Dear All,

Behold, the latest update as we sit in the Hippo Hide Backpacker lodge in Durban.

So we had got up to Friday on the last blog and we were in an idlyic little place called Swellendam. Thee wasn't much there to be honest other than stunning views of the mountains and a small town which we only ventured into to do our now regular trip to Spar (whatever happened to them in the UK?). We did go for a nice little walk towards a mountainous waterfall, but having got most of the way we came across what can ony be described as a an overgrown muddy trail which promised teh waterfall views. I should add that it was also very steep and given that it was at least 30 degrees we decided it wasn't the right day to do such a climb! After I (Phil) did some sustained mosquito swatting we bedded down for what was a great nights kip in the near silence and tranquility.

Saturday - Knysna

On our way to Knysna we stopped off at a town called Mossel Bay and had our pre-prepared sandwiches on the beach. We watched surfers taking a lunchtime dip and also saw a group of seals just playing in teh surf. It was pretty cool just to see that naturally occurring and not with some person in a wet suit blowing whistles and throwing fish! Some people were then snorkelling with them and we haev a great pic of a bloke staring right back at us on the beach with a seal jumping right next to him.

We continued to Knysna which was a lovely little town with a very upmarket harbour. On Saturday we walked down to the waterfront to just look around. On the way back we stopped off at an Irishy pub and treated ourselevs to a steak each. Liz, not quite accustomed to the wine menus here accidentally (on purpose?) bought a bottle of wine instead of glass but at $2.50 it didn't really matter. Steaks incidentally were great and dirt cheap compared to home! Note, England vs. New Zealand was also on in the pub, I didn't watch any but could hear that we were getting whooped so made as little of our nationality as possible!

Sunday - Knysna to Storms River via Plettenberg Bay

Sunday was a gorgeously sunny day. We got up and were greeted by a very large and gruff sounding South African guy called Orim who worked at the hostel and was touting for a tour to the Knysna heads. We agreed to go along and are glad we did because he was a real character and gave us loads of info about the place. The views of the ocean was stunning (as most of them are over here) and he had alll the history of the stretch of water leading in to Knysna lagoon, apparently the most dangerous stretch of water for ships in the world. After that we were dropped off in the harbour again where there was a nice little market going on. One stall was selling bacon sandwiches and Chicken burgers forjust over $1 read pounds. So Liz and I obliged by taking one of each of the rather robust lady. Delicious.

We headed back and got on teh road to Storms River but decided to stop off in Plettenberg Bay en route as we'd read about some amazing beaches. We weren't disappointed! The beach was the softest, sandiest beach I can remember being on and it was massive. It was also full of young students who were celebrating the end of term/exams (apparently they flock to 'Plett' as a kind of spring break thing). We stayed there a couple of hours, got red then moved on to Storms River. We found our hostel and were amazed at 1. How beautiful it was and 2. How quiet it was. It was a classic log cabin surrounded by perfectly manicured gardens with everything you needed inside. What's more there was only one other person staying there so we had the run of the place.

Monday - Storms River

Today was the big day for me. Face Fear the banner says as you approach the worlds highest commercial bungey jump at Bloukrans Bridge in teh Tsitsikamma National Park. I felt confident, paid my money and joined a group of South African lads from Port Elizabeth down to the bridge. Liz stayed on solid, secure ground to watch from the live tv link in the bar. The walk was pretty hairy as the walkway was just metal mesh and you could see down 200 metres or so! I got geared p and went second of the 5 of us. I have to say that I wasn't really scared and knew that head first was the way to do it. Stanidn ong the edge though your thoughts change a little as you look down. After 5 I went and I happily dived off. The first second was fun then the feeling of free fall was overwhelming and I think I actually tried to flapp my arms to fly! Then when the cord springs you feel safe and GREAT! Totally exhilarating and definitely worth doing. If you're going to do one, do the highest!

After that we headed to Storms River Mouth. Here we wanted to see the suspension bridge but with no prior warning we walked around the rocky head following the path only to find that it was closed due to rock falls or something. So that was annoying. We then wandered along the wild coast line towards another walk but once there the path was again a bit too much and more notably too long for us in sandals so we sat down and took in the veiws for a while before heading back.

That night we again hung out with Ray (the slightly odd manager of the hostel) and an English girl called Sarah. Liz and Sarah made use of free internet to catch up on Strictly Come Dancing whilst I found myself watching Liverpool vs. West Ham live on Satelittle TV! Result for both of us!

Now the (more) boring bit as we hit the road hard to start making some headway up north.

Tuesday - Storms River to Cintsa

Long drive 6 hours plus to Cintsa. Though the roads are good generally they are narrow and the further from the big city you get, the windier they are. We eventually arrived at the renowned Buccanears 'travellers resort' at about 6:30 to be greeted by a horribly dark, damp and miserable room. We changed this to a lsightly less dark damp room and made for the beach whilst the sun was still up. The beach was stunning but we were so tired we headed back and pretty much went to bed.

Wednesday - Cintsa to Port St Johns

We decided that we didn't fancy the planned second night at Buccanears so checked out and headed to Port St Johns. Another 4 hour + drive got us there again to find a better but still fairly unadvanced hostel experience. Note these two days were also made worse by the fact that we hadnt seen the sun at all due to big grey rain clouds that followed us from Cintsa! The best bit about Port St Johns was the drive in and out of it. Some stunning scenery of rural South Africa. Again the roads were good but winding and made more precarious by the low clouds/high mountain roads. A great experience just to drive when you could see though!

Thursday - Port St Johns to Durban via Oribi Gorge

So today we left PsJ and headed originally to the Oribi Gorge. We left early and got to Oribi at about midday after just under 4 hours driving. Great views were there to be seen had the cloud not smothered the whole gorge. We could see the famous leopard rock though, if not the views from it! We then drive on to Durban where we are now on our pursuit up to Kruger and eventually out on Dec 13th.

Sorry if this is rather long! It's still raining so am taking the opportunity/

Love

Phil and Liz