Rubber Mounting and all and all

I felt so bad about the previous story on rubber mountings in Lee Cannata's car that Jacqie and I set off to Thabazimbi on the Wednesday to have a look at the problem. OK I know I said Lee and Moira were in Tzaneen in the previous blog..... er..... I didn't do geography at school. I'm glad I checked with him before I set off. If you go around the top end of Pretoria and get onto the R513 to Rustenburg, turn off to Pilansburg on the R556, turn right to Northam on the R 510, you'll get to Lee's place otherside Thabazimbi in about 3 hours if you don't stop too often. BE WARNED: Do not go through Brits. If you end up on the R511 you might lose you car in a pot-hole. I have NEVER seen such a bad "tarred" road.

We set off in the resurrected Fiat 500 "Lounge" which I bought recently. The front was dinged, the airbags had gone off so the insurance company decided they were too pricey to replace - write-off. I paid a bit too much for it but it is really great - and anyway I don't like airbags. Love seatbelts but not airbags. I am impressed with the car. It is a 6-speed and if there are hills about you tend to row it along on the gearstick a bit but by and large it is a delight. If the 100 HP were doubled - eisch...would that not be fun. I fear however that the Abarth version which has just been released is really a bit pricey. Anyway - enough of Fiats....

We passed Thabazimbi and before we had even reached the farm, I understood the problem. The last 17 kms to Lee's place are over what Lee felt was a reasonable dirt road. The ultimate vehicle for crossing Africa is a Toyota Land Cruiser. Lee had previously travelled this road almost exclusively in a Land Cruiser. THIS IS NOT MORGAN TERRITORY. In the Land Cruiser you hardly notice you're off the tar. In a Morgan you'd better have your false teeth well set or you'll lose them!

I removed the cowl and broken mountings and Jacqui and I set off back to Springs. We had the dings removed and repainted the cowl. Saturday saw us back on the road to Thabazimbi where the cowl/mountings were replaced. We spent the night with Lee and Moira. What a delight. The house and farm are like an oasis in the burning bushveld of Thabazimbi. Absolutely beautiful. The farm itself has an amazing array of hugely unusual game on it. Black Impala, Roan Antelope, Sable with huge horns I could never imagine. The birdlife is incredible. When I get my Land Cruiser (and it's on the cards) I would love to visit them again. Lee has in the meantime bought a trailer to get the Moggy across the dirt so that it can operate on it's home territory - Tarmac!

Thanks Lee, thanks Moira - we'd love to see you again soon. Sorry I don't have photos but my bag with the camera was stolen. Next time.