Labour and Delivery!!!

okay Carlene - here's the overdue update!
Last week we bought a great Toyota Land cruiser. It's '93, 4.2 diesel and has got lots of useful accessories like a roof rack, a snorkel, bull bars, a deep cycle battery, drawers in the back, diff-locks and other technical things! (Learning fast here!) Will send a picture soon. Today after a second viewing, we agreed to buy a trailer. It's also nearly as old - but has stuff like improved suspension - leaf and gas shock absorbers, and the wheel width is the same as the car - helpful in avoiding potholes!  Next thing is the 4x4 course that we'll try and do. I'm only just beginning to get to a place of wanting to do it, and feeling excited about the coming 10 months! Asher and Ajay will spend a day with a mechanic early this week replacing and adding more accessories. And then - all we need to do is get the 'carnet de passage' for the car and the trailer, (vehicle passport paperwork) - around 10 days or so. It's been intense few weeks, again. Now we've worked out why most people take a year or two to organise a trip of this nature!
We've met LOADS of people. It took three hours for our sa bank to release a cheque for the car, sabotaging our family trip to Robbyn Island off Cape Town. I forgot how frustrating a new country can be. We didn't realise there is a 1% charge for all cash taken out of the bank or that it was the Thank goodness for Guy and Belinda's lovely refuge - thanks guys!
We've been marking time, anxious to get on - trying to enjoy the enforced rest. Not too much to say! We'll try and do a test run for a few days, while waiting for the paper work to come through this week.

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Contraction Pains!

Escaping with a good book and a glass of wine after a day of 'snowboarding' down the sand dunes with the red african sun setting behind our roof top tent seems a long way off! We are still full-on and have spent the last week or more investigating every lead we have for a petrol/diesel, landcruiser/landrover and maybe a trailer (or not)! Every item compared for its pros and cons. Our contacts are beginning to overlap so we know that we are beginning to saturate the Cape Town 4x4 market.  Every trip, the kids rattle around in the back - until neither they nor we can take anymore - and then we split off for a day, giving Ajay a bit more freedom. Asher's been helpful in accompanying Ajay though. It's a bit like birthing a baby - trying to get this car. Even when it comes through, it will need tlc and time to get to know it! Ajay wants to change all the bits, so that we have spare parts at hand. AA are just doing a 3 hour check at this moment, before we buy it. (The mechanic wanted to talk to Ajay 'in person'.) So I'm not even sure if the sale will be aborted and we'll have to start again looking for another! Now I know why cars get given names - any ideas?!!!
 

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This ain't the most creative piece of writing. Ajay and I are too preoccupied with finding a reliable vehicle (and trailer?), and all the extras a family of five need to survive for a trek through Africa. And it's pretty cold here. I guess the peninsular of SA generally attracts a lively wind which literally gives the house and everything around a good shaking. So heading out with a few cubic meters of space for the five of us is somewhat daunting and less than inviting at the moment...! But I looked up HK weather and noticed that it's a hot weather warning, so I'm sure a fresh breeze on your face is an enviable thought. We've met some lovely South Africans, and as different as you can imagine from each other. Some who honestly questioned our sanity as parents, and others who are 'green with envy'. As someone said, the difference between courage and, well ... something else, is the outcome!

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