Day Three: Coligny to Mafikeng

We reached Coligny at about 15h15 yesterday after the guys celebrated fewer kilometres than expected (88 instead of 110) with a high five as they cycled past the ‘distance to the next town’ board. The road though was very hilly and busy with huge trucks rumbling past at dangerous speeds and sometimes too close for comfort.  Roland is doing a sterling job waving down vehicles to go more slowly while driving at the same time (few heed the warning!).
The boys are looking good this morning however I am learning more about hot spots. One gets wi-fi hot spots, hijacking hot spots and hot spots on bums! Shaun has a hot spot which he hopes will not become a blister. He is treating it so we are holding thumbs that it will heal without becoming a saddle sore.

We had a wretched night at Rus Mar. We all took ages to fall asleep, Roland could not sleep and was playing outside with the Rus Mar dog at 01h30! Shaun kept hearing noises and was up to see what was causing them (he had earlier been warned of bats flying around inside the chalet. We were in fact given a squash racquet to swipe at them if they did find their way inside but none of us relished the idea at all!) only to find Roland wandering around. And then at 03h11 the roosters started crowing (there were 8 of them in a nearby hok and they kept competing with one another). So that destroyed any attempts at sleeping. Two alarms then went off simultaneously at 05h00 but the electrical box had tripped so we had no lights, and worse, no hot water for tea and coffee. After fiddling with the switches we thankfully got the electricity back on and the morning began. We eventually set of at 06h45 after a breakfast of oats and leftover pasta. Today, I have decided, we will
buy fresh veg and fruit for tonight’s self-catering stopover in Mafikeng.

Yesterday we repacked the vehicles and sorted through the food for easier access, afterwards we had a braai of T-bone steaks and yes, pasta – for making us fasta! Pieter (Supplement Guy) Kleynhans and Shaun (Strong Guy) Murphy are pumping and doing so well for ausometism, it really is amazing. Bikes have not yet been pushed up a hill and there have been no punctures so far either! It is great being encouraged along by some motorists who hoot in greeting. We reached Mafikeng at about 11h30 in record time with the guys cycling between 30 and 40 kph most of the way. They are getting stronger by the day.

So from the mealie lands, keep thinking of us.

Thank you to Jan and Kobie Jordaan of Rus Mar for sponsoring our accommodation and to St Luke’s Church, Orchards, who are praying for us and our safety.

History of Coligny (from the internet)

The town lies 193 km due west of Johannesburg on the road to Lichtenburg, which is 29 km away.
Originally named Treurfontein (well of sadness), the name was changed to honour Admiral Gaspard de Coligny, a staunch French Huguenot who was killed in the Massacre of Saint Bartholomew's Day (24 August 1572) in Paris.

At first sight, Coligny gives the impression of being just another dusty, windswept village - forgotten in the mists of time and bypassed by modern life. In a way it has retained its "olde worlde" character, but it hides a wealth of history and fascinating character.

With the last sitting of the parliament of the old Transvaal Republic, before the Union of South Africa was formed in 1910, General Koos de la Rey, representing Lichtenburg, managed to get his proposal accepted for the railway line to be extended from Welverdiend in the east through Coligny, to Lichtenburg and south to Delareyville.

A year later, the plumes of the first locomotive blew over the area, signalling the birth of a town. Even though it was built on the farm Rietvlei, it was named Treurfontein, to distinguish it from the Rietvlei station near Heidelberg in Gauteng.

The station is still the heartbeat of the town, with lines spreading to all four points of the compass. In 1910, all that could be seen among the waving maize crops, was a lonely building, housing a school with two teachers and 37 students. Soon after the establishing of the station, a shop built from corrugated iron was put up by the brothers Mangelsdorf.

Sixteen years later, the NG Church was completed. It was later extended as the congregation grew. Originally it was named the Welgemoed-Congregation. The editor of the newspaper "The Western", H. J. Malan, however urged them to change the name to Coligny, after the famous Huguenot leader, Gaspard de Coligne. He was murdered on August 24, 1572 during the Barthlomeus Night, or Bloody Night, when 10 000 protestants were murdered by the Roman Catholic monarch. Many Huguenots later fled to South Africa.

After this name change, authorities were urged to also change the name or the station to Coligny. In 1922 it was declared a township. A town council was constituted in 1929.