sailing and kloofing

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Dec 23: went body surfing in the early morning in Strand. the beach was beautiful and the water not too cold. (well, I was wearing a very thick full body wet suit so it was all cozy) walked on the beach from Strand to Gordon's Bay. found a beautiful shell, a dead shark about 3.5 ft long, and touched a dead chiton which made my fingers numb. I wanted to take the chiton with me because it was so beautiful, white with green shades, about 4 inches long, 1.5 inches wide and 1/3 inch thick. the flesh was still attached so I decided not to take it. I'm regretting it now.
got to Gordon's Bay and walked around. I immediately loved this place. If I had to live in SA, I'd be here. found a small cafe/resto in the main strip called Bake and Bean Coffee (address is 5 Old Cape Mall). met the owner Farina Wilkinson who is Indian from Durban. She was so nice and said I could stay at her place if I returned to Gordon's Bay which I did 3 days later (Dec 26). The corner just outside Farina's shop is my favourite place in Gordon's Bay. This corner has a round cement table with benches. I could just sit there all day.
went to the marina and went sailing with several people from Gordon's Bay Yacht Club. It was a perfect day for sailing and we sailed for 4 hours. (I had emailed the club weeks before and they said to just go to the club and they'll find somebody to take me out. Thanks so much Jan and Lana, thank you Paul for taking me sailing, and thanks Kevin for showing me the ropes!) They say here that if the wind is blowing from SES, it's very dangerous (the Agulhas wind) and no one is allowed to go out in a boat. the wind must come from the West for sailing. when I got to the marina, the wind was blowing SES but when we got ready to go out, the wind changed directions, so it was literally smooth sailing. when we got back, we hung out at the club a bit (braaied some boerewors) and the wind changed again to SES. I guess I got lucky. oh yeah, me and Kevin went "swimming" (got dragged behind the boat), that was so much fun but the water was too cold.
Got in touch with Ulli who organizes hikes in the area so the next day me and my couchsurfing host Geoff went kloofing with Ulli (another crazy German!) in Wesselsgat River in Elgin. there were 22 people all together including some kids but Ulli, who was 68, was the most energetic of us all. he was like a hyperactive 5 year old, and at one point actually said, "if you have chocolate, you must give it to me." This guy was just unstoppable. This was a kloofing trip for beginners so we did jumps that were 2 or 3 metres high and it was so much fun. I did some bouldering and traversing over the water. had such a great time. Ulli told us to bring a light polyester jacket or any kind of light windbreaker and that was really good advice as mine kept me warm since we were wet the whole time and the wind was blowing on and off. My amphibians (shoes) would have been perfect for this activity!
If anyone is interested in going kloofing, hiking and rock climbing with Ulli, contact the Mountain Club of South Africa, Hottentots Holland Section, or email Ulli at [e-mail]
stayed with Geoff's mom the last night I was in South Africa. god, I just love that woman! flew to Mauritius the next day (Dec 29).

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