BUSH FIRE!
Trip Start
Apr 05, 2009
1
20
Trip End
Aug 08, 2009
Manzini, Swaziland
Friday, July 31, 2009
31st July *Sean's 40th Birthday*
We got up relatively early as had a busy day planned, jumped into a cold shower…brrr, went and sat in Kerry’s room, rang Sean on speaker phone so we could all screech happy birthday to him! We had an idea to make his birthday card- so I got together a load of photos of Sean and friends…we made them into a collage and stuck it onto some card! We tried to get Aunty Joyce to write a message but she just signed her signature…heehee! Eventually we had everything ready- Lisa was coming to Shesa Nyama with us today which is a first! Rushed to Matsapha to get a birthday cake, I tried to get cash out only to find that Lloyds were declining the transaction and I know there is money in there which means they have blocked my card…fantastic! Turned Kerry’s laptop on back in the car so that as she pulled into Malandelas to get her Bush Fire ticket I could quickly log onto internet banking and move some money over! Driving to Shesa Nyama the only ATM was Ned Bank…which I tried just incase only to confirm my knowledge that Ned Bank only accepts Ned Bank cards! So after all of that Kerry just lent me R100! Got into the eating area and Sean was already in the Butchery, so after a few quick maneuvers to get the tables together, we went through to see him. He was there buying the meat with his friend Pete who owns Gemini Backpackers in Johannesburg (the one everyone says is horrid and told us to avoid!) After a very brief chat, grabbed some drinks, give Babi Payne a quick hug and rushed back to light the candles and get the party poppers ready! Spent the first hour just chatting and getting introduced to random people- while trying to discreetly hand Sean’s card round for people to sign! We finally tucked into the grub- yummy! More and more people kept coming; it really was fabulous, so happy for Sean- especially as Kiki didn’t even call him this morning! After a while we cut the cake then transferred our belongings from Kerry’s car to Sean’s bus- hes actually put a tent up in the garden for us! From Shesa Nyama we went straight to the farm, some of Sean’s friends from Jo’burg were already there setting their chairs up in his garden, so we just chilled out and had a few drinks. The guys are friendly enough…just typical Afrikaans! A little strange to say the least! Sean is going out of his mind because of Kiki not talking to him- of course everyone has already been airing their speculations- small community and all! Some girls showed up, one of whom owned a Hostel in Cape Town, 33 South, and her friends, they actually pulled up wearing pink wigs! They seemed quite fun...we are just rather socially awkward! It got to 7ish and we decided to start making tracks to House on Fire, after a lot of unnecessary confusion over who was driving! We managed to get parked right outside the entrance but….still doesn’t know what we are doing about tickets!! Text Kerry to ask her to bring her spare one out, Sean went in to investigate, while we stood in the queue under the heater- its like a proper festival! Real ticket stands with tear off tickets, stamps and security with walkie talkies (the intercoms not the chicken heads and feet!) Sean finally came back to us and gave us both tickets- he had spare with Kiki not coming…It looks so different, its hard to believe it’s the same place! Its only in House on Fire tonight- the whole grounds don’t open till tomorrow, but my god it is packed already! We queued for ages to get to the bar, just to be told we cant use cash, its drink tokens only!! Stress! There was no Smirnoff ices either…and the spirits were R20 a shot…which isn’t actually that much but when we only have R60 on us after still not finding an ATM, I was on the Sprite! Just mulled around- greeting various people- oh also met a guy living here who was from Middlesborough…a Smoggie in Swazi…that’s just weird for some reason! Found Kerry eventually and had a wander up our watch tower for a chat! Not much else happened, spent the next few hours just wandering in and out of the main club, watching the acts. Sean gave us and the Pink Ladies a tour of the main outdoor stage and all the tents, he is going to be performing Fire Poi on top of the stage roof! While Jonny Clegg is playing tomorrow night! Nana was playing again tonight which was cool, oh we met up with Issac on the dance floor- he is a sweet kid! Problem is with staying sober is exhaustion and coldness was really getting the worse of me! Got a bit fed up at one point as couldn’t find Sean anywhere so had to wander round looking for him- scared of being away for too long as need to go home with him! After meeting up with Sean again, he had calmed down a bit, I ended up wearing his black, leather bike waistcoat to try and keep warm…not that this really worked! Finally come 2am we started leaving, I was a little concerned and did contemplate trying to drive the VW bus myself…but it is a bus….which after deliberation relatively puts me and Sean on equal footing as far as safety is concerned! A slightly tense ride back- couldn’t take my eyes off the road, but there was no problems…there wasn’t even a single cow in the road! Arriving back I dived straight into the tent to go to sleep…I have has an amazing night just feeling slightly detached from people right now, just need some sleep I suppose!
