This holiday was planned in March already.... Mom, Dad, Aaron and myself... all booked to go by train to PE and stay in timeshare there for the week and then train back. At least that was the plan. BUT then we got thrown a major curveball in August when Dad suddenly died. Mom and I discussed it and decided that we would still do the trip... sort of "in memory". So the three of us were looking forward to it with much excitement... especially the train trip.... could just hear the clickity clack of the rails as I was packing our suitcase on Saturday night!
We all woke up super excited for our train holiday....after going to church, finishing packing and making our packed lunch, we left home just before 12 to go Joburg station. Keith dropped us off at 12:40 and we made our way down to the platform....Mom got stuck at the top of the escalator trying to get on...her hands were full and she needed one to grab on with....so I went down with Aaron and left him to look after our luggage...went up to help Mom. We then went towards the platform...I went to enquire which platform to go to and got told "The train isn't running. There is a bus...just go out that door and climb on." When I asked why I was told it was infrastructure problems....whatever that means!!!!
So started a looonnnng day of hurry up and wait. We boarded a Translux bus for our trip....thoroughly disappointed not to be on the train.
We pulled out at 12:50...earlier that train schedule of 13:15 and drove straight to Kroonstad. Got to the Ultra City at 3pm and got told we had 30 minutes....Mom had coffee and Aaron and I each had milkshake, plus did loo stops. Got back on the bus and then sat there till 4pm (took these photos while waiting). When we pulled out the driver went to Kroonstad station. We ended up sitting there till 5:40....just waiting for the other buses in the "train" to arrive! The rest of the passengers were on City-to-City buses...chock full. It was announced that we had to follow the train schedule and stop at all the station.
They played dvds on the bus...no sooner had we pulled out of Jhb and the first one went on.... violent and loud! Really not the right sort of movie to play with all the children on the bus. So I asked at Kroonstad if there was something more appropriate...the next movie was Spirit, a much better choice.
The next stop was at Ventersburg (not Virginia as per timetable) at 6:30pm ... we didn't get off. Went through to Bloemfontein...arrived at the 1Stop at 8:15pm and were told we had 10 minutes!!!! Did a mad dash for the loo and got hot drinks and a meal for Aaron (takeaways). Got back on the bus...left at 8:30 and then the driver went into Bloem...we got to the station at 9pm...sat around waiting till after 10:30 before we left again. The other buses left before us and we got stopped at a robot and didn't see the buses again.
In Bloem they started playing "the gods must be crazy"...There was a problem with the disc and so when things started going wonky they eventually switched it off...peace at last!!! They kids could now really get some sleep. As the bus wasn't that full, most of the kids got two seats to themselves and could lie down to sleep.
Next stop was at Colesburg...just went to the loo and stretched our legs... around 1am. Drove to Middelburg then to Cradock 3am...driver had a 10 minute break.
Aaron managed to get some sleep off and on through the night. I dozed here and there....kept feeling all the twists and turns and some bumps...Mom said it was the mountain passes. Mom didn't sleep much so was really exhausted.
We ate some of our lunch just before Kroonstad and then the rest as supper just before Bloem.
Got to Uitenhage at 5:45am and dropped off passengers. Aaron and I wished Granny Happy Birthday.... sang to her even! The bus arrived in PE at 6:15....We were exhausted.
We hung around the station having coffee whilst waiting till 7:30 for Budget car rental to open so that we could get the car earlier than 9:30 as booked. They didn't answer their phones, so I thought it best to just take a taxi to the airport....only cost us R60...so we left the station around 7:45 and I think we were at the airport by 8. I asked about extending the hire of the car and driving it to Jhb. Also went to Kulula to find out about flying.... could only fly to OR Tambo and it would cost us R1983 each!!! So we decided then and there to hire the car and drive.... this that and the other costs were added on and taken off... but eventually all paperwork signed.
So after a long and exhausting night on a bus, we headed out to Aunty Sylvia for the day… had a lovely lunch with her and then at 4pm went to book in at Brookhills for the rest of our holiday.
ps.... this layout was actually made at a MegaCrop in 2011 and has just been waiting for the right sort of photos.
The rest of the holiday is slowly getting scrapped, so those layouts will be up when they are done.
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