THE FIAT UNO TOUR CAR NEWSLETTER
©Johan du Toit
FEEDBACK FROM NEWSLETTER No: 6.............. Most of my Touring Friends replied back on their tour plans for 2019! Okkie wrote back: “You got us hooked to return to the Orange River!” Louis is eager to do the Richtersveld and we talked a whole day on budget options for such a tour! A number of friends enquired about a Namibian tour and the border procedure. With this newsletter I'll cover that aspect again but need to take photos for the newsletter with a phone... not to draw attention! Border personnel aren't keen for photos and part of the law pertaining to photographers in South Africa, such action is also not permitted. TOUR PREPARATION. A major service... as usual! This time I was a bit over exited and tackle a rewire job as well. The wiring went on schedule... BUT then I decided to remove a welsh plug that was rusted and moist.
May 2019
Issue No: 7
The first new plug arrive... the mechanic tried fitting it... wrong one.... Then I had to order a second from the agents. After talking with the Nissan agents... This job is more complicated! This mean, I need to take my car to the agents... 200 km away! The only car trailer available is very large and heavy. The alternative is now to repair the right side tow point and to tow my car the 400 kilos with a A frame. See what can go wrong with DIY! GROUP TOUR CANCELLED. Due to the repairs on my tour car that is not finished, I wouldn't be able to make the intended group tour. The tour preparation is still standing... as non of that had changed! The only change is the itinerary and I will do the tour alone. SPONSORED WIN 7 LAPTOP!
I thought this would be easy! Get a new one, have the mechanic replace it and done! Whoo-Whoo...
With this newsletter I made a video about sponsors and how I treat this subject! I'm real pleased with
THE FIAT UNO TOUR CAR NEWSLETTER
©Johan du Toit
May 2019
Issue No: 7
my latest item... The Hewlett Packard Pavilion laptop! The battery is no good but I have found a replacement for this PC in Claremont Cape Town. My other laptop, a new Asus win 10 laptop that was also sponsored, will be used for video editing and my photography hobby as well as online at home. The HP win 7 will become my entertainment PC, such as watching TV, games and will be my internet source on tour. Windows 7 don't require updates hence my dongle will work great on tour! FIAT UNO TOUR CAR TV CHANNEL... This issue will have a couple of videos! Just scroll down on my blog page with this issue and follow the “timeline”! THE TOUR PLAN CHANGED... AGAIN! In all honesty, given the circumstances with the repairs, it is save to predict now a “winter tour” during June or July. My car should be finished during May and I thought about it that a 2 or 3 day trip should be good to see that everything is good with my tour-car.
Calitzdorp hot springs and warm baths offer a nice campsite and is not so far in travelling distance. The timing is quite important as on need to visit here when the schools are open! During school holidays this resort is very busy! During the week, out of season, one would find mostly retired couples seeking the warm water of the mineral hot springs.
Another option, also close to us is Warmwaterberg. Both the places are far from nearby towns and one must pack just about everything! These are some good options to consider this time of the year! TRIP TO TAKKIESKLOOF RIVERSDAL! So... The weather here is still warm to hot and not quite perfect for a SPA trip, and I decided to visit Takkieskloof in Riversdal!
This is one of those campsites with a private bathroom and kitchen with each site! On this trip I decided to do the food challenge and the private kitchen would be real good considering the amount of washing up afterwards! THE FOOD CHALLENGE! The food challenge given was to prepare a Vegan and Vegetarian dish on the fire! I did some homework and searching about the subject! The following night after the challenge a Vegan visitor arrived! Please read this TOURING FRIENDS!
THE FIAT UNO TOUR CAR NEWSLETTER
©Johan du Toit
May 2019
Issue No: 7
and to dish up the different vegetable types in the bowl. In future I might just make another attempt on preparing such meals!
I made a dedicated video for this challenge! TOURING FRIENDS! My touring friend for the May newsletter is Brandon! Brandon is a Canadian touring South Africa with pedal power!
ISSUES I HAD WITH THE CHALLENGE.
He arrived just a day late for my Vegan Vegetarian challenge as he is also a Vegan! During a nice chat with Brandon, he watched my video and gave a lot more suggestions!
The first issue I had was the amount of stuff in the packaging! Such as the potato ingredient came only in a pack of 10. The others I gave away as they would get all messed up in the cooler box just with melting ice.
He is a “raw Vegan” and prefer not to cook meals. Watching the video, he suggested a good product that I could have used in the Lacto-ovo Vegetarian dish to caramelize the onion rings with flour. In stead of egg, I could have used a product called “Flaxseed” that does the same job and is fully Vegan.
For the vegetables I would have needed a lot of different stuff to make up the green salads. I was an hour drifting around the vegetable counter, till the store owner came to my rescue! They do prepare meals in store and they have a vegan and vegetarian staff member that prepared the salad bowls for each meal. The roosterkoek bread was specially baked and I had to get the tray of 6. The others was given away. They don't contain preservatives and wouldn't last like regular bread products. I think the hardest part was working all with fresh ingredients! You have a time frame for this! I made only 2 different pan meals whereas I had ingredients for 5 pans!
The following morning as I left Takkieskloof, I had another chat with brandon and he showed me a neat little “gadget”! This gadget is used to slice or “noodle” vegetable products. This just make the meal more attractive
Financially, one have to prepare such food for a small group. Imagine taking on such a challenge and you know you can't eat it all! Please watch the Takkieskloof videos with this newsletter! See you in April! Photo's and content... ©Johan du Toit