A rather waisted week

Well, not really too much to report from the previous week.  I managed to choose the worst possible hostel for Christmas.  It actually turned out to be  hotel instead of a hostel, so was full of families instead of travelers.  But on a positive not I did end up with a room to myself with a double bed, TV, and en-suite.  It's been rain, rain, rain for the past week so because of the bad weather my Whitsundays sailing trip was canceled.  I rearranged it for today but it got canceled again.  Oh well I suppose it just wasn't meant to be.  On another positive note it does mean I've had the chance to watch England stuff the Aussies in the Ashes over the past few days.

Well I'm off to Mission beach tomorrow and I will be spending new year there.  I've been told that the hostel I'm staying at is a very good one, so here's hoping my new year turns out better than Christmas.

A few photos from Oz

Hopefully no explanation needed.....

Wentworth falls in the Blue Mountains.......

For those of you who have forgotten what I look like.  And some more water for the Monster......

Our 4x4 driving trip to Fraser Island......

Makenzie lake on Fraser Island.......

Well hopefully this is obviously a shipwreck to everyone.  Oh and yet some more water for Matilda.....

Oh and Martin you can tell Doreen these were all taken with the TZ10 ;-)

Hot and sticky and ravaged by mosquitoes

Well I'm now nearly three weeks into my stay in Australia and now in a place called Town of 1770.  So called because it is the first place Captain Cook set foot in Australia, yes you've guessed it, in the year of 1770.  It's very humid and hot here and it's been raining on and off for the last couple of days, which has help in cooling it down a bit.  But also brought out all those damn mosquitoes and they a biting me constantly.  Sorry if I'm making you all feel jealous about the heat when you are all surrounded by cold weather and snow, but I actually like the snow so I'm also a bit jealous.

So what have I been doing since my last post.  Well I've been to Byron bay, lovely beaches, Noosa, also lovely beaches Rainbow beach, lovely beaches.  As you can see there is a bit of a theme here!  It may sound idyllic, but they do all look pretty much the same.  I've been trying so seek out small places that offer me the same sort of atmosphere as I had in South Africa, but I have come to the conclusion that I'm not going to find it.  From what I've seen so far the backpacking culture in Australia is very different to that in South Africa.  People who come to Australia are looking for sunny/hot weather and lovely beaches within an English/European culture.  Where as in South Africa the backpackers are looking to experience new cultures and therefore have a more open and adventurous attitude to life.  So I think South America  is going to be more to my liking.  Don't get me wrong Australia is a lovely place and I really enjoyed my trip to Fraser Island, (I'll tell you more about it later), and I'm sure I'm going to enjoy the Witsundays and my diving.  But I think I could have cut short my trip in Australia and just done those things.  It is going to be interesting to see how New Zealand compares.

So back to Frazer Island, this was a 3 day/2 night 4x4 driving and camping trip to the largest sand island in the world.  We were in a group of four 4x4's with eight people in each and a lead 4x4 showing us the way.  We each took it in turns to drive, driving in sand was quite interesting, especially on the soft sand.  You basically didn't really choose your direction but just followed where the sand wanted to take you!  We were camping just behind the first set sand dunes on the beach so had lovely views of the sea at night.  Cooking dinner for eight of us on a camping stove, the food was very good actually, a nice steak with salad on the first night and a stir fry on the second.  So not the normal camping food.  We had a huge thunder and lightening storm on the second night, they said in the morning papers that there had been 23,000 lightening strikes that night.  I'm wondering who actually sat there and counted them all!  It was an amazing spectacle, some stunning fork lighting and some sheet lighting that lit up the whole sky as if it was the day.  So during the day on Frazer mainly consisted of driving from one fresh water lake to another of a swim in lovely warm, clear fresh water, there were no showers on the island!  We also went to a place called hangover creek the first morning, so called because the water is a refreshing 17 degrees and ideal for curing you of your hangover.  I hasten to say that I didn't have a hangover but many of the group did.  I try to stay clear of the goon, they don't even mention the word wine anywhere on the box!  The last morning we went to a lake full of catfish, we were told that if you just lie in the water for long enough they will come up to you and remove all your dead skin for you.  Well I didn't try it and our guide admitted to me that it had never happened to him, so I'm not sure if it was just a myth or not.

So I have just booked some more dives for tomorrow, so that will take the number of dives in Australia up to 15.  I didn't mean to book any more dives but the guy in the shop was very convincing so just couldn't say no!  I'm going to a place called Lady Musgrove island, which is at the bottom of the Great Barrier reef, and I've been told better than Cairns.  Well I'll now be able to compare and let you know.  Hopefully I'm going to see some more Manta rays.  Unfortunately I haven't been able to get an underwater encasing for my camera yet so still unable to take photos, but hopefully I will be able to get on in Cairns.

Well that's all for now, till next time.

Now heading up the east coast

Well I have now left Sydney and heading for some smaller places along the east coast of Australia.  I have now more or less sorted most of what I'll be doing for the next month or so in Australia, totally unexpectedly before anyone starts to think I'm becoming orgonised on this trip!

I went into a travel centre with a few friends I met in Sydney so the could book their camper van before we headed to Manley beach.  I was just looking at what dive options there were on the Great Barrier Reef and twenty minutes later I had spent nearly $1,700!  Well all I can say is that he was a very good salesman, but I think I did get a good price.  So here is how it breaks down, I've sorted out the Greyhound from Sydney to Cairns.  I've booked a three day trip on Fraser Island which involves driving a 4x4 around the island on the sand for a few days.  Yes that's right I actually get to do the driving, well part of it anyway as I'll be sharing with a couple of other people who I'm yet to meet. I've booked a two day sailing trip of the Whitsundays including getting to stay on some of the islands and a free dive.  I've herd they are amazing so can't wait.  I've also booked a three day Liveabord dive expedition to the outer reef.  This includes 11 dives (2 at night) and should be in lesser dived areas.  I can't wait to do the night dives it should be amazing.

So I went up to the Blue mountains a couple of days ago and did a few walks, they were amazing.  But sorry anyone who thinks they are the best mountains in the world, the Drakensberg were even more spectacular.  But of course that's just like saying miss world is prettier than the runner up!  I wish I had spent longer in the Blue Mountains than I did, I was told that I only needed to do a day trip there but I did stay one night in spite of what the travel agent said.  But I could have spent a few more days there, so if anyone is thinking of going to the Blue mountains in the future and loves walking as I do then definitely stay three of four days.  The day I got there I went straight out for a walk, I got to the first viewing point and thought wow, time to take a photo.  Only realising in my haste to empty mu rucksack of anything I don't need for walking, I accidentally included my camera.  Then I remembered that I actually had two cameras, phew!  So anyone who thinks I'm too extravagant having to cameras with me I have now proved it was a good idea!  I'll try and post some pictures soon.  Oh and also they hostel I stayed in was really lovely, (No 14), my favourite in Australia so far.

Well I'm in Byron Bay now, the sun is shining and it's hot (sorry everyone who is stuck in the cold snow of England!).  It is a very nice place but I'm not to keen on the hostel, it's just too big and impersonal for me.  I think I need to start searching for the smaller hotsels out there like the one in the Blue Mountains.  I'm off to Noosa tomorrow and I think I may have found such a hostel, so fingers crossed.  The plan is to just chill in Noosa for a few days, swimming, canoeing, and other healthy exercisey things, before I head off to Fraser Island.

Well I think that more or less catches you all up with what I've been up to since I've been in Australia.  Ta ta for now.

Now in Oz

Well I've now arrived in Sydney, been here for a day now and I must say that although it is a nice city I'm not to sure. It feels like I'm in a city in England, an well that's not really what I'm looking for. Well I'm sure it would be a lovely city to live in one of the main reasons for coming on this trip was to experience new cultures and visit new interesting places. Also the backpacking culture feels different here to South Africa, although it may be just that I've chosen the wrong backpacker. Most people here seem to be foreigners working and there are none of the normal things like a bar and food.

Anyway I'm planning to go off to the Blue Mountains on Friday and I'm sure they are going to be beautiful.

Oh and just to cheer you all up over there with the cold and the snow, it's been raining here!

Back in Cintsa/Off to Hogsback

Well I got to Cintsa a few days ago after only spending a couple of days in Coffee Bay.  Well everyone I've met travelling has said that you must go to Coffee Bay, so I though as I'd missed it on the way up by spending too much time in Cintsa I had to go on the way back down.  Well I planned to stay for five days as I was sure after what everyone had told me I'd want to spend at least that much time there.  I cut it short to only two days, it was a nice place but I didn't get the vibe there and it just wasn't Cintsa.  So I decided I was better spending more time in Cintsa where a know a lot of people.  It's been quite nice coming back to a place where a know people and it feels a bit like a home, feels like I never left!  Sitting in the Barefoot cafe all day eating and drinking, oh and the volleyball with free wine is also very good.

Well I'm off the Hogsback in a few minutes, another place I was supposed to go to on the way up!  Staying in the mountains at a hostel called Away with the Fairies.  Now all the locals and the people who work in the hostel here say I must go, so I don't think I'll be disappointed.  After going the I'm coming back to Cintsa for one last time, (can't stay away!), before I head back down to Cape Town to head off so Sydney.

I've got mixed emotions about leaving South Africa, part of me is looking forward to going to a new place and part of me is sad to be leaving.  I know I'm going to have a great time in Australia and I do think that I have spent the right amount of time here and it is now time to move on.  I just hope that the people in Australia are as welcoming and friendly as everyone here.

Back in SA

Well I got back to South Africa yesterday, I'm now back in Durban after choosing the much more comfortable option of getting back here by coach.  I must say a much more comfortable option than the Chapas from Tofo, and air conditioned as well.  Even though we left three hours late, but I'm starting to get used to that now!  Actually talking about the Chapas reminds me of the road rage incident we witnessed on the ride back down to Maputo.  I just remember seeing or driver get out of and start shouting at the driver of the car in front, then the driver pulled off to the side of the road and lots of shouting and fighting ensued while we were still stuck in the middle of the road in the Chapas watching.  I think this possibly went on for 10-15 minutes and I was starting to think we would have to get out and find some other form of transport back.  Anyway to cut to the chase after several pushes and many badly aimed punches, looks like the locals were incredibly bad a fighting luckily, we did manage to get going again and make it to Maputo.

So what to say about my time in Tofo, well as I was diving most of the time I didn't indulge in too much drinking.  Well apart from the last night, we had to catch the Chapas back to Maputo at 4am so we just decided to not go to bed at all.  So basically we just rolled out of the bar straight into the bus, well I think this was by far the best option as I think only getting a couple of hours sleep would have made it worse.  As mentioned in my previous post I managed to see plenty of amazing creatures while diving.  The Manta rays are pretty amazing creature, huge and seem to float through the water as a bird.  I only wish I had an underwater case for my camera so I could capture some of the underwater world.  I definitely intend on getting one in Australia so I can start sharing the underwater world with you all.  Oh yes one other thing, when I got back from diving one day as I got back to the hostel I saw someone who I recognised.  It was a Canadian guy called Pat who I had met over a month ago in Cintsa, small world.  It appears we were following more or less the same route but not quite staying at the same place at the same time.  Like everywhere I stay here I seem to hang out with a truly multinational group of all ages.  So Swedish, Canadian, German, Swiss, Brazilian, Chilean, English, American, Australian, Mozambiquan, South African, Dutch, Japanese and probably many more that I can't remember.  And ranging from 20 to 55, travelling is a great leveller which you don't always seem to get in normal life.

Oh yes nearly forgot to add mine and Pat's trip to the police station.  We were walking to a restaurant and Pat saw a shortcut, so we thought we would take it.  Pat was just taking it when a couple of people started shouting at us from the distance.  We just ignored them and carried on going as it just looked like some locals who we thought just wanted to sell us something.  Well they came running towards us from the other side of the building we were going behind and told us to go into the building we were passing behind.  Well naturally we said no, it doesn't seem like a good idea to enter a random building in a foreign country with locals.  Well then we eventually realised that it was actually the police station, the only visibly signs of this were the letters PRM on the wall.  Well we did start go get a bit worried at that point, I had visions of us being made to spend hours in the police station and being made to pay a big bribe.  We could just about get the gist of what they were saying very angrily at us, but as neither of us speak Portuguese we were unable to let them know we were sorry and didn't realise it was a police station.  Anyway luckily we were with a Brazilian guy that night and he came in and spoke to them, anyway the upshot is we got away with just a stern telling off and a lesson learnt about taking short cuts in the future!

Well, I'm off to Coffee bay for a few days tomorrow as everyone says it is a great place and it missed it on the way down.  Then of course I can't not stop in Cintsa again on the way back down to Cape Town.  I'll probably also go to Hogsback as it is also another place I wanted to go to but missed on the way up.  Then I'll spend another few days in Cape Town before leaving for Sidney at the end of the month.  I'm ready to leave now and see a new place, but also knowing that there is so much of Africa I haven't seen, most of it actually, and will need to come back at some point.

Just a quick post

Yes I am still alive, I'm still in Tofo and have now completed my Advanced diving course and will finish a Nitrox course tomorrow (will explain this later).  So that will take my dives up to 14.  Seen some cool stuff like large Manta's and sharks.  I'm just about to run out of internet time so this is just a short post.  I'll be back in Maputo on Tuesday and I'll give a more thorough account of my exploits then.

Now in Mozambique

Well I did get to Mozambique a few days ago, the bus journey was uneventful until we got to the border.  I was travelling with a Welsh girl and a Finish guy, we tried to get our visas in Swaziland the day before as was recommended, but were told to get it at the border by the embassy and it would cost 40 rand.  When we got there we were told that it actually cost 560 rand.  Well neither me or Sian had that much on us and the woman at the border was very unhelpful and just told us we had to find it.  Well that's easier said than done at a border post, so we faced the prospect of either going back in to Swaziland and trying to hitch hike back into the capital, or find some money from someone.  We went outside to ask the Finish guy if he had any he could lend us, when we saw that the bus, along with our bags, had already crossed the border!  We had to persuade the border guard to let us cross if we left our passports with them to find money.  As you can probably guess we did manage to borrow money off the Finish guy and got to Maputo uneventfully after that.

I spent a few days in Maputo and I must say it was quite a weird place, we managed to go out with locals for the first couple of evenings which helped a lot.  But Maputo is not laid out like any other city I've been to before, there is no city centre everything is just spread out all over the place.  You will wander around the city and you'll just be passing lots of run down buildings and just come across a nice shop or a bar, but after that you are back to run done buildings again.  It did make it very hard to do anything in Maputo without a lot of walking.  I did manage to go to an open air music festival while I was there, outside the town hall.  There was some good music on, but I haven't been to a festival quite like it before.  Every artist came on for one song and then you would have to wait for 10 minutes while the next band set up.  The was one band that played two songs in a row, well actually they played the same song twice, but no one actually seemed to notice!

We I'm now in Tofo where there are beautiful sandy beaches and turquoise coloured water.  I got here yesterday after an 8 and a half hours bus journey where I couldn't move as I was squashed onto a seat with a local woman that really wasn't big enough for two.  She also kept on falling asleep on my shoulder, well I was very sore after that ride and still am today.  But looking at the sea and the beach makes it all worth it, just!

Well I'm booked on the advanced dive course tomorrow, which will last for a few days.  I thought as I want to dive I might as well take the next course so I allows me to dive in more areas around the world.  I'm looking forward to seeing what all the hype about diving here is all about, I'm sure it is going to be amazing.

Well I'm not sure yet where I will head after here, either down the coast in an even longer bus journey to Pont a' Dora to do some more diving or head straight back to South Africa.  Well in any case I have some more unpleasant bus rides ahead of me, well in any case it may get me use to them before I head to South America!

Australia, even deadlier and bigger than I expected!

Well I've just finished Bill Bryson's Down Under I picked up in a second hand book shop. I knew Australia was large and full of deadily animals, but I hadn't quite realised until now quite what the scale of it was.  It looks like it would take years/decades to explore it, and you'd get bitten, stung, eaten, etc in the process.  I may have to extend my time there!

I'm now a qualified diver!

Well I've done it, I've passed my diving course and I'm not qualified to dive up to 18 metres.  I was diving in a place called Sodwana bay near the Mozambique border.  There were miles and miles of coral reefs there, having seen tropical fish tanks in aquariums I always assumed that they put far too many fish in there because there isn't enough space to build a bigger tank.  But no, there really are that many fish on a reef and they are so colourful and vivid.  As are all the corals themselves, which I tended to overlook to start off with.

So my course included teaching sessions in the classroom, exams, some time in the swimming pool, four dives, and accommodation in a safari tent.  Needless to say after the first night in the tent I upgraded to a cabin, which was definitely the right thing to do.  I know I'm supposed to be on a budget but after spending all that money on the course I at least wanted a good nights sleep!  I was also lucky enough to be the only student in the class so had the teacher all to myself.

You may or may not want to know the ins and outs of the course, but as I have been a bit lax with posting recently I thought I'd make this one a long one.  Those of you who don't want to read skip to the next paragraph now!  So for those of you who are still left the main gist of the course was practicing all the things that could go wrong (but never do I'm assured) so you know what to do if it happens for real.  And also making sure you can control your bouyancy so you don't sink like a stone or pop up to the surface like a rubber duck.  Well that's probably oversimplifying it a little bit, but I don't want to loose the rest of you still reading as well.  So I went through things like taking my mask off to show I can cope without it, filling and clearing my mask of water, having my air turned of so I know what it feels like to have no air, an emergency ascent without air called the CESA where I have to say ahhh all the way up to the surface.  And much more, but I think that will do.

Welcome back everyone else, so to my first dive.  I was so amazing to see so many colourful fish and coral when I got down there, although on my first dive I spent most of the time trying to stop myself popping back up to the surface to get too much of a look at things.  My second dive was so much better as I was starting to get to grips with it all.  Then it just got better and better one dive after the next.  I needed to complete four dives to pass the course, which I did, and then promptly went straight out again as a newly qualified diver for the first time without an instructor.  I suppose to probably similar to going out on your first drive by you self after passing your test, you no longer have to worry about are you going to pass and can just enjoy it.  I went for my sixth dive yesterday morning and then came up to Swaziland in the afternoon.  I'm off to Mozambique tomorrow to do yet more diving.

So the next thing to decide is weather or not to invest in my own diving gear, or just hire.  I haven't cosen a cheap pass time here!  Also my qualification only allows me to dive up to 18m, I have to do another course to be able to extend that to 30m.  Which I am cosidering doing in Sodwana again on the way bay to Cape Town from Mozambique.

It was also good staying five days in Sodwana as it isn't a backpackers so wasn't full of people who just want to drink all night and sleep all day (mild exaggeration but not too far from the truth!).  So while I wasn't diving I was relaxing and reading a lot.

Well I'm off now to find somthing for dinner, oh and if you're wandering why I haven't said anything about Swaziland it's because I can't really think of anything to say.  Well I suppose it is another stamp in the passport, but in hindsight I would have just headed strainght to Mozambique.  It just feels like South Africa, but not quite as nice, or spectacular.

Oh and I'll let you know how my bus trip to Maputo goes tomorrow, I'm hoping for uneventful!

Watching Hippos today

Well I've been in St Lucia for a couple of days now and I am finally off to Sodwana tomorrow to start my long awaited diving course.  Here is a picture of those interesting fellows....

Also some other pictures of what I've been up to.....

Me rock climbing.......

Stunning views from the Drakensberg.....



Cintsa surf competition......

Me almost being blown of a mountain in Lesotho......



Back in Durban

I've just got back to Durban now so I can get back to recounting what I have been up to in the last few weeks.  Well as I said Cintsa consisted mainly of relaxing, eating, and drinking far too much!  Well also a few runs on the beach so I at least do some exercise!

We spent most of our time in Cintsa hanging out with the locals, in fact by the time we left we felt more like locals than visitors.  We spent a lot of our time hanging around at the local cafe called the Barefoot, the did very nice burgers and pizzas, and of course sold beer!  The Saturday before last they had the first Cintsa surf competition so I spent most of the day sat on the beach watching surfing followed by a big party in the evening at the Barefoot where they were virtually drunk out of all the booze in the place!

I got to the Drakensberg last Friday via a nights stop off in Durban, the Drakensberg is a mountain range between Durban and Johanesberg.  I only intended to spend a couple of days there, but as with a lot of places I've been to so far I stayed there longer.  I went for a walk up to the Amphitheatre, which is a large cliff face at over 3,000 metres with a 1,000 metre drop off the edge.  I'm not scared of heights but my legs still felt a bit wobbly when I looked over the edge!  I also went on a day trip to Lesthoto, which is a small country in the the Drakensberg completely surrounded by South Africa.  We got to visit one of their villages, which is so far from western society, there was no electricity in the village!  We got to visit the local school, drink some locally brewed pineapple beer, and visit a local healer.  I also went rock climbing with some of the most amazing views while climbing you could ever hope to see.  I will upload some pictures when I get a chance.

I may also end up going back there in a few weeks as backpackers I stayed at are quite keen on me updating there website.  So that would mean some free accommodation for a week or so, I'm not quite sure if I'm really ready to do any work yet!  Well I'm now in Durban for until Friday when I will carry on with my trip up to Mozambique.  My next stop will probably be St Lucia or Sodwana where I can finally learn to dive!

Left Cintsa at last!

Well I left last Thursday but the internet has been down here so I haven't had a chance to write a post since then!  So I think I have a lot to update everyone on as I haven't written a post for a long time.  So what it I do in Cintsa for 2 weeks, well not a huge amount.  It's very hard to leave a place when you have free accommodation with a fantastic view of the sea where you can watch dolphins playing in the waves from the balcony.  So I briefly mentioned the bike ride I went on, and fell off, in my last post.  We went on a bike ride to a Xhosa village where we met Mama Tofu who took us through all the tratitional Xhosa rictuals.  Too much to go through now as I don't have much time left, but I will explain in a later post.

So now I am in the Drakensberg mountains after taking a detour off my original route as I heard they were a must see, and they weren't wrong.  I'm back off to Durban soon to carrying with my journey up to Mozambique.  I thought I'd be there by now, but there is so much to see that I am going to extend my stay in Africa by another month.

Anyway I'm just about to run out of internet time so I'm going to have to leave telling to all the rest of the details of Cinsta and what I got up to in Drakensberg until another post.  These things include visiting the highest country in the world and walking at over 3,000 meteres and seeing some truly breathtaking views.

Back into the real world, for a short while!

Well, I haven't been near the internet for over a week now and I have just a quick 5 minutes so I thought I'd write a quick post to let everyone know I am still alive!

Well I've been in Cintsa for a week now and it has just been one big party with the occasional bit of exercise.  Went on a bike ride yesterday morning to visit a Xhosa village, I meant to have a quite night the day before.  Well that didn't happen and after far too many shots later we staggered back across the beach at 2.30 am!  Getting up at 8am to go on a bike ride was not easy.  Needless to say two minutes in I fell off my bike and gave myself some cool new grazes that I think will give me some new scars to add to the collection.  So the lesson for the day was not to go bike riding when still drunk from the night before!

Anyway my internet time is just about to run out so I'll say goodbye for now and promise to post a more in depth  description of my time in Cintsa at a later  date.

3 weeks in

Well I've been traveling for three weeks now, my old way of life feels like a lifetime away now. I've been in PE for a couple of days now, we went to see a seal show yesterday at the oceanarium, they are very clever animals and are equally able to respond to hand and voice signals. I hadn't realised they were such intelligent creatures.

We went and had a walk around the town today, I must say that PE is my least favourite place I've been so far. It's full of 60's high rise blocks and a very industrial port town. Although when the sun comes out and you look at the lovely sandy beaches and water it still looks quite nice.

Of to Chintsa tomorrow, about 5 hours up the coast. Jenny's friend has a beach house there and she has very kindly offered it to her to use. Chintsa looks like a very nice quiet beach town with sandy beaches, so a great place to chill. In the the description in the guide book the say there is now an ATM in the town!

After spending a few days there we going to head for Hogsback in the mountains, which is rumored to be the inspiration for Lord of the rings. So I'm hoping to see some lovely countryside and do some walking and cycling.

By the beach, well not quite......

.... as it's dark, overcast and very windy so inside instead!  I'm currently in Jeffery's bay, the spot to come surfing in the whole of South Africa.  But it is far too windy to surf, or walk on the beach even.  So as you can imagine in a surf town when you can't surf, well there really isn't much more to do!  Well there is drinking of course, but as I didn't go to bed until 3 this morning it think it is best to wait a few more hours before I start again!  Well I do have the Liverpool vs Man Utd match to watch in an hour or so.

So what have I been up to the past few days I hear you ask.  Well not a huge amount, just working my way up the cost through sleepy beach towns.  I went zip lining through the treetops of Tsitikamma forest yesterday. It was fun and there were good views, but it wasn't enough of an adrenaline rush for me.  I'm much more looking forward to bungee jumping off Sydney harbor bridge!

Friday I went up to a local township with one of the staff members of the hostel.  For those of you who don't know what a township is, it's basically slums that were set up for black people during apartheid.  That's probably a very simplistic and only partially accurate description, so you're probably better to Google it for a better description.  Anyway back to the story.  We went to the local community centre as they had opened it up for the evening to the teenager so they had somewhere else to hang out other than the streets.  They were playing cards, dominoes, and singing and dancing.  I played a few games of dominoes, and even won one!  I struck me when I was there that this just wouldn't happen in England.  The children would just be playing computer games or on the internet.  I just shows you don't actually need that much to have fun, and they did seem to be laughing an awful lot more than any kid on a computer game.

Well I'm off to Port Elizabeth tomorrow for a few days, hopefully finally get to learn to dive there.  Although with the current weather that may not be possible, I may have to wait until Zululand.  I'll try not to leave it quite so long between posts next time.

A few more pictures

12 days in and it feels like an awful lot longer

Well I'm now on my twelfth day of travelling through South Africa sitting in an internet cafe in Knysna. I can't quite believe that it has only been going for twelve days as it feels more like months. I've done so much and met so many new and wonderful people.  I am currently winding my way up the coast on my way to Mozambique, we are down to two of us now as Jeff headed back to Cape Town to get a flight to Germany a couple of days ago.  Off to Pletenberg tomorrow and intend to spend a few days there to learn to dive, then I'll be ready to dive in Mozambique when I get there.  I've heard it is fantastic diving there and can't wait.

So the plan for the next couple of weeks, yes that's right I do have a vague sort of plan for once, is to head up the coast via Pletenberg, PE, Durban, Swaziland, and then into Mozambique.  Well I still have no idea where I'm going to go once I reach Mozambique, so I am still roughly sticking to my plan of no plans!

Well it's been a nice few relaxing days in a few sleepy towns but I think I have now built my energy reserves again after all the partying in Cape Town and ready to go again!

Just a few pictures of what I've been up to

Whales in Hermanus

Me on top of table mountain

Off to Wilderness

Quite literally, I'm off to a place called Wilderness today, this is my next step on the way up the garden route.  The garden route, for those of you who don't know, runs from Cape Town, east along the coast up to Mozambique.  From what I know of wilderness, which isn't much, it is just a cool and chilled out place where everyone just relaxes.  Which is just what I need after all the late nights and bottles of wine over the past week and a half.

A bit of diving with Great Whites and whale watching today

Only one picture at the moment as it's taking a while to upload them .....

These were big fish, and still not adults yet!   But surprisingly they didn't feel scary, more intriguing.

Finally found a day to do nothing!

Well apart from washing that is.

Well I haven't got round to writing a post yet so thought I was in need of posting what I've been up to before I forget! So let's start with Sunday, we went down to a bar in Camps bay to watch the sun set. Very nice bar, 16 Rand for a beer and Greame Smith, Mark Boucher and Jaques Callis sat at the table next to us! No fans around asking for autographs, no paparazzi, they were just allowed to sit there and have a drink without being bothered. Can't imagine that happening in England!

Monday was the second attempt to go go Robben island. We bought our tickets only for the trip to be cancelled due to high winds. I'm starting to think that it just wasn't meant to be. We went out to a restaurant called Mamma Africa's in the evening, one Englishman, 3 Americans, 1 Canadian, 1 Irish, 2 Icelanders, 1 Brazilian, and 1 Izraelie. Quite a mix of nations. I shared a platter of ostrich, crocodile, kudu, springbok, and venison, with Jenny the Irish girl. I can definitely recommend the ostrich and springbok. The crockodile was a bit odd and similar to monkfish and the kudu I didn't like at all, tasted like liver!

Yesterday we hired a car and I drove a few of us down to the cape of good hope seeing stunning view after stunning view all the way down there. If we had stopped to take pictures of every view I think the trip would have taken weeks! We also got to see penguins and ostriches grazing at the side of the road. Some people also got to see a whale, but unfortunately I missed it :-(.

Well it looks as if a few of us are going to head off down the garden route tomorrow. Not sure where we are going or what we are going to see, Jenny just asked a couple of us if we wanted to tag along and I thought why not! Anyway time to go, it's quite challenging trying to type this post on the iPhone! Hopefully I'll get round to adding some pictures shortly.

Busy few days in Cape Town

Well I've been in Cape Town for a couple of days now and my attempt to spend a day doing nothing just hasn't happens yet. I see this as a good thing. I was planning on doing nothing yesterday but someone suggested walking up Table Mountain. So I walked up Table Mountain yesterday with an American and a Canadian, photos to follow. But I'm not sure the photos really do the views justice.

Today I also planned on doing nothing, but when two Icelandic women come up to you and ask you if you want to go to Robben island you don't say know! I now know of a very good party I need to go to in Iceland in June! So again the plan tomorrow is to just laze about and do some reading and not much esle, but that may well change in the next couple of hours!

View from my room

Not a bad view is it?

Well I'm here now, feeling a bit tired. Sleeping on the flight wasn't the easiest thing to achieve, I know everyone complains about Ryanair, but I think BA are possibly worse. I'm starting to think paying to upgrade to club class is a necessity and not a luxury!

I met two people within an hour of arriving here (a Canadian and an American), went out with them for a walk around Cape Town and some lunch. I'm going out for a few drinks with them later and then off up Table Mountain with them tomorrow. Well my aim before I started was to talk to one new person and I'm already exceeding expectations. I also spent most of the plain journey chatting to a lovely old lady which helped the flight go a bit easier.

Nearly on the plane

Well it's all just about to start eventually! I am sat in the departure lounge as we speak supping on a cup of coffee. I've got myself a book and a few sweets (of course!) to keep me ocupied on the 11 and a half hour flight.

What to expect when I get there? Not quite sure, but I suspect it won't be too diferent from here, well apart from nice weather that is! Well I suppose that isn't being totally fair to good old England, it has been a very nice day today. I suppose it's just England's way of saying goodbye and don't forget about me.

Well as I haven't had the chance to shop duty free for years I think I should go and see what I can fill the last bit of space in my bag with!

Well ta ta for now, next stop Cape Town!

Going to miss you

Well one week left until I head off to Cape Town, I'll be in the plane this time next week.  Said goodbye to my sister today and got quite emotional, which I thought I wouldn't.  I'm going to miss you big sis.  Of course I'll miss your sprogs too, but hey you offer the more stimulation conversation so I'll miss you more (and your cookies)!

Well looking at the weather report I'm not sure I want to go back to England, even for 5 days.  It hit 37 degrees today here in France, and not a cloud in the sky. I'm not looking forward to reverting back to trousers and waterproof jacket tomorrow!

Accommodation sorted

Right, that's my accommodation sorted for the first few days in Cape Town.  I'm staying in the Backpack & Africa Travel Centre with great views of Table Mountain, Google street view is great for having a peak at what it looks like!  The place has a swimming pool, bar, and wi-fi, what more could you ask for?  Also voted the best hostel in Africa last year and only £11.50 a night!  Granted I'll be sharing a room with seven other people, but I'm sure I'll cope.  Maybe I should also pack some earplugs just in case!

Right so that is most things sorted now, just need to get the last of my jabs.  I will have just arrived in Cape Town two weeks today and can't wait and counting down the days.

Lazing about in France

Well I thought it was about time I added a new post, although there isn't much about travel yet. But thought I should try and keep at least some of you interested before I set off so some of you are still following me by September! Actually that's very presumptuous of me, I am assuming that there are people other than Bex currently reading my blog!

Right, back again after a quick 15 minute break to rock a crying baby (Owen) back to sleep again. Well that's one of the things I've been doing down here along with trying to help keep that Duracell bunny of a sister of his entertained too. She seems to have endless energy, and is also particularly fond of ordering us all about. Can't imagine where she got that from! A couple of days ago she ordered her nana into her play house and refused to let her leave! I have included evidence below so that her father can't deny it happened!

Well apart from entertaining children obviously I'm enjoying lots of nice food and wine. Oh and lots of time in the swimming pool, which is where I'm headed now.

Just under 3 more weeks until I hit Cape Town, can't wait. I suppose I should do something about accommodation, or maybe just head for the beach!

Mummy, daddy, and Owen sleeping!

Catching up on sleep......

My new nephew Owen

Well here is the first picture of my new nephew Owen, isn't he cute!

Well I've been down in the south of France now since Tuesday, it still hasn't really hit me yet that I've got no work for a year. I'm just enjoying lounging about and helping my sister look after Matilda and Owen. I must say it does feel very good to know that I won't be going back to work when I leave here. And also that I'm not going to get a phone call from FL half way through asking me to work!

Well I now am officially homeless and jobless and living out of a rucksack. Feels good to have so much less stuff to worry about. Sorry dad but your garage is pretty much useless now as I've filled it from floor to ceiling with all my things!

My first post!

Well here is my first post on my new travel blog!

So nine days left at work now before I set of on my travels around the world. First stop is Beziers in the south of France for three and a half weeks to visit my parents, sister, my nice and to see my new nephew for the first time. I'm looking forward to a few weeks to relax and start my planning for the year ahead. Although I don't plan on doing too much planning as I just want to turn up and see what happens.

The current (rather loose!) plans are to fly down to Cape Town on the 1st of September and stay around Southern Africa for two months before flying off to Sydney. Two months in Sydney and possibly fly over to China to spend Christmas with my cousin. Then a month in New Zealand before flying over to LA and visiting various places in the States, Canada, and South America for three months before flying back to England three months later. Although I do fully expect this to completely change over the coming year.

I'm virtually ready to go now. I've bought my rucksack, got my visas, booked my flight and that's about it! It's surprising how little you need to do. I'm going to get lots of jabs tomorrow morning, so will probably have sore arms tomorrow afternoon. I just need to get my travel insurance and empty my flat, the thing I'm least looking forward to doing!

Well that's the end of my first post. I hope in the future they are more interesting than this one! My next update will be once I'm down in France, and hopefully include a few pictures of Owen.