On
Tuesday morning, Jayde went home with her father, while I headed directly to
the airport, dropped the rental and hopped on a plane to Johannesburg. Landing, I picked up a car and cruised to my
hotel in Midrand. Dropping my things, I
first visited Ziona, whom you might have met in A Walk on the Wild Side, the
story of my trip in 2015. In the
evening, I was to meet up with someone I hadn’t seen in over fifteen
years. Tanya Smythe was briefly a
colleague at my first job in Taiwan.
When I left Taiwan after two years, I sold my motorbike to her. I returned after a few months, and she was
getting ready to leave. I bought my
motorcycle back from her, and indeed, I still have on the key ring the wire
gecko she attached to it (although I’ve been through three bikes since that
one). Tanya moved to England, where she
lived for a long time, and I made plans to meet her in Norway on my Ends of the Earth adventure. However,
she was then just moving back to South Africa and had to cancel. Now, eventually, she, her boyfriend Wayne and
I were to have dinner together in South Africa’s richest city.
On Wednesday morning, Monique
joined me for breakfast at my hotel, and then she and I hopped in my rental. We were headed to Hartbeespoort, a town on
the banks of the eponymous dam. We did a
little shopping, and I found a new piece of art to hang at home.
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Then we took lunch. I’d wanted to go to Nandos to spend the last
of my Avis vouchers. However, that was
in the next town, and we opted to eat at a lovely place called French Toast that Monique suggested.
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In the evening, Monique and I met up with Quintin,
who cooked dinner for us. Then we
hurried to Tanya’s. Tonight we were all
headed to Joburg Theatre, in the once terrifying heart of the city, to see Aunty
Merle the Musical. Actor and
playwright Marc Lottering penned the hilarious play, and he portrayed Aunty Merle. “Lottering has written a wonderful,
warm-hearted show peppered with hilarious one-liners. It’s a brilliant
combination of silly and saucy, rippling with naughty but nice innuendos and
plenty of comic patter about our latest political shenanigans.” (Lesley Stones for www.dailymaverick.co.za)
That was the end of the trip. On Thursday, all that remained was to get to the airport, drop the car and stretch my wings toward the Fareast.
That was the end of the trip. On Thursday, all that remained was to get to the airport, drop the car and stretch my wings toward the Fareast.
