Cosmic

We have left the Wild Coast behind use and have taken the 5 hour drive down the coast to the Garden Route. The route down the coast was rather fascinating with all the small tribal villages peppering the landscape with there tiny round huts. On the way to the Garden Route we stopped off at the surfing capital of South Africa, Jeffreys Bay. A few of the backpackers we spoke to said that Jeffery’s Bay was a bit of a let down so I wasn’t hoping for much. I thought it was going to be tacky and a bit chavy, like a bigger Newquay but I was so wrong. First off the beach is great with its powdered sand and with such cool names for the surfing breaks (beaches) as ‘Super Tubes & Magnatubes’ you know this place is for the serious surf dude…… unlike my radical self who just wants to sit on the beach all day and maybe take a dip in the surf once in a while. It has also got some great surf shops along the main street, these shops are ‘factory’ shops selling Billabong and Quicksliver for really cheap. I could have bought loads of stuff but I have no room in my bags. SOB SOB.

The hostel we stayed at called Island Vibe might as well have been a 5star hotel it was so nice. Our room cost about £20 per night and for that we got a double en suit with balcony overlooking the beach. you could step out of the door and straight on to the beach. It had a wicked bar which had The Cure ‘Greatest Hits’ playing all night so I was a very happy Sam.
*Matty Ginger you would love it here*

Island Vibe

Next day we headed to the Garden Route. For the people who don’t know what the Garden Route is, its a scenic coastal highway (I quote) miles upon miles of sandy beaches, old pine forests, Mountains and gorges. Now this is the only part of SA I’ve been disappointed with. All I saw was millionaire mansion, tree plantations with most of the trees cut down, big industry towns and load of traffic. It wasn’t really what I was hoping for. Not all was lost, we ended up at a rather cool hostel at a place called Buffalo Bay. Again It was right on a beach, you could see over the years it has taken a right battering from the sea and wind as everything was so rusty and fallen apart on the outside, inside was a different thing altogether and was rather homely with a big log fire the centre of the room. The beach was 20km long and not a soul in sight. So for the rest of the day we walked along it watching the massive surf roll in and trying to spot whales only to find out that its not whale season till November, DOH. It was such a nice way to finish the day after the disappointment of the Garden Route.
Just to add, As it was pay day we went out for a meal in the local town to celebrate my last pay packet for a year. I thought I would try something different so I opted for Crocodile steak and I can report It tastes like salty chewy chicken and was rather pleasant.

On the way back to the hostel we stopped to check out the stars, in my life i’ve never seen so many, you could see the milky way so clearly. I would of stayed out for much longer to watch them if it wasn’t so dam cold…… It was cosmic……. man!

4 Responses to “Cosmic”

1. Mum & Sis says:

   May 22, 2007 at 11:10 am

   What fantastic beaches and lovely hostels.
2. Sams Dad says:

   May 23, 2007 at 8:50 am

   Croc steaks! Yum yum. Best to have it this way round and not the other!
3. Lee says:

   May 23, 2007 at 3:00 pm

   Have you had Ostrich yet? Sorry you didn’t like the Garden route – and you must have missed Monkey World! The cure and mode in consecutive blogs – life just doesn’t get much better does it?
4. Cousin Paul says:

   June 2, 2007 at 6:11 pm

   Have you any idea how sick it makes me logging on and reading your latest adventures? Hurry home, it’s almost less painful having you around!