Days 42 - 43

Day 42

We had more pancakes before setting off on the road once more. The first part of the drive before the Garden Route officially starts was very dull and unattractive - a seemingly endless succession of murky industrial areas and slums, interspersed by a few farms. We stopped briefly in a town called Mossel Bay, which is on the border of the garden route and according to the guidebook is a real hot-spot for surfers. We had previously thought it might be a good place to stay but on looking around the place we decided not - it was dominated by the tourism trade, the only buildings visible being high rise, ugly tourist flats; the beach was practically inaccessible because it was blocked off by such buildings and when we did finally manage to find our way through the labyrinth of cheap holiday apartments we found that the beach and sea were so heaving it would be almost impossible to have any enjoyment there at all. We decided quite definitely to move on and continued for another 100km or so until we reached a much more appropriate place called ‘Wilderness’. A lovely small town resting on the edge of the Wilderness National Park, between green, forest covered hills and the sea it seems popular but not spoilt by tourism. We had read about a hostel called the ‘Wild Farm Backpackers’ which sat astride a cliff overlooking the sea. It is a really stunning place with incredible views and seriously soft grass which makes camping almost more comfortable than the alternative bunkbeds. It is run by a group of surfer hippies who spend their days on the beach or cultivating their very extensive vegetable patch, from which guests can pick for free! We had a meal of beans and rice and then sat in their bar listening to the live music played by the hippies and some of their friends. One of the owners took an immediate like to Seren, telling him he had a beautiful name and constantly enquiring as to whether he had everything he needed…no comment needed I think.

Day 43

We drove down through the hills into Wilderness National Park and after asking at the reception were told about a 7km trail you can follow which takes you along a river bank up to a waterfall and then back again. We paid 16 rand each (we should have paid 64 but the warden didn’t realize we weren’t South African, but we weren’t too dishonest because we only noticed the different prices after finishing our walk and by that point the warden we’d paid had gone home) and then started on the walk, which took us through a forest and over the river on a rather sweet, rope-operated Pontoon, until we reached the Waterfall which was really beautiful, with clear cooling water, although James realized to his horror after swimming in it that it was full of leeches…
We swam and paddled for a bit and then walked back, finishing a whole packet of Tuc Biscuits on returning to the car as we were all starving. Then we crossed over the road to the beach and spent a couple of hours there playing cricket - we had bought some tennis balls in Cape Town and for a bat a metal pipe required when changing tyres was used...hilarious. The game was followed by icecream and then we drove back up the cliff to our hostel. Seren and I then made a visit to the veg patch and picked Tomatoes, Spinach, Green Beans, Carrots, Squash and Onions which I then turned into a stew with the addition of some Garam Masala and milk which we ate with rice. It was a very yummy meal and also the cheapest of our whole trip so far. Tomorrow before leaving we plan to pick a few more vegetables to take with us. Of all our hostels this has to be one of the best so far - the management team (three hippies) are incredibly friendly, the views and location are almost unrivalled and the facilities (hot showers, good kitchen, free internet, DSTV and a really cool bar which hots up at about 10) make its price of 50 Rand per person seem incredibly cheap. Sadly tomorrow we must move on but we will leave with fond memories of our two nights here, and of course enough veggies for another very cheap meal. Tomorrow we will probably head up to Port Elizabeth. .

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