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Trish and Dan's Stroll Around the World
Blog Day 30 Sun 5th June 2011
This morning we are heading off towards Coffee Bay. We are on the bus for about 4 hours & then find out that we have another 2 hour journey in a very cramped shuttle bus along roads that are ridiculously bumpy even more so than previous places we have been to so far. We arrive at the Coffee Shack & receive a free welcome beer, let's just say that the evening went downhill from here. One free beer turned into a night of heavy drinking. We meet a group of Canadian girls who we also met at Buccaneers, Clare, Christine & Dominic they have travelled from Cape Town & are headed towards Botswana. We also meet two guys called Anderson & Marc they are on a world trip also but are going the opposite way to us. It happens to be quiz night (a fundraiser for a small donation to help local communities) so we team up with Delphine & Anderson & the fun begins. Our team comes 4th but we gave it a pretty good shot. It also happens to be free dinner night, so it gets dished up & its poike (which we've since found out is actually spelt 'Potjie') & rice with homemade Xhosa Bread, it's delicious & soaks up some of the alcohol. Pretty soon the cards find their way out & Dan ends up with a crowd of people around him for the rest of the night. People are coming up to Trish & saying how great his magic is & it gets us free drinks for the best part of the night. Much later in the night we meet Polly & George who are a lovely couple, they tell us their travel agenda & are astonished that we have been together for 7 years compared to their year & a half. We all sit around a table & Polly & George are mesmerized by a Rasta guy who made he's own shoes & has this thick head of dreadlocks, just chilling & smoking his pipe. We soon admit defeat & head of to bed, we are sharing a room with 5 rugby guys from Newcastle & a couple of them are snoring. Thankfully our heads are heavy from the drink & it doesn't take long to fall asleep. Blog Day 31 Mon 6th June 2011
Let's just say that fragile would be a massive understatement to describe how we feel this morning! We feel even more fragile when we are woken up by the guys in our room leaving at 7am to go do a surf lesson, then coming back in at 7.45 because the sea is too rough! It seems as though those northern types haven't quite figured out how to shut doors either! We take this as a sign that we really must get up! We both head across the hostel to the shower block to try and make ourselves feel a little more human, that doesn't work. So a nice big fry up it is! That always works. Not this time! Oh my god it's gonna be a long day! The day is made even longer by the fact that unless you want to go for a hike there really isn't a lot to do in Coffee Bay. And the last thing we want to do is go on a sodding hike!
The hostel is fairly empty today, as people obviously don't share our views on hiking! So we find ourselves sitting on the beach. Trish feels right as rain, whereas Dan has his head in his hands. Two local women come walking halfway across the beach to where we are sat carrying beaded necklaces and bracelets. They attempt to speak to Dan, who just takes a swig from his massive bottle of water and points them in Trish's direction. Within minutes Trish has both arms full of beads, and they have even manage to sneak one onto Dan's ankle without him noticing. 25 Rand each they are asking for the bracelets. To be honest they had more chance of Dan jumping up and cartwheeling back to Cape Town! We tell them 10 Rand and after about half an hour we all settle on 15! It does prove to be quite embarrassing however when you spend all that time haggling, only to open your wallet and find that there is sweet FA in there. We tell them that we will get the money to them and they head off!
This morning we moved rooms to a little 'quieter' dorm. The rugby guys were great but we didn't want to be around anyone in this state. Our new dorm is situated across the bay. It's a short walk but nothing to bad. Back at the main hostel all the guys come back from the hike. They inform us that its hard work but the views were pretty spectacular. It gets to about 5pm and Dan is starting to feel a little more human, and we are both pretty hungry. So we head back to the dorm to rustle up some dinner. Turns out that bay we walked across becomes a river at night! And its pitch black aswell! We manage to score ourselves a little head torch (which is pretty pointless). Scared that we are both going to get washed out to sea we make it safely across, and are enjoying hob cooked pasta in a bag within the hour. After dinner we see that the tide is still in and the river hasn't retreated. Sod crossing that again. So we head to bed! Blog Day 32 Tues 7th June 2011 Ok so we get up this morning a little brighter than yesterday! However we still have a room of people that decide to get up at the crack of dawn to go surfing! After some lovely poached eggs on toast we head over to the other side. The tide is out so we plot our route for when it is back in again. A route that contains less rocks! At the other side most of the friends we have made are heading off on today's bus. We have signed up to do the hole-in-the-wall trip so will be heading off tomorrow. We exchange details with people, say our goodbyes, and then jump on the bus to Hole-in-the-Wall!! There is only a small number on the trip, 2 Essex girls Athena and Kitty, and the Rasta chap from the other night whose name escapes me. To be honest I don't even think he knew his own name! The bus trip is less than comfortable as the roads are absolutely shocking! We seem to be driving forever when finally we reach, what seemed like, the end of the road. Everybody jumps out and we are introduced to Jon, our guide. He's a cool guy and we are amazed when we find out that we have a 3 hour hike back to the hostel, which he is going to do with no shoes on! We are walking for about 15 minutes before one of the girls takes a tumble. We didn't laugh…….much. We reach the Hole-in-the-Wall and it's a pretty spectacular sight. Basically a big cliff face with a hole in it, that's been caused by thousands of years of abuse by the sea. Jon disappears off and comes back holding the end of a plant, which he explains is the aloe plant. He takes us through the uses that they have for it among the indigenous people. These include treating sun burn and acne, also mothers used to use it to get their babies to stop breast feeding! They would rub it on the nipples and when the baby wants some of mummy's 'goodies' they only go there the once. Dan tells Jon that it would take a little more than the aloe plant to stop him wanting ladies 'goodies', and tastes a bit of it. The stuff is vile and bitter and after necking half our water supply Dan agrees with Jon. So now we have seen the Hole-in-the-Wall its time to hike back to the hostel. The next 3 hours are the most strenuous we have had in a long time. A very long time! The girls seem to spend more time on their arses than they do on their feet, and even 'Bob' (the Rasta) takes a tumble, which wasn't surprising as his shoes looked like he'd nicked a couple of table napkins and stitched them around his feet (but good on ya for trying 'Bob'). All in all the two of us and Jon are the only ones that make it the whole way unscathed. The walk was pretty amazing though. Trails had been formed in the hill sides, and at times the distance between us and the edge of cliffs made us really have to concentrate on our balance. We were pretty sure that 'Bob' was high for most of the hike. We got to the very first hill and he insisted on pulling out his pipe (another homemade item) and smoking the biggest lump of 'weed' that we'd ever seen. He told us that there was no way he was going to make it up there without it! After that everything we said to him he just laughed at. Good old 'Bob'. Just as we were walking down the road to the hostel the heavens opened! We were both so glad that it hadn't rained on the hike. Cheese, onion and tomato toasties are waiting for us when we get back. We both munch on the offering then head back to our dorm for a well-deserved nap! After a couple of hours kip we head back over to the other side for dinner, which is soup followed by chicken stir fry. There is far too much and we are still pretty full from the toasties. So we pick at it for a while before admitting defeat. Tonight is party night at Coffee Shack and the theme is Pimps & Hos. There aren't many people at the hostel tonight, however the costumes that people had made were pretty funny. The one person that made the night though was Flavio. Just imagine Mr. Bean in drag and you'll have a pretty good idea. Don't worry pictures were taken. Blog Day 33 Wed 8th June 2011 Today was pretty much a day for travelling. We left Coffee Shack for Durban which took around 8 hours. We met up with Marc & Anderson (2 German guys who had been at Coffee Shack with us). They had left behind a £600 camera lens, and were over the moon when the found out that we had picked it up for them. On the bus we discover that the boys are total Apple freaks. Between them they have 2 Iphone4s, 2 Ipads, and a MacBook. As well as a camera that could take a HD photo of a gnat's mono-brow. If they manage to get around the whole of their world trip without losing any of that then we will be amazed! We get into Durban at about 9pm to the Happy Hippo. The staff really don't seem to have much of a personality here. We try our 'inspection trip' line on them and the best we get out of them is 10Rand per person off our dorms, which is about 90p each. I guess they don't really want the business. The evening is spent chilling out with Marc and Anderson, playing a few card games and doing a few tricks before hitting the sack.
This morning we are heading off towards Coffee Bay. We are on the bus for about 4 hours & then find out that we have another 2 hour journey in a very cramped shuttle bus along roads that are ridiculously bumpy even more so than previous places we have been to so far. We arrive at the Coffee Shack & receive a free welcome beer, let's just say that the evening went downhill from here. One free beer turned into a night of heavy drinking. We meet a group of Canadian girls who we also met at Buccaneers, Clare, Christine & Dominic they have travelled from Cape Town & are headed towards Botswana. We also meet two guys called Anderson & Marc they are on a world trip also but are going the opposite way to us. It happens to be quiz night (a fundraiser for a small donation to help local communities) so we team up with Delphine & Anderson & the fun begins. Our team comes 4th but we gave it a pretty good shot. It also happens to be free dinner night, so it gets dished up & its poike (which we've since found out is actually spelt 'Potjie') & rice with homemade Xhosa Bread, it's delicious & soaks up some of the alcohol. Pretty soon the cards find their way out & Dan ends up with a crowd of people around him for the rest of the night. People are coming up to Trish & saying how great his magic is & it gets us free drinks for the best part of the night. Much later in the night we meet Polly & George who are a lovely couple, they tell us their travel agenda & are astonished that we have been together for 7 years compared to their year & a half. We all sit around a table & Polly & George are mesmerized by a Rasta guy who made he's own shoes & has this thick head of dreadlocks, just chilling & smoking his pipe. We soon admit defeat & head of to bed, we are sharing a room with 5 rugby guys from Newcastle & a couple of them are snoring. Thankfully our heads are heavy from the drink & it doesn't take long to fall asleep. Blog Day 31 Mon 6th June 2011
Let's just say that fragile would be a massive understatement to describe how we feel this morning! We feel even more fragile when we are woken up by the guys in our room leaving at 7am to go do a surf lesson, then coming back in at 7.45 because the sea is too rough! It seems as though those northern types haven't quite figured out how to shut doors either! We take this as a sign that we really must get up! We both head across the hostel to the shower block to try and make ourselves feel a little more human, that doesn't work. So a nice big fry up it is! That always works. Not this time! Oh my god it's gonna be a long day! The day is made even longer by the fact that unless you want to go for a hike there really isn't a lot to do in Coffee Bay. And the last thing we want to do is go on a sodding hike!
The hostel is fairly empty today, as people obviously don't share our views on hiking! So we find ourselves sitting on the beach. Trish feels right as rain, whereas Dan has his head in his hands. Two local women come walking halfway across the beach to where we are sat carrying beaded necklaces and bracelets. They attempt to speak to Dan, who just takes a swig from his massive bottle of water and points them in Trish's direction. Within minutes Trish has both arms full of beads, and they have even manage to sneak one onto Dan's ankle without him noticing. 25 Rand each they are asking for the bracelets. To be honest they had more chance of Dan jumping up and cartwheeling back to Cape Town! We tell them 10 Rand and after about half an hour we all settle on 15! It does prove to be quite embarrassing however when you spend all that time haggling, only to open your wallet and find that there is sweet FA in there. We tell them that we will get the money to them and they head off!
This morning we moved rooms to a little 'quieter' dorm. The rugby guys were great but we didn't want to be around anyone in this state. Our new dorm is situated across the bay. It's a short walk but nothing to bad. Back at the main hostel all the guys come back from the hike. They inform us that its hard work but the views were pretty spectacular. It gets to about 5pm and Dan is starting to feel a little more human, and we are both pretty hungry. So we head back to the dorm to rustle up some dinner. Turns out that bay we walked across becomes a river at night! And its pitch black aswell! We manage to score ourselves a little head torch (which is pretty pointless). Scared that we are both going to get washed out to sea we make it safely across, and are enjoying hob cooked pasta in a bag within the hour. After dinner we see that the tide is still in and the river hasn't retreated. Sod crossing that again. So we head to bed! Blog Day 32 Tues 7th June 2011 Ok so we get up this morning a little brighter than yesterday! However we still have a room of people that decide to get up at the crack of dawn to go surfing! After some lovely poached eggs on toast we head over to the other side. The tide is out so we plot our route for when it is back in again. A route that contains less rocks! At the other side most of the friends we have made are heading off on today's bus. We have signed up to do the hole-in-the-wall trip so will be heading off tomorrow. We exchange details with people, say our goodbyes, and then jump on the bus to Hole-in-the-Wall!! There is only a small number on the trip, 2 Essex girls Athena and Kitty, and the Rasta chap from the other night whose name escapes me. To be honest I don't even think he knew his own name! The bus trip is less than comfortable as the roads are absolutely shocking! We seem to be driving forever when finally we reach, what seemed like, the end of the road. Everybody jumps out and we are introduced to Jon, our guide. He's a cool guy and we are amazed when we find out that we have a 3 hour hike back to the hostel, which he is going to do with no shoes on! We are walking for about 15 minutes before one of the girls takes a tumble. We didn't laugh…….much. We reach the Hole-in-the-Wall and it's a pretty spectacular sight. Basically a big cliff face with a hole in it, that's been caused by thousands of years of abuse by the sea. Jon disappears off and comes back holding the end of a plant, which he explains is the aloe plant. He takes us through the uses that they have for it among the indigenous people. These include treating sun burn and acne, also mothers used to use it to get their babies to stop breast feeding! They would rub it on the nipples and when the baby wants some of mummy's 'goodies' they only go there the once. Dan tells Jon that it would take a little more than the aloe plant to stop him wanting ladies 'goodies', and tastes a bit of it. The stuff is vile and bitter and after necking half our water supply Dan agrees with Jon. So now we have seen the Hole-in-the-Wall its time to hike back to the hostel. The next 3 hours are the most strenuous we have had in a long time. A very long time! The girls seem to spend more time on their arses than they do on their feet, and even 'Bob' (the Rasta) takes a tumble, which wasn't surprising as his shoes looked like he'd nicked a couple of table napkins and stitched them around his feet (but good on ya for trying 'Bob'). All in all the two of us and Jon are the only ones that make it the whole way unscathed. The walk was pretty amazing though. Trails had been formed in the hill sides, and at times the distance between us and the edge of cliffs made us really have to concentrate on our balance. We were pretty sure that 'Bob' was high for most of the hike. We got to the very first hill and he insisted on pulling out his pipe (another homemade item) and smoking the biggest lump of 'weed' that we'd ever seen. He told us that there was no way he was going to make it up there without it! After that everything we said to him he just laughed at. Good old 'Bob'. Just as we were walking down the road to the hostel the heavens opened! We were both so glad that it hadn't rained on the hike. Cheese, onion and tomato toasties are waiting for us when we get back. We both munch on the offering then head back to our dorm for a well-deserved nap! After a couple of hours kip we head back over to the other side for dinner, which is soup followed by chicken stir fry. There is far too much and we are still pretty full from the toasties. So we pick at it for a while before admitting defeat. Tonight is party night at Coffee Shack and the theme is Pimps & Hos. There aren't many people at the hostel tonight, however the costumes that people had made were pretty funny. The one person that made the night though was Flavio. Just imagine Mr. Bean in drag and you'll have a pretty good idea. Don't worry pictures were taken. Blog Day 33 Wed 8th June 2011 Today was pretty much a day for travelling. We left Coffee Shack for Durban which took around 8 hours. We met up with Marc & Anderson (2 German guys who had been at Coffee Shack with us). They had left behind a £600 camera lens, and were over the moon when the found out that we had picked it up for them. On the bus we discover that the boys are total Apple freaks. Between them they have 2 Iphone4s, 2 Ipads, and a MacBook. As well as a camera that could take a HD photo of a gnat's mono-brow. If they manage to get around the whole of their world trip without losing any of that then we will be amazed! We get into Durban at about 9pm to the Happy Hippo. The staff really don't seem to have much of a personality here. We try our 'inspection trip' line on them and the best we get out of them is 10Rand per person off our dorms, which is about 90p each. I guess they don't really want the business. The evening is spent chilling out with Marc and Anderson, playing a few card games and doing a few tricks before hitting the sack.
- comments
Aunty Lynn Well Hello Dan & Trish, sounds like you are having a wonderful experience. Hope you both well. Those roads sound a bit like trips to Ireland twenty years ago! How funny nobody told you the bay flooded of a night time just as well you were a bit hungover or you may have been completely p----d and washed away. (perish the thought). Can u up load some photos would be great to see where you both are, unless of course you both have long beards, beads and wrapped in loin cloths. Maybe its a bit early in the trip for that. All well here exams, revision, and very normal. Lots of rain this week lets hope summer hasnt finished. Rob has sold the boat this morning to a very nice guy from the isle of sheppy. Didnt get what we wanted but at least its gone.Lots of love to you both enjoy and be safe .xxxxxx