Feeling hot hot hot....

Well that was a long day....or was it 2 rolled into 1? We had a straightforward trip to the airport, All met up,  cleared security and shared our first team meal together...very nice. Found our seats on the plane  and waited....and waited. There was an electrical fault on the plane which meant we basically could not start the engines. We were rather dismayed when the captain informed us that rather than get it fixed we were going to effectively jump start the plane from ground power....we didn't apparently need the bit that had gone wrong! It is in those situations that you just have to trust that the people who know what they are doing really do, and despite quite severe turbulence over the Sahara desert we landed just half an hour late in Johannesburg at 10.10 Africa time this morning.

All our bags appeared and our car hire went smoothly so following Steve's very efficient sat nav I drove us all out of the airport on the the Jo'burg equivalent of the M25. Christian, and I took it in turns to drive the straight southbound motorway which goes through Gauteng and the Free State which goes on for miles.It is funny to hear the sat nav say " in 112 miles...keep left". We managed to find a service station for lunch and sat in the shade to eat it watching the weaver birds. By this time it was and had been 34 degrees for some time. Steve took over the driving as we turned off to the small roads full of pot holes which, I have to say, were mostly semi filled in. We then encountered 3 road blocks due to resurfacing, each time resulting in a 10-15 minute wait. My laid-back 'hakuna matata' African persona had already kicked in and I took the opportunity to get out the car and enjoy the rich abundance of flora and nature outside the car. We even bought and enjoyed some fresh peaches from a local lady who, very enterprisingly, was selling to the traffic queue. 

Anyway we finally made it to the border where we crossed effortlessly (compared to sometimes) into lesotho and 20 minutes later with Christians skilful driving we were at Beautiful Gate.

We got a great welcome from everyone and I  discovered once again how international Beautiful Gate really is. We were treated by a group of Australian builders led by Allan who you may remember from previous years....some Amercans, Bryan and Anita and family and some other long term volunteers, a South African called Peter who I gave heard about but never met and his lovely Basotho wife Lindy who....wait for it..... Had 

Ve visited Swanage and stayed in a tiny village with some friends of my mum at their b & b.  There is a fridge magnet of Swanage in the kitchen... What a small world,

Anyway we shared a wonderful Braii (South African bbq) with boer wurst and kudu steak with the other multinationals and enjoyed chatting together under the millions of stars in the cool of the evening.  The Aussie builders as they will from henceforth be known were amused that my knowledge of Australia did not extend much Beyond 'Neighbours' ...but we had a lot of fun. At least they speak almost proper English unlike the U.S. Folk.

We all turned in early as the builders are starting work at 5am tomorrow and we are pretty shattered having been travelling for 25 hours.

Alison and I are sharing a small room together, I am on the top bunk and the boys are just down the corridor. Close enough to call if any undesirable insects enter our opened windows. We will sleep to the sound of grasshoppers  singing and dogs barking and tomorrow morning will be the start of our adventures,

Can't wait.....

I understand home is rather a chilly place so I am sending you all warmest wishes and hope as you think of us out here where even now at 11pm it is over 20 degrees you will warmed.

Thank you for your prayers today......

Enjoy the weekend.

Jenny xx