Jeffreys Bay

Continuing on down the east coast of South Africa we left the Wild Coast and hit the Garden Route. First stop on this coastline was the famous surfing town of Jeffreys Bay.

We arrived in Jeffreys Bay on a miserable rainy Sunday which was such a shame as it was the last day of their Shell Festival. We started to wander around the town and the many discount surf shops it boasts, but the rain really got the better of us and we ended up whiling away our afternoon in a Greek restaurant we'd discovered.

Fortunately we had great weather the following day so we were able to take a walk up to the Supertubes beach - the main reason why we've stopped in Jeffreys Bay really! David was so keen to go and see it that I'm sure, even if there had been torrential rain, we'd have still been walking up there! The Supertubes beach is famous for its big waves and hosts the Billabong pro surfing competition every July so there were lots of experienced surfers out there for David to watch and envy.

We also found a fab second hand bookshop in Jeffreys Bay so I bought 'Eat Pray Love' as recommended to me by one of my Indian travelling companions Hayley. It took me all of 3 days to read and I have to say that, whilst I loved some bits and hated others, all in all it was a really good read, so cheers for recommending that one to me.

Plettenberg Bay

After a couple of days in Jeffreys Bay we headed down the coast to Plettenberg Bay, a lovely little seaside town built on a hill, which is a popular holiday destination amongst South Africans themselves.

We stayed in some really good award winning hostel accommodation which even had colour co-coordinated scatter cushions and throws - not something we've encountered much on our travels!

On our first evening in Plettenberg Bay we went out for dinner to a local Italian restaurant with Steve and Harriet who we first met in Cintsa. On our return Harriet and I relaxed on the huge common room sofa, whilst David and Steve went head to head in a pool match. Well they tried to but, as you'll see from the photos, the hostel dog Sarah kept sabotaging the game in a bid for attention.

Now as I've already mentioned our room was really good but unfortunately it was next to the tiled breakfast room. So each morning we were awoken by the deafening sound of heels clip clopping on the tiled floor as the lady went backwards and forwards and backwards and forwards preparing breakfast… thank you very much!

Plettenberg is a sweet place with a lovely beach and some walks along the cliffs. It has a popular lookout, complete with restaurant and bar, where people congregate to partake in a spot of whale watching. We were fortunate enough to hit jackpot first time with 2 whales frolicking just off shore.

We've found that at this time of the year, once you hit the 3 o'clock mark, the temperature starts to fall. So we always had to make sure we had enough warm clothes with us, no matter how hot it may have been earlier on in the day.

We had a really bad weather day whilst in Plettenberg so tried to use it wisely by writing covering letters to send with CV's and, in David's case, even completing an online application form. It is so depressing to be doing this but unfortunately with only 10 days left of this epic adventure it is time to think about life after travelling.

On our final day in Plettenberg we were leaving for Wilderness at 1pm but decided to take full advantage of the sunshine and go and sit on the beach for a couple of hours. As we were lying there reading and people watching we suddenly realized that directly in front of us, just off the shore, were 2 whales. David managed to get quite a good photo of one next to a guy in a kayak.

Wilderness

When in Plettenberg Bay we got collared by a very talkative and strange man who ran the local health food shop. Well technically it was David who got collared as I suddenly developed a very keen interest in all things herbal in his shop. This strange strange man told us, amongst many other things, that Wilderness was a long way from the sea, that Robben Island just off Cape Town was closed and that the weather the following day would be atrocious. Now I don't want to appear cynical but even I had worked out that at this time of the year South Africa appears to have a 2:1 ratio on the weather i.e. 2 good days to every bad day. Secondly Wilderness couldn't get any closer to the sea - quite literally!!! And thirdly…well I'll come onto Robben Island in the Cape Town blog.

Back to Wilderness - our hostel actually overlooked the sea, that's how close we were, and our room had 2 windows both with sea views. Once again we had the scatter cushions and throw thing going on - I tell you this is the smartest budget accommodation we've stayed in throughout this whole trip. The hostel also had an outdoor pizza oven so we joined in with an evening pizza fest they'd organised, which we ate whilst sitting round an open fire chatting to some of the other guests. Thanks to kiwi Katie in particular who kept us entertained with her stories about her days as a yacht hostess working out of Dubai. In a nutshell some people have too much money, too few manners, and absolutely no morals!

We only had one night in Wilderness as we were moving on to Cape Town the following day. Mixed emotions about this - excited because we've heard so many good things but sad because Cape Town marks the end of our whole trip.

David had organised a surfing lesson for the morning and, sods law, it turned out to be a stinking morning with low cloud and rain. The lesson was still on though, so off he went to Victoria Bay to hit the waves. This coastline of South Africa is notorious for sharks but Victoria Bay is apparently a little safer as it is more sheltered. At the same time women are warned not to go in the water at a certain time of the month and if anyone injures themselves and bleeds (apart from becoming billy no mates as everyone disappears from your side) you are advised to get out of the water - fast! I'm pleased to report that David had a great time and came back intact. Though he admitted it was difficult to relax with the thought of what could be lurking beneath!