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Published: September 26th 2010
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Sunday (11/7/10) The World Cup Final
After another amazing sleep in, (it wasn’t for lack of sleep that we weren’t kicking this bloody flu), we headed out in the rain for brunch. Being a Sunday and rain continuing in relentless fashion our choices were limited so we took the closest option the Swiss Bistro warming up with hot choccie and coffee, toasted ciabattta’s and pizza. Stuffed we returned to the backpackers for an afternoon of Formula One, to watch Mark Webber win ('not bad for a number two driver') and Cadel Evan’s don the yellow jersey on the tour ... what a day for the Aussies! We left the comfort of the couch and warmth of the wood fire for dinner at the recommended Paljas for some local Karoo Cab Sav, fried camembert and combo of crocodile, kudu, springbok and ostrich! Delicious! Back to the backpacker’s for the World Cup Final between Spain and The Netherlands. The world cup vibe had been simmering out comparatively over the past four weeks especially in non-host regions but the final had reignited the excitement. The game was played unfortunately as expected with Spain pretty much taking control (boring!), but The Netherlands did have a
couple chances. It was incredibly over reffed (in our now expert opinions) with yellow cards the apparently the order of the day. The ninety minutes concluded 0-0. But a score from Spain in the dying five minutes of overtime would see them become the new World Cup Champions.
Monday
After a restful few days it was time to explore. We set off on the cycling tour unfortunately due to snow the overnight the pass road was closed (no wonder it was soo bloody cold)so our only option was to cycle from Cango Caves. We were driven to the caves, with enough time to grab a muffin and coffee for breaky before the adventure tour kicked off. The tour which in the past saw one (apparently very overweight ) woman get stuck and trap the rest of her group for eleven hours! We looked around at our group of six, than to the replica’s of the tunnels we would be passing through over the next hour or so, we were a pretty slim bunch… so we figured we’d all be ok (but perhaps I shoulda skipped that muffin!). Our enthusiastic guide led us for the huge first couple of chambers
home of Cleopatra’s finger, the organ, the dry tobacco leaf, the leaning tower of Pisa and the Mother of all formations (names of the stellagmite and stellitite formations), along Jacobs ladder a total of 176 steps, through lumbago tunnel (ya gotta bend!), and along the lovers tunnel (aptly named because you get hugged from every side). We passed through the coffin (once again shape says it all) and the through kitchen? to the Devils chimney this really was a very tight squeeze! Lastly we slid headfirst through the Mailbox. Having made it through the caves unscathed we jumped on our bikes downhill towards the Cango Ostrich farm. Under sunny blue skies there was still a brisk breeze coming off the fresh snow as we made our way down through stunning scenery. On arrival to the Ostrich farm we were disappointed to find out the wet weather meant there would be no riding of the ostriches today! Bugger! There was a short but informative tour ...Did you know Ostrich leather is the second strongest, second to Kangaroo leather! Carly tried her hand at feeding the ostriches, whilst Jez tested out just how strong the eggs were! After a browse through the
gift shop unfortunately the Ostrich leather wallets and bags were just out of our budget we headed across the road to the tea rooms for lunch. As they were out of most things we settled for bacon and eggs in the sun, with King George and Emily (the ostriches) providing some entertainment. Back on the bikes our final stop was Cango Wildlife and Cheetah land. We jumped straight onto the guided tour of the Nile crocs, Pigmy hippo’s, otters, cheetah’s, white and orange Bengal tigers, white lions, and the meerkats. We had a quick look at the snake enclosure noting the Black mumba’s just to be sure should we come across one. Just before leaving we took a quick stroll through 'Wallaby walk' with signs for Yarrawonga and Yackandandah!! Back on the bike we stopped by the supermarket picking up supplies for a Chicken Thai green curry for dinner and an evening reviewing our photo's with sore butts!
Tuesday
Despite the sunny weather it was still freezing, we caught up on the internet, wandered Oudtshorn streets, stopped for some soup and toasted sanga’s for lunch. Back at the Backpackers we waited for our transfer to George. Once at George
we had another hour and a bit wait for the next Baz bus to Knysna. We eventually arrived at Knysna, checked into our room at Highfield Backpackers, showered and set out for dinner. We stopped at Olive Tree for a cosy Chicken Rolade and Lamb Chops.
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