Ola and Jenny, Wildekrans Wine Estate, Bot River. In my household, Saturday’s from October to the end of April are generally a complete write-off as far as dad goes. In a nutshell it’s get up, shower, breakfast, check camera gear and head off. The result is that I’ve missed a lot of the good stuff that families do on Saturday’s. But hey, you get over it. Now, when it came to Ola and Jenny’s wedding it was our (middle) daughter, Annie’s 18th birthday. She wanted to have a braai at our Guest House in Langebaan (www.langebaanonsea.co.za) which was happy days with us. The only slight technical snag is that it’s quite a drive from the ‘Baan’ to Wildekrans in Bot River. But anything can be achieved in a car with Springsteen playing in the background so no probs there. Annie’s mates arrived for her party, I said ‘hi’ and ‘bye’ and off I went. All good. Ola and Jenny only wanted me for 4 hours and the wedding went really well, with some highly unseasonal clouds rolling in late afternoon. During the couples shoot after the ceremony we laughed about getting away without the rain coming down. 7.00pm arrived, Wildekrans began bringing out some quite delish looking food and I said my goodbyes feeling very good about the day and just how chilled and relaxed Ola and Jen had been. Back into the car. Estimated time of arrival in Langebaan around 9.30pm. I’d catch the last hour or two of Annie’s birthday around the fire. Brilliant stuff. I got to Cape Town, all good. Onto the R27. The rain started and then, 2 kilometres past the Atlantis turnoff, pfffffft. Puncture. I get out the car. It’s pitch black. The rain is pelting down. So there I am, soaked to the bone, cellphone in mouth trying to provide light, jacking up the car. At this stage, I must admit, I did say some things to that tyre that might have been a bit offsides. It took an hour to change. An hour! My adrenalin was through the roof. Standing on the R27 in the dark is not a whole bunch of fun – especially when you’re on a bend and the cars are zipping past you at what feels like breakneck speed. But it was the car that pulled up right behind me, brights on, rain flashing in front of its lights that really got my imagination going. ‘I’m. Going. To. Die.’ I hoped they’d just make it quick. ‘But maybe if I kick them in the balls I’ll have time to disappear into the night.’ It was at that stage that I thought about my camera and the photos on it. If they tried to take my camera there was going to be bloodshed – their blood, not mine. I needn’t have worried. The two Arsenal supporters who stopped to help me were fine, fine citizens. They weren’t even marginally concerned about getting completely wet out there. So thank you chaps, whoever you are, you were incredible. I got back to Langebaan tired and a bit shaky – but it was nothing that a good, solid toasted cheese couldn’t sort out. Not the kind of food you’d get at Wildekrans, (which is outstanding for those of you who are foodies), but food nonetheless. Happy 18th birthday Annie. And happy, happy marriage days Ola and Jen – and if you ever get stuck somewhere with a blown tyre in the middle of the night – call me – I’ve got it waxed.
