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Published: July 17th 2010
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July 1st-3rd
(I’m a bit behind on my writing so I’ll condense a few days into one post)
The day after saying goodbye to Luke, Hayley and Mike, another trip by car started. Kieron and a couple of his friends had tickets to the quarterfinal match between Holland and Brazil, so they needed to get to Port Elizabeth. They had invited me to go with them on the road trip, which was to be along the Garden Route, the southern coastline between Port Elizabeth and Cape Town.
The drive was another great one, mountains that looked like teeth coming out of the earth were everywhere, surrounded by green pastures and farmland. Pete was our driver and with him was his lovely wife Carrie (hope I spelled that correctly). Since Pete and Kieron are avid surfers they had arranged for us to stay in Jeffreys Bay, a world renowned surfer destination because of the waves that are there. We stayed at a place called Island Vibe, a real surfer hostel and campsite. Their friend Phil was there waiting for us as well, so now the group became a quintet. Straight away drinks were passed around, jokes and stories were
told and even a foosball tournament was organized by the hostel.
Over the next few days there was a lot of relaxing done, it’s supposed to be that way when your on the beach right?? I met lots of cool people, locals, foreigners working in the bar, people traveling for the world cup, and surfers there to “hang ten”. Camping in such a spot, with the view that I had was something I’ll never forget. It took me a few days to actually get into the frigid waters but I did end up doing it when invited to boogie board with one of the Aussie bartenders, Michelle. It wasn’t so bad with the 4.3 millimeter wetsuit that Trevor had given me when I was in Pretoria, but it was by far the coldest water I have ever swam in. Unfortunately there isn’t any photos of this small expedition because it’s not a good idea to leave valuables on the beach while you are swimming (I think this applies to many places, not just South Africa, by the way). Anyways it was a good time and I’m glad I decided to get into the water, again, something I’ll never forget.
We watched the most World Cup successful country, Brazil, lose to Holland, (no I didn’t goto the match with Kieron, Phil and Carrie). And also watched cup favorite’s, Argentina, get beaten by Germany by a whopping 4 goals! I watched that match with a couple from Colombia, friends of Carrie and Pete. It was nice to speak Spanish with them and support a Latin American team with some sudamericanos, but unfortunately it ended without much for them. Ze Germans had advanced and awaited Spain in the semi-final.
The trip went great and was made even better when Phil had invited me out to his lake cottage, along with a couple other Americans from San Francisco and a girl from Holland. I wasn’t sure I wanted to go but Kieron talked me into it and I’m glad I went.
You’ll read all about it and see the photos in my next post. Hope you enjoy, Pura Vida!
-Brendan
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