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I Can Drive a Stick Shift

I volunteered to drive a strangers car. I was on holiday in Underberg, South Africa staying at a back-packers lodge. The lodge is owned by Alan's brother. Alan works and lives in Pietermaritzburg, but visits the farm over weekends, where he stays for free.
Glen is Alan's friend for over 30 years. He is from the suburbs of Durban. These two men were in the town for a canoe race. I was there for an adventure holiday.
The problem that Alan and Glen had, is transport. They can drive themselves to the starting line of the canoe race. The finish line is about 15km down river. The issue is how do they get to their car?
I have expressed my love for driving liberally. For that day I had no plans; anyways I wanted to recover from yesterdays hiking accident. I needed something to do for that day, so the guys suggested that I could to drive their car to the finish line.
The guys packed their kit, loaded their K1 canoes on Glen's roof rack. I got my full hiking gear ready. There I have my hydration bladder from which I can sip my water.
At the starting line, the guys did their thing, as I hang around. At that stage, I still didn't have a clue to where the finish line was. I did my research on the spot by asking several people, including the organizers.
I watched the guys do their start. Then, with nothing better to do, I went to the VW Jetta. It was parked in some tall grass, but getting out wasn't too difficult. On the open road, I drove quite slowly: I was in an unfamiliar car, driving through unfamiliar countryside.
On the other side of town, there was a long left turn. That was my marker that my turn-off was coming up. The dirt road was of a fairly good quality. From there, I was trying to spot the turn-off onto the farm where the finish line was.
A fellow canoeist helped out. He was parked on the side of the road. My mind questioned that: then I spotted the name of the farm where the finish was.
That road was OK initially; it deteriorated quite quickly. Since I was one of the first vehicles in, I kind of dictated the pace. At one stage, my 4x4 training kicked in. There was about a 20m stretch of mud, spanning the whole road. I pulled over, turned the hazard lights on. Everybody behind me stopped. I went to inspect the 'obstacle'. In my own car, a Suzuki Jimny, I would have driven straight through it. Here, I'm in a 2x4 low sedan, feeling quite uncomfortable. During my inspection, a 4x4 behind be decided to go for it. He did me a favor by showing me the depth of the mud. It was only about 5cm deep. It was perfectly doable in a sedan.
I backed up few meters, chose my line and went through it. I stayed in 1st gear throughout the mud. Once again, my 4x4 training kept came in handy. I would not have imaginedi it that I would use it to drive a passenger car.
At the finish line, the 'festivities' were beginning to being setup. I found a good parking spot, locked up the car, and went exploring. I had my hat, and my full hiking setup on me mainly for my water. I hiked along a road for about 400m up river to watch the canoes go through some rapids.
Alan finished first. I met up with him on the finish line and gave him access to the car. During the wait for Glen, there was a bit of an incident:
There was a barbecue stand setup raising funds for a local school. A Yorkshire Terror wasn't being watched properly. It found and started to eat raw sausages, like they are stolen. The dog was eventually separated from the meat.
With my dietary restriction of "no red meat", I had to make a plan. I explained my medical condition, and ordered a roll with the tomato, lettuce and lots of fried onion. The ladies complied; it raised a small issue for them. How much to charge for this meatless roll? An acceptable price was established. They couldn't make change: scouring my wallet, I made up the amount they wanted. Few minutes later, I gave them the original banknote as a donation.
Glen finished up his race a good 15 minutes later. We hang around until the prize giving before we left. Alan is extremely social and knows almost everybody on that canoeing circuit.
On the way back, Glen drove. I was sharing my knowledge of the road spotting hazards from the shot-gun position. The mud hole has dried, but not completely. The day was hot and humid. I measured 33*C towards noon.
On the road, something didn't feel right to Alan. Upon inspection, we discovered that the roof rack came off its mountings. A few choice words later, the necessary repairs were made. We stopped a few more times for inspection and adjustment.
The guys left for their respective homes shorty after returning to camp. It was Sunday afternoon: They needed to work the next day. I stayed few more nights at the lodge. I usually take my annual leave from mid-December.
Overall, It was a good day out. I helped some people out; I did something I didn't plan on. But hey, we need to be adaptable.

 
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