Roadtrip Today!!

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So, back in Sedgefield again today, leaving at 2 this afternoon for the roadtrip, its gunna be good, lots of 4x4-ing, Jeffery's Bay, and the bungee, woooot!! Gunna be awesome.

So since last time, we had to say bye to Flip, was sad, but will hopefully see him again :) me and Iona chatted to Danica, then went road for my running friend Rudolf (yes, that is his name...) and went for a walk and catch-up with him, was nice. Went to the beach and took some photies :p then went round to Chris's house to see his family, was lovely!! Thhen popped in to Candi's work to see her, and went back up to hers - they fed us (again!!) and chatted. Me and Iona went back to base, chatted lots, wrote down some of the memorable quotes and time's we've shared, was a lot of fun!!

The next day (Mon 29th) got up pretty late, had to get up to open the door for Fuller though, who slagged us off for falling asleep in the same bed (typical of her) :p got up, saw Deon!! He was surprisingly nice and friendly, and I "talked" to him about the phone message he left me (in Afrikaans, saying a bad word as well) and joked about it, but made it clear I wasn't happy about it, so its all good!! He seemed pretty embarrassed and apologetic (in a Deon way) so I was happy. Alida called and wants me and James to write an experience letter of our time at OB for her, which is pretty kool!! We took in washing and went for a walk up to Willow Point and Cloud 9, which was really nice, nostalgic (shame I'll never get a chance to do the trapeze again!! Daaaaaaamn) :p picked up our laundry and went back to base, had dinner, decided to go out to La Piazza to see Garry (an awesome guy who owns the place who we made friends with in Training School, and gave us curtains for our room which we never actually put up) chatted to him and some others, watched some of the tennis, he bought us a drink then we went back to bed.

Tuesday - got up damn early to go to Knysna to start hiking!! Me and Iona got a lift from Chris's mum, was awesome, went to the office and decided to do the Harkerville Coastal Trail, a nice 2-day hike in the Knysna forest and along the coast. Was lovely - had some confusion about where our stuff we left was gunna be dropped off, but we got is sorted :p we hiked through some of the forest then got to the coast, was a lot of fun, a bit challenging going over lots of pebbley beaches with a massive hiking bag and a sore ankle, but all was well!! It was dark by the time we got to the Sinclair hut, and there were already 7 Cape Town guys there, who made a massive fuss over us. I ended up sleeping outside because my bed kept breaking and falling on Iona's, it was awesome to sleep under the stars, seeing them before I went to bed, and waking up in the morning to a blazing sunrise!! The guys were so appalled that I actually wanted to sleep outside, too funny :p

Wednesday - got up, made brekkie, and started hiking the second part of the trail, back to the Harkerville Hut. Lots more coast, much more fun today, lots of chains and ropes and bridges over tetering sharp rock face and crashing sea, loved it!! Then more forest, and we met a bunch of guys on the way back who had come to look for us!! The guys from last night who had set off earlier had told them about us, and they felt the need to come see we were ok and offer to carry our bags (which we flatly refused!!) It was kind of nice that people were looking out for us, but rather annoying that we were some sort of novelty - no-one could believe we were hikinh alone, 2 young females, just goes to show how conservative a country this really actually is sometimes!! So we went and got our excess stuff, got invited to a Braai at the Forest Station, went back to the hut, found a nice room to ourselves away from all the school kids :p and hoyed a shower at the forest station after cooking and chatting to a nice guy called Ricardo, the sports coach. Then went to the braai, was good fu, we got made food and coffee and saw what the guys do at the forest station - programmes, similar to OB but much less hardcore!! Mnce drove us back to the hut, and we went to my (very squeaky) bed after chatting more to the teachers Roland and Andy (I think he was andy anyway) :p

Thursday - got up early for the Elephant Park!! Said bye to the teachers/kids (2 of which were obcessed with us and kept taking photos and asking for our numbers) and started the 7k hike to the park. Stopped in at a shop on the way and bought biltong :p got to the park, looked around, the nice lady at reception offered to keep our bags in the staff area, was awesome!! Went on the tour - saw a brief dvd, then on the vehicle to go feed the elephants and touch them, spent a fair bit of time just wandering around, touching them and looking at their amazing structure, it was really kool!! I've never actually touched and studied an ele[hant like that before, even though I've ridden them, it was a really awesome experience, glad I did it. They kept trying to headbutt me though, I don't think they appreciated me touching their ears :p had a hot choc, then managed to hoy a free lift back to Knysna with one of the marketing people there, was kool, she travelled a lot as well when she was young. I bought the old AKing album :D and we went down to the waterfront and sat and chilled with ice-cream and apples :D was very nice, reminisced on the last time I was here with the grandparetns (like 3 months ago now!! Where has time gone...) and the time me and Iona and Natasha came, where it was sooooo hot!! We looked at photos on my iPod, which was kool, then hoyed it back to Sedge in a crazy taxi, was fun!! Chatted to Fuller for a bit, wrote letters, spoke to Roy and loads of my friends on the phone, was so awesome!! Me and them, especially Sara Helen, should not be separated for so long, its just wrong :p so happy they're having a good time :D:D:D chatted more to Iona then slept :)

And today so far, woke up late, had to open the door for Fuller again :p and me and Iona ACTUALLY went for a nice long run - and it was awesome!! My ankle and body are fit again it seems :D sooooo happy, not run properly in over a month!! Prolly not gunna get the chance to do it again in a while, but it was still awesome. Hoyed brekkie and a shower when I got back, and David and James arrived back - we're leaving at 2 apparently (its like 11:10 now) well excited!!

Will speak to you guys soon... I can't believe its less than 2 weeks now til I leave South Africa... sad times indeed!! :p xxxxxxxxxxx

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