h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Sundays are meant for riding motorcycles!

Rise at an appropriate time after the night before, dress up for the trip and ride about two hours* away. Stop, have a good breakfast (pie+gravy, real English fry-up or bran, yoghurt and nuts if you're a health-nut ) followed by good strong or . Return in the reverse order.

If you are a religious person, when you get home, remember to thank God for making the men+women who make motorcycles!

*remember that the destination is the excuse, the ride is the reason!

This Sunday we shall be going out for a nice hairy drive in our new car, which we shall have had for all of 24 hours. So if I see you up at Matlock Batch I shall give you a wave (look for a red Skoda Fabia).

Can I get there on one 22litre tank of petrol from Pretoria, South Africa, or would I need to fill up again on the way?

You could probably get a bloody sight further than the car we saw the last time I went up there (again, because we'd bought a new motor). I was filling up at a petrol station and what should pull in but a gleaming yellow Lamborghini Diablo, all engine. It probably spent more time in filling stations than it did between them.

How is Pretoria at this time of year? It should be getting nice and warm, I imagine, and the jacarandas and proteas should be out soon. Here, the leaves are coming off the trees and we have to scrape the frost off the car windows in the morning. We warm oyurselves up in the evening with a nice bottle of South African red.

Pretoria's damn hot today! Blazing sun, 31C and about 30% humidity. Not a cloud in sight - thunderstorm tonight? Johannesburg, where I work, is about 2C cooler, but it's still sweaty stuff!
We even have to chill our red wine in the fridge - at 30C+ room temperature they taste ghastly! I have a friend with a dedicated bar fridge set to a constant 15C just for keeping his bottles of red.

The jacarandas ARE in full bloom - exam time! They really are a pest, especially to s as the blossoms fall and carpet the roads - more slippery than diesel!