One more adventure before relaxing in Durban

As the morning sun climbed back in to the sky, the kias doors opened once more, half a sleep, and slightly worse for wear, I clambered aboard to my usual position at the back, sprawled across three chairs with the window open, gasping for air and sluping water we were off once more. Every bump and noise reverbed over and over again…never again would I drink that much, go to bed at 3:30 and have to wake up 2hrs later.

The journey back across the border to in to south africa was a long long drive, about 3:30 we arrived at our final destination about 40ks outside Durban. This place was amazing, considering the type of accomodation we were know familiar with, there was a bar on site, a swimming pool, hammocks, decent kitchen area, outside bbq area, it was like a paradise all on it own….okay so maybe the dorm wasn’t the best but it was good enough!

I carried the food stuff in the kitchen area, put my backpack i n the dorm, wondered down to the bar, pulled up a chair and drank tea….yeah right….beer please, TJ and I sat nattering, then appeared Colleen and nat, the mad canadians, ready to swim…..jeez you would have thought they would have learnt from the last pool we went in, lowered themselves in the pool with a bit of a shudder and then hurled abuse at TJ and I, then the Leslie Anne the girl from the lakes, having been accustomed to the lakes with in the lake district got in…..more abuse follwed, whilst more beer appeared for TJ and I. Then two people we met at the bar, started hurling abuse at me…..mardy this mardy that….okay I got up from my chair, went to the dorm changed to my stuff….and for the men of england jumped in the water, the macho mr g came out…..oh its not to bad…yeah right…..what a great cure for a head ache, or could that have been the beers?? I am not sure 15 mins swim and I was last person standing…..result! Showered and changed food was on.

TJ and I hit the cocktails, starting with a “suitcase” shot of Jack Daniels (bad sign already) and a shot of mango juice, now children don’t try this at home, adults on the other hand, oh you should! Take half a mouthful of mango, empty contents of JD in mouth, other half of mango, swill around and drink…… this should be repeated at least 3times for the effects. Food was to follow, usual wash dishes, although there seemed to be a lot more as Marienne and I did the dishes, or was that the JD working….

Back to the tables, more beer….oh my lots more beer Marienne and Leslie Anne called it a night, leaving a half drunk Englishman an African and two canadians, okay more suit cases, follwed by another cocktail called the springbok…okay the recipe for this is a little blurred, collen and nat if you remember let me know. It our ever so drunk state, we invented a way to drink it….. fingers on head pretending to be horn, look left, look right, jump forward, look left , look right and shake the rear, pick up the cocktail in mouth knock back…..this proved very addictive, then follwed piggy back races, and then fully clothed in the pool. Whoops my boots sort of lost there footing and in the pool I went, of course I didn’t feel the cold as I had my protective beer jacket on. Three days to dry my boots! still the fire and ice, a springbok and a suit case later I was fine……played a bit of pool, I say played I can’t actually remember if I played or just made a vain attempt!

The bar closed around us and I retreated to bed. Oh to quote a friend here in Sydney I had “the mother of all hangovers” spent the next morning collapsed in a hammock!!! Only to be told we had to make a move to Durban.