go to Bela Bela.

We had an early start – around 7am – loading the vehicle – not an easy process as all the equipment was on the first floor of the hotel and had to be brought down in the lifts which were in use.  Finally completed the job by around 9.30 and had some breakfast before setting out on our journey.  Corbin had to drop something off at the Casino (where Paul was about to run a function) and then the bombshell.  We would have to swap a CD player (which was in a rack right at the back of the vehicle) in Joburg and go to collect a car radio in Pretoria.  To add to this, the car was sending out regular beeping alarms which made the journey irritating.  We stopped off along the road to try to find the source of the alarm (as well as sending off SMSs to Paul to try to find the solution).  After 3 hours or so, Paul came back telling us that there was a switch on the dash which would get rid of it – fortunately it did!!  I SMSed Paul to let him know that it was unlikely that we would get to Joburg on time but he insisted that it should be possible.  In the mean time we had to phone Joburg and Cape Town to try to get the player.  Of course in a van this size – getting an average speed of 100km/h is not possible not to mention the numerous stops for tolls and at least one stop for fuel.  We eventually came in to Joburg at around 5.45 (the shop having closed at 4pm and the sales person having arranged for a CD player to be collected in Durban.   We still had to collect the radio in Pretoria (Lynwood).  To my surprise, Gertrude (our GPS) insisted that I take the M1 (instead of the R21) to get to Pretoria.  She then told me to come off at halfway house.  Pretty sure we were going wrong, we followed her directions and she took us to the (now closed) equipment shop.   We were then unable to enter the new details to get us to  the exact location (a Toyota dealership). So we just went to Lynwood.   We got to Lynwood road, and had to drive up and down, asking at petrol stations and eventually found the dealership.  The Salesperson there was supposed to have left the radio with the night guards – but of course it was not there.

So on to Bela Bela.  We arrived at around 8.30, checked in and had a meal at the Spur (all meals covered by PEP and the Spur was where we were to eat for the next 12 days.

SA Road Trip - Cape Town to Durban

26-27 August 2012 

A day to recover from the loss of our daughter to the Mahindra school in Pune and then a 6.30 start on Sunday morning – quick cup of coffee and off to Paul’s place.  There stood the Toyota van fully laden that would take us to Durban.  Paul gave us a last run down on the set ups and we were off.  We are team A – Myself, Corbin and Evan.  Corbin is a young recently qualified sound engineer and Corbin is the DJ.  Our first stop was in the winelands.  Davie is a the power behind the PEP functions – large in character and stature – and he had a bag and a couple of boxes to add to the small space still available in our vehicle.   We cut back through Paarl and on to the N1.  Of course this made for a bit of a late start but there was no hurry as our first stop was Bloemfontein and this was just transit.

Through the tunnel and past Worster, the snow on the mountains was spectacular.  In places it felt like a swiss village as we passed through the Hex river valley.  As the scenery became drier the early wild flowers seemed to become more prolific.  We had a brief stop in Touwsrivier for Corbin to have a smoke and to pick up some snacks for the road.

For me this is a road well travelled but I haven’t been on it for many years.

 

The first memory was at Meitjiesfontien where I stood for many (many) hours after easily getting a lift from Cape Town in the early morning.  I remember standing with my thumb out as the sun was setting and wondering where the best place would be to sleep by the road.  The cost of staying at the hotel would have blown my student budget out of the water.   Just before dark a car pulled up and called me over.  A single salesman – well travelled – every town we came to he would pull up and one of the local pubs and disappear for half an hour while I waited patiently in the car.  Somehow we still got to Joburg.

Meitjiesfontein marks the real start of the Karoo for me.  The next town is Laingsburg.   Again it sticks in my memory as I was stuck hitching back to Cape Town after a varsity holiday and couldn’t work out why there was no traffic going past Kimberley.  Eventually I found out that there had been a major flood in Laingsburg and there was no way of getting to Cape Town.  I think that time I had to resort to taking a plane from Kimberley at (for a student) huge expense as varsity was starting the next day.

So on to Beaufort West and now the scenery is wide open spaces.  The mountains and snow as well as the overcast weather was well behind us but there was still a chill in the air when we stopped in Beaufort West (after 100kms with the petrol light on and me wondering if we’d make it.  We had Steers for lunch and then off again.  The last time I was in Beaufort West, Lionel flew me there.  We landed at the air strip belonging to Philippa Wilson (nee Walters) guest house which is actually the old airport .  As we passed I wondered if her ex-husband was still running the place.  Still a fair distance to cover before Bloemfontein – in fact Beaufort West is only about half way.

Sheep and a few ostriches and even the odd springbok but little else other than wide expansive scenery.  Even the wild flowers had given up the effort.  As the sun set we still had a couple of hours driving before our destination – Tom’s Place.  Couldn’t find it on our brand new GPS but it did tell us when to expect fixed speed traps which was useful (although I kept very much to the speed limit as any fines would be for my account!).

By 6pm we had about 100km to go – an hour and we would be there.  No such luck.  Three stop and go’s for the roadworks made sure that we didn’t reach our destination before 8.30.

I had expected Tom’s place to be about 10km outside Bloem but 40km out, there was the sign.  We turned off the road to find the accommodation totally dark.  There was a sign that said reception, but that appeared to be for a park of some sort and anyway it was closed.  After looking around we went the petrol station.  They said that they had the keys but that we were not booked in.  If we wanted accommodation, it would be R520 for the three of us.  Was there a restaurant nearby??  All seemed so dark.  The restaurant had closed at 8pm and the nearest one was about 40km away.  So either we stayed and travelled for food, or didn’t have food (not an option!) or we found somewhere else.  I phoned Paul  and he offered no help other than ‘that’s why I gave you the GPS’ and don’t stay in a Guest House because it will cost too much.  Tired and un-amused, we found (and phoned) a place 30km further on called the Luxor Highway Lodge.  Price was about the same but for 3 sharing.  There was a restaurant nearby.  The front of the place looked a bit like the Kamfinsa Park Hotel (at its lowest possible ebb).  There were, however lights and a man at reception watching TV and warming himself by a one-bar heater.   I paid or R500 and he took us to our room.  It seemed relatively clean if smelling of cigarette smoke and there was even a TV and an aircon.  We went off the local restaurant/takeaway (de Regos) and had some calamari, fish and chips – no sea nearby but by that stage anything would have been good!

In fact we all slept very well.  The beds were hard but comfortable and once I had got sort of used to the cigarette smell of the blankets, I had a good night.  We got up around 7am (no shower and none of us was brave enough to try the bath!), had breakfast at De Regos), filled up the van and were on the road by around 9.15.

The trip to Durban took longer than I had anticipated.  The GPS had lied the night before telling us that it would be around 475km, it was more like 630km in the end and again there were a number of stop and go’s.  I vaguely remembered the road from a trip that we had done as a family back from La Lucia a few years before.  Back then we had driven the other way at night and had to drive slowly to avoid the huge pot holes.  It seems that someone noticed these and the road is now much improved.  Slowly the scenery started to change as we drew closer to KZN and by the time we hit the N3, I was in familiar territory again.  More mountains and better roads but plenty of speed traps and traffic cops.  KZN seem to have this process well under control and as a result most people tend to stick to the speed limit – on the open road that is.  As we passed Pietermaritzburg, I knew that I was getting close.  The drivers became more aggressive and driving a diesel meant that I wasn’t able to instantly give them what they wanted.  Our GPS directed us to the door of the Elangeni Hotel – a far cry from the Luxor Highway lodge and we found the right people and unloaded the kit – with lots of help from the hotel staff thank goodness – there was lots of it!

I had contacted my cousin Carol previously and she had arranged a braai at her house with my Aunt Joan and by pure coincidence, my other cousin, Roddy and his family (serious bonus).  Roddy picked me up from the hotel and we had an excellent dinner/braai and their house.  It was great to get together again and catch up.  Rod’s daughter, Michelle who is the a little younger than my son Guy has shot up like a bean pole – easily overtaking both Rod and Ces.  Mus t be something we feed them these days.

The evening was over by 9.30 and I was home just in time for a call from Fiona.

South African Road Trip - Intro

I got a call from Geoff to let me know that Paul (the other Paul) had a job for me which involved some travelling with a Sound Rig.  It would include some setting up and mixing of equipment.  I gave Paul a call – Paul has a business where he provides sound and light equipment for functions – and sure enough, it turned out that his sound man was unavailable.  He had a tour that would be going to various venues around South Africa  and he needed someone urgently.  Now for the catch.  He was leaving in a week’s time and the tour would last a month.

In the mean time we were preparing for Lauren’s big trip.  She was going to school in India for two years, so as you can imagine we were mostly concentrating on this major change in our lives.  Fiona reacted better than I had expected to the concept of her daughter leaving on Friday and then I would leave on Sunday,  I let Paul know that I would be available.

After that I heard nothing from him until the following Wednesday when he phoned to ‘confirm’ that I was available and to negotiate the agreement.  The trip was on.  He sent me through some details about  what would be happening.  We would be doing functions for PEP stores in Durban, Warmbaths (Bela Bela), Thaba’nchu, Mpekwenin Beach Hotel (near Port Alfred), Protea Hotel King George (George) and Club Mykanos (Langebaan).  Quite a trip and quite a few kms to travel.