It was almost strange leaving Hermanus we'd been there so long but the next day we caught the Baz Bus to a town called Wilderness. Arriving around 5pm, the Beachouse Backpackers was a lovely place with great sea views, but unfortunately it was empty apart from us and a group of 12 year olds who staying there on a school hockey tour! Wandering a few minutes into town we discovered Wilderness was very small place with not a lot to do. We hung around for a few beers and watched the cricket, before grabbing some supplies and heading back to the hostel. On our arrival we got our second free upgrade in two days - the owner taking pity on us and giving us an ensuite double so we'd have some privacy from the hordes of kids! We ate dinner outside by the fire, chatting to one of the teachers who was doing her best to get drunk and ignore her responsibilities. Unsurprisingly, everything was quiet by 9.30 so we ended up having an early night.
Woken up early by the sound of kids thundering up and down the stairs, we were breakfasted and checked out by 9am. After eating we went for a walk along the towns disused train tracks to a cave where the old stationmasters house had been converted into a shelter for the homeless. Painstakingly decorated with thousands of shells, intricately woven into the walls and furniture, the shelter was run by an eccentric hippy called Kaaman. As we approached the front, Kaaman emerged and beckoned us in with a wave before taking us on a guided tour. It was a slightly freaky place -the kind where victims might be chained up in a low budget horror movie - but it was interesting to have a look round. The guy seemed like a bit of a religious nut - as we passed his work desk he told us "this is the place where Father tells me his messages - but his heart was obviously in the right place as his life was completely dedicated to the shelter. After dropping a small donation in the charity box we continued our walk along the rail tracks.
Just around the corner was a rusty old bridge, around 50m long and with a 25m drop into a rocky lagoon below. In the buffeting winds, the bridge felt extremely rickety and the rusting handrails looked as if they might collapse under my full weight! We ploughed on though and after safely reaching the other side we carried on as far as Victoria Bay before turning back. The rusty bridge was no less scary the second time around but we made it back into town and chilled for a few hours waiting for the Baz Bus to arrive.
We arrived in Knysna an hour later and after settling in took a walk into town to get some dinner. Nearby there was a bar/restaurant with live music playing outside so we headed there for beers and food. The atmosphere was lively enough but the food was pretty average and after we finished eating we headed back to the hostel.
The next morning we took a trip to the Knysna Elephant Sanctuary. After a short video video presentation we were shown the elephants sleeping quarters before taking a tractor into their enclosure. The reserve was huge but as soon as they saw the tractor approaching they knew it was feeding time and lined up in anticipation by the eating posts! Each of us had a bucket of fruit and took it in turns to feed them, the elephant's trunks plucking each piece straight from our hands. Then, accompanied by their handlers, we followed them as they roamed the fields, stopping to take photos and even stroking them when they stopped to graze. It was pretty amazing to get so close to these gentle giants - if occasionally a little scary when it looked like they might fall on us! After spending about an hour with them we headed back to the town centre and walked to the posh Waterfront area to get some food. After a decent tapas-style lunch we took a slow walk back to the hostel and waited for the Baz Bus again.
Around 9pm we arrived in Jeffrey's Bay. It was Saturday night and the hostel, Island Vibe, was known to be a party hostel so as soon as we'd dumped our stuff we headed for the bar. The bar was very lively and everyone was already at least half-cut so we were playing catchup. For a while it seemed the party might pass us by but after a few rounds of tequilas we were chatting to a bunch of English guys (who were sadly almost half our age!) and before we knew it, it was 4.30am and the barman was begging us to leave so he could close and go home! Unable to drink any more, we duly obliged and crashed out in our dorm beds.
It was midday before we surfaced with hangovers from hell. As we struggled to the bar to line our stomachs, the previous night's carnage was still in evidence with several guys passed out on the grass clutching half drunk bottles of beer! After some unhealthy but much needed comfort food we took a slow wander along the beach and into town. It was a sunday and there wasn't too much going on so after picking up some supplies we headed back to lounge around in the sun, too hungover to do anything remotely constructive! In the evening, after sampling some of Mama Africa's excellent home cooking, we avoided the bar and opted for a quiet night.
As one of the most famous surf spots in South Africa, Jeffrey's Bay attracts surfers from all over the world and regularly hosts international competitions. As a result it has several factory outlets selling top brand surf gear - Billabong, Ripcurl, Oneill, etc - at bargain prices. So, the next day we went into town to check them out and after an hour of shopping we came away with a couple of pairs of flip-flops, a hoody and a couple of tshirts...not bad for a mornings work! There wasn't a lot else to do in town so we spent the rest of the day reading, eating and playing pool as we waited for the Baz Bus to come and take us to Port Elizabeth.
By 10pm we were at our hostel in PE. Our room was a huge ensuite double and as it came with its own TV - a luxury we hadn't enjoyed in a while - we decided against joining some of the other Baz Bus guests for a beer and watched a movie instead.
There wasn't a lot we wanted to see in PE so the next morning we had a bit of a lie in before taking a walk along the beachfront. After half an hour we stopped for some lunch in a cafe on the beach before heading across the road to The Boardwalk. A complex of shops, restaurants, cinemas and casino, the Boardwalk had been described by one of the locals in the hostel as being a lot like Vegas but when we got there it was clear she'd never been anywhere near Nevadas bright lights! We had a quick walk round then decided to catch a movie at the cinema. At just £2.50 a ticket and with the entire cinema to ourselves, it was an absolute bargain...and the film, World War Z, wasn't bad either. We'd been advised PE wasn't the safest place to walk after dark so once the movie had finished we took a slow stroll back to the hostel to cook dinner. I decided to make the most of the private bathroom and shave my head, but halfway though the power cut out and I was left in darkness unable to see what I was doing! When the power did return, my shaver battery died and I resigned myself to having to face the next day with my hair a mess of shaved patches and random tufts! Thankfully over the course of the evening I managed to eek enough power out of the shaver and with Kate's help rescued my hair to the point I dont think anyone noticed the slapdash DIY job!