Yep, 227L of petrol in one shot. I didn't think pumps went that high.
While at the butchers we killed a second bird with that stone and took the opportunity to fill our tanks to the brim, as petrol is a bit costlier over the border. Many moons later and around R2000 poorer we hauled the girl and her 4 petrol tanks out of the forecourt and back into town. We still had 2 crucial items on the checklist: malaria area pills and liquor. Thankfully Chris has a good family friend in the apothecary game so our "doctor's prescription" for the high strength doxycycline pills was not strictly necessary. Regarding side effects we were given a stern warning to 1) stay out of the sun as we'd burn very easily and 2) take just before going to bed after a very large meal. The third, as with all medicines, was to avoid alcohol consumption. Done done and done. Finally our very large liquor cabinet had to be stocked for fear of keeping the plastic glasses without company. A fine stockade of Black Label cans was acquired along with what was at the time assumed to be sufficient quantities of brandy and whiskey, and some Cape to Rio cane for those sundowner moments and post braai digestifs. Mixers, too, were sourced, but in scant quantities as the 2L bottles took up too much room. We'd have to man up a bit on the watering down.
So shopping done, bar stocked, meat into freezers and tinned beans into plastic boxes - we were practically set to go. Oil, batteries and petrol - check. High viz vest and 2 triangles (the law in Moz) - check. Bog roll (or White Gold as CCS puts it) - check. Hell, we could roll away right now and it only lunchtime! But no, a plan is a plan and no point in rushing into things. Worse, that'd mean arriving into Maputo at some ungodly hour - unwise methinks. So, as a timefiller we decided to give Betty that little service we'd promised her some days back. That included a change of oil filter and a renewal of brake pads. We both knew that the brake pads were a bridge too far at this late hour but the oil & filter were certainly doable before the early tropical dusk fell. Chris produced some front-wheel stands from his garage that he regularly raised his 4x4s with and plonked them on the driveway. The damn things were about twice the height of the front bumper/floor clearance. And Betty's bumper was already questionably low. I had tried to figure out before how it was held on; if you tipped it with your fingertip it would oscillate for minutes and seem to hover effortlessly in front of the car. No obvious clip or bolt points and no questions asked. How the bumper was so loose yet so steadfast I'll never know.
Anyway, as I'm sure the dear readers have guessed by now, all that was about to change. On the first shot up the steel ramps the momentum wasn't quite great enough and the clutch (getting slippier by the day) was a bit too weak to drag the wheels to the top. Predictably the girl rolled back down the steep 30 or 40cm high ramps but decided to leave the bumper at the top. Oh dear. Well, another job on the list. The second time she pulled up the ramps no bother- sans bumper.
1980's Standard edition Betty Bantam....
...vs. 1950's Hot-Rod edition Betty Bantam. Vrooom!
In hindsight the bumper mishap turned out to be quite beneficial. It was much easier get under and change the filter, but it also gave me an opportunity to fix her gammy headlights. And a proper grill inspection revealed the cooling system was in ship shape. Most importantly though it forced me to fix the bumper in place for once and for all - something I should have done years ago. After scratching around the garage we finally found some matching 6mm cheapy galvanised nuts and bolts and a cordless drill. Twenty minutes later and even more skinned knuckles hey presto! brand new bumper. And also cable tied some old dings to prevent some impending crack propagation.
Seamless bumper repair
More seamless bumper repair
And job done just before dark. A quick freshening up and we forged our way back to the bright lights of Nelspruit for good grub - Half Price sushi. We really tucked into the stuff and amassed quite a number of empty plates. Not understanding the limitations of the offer we accidentally overate our way into quite a hefty bill. However it was entirely unintentional, bizarrely, and we got off the hook. We legged it out of there for fear they'd change their minds and went to a wee gathering of friends Chris knew from more youthful days. Arriving early we of course intended on leaving early with the aim of arising early the next day to beat the border rush.
Midway through a "quick" stopoff at a friends house to say hello. It was here I saw a large country man in some few dozen minutes sail his way through 12 cans of Amstel without respite, ill effect or delay. Fascinating and exemplary.
One thing led to another, as they always seem to do when you least expect or deserve it, and we crawled out of there about seven hours later, a heavy knock taken out of our Black Label and cane reserves we so delicately and caressingly packed earlier that day. Bah!
Still, a good night was had by all and we had a healthy 2hr sleep to look forward to before arising and finally making our way toward Africa proper!
Carboloading at 03:12 before hitting the hay. Good tack, whatever it was!
