Day 10 - Durban - Umhlanga Rocks, South Africa
Umhlanga Rocks, South Africa
My last full day in Durban was supposed to be the day that Rich and I drove around and saw "stuff". Didn't matter what "stuff"....but just "stuff". They day did not go as planned. As we weren't on a time table, we both slept in a little. Then between my trying to get a bit of a tan on his deck and his not realizing I was on the deck trying to get a tan (he thought I went back to the room to sleep), we didn't get going till about 9:30. About a minute from his home he noticed his car making a noise, so to be safe he went straight to the "Mini" dealer and they told him he could not take the car back out onto the road. All of the sudden, we have no vehicle, and we have "stuff" to do and see. While he was sorting everything with the mechanics, I went upstairs to a cafe. (still in the car dealership). Rich said "South African car dealerships are much different than in Canada"...and he was right. For starters the garage was spotless. No mechanics in overalls covered in oil, just everyone in uniform like they were going to a meeting. There wasn't a speck of dust on the ground in the garage. Also, while I was in the cafe reading a paper, out of nowhere, loud music started blarring and all the employees gathered on the edge of the railing and started dancing. Below them on the first floor was a car covered by a fancy curtain. As the employees danced, the curtain was slowly lifted to unveil the beautiful brand new Mini underneath. Apparently this is tradition when they sell a new vehicle. The happy owner is also part of the dance down below. Rich was right, this doesn't happen in Canada. From the dealership we were able to get a ride to the kids school as that's where Robyn works. The goal was to borrow the van, and she gave us two hours. With just two hours we had to cancel one of the trips we had planned to make. He had a meeting about 30 minutes away, and that trip would have taken us through Pinetown. Pinetown made world wide news two months ago after a tragic car accident killed 27 people. A large truck coming down a hill blew through a red light and hit all the cars going through on their green. We were going to go to the intersection where it happened to view the memorial there. If you have the stomach for it, the crash was caught on a dashboard camera from a vehicle directly behind those that got hit. Youtube "Pinetown crash". It's hard to watch. Where we did end up was the EastGate Mall. I had ideas for Christmas presents that I wanted to bring home but I couldn't find what I was looking for. We just walked around, and ate at the food court. It's a large mall, with a large movie theatre. By 1:15 we are back at the boys school, Robyn needed the van, and Bryce had cricket. This was my first ever live Cricket match. Rich has done a great job explaining the rules to me, and I almost know what I'm watching now. Bryce is very good. The match was three hours long, and it got exciting at the end when the other school almost caught up. One lady there watching her son clearly hated cricket. She said to me "What did you do to deserve watching a Cricket match??". Then she took a phone call and I heard her say "I'm watching paint dry, that's what I'm doing". I'm glad I saw it, but wouldn't rush back to see it again. Granted watching the Professionals might have a different effect than watching 10 year olds. Bryces team won 79-76. After the Cricket match, we headed back to Umbloti. It was now 4:30, and with a combination of rush hour, and road construction, we couldn't take the highway. It was not moving, all four lanes jammed. So...they improvised. They took a back dirt road, weaving through plantations, and at one time, a slum. It was quite the journey, and very scenic. When we go home we had dinner, and the kids started up their hockey again. Jonty is the smallest, but he's the fiestiest. He takes no prisoners. If he played for real....he'd be in the penalty box all the time :) When it was bed time for the boys, they all gave me a big hug to say goodbye. Robyn came up to me and said "The boys told me they really liked the guy from Canada". LOL. I spent time with Rich online to try and figure out the Namibia part of my holiday, then everyone retired to bed.