The Road Goes Ever On
The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.
- J R R Tolkien
Technically, that should be "Pursuing it with an eager little Golf Chico," rather than "Pursuing it with eager feet," but Tolkien is always king.
Sunday was the day I left Grahamstown. I left the labs on Saturday night - logged out from my final session as a Rhodes student - and spent most of the rest of the night (save for a two-hour nap) packing and loading the car. I finally left town after the sunrise with bruises all over me, aching muscles, and a brain that was screaming out for sleep.
The road meandered over rolling hills covered in savanna grassland, through deep, craggy gorges, over low mountains caused by the last glacial period. I drove past where Grant nearly planted us in the wall when we were driving to Joburg. I drove past where we stopped for Evie to puke that time we drove to Zim together. I saw some springbok and a warthog.
I accidentally ended up in Molteno (pic to follow when I'm done with the packing-and-moving thing and can find my download cables) - Mom and Dad called (when they knew I was driving, knowing full well that I don't have a hands-free kit) while I was driving through Steynsburg and I missed the turn-off to Gariep. Molteno's the home of Ouma's Rusks, a fact I became aware of when a friend of mine dated one of the descendants of the Ouma's empire. Since then, I've wondered about the tiny town every time I drove past the sign post. Turns out, there's not much there apart from a pretty church and quiet streets.
Also, as it turns out, staying awake at road work stops is tricky. We were going to be kept waiting for about half an hour, so I thought, "I'll just rest my neck and eyes...I won't be here long enough to fall asleep." Wrong. I was awakened by a ruddy-faced, grizzly-bearded road-works marshall poking me through the open window and the roar of 18-wheelers overtaking me. You know your road trip's going well when you're being overtaken by 18-wheelers. The last time that happened was when mom put a cylinder through my gasket head in '07 and we limped the last 300kms into Bloemfontein doing 40 km/h uphill and 70 when the slopes helped our forward momentum (yes, that was a frustrating road trip).
Still, I eventually found myself in Joburg in a house with a tub so big I can curl up in it and not touch the sides. Whoever designed this house obviously didn't have water conservation in mind...not that I'm complaining about having a giant tub. Having a long soak in a bathroom-lake is an awesome way to end a road trip.
This evening, the road continues. Well, I should probably switch from Tolkien quotes to John Denver, because I'll be going on a jet plane to Harare. The final bit of the journey...until we (possibly/probably) head to Cape Town for December. This coming year, I'm totally going to have to donate to a reforestation project - moving countries appears to be a pretty carbon-costly exercise!
The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.
- J R R Tolkien
Technically, that should be "Pursuing it with an eager little Golf Chico," rather than "Pursuing it with eager feet," but Tolkien is always king.
Sunday was the day I left Grahamstown. I left the labs on Saturday night - logged out from my final session as a Rhodes student - and spent most of the rest of the night (save for a two-hour nap) packing and loading the car. I finally left town after the sunrise with bruises all over me, aching muscles, and a brain that was screaming out for sleep.
The road meandered over rolling hills covered in savanna grassland, through deep, craggy gorges, over low mountains caused by the last glacial period. I drove past where Grant nearly planted us in the wall when we were driving to Joburg. I drove past where we stopped for Evie to puke that time we drove to Zim together. I saw some springbok and a warthog.
I accidentally ended up in Molteno (pic to follow when I'm done with the packing-and-moving thing and can find my download cables) - Mom and Dad called (when they knew I was driving, knowing full well that I don't have a hands-free kit) while I was driving through Steynsburg and I missed the turn-off to Gariep. Molteno's the home of Ouma's Rusks, a fact I became aware of when a friend of mine dated one of the descendants of the Ouma's empire. Since then, I've wondered about the tiny town every time I drove past the sign post. Turns out, there's not much there apart from a pretty church and quiet streets.
Also, as it turns out, staying awake at road work stops is tricky. We were going to be kept waiting for about half an hour, so I thought, "I'll just rest my neck and eyes...I won't be here long enough to fall asleep." Wrong. I was awakened by a ruddy-faced, grizzly-bearded road-works marshall poking me through the open window and the roar of 18-wheelers overtaking me. You know your road trip's going well when you're being overtaken by 18-wheelers. The last time that happened was when mom put a cylinder through my gasket head in '07 and we limped the last 300kms into Bloemfontein doing 40 km/h uphill and 70 when the slopes helped our forward momentum (yes, that was a frustrating road trip).
Still, I eventually found myself in Joburg in a house with a tub so big I can curl up in it and not touch the sides. Whoever designed this house obviously didn't have water conservation in mind...not that I'm complaining about having a giant tub. Having a long soak in a bathroom-lake is an awesome way to end a road trip.
This evening, the road continues. Well, I should probably switch from Tolkien quotes to John Denver, because I'll be going on a jet plane to Harare. The final bit of the journey...until we (possibly/probably) head to Cape Town for December. This coming year, I'm totally going to have to donate to a reforestation project - moving countries appears to be a pretty carbon-costly exercise!
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