8 June - 10 June, 2025
Vaal Dam
Monday 8th June dawned bright & clear with a crispy wind. Our plan was shopping at the huge Macro ( similar concept to Gilmours) but on steroids, looking around the plastic shops before meeting JJ & Karen for lunch. It was through them that Ray managed to purchase Pumba and we wanted to thank them. We met in the charming little town of Parys which has morphed from a farming town into a weekend Destination ( especially popular with people from Gauteng area). We had a grand afternoon, Ray tried the sheep tails which he likened to oxtail. With lots in common & 4x4 trails to discuss the afternoon slipped away until the sun was sinking orange and it was time to trot back to the dam. Another great day & quiet night in front of the heater.
9 June
Still at Vaal dam today. Washing, deciding what & how to pack Pumba. We also took advantage of the sunshine to take a walk around the dam ( well as far as we could).
With shopping plans in place for tomorrow we had another chilled out night.
10 June
R was going over our paperwork for our travels & discovered that we need a police clearance for the car for Zimbabwe. Mild panic ensued as this is supposed to be very difficult & time consuming. After a flurry of phone calls to & fro all over the place we programmed the GPS & headed for Veereniging police station. We found it bang in the centre of town and were assisted with directions as to where to go + allowed to use the loos. I think R got stage fright as he was 'guarded' by an armed guard with a mean looking gun. After this we found the testing station & were helped by efficient & friendly staff..... The engine ## were examined & photographed, the paperwork completed and after a little wait our permit ( free of charge) was
ready and off we went. We had filled in our edit time chatting to a charming African guy who was there getting his taxis permitted. He has built up a fleet of 6 and was very interesting to talk too.
After a busy rest of the day shopping we got 'home' at sunset and set about enjoying our last night at the dam. We have had the new experience of 'load shedding' ... Where different areas are scheduled for rolling power cuts for approx 2 hours. Darrell had warned us so we were prepared & of course they are also well prepared with candles so we had a romantic dinner for 2 by candlelight.