The 1000 Day Holiday

Spent the day hanging on Durbans beaches. And scored a 1.48KG steak for the braii tonight. But I will, I will share it…I promise 🙂

Headed to Maputo tomorrow. Was going to be on the Baz bus, but a local going that way for work put up a sign at the hostel. So faster, better route ( up the coast, not via swaziland) and free too!  Cant wait to dive with the huge manta rays in Tofo.

My dive on Protea banks didnt work out. However all was not lost.

I scuba dived on Aliwal shoal (no cage). Both times a drift dive. On the second dive we drifted off the reef south of where another boat had been using burly. The Dive Master had instructed us at this stage to gather together in a small group at ~8m depth. This helps the sharks not to get spooked and will come around and have a looksee

Soon thereafter we spotted the first Black Tip sharks, they come in and circle and if they want to have a good look they swim in from below. total at any one time circling us was 8 or 9. All were 2M+ in size. Spooky but generally not dangerous.

Also crusing past we had Hammerhead sharks in a school of 6 or 7. Again 2M+ in size. Again generally not dangerous to humans.

It was by far one of the coolest experiences Ive ever done. And cant wait to see some Tiger, Bull (Zambezi) and Grey Nurse sharks.

It is probably wise that these didnt show up on these dives as Im sure my oxygen consumption went way up when I spotted a shark straightlining towards me to get a good look, even knowing they are not dangerous.

coffee shack…Surf was ok, smaller than island vibe

Off to Port Shepstone or Shelly Bay (fingers crossed to do a shark dive on protea banks tomorrow) No cage, just me, bull, tiger, grey nurse sharks.. woot.

 

Headed for Port Elizabeth. Then not sure, got to get a shimmy on, days are getting in short supply.

Jbay is totally wicked, And i can now surf 🙂

And then, well today theres wind, so I am hiring some gear and get to go kitesurfing! woop woop

Funny little surf town, where there is sometimes kitesurfing (yay) but so far the wind has been offshore.

Island Vibe, man what a backpackers.. totally fully booked (100ppl) and when every other hostel in SA has been almost empty. Sitting atop the sand dunes with a 200deg view of the coastline might have something to do with it.

Surf lessons tomorrow.

Ended up in this little town. Its famous for oysters (yum), and well not much else.

My ride from capetown fell through so Im on the baz bus for the next two weeks. Strange to be on a tourist transport after so long.. but its definately an easy way to get around.

Did the wine region yesterday, very cultured and tasty to boot. Topped the day off by going to the Live concert. It was 30km away in the burbs, and we hitched back at midnight since we couldnt get a cab 🙂 (crazy, but what else could we do!)

Headed up the east coast tomorrow to Mossel Bay. Getting a ride w the guy who I hitched into cape town with.

This place is tops. It feels just like wellington.

Except of course that instead of parking meters for cars, they have people standing every 50 meters down each street, and they print you a ticket from a hand held machine.

Hiked Table Mountain. Nice walk, and found my first wild live snake ever!

Well I managed it. Hitched all the way from Windhoek to Capetown. No problems apart from being dropped off in random places like Grünau ( a shell petrol station 150km from the border) in the dark.

The first truck driver taught me about underground rivers and how to find them in the desert, and how to tell how deep they are by the trees growing there.

After a 3 or 4 hour wait in the middle of the desert at the major intersection. Finally a truck was going the right way and I scored a ride.

The second one we listened to Gospel Music cd’s for around 500km at full volume. One song on repeat for a good hundred clicks or so. So dont worry, “The devil will do me no harm”

He had said he was going to Capetown, awesome. Ended up dropping me off at the turnoff to Picketburg around 9pm… a quaint small city around 120km from Capetown.

So I walked up the road, hoping to spot a B&B, hotel, motel anything. I wasn’t having much luck. And there was no one on the streets. I saw a woman in an Audi pull up to a workshop and check the doors were locked. I called out to her, but I think she ignored me.

She drove past me really slowly, stopped and asked if I needed a place to stay. There was a guesthouse next to her home! score…

This morning I was asking the GH owner about bus/shuttle options into Cape Town as everyone says to avoid the suburbs at your lifes cost. There was one bus at 1pm. But didnt want to wait that long. She said the shuttles were for coloureds.

Anyway none of those were going either. So I hitched again. The woman from guesthouse really didn’t believe I was serious about hitching and was saying she would give me a ride to the bus.

In the end she dropped me off on the highway with a can of juice and wished me luck. She said she would check later to make sure I was gone. Bummer that she dropped me at a different intersection. 100km zone, very small shoulder with the road coming around a long sweeping bend. I wasn’t hopeful.

15 Minutes later a car pulled up.  The hubcaps still spinning when the car had stopped. COOL! The boot was welded shut (quality mazda 323!), so jammed my bag in and off we went. The wife was telling me its a great day as this is the first time her husband has been able to drive in 6 months as he had a car accident and just got the all clear from the doctor. Then proceeded to point out where the accident happened.. ARGH.   🙂

They dropped me off at an offramp 60km out from Capetown. I crossed to the onramp and started the wait. After 20 minutes of no luck a corporate painted Toyota Hilux turns the corner, defininately not the type to pick up a hitcher. I saw him look, then a second of thought then pulled over and backed up!

He said he never picks up hitchhikers but I didn’t look like a normal hitcher, and I would probably have some funny stories. Dropped me right in Cape Town!

Did a flight over the Namib Desert & some of the shipwrecks on the skeleton coast yesterday. asolutely amazing. And true to what seems form for small planes my travel buddy Julia was not at al happy.spending large portion of the flight focusing on a small spot on the seat in front of her. Definately reminiscent of the mildord flight w rachael & steph in the milford 🙂

Back in Windhoek now, Hitching for Capetown tomorrow