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Published: April 8th 2008
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Mossel Bay was our next destination, where we stayed at Mossel Bay Backpackers. This was one of the nicest places we stayed at, and I just loved the way it was decorated. Everything was pretty blue, and the bedrooms all were named - we stayed in The Shark Cage haha. And I thoroughly enjoyed the fact that the toilet seat had a picture of a dolphin painted on it. They were also incredibly generous with their internet, which I am eternally grateful for.
On our first afternoon, we walked along the rocky beach, spotting tons of cool shells, starfish, and sea snails. We were entertained for awhile watching a group of really good surfers out in the water. Also saw a bride and groom getting pictures take out on the rocks - very cute.
The next morning we went on a hike that started out at a cave and wound along the coast. We spotted some people just below the cave that were surrounded by dassies and pigeons, and there was a huge random pile of fruits and vegetables. I ran down to get pictures, and the dassies came right up to me. As I crouched down to get
better angles, they ran and jumped up on my lap haha. These “wild” animals have obviously gotten accustomed to humans feeding them. We climbed up to the cave, which was a lot less spectacular than I imagined, and then continued along the cliffs on the coast for a few kms. Venturing off the trail a bit, we arrived at some cool rock overhangs. Jess and Leslie decided to climb out to one particularly sweet looking one, while Tracie and I watched nervously. (Who remembers that near death incident in the gorge in Letchworth? This is what I was reminded of and why I was terrified for their lives haha). Apparently the slope was a lot more gradual and wider than we could see from a distance, so they made it safely without any trouble. We couldn’t do the whole hike though because we had to get back in time for our boat trip to Seal Island.
After the hike, Jess and I ran down to the Kodak store in town to attempt to get her camera fixed. Since we were already halfway there, we called Tracie and Leslie to tell them just to meet us down by the docks
for our Seal Island trip. Just as we arrived, the phone rang with some unfortunate news: the girls were locked inside the backpackers and couldn’t get out. Like every building in South Africa, all of our hostels have had locked gates around the perimeters. Most places have a pin code that is given out to the backpackers, and you just punch in the numbers when you want to get in or out. Mossel Bay however did not utilize this advanced technology and instead relied on keys to open the gate. Our group got one key between the four of us, and Jess and I were in possession of it at the time. No one else working at or staying in the backpackers could be found, so Tracie and Leslie had no way of getting out. This was rather disconcerting as it goes against everything I’ve ever learned about fire safety haha. I ran up the hill back to free them while Jess stayed at the docks to make sure the boat didn’t leave without us.
We got down to the boat with time to spare and climbed aboard. About 5 minutes into the ride is when I discovered that
I get seasick. I’ve been on plenty of boats before, but usually on a lake; I haven’t been on the ocean in years. Since practically anything can set me off (track meets, airplane rides, soccer games), I am not really surprised that boat rides are now added to the list of “things that make Meg throw up.” I didn’t actually get sick, but that was only because of the strong desire to avoid puking overboard, and in front of a large group of strangers haha. I took maybe 10 pictures of the seals (if you know how many pictures I usually take this is an obvious testament to how crappy I felt), and spent the entire hour on the boat just focused on keeping my breakfast down. Easily my least favorite part of our entire trip.
Next stop was Stellenbosch, aka wine country. The backpackers we stayed at was appropriately named Stumble Inn. Our wine tour left at 10:30am (5:00 somewhere, right?), and we hit up four different wineries. We started off at the first winery (Simonsig) with a bit of an educational session, where we learned about how the grapes are picked, the processing they go through, and
the differences between red and white wines. I didn’t know a thing about wine before we went, and I don’t know much more now haha. We hadn’t started drinking during this part of the tour, so I can’t blame this on being drunk. I guess wine really just doesn’t interest me that much so none of the info stuck in my head. I was in it more for the scenery. And the cheese haha.
Our guide for the day was an interesting character. His name was Tiri-tiri (or something to that effect), and he wore bangles up to his elbows and liked to blast Johnny Clegg while we were in the car. But he showed us how to open a bottle of wine using a sword, so that was pretty cool.
Our second winery was called Fairview, and they are known for their Goats do Roam wines. I guess this is a play on French wines called Cotes du Rhone and they have gotten into some legal battles over this. But Fairview came out victorious, I think thanks to the fact that they actually have goats on the estate (living in a “penthouse” haha). I don’t remember which
wine tasted the best, but I think the best name was The Goatfather. This place also had cheese tasting, and I could have gone through the cheese line all day long. So good.
Third stop was at Dieu Donne Vineyards, and the last was Boschendal. While all of the places were surrounded by mountains with gorgeous views, Dieu Donne easily had the best. We had 5-6 glasses of wine at each place, so we were definitely feeling the effects by the end of the day.
Side note: If anyone watches the show Weeds, you might appreciate that in both Mossel Bay and Stellenbosch I saw giant light up crosses that made me think of Doug haha.
Pictures
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Jim
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spectacular...
Yet another great update. Fine stories. Love the pictures...