For some reason Billy Crauser had to leave just as soon as we finished our final session in Jo'burg. I’m guessing the major factor behind his immediate departure was he didn’t want to hang around to help pack up the gear. Packing the gear up at the end of a four or five hour session was always a complete bind...no wonder bands got roadies as soon as they could afford them. Anyway, as Billy’s Hillman Minx was speedier and decidedly more comfortable than our...I'll try not to mince my words... beaten up, rust bucket of a combi, Jack and Frankie were quick in offering to travel down to Cape Town with Billy...to keep him company...yeah, right.
After arranging to
meet the following night at the Navigator’s Den in Cape Town they
disappeared leaving Lea, Mac and I to pack the gear into the van.
It was 1:00 am or
there abouts when we finally set off on the seven hundred mile journey. The three of us decided on a strict rota.
One hour sleeping in the back, one hour sitting next to the driver to make sure
he didn’t fall asleep, then one hour behind the wheel driving. That was how it
was supposed to go. Sleep, sit, drive. One hour of sleep every three hours. However, unbeknownst to Mac, Lea and I had other plans...namely a plan which on our drive down to Cape Town would mean we'd end up losing...and I kid you not...three whole hours! I don’t remember who came
up with this 'time warp' idea but come up with it we did.
Okay, so here's
what happened. After Mac finished his hour behind the wheel, from 1:00 a.m. to
2...it was all change – along the lines of musical chairs when the music stops.
Lea who’d been sitting beside Mac, took over the driving and slide across
behind the wheel. Mac clambered into the back to sleep while I, who had been
sleeping in the back, clambered into the front seat and sat beside Lea while he
drove to make sure he didn’t drift off.
Lea and I waited
for a few minutes then asked Mac a question. When he didn’t respond I climbed
stealthily into the back and ever so carefully so as not to wake him, moved the
hands on his wrist watch forward an hour - from say five past two to five past
three. Slipping back into the front I moved the hands on the dashboard clock
forward an hour, then trying hard not to laugh, leant over and shook Mac awake
telling him the hour had past and it was Lea’s time to sleep. I slide behind
the wheel. Lea clambered into the back Mac joined me in the front to keep me
company while I drove. After I completed my hours driving, Mac took his second
stint behind the wheel with Lea sitting beside him and me sleeping in the back.
When Mac completed his second hour behind the wheel it was all change again and
Mac crawled onto the back seat and fell immediately asleep. Once again we moved
his wrist watch on an hour changed the combi clock and shook him awake.
Mac gave a
plaintive groan, “Yissus, man, it feels like I just closed my f****ing eyes”.
And so it went on...Lea
and I each getting a hours sleep every two hours whilst Mac got absolutely
zilch. It was only when he realised that it still dark at 10 am that it dawn on
him something was amiss...he was not a happy bunny.
It had taken
sometime but I had had my revenge on Mac for the 'Phantom Hand' (Blog 26). Revenge is definitely a dish best served cold.
The rest of the
drive down to Cape Town was pretty uneventful...well uneventful for Lea, Mac
and I that is, not quite so for Billy, Frankie and Jack. Billy’s Hillman broke down. We drove
past them just as the sun was coming up somewhere in the middle of the Karoo, a
semi desert region in the Cape Province. The thing about deserts is they got
brutally cold at night.
The Karoo
Jack and Frankie were hunched over the open hood fiddling with the engine. Their breath formed frosty plumes as it hit the freezing air. There was no sign of Billy; he was fast asleep in the back huddled under a blanket. We did stop but Jack and Frankie said they had thought they had it under control. We didn’t wait around to ascertain the accuracy of that statement and with, “see you at the Navigator’s Den”, continued on our way to Cape Town.
Jack and Frankie were hunched over the open hood fiddling with the engine. Their breath formed frosty plumes as it hit the freezing air. There was no sign of Billy; he was fast asleep in the back huddled under a blanket. We did stop but Jack and Frankie said they had thought they had it under control. We didn’t wait around to ascertain the accuracy of that statement and with, “see you at the Navigator’s Den”, continued on our way to Cape Town.
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