So, its been quite a while since I last wrote anything about my adventures, and there have been quite a few since I last wrote!
I decided that, rather than fly back to PE, from cape town, I would drive, what is called the garden route, one of the best drives in the world. I had mixed advice as to whether I should do the drive on my own, or not, but as I met someone who was heading that way anyway, I tagged along, and got away with doing none of the driving, and all the looking!
We did the drive in 2 days, which was way too brief, as most tours do it in 8-10 days. However, I think it worked well for us. The bays leaving cape town are beautiful. I particularly remember Gordon's Bay, which I rather stupidly declined stopping to take a picture of, but it was beautiful!
On the drive, I saw pink water... Im not sure if thats possible, but it certainly looked like pink water, which definitely excited me! We went to Hermanus, which is one of the main whale watching spots on the garden route. Unfortunately, there were no whales, as I just missed the whale season, which is from june to september, but I like how there is an outdoor arena overlooking the ocean, which allows prime whale watching views!
We then detoured a bit to the most southern point of the African continent, called Cape Agullus, and it is here, not cape point, where the two oceans actually meet... although I have now heard a third opnion, that the point where the oceans meet changes depending on the winds, which in the summer blow from the south east, and in the winter, blow from the south west.
Whether the oceqns meet there or not, I still stood at the southern most tip of the continent, and can therefore say that I have also been to the Southern Cape!
We returned to the N2, the garden route road, through, what I was told looks like the Karoo... vast fields of yellow brown grass where the multitude of farmers graze their cattle and sheep.. This stretches out for miles, and in this vaste open space, I was pleased I was not travelling alone!
We stopped briefly for a coffee in Swellendam, juicy information I know, and then continued on our way to Knysna. On the way, we stopped at an old toy factory, and a memorial to the buffalo and cart transport system used by the Dutch a few hundred years ago.
On entering the area around Knysna, you leave the brown, beige grassland and enter into a foresty area. Suddenly you are surrounded by hundreds of tall, green trees, and rivers, and sheer mountain drops into the ocean... now this is the beautiful part of the drive!!
We spent the night in Knysna, overlooking the lagoon, and before heading off the next day, we went to the Knysna heads, to admire the stunning view!
Off we continued, to Tsitsikamma, (no idea if I spelt that right), and Storms River, which is an area of adventure sports, of which includes the worlds highest bungy jump, of 216metres... i went to have a look, and felt sick looking down! Just getting to the jum looks terrifying, as you have to walk on the underside of the bridge before you jump off... If I had any doubts before, I am now certain, that I will not be throwing myself off that bridge!!!
We popped in to Plettenberg Bay, to see where I would be coming after Shamwari, and then continued all the way back to the game reserve, where I got a warm welcome from the game rangers who I had met on my stint there before Xmas.
The drive between PE and CT is about 8 hours if dowwn without stopping... we did it in 2 days, being on the go for about 12 hours each day! An exhausting two days, and I didnt even do the driving!
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