Hey kids, I'm here writing from a computer at the Lovely Wild Spirit Backpackers lodge in The Craggs on the Garden route in South Africa.
Since tearing ourselves from the wild party that is Cape Town we have been to a few wicked places along the Garden Route on our quest across the coast of South Africa.
We stayed at Mossel Bay Backpackers where we linked up with a couple people that we actually spent an entire week travelling with. Martin Rabensteiner from Italy, Leo Cahenzli from France and Lynne Howells from Wales. We have become quite the little family, however, a lot of alcohol and shenanigans had a large part to play in that. We went on quite the tear at the Mossel Bay backpackers, drinking ourselves into oblivion playing Kings and game after game of Ride the bus. We got some great shots and it was a fantastic beginning to our week long adventure.
The day after we all woke up super hungover and lazy, but one of the other girl's we met at the backpackers knew how to surf and offered up some free lessons, so Marting, Leo, Tracey, Sandra (the teacher) and myself headed to the beach with wetsuits and surf boards and played in the water. I wasn't as successful as my first lesson in Bali a couple years ago, but the boards were a little different and I don't think I had the full spirit in me, but I almost stood up a couple times which was sweet. After our beach adventure we headed to the local pick n' pay to grab some spaghetti and Ostrich to make a pasta dish with an Amarula cream sauce. Amarula for those of you who don't know is an amazing South African liqueur that can rival baley's. We bought some wine and had a nice romantic group meal on the veranda at the backpackers. A little after dinner wine and some card games (minus the booze) was all we needed before some shut eye.
The following day Tracey and I hit up the flea market to try and exchange some reading materials before hopping on the bus to Wilderness.
In Wilderness we had planned to stay at the Wild Farm, which is an amazingly beautiful place with lots of hiking that you can do around there and great views of the ocean. Unfortunately the day we got there was dark, gloomy, rainy and WINDY!!! It was so windy I thought the bar was going to blow away. The place was cool though, separate buildings for beds, bar, ect. We ended up spending our night in the bar drinking, eating and eventually watched the South Africa vs. England Rugby match that a couple men that are putting on log house building seminars had taped. Instead of getting wasted on a Saturday night we were entranced by this Rugby game until there was 3 minutes left and the power went out for the second time!! We tried to wait it out hoping it was going to come back on, but our fire burned out and the inside of the bar was starting to feel like the outside... which was cold and WINDY!
The next day our little family decided to move down to Fairy Knowe Backpackers because it's a little closer to town, we thought there would be more people and it would be nicer weather. Oh and we were right. To spend our day, Martin, Leo, Tracey and I rented kayaks and kayaked down the Touws River. We paddled for about an hour before we got to a rope that came across the river. We beached our kayaks and pulled ourselves across the river on this floating raft with the rope tow. There was a beautiful little walk that we did for about an hour before we strolled up to a couple of waterfalls. We sat down and ate our packed sandwich lunch before exploring the areas around the waterfalls. The boys were like monkeys! Climbing all over the places, trying to get to unreachable places, but we ended up with some great photos. It was a relaxing paddle back to where we put in and a little walk down a trail to get back to the backpackers.
We had a steak braii with baked potatoes and squash, but not before a bunch of beers and pool games. After dinner we got on a serious tear, drinking with about 12 other people that we met at the place. Before we knew it pretty much everyone at the place was in the bar singing and dancing and carrying on well into the wee hours of the morning. Leo, Martin and I were having such a great night we took our party to the kitchen making late night snacks and having a ball... until some of the other people came down and told us to shut up. At that point we figured it'd be a good time to go jump on Tracey, wake Lynne up and take some group photos!!!
The next morning, although we all wanted to lay in bed, we had to make the most of our time in Wilderness, so Martin, Leo and I hike from Wilderness to Victoria Bay! We took an old railroad line the whole way, and actually ran into this man that has built a hostel into a cave!!! 10 beds, kitchen, bible study area (very important), and sitting rooms. He was quite the weirdo, but still super cool to check out.
At Victoria Bay we thought we should try some more surfing. The guy we rented the baords from said "yah for sure go have a great time it's fine that you're beginners". So of course we grabbed our boards and went straight in. It was fun for the first few minutes, until we realized we were just getting pulled out to see. Martin and I had to actually swim for our lives to the rocks so that we could get out of the water. Everytime I tried to swim in, I would be taken out further. I think I needed a couple more lessons before Victoria Bay. Oh well you live and learn.
That night we headed to Plettenberg Bay, staying at this little Plett Backpackers. It was right in the heart of the town by all the bars and the grocery store. There wasn't much to it, but that's alright we had everything we needed right close, and the place had a gorgeous view of the ocean. It was a Full Moon while we were there and there weren't any clouds so you could see the reflection from the Moon off the ocean. Priceless!
Some of the highlights of Plett Bay was doing a 5 hour hike around the peninsula to go see hundreds of seals. 5 years ago there weren't any seals there, but since they've made the area a national park they have started to come back. The only problem is when you have seals you get Great White Sharks. There have been 2 attacks in the past 5 years, but still it's cool.
It was varying terrain on the hike, some flat, some rock climbing type terrain, some beach, and some great views. Again we packed a sweet sandwich lunch and sat on the rocks watching the crazy waves come in and smash against them. We had a crazy party night in Plett because it was the start of the South African Spring Break type party that they called "Schoolies". We did a great bar hop that night and met some cool people. The last day we just relaxed and went out for dinner, rented the Dark Knight Rises and planned our next move.
Today we rented a car and drove to the highest bridge bungee jump in the world. 213m!!! No, I didn't jump, but Tracey and I bought bridge passes so we could go with Leo and Martin to cheer them on. It was a great vibe, loud music, the workers getting everyone pumped up and they had a nice TV under the bridge to watch your friends while they are hanging. On the way back to Plett, the boys dropped Tracey, Lynne and I off in The Craggs at the Wild Spirit Backpackers. We had to say goodbye to Leo because he is on a time crunch trying to get to Durban. Martin on the other hand, we might see tomorrow in Storm's River, we will see!!!
As for me right now, I'm digesting my spinach and feta lasagna and hanging out reading the second installment of Game of Thrones.
Until the next blog
Cheers,
EmJ
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