The Great Scavenger Hunt
15 April 2013
Have you ever been to a scavenger
hunt party? Because if you haven’t,
you’re seriously missing out.
So exactly what is a scavenger
hunt party? Well, let me explain.
What happens is that someone sets
a series of tasks for you. Completely
and utterly unrelated random things that have to collected within a certain
space of time. Things that are nearly
impossible to get.
A few years ago, we had quite a
few of them. I think in total I went to
about four. And I thoroughly enjoyed
each and every one. My first one was
arranged by the wife of an old school friend of Grant’s, many years ago. It was such fun and made such a huge
impression on me, that I told my Twisteds about it. It didn’t take long for us Sista’s and
partners to do a scavenger hunt party too.
In fact, we did a few of them.
We had one friend, who loved
organising and arranging. In fact, she
loved it so much, that she got more enjoyment from the actual planning and
arranging bit of the party. Which is
just as well, because the person who arranges the party, can’t actually take
part in the end.
Her job was to set us a series of
tasks. All of us met at her house at a
designated time. We were divided into
teams of four or five, given a task sheet as well as one hour to collect all of
the items on our list. Though some
things on our list, were rather cryptic and involved quite a bit of lateral
thinking, figuring the clues out. There
were even some trivia questions included.
And what with me being a
scavenger hunt veteran, I can offer this advice. Arrange to have a few people outside of the
scavenger hunt party to be on alert so that they can help you. Husbands and wives are always split up. In this team divide, ensure that you are the
one in possession of your house keys, because chances are that you might have
some of the items on your list at your very own home. Ensure that your cell phone is charged so
that you can make calls to this same set of people on standby, getting them to
collect goodies for you.
However, at times, these
preventative measures were foiled.
Occasionally, we were asked to hand in our house keys and cell phones as
well. And on every occasion that I did a
scavenger hunt party, we were never allowed to take money along. These tasks may not involve money changing
hands. Beg, borrow and steal? Apparently yes. Paying for stuff? Definitely not.
And I would like to share with
you examples of some of the things I have had to collect over the years:
- A t-bone steak bone – went to all the steak
houses, and restaurants and had to go through their bins for the scraps –
charming!
A fish knife – I am still in possession of one
from the Strand Spur – sorry!
A For Sale sign board – take note, that an On
Show sign board will simply not do - quite a few teams, missed this little
nuance difference and lost valuable points in the process
A car hubcap
A piece of knitting, comprising twenty rows of
twenty stitches (they counted these meticulously at the end)
Swimming a length of the Beaumont pool ( I. Nearly.
Died. Swimming is not my forte,
furthermore, it was freezing cold, and I could obviously not wear my
glasses. I didn’t know where I was, or
where I was going and managed to get water up my nose, ears, mouth, etc. Too terrible for words!)
A shopping trolley race (I was pushed along a
length of the parking lot at the Mall by a fellow team mate – we won!!!)
A red pair of panties
A white rose
A used golf score card
An unused Lotto ticket, for that particular date
– remember, no money, so you have to beg a random stranger to buy one for you
A 2l cool drink bottle filled with sea water,
including a piece of floating seaweed – they test whether it is fresh or not,
so you simply can’t fill up from your tap at home
On one occasion, each team had to compose and
perform a rap song, using the words, “A chicken is a chicken, but a chicken is
a man” – there are no words to describe this one
A raunchy movie – one friend, who has a very,
very, very conservative wife, used her Stax video card to take out an x-rated
movie on her account – she nearly died taking it back again and was mortified
Climbing up the climbing wall at the Mall,
including strapping into harnesses, wearing safety helmets, etc. – it was
friggin high!!!
An empty tequila bottle – yip, had to go into a
whole bunch of bars and go through their bins too
One of Shakespeare’s works
A take-away menu
Chopsticks
A Balbinella plant
A Pizza take-away box
A Christmas tree
A Popcorn box from the movies
Fish bones
A light bulb
An avocado
A live snail
Hair curlers
A brick
A raw egg
A South African flag
So, as you can see, many, many
arbitrary, random things. Things with no
relation to each other, that usually necessitates the need for numerous pit
stops. Many items that won’t be found in
the average home and that require a fair bit of begging, borrowing and on the
odd occasion, even stealing. Because to
be fair, I’m not entirely sure that all of those “For Sale” signboards were
ever returned. I, for one am still in
possession of a fish knife from the Strand Spur. Though to be honest, it was given to me
willingly. After I begged them. I just somehow never quite got round to
taking it back again. Sadly the Lotto
ticket, didn’t produce any winning numbers.
And the person who’s golf score card we got, had clearly played a really
bad game.
But one particular Scavenger Hunt comes
to mind, when I think of these fun evenings racing around like lunatics. On this occasion, part of our crowd of
friends, partaking in the fun, was an African-American couple. No, seriously. He was African and she was American. In fact, she was African-American. And somehow even the African man was more
American than African. If memory serves,
his family had been exiled in America during the Apartheid years, and therefore
just like his beautiful wife, he too had an American accent.
One of the items on the list of
requirements, was a white rose. And for
this team in particular, it was one of the last items that they needed before
completing their list, within the time frame at hand. And just like that, whilst driving out and
about, they saw a garden, overflowing with beautiful white rose bushes. The driver of this team, quickly pulled to
the side, and everyone beseeched the African man, to quickly run and grab the
rose. To take one for his team. He was closest to the side of the garden and
it made logical sense for him to simply leap out of the car, pinch a rose and
off they would go. But, huge was his
team’s surprise when he point blank refused.
In fact, I think they were baffled by his refusal. Especially given the fact that he was such a
team player. However, upon inquiring as
to his reluctance, he admitted, that no force on earth could propel him, a
black man, to hop over the fence of a house, in an affluent, predominantly white
area, to steal a rose. It was very funny. Because he clearly had a point. And in the end, one of the ladies, did the
dirty deed.
Now said man’s wife, was in a different
team. And she was the co-pilot for her
team. Reading out instructions and the
like. And for this particular scavenger
hunt, one of the items required was a Harry Potter novel. And so when her team stopped at a team mate’s
house to ransack anything they could get, she shouted off a list of items, and
immediately ticked them off as completed.
It was only much later in the evening, when the scavenger hunt was
completed, all teams had returned and the unbiased “judge”, went through
everyone’s loot, that a lonesome little bottle of spices was unearthed. Why?
How? What was the reason for its
inclusion? No item on the list called
for spices.
Until closer inspection revealed that
the spice in the bottle was Curry Powder.
And then the penny dropped.
Spoken in her twangy, broad American accent, to her team mate, her
instructions for “Harry Potter”, sounded just like “Curry Powder”.
It provided many a laugh. But those were not the only laughs. Not by a long shot. The one year, we had to dress in bad taste,
and all of us looked like trailer trash.
We had to go running right through the Mall, dressed hideously. Furthermore, running into a bar, looking like
hooker, begging for an empty Tequila bottle, was probably not my best moment
either.
Scavenger hunts – highly
recommended. The adrenaline rush is
awesome. The feeling of team camaraderie
incredible too. The laughs
numerous. The tales afterwards
hilarious.
But most of all, the memories –
unbelievable!
In fact, I think it’s time for another
one…..
And so, just to be safe, best I stock
up on some random objects. Just for in
case. Like a crayfish in the freezer, a
chicken wish bone, a For Rent sign board, a motorbike side view mirror, a pool
cue, an old telephone directory, a movie ticket stub, a purple bra, a pair of
ballet points, swimming goggles, etc.
You simply never know.
Grant, Thando and Thea - getting in the zone before the start - cocktails all round
Gill, proudly showing off our loot - we were in the same team
Gillie and Paul - also in our team - we did good!
Gill showing off our hair curlers - tick!
One of the teams, ensuring that they've got all their goodies - many onlookers, giving them hell
Grant, Katrine, Garth and Fritz were in the same team
Just relaxing during the judging phase
At the time of this scavenger hunt I was about to pop with Cole. And one of the items on the list, was "Something for baby Cole". I remember thinking nothing of it, and exclaiming that I had nappies at my house, which we could go and get. It simply never dawned on me, that the Scavenger Hunt, was also a baby shower. And therefore "Something for baby Cole", was actually gifts. How awesome is that!
Admiring my loads of loot!
I simply couldn't believe it - lots of spoils!
Much debate and ragging between teams
In the end, it came down to a down-downs contest. And Thea was the undisputed winner. Much to her delight and her husband's disgust. Too funny! At times it is hard to remember that we are actually adults.
Clearly this is the start of the "Bad Taste" Scavenger Hunt pics - too dreadful. And to be fair, we all uglied up pretty well.
I can't decide on what my favourite look is. Gavin's farm boy look. Penny's trailer trash look. Gill's school-girl-gone-wrong look. And as for Kimbal? Well, there simply aren't enough words in my vocabulary!
Rinette looking ever so glam - complete with the obligatory tattoos on her arm - very, very mooi!
Rinette - the tart. Paul - the lost one. Tootsie - the psychic. And Gavin - the ???
Perhaps I actually took the cake. Loved the blue eye shadow - NOT! Big hoop earrings, lots of leopard print, petticoat hanging out, boots, ciggie in the hand (even though I don't smoke, it added a certain credibility to my look) - and naturally, I had to dress Cole trashy too - poor kid.
The lovely Penny and Paul - such a fun couple
Another Scavenger Hunt
We have been warned, that one of the items on the list, was swimming. None of us had anticipated the length we would be swimming. In Beaumont's school pool, if you don't mind!
All ready!
The calm before the frenetic racing starts
Grant and Ian having a chill
Check the towels - all ready to go
Listening to the rules
Nearly ready!
Thea was our knitter - though we also had my neighbour's wife knitting for us too, in case we didn't finish in time, amidst our racing around
Boys in the front, driving like lunatics - Simon and John
Our knitting, looking forlorn amidst a Barbie leg sticking out
Thea's face simply says it all
Gearing up for our trolley race - Lisa and I being pushed
Just before the start of the trolley race and the knitting is going ahead, full steam
Let the racing begin!!!
And just for fun, an egg and spoon race in the parking lot too - broken eggs, equal many lost points
Team mates on the other end, waiting for their eggs
Back at ground zero - waiting for the final leg of the hunt
A kiddies science contraption had to be successfully traversed, without triggering the buzzer
And so the rapping began - this is Gail's very much not happy face
The crowd assembles, waiting for the rapping to begin
JP was the ringmaster for this lot - he was brilliant!
Garth led this troop
JP again - just check out the back to front caps - all part of the rapper image you see
And for this one, Gavin did his thing. I seriously dig his low-hung pants, with his exposed boxers. He's got the look down pat. For extra effect, Rinette, is banging on a pot from the kitchen.
Gavin had the moves like Jagger
And this was my team - seriously dig Simon's attitude - and John, grabbing his gonads - too funny!
Doing our thing - check my chicken wing arms. I would like to note, that our team won the rapping part of the contest. Purely though, because the two main judges of the rapping section, were the owners of the largest family owned chain of Kentucky Branches in the country - a friend of ours' parents. They are fondly called the Colonel and Mrs Colonel. And in order to aid our winning, we dissed Nando's terribly and promoted KFC. It was clearly a smart decision.
We won overall!!! Accepting our prizes and giving an acceptance speech. What fun!
One of the other teams, doing their rap too.
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