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2008 MANY STORIES ONE VOICE ONLINE COLLECTION
Click HERE to download
the full story in Microsoft Word format.
I’m suffering from
Adventure on Oppikoppi.
My name is Zach Joubert. I’m the person that has
been supposedly forgotten during a Rock & Roll music festival, namely
Oppikoppi, in a bar. It was held in the bushveld near Northam, in the
I have
Friedrich’s ataxia, which causes difficulty in using my muscles
throughout my body. My voice and balance is strongly affected by it, but
it has not deterred me from living my life to its utmost.
I’d had my birthday on the 31 July. About 2 weeks
before I had my birthday, I’d send out during a pal’s friendly
get-together an invitation to the guests to come and celebrate my
birthday at the forthcoming Oppikoppi music festival, that was being
held the 5th
to the 9th
August. I had been there 3 times before. I had organized with 2 other
friends for my stay and lift to the venue. The 1st
of August my friends phoned me and told me that their car had broken
down but they would get a lift with someone else. I just have to
organize my own transport to and from the music venue. I had to contact
them on arrival so that they would take me to their camping-spot.
I’d
managed to get transport from a taxi company by searching on the
Internet. On the 4th
of August, my friends and I met at another place and planned the
Oppikoppi outing.
The 5th
of August finally arrived. I drove around like a formula 1 racing driver
on my electric wheelchair to get my things finished for the planned
long-weekend. At about 17h40 another buddy arrived at my place to help
me pack my things and to drop me off at the taxi’s meeting place. My
gear consisted of a tent, clothes put in a nylon back, manual wheelchair
and food in a cool bag. I arrived there at 18h20 and climbed aboard with
7 strangers in a combi (van) with a trailer. Everything was loaded onto
the trailer. At about 18h30 we were on our way to Oppikoppi.
During the trip I tried to get to know my fellow
passengers. It was almost impossible because I have left my Pathfinder
at home for security reasons. I had taken along a qwerty alphabet board,
a cell phone and a notebook with a pen to try and communicate. To make
things worse, I was dead tired, had no light as darkness descended on us
and the road surface was terrible. Eventually I learned that the 2
passengers, the driver and co-driver were all engaged. There were 3
girls from overseas in front of me and beside me there were a guy with
his girlfriend from
After a bumpy ride of about 2 and a half hours,
we arrived at our venue, The Oppikoppi music festival. At the entrance
our festival and camping tickets were taken and each one of us were
marked by clamping a black piece of cloth around one arm. Everywhere
inside the camping site, there were thousands of people talking,
braaiing (barbeque) and enjoying themselves. There were hundreds of
fires flickering between the endless oases of thorn trees in the
campsite of about 25 square kilometers. We decided to be dropped at the
nearest empty camping spot to the entrance to the music sites. We’ve
found it on the corner of Silang Malabe road and Oom Piet Duik road. As
we were unloading our suitcases, my wheelchair and camping gear from the
trailer, I asked someone to phone my friends and tell them where they
should look for me to take me to their camping spot. The person tried to
contact them via my cell phone, but only got that the number he dialed
was busy and if he would leave a message. The person then eventually did
leave a message and departed. The departure time and place, back to
After
waiting for another half hour, I smsed a mutual friend, and explained
the situation to him and asked him to try and contact them. A quarter of
an hour later, I’d received the mutual friend’s sms that he had also
gotten only their voicemails. He told me to put up my tent on the spot
and that he would try to made contact with them.
With the help of to 2 strangers, I began putting
up my tent. Halfway through the process, we discovered that there were
just 2 tent poles and not 3. It had been realized that 1 of the tent
poles had gotten left behind at my home in
Every few
minutes thereafter, I had been woken by the lights of a passing car or
some campers with flashlights. At the 8 music stages, every speaker was
put to its fullest to try and attract the biggest crowd. You could only
imagine the ghoulish sounds evolving from the stages and rolling through
the campsite. A deep sleep overcame me at about 03h30. At 05h45, I was
awakened by the morning cold. After gathering my thoughts, trying to
puzzle out the wellbeing of my friends that should have come to pick me
up but didn’t, I’d decided to go outside armed with my alphabet board,
cell phone and pen & paper around the neck. Outside the day was
breaking.
As ‘lady
luck’ would have had it, I’d discovered that my tents outside was put
wrongly with the outside entrance at my back with the insides entrance
in front of me. When I’d eventually managed to crawl out, I received an
even greater shock. My tent was standing halfway in the farm road. I
couldn’t believe my luck as during the short time, I hadn’t been run
over by the traffic.
2 nearby
campers, realized my helplessness in shifting my tent on my own to a
safer place, helped and offered to make place for it near theirs about
10 meters away. I’d accepted their offer and my tent was moved. I’d
smsed my tents new position to my missing friends. The mutual friend
also had received my tents new position. The mutual friend, whom had
unsuccessfully tried to get hold of our missing friends, eventually got
hold of the campsites security and told them of my dilemma. They had to
come and hear if everything was okay with me. At 10h00 the campsites
security come and asked me if I’m okay and offered me a lift to the
medical tent. As I had a full bladder and the campsites toilets were
impossible for me to use on my own, I’d accepted their offer. After
making arrangements with nearby campers that I’m at the medical tent
should someone come looking for me, I was put onto their bakkie and off
we went.
Once dropped off by the medical tent, I’d hurried
off to the nearest toilet. The medical tent was very busy. Most people
had or a hangover, a thorn in the flesh or ailment problem. As can be
expected was the medical personnel were afraid of the situation into
which they found themselves while trying to communicate with me. After a
while they started understanding my way of communication. Some of the
festivals people came to take my personal info so that it could be
broadcasted from the music stages that my friends should look for me at
the medical tent. I’d waited patiently, helping the medical personnel
where I can, till 13h45, but my missing friends did not show up.
I then
decided to go and watch rugby with some of the medical personnel. If
there is something I like, its rugby. The game was shown on a big screen
at the beer tent next to the medical tent. South Africa was playing
against New-Zeeland at Newlands in Cape Town and had won the game, 22 –
16. After the game, I’d started looking for my tent with belongings that
I’d left that morning with some campers. At first I couldn’t find my
tent and belongings. After enquiring for it at a few campers and being
pushed or pushing a wheelchair by myself on the uneven dirt roads for
about 3 kilometres, I’d heard that someone had left a tent and backpack
at the medical tent. It was my tent and backpack that were left by the
medical tent. On my way back to the medical tent, a young girl gave me a
handful of coins because I must have looked like a beggar.
At the
medical tent, an awful surprise awaited me. A newspaper reporter had
heard about the dilemma. Reluctantly I’d agreed to an interview. The
reporter had asked me only two questions namely what’s the matter with
me and where do I come from. I answered the questions by using my alpha
board. The reporter then disappeared.
Tired,
frustrated and disappointed at the outturn of events was what I’d felt.
I’d asked for permission to sleep in the medical tent which I did get.
Just like the night before I couldn’t sleep immediately.
The Sunday morning, I’d stayed inside my sleeping
bag till 07h30. At 08h45 I’d decided to phone an old friend of mine,
George van Heerden. I’d got hold of him and explaining the situation to
him. We then decided that it was best that he’d come from Centurion and
take me back home to
That Monday morning, I’d almost had a heart
attack. On every lamp pole in
On the funny side now I could brag that I’d had
been put on the ‘Beeld’ frontpage together with Riaan Oberholtzer (SARVU
Rugbyboss) and Jake White (
My missing Oppikoppi friends had phoned me the 9th
of August. They’d been experiencing sim card problems at the Oppikoppi
music festival.
I want to
thank them for the expierences gained at Oppikoppi. You can’t buy that
expierence from anywhere else. I would
love to go again. Oppikoppi is sure not meant for the faint hearted!
Oppikoppi
aventurer
Zach Joubert
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