This is exactly how I wrote it back in "The Day."
Gerald and I were talking about cycling one day while waiting for assembly, when he mentioned that he was riding to Underberg in the Easter holidays I asked him if I could join him. We planned the trip. Tegwaan, (the Scoutmaster) had told us we could stay with the scouts. We would leave my house, where Gerald would sleep, at about 3 o clock in the morning, on the second day of the holidays. We were going to cycle as far as we could on the first day and then sleep on the side of the road somewhere. We would have plenty of time to get to Underberg.
This is the diary which I compiled when we returned home.
Sat
Left at 1/4 to 3. Reach Park Rynie at 1/4 to 5. Umzinto 1/4 past 7. Nothng happened so far. Reach Highflats after very stiff climb up hills we take an hour each to climb. We had lunch just outside Highflats (at 2 o clock)and found a nice place with plenty of firewood. After our lunch of soup in a leaky pan, we carried on to find that we had made our lunch in a restricted area. We saw a board, TRESPASSERS WILL BE PROSECUTED, FIRES PROHIBITED. (we did not know this was restricted area until we saw the notice board.)
Bolt on wheel slips just outside Braemar where we got water. Have uncountable rests and get thirsty very quickly. Still feeling fit and can keep going forever. We reach Ixopo at 5o clock. If it wasnt for the water bottle, of which I had the only one, we would have died of thirst. Shower at caravan park and feel refreshed.
(here I need to add something I left out of my diary.) I had started getting a bit of a saddle rash so at the caravan park, I decided to put some Deep Heat on it. To cut a long story short. The family jewels "caught on fire." Nuff said)
Leave at 6pm after a supper of dry bread and milk. Getting dark rapidly and cannot see a thing. Truck doing about 70 mph passes us and stops at top of hill about 4 miles outside Ixopo. Gives us a 12 mile lift. We carry on riding for about 5 more miles (hard to tell). Outside radius of bicycle lamp everything is pitch black. Going down a mountain pass we nearly flatten some cows. We think we are lost so decide to sleep on the side of the road now, instead hitting out for Donnybrook as originally planned. We are a bit scared, but are tired and sleep well except for a couple of trains that come close to us. Lovely starry night, but very cold. Have bad attack of hay fever and wake Jimmy as I think it is morning (the moon came up)
(we had 10 pints of water each, 3pints of milk, filled water bottle at Braemar and Ixopo, also at a couple of trading stations. Water is lovely and cold. We bought 1 1/2 loaves of bread and cheap biscuits) No sponsors on this trip.
(I still remember a trading store on top of one of the steep hills where we were both parched. We got water from a zinc rain tank. I promise you, to this day I can still taste that water. It was the most delicious water I have ever had)
Sun
Jimmy wakes me at 6am and it is bitterly cold. If it wasnt for gloves I dont know what we would have done. (even these didnt stop our hands going numb). Reach Donnybrook 1/4 to 7. Dirt road, not too bad. Have nothing to eat or drink and no shops open. Pity. Lot of natives on road, all stare. Lots of uphills now and dodging bumps as road is getting worse. Dont pass many cars so we ride in middle of the road where it is smoother. Miss turn off to Underberg after Donnybrook, so we ask a native the way. He speaks excellent english and shows us a shortcut through forestry grounds. Gerald cuts a corner too fast and gets brambles in his legs. Going downhill after crossing a railway line, my chain comes off and I find a broken link. Lucky I had an old one with me. If this one had broken I would have had it. (luckily it lasted all the way home). Carry on and come to the second last hill before Underberg when Tegwaan passes us. He is about 2 miles ahead of the truck which passes us later with all the scouts on board. Plenty of ND, NP, NX and NPN cars on the road bound for Underberg now. Freewheel into Underberg at 12 o clock and have something to eat and drink and buy sausages and sardines for supper. Phone Ma to relieve the strain on her (haha) but she is not there (lekker????) I never saw eye to eye with my Mom.
Carry on to Nothnagels farm and take wrong turning again. Jimmy says he knows where to go and we end up pushing up a rocky hill and down the other side and through a fence. (WHEW!) We eventually reach the farm at 4pm. Meet Mr Nog, he has a dilapidated, ancient old farmhouse. The scouts are already set up and organised. We cook our sausages over a fire. Every one pops, but they are nevertheless very tasty. Tegwaan has lent us a tent but before we went to bed we listened to the LM hit parade in another tent after sitting around the fire. Decide to set off for home the next day before we get stiff.
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| The original Map we used photographed on my bed on that date. |
Mon
Leave at 7am and decide to ride through the night and head straight for home. Reach Underberg at 8 15 and have breakfast of bread, milk, ice cream and chocolate. Feel full. Getting hot now. Leave Underberg at 8 30. We are making good time and reach Donnybrook in time for lunch which consists of condensed milk, water and bread (mainly water).The natives laugh at us but are very friendly. (they dont believe we are from Durban).
My wheel slipped twice just before Donnybrook and I got a puncture. Jimmy was getting quite cross. Reach Ixopo at 4pm. Have supper of 2pints milk and chocolate and buy some biscuits for the long trip home. Feel much better now that we are on tar road again. It is getting very hot once more. My pump and spanner fell out just before Donnybrook. Leave Ixopo at 5pm and reach Highflats at about 6 45pm. We are making good time. (we had to stop at every signpost and spin my back wheel--unless we were pedalling-- so we could read what it said.)
There are not enough signposts on the road. Has got dark very quickly. No moon. Getting very tired but the air is refreshing. About 12miles outside Umzinto we go through heat mist which turns into heavy rain the nearer we got to the coast. We are exhausted but cannot sleep on the side of the road because of the rain. We see a signpost "Umzinto 5miles." We are now going downhill a lot and this was the longest 5miles of my life. We reach Umzinto at about half past 12 and head straight for home through driving rain. (just before Umzinto, on the last hill, it started to rain in buckets and we ran to a nearby bridge where we finish our biscuits. We now only have water to get us home.) I have a bit of a saddle rash. We reach Park Rynie at about 1am. We come to a bench outside Scottburgh. It rains hard again so I duck under the table. Its mighty cold. We both must have dozed for a while, because when I look again it has stopped raining. We set off again for home and reach Amanzimtoti after 21 hours non stop riding except for food and drinks. (I suffered from exhaustion for about 3 hours)
Now, while putting this down after so long I am amazed at how fresh everything is still in my memory.
I remember on that trip home, Jimmy (Geralds nickname) did not have a light but even so, on some of the hills he was so far ahead that I could hardly see him. He must have had cats eyes because I kept on wondering how he could see where he was going.
I actually dont think my folks really believed we had been to Underberg. We never really talked about it. I was not a good teenager when it came to my parents and was rather much of a loner and "individualistic" in my ways.
After leaving school I lost contact with Gerald and often wonder what has happened to him and whether he remembers that trip.
A few years ago I was lucky enogh to go to Scottburgh with a friend so we went the Ixopo way. It is amazing how little things have changed in over 40 years. Seeing some of those hills really brought back memories. We did not go back that way unfortunately because I was really blooking forward to seeing the "Donnybrook" road again.
I have made myself a promise that as soon as funds allow, to do that trip and take photos all the way. I want to take somebody with me..................
NOW, is there ANYBODY out there who sees the movie possibility..............Chuckle.
I wonder how safe it would be for two kids to do that in this day and age.......................
