The morning of Monday 2 April 2012 the men from Elliott
arrived. Within 10 minutes they off loaded big rolls of bubble wrap, stacks and
stacks of carton to be made into boxes, rolls of packing tape and lots of newsprint.
Each of the four man team started in a room and the speed with which they
worked was mindboggling. Like a whirlwind stuff was being wrapped in paper or
bubble wrap, packed in a box and the sound of packing tape sealing the boxes
became the new rhythm. So it continued without pause for the next 3 days, from
9am to 4pm. Apart from a very short lunch break these guys worked continuously
in absolute silence with a single minded focus. The team even custom built wooden
crates for the 2 television sets, our grandfather clock and a priceless art
piece of mine.
I’m glad we sorted out the house well in advance. This made the
packing task much easier as we put everything that was to go in our
suitcases in one cupboard and the rest could be Elliotised and containerised for
the long sea voyage.
During these packing
days we felt completely redundant and Kobus warned
that if we dared to stay in one place long enough we too would be wrapped,
packed and tagged.
We mostly lived on take aways and spent the nights at my brother's house. They were away on holiday and it was great to be able to at least relax in a comfortable place, watch some television, unwind and sleep in a comfy bed. It is these gestures from friends and family that makes one feel
really special.
On Thursday, at 9.30 in the morning a big rig with a
ginormous steel container pulled up in front of the house. Suddenly everyone
shifted into 6th gear and furniture and boxes were carried out and
loaded with fortune 500 efficiency. At 12 o’clock sharp the packing job was
done. The container was sealed, the truck engine rumbled to life and with a
last goodbye the big yellow steel box with MSC emblazoned on the side
disappeared around the bend with Kobus singing “There goes my only
possessions...”
It’s uncanny to think
that it’s travelling all the way to Durban, gets loaded on a ship, that’s first
making a stop in Mauritius to load some more cargo, and travels around
the Cape of Storms and up across the length and breadth of the Atlantic Ocean.
We can only hope that we see it again in front of our new house in Guelph in
two month’s time. May it encounter no hurricanes, leviathans, pirates or icebergs...........
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