South Africa - The Lions on the Road: Cycling London to Cape Town - page 287

back to the station so I could retrieve my bike. After thanking the officers, I cycled back to
the church and was preparing to set up my tent when Father Joe told me to wait a minute.
He said there was a Maltese-Canadian who lived in town that I could possibly stay with.
Father Joe telephoned Warren and his wife Nicole and they quickly invited me to stay with
them. With directions from Father Joe, I cycled over to their home.
My time spent with Warren and Nicole was filled with visiting their friends and
family, eating at their restaurant, going to 'Europe' (a nightclub), and attending Sunday
mass. Father Joe included me in his sermon, and after mass, people gave me 140 Rand
which I sent to STC-Johannesburg. After Warren's sister Marla came over to cut my hair,
we went hunting. Actually, there was nothing in the fields so I shot at puddles and straight
up in the air. It was my first time holding a gun and was quite shocked at how sensitive the
trigger was. Warren then took me to the town bakery where he worked. Nothing was finer
than eating a piping hot fresh loaf of bread off the assembly line.
The next morning, I packed the bike and went with Nicole to be interviewed at Die
Volks, the town's newspaper. The reporter gave me a free map and showed me a quieter
secondary route to Virginia, my next destination. I took his recommendation and from the
newspaper's office, I said my final thanks and good-bye to Nicole.
The first four kilometres on the secondary road were very bumpy but in exchange
there was almost no traffic so I didn't mind. When I arrived 10 kilometres before Hennen-
man, my heart sank. There were road closure signs posted due to construction. Instead of
doubling back and joining the N1, I continued onward until the very last sign and noticed
a narrow footpath that was ideal for cycling. I stayed on this path for less than a kilometre
and when the construction zone ended, I rejoined the road all the way to Virginia.
Upon arriving in the town, I inquired about an address I was given by Mr. McArdle
back in Pietersburg. I received directions from a couple and soon arrived at the McArdles'
home.Thetwodadswerebrothers.TheVirginiaMcArdleswerewarnedbythePietersburg
McArdles that I might be passing through and yet they still welcomed me in their home. I
met Jenny, the mom and the children, Sharon, Belinda, Samantha and Desorée. No sooner
had I settled into the guestroom that Jenny told me that she arranged interviews with the
press and a visit to one of the gold mines for the next day.
After mass in the morning, I met some of the parishioners who invited me to visit
their schools to talk to their students and to give a presentation to the Rotary Club. It was
then that I decided to stay in Virginia for a bit longer than I had planned to. What immedi-
atelycametomindwasthepromisethatImadetomyselfseveralmonthsagoinMakénéné,
Cameroon in that if any opportunity arose to share my experiences I would always make
time.Well,SouthAfricaprovidedaplethoraofopportunitiesanditreallystartedinVirgin-
ia. So, I set up a schedule for the next couple of days and slotted in schools and classrooms
to visit.