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Published: January 26th 2010
Mandela in handprints
Street Art - Such a cool picture!Howzit everyone! This is it...the last travelling blog from us! As most of you will know we have now arrived back home to Great Yarmouth safe and sound...and we have been a bit slack getting this blog done, so sorry for the delay!
So for the LAST time....here goes!!!!
Boxing day morning we were dropped off by our foster family at the bus pick up point in Umtentweni so we could make our next journey to Coffee Bay. We couldn't help but feel sad to leave our new found family behind, they had been so lovely to us during our time with them and we truly felt welcome, what a great opportunity to see into a real African Family Christmas! But off we went never the less with our Banana loaf in hand singing "Maybe tomorrow we'll want to settle down, until then we'll just kept moving on!".
After a bus journey followed by a very bumpy shuttle journey we arrived at Coffee Bay, which was absolutely jam packed with locals, all away for the Christmas period! The traffic getting in was chaos with all the local taxis taking over completely, thinking they owned the road! Our Hostel was really
Hole in the wall
Have no idea how this happened! different to anywhere else we had stayed as we were actually sleeping in one of the traditional huts that you see scattered all over South Africa, which had been turned into a dormitory...it did remind me slightly of some sort of resort with the fact that they would not let you pay for anything up front, instead running a tab for you hoping you would get carried away in the bar i guess!
Our hut was situated over the other side of the river which was great as we had a kitchen and shower block right near us that was rarely used, only slight snag was that each time we wanted to do anything we had to cross the river, which involved crossing over the stepping stones!!...you've guessed it! each time i fell in! Good job it was not deep but it did smell!
During our time here we spent a day relaxing on a hill overlooking the beach (the wind was too strong to sit on the beach!), we also got to try a local dish called Potjie for free as the hostel did a free meal on Sunday's (perfect timing!), Potjie is like a stew cooked slowly in
a cast iron pot hanging over a BBQ, and is very tasty!
Lady luck managed to find us once again in the form of two South Africans staying in our room who offered to take us to the 'hole in the wall' in their own vehicle, something we would not got to see if it weren't for them! It was great getting to see village life around the area.
Next stop on the garden route was Chinsta where our Hostel had the most amazing views of the beach, here we stayed for 3 nights and met some really nice people and the hostel even held an Indian and Mexican night whilst we were there, they even had candles on the tables - very unusual for a hostel!. Chinsta was a really cool place with a gorgeous beach which is where we spent most of our time, only shame was the sea was so cold and again we had the wind problem! One morning we got up early and when down to the beach at 5am with a pot of coffee to watch the Sun rise, which was definitely worth getting up for! We both felt like we were on
Harbour at Knysna
Lots of rich people a wind down - starting to take things easy and this was the perfect place to do it!
On New Years eve we got on the bus at about 5pm to head to our next stop (Port Elizabeth) where we would spend 2 nights and see the New Year in. We arrived at 10pm, perfect timing to get out and see what was happening, we didn't bother changing...got to be the most casual New Year I've ever had! We went straight to the seafront area and soon ended up stumbling across a live music stage with hoards of people! Not long after we made our way onto the pier which reminded us both of Brighton where we settled ourselves in a busy bar, we spent the rest of the night people watching (Black people sure do know how to Shake their Ting!) The atmosphere was very infectious but there was no way we were gonna show ourselves up by even attempting to compete! Well what a year! a very reflective time for us both, how on earth were we gonna top this one!!!
Port Elizabeth is a big city with a beach, and the next day was spent hanging
Bo-Kaap
We love those colours! out round the seafront, watching all the locals in the sea, symbolically washing away the previous year, ready to start a fresh. We also went to the pictures that evening (Ami still disappointed that no one apart from England seems to do 'Sweet' popcorn!).
We then headed to a place called Knysna, no beach here but they do have a harbour area which has all been developed and is very posh! We stayed in a lovely hostel which was a Victorian period house and went on a long walk to the 'heads' which was the peninsular area of Knysna and really was not that great as there was nothing much too see, just houses - but a nice walk all the same.
We found a great deli on the Harbour where i tried my first Oyster, slightly strange as it just felt like doing a shot, did love it but maybe that's just because i like pepper, lemon and Tabasco sauce, after all that's all i could taste!!!
So off we went.....CAPE TOWN!!! Our final, final destination!!!!!! Here we would spend our last 10 days of our year, along with Ami's birthday. We had lots of plans already
Blouberg
Where we couchsurfed - also home of the Kite Surfers! in place, after all we had to go out with a blast, right?
During our time here, in no particular order we:-
Couchsurfed in a place called Blouberg (fell on our feet big time with a great couple who had an amazing apartment with sea views overlooking Robben Island and Table Mountain).
Walked around the area of Bo-Kaap, an area of Cape Town, formerly known as the Malay Quarter. It is quintessentially a Township, situated on the slopes of Signal Hill above the city centre and is an historical centre of Cape Malay culture in Cape Town full of brightly coloured houses.
On Ami's Birthday we went up Table Mountain for sunset on the cable car, whilst watching we had a picnic and bottle of wine, whilst the day was spent in the Aqaurium and drinking cocktails in a famous Cuban cafe!
Dinner out at a Jazz cafe, amazing food and even better live entertainment.
Visited Robben Island and got to see the cell in which Nelson Mandela was held for 27 years.
The best Picnic food I've ever had in my life in the botanical gardens.
A day wine tasting in the
Live Jazz
These guys were so good! Stellenbosch wine region, train to get there then cycled around all the estates on bicycles.
Our final evening out, spent at Cafe Africa - sampling dishes from all over Africa and having our face painted for the final time.
And before you know it we were getting on the flight home!!!! A very strange feeling, we had been on so many flights during the year but to think that this was the last one...it really didn't sink in at all. We both had very mixed feelings, part of us was excited to see our friends and family, to get back to some normality, having a wardrobe instead of a backpack, not getting on public transport
every couple of days, not having to wear your flip flops in the shower!.... But then there was the other side - the side that couldn't believe it had all come to an end - both of our dreams for so long was now over, that complete sense of freedom had gone.
After a sleepless (kids kicking the back of our seats) overnight flight, we arrived in Heathrow, London - and there waiting as planed was my mate Nikki! It was great to
Ami struggling to find Nemo!
I know your in here somewhere! see a familiar face, and although we had seen and done so much in our year away, it didn't seem like 5 minutes since she was waving us off from the same place a year and a day previous!
Not fully prepared for the cold weather (still in shorts and flip flops) thankfully Nikki had come prepared bringing coats and hats for us!
The next few days were spent with Nikki in London, catching up, drinking one too many and sharing our recipes learnt from away. It was great to see her and i realised just how much I'd missed my friends. Then it was the train journey which would take us home, London to Great Yarmouth seemed to fly (we couldn't believe how fast the trains go, not what we were used to!). On pulling into GY station, Ami was itching to get out of the doors knowing her mum would be there waiting for her, it was a great and emotional sight to see the reunion, they had missed each other so much! After a few tears from Lynnell, Ami finally had to break free for fear of her neck being broken from the tight grip her
Cocktails at lunch!
Ami's looked better than it tasted! mum had on her! I then saw my folks down at the other end of the platform! surprised as i didn't think i had told them the right time, it was great to see them, and good to have my mum and dad back close to me!
Its been a week now since we got home and in a way it doesn't seem like we were ever away at all! Its easy to fit back into the old routine! It been great catching up with everyone and sharing our stories, lots more people to see yet though!
We really did have the best time of our life's away and we are so thankful to all those people who helped us along the way.
So you may be wondering, what's next??? Well we have big plans which we want to start as soon as we can, we are going to open our very own 'Art Cafe', taking inspiration from around the world we believe its going to be the coolest thing since sliced bread, and we all know how cool that is!!!!
Next stage is a mini tour of England in order to find the perfect location to set
Views of Cape town
From Table Mountain up.....so this may be our last 'travel' blog but we do plan to document our journey towards the opening day. After that this blog will be turned into a book which will feature in the cafe for anyone with an interest in travel to read....so thanks to all those who have commented over the past year as your comments will also be printed and we hope you have enjoyed being part of the journey!
WHAT A RIDE IT'S BEEN!!!!
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muma
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awww felt bit sad for you too that your big adventure is over...well one may finish but another one is about to start!!..its been amazing looking,reading and listening to your travels and i shall certainly miss hearing all about your adventures...bring on the cafe!!!!!!....great to have you back home!!!!...lots of love hugs and squidgy stuff, mummy, fat boy and not forgetting miiiiiiss sasha!! xxxxxxxx