WinterDodgers & Super Tubing

This morning we were all up really early at 6am. I hung around our little house until 6:30am because I didn’t want to wake Pete but when I did go up to the lodge he was already up with the kettle boiling and a joint on the go.
We didn’t have any plans for today so mine and Ellies plan was to just have a chill day whilst Pieter put his 2 employees to work.
That all changed when one of the 2 workers didn’t turn up so Pieter couldn’t direct them on what needed to be done next to the new rooftop terrace.
His plan was to tell them what he wanted put in there as they had just finished putting a new palm roof on the wooden framing yesterday but in the end the one guy that did turn up just went to work strimming the outside grounds.
In the meantime Ellie chilled out looking at butterflies while I did a 30 minute workout and had a quick shower.
When we went back to the lodge Pieter told us his plans had changed and he had moved loads of chairs and tables up to the roof terrace and even erected a hammock. It looked super cool.
Then he said he wanted to put up some fairy lights and eventually lay a sand floor and have a little bar area. We could just tell he wished it all could be done now.
Funnily enough the floor of the terrace is actually sand, but it full of grass and weeds so Simon asked if he had a rake and before long Simon, Ellie and I were raking through the floor picking out the grass, roots and weeds. Luckily we had the new roof for shade because it was now hot. A couple of hours went by and we had done a third of the roof and gave up for the day with the raking, but while looking for his lights Pete found an old bar top and bought it up to make a bar.
The next job we did was to wire up and hang the fairy lights. Pete was insistent he didn’t want them anywhere near the newly laid palm or framework incase they caught alight, so we settled on wrapping them around the chimneys.
Then he went off to find some brackets to put the bar up.
Not being able to find heavy duty brackets I suggested we bolt a piece of 2x2 against the wall that was already there and nail the worktop to that and then put two legs on the front from the left over fence posts, so off he went to get the drill and some bolts. Everything was there to do the job.
The next thing he said was “ let’s leave that and go supertubing “. Nobody knew what supertubing was but he had been in about taking us all day. I said all the stuff is hear to finish this worktop and it’s only a 20 minute job, and after a friendly argument he gave in and I drilled and bolted the 2x2 to the wall with Simon skinning my knuckles on both hands, to match the blister I’d given myself earlier from the raking.
Then we held the top in place and measured the legs and the post we had was literally cut in half and the legs were nailed to the front and dug into the sand floor, and the job was done. We had a beautiful, Solid bar area and Pete was really happy.
“Now let’s go Supertubing “ he said and with our swimming gear on we headed out towards the lake that’s infested with crocodiles and hippos.
Supertubing is definitely a Pete invention and it’s only been tried by 3 other German guys that were here when Pete thought it seemed like a good idea.
A few months ago there was a cyclone that hit the edge of South Africa where we are now on the lake and this forced the water from one part of the lake towards another part of the lake that is lower creating narrow, fast flowing, shallow downhill rivers that merge the 2 lakes together.
Supertubing is diving in to the fast flowing water on your belly and riding the water all the way down to the lake where there might or might not be a crocodile or hippo. We would see when we got there.
We all stripped down to our swimwear and Pieter went was up first, diving in head first onto his front and half swimming and half being pushed by the current disappearing down the narrow channels. I went next and I don’t mind admitting that as I was being pushed down the channel over some deep water I was crapping my pants at the thought of coming face to face with a crocodile or hippo but luckily we got to the end and it was safe. Then it was Simons turn and once he’d got to the end the 3 of us went back and did it again but with Ellie aswell. It was a right laugh, probably because of the scare factor and at the end we all just laid on the edge of the fast flowing water in a sand bar relaxing in the sun and cooling down.
It had been a packed day already and it was only 2:30pm and as we headed back to the lodge Pieter suggested we take a sunset drive later on.Weiterlesen