Justin woke us up saying that we were going to the beach and we had half an hour till we were going to leave! Nice wakeup call!

We piled in the Toyota Fortuna with him and Claudia (Justin's girlfriend) half an hour later and discovered our destination is a place called Langebaan (Lang-er-barn) which is about an hour's drive away and further up the coast from Cape Town and our usual destinations. We were planning to stop on the way for food and drinks and Justin told us that a few of his mates were already there and had been all weekend. Once of them, another Justin, has a boat - awesome!

The area is known as Langebaan Lagoon and is part of a large nature reserve. The Lagoon itself is like a huge opened ended lake with the town itself and main beaches on the mainland side and some more remote beaches on the spit of land across the water. That's where we headed first!

I have to say that my first view of the place was a stunning one. It was a clear, hot day and the water was calm and pure blue like you see in places like the Caribbean. The surrounding bushland is full of protected species such as snakes, and various birds including flamingos, although we didn't see any of those. In the water there are several permanent boat houses that you can rent for the weekend with their own jetty's to launch from. It was very scenic.

Justin parked up and called his mate, the other Justin, who was a bit further down the beach with his friends and the boat. As we were carrying a heavy coolbox full of drinks he came on the boat to collect us and save us walking. The water is completely clear near the jetty and you can see all the way to the bottom. My kind of water!

We spent the day on the tube (or donut depending where you are from!), in the boat, lazing on the beach and having lunch at a nice beachside restaurant in the town. It was a nice introduction to Justin's friends and to getting started on our tans!

Sarah