I left Port Elizabeth bright and early on Saturday morning and cruised my way to Jeffreys Bay (J-Bay) which is one of the world's top surfing destinations. People flock there to ride the 'supertubes' - once described as "the most perfect wave in the world". I didn't stay long but did stop by all of the factory outlets - Billabong, Roxy, Ripcurl etc. Sooo cheap. I wish I had room in my backpack as I could have bought loads for nothing! I set of to try and find the way out to the main road and somehow ended up in a mini township. Bit scary I have to admit and finally managed to turn around and retrace my steps.

My next stop was Plettenberg Bay (Plett) which was a lovely little seaside town with some beautiful houses. If I thought I'd seen nice houses, wait til I got to Knysna. Stunning! It used to be the centre of the timber industry supplying wood for railway lines, shipping and house building and still has a thriving oyster industry. George Rex, said to be the illegitimate son of George III and a Quaker named Sarah Lightfoot settled in Knysna after being banished from England in 1797.

I headed up to a 'secret' lookout that my B&B landlord recommended which gave a great perspective over the town. It's in a very pretty location surrounding a lagoon that flows into the ocean. I went up to the Heads which is the cliff out into the open sea and the property was amazing. I spent quite a bit of time in some real estate agents and what would easily cost multi-million pounds sterling in the UK or anywhere else you could get for little over half a million - might need to get talking to Mr Bank Manager soon! They've all got stunning views, swimming pools, terraces and oodles and oodles of space. Fabulous place for my guesthouse. I had a look over to Leisure Island and Thesen Island which were also lovely and sat on the harbor front with a glass of local rose and some snoek pate - this is the life!

The next morning I set off to Oudtshoorn which is the ostrich capital of the world. Instead if passing fields of cattle and sheep, there are just ostriches and varying shapes and sizes filing the paddocks from left to right. I stopped off at an ostrich farm to see the breeding process, stand on an egg (they can hold over 150kg) and watch some ostrich riding and racing. I didn't go myself, partly because it looked very precarious and most people fell off but also because I didn't like the way they put a bag over the bird's head to disorientate it before grabbing it and throwing someone on top! Looked funny though.

Left the farm to head to Gansbaai and 10km down the road…..crash, bang, wallop at 120km = very smashed up hire car. Yep, I had my very first accident ever and it wasn't nice! Basically it was the straightest road you could ever imagine with hardly any traffic on it. An oncoming car swerved and I panicked so also swerved and immediately lost control. It was incredibly windy which can't have helped. I swerved left and right down the road and just couldn't gain control so then flew off the side into a load f scrub. I know I didn't scream or swear but kind of went blank and numb and my feet couldn't make it to the brake or anything. I remember seeing a big telegraph pole in front of me and thinking 'this is it', somehow missed it (you could see the tyre marks where I managed to drive between the pole and the fence - hard to believe I squeezed the car through to be honest) and crashed straight into the fence. By the time I composed myself and got out of the car, about 4 vehicles had stopped. They were all Blacks and, this is a horrible thing to say but given where I was, my immediate thought was that I was going to get mugged and robbed! A load of other cars stopped and every group of Whites asked if I was ok because by this time I was surrounded by people and probably looked like I was being held up! A guy called the police and his mother said they would stay with me until the police arrived. The fire rescue service was there within 5 minutes and 3 police vehicles within 10 minutes - I really couldn't fault the service. Once they'd established I was ok and didn't need an ambulance (just an energy drink for the shock!), they started to look at what had happened - they couldn't believe the track I'd created and all thought it was a miracle that I hadn't hit the pole, rolled the car and that I had somehow managed to fit through a gap 2/3 the width of the car! The car rental firm was also fantastic and within 2 hours were there with a tow truck and a brand new hire car! My biggest concern then was how much the bill was going to be but actually it's ended up being a pleasant surprise.

After my traumatic afternoon I cautiously started my drive to Gansbaai which involved going over 2 fairly treacherous mountain passes. I also had to break my own rule of not driving in the dark but got there just after 8pm where the BB owners (Brits) thought I had got lost! With the 4 hour drive I'd had plenty of time to think about what could have happened and really needed a drink! I ended up going to the local pub for some comfort food of fish and chips and managed to convince the bar lady to sell me a bottle of wine to take home with me! To top my day off, there are no street lights in Pearly Bay which is a tiny village where I was staying and I got totally lost, driving around for about half an hour trying to find the right street!!

Anyway, Monday was an exciting day as I was going great white shark cage diving. The excitement wore off fairly quickly as we sat in 2 spots for 4 hours trying to attract the sharks to no avail. Apparently they are not where they're supposed to be for this time of year as most boats have been struggling and a lot of people have missed out on seeing sharks from the boat, let alone from the cage. We finally spotted one small one (still a couple of metres!) and we were bundled into our wet suits and into the cage. The water was freezing at about 13 degrees (it's colder in the summer than the winter here!) and it wasn't long before I couldn't feel my feet. But, we did see the shark pretty close up which was great! I went in the cage a few times and managed to spot the shark but to be frank, the visibility was only about a metre so it was a tough exercise. I'm determined to come back in the right season (winter) and do it again.

I set off on another few hours' drive to Stellenbosch, stopping off at Betty's Bay enroute to see the penguins (and also saw a load of rock dassies which are very cute). Almost ran out of petrol which I panicked about as I didn't want to have to call the hire car firm again but luckily found a dodgy old pump and filled up! As I got closer to Stellenbosch I ended up in a place called Somerset West and somehow drive myself into the middle of a township. What is it with me - am I trying to seek out the most dangerous things here?!! I was following all the signs though! So, I shut all the windows, locked the doors and just drove!!!

On Tuesday I had signed up for a wine tour and we ended up going to 4 farms where we tasted 22 wines in total - brilliant! I got back to my B&B at 4.30pm and was trollied! We went to Tokara (great wines - award winning), Dieu Donne (great setting but not so good wines), Fairview (fabulous wines and even better cheeses - I bought some of both for my dinner!) and Simonsig which was also good. I had been to Stellenbosch before but never seen the town and it is beautiful - another place that's gone on the list to potentially move to! As I left the town I stopped off at Spier, a well-known and fairly commercial winery. I'd been before but wanted to go back as they have a cheetah outreach programme and a ton of birds of prey - some of which you can touch. I arrived into Cape Town late morning to the sight of Table Mountain looming up in front of me and that was my 5 day road trip. I have to say that I never felt threatened and found it an easy trip (accident withstanding!). This is my 3rd visit to South Africa and I've had a much more positive experience than the previous 2 times. I was told so many stories and given so many 'do nots' last time that I spent both holidays in fear! Things are bad here but they are not necessarily as bad as some people make out. Yes, in the large cities and yes in certain parts of towns and you do have to be on your guard but no more than you would be in a dodgy part of London or New York. So I'm glad I included South Africa on my trip as it's now a place I could see myself settling to in the future - or retiring. It's a stunning country with fabulous food and some (not all) great people.

So, Cape Town - just as awesome as I remember. I was staying the first night in a small guesthouse n the Waterkant area which is actually the trendy gay area and it's wonderful - old colourful houses on steep cobbled streets interspersed with cafes and boutiques. My guesthouse (17 On Loader) was beautiful and had been designed by an architect so really was cool and funky. There were terraces and a great roofdeck with a fab view of Table Mountain. The Waterkant is also very safe as they have 24 hour security and a guard on every street corner so I felt perfectly safe wandering around after dark for dinner and drinks.

I had a great 2 days in Cape Town and went across to Robben Island which I didn't make it t the last time. This is where Nelson Mandela was incarcerated for years and years and had to literally slave away in the lime quarries. It was rushed but very interesting and we had the obligatory look into Mandela's cell. I spent a lot of time down at the V&A Waterfront and sat ouside at Quay Four having a seafood platter and some great wines!!!

On Thursday morning I checked into the Drag0oman hotel and then went on an open top bus tour which was great. Got a good overview of Cape Town, went up Table Mountain (brilliant!!) and we drove through Camps Bay, Clifton Beaches, Bantry Bay etc - all very fancy property and a great day out. The evening was the dreaded group meeting to meet the new tour group etc. We have a fab group - 20 of us in total with a great crew - Marcus, Ollie (both Brits) and Charles, a Kenyan who is our 'campmaster', ie cook!!! Fantastic - no more stressful supermarket trips like in South America! We are a very diverse group - mixed in gender and age so hopes are very high for this 2 month trip!

So, that's it for my first 3 or so weeks in South Africa. More to follow on the rare occasions I get access to the internet!

Latest pics at www.picasaweb.google.com/lindylou73

Linda xxx