Post 14 Build it Journey
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We awoke to the sun rising over the ocean and dense bush landscape and my first sight on exiting my tent was of Greg sporting his usual Don King hairdo and looking the worse for wear! His first night of camping had not gone according to plan and he reported that he had fought off a hoard of mosquitos and had found the ground a little firmer than his bed’s mattress at home. I did mention to him that the best way to stop mosquito’s biting you all night was to zip up his tent to keep them out. He had mentioned that he slept the whole night with one side of his tent open. He was not availing himself to my sage advice to the degree that I thought it warranted so I made some tea with my little gas stove. This cheered everyone up remarkably. We waited for the cyclists to depart then headed out of the campsite and on towards our first stop for the day, which was the Kwambonambi Build It, store where I met with the extremely friendly Shannon.
After a great visit and knowledge that today was going to be a better day Greg pointed the horses back onto the road and with the robotic voice of the lady guide on Google maps giving directions we headed along the N2 towards the sprawling port/harbor/industrial town of Richard’s Bay with its complex grid of power lines and massive warehouses/industrial buildings dotting the landscape. We located the local Richards Bay Build It store where I met with Charles who kindly organised a wonderful tea as we went through his listing and a few marketing ideas which I hope will be beneficial to both of us.
This meeting successfully concluded I urged Greg towards Esikawini as I started to find my stride for the day. We pulled in to the car park of the store and I headed for my meeting with Clinton Reddy.
Hitting our straps the next town on our trip back in a northerly direction was Empangeni and I had to find both stores in this busy area. In fact there was three stores in Empangeni. Two belonging to Jackie Pillay whose main store, Zululand Build It is the biggest store I have seen so far. I also visited Starlin Govendor’s Empangeni Build It store and was treated very well by all.
I finally decided to book in to a guest house in Eshowe in the afternoon to get a good night’s sleep as Greg was looking haggard and definitely the worse for wear after a long day on the road and minimal sleep the night before and while he unpacked and had a nap I visited the Eshowe Build where I met up with the two Rudi’s who are a father and son team who manage the store.
I did a small shop for our dinner and headed back to our guesthouse, which has Wi-Fi and a TV (Olympics) and tea/coffee making facilities. Therefore we are in heaven. After sending 22 work mails and writing two blogs I flicked on the TV, made myself a cup of you know what I called it a day at a few minutes before 9 pm. Another long day complete and successful.
Another busy day tomorrow and then we are going to take the weekend off. Looking forward to watching rugby and braai’ing a few lamb chops. Life is an excellent business. We are very lucky to be on this trip. Adios amigos.