We talk about the Pain Cave. What few people realise is that it comes as a companion set along with the Cimmerian Caverns. To save you google time; the Cimmerians were a mythical people described by Homer as dwelling in a remote realm of mist and gloom. The Caverns; a dark, gloomy and deep place. More about that later..
Tim and Andrew were already at Allendale and had not yet left. It seems Andrew had arrived first and was intent on trailing Tim to Centocow as he wasn't certain of the route. So he just hung around waiting. Tim took the opportunity to jump in the pool to cool off after the hot climb out of the Umkomaas valley. I sucked on a toasted sandwich and tried to coax some tea down my throat as I watched those two go about their game. Andrew playing open cards and Tim already in game mode. All rather amusing.
Janine was rustling through her resupply box figuring out what she needed. Being a last minute entrant I had no boxes so I was spared that bother. I had made myself a pot of tea which I expected to drain. As it turned out I didn't even have the energy required to make that effort.
In past years I have moved through Allendale in 10 minutes. This year I was broken. By the time I had drunk a glass of coke, poked the toastie down my throat and managed a cup and a half of tea, 30 minutes had ticked by. Janine later described my appearance as "Shattered! Looking like if he could work up the energy to go shower and then climb in bed, then that's exactly what he would have done."
The mind is a funny thing. I had mentally shuffled into the Cimmerian Caverns - a place beyond pain - but the objective was to make Ntsikeni a further 95 kilometres down the road. I picked up my gear and told Janine I was leaving. 38 minutes after arriving at Allendale I started to explore the depths of those caverns.
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