Happy Reading
Die Anvonture van die Groen Soldaat – Carika van Zyl
I have always had a love for old cars…my first car was a 1975 maroon 1300 VW Beetle, so it made complete and utter sense that my second car should be old as well. While completing my Masters, it became time to let my Beetle go, as I was offered a position that required me to do a lot of travelling on the West Coast of South Africa to gather fisheries data.
I was living in Sedgefield at the time and an add came up for a camper van in my price range…I went for a look, not expecting too much, from the moment that the man opened his garage I fell in love…and when smoke came out of the indicator, I was sold. It had a double bed, gas fridge and some built in cupboards with carpets…how fancy oh and I loved the smell !!! There was enough space and I loved the feeling of stretching out and cruising….it was a dream comes true!! The feeling of driving it is a whole different experience. When you look out of the huge windows and the kombi is a bit raised, you felt like you are watching the most magnificent movie, framed. We drove so many beautiful roads, mountain passes, fields and you always felt free… I had to get some serious arm muscles as the hand brake required some heavy pulling action, but hey you did not hear me complaining.
As a passionate conservationist I aptly named her ‘Die Groen Soldaat’, the protector of the conservationist. I paid for him by digging 673 holes on the beach and doing water quality readings…I really earned that kombi through the sweat of my brow!
I packed the kombi to the brim and left Goukamma Nature Reserve on a misty morning, ready for a new adventure. The kombi became very famous in a short space of time, between St Helena Bay and Lamberts Bay. My name changed to: ‘The girl with the kombi’ People over 40 all wanted to share their stories and relive some of their past memories by coming for a ride. Everyone that jumped in always jumped out with a laugh, their day was made. Some days complete strangers begged me for a quick ride…Young people thought it was the coolest thing and it was a hit at festivals… Everywhere we drove we always got met with smiles and waves and cars flashing their lights. As an unknown researcher, the fishermen were very weary in the beginning to work with me, the kombi was a firm ice breaker and soon I was included into their world.
The kombi needed mechanical attention and mechanics always being weary of working on it as it required quite a bit of commitment. I found a retired German VW mechanic who trained at the factory in Germany to work on her a bit before I left Sedgefield and he lovingly did the fine tuning, but warned me that there is still a lot of work left.
It was wonderful to start her up, as we hit the gravel road to Elandsbay, leg stretched out over the dash board…life was beautiful. My dog Maya always travels with me and she too loved the fact that she could stretch out on the bed while we were driving…We went to festivals, parties, reserves and where ever we went we had fun.
On our travels we met some other canine friends in Lamberts Bay, the German shepherd Lupa and his pavement special roomie Buks Bliksem, it seemed that they knew when I was coming and waited me in, as soon as I stopped they hopped in. Buks loved to stand on the table by the window…Lupa sat on the passenger seat like he owned it…more weird stares followed, but by now I was used to the effect of the ‘Groen Soldaat’. I would often just sleep over by the side of the road on the beach…as long as it did not rain, life was sweet…there was a hole in the roof and water would always come gushing in…and you also had to open the door gently, as the stopper gave in and the door could literally come off!!
One morning I opened the garage door to go to work and my neighbor Johan came walking past, we did not meet yet and he introduced himself and we spoke a bit about the kombi and fishing, before I set off for my day’s journey. While driving that day I could feel that there is a problem with the engine, trying to convince myself that it is not the engine giving in, I soon had to face facts….I pulled over (luckily close to the beach) and as I was still relatively new I had no-one to phone to help me. So I got my book out, stretched out on the bed and thought I will give it an hour and see what happens. Half an hour later my neighbor Johan came driving past. It was very funny he looked happy, surprised and a bit puzzled at this woman just camping out by the side of the road. He offered to tow me to the garage and I accepted, much obliged by this act of random kindness. It soon became apparent that the engine gave in and a new one needed to be sourced. This proved to be a bit more difficult as the engine was no longer made and they told me I must put a radiator in and convert it from an air cooled to water cooled engine. I did not like this idea very much, after a week of searching and numerous phone calls with hands in the hair, I phoned Ralph and told him my predicament. He phoned back 10 minutes later saying that he has what I need and offered to drive down from Wilderness to Dwarskersbos with the engine and put it in for me! How lucky can I be to have such a qualified person working on her? Within three days the new engine parts was inserted and we were ready to go again!!
I started driving more and more and it became apparent that she needed a complete overhaul, if I wanted to continue our love affair. I did not have the time or money for and made the decision to advertise her on Gumtree. It was on there for about a month with a lot of interest but not serious buyers and I started thinking sjoe…so glad I have not sold her yet!
But then one Friday afternoon I was driving home and I noticed a white bakkie riding behind me, I slowed down to let him pass, but he stayed on my tail, growing slightly suspicious I turned into my road and the bakkie followed me, when I reached my driveway and the bakkie pulled in next to me, I locked my doors… This man came walking towards us and indicating he will cause us no harm asked me, was your kombi on Gumtree? I wondered what on earth is this man going on about and when I said yes he looked at me with a child’s delight of excitement and it permeated through his whole being when he said: ‘I want to buy your kombi’ the moment seemed too good to pass up and almost automatically I said yes. Firstly however I had to speak to his wife to assure her that her husband has not lost the plot and that yes it is a good buy (with a lot of work). I giggle every time I think about the story. It makes me so happy that she went to a good owner who could fix her up and restore her to her beauty.
Oh and the neighbour? We’ll they fell in love and are still together, if the engine did not fail that day we probably would not have been together…so she played Cupid as well!
Just love it - thanks Warwick 