Getting Karin Back On The Road

This morning everyone had a lay in and didn’t get up until 8am. There was nothing we could do today until the car parts arrived at the spares shop in MBazwana later this afternoon.
After a small breakfast at 9am we were all sitting on the roof terrace. Pete is very fidgety all of the time and has to be doing something and kept on finding little jobs to do so Ellie and I decided to leave him to it and go for a walk.
2 days ago the sole of my shoes came off in the heat and yesterday Pete glued them back together with some industrial glue and rather than break them again I decided to go for a walk in barefoot.
That was a big mistake because walking the first 1.5 miles down the sandy track was hot but by the time we turned around to come back it was like walking on fire. I had to run down the tracks to get to shady spots and cool my feet off and then start running to the next shady spot.
After 2.5 miles we returned home, my feet were on fire and felt like I’d been walking in acid the whole time. I jumped straight in the cold shower, purposefully blocked the plug hole and stood in a pool of water with the shower on trying to cook myself and my feet. I had blisters all over the soles of both feet.
Pete said the car parts should be at the spares shop just before 3pm and at 2:30 left in the chuckit bucket to go and get them.
At 3:30pm he still wasn’t back and Ellie and I were dreading what might be happening. We didn’t think for a minute that he would come back with the parts.
Finally at 4:30pm Pete returned and he did have all the parts. I made everyone teas and coffees while Pete explained that there was no power in town and had trouble paying for everything, then he smoked a joint and then we got to work.
I loosened the wheel nuts while Pete jacked the car. Once the first wheel was off Pete undone the brake callipers and tied rope around then so as not to pull the pipes off and hung them from the car. Then we undone the hub and removed the brake disk before finally unbolting the bearing. The bearing was completely dry of any oil or grease and Pete cleaned the housing with oil and cleaner and then we fitted the new bearing after first greasing the housing, spindle and new bearing case. Then we put the disk back in place followed by the callipers before fitting the wheel.
The job took about 45 minutes and the other side took about an hour as it was tighter but at 6:45pm the new bearings were in and I was well pleased with our male bonding session. It would have taken Pete forever on his own. Tomorrow we would have to try and fit the new master cylinder and then bleed the brakes, all so we could make a 220km trip to pick Petes friend Ron up from Richards Bay and then drive back.
Pete cooked us a lovely beef stew and Pup for dinner. Pup is a South African staple much like rice. It was a great meal and after whiskeys all around at 8:30pm we finally retired to our rooms at 9pm.Les mer