Hot, Sticky and Frustrated...

Have spent most of my day today sorting out admin issues. Left for Pretoria at about 9am this morning to collect our passports from the Austrian Embassy. Missed the offramp so had to double back and find my way back into Brooklyn. Got there at about 10am and was greeted with a hot and sweaty queue out the door and down the stairs. Anyway, stood in the queue for and hour and a half before finally making my way to the counter to get the passports. Thankfully there were no problems in getting the visas. I put this down to the hours of preparation and effort that I put into getting everything perfect. It was cruel, but funny to see the number of people turned away because they had forms in the wrong order, or they had stapled their photos to the application form and had accidentally defaced the picture. They're a tough bunch of people those Austrians. Nevertheless, we're finally sorted.
I signed up with Hillside golf club a couple of weeks ago, so that I could get a handicap card and pay affiliate rates. Anyway, figured that whilst I was in Pretoria I would do the visas and collect my card at the same time - which would save me the courier fees for the golf card from Pretoria to Jhb. On my way out of Brooklyn and wanting to turn left to head north I figure out that there in no on-ramp heading north - only one heading south. Again, I have to take the southern route, double back onto the freeway heading north. Five minutes up the road, I come across an accident involving three vehicles - and only 3 of the four northern lanes are open. No worries, the accident just happened so I don't have to wait long. Off I go. Things back on track. Until...i turn the next bend on the freeway, and all four lanes are at a dead standstill. 702 announces that 2 army vehicles have overturned just past the Zambezi off-ramp. That's 5 kms up the road from where I am. I spend the next hour sitting in my car with the windows down, watching the people all around me getting out of their cars and sitting on the grass next to the freeway. We sit, without moving for about an hour and a half before the hundreds of sunburnt motorists climb back into their cars to start moving again. By the time I had collected my golf card and made the journey back home, 6 hours had passed. Sigh....