Well you may have thought we’d been eaten by lions or something equally as terrible, more likely mossies to be honest, but we’re ok. After last blog we have been to some pretty wild places (wild, they were livid!) and have seen a lot of Africa. After Mossel bBay we stayed in two lovely Back packers, here we experienced kindness, good socials and NO loved up hippies/young gap year travellers, thank goodness. The town of Wilderness was beautiful, fantastic surfing beach and our first swim in the Indian Ocean – it was freezing see photo (nice pink towel/skin, very confident about myself). We walked along the beach with the sea spray hitting our faces and the fog lay like a blanket all down the coast, ran back past all the huge beach houses that you could barely see in the rain, it reminded me of that movie ‘big villas in the mist’
The Fairy knowle backpackers, run by Monika was great camped there and had lovely booze round camp fire with SAs Bertie and Giselle and fellow travellers Sian and Dillon, all very nice and learnt some stuff about India ie don’t drink the water! The next day we woke to drizzle, so more beach time was a no-no, otherwise we would have stayed there. Off to Storms river, via Plettenburg. Very scenic and saw a troop? of baboons in the road as we meandered through the lovely forests of the Nature Valley. Large yellow wood trees which used to stretch from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth and now only this small area left, well done the English!
That night Soph bit poorly so we splashed out and stayed at the Didge backpackers in the rain in a double room with a tin, zebra striped sink (very nice, tried to get it off wall, but Leatherman wasn’t up to the task). Stayed in front of fire, reading and loafing on sofa for most of day, talking to other travellers and drinking coffee, but felt strange like we should have been doing something. Met up with some Yanks who were doing a similar thing to us and Joel was 38 making me feel very comfortable, maybe we’ll meet up in India their next port of call – he does owe me a beer! The next day we didn’t bungy off the highest bridge jump in the world (216m) instead went for the more sedate Canopy Line Tour 30 metres off the deck zipping through the forest, unfortunately no photos but it was funny hearing Soph fly along, the Lewi birds and buzzards weren’t the only thing skawking in the trees that morning, actually she was v brave and didn’t cry even when asked to walk across a dodgy looking bridge made of a rusty metal ladder. We had a great time doing it, but knew we were ging to have to drive fast to get north to accom. That’s exactly how it turned out and a mammoth drive awaited us before we got to Kidd’s Beach the start of the Wild Coast, but actually a bit like a retirement resort. Limped to the Seaview guest house to be charged a huge amount for average digs, hey ho the joys of not booking. In the morning it was a bit fawlty towers as well, and Mary ‘the christian’ as we called herwas very tight with the toast and marmalade. Grim but off again to drive through some scenic back roads, passing through what appeared to be a forest fire which blew smoke all across the road, no-one else seemed to care, just slowed down a very little bit! Also passed a family all splayed on the side of the major road with their car perched almost turning over on a bank, we slowed down to do the decent samaritans thing, but realised that they ahd just stopped for a picnic, either that or they really had had an accident and thought bugger it, let’s get thehamper out – all very surreal. We left the main roads to go off road to find some place called the hole in the wall….(not that one, you Navy boys). Real rough roads, with huge pot-holes that Marco didn’t enjoy (had bit of a bust up, when I made one sharp intake of breath too many and Soph brought the car to a screeching halt to hand me the keys and let me drive) (Gill – Marco is the car). It was a real contrast between the wealth we have seen and what the average Black SA gets up to, throught owns where everyone beeps their horn as if it helps conserve petrol or something, guys carrying goats ‘you want to buy?’ well we thought about it and we could have got a goat in the Renault 21, but not this car!
