We thought it would be a good idea to have a "test" weekend away, and seeing as though our annual Sunday School Camp fell on the weekend before our departure into Africa, this worked out well. Or so we thought. The weekend didn't start off so well.....
It's my job to do the inside 'check-list' before we drive off. Check that all the doors & drawers are locked, the shower extractor is shut, etc etc. After driving for about half an hour we decided to put the kids in the back so that they could fall asleep in their beds as we were running a bit late and they were exhausted from helping with all the packing. When we opened the back of the truck we were greeted with a floor smeared with yoghurt, feta juice, stawberries, blueberries and the tomato sauce jar (luckily unopened!). It seems that the full check list hadn't been 'checked', and the fridge hadn't been locked! A mistake that will only happen ONCE! We decided to not let the mistake get us down, who needs to cry over spilt yoghurt anyway, we got ourselves some big take-away coffee and headed on to the camp. Next hurdle........ after turning off the N1 towards Franshoek, the road took a sharp right turn, and oops! Alex's full coffee tipped over and spilt down at his feet - "very dissapointing" - his words exactly.
As you can see from the pictures, the weekend went on to be very enjoyable. Lots of fun on the lake. We got to test out our "SUPPING" (Stand Up Paddle Boarding) which we will be doing lots of on Lake Malawi.
Unfortunately the weekend
ended with another big obstacle.......
We headed of towards home on the N1 again. Kaylin needed to stop for a wee break, so we just pulled over on the side of an offramp. But, unfortunately when we wanted to start Max again, he just wouldn't budge! Totally dead! So there we were, all bundled in the back of the truck - kids thinking that this was a great adventure, us thinking...... whats plan B? Are we gonna have to cancel our trip? Who do we call to tow this thing? We got the number for the Mercedes Truck Assist, and they reassured us they'd be there in 45min - Great! Just then, we got a phone call from our good friends Candice & Kevin, who by chance had been having lunch in Paarl, and drove down the highway, and just couldn't miss this huge truck that looked oh so familiar. They pulled over and offered to take the kids & I home while Alex waited for the Assist guys.
The good news is - the problem was just that the starter motor wasn't connected. We presume it got disconnected from when the airconditioning was installed last week. The guy told us that we were lucky to have been able to start it on the weekend, the wires must of just been touching slightly. Simple, but stressful. Things we've learnt.... keep the phone number handy, there's a Mercedes Truck Assist no. in every country in Africa, they'll come fix any problem (hopefully we won't need them tho'), and... teach Kaylin to wee in the toilet on the move!
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