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Published: April 14th 2008
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In the mist
Carlyn and Johan at Keurbooms So waking up at 4am is never fun but when you have a 14 hour drive in front of you just have to stuck it up and hope no-one talks to you! Lots of stunning scenery and finally getting out of the fog of joburg later, we find ourselves at the start of a road that says "road closed - flood damage" of course we still go down it following a slight;ly insane afrikaans guy who said it should be fine; and Johan not wanting to go the long way round and wanting to show me the views from the prince alfreds pass, thought it should be safe enough! So they weren't kidding with the flood damage warning, the tarmac road had literally be eaten by the river that ran next to it; what was a double lane road was now pretty much single lane and in the areas that were a bit wider we weren't entirely sure how long till the next section fell - all fun and games! Then i found out that this was actually just the road to the start of the pass and at the bottom of the actual mountain pass was another sign (mami you
know the road i'm talking about, you would freak!) So anyway we went through and it was all actually had a lot less damage than the first road but it was still a one lane dirt track over the mountains into Plett. Unfortunately the weather wasn't as great as it could've been for the stunning views but it was still definitely an adventure!
The Vorster's (Johan's family) house in Plett is stunning, Carlyn and Johan designed it and it sits right on the edge of Keurbooms lagoon, with only a thin strip of Fynbos between us and the water. I continued in my 'lap of luxury' travels with another beautiful room, with balcony and ensuite and my very own view of sunrise over the lagoon! We spent our time on the beach of the lagoon or taking the 'rubber duck' over to the other side and hanging out on what is basically a private beach because very few other people can get there! The mouth to keurbooms lagoon has moved further and further towards PLett town until recently it moved so far over the sea swallowed Plett's main beach, which used to be called Look Out beach (gutted!). Now
Love this one!
check the little hand! Awwwwwwwww! there is a spit of land that separates the lagoon from the ocean and it is on the ocean side of this spit of land that so unfrequented, Carlyn said that it used to be pure white sand but it is now covered in wood debris from the recent floods. Still a beautiful beach and a fantastic place to indulge in a little beach art!
ON Good Friday we obviously had to do the painting of the eggs as is strict family tradition! It was so funny being older and trying to help Scarlet do it, but she just kept flicking the dye all over us, now I know how difficult it was for my mum to try to do it with Sam and I! (have to say thou it was a lot harder for us because we were using russian dyes this time which are much much more potent than the German ones!) On Easter Sunday I finally found out what it was to be the Easter Bunny! WHoop WHoop! We woke up very early and waited till the sprinklers were off (no fun if we were to end up with normal coloured eggs!) then, ran outside and
Stop! Stop! Stop!
Johan had to sway to my demands as i saw the perfect photo op! started the super fun of laying out all the boiled eggs. I'm afraid I won't make it as a full time easter bunny coz as Lourens was placing some down a path, I thought it would be fun to place one at the end in one of the bushes, then as I walked back up the path - Crunch! my heart sank and as I lifted up my foot to see the bright green egg pancake beneath it I got the serious giggles; I just looked at CArlyn and Lourens' faces and i couldn't stop - only me, Doh! We basically had a beautiful Easter day and after the big easter egg hunt (minus 1 egg!) and a big brekkie; we headed out to 'our' beach and I proceed to get very burnt (in a very unusual pattern thanks to Carlyn's skills with the sun cream!)
We did one or two 'Touristy Thangs' on in PLett; we went to Monkey World and Birds of Eden which were fantastic and I got very photo/wish-I-was-a-wildlife-photographer happy! definitely a recommend but we all preferred birds of eden because we could do it at our own pace and spend as long as we
African landscapes
Klein Karoo (i think!) on the way down to Plett like where we liked. If anyone heads out that way get the dual ticket because it is so worth it! When Lourens and Jo left with the kids on the Monday morning CArlyn and I had the day to ourselves; so since I had expressed a desire (God only knows why!) to do the highest (apparently!) bungy jump in the world, off we went!
so i found myself walking along a walkway which can only be described as a health and safety nightmare! A thin, bouncy metal mesh bolted to the side of th bridge - i mean it bounced for crying out loud! we could see all the way down the the river below and the walkway was so thin that we were bouncing! Mutter mutter, grumble, wee myself. Once i was on the nice solid vbridge, i was so worried about spending too long on the edge and freaking myself out that i convinced myself i was doing something entirely normal. So when it came to me I jumped before the count down had even got to five! I flung my arms out, bent my legs and jumped as far as i could. I was flying and
it's pretty bloody awesome; then - Bugger BUgger Bugger - forgot i had to go upside down! not quite sure how i did that but i was so intent on jumping off i forgot about the hanging upside down part. Stupid. Yes. But once you go with it it is so cool and incredible and the scenery was beautiful - i want to go again. Sorry Mami! After the bungee i went of the slightly less death defying zip line canopy tour in Tsitsikamma NP. I was pretty cool but obviously nothing liek the bungee! MOre stunning scenery in the indigenous forest and think it would've definitely been much more fun if CArlyn could've come too!
I decided to spend an extra day with Carlyn and Johan in Plett because it was just so great there and quite frankly could've stayed forever! So Knysna was put off one more day and we went to Keurbooms beach, we had such a lovely walk, even though from the photos you'll be able to see it wasn't the best weather -= although it did make for some interesting photos! Saying goodbye to them both was pretty hard, we had such a brilliant
time in Plett (and I knew I wouldn't be able to see them when i went back to Joburg) so starting the real travelling part of this trip was a bit on a wrench. But to a real hostel in Knysna i was to go!
p.s. to my fabulous family - Thank you so much for the fabulous few weeks i spent with you, i've had a great time and it was definitely the best way for me to start my trip!
p.p.s - Everybody please don't forget to check out the Team Bones site on justgiving.com - All for a great cause!
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Still no pics of you jumping! xxx