This is a note to my comrades and friends:

We all experienced something that will bind us together with an invisible bond. “We completed the rally together”.

Now that the fat lady has sung and the chaos has come to an end, we get a chance to reflect on all that we have learned, experienced and been through. To say that the trip had its ups and downs would be an understatement. Our team went through moments of ecstasy that could be compared to the peaks of the Himalayas, and went through low times that could only be quantified by the depths of the deepest ocean.

However, it is the lows that make the good times feel as amazing as they were. Before I carry on with this piece, I must commend each of my team mates for their continuous optimistic outlook, and a will to carry on. I believe a lesser bunch of men would have packed up and left the rally on day 4. Visions of the crew surrounding the motor with more banter than mechanical knowledge are etched into my head for a life time. What a bunch of hooligans we truly are.

With Otto at rest underneath the lights in Johannesburg, reality has been quick to set in. I miss having you all around me, I miss the sheer comedic whit of my fellow companions, but most of all I miss the feeling of adventure and being free. This reality check has been brought on by more than the fact that my facial growth has been trimmed, and more than the realisation of the constant admin that my computer screen brings. We all shared together a time in our lives where opportunities and experiences were almost boundless. We really made the most of each opportunity, 22 hour long hauls on the road, 30 minute drinking sessions and endless ribbing. We lived it to the full, just ask PFR HQ.

I cannot wait until Saturday where we will again reminisce on each event. What makes me more excited is the image of us many years down the line, beer in hand seated around a familiar camp fire laughing about those days we were stuck in Tsumeb, or speaking in awe about each majestic African Sunset we were blessed enough to witness. No other place puts on a greater show than our home continent.

“Some of us are cave dwellers and some of us are loose footed.” –Lemon Jelly

C.J.P Ball

Dear Readers

As all of you will know, I am going to be leaving for the Putfoot rally very soon. Although for me this could be an adventure of a life time, there is also more to this trap than just gallivanting through some of the most scenic landscapes in the world. Along with the good nature of the rally is a good hearted team of people who also strive to enrich those who are less fortunate than us.

'Founded by three aspiring young South Africans Daryn Hillhouse, Mike Sharman and Dan Nash the Put Foot Foundation's is South... or rather Southern Africa's newest "adventure-charity!'"We want to build upon the vision started by the Bobs For Good Foundation by committing our passion, energy and shared vision of changing young lives through a single pair of brand new school shoes."
The Put Foot Foundation will act as an umbrella organisation when teaming with other charities and will assume responsibility for the administration, planning and delivery of social development projects, as well as responsibility for the accounting, collection and distribution of donations.
Our goal is to raise funds for a minimum of 600 pairs of shoes and to provide Donors and Put Foot Rally participants with the opportunity to see and feel 'first-hand' the life-changing experience that gifting a brand new pair of school shoes to a young underprivileged child can deliver!"

To read more about the charity, please follow this link. :http://www.putfootfoundation.org/whoweare/putfootfoundation/

To donate follow this link:
http://www.putfootfoundation.org/whoweare/putfootfoundation/

As a message to the foundation just state Timu Timu

Thank you all for your help

TimuTimu
"If it can't be won it should not be done"

Skype PTA Meeting #6 

@TimuTimu8

18 February 2013

Present: Chris Ball, Max Melvill, Andrew Nell, Rob Levick.

Absent: Jamil Randera absent but still more involved than Andrew Nell.

Key:   

• AN:      Andrew Nell
• CB:      Chris Ball
• MM:     Max Melvill
• RL:      Rob Levick
• JR:      Jamil Randera

CB said the welcome and prayer just after 8:30 RSA time.

The first order of business was brand awareness. MM said that more attention needs to be paid to speling and gramar. This was directed in particular at CB’s most recent article on the blog. CB defended himself by saying that the only reason there were spelling errors in his post was due to the fact that he was under the influence at the time. The pros and cons of “Drunk blogging” were then discussed at great length. The verdict of this debate was that that if you are too drunk to drive you are probably too drunk to blog. AN then said when he drinks and drives he can’t see so well and this might hinder his blogging abilities but he still maintained that he was sober enough to drive. The group then agreed that AN may not under any circumstances drunk blog.

On the topic of social platforms there was an incident that caused much controversy within the team... A tweet from @miekaola was the cause of the ruckus. After reading Timu Timu’s blog she innocently asked if there was an extra space for her to join the rally... Little did she know that this small tweet would lead to many of the team members wasting away their weekend and bandwidth looking at countless photos of her. It was agreed that she would have to answer a few questions before being able to join the crew. MM proclaimed that he would be the questionnaire and proceeded to ask @miekeola to marry him... Needless to say she said no and we are still searching for an elusive 6^th wheel.

The next item on the agenda was a bit more serious. All members shared a feeling of repugnance and humiliation towards the Put Foot Rally’s Facebook (@PutFootRally) comment regarding our blog. It was agreed that 11 minutes and 38 seconds to change a tyre was a great feat of physical and mental ingenuity. Michael Schumacher allegedly said that he would still be racing F1 if MM have been a part of his pit crew.

Team morale was then debated for some time. The uplifting notions were Ottos mini Put Foot which gave everyone a little tickle. Some of the downers included AN punching MM in the eye, just after MM had been cleared from hospital after having his eye operated on. The group agreed that this went against the interests of the team as well as crossing the line of Abuntu. Nelson Mandela wanted to kick AN off the team, however we went against our better judgement and left him on... On condition that he would have to ride with the baggage until JHB.

CB admitted to the team that he had sunk his education savings into Otto. He went onto say that an education in life was more valuable than an education at UCT. Everyone was very impressed at this display of commitment and dedication to the cause.

A few inside competitions were then set. These being the following:

The first teammate to get another Putfooter pregnant would receive free drinks at the next pit stop.

The first teammate to have a napover in Otto would be able to cancel cleaning duties for one meal.

The first teammate to have a legover in Otto would have to clean the seats, once completed however this teammate would be allowed to wear the yellow jacket.

A fine tally was also drawn up:

AN: Having less input during the meeting than Jamil

JR: Missing the meeting due to a 60^th

Getting the maps out

Forward Planning

Yesterday after receiving the news of our route I decided to get Otto out so that we could plot the route together.

We marked out the route and took a mini tour together. The whole time with a childlike excitement imagining the amazing places we will go and crazy things we will do.

Cape Town: An interesting fact about Cape Town - Cape Town was originally named by Bartolomeu Dias as the Cape of Storms

Rehoboth: It is rumoured that the warm baths here are a must

 Etosha: For most of the year a vast shallow pan, which was once a lake the size of Holland, shimmers a glaring bright white from crystallised salt across its entire surface.

The Caprivi: This land mass was bought up in a quest by General Caprivi to join West German Africa to East German Africa

 Lusaka: Well Zambia actually boarders with 8 different countries.

Chipata: Recent reports suggest that the ladies of the night are using friend to get their way around STD tests [Zambian Watchdog]

 Tete: The new super capital of energy in the world. Tete has one of the largest shallow surface coal resources in the world

  Tofu: There is a mad left brake around the corner at Tofinia point

CJPB

Max 'if it cant be won, its shouldn't be done' Melvill

Max has a thirst for adventure and all fizzy drinks but Coke. He is known for his boundless energy and boyish charm. Our TimuTimu team mate  often finds himself putting his proverbial 'foot' in it, but is usually able to leopard crawl his way out. Mr Melvill is always on the move but never on time.

Max is the designated team Gopro enthusiast 

Follow him at @max_melvill for lank funny and overboard insightful tweets

Preparing for PutFoot

It would be hard to believe that some of the TimuTimu team mates have never changed a tyre before (especially seeing that in less that 4 months time our fearless explorers will be embarking on a 8000km 'rally' through southern africa)

Anyways Max put his mechanical streak to the test today as he practiced a pit-stop style tyre change on his very own Polo (Cpt Stu) this morning. His methods may have been unconventional but they seemed to do the trick as he smashed his PB whilst similarly setting a new record for TimuTimu and ultimately laying down the gauntlet for the rest of his team mates.

Time (from the gate to the car and back- including tyre change): 11 minutes and 38 seconds.

MRM

Andrew 'HEY everyone' Nell

Andrew aka Ando Loco is a recent mechanical engineering graduate with a passion for renewable energy. some would refer to him as Mr Jolsburg and with a reputation as such how can you expect him not to live life to the fullest. Ando has just finished a 6-month sebatical in Beijing, during which he pioneered a bob-sled competition down the great wall... YES you heard right "South Africa we have a bob-sled team" (say that in a Jamaican accent and replace South Africa with Jamaica)

Andrew is the designated team mechanic

Follow Andrew at @Ando9N for tweets in mandarin

Chirs 'neeeeeiiiigh!!!!!' Ball

Chris (amongst other things of course) is known for his love of horses. Although spending a lot of time on endurance horse rides (claiming that it is the best possible way to bond with a horse) Chris is always up for an adventure or something new. Chris studied commerce at Stellenbosch university- but no, he is not boring... or Afrikaans but YES, he did play Botttom in his grade 7 mid summer nights dream production

Chris is the designated team organiser

Follow Chris at @cjpbball for the latest tweets from the 'horse and hound'

Jamil 'I heart thrift shopping' Randera

Jamil lives for adventure and all things achtar!!! (thats pickled mango for all you vanilla-faces out there). After breaking his foot falling out of a tree in 2011 Jamil never leaves the house without his climbing shoes and contact solution.

One of Jamil's latest heroics must be his circum-navigation of India with only 1 case of 'dribbly bum'!

Jamil is the designated team quota/ photographer

Follow Jamil at @imwaytoalternativeandhipsterfortwitterandinstagram

Rob 'check my mullet bru' Levick

Made famous by running naked around a living room with burning newspaper shoved up his bum (a manoeuvre he calls the 'Flaming A'), Rob Levick is a part time lover- full time hooligan who prides himself on his 4 year old mullet and 2-toned 'T'-shirts. Rob is a student of life and has promised to name his first born "tails i win head you loose" (that can be hyphenated) anyways meet the 5th member of TimuTimu

Oh he also has a coastal skippers sailing license

Rob is the designated team VW expect

Follow Robert at @Rob_Levick for the latest from Simonberg

Wessel 'prince of justice' Botes

An architect, doctor, performer, kabula guru and a lover of the human race- some would call our friend Wessel the swiss army knife of humans. His many skills coupled with his Afrikaans nature makes Wessel one to watch during the PutFoot Rally. Wessels actual name is Daniel (say that in an Afrikaans accent) but that has never stopped him from being the life of the party and always willing to help.

Wessel is the designated team medic

Follow Wessel at @theyhaventbroughtouttwitterisafrikaansyet