After recuperating at home for a day or two, I left with one of my mates to go on a road trip to Kimberley. Now, generally, one needs no excuse to go on a road trip with friends, but I'm pretty sure that anyone who has ever been to the Northern Cape is probably asking: "Who the hell goes to Kimberley in the middle of the summer?" The reason is simple enough: debating. More specifically, schools debating. Now, before I'm made out to be a paedophile or sad, permit me to say this: After 6 years of fighting for better representation of Boland Debating on a national level, this year was the first year (and quite possibly the last) that the Boland (as part of the Western Cape squad) were allowed to send two of their own teams. We were given one shot to make an impression and show that we were on the same level than the other regions, and I wanted to make sure that we made the best of the opportunity given... Now, for the people who know me through debating and know of my debating history, you'll understand why I am so passionate about this issue. The rest of you probably think I'm still a bit of a sad, pervert... Go figure, I guess! Apart from debating, I also wanted to go look up a couple of old friends I had not seen in a while (maybe that's a slightly better excuse for the rest of you)...
The drive up consisted of several hours of heavy metal (the new Iron Maiden album rocks!), with brief interludes of Handel's 'Messiah,' with us stopping in every single town to survey the area over a quick beer, and turned out to be quite fun, if not incredibly hot. On arrival in Kimberley, we joyously made our way to the Star of the West, the oldest pub in the country (although there is some contention as to whether this is true), for a couple of cold ones. It's amazing to see that, despite the place's age, it doesn't try to hide its true nature - one of the dodgier bars I have been to in my life (and for you know me, you know I've been in some crackers...)! Most of the rest of the week was spent at schools nationals, helping our coaches by doling out sage advice to the young'uns, and adjudicating the odd debate by day, while nights were spent drinking at the Halfway House (also one of the five oldest pubs in the country - I'm glad to say I've been in 3 of the Top 5...) and catching up with everyone I hadn't seen in a while. My partner-in-crime (good ol' Smit) spent most of the week cleaning out everyone who dared play poker against him, and then buying us drinks! The tournament ended up going well for our teams, with one making the quarter-finals (who missed out on the semi's after a deliberation of almost an hour and a half, and a split-panel decision), and the other team barely missing it. Now we'll just see how next year turns out...
The last day in Kimberley was spent seeing some of the local sites, such as the Big Hole and, erm, the Big Hole... It was actually quite interesting, especially now that they're actively trying to restore some of the old parts of Kimberley (or New Rush, as it was called then) and then relocate it to the Big Hole to kind of give you an idea of what it was like back then... A noble goal, if you ask me. Combine that with the sudden onset of vertigo and the reaction on people's faces when they actually see how BIG the hole is, and it's not that bad at all...
Because of the insane heat of the day, Smit and I decided that we would drive back to Cape Town at night. To send us off properly, one of our mates organized a proper Northern Cape braai (tons and tons of meat, unfortunately no booze for us...), where we had a chance to reminisce and shoot the shit one last time. Thanks to my bad luck, that night not only had me bidding adieu to some of my friends, but also to my front tooth, thanks to a particularly well-hidden bone fragment in one of the steaks... Now, some of you should know that one of my front teeth is actually a fake, after having lost the real one several years ago in a bizarre ice-skating incident (if you want to know more, ask me yourself...), so to me it wasn't such a big deal, but it managed to freak out quite a few people on the night! So, thanks to my unexpected Hillbilly Chic makeover, I spent the following 48 hours pretending to be a redneck (until the tooth got rebuilt) while looking like this:
Needless to say, we had a lot of fun freaking people out on the way back! The drive back down to Cape Town was quite interesting. Yet again, most of the trip was spent listening and debating the merits of classic rock. However, what made the journey truly unique was the fact that Smit would stop at everything single landmark and old battlefield, regaling me with stories and reciting old poetry... The man is strange and brilliant, and I'm sure going to miss him next year...
On arriving in the Cape, I was expecting to spend a quiet night at home, when (out of the blue), I was contacted by someone I had not heard from (and to be honest, didn't expect to hear from) in a long time, requesting me to keep her company for the night. So I zipped through to Stellenbosch with a bottle of wine, hoping that we could cook dinner and have a relaxed night of catching up, when we were phoned by her friends and invited to a party. After briefly considering this, we opted to take a raincheck on dinner and go join them. Due to the fact that she didn't have the exact directions as to where the party was, we ended up gate-crashing a bachelor's party where she was mistaken for the stripper! As luck would have it, I ended up knowing the best man, so the explanation and apology wasn't nearly as uncomfortable/painful as it could have been... Long story short, we ended up at the right house, and spent most of the night laughing about what had happened!
Right, so that's that... Until next time, don't be a stranger...
Music Lyric of the Day: "Street cred's not that easy when you're from P.E." - The Finkelstiens (We're not very rock 'n roll)
Arb 80's Trivia of the Day: The only band besides Metallica to win the Grammy for Best Heavy Metal Performance in 1980's, was Jethro Tull. To this day, people have no idea why.
Suggestion of the Day: Go on a road trip with your best mate. While on it, pretend to be someone completely different from who you normally are. It's pretty interesting...
Quote of the Day: But friendship is precious, not only in the shade, but in the sunshine of life, and thanks to a benevolent arrangement the greater part of life is sunshine. - Thomas Jefferson
