The Williams family embark on the Garden Route, sandwiched between 2 parkruns where we plan, like Brian Habana, to run faster than cheetahs and stroll through the African landscape
So the Garden Route (diverse vegetation, lagoons, lakes etc) only features as a small part of our trip, running from Storms River (west of Jeffreys Bay) to Mossel Bay. And today we left Mossel Bay so that signifies the end of that little jaunt, perhaps we could and should have ventured onto one of the hikes or foresty bits, but time kind of gets in the way. May well be something to come back to (after Vietnam, South America and 1-2 other places)
Carys and I did a little 4 miler down to the Point to start our day, getting twitchy as I hear of people getting their marathon vests. Got a bit of catch up to do next week.
Today was a drive to Stellenbosch (on the outskirts of Cape Town) so a lot of time was spent with the pedal to the metal. Broke the journey up in Swellendam, a quaint little town, its early roots tracing back to the Dutch East Indies company. Less spice and more sugar for us today, cookies, cakes and chocolate the diet of the ardent traveller.
Onwards we went through rolling hills and into wine country, very Mediterranean in feel, not unlike some of our time spent in south of France/north of Spain in our pre blog road trips. Started to get a bit busy as we approached Cape Town, a sense of what we might encounter tomorrow, but today we are holed up in a little piece of paradise called Stellenbosch. Chrissi managed a bit of wine tasting, the rest of us will indulge on some other local produce from the balcony of our beautiful guesthouse, mountain peaks and sunshine all around us.
(Carys) Only a short one today as we didn't do loads -
Woke up quite early and went for a very difficult 4 mile run with dad, that included a lot of unwanted hills. It wasn't too hot, but warmer than I'd have preferred. After a quick shower we packed up and set off away from Mossel Bay.
We left as soon as we finished to get to our next accommodation. In Stellanbosch, after another two hour drive, we visited a Wine Museum where mum tasted some wines from the area, and bought a couple. We then drove to our lovely little guest home where we'd be staying for the next night.
We went for a walk past the botanical gardens and university to the mall where we bought lots of food and drink for the evening. As we strolled back to the room I realised I felt like I was in Southern France. It also felt like that when we had an awesome meal of cheese, bread, wine (for the parents), crackers etc on our balcony.
Started the day with a run. Not an obvious route, headed down to the Point at the edge of town, and started to climb up the footpath towards the lighthouse. Was soon skirting the cliff face and a run turned into a scramble turned into a few pauses to get a sense of direction as I was heading into remote territory. Saw the backs of some holiday homes so headed towards them and was soon back in suburbia albeit with a few peculiar mammals running across my path. Stumbled across the rugby club, did a lap of the pitch and then down back into town. After all that was disappointed to only clock 7 miles so will need to find another 3 tomorrow.
fell running
rock hyrax sunning itself
A bit of cool down in the pool, the sun came out, and we took a drive back into town with a beachy afternoon in mind. Took a stroll back up some of the climb I had run earlier and then a nice chic little coffee shop for sustenance. Afternoon on the beach reading a book, Prisoners of Geography, bit of geopolitics always good for travelling with, identifying the next places to visit and immerse ourselves in. Stumbled across a bit of natural adrenalin entertainment to end the day, a 500m natural pool cut into the rocks that the waves came crashing over. Not a big swimming in the sea kind of person but this seemed too good to miss.
beach afternoon
natural pool
I know we are not in central Africa but I thought I'd pay a visit to Savanna now ...
simple food
simple drink
(Carys) Very relaxing morning to begin the day, reading etc.Was disheartened by a large shower of rain, expecting it to ruin our beachy plans, but soon passed and the day was back on track.
Went for a lovely little walk around the lighthouse, hungry, but in good spirits. Saw some beauttiful views thought it was slippy and rocky getting up.
We searched around the find a place to have a proper breakfast, tbough it was 1 o clock by the time we got there, so more of a lunch. I had a breakfast croissant with jam, and bacon and eggs on the side. I found it much nicer than I expected, and enjoyed the style of the cafe also.
After settling on an area of the small part of the beach, w lay on the grass by the sand and read for hours. I also went for a paddle amidst the hundreds of small fish in the rockpools, which was a bit of fun. On our way out, had a quick swim in a not-so-secret but hidden away part of the beach. It had sharp rocks to hide behind when large waves crashed forward, an a few stone planks to jump off. Then returned for a bit of a swim in our own pool, had a shower and ended the day on our lovely balcony.
(Lloyd)
The soundtrack of our trip a bit of a throwback, really tried to find something on the radio over the last few days but the music stations are appalling out here. They make Capital appear a rich cultural experience in comparison, and my hatred of Capital radio is well documented. Everywhere we go our hosts tell us about a German family that stayed the day before and were disappointed with the weather or were heading in the wrong direction. We, on the other hand, the welsh germans, were getting all the luck, we bid them auf wiedershen pet/butt
(Carys)
After a night of large thunderstorms and lightning - dad woke me up to enjoy the unusual weather- we had a lovely breakfast in our B&B and I chose continental instead of cooked, to have something different for a change. After another brief storm of rain and thunder, we set off on the four hour journey, the longest car journey of our travels.
An hour or so into the drive, we took a detour to Monkeyland! It was incredible, being able to roam amongst the monkeys and apes in natural habitat. Even before we entered the forest, there were monkeys just jumping about. Overall our tour guide said we saw 9 species out of the 11 species that live there. My favourites were the Cappucion monkeys - the mothers often had tiny babies on their backs. There was also a horrific moment with an eight legged beast, which crawled onto mine and mum's chairs and backs! I freaked out but not as much as i could have done. But i had the shivers all day after that! Once we left the enclosure and had a quick snack, we were back on the road.
We drove through many mountains and beautiful lagoons which were lovely to see on our long, otherwise boring, drive. We arrived at Mossel Bay and our home for the next two days. It had bunkbeds each for me and Bryn, a double bed, a kitchen, bathroom, living room and even our own pool with lilos! We relaxed there for a while and in the early leaving left to find some food.
We struggled to find a nice takeaway on Easter Monday, but managed to find a nice chippy, It was late by then and we were tired and hungry, so we enjoyed it ever so more after we returned to our room after a quick round of getting lost.
Right before bed Bryn decided to have a quick 'nighttime swim' and dove into our pool. He said it was freezing but it couldn't have been too bad!
(Lloyd)
Jeffrey's Bay was beautiful, our welsh hosts (pure chance) looked after us and gave us a hearty breakfast and a bit of Afrikan politics. We were soon on our way, filling up Zola (who has been a pretty good budd so far) and getting on the highway and heading west toward Cape Town. Soon we were in the Tsitsikamma national park and taking in breathtaking mountains, gorges, forests, the works. Our stopping point today was Monkey land, the best wifi we have had in days, and a few monkeys too. Most of them not African though which seemed a bit pointless, apart from the cheeky Vervets. Best bit of wildlife sighted in the cafe though as Chrissi and Carys became the entertainment for fellow diners who had been watching them for a number of minutes as a massive rain spider had been crawling up their backs.
On we went west, making a schoolboy error at the toll. I thought the toll lady was trying to sell me a dodgy heater (strange as it was 25 degrees) but it later became clear she was pointing to the meter in our car which meant we didn't have to pay. I'd already thrust 50 rand into her hand and sped off by the time I realised she was in fact trying to be helpful.
The sleepy lagoon side town of Knsysna would have been a nice stopping off point but wanted to get some miles under the belt and got into Mossel Bay around mid afternoon. We have a lovely compartment with our own pool and ocean view so all good, although the town a little more industrial than I had imagined. Took a drive down to the boardwalk for dusk, eventually found some fish and chips, and eventually (after getting lost on the way back to our appartment) settled down in our cosy home away from home to eat them.
I say cosy, that was until lights out, when it felt like an episode of Police Academy, as we had to shut a thousand locks, bring down bars over all external windows and cocoon ourselves away from the outside world. The love a bit of security down here.
We can forget multimedia footage at the moment, even in our urban accommodation the wifi not coping with those kind of uploads.
(Carys)
Picking up where I left of yesterday, with eating, one of my favorite things. We ate a meal of sausage, steak, potato salad, homemade bread and for dessert - pancakes. All of which were utterly delicious and unexpected. I quite enjoyed having my meal already picked for me. After that we enjoyed traditional African singing and dancing from the people who worked at Addo Palace. It was a great way to get into the spirit of the culture, and end the night. We went to be shortly after.
Yet another full night of sleep, and a quick shower in the morning before breakfast; scrambled eggs with bacon, toast and sausage. Again, all quite tasty. We set off early, and were waved goodbye with more African singing. We led the track back to the main road and drove for about half an hour when we reached Addo National Elephant Park. We decided because our tour wasn't till later, to have a little explore in our car and try to spot some animals.
We firstly sighted a Black-backed Jackal, looking a lot like small travelling alone the grassy land. We also saw a Kudu, dung beetle,warthog, zebras and elephants as we drove along. We then returned for our guided tour, and spotted many of these animals once again, but closer-up. The zebras were breathtakingly beautiful, as were the Eland and Red Hartebeast - two types of lovely deer.
Then we saw the main attraction - elephants. Loads of them gathered around a waterhole. We saw them all over the place, more than we'd seen earlier. They were so large; so peaceful. They'd trod carefully around the place. I was a little disappointed to not see any lions but enjoyed myself thoroughly anyway.
We then left the lovely park and drove fro about an hour and a half. Along the drive, we saw a large township called Motherwell. It was quite sad to see the amount of poverty these people suffer with and I wrote a bit about it. That may appear in a later blog. We theen reacheed Jeffreyds Bay and checked in at our B&B. The room wass gorgeous, but not as gorgeous as the viewq. nbWe were high up, and had aclear view of the ocean - known as one of the best sufring beaches in the world.
We drove to a mall and ordered a selection of pizzas - that turned out to be square - to takeaway from a shop called Nina's. We also bought a few snacky things in a small supermarket to bring back as well. We returned to our room and ate the pizzas and other food as we looked over the beautiful view oin the balcony. The food was great, and soon after we went to bed.
sausages
dancing and singing
daybreak in the misty mountains
bath time
super imposed ranger, not
(Lloyd)
Beautiful start to the day, gorillas in the mist type scenery, no gorillas, or even baboons today. But quite a lot of elephants. Bumped and grooved in the style of the black eyed peas back to the main highway and found our way to Addo Elephant Park. The clue is in the title I guess; a last nod to our hosts at the Addo Bush Palace, a chance to really get away from it all (apart from the Premier League) well worth doing if you have the means to get out of Port Elizabeth. Very much looked after, as Carys mentioned above; apparently they mainly get Germans, and now the welsh germans (eh Tom?)
The drive to the park not too arduous, a few zebras to keep us occupied, and seemed to be racing a freight train for a good chunk of the route. The park itself massive, we made our first error of the trip by paying park entrance fee and the tour. So in effect doubling up, and not having time to make the most of it. One or the other with the time we had would have been the sensible choice. The self drive stuff was fun but being the driver meant keeping more of an eye on fellow excited drivers stopping suddenly, reversing etc And trying not to make any similar sudden movements myself.
The ranger tour much better, wasn't Biggins, but you can't have it all. Good look around the park, on and off road, and elephants everywhere, mingling in with us at water holes. Real wisdom in those eyes, reckon they could tell a tale or two, mainly about idiot drivers I would imagine. Seriously though, were magnificent beasts, and the camera clicks were going ten to the dozen.
Needed to get on the road to our next port of call, taking an unexpected trip through the township of Motherwell. Suddenly the guilt of moaning about making first world mistakes on paying double of the elephants kicked in. The deprivation, the squalor, and a slight sense of panic were all feelings as we drove through, pleased that most of the traffic lights were on green, Such a country of contrasts, from beautiful animals, landscapes, to millions with nothing in a matter of moments. Sense the elephants probably in a better state of health and housing.
Reflection continued all the way to Jeffreys Bay, which is the first built up (albeit coastal) part of South Africa we have arrived at that is not all gated communities and people hanging around at major junctions. In fact this could be the east coast of Australia.
build them up in black and white (swans reference)
No pics - poor wifi - will add later - now added - still poor wifi so limited choices
(Lloyd)
Fantastic sleep with a nights worth to be made back, and 6am
alarm call (5 in UK) for ourselves to ready for international parkrun.Strolled down to Hobie Beach where the masses
assembled in the increasing heat for an 8am start.A respectable time, but big numbers meant
30-60 seconds getting over start line, and lots of friendly locals meant
chatting which also tends not to be something that happens when running flat
out.3k run on the lovely beach, with
the Indian Ocean lapping at our feet will live long in the memory, as did the
interest of the locals, and met a chap who is well on the way to running all
136 South African parkruns, 23 may not be so hard after all!!
Well earned breakfast of eggs benedict back in our fantastic
lodge and then showered before the next part of the adventure.The amount of security, even around a drop in
to a supermarket, makes even shopping an adventure. And the highways can be
quite intimidating, not so much the drivers, but the amount of people beckoning
you to stop and help on the sides.After
60k we turned right and did 13-15k across a gravel track, surrounded by mist
and mountains. Baboons were sighted other animals crossed our mind, as did the
fact we saw only one other vehicle in our 40 minute run.Crossing a gate 2k outside our lodge thoughts
turned to how it all started with oohs, and aahs, but soon there may be
screaming and shouting.If a T Rex had
crossed our path I would not have been surprised.
As it turned out we saw nothing more than a few hikers and
were soon in our next lodge, the Zebra room a better option than some of the
huts that also form part of the Addo Bush Palace.Took a walk up to a nearby vantage point,
seeing not a great deal of wildlife, but the imagination suggested a lot
more.Massive beetles everywhere, trust
they don’t feel the need to visit our lodge later.In the main dining area we could pick up wifi
which we did, although very intermittent, and so other entertainment
sourced.And then suddenly we didn’t
feel so far away from home as Premier League football surfaced on the box, so
watching the Swans lose to Man Utd meant Saturday afternoon took on a very
familiar feel.Not much animal from the
Swans though and now looking forward to seeing what food is offered up for
evening meal.Not exactly in a position
to pop out to the shops now darkness has fallen, so we will take what we are
given.
(Carys)
Our day began earlier than I would have preferred, but had a
good night of sleep anyway. We set off along Hobie beach to try to find the
start of our parkrun, regretting not wearing sun cream as we felt the sun
burning down on us. However, by there the end of the run the cream would have been
dripping off us profusely and we were not massively sun burnt anyway.
The run was tough, but enjoyable. Most of it was along the
beach by the ocean; a lovely sight to witness. I took to stepping on the wetter
sand, as that was smoother and easier to run on. When I had finished I almost
passed out from the heat. We rushed back to our accommodation to enjoy a tasty
breakfast – I also had eggs benedict – though I could not finish it. After a
quick shower and visit to the local supermarket (Pick’ N’Pay) we were back on
the road.
On our travels, I was delighted to see small monkeys, hogs, baboons
and even giraffes! The scenery was beautiful, as was the view from our lodge
when we reached it. It took us about 12km to get there once we left the main
road. Once we arrived, we had some snacks, looked around and went for a short
walk. We looked at many animal tracks, wondering what creatures could have left
them. We also saw a few suspicious-looking holes in the ground. Could there be
snakes or spiders lurking within its depths?
We returned in time for the football match on the reception
TV, and found a nice sofa to settle in. Now I’m waiting to find out what’s for
dinner, and it truly smells delicious.
