Post 30 Build it Journey

Blog Post 30

 Today was a long day. Basically I squeezed two days into one and I learned a big lesson as I took a few days to recover. So that is the last time I will be driving so far as I think that I actually put my life in danger driving so far and doing so much. I have driven over 1,300 kms in the past three days and 15 Build It meetings in four days. I am shattered and that’s the truth. Ha ha, now that that’s out of the way

I was up at sparrows as usual and was sad to bid farewell to my lovely hosts and the great little town of Elliott. First up was Ugie where I met very friendly Henry Sallgren. We had a good chat but unfortunately the wi-fi was out so we were unable to go onto his listing. I did explain everything and went onto my iPhone which did show how to get into his listing.

It was then not too long a drive again through magnificent countryside to Maclear where I met with the fun Dave Marland. The owner of Ugie and Maclear is my old army mate Lyle Wicks and I was bitterly disappointed to hear that I missed him and he was up in Johannesburg. I did get to see some old army photo’s on his wall which I was in with us doing our Junior Leaders Officers course in Kimberly which we both passed and were commissioned. Lyle has gone on too great things and is a very prominent businessman in the area and all round nice guy and I feel very proud to know him.

After a great visit in Maclear I was off to Qumbu and venturing back into the Transkei now with many more people about and quite a substantial amount of rural sprawl alongside the roadside. In Qumbu I met with Sandile who was very generous with his time and what a nice humble man.

I was starting to feel really tired but I ventured on to Mt Frere to meet with Martin Swartling who again was a super bloke. It just never ceases to amaze me how nice everyone is that works for this group. After a last store visit I should have found accommodation somewhere around Mt Frere but being mid-afternoon I decided to make a run for home. After 487 exhausting kms today I finally arrived home as the sun was setting and decided to take it easy on Friday which was a good thing as I ended up not feeling well at all and spent most of the day in bed.

I am home as my car has to be serviced, I must see my Mum and I also sadly have to attend a funeral on Monday morning. I also have another doctor’s appointment on Tuesday morning. So it’s back to the office, a few admin things and some family things to do before heading off again mid-week next week. Hopefully I will be recovered by then and be a bit more cheerful. It’s been a long two weeks on the road but I have accomplished a lot and visited I think 32 Build It’s and done all the stores in KZN and all the Transkei and Eastern Cape stores up to and including East London.

Another great tangible benefit that we are seeing about this awesome trip is that when I started in the beginning of August our Google Analytics stood on 27,000 unique visits to our website each month. On Thursday we hit 40,000 which is a jump of 50% in 6 weeks so the word is spreading. The website is working and what makes the trip so worthwhile is every Build It store is seeing so clearly after each visit what a positive affect it is having on each of their businesses. So happy days to that.

Blog will continue next week