Geraldton

The drive to Geraldton was fairly pleasant, the scenery was amazing! I ran the White Dragon on gas to save money, and she didn't backfire, so that was good. On arriving in Geraldton I searched for the lighthouse that I remembered from all those years ago. Selwyn had told me there was a campsite nearby. The last I heard of poor Selwyn he had headed to Perth to confront the dealer that had sold him his 4x4. I hope he gets on alright. I found the campsite easy enough and checked in with ease, the staff were much more friendly and inviting. The facilities are also much better, with a kitchen, tv room, barbie area, good showers and a pool at my disposal. It should be a comfortable weekend. Once camp was set I did exactly what I did the first night in Lancelin. I walked to the beach with my guitar and a couple of beers and practiced Bob Dylan tunes. The sunset was pretty cool, though not quite as good as the first Lancelin one. After that I got into my tent, watched Borat on my laptop and got an early night.

I didn't sleep all that well last night though, it was really windy in the early hours of the morning and the tent felt like it was going to be blown over. At 5am I finally got up and lengthened the guy ropes and parked the White Dragon where it might give the tent some shelter. I went back to bed till just before 9am then got up and had a shower. Once I was ready to leave the campsite I drove round to the lighthouse, at the bottom of which is a windsurf and kitesurf shop, where I asked for advice about where to kitesurf, whether they rent windsurf gear, what hazards to look out for etc. The guy was very friendly and pointed out on the map a great flat water spot for kiting protected by a reef. I went down there and it was already windy, but there was nobody else around so I thought I'd get some brekkie in town and go to an ATM and come back. Whilst in town I also caught sight of a Neil Young best of album going cheap, so bought it to listen to in the White Dragon. I hadn't heard much of his music apart from The Needle and the Damage Done, Old Man, and Heart of Gold. Those three tunes, although probably his most famous, represent a mere fraction of his talent. Every tune on the album is awesome! Anyway, on my way back past I saw that the wind had died a little so I went back to the campsite and did some writing and reading in the tv room while my laptop charged. Ulysses is so awesome, I've got to make more time for reading it, I'm still on the first chapter but loving it!

At 2pm I checked the wind at the kite spot again, driving down onto the beach in the White Dragon, something the novelty of which is far from wearing off! The wind was still not great, so I headed into town to catch up on my blog. Fingers crossed its picked up now, lets go see!

Lets get maggot!

I haven't mentioned this yet I don't think, but a day or so after I arrived in Lancelin some young guys turned up and pitched camp in the space next to mine. After witnessing them get moaned at by the pretty unreasonable campsite owner I struck up a conversation. Their names were Kurt, Lauren and Jonno. They were up from Perth with some other friends who were staying in a self catering unit attached to the hotel next door to the campsite. They were all 17 or 18 years old and had come up to ride their dirtbikes in the dunes and get 'maggot', which is an amusing Western Australian term for getting drunk! It just so happened that school had just turned out and the west coast was full of teenage revelers celebrating their freedom, much to the annoyance of the locals. Well, after my awesome windsurf session I decided to go see if an old man could keep up with them, so I drove straight to their hotel room from the beach. They were congregated outside and were already 'maggot', so I had some catching up to do. I cracked open a beer and chatted to Kurt, who introduced me to the others, Shaun, Roger, Adi and Dean (Deano Supremo!!). They were drinking like absolute troopers, they all had these huge litre and a half bottles of Jim Beam which they were drinking out of smaller plastic bottles mixed with a dribble of cola. I stuck to the beers, knowing that after three hours of windsurfing and intense sunshine I wouldn't need to hit the spirits to get maggot! They were a really nice bunch of guys, they liked to party but they weren't aggressive, or even irresponsible, knowing to clean up after themselves and have a bit of respect for eachother. Thats more than I can say for myself at that age, so I was impressed and instantly felt like one of the gang. Eventually we took the party up to the dunes, and this is where my memory goes a bit hazy. I later discovered that I had run out of beer and good old Shaun had taken it upon himself to ply me with Jim Beam, almost straight as he was short on cola. Apparently I was dancing and singing about being from England, which they all found very amusing. I woke up on Wednesday feeling rough as you like. It was about 9am and I crawled out of my tent and sat playing guitar with Kurt for a while. Then I ate something, went for a swim at back beach, took a cold shower, drank lots of water, all things that usually help cure a hangover, but it was relentless. In the early afternoon Selwyn and I attempted to go kitesurfing but there wasn't quite enough wind, nearly, but not quite. I got up and going a few times but was having to work the kite so hard it was pointless. Eventually I gave up. Oh, something really bad happened too. The previous night, while I was partying with the leavers, Selwyn had been having serious car trouble. Before the kiting I took him to the mechanic in Lancelin where he had left his 4x4, we hoped for good news. He got bad. Very bad news. His crankshaft was broken and his radiator was shot. He needed a whole new engine plus repairs to his radiator. All in all it was likely to cost $11,000!! I couldn't believe it, he had spent well over double what I spent on the White Dragon and had only had it two weeks. All at once it made me feel extremely sorry for him, lucky for not having had any serious problems with mine (so far, touch wood, touch wood!) and also more than a little worried at the thought of what could happen at any moment to my now beloved White Dragon. Poor Selwyn. We got his stuff out of his car and into the White Dragon and I took him back to the campsite. Then we went kiting, but it wasn't windy enough, as I already mentioned.

After the kiting I went back to see the gang over at the hotel again, it was their (and my) last night in Lancelin. We had a few drinks and then I went to the pub for dinner with Selwyn. Kurt came along too and we shared some oysters to start, but they weren't as good as the ones I'd had in Cape Town and Perth, a bit 'creamy' as Jez would put it. I know what he means now. I still enjoyed them tho. Later I went back to the hotel to meet up with the rest of the guys and suggested we go up the dunes to watch the sunset. About six or seven of us headed up there, it was a good sunset, but as we were watching it we met some Lancelin locals. An old 4x4 appeared at breakneck speed across the sand from the direction of town and proceeded to drive all over the dunes as though it was being chased by the devil himself. The guys inside were hooting and waving out the windows. We were all sat on top of the biggest dune, luckily unreachable by the 4x4, but that didn't stop them trying. They flew up the side of the dune, stopping a few metres away. The drivers side door flew open and out fell a fat, drunk, local Aussie who then rolled halfway back down the dune hooting with laughter before staggering back up towards us. There were another couple of guys in the car too who came over and started talking to us. The guys I was with had bumped into these guys before and didn't look all that pleased to see them, but didn't look particularly concerned either. The driver, making it back up to the top of the dune hollered: "Piggsy! Yeah Piggsy! Thats me!! Piggsy!!". His friend, another guy who had emerged from the car, pointed at him "Thats Piggsy" he confirmed "He looks like a pig, so...". Piggsy pretty much only said "Piggsy! Yeah Piggsy! Thats me!! Piggsy!!" for the rest of the evening, when he wasn't driving his 4x4 on two wheels all over the dunes. What a liability. Amusing though, in a 'Deliverance' kind of way.

We left the dunes and went back to the hotel to muster the troops for a beach party. There were quite a lot of other 'leavers' who were staying in houses or hotel rooms around Lancelin who joined us, so the atmosphere was pretty cool. The fresh breeze, the dark sea, and then Piggsy coming roaring down the beach in his 4x4 to join us. It was another good night, and the next morning I didn't wake with half as bad a hangover as the previous day, so that was a bargain.

Shaun had said he wanted to go for a swim in the morning, so I picked him up about 10am and we went to back beach to do some bodysurfing. After that I packed up my tent and crammed everything into the car. God knows how everything is going to fit when Nick and Matt arrive. Then I met up with the guys one last time and we went back to back beach for another swim! Two swims in the sea from a white sandy, dune lined beach, and it was only midday. Thats what being in Australia in the summertime is all about! I wanted to get on the road by 2pm so I said my goodbyes to the guys and promised to call them when I get back to Perth. I expected the drive to Geraldton to take about 3 to 4 hours and I wanted to pitch my tent in another campsite before dark.

Lots and lots of sweet air!

The wind did pick up on Tuesday afternoon, quite a bit stronger than the day before. I hired some slightly smaller kit from Werner, a 5.5m sail and a 107 litre Starboard Kombat. Ideally I wanted a 95ish litre board, but once I got it on the water the Kombat didn't feel too big atall, infact with the smaller sail and the not exactly hurricane force winds it turned out to be just right. The waves were a little smaller today so I felt confident enough to go right into the middle of them and hunt for some sweet ramps to take off from. Boy did I find some!! I can probably count on one hand the amount of windsurf sessions I've had where I've done quite so many big jumps, with fingers to spare! The waves were presenting themselves to me at anything from waist to shoulder height, nice and steep, perfect for boosting high into the air! I landed a lot of big jumps quite nicely and sailed away, but many felt so high I had to land tail first and waterstart away. Perhaps with smaller, lighter kit and a bit more wind I could have done some even bigger jumps and maybe would have felt more confident to throw myself into some forward or back loops, but as it was I was more than happy just getting lots and lots of sweet air! It was a very good windsurf and it left me feeling super stoked. Ever since I was 18 I've had a tradition that I have never wavered from. When you have an awesome session on the water, you have to follow it up with a few beers.....

Perfect Day

Before I left the UK I had an idea of exactly how I wanted to spend every day in Oz. I wanted to get up in the morning and go surfing, then go kitesurfing later in the morning, finally windsurfing in the late afternoon. Then cook up some dinner outside on a gas stove and sleep in a tent. It was too breezy to surf yesterday and I was too excited about kitesurfing, but yesterday was pretty much exactly the kind of day I had been dreaming of. I had a good kite session in the morning (see last post) and then in the afternoon I waited for the wind to pick up and then, just after 4pm, I hired some gear from Werner and went windsurfing. It wasn't blowing that hard so I hired pretty big gear. I had one of those Starboard Aero lightwind waveboards, 117 litres, so pretty big. It was a strange board, not particularly quick to plane for its size, but handled pretty well once it was going. I had a 6.4 metre Severne sail and was fairly powered up most of the time. As you launch from the main beach theres a large flat(ish) area of water before you reach the waves. The waves were pretty big and powerful and there were some really good guys out riding them. In the slightly marginal conditions and with fairly big kit I didn't want to get right into the big breaking waves, but conveniently if you sailed slightly downwind you could hit the relatively harmless shoulder of the waves, out of the way of the pros. The waves here were still steep enough and big enough to get some great jumps but with barely any risk of being caught out by the white water. Of course I managed to go a little too far up at one point and wipe out in the path of a breaking wave. It was Coronation Beach in January 2000 all over again, but seven years on I knew what to do and came out unscathed. Despite the big kit and marginal conditions I had a great sail, pulling off some big jumps, some good duck gybes and a couple of upwind 360's. Whats more Werner only charged me for one hour, despite the fact I was probably out for almost two. That came to $35, about £16ish which is a bargain for windsurf hire in such an amazing venue. My decision not to buy windsurf gear yet has paid off so far, had I bought gear it would have set me back at least a couple of thousand dollars and would almost certainly have been too small to use yesterday.

Unfortunately the wind isn't up thismorning quite as much as it was yesterday morning, but its looking good for thisafternoon, so fingers crossed!!

AT LAST!!!!!!!!!!

It was windy when I woke up thismorning! Awesome!! I got up, showered and headed for the point at the south island where I saw people kiting on the day I arrived. There was quite a mad little dune to drive over which tipped the White Dragon quite a long way to one side, but she scoffed at it and ploughed straight through. I expected to see lots of kiters setting up their gear but the beach was deserted. I drove right down onto the beach amongst the seaweed and parked up. My breakfast, a little pot of pasta salad from the supermarket, kept me occupied for a few minutes and still I couldn't see any other kiters. I have not yet learned how to launch a kite without assistance so I was worried that despite my kite finally being ready for action, and the wind being near enough perfect, I might not be able to get out on the water! Then, over the dune came my salvation, in the form of crazy Dutchman Selwyn in his Nissan Patrol. I thought he was heading to Perth today to get some money, after having his wallet stolen, but it seems the wind had enticed him into staying. He was very helpful, he stuck about while I set up my kite, then launched it for me, and then stayed around taking pictures and watching that I didn't get into trouble. Good old Selwyn, mad as a bag of hammers but such a nice guy.

I was quite concerned about all the reefs in the bay, especially not knowing the area atall well. The water being so clear I could see exactly where they all were but didn't know how far underwater they were. The fins on my board are only a few centimetres long, but still, some of the reefs looked very shallow. Surprisingly the kitesurfing came back to me like riding a bike, but in trying to pick my way around the reefs I had some trouble staying upwind. It didn't matter though, I did a few runs and then walked back up the beach. I did this a few times, but after a wipeout that resulted in me being dragged over a reef (luckily not a sharp one, so no pain or injury!!) and having to trudge through a lot of seaweed on the shoreline a couple of times, I decided to quit while I was ahead. I had managed to get the board going upwind, control the kite pretty well, steer around some reefs, relaunch the kite a couple of times and survice some wipeouts, plus almost make a slide turn or two and attempt a couple of carving turns. My confidence has been renewed, but I fancy getting out somewhere with less reefs so I can concentrate on getting upwind consistently and try some more jumps without the fear of landing in inches of water over a rocky reef!! Tomorrow morning if the wind is good I'm going to try a spot further downwind that can be accessed from the campsite. It looks less reefy and theres more room downwind without going into any windsurf areas. Great morning though!! And fingers crossed thisafternoon is going to pick up and I'll be able to hire some windsurf gear and go jump the waves. At last, at long last, I feel like I'm doing what I came here to do. Nice!

Off Road Adventure

Due to yesterday's lack of wind, Selwyn and I decided to test our 4x4's on the track north to Wedge Island. We got a crude map from a local tourist info place and spoke to a few locals about the track before we set off. They seemed pretty confident our cars were more than up to the task. Apparently there were some 'soft spots' but for the most part it was rocky rather than boggy. I removed some of the items that could bounce abou from the boot and we set off, through the off-road area around the dunes, over a dune or two and onto the track. It was a pretty hardcore track in places, some big ruts, rocks, deep sandy parts, steep ascents and decents, but the White Dragon seemed to love it. I almost felt asif the beast was doing all the work and I was just going along for the ride. It was relatively slow progress in places though, some of the rocky areas have to be crawled over, but other spots could be driven fairly quickly. The rocky parts I wasn't that keen on, I had to drive very slow and the whole car rattled and sounded like it was going to fall apart. Climbing up and over the dunes and racing along the loose sandy tracks was great fun though, and felt much smoother. just before we reached Wedge Island there was a huge, huge dune to drive down, which wasn't too steep and was fairly firm. That was great fun.

The little 'town' at Wedge Island was quite amazing. It was just a collection of corrugated iron shacks in amongst the dunes next to the beach. We had a look to see if we could drive back along the beach, for a bit of variety, but the tide was too high. Instead we had a little look around and then set off back along the track towards Lancelin. The rocky areas were still very slow, but with a little more confidence in the White Dragon's braking ability on the loose tracks, and a thirst for a sundowner beer in Lancelin, I put my foot down a bit and had a great drive back, leaving selwyn in my dust. The White Dragon's 3.9 V8 petrol engine proved to accelerate the beast a lot more rapidly than Selwyn's 2.8 Tdi. I was loving it, apart from the rocky sections, which still had to be crawled. I thought about the tracks we drove on in South Africa, which were a different league, although one must keep in mind we were taking them on in a VW Polo! I thought about how much Honray would love cruising the White Dragon down these tracks, and also how much Jim would love it too, although he'd probably go twice as fast as I was!

It took a good couple of hours to get back, despite only being about 40kms or so. We drove straight to the pub and had a nice pint of Coopers Pale Ale as the sunset. Then it was off back to the campsite to cook some more fish. Unfortunately it was dark, and I hate cooking in the dark. But I managed to pull it off and it was pretty nice. After dinner I was exhausted again, so I got another pretty early night ready for another day in Lancelin.

Thismorning I woke up a bit later than usual and decided to have a Sunday lay in. I cooked myself a pretty greasy breakfast when I got up, it was quite nice, but I think I might start getting these little fruit salads they have at the supermarket from now on. I saw Selwn and he had some bad news, during the night his wallet and iPod had been stolen from his car. His central locking had been playing up and randomly unlocking his car, so someone had obviously seen their opportunity and taken it. Bastards. Some people have no respect. What goes around comes around though, hopefully they'll end up getting some flesh eating disease soon. It made me think twice about leaving my surfboard on the roofrack as I have been lately, and coupled with the lack of wind it made me think about moving on sooner than planned. Lancelin is a great place, but I think after a couple of windy days I'll be eager to see somewhere new. Hopefully theres going to be some wind midweek, so I'll stay for that and then maybe head up to Geraldton and possibly Gnaraloo (braving the flies!!) befor eheading back to Perth to meet Nick on the 9th December. That would mean we could then head South, which is apparently virtually fly-free and has a lot more surf, which would suit Nick. We'll see though, I don't like to plan too far ahead, but it would be quite a good idea to try to cover ground quickly so I can get to New Zealand a bit earlier than planned (maybe end of March/beginning of April) so that I can start earning again. Anyway, we'll see. What will be will be!

A Change of Scenery

Well, I've lapsed for a few days, so heres a quick catch-up. Over the first few days of the week I managed to get everything ready for heading north. I had the handbrake fixed on my car, I got the last few bits I needed for camping, I had a last couple of parties with the fantastic people I met at the hostel, and finally on Thursday morning, I departed Perth and headed north for Lancelin. Despite the mechanic telling me the car ought to be alright and get me where I wanted to go, I was nervous that it would fall at this first major hurdle, but bless her demonic socks, the White Dragon managed to get me here, on only about $20 worth of gas too. She has developed a bit of a cough though, she seems to be backfiring a bit since the long drive, although I've switched to petrol and she seems happier than ever now. I think I'll just use gas for long journeys from now on, she hates the stuff.

On arrival in Lancelin I scoped the lay of the land, found thye campsites, the surfbreaks, the kitesurf spots, the windsurf hire place, a great local fish market, the supermarkets, the windsurf shop, the bottle shops and the dunes. Its a great little town, though I could tell straight away it was going to be quite a contrast with Cottesloe. The first day and a half I was here I barely spoke to anyone except shopkeepers and campsite owners. On my first day I went for a surf, then cooked up some fish and veggies, then headed to a seating area on top of a dune to watch the sunset, drink a beer and practice Bob Dylan songs on my guitar. The sunset was fantastic, (theres pictures on facebook) and I managed to half-learn a few good tunes, including 'Don't Think Twice Its Alright', although I need more practice to remember it all without the book in front of me. Then I got an early night. The next day I got up and set myself the long and arduous task of replacing all the bladders in my North kite. They were faulty, North obviously didn't test their product very well, and so I had to replace them with a full set of new ones that they had supplied under warranty via a shop in Perth. It took me hours, but while I was doing it a Dutch guy called Selwyn (who I met in the hostel in Cottesloe) turned up in his newly acquired Nissan Patrol. He is a keen windsurfer and is getting into kitesurfing, much like myself, so it was nice to have some company. He also knows Lancelin a little better than me having spent quite a bit of time here a few years ago. He also likes his 4x4 driving, so we went up to the dunes (which are really huge!) for a look around. There were some guys driving their 4x4's right up these huge dunes and decending down the very steep sides! There was also a guy on a quad bike doing enourmous jumps off the dunes. We had a littl;e drive on the sides of the dunes, and a little way down a track that heads north, but didn't go too mad as you're supposed to let some air out of your tyres first. Theres probably hundreds of them up there now, being the weekend. We saw loads of 4x4's turn up last night, many of them pulling quads and bikes on trailers. Just checked the forecast, not much wind till Tuesday or Wednesday so we'll probably head up there thisafternoon to watch them.

Anyways, I've been in this net cafe too long now, its a beautiful day outside and theres so much to do! Hope everyone at home is alright. Love you all. Ta ta for now...

A great barbie, a proper sunday session!

I'll keep it brief today, I'm tired. I went to Jenna's birthday bbq, it was really great. I chatted windsurfing with the guys, and there were some family of Jenna's there who were very cool. When you're 12thousand miles from your own family (who you miss a great deal!) its nice to hijack someone elses for a while! I had the hugest steak sarnie you ever saw, it was great! Ben had a look at my car too and gave me a good idea of what I needed to sort out, he's a great guy. After that I went to the sunday session with the guys from the hostel. It was really good, not quite like the old days but seriously better than last week. I danced my little heart out, its the first time in a while that I've really really enjoyed my dancing! After that I had a really nice chat with Liz, my stepmum, on the phone. She actually called me and apparently it only cost her 8p a minute due to some kind of phone club she is a member of. After that there was a bit of a party in the courtyard, it was pretty cool and I had a good time, but I'm off to bed now, relatively early, cos I have lot to do tomorrow!

Rottnest

Superbad was hilarious, and I finally managed to hit the sack around midnight, so I had a good sleep and felt fairly fresh thismorning. I drove a couple of friends to the ferry terminal, the White Dragon seems to be running fine and my confidence in her is increasing (touch wood! touch wood!). We caught the ferry across to Rottnest Island, named by a dutch explorer after the rat-like Quokka rodents that inhabit it. Rottnest basically translating as: Rats Nest. I didn't see any Quokkas, but the beaches were gorgeous, with white sands and interesting reefs to snorkel over. I saw quite a lot of fish, but nothing that rivalled Blue Hole in Egypt. We met a bunch of people from the hostel who had gone over the previous morning and had had a really great time. I can see why, it was a lovely island. I got a lot more sun than usual, so I hope I don't wake up red and peeling tomorrow.

After getting back I drove Matt, a Canadian guy, and two Dutch girls, Saskia and Marcella to Perth city centre to a sushi bar I saw a while ago. I had noticed it was all you can eat for $25(just over 10 pounds) on a Saturday evening. It had a conveyor belt on the bar that we sat at and ate until we were stuffed. The sushi was pretty good, especially the salmon nigiri, but there was a 45 minute time limit. This was actually ample, but afraid it would go too quickly we ate way too fast for the first quarter of an hour. My belly still feels really full, don't think I can drink much beer tonight!

Some people are going to Northbridge tonight, clubbing, but I'm going to chill out. I'm making much more of an effort not to spend money on partying now, and I'm pretty tired from an early start and a lot of sun today. Tomorrow is Jenna's birthday barbeque which I'm really looking forward to, so I'll get a reasonably early night and prepare myself for that. Oh yeah, and theres another Sunday session tomorrow of course!

Preparations, preparations, preparations.......

Don't get me wrong, I'm loving just about every minute here in Cottesloe, but I'm gagging to hit the road now! Its taking much longer than I had expected to get myself ready to hit the road. As I may have mentioned I'm hoping to head up to Lancelin on Tuesday, so long as the car is running well and my kites are in good working order. The more I hear about Lancelin the better it sounds. Apparently theres a surfbreak that isn't too hardcore (so I should be able to manage it) which is surfable pretty much every morning. The wind should be pretty regular for kiting and windsurfing too. Most of all I'm looking forward to a more chilled out environment where I can concentrate on exercise, practicing my surfing and kiting, writing and hopefully living cheap. I went to a camping store today and bought most of the kit I need, a tent, a stove, a foldable mattress, a coolbox etc. I'm really looking forward to cooking up my own meals next to my tent and the White Dragon. I should think there'll be other watersports enthusiasts and travellers there I can socialise with, but not to the extremes of the parties at the backpacker hostel!! Theres only so much partying one man can handle, quite a lot in my case I suppose, but thats not what I'm here for. Before I left the UK my dream was to spend all my time outdoors, surfing, kiting, windsurfing, getting fit. I think Lancelin will be the place where I can do all that.

Later on I'm driving a couple of guys down the road to an oyster bar on the beach for a sunset beer and oysters. Then later I'm going to chill out in the movie room and watch Superbad.

If you haven't already realised, you can make comments on my blog entries, (thanks to those of you who have already!) so it'd be great to hear your feedback! Take care, much love!

White Dragon

I have wheels. Four very big ones with a spare on the back. Mike came and picked me up and we made the transactions. I drove back to the hostel after dropping him back at his place. No problems so far (fingers crossed!!) but I'm still pretty nervous. I've called a mobile mechanic who is going to come and sort out the handbrake, change the oil and filter, and give it a light service before I go off to Lancelin next Tuesday. She roars like a beast from hell through her big bore exhaust so I've named her the White Dragon, but when I'm in a hurry I'll just call her 'The Beast'!

I asked Tom if there was a kiteshop nearby and he mentioned one in Freemantle and agreed to pop down there with me. They had a good range of kit, kites, boards, windsurf gear, surfboards. I saw an 8' surfboard that looked older than the sea and asif it had been ridden by a thousand people, so I put a deposit on it. It was very cheap and will suit me while I'm improving. Best of all it has bags of character. I looked at some kitegear and windsurf boards and was sorely tempted to buy loads of brand new gear and spend an absolute fortune, but I resisted and did the sensible thing for once. I think I'll speak to Garth again before I buy too much, and maybe go to some other shops, but I need to be all geared up by Monday, ready to go to Lancelin. I'm thinking whatever I buy now I will most likely ship to New Zealand (if I haven't broken it) so I can afford to invest a little. Every hundred pounds I spend could possibly knock a week off the amount of time I can spend in Oz though, so some caution must be taken.

When we got back we went to the beach. It was another gorgeous day and there was a big crowd of people from the hostel down there. The shoredump was quite big so we went for a swim and did some hardcore bodysurfing. I got proper nailed by one big wave which picked me up, tossed me head over heels a couple of times and then plunged me about five feet down onto the sand. It was awesome!! Back on the beach I read nother couple of pages of Ulysses, its so good!! Buck Mulligan is so very funny! I'm only a few pages in and already its making me laugh, I hope I can get a bit more time to read it and get on with writing when I get to Lancelin, theres so much going on here and so many people around its nigh on impossible to concentrate on anything! The hostel where I'm staying is such a great place, everyone seems to check in for a few days and end up staying weeks, some guys have been here months and months! I only meant to be here 4 days, but that was unrealistic really, its taken a while to find my feet and get the car sorted etcetera. By the time I leave I will have been here 2 weeks. I'm hoping I'm going to start living the life I was planning on living when I get to Lancelin, chilled out, spending very little, spending a lot of time in the water, writing a lot. I'll only be there about 3 weeks before I have to come back and get Nick, so I've booked a couple more nights in the hostel for when he arrives.

Well, tonight i'll just be chilling in the courtyard, tomorrow I'm planning on sourcing a tent and some camping gear, maybe having another look round for windsurf/kitesurf gear, no doubt going to the beach at some point!!

Session, Beach, Nervous

The sunday session turned out pretty good. Me and Henry, a really cool Dutch guy, went with about six or seven hot girls, which was nice! It started out we were just sat around chatting, until one of the girls pointed out we could have done that back at the courtyard for cheaper. She suggested we go inside and have four jaggerbombs in a row each. They consist of a shot of Jaggermeister (bad speling probably) dropped into a Red Bull, so pretty potent. I wasn;t sure, as they're expensive, but if everyone else does something I struggle not to do the same, I hate being left out!! The barstaff wouldn't actually serve us four, so we had two, but that was enough! I followed it up with a quick Turbo Shandy and then we hit the dancefloor. I was busting out some huge shapes, I'm loving my dancing at the moment! After that we pretty much went back to the courtyard and carried on drinking there. After a while we went down to the beach and I got chatting with a really nice Danish girl. She was face meltingly gorgeous and we chatted for ages! But then she went back with her friends and I chatted to some other mates. Eventually I went back to the courtyard and got chatting with a Swedish girl called Ulrika, she was so funny, she had me in stitches! I can't really remember what she was saying, as it was about 3am by this time, but she was definately making me laugh! Eventually I went to bed, hoping I would be alright to get up in the morning and get things done!

I impressed myself by waking up early, before my alarm, and tearing myself out of bed before 9am. I knew it was going to be a shaky start but I got on with what I had to do. I phoned the RAC, paid my rent, then headed for town. Henry was headed for the train station too so we walked together, stopping at a deli for as brekkie muffin. We caught the train to Perth but he got off a station before me. I went straight to the bank and paid in my travellers cheques. Then I went back to the train station and went north, to where the guy with the Landrover lived. He picked me up in it, I could hear it coming down the road, it had a sports exhaust, it was pimp!! It seemed exactly what I need for travelling, it had a second battery, dual fuel (LPG and petrol) and a special aerial for picking up radio in the bush (which I'll probably never do). With my limited knowledge of cars I looked it over and it seemed fine. No rust, sounded smooth, good bite point on the clutch, smooth gearchange, clean engine, lots of paperwork. I decided to take a risk and not have an RAC check. I might end up regretting it, but it'll save me $140. I gave the guy a deposit and arranged to complete the purchase tomorrow. After I get it i'll take it straight to a garage for a service, and we'll see if its okay. I hope it is, I'm falling in love with it already. I might buy a trailer for putting my kit in, if I can find a cheap one, otherwise a roofrack.

After seeing the car I headed back, I felt pretty strange, I think the nervousness of wondering if I'd bought a dud, combined with my hangover, was making me feel quite emotional. I started thinking of everybody back home, about Dad, and about my future. It wasn't a negative feeling, I'm actually feeling really confident and positive about my writing at the moment. I think this blog has been a real positive for me, its the most I've written since uni, and I feel geared up for writing some scripts and short stories now. I came up with a great idea for a low budget movie to make when I get home which I've been thinking about a lot. Actually, I forgot to mention, the other night I met a pretty cool American guy who is dead keen on his filmaking and swears he is going to produce a low budget short in the next six weeks. I told him I would definately get involved and he was really pleased, so thats good. I'm going to stay in Perth till Monday, so I can go to Jenna's birthday bbq, then I'm going to go to Lancelein and live in a tent on my own for three weeks or so, so I can have some time to write before Nick comes out and everything goes chicken oriental. I should have some great windsurfing and kitesurfing on my doorstep there too!

After I got back I had a shower, its been so hot today (39 degrees!!!!!) and there were so many flies it drove me insane. I drip dried to prolong the refreshment, then went downstairs. I bumped into Justin again briefly, then went for a pint or two with an Arsenal man called Sam. I might possibly get up at 5am tomorrow to watch the Arsenal Reading game with him, but it depends how I feel. We're courtyarding it tonight, I'm just taking a quick break from socialising to write my blog. Theres talk of the beach again later. Tomorrow Mike (the Landrover guy) is coming here at 10am and we're completing the sale. I'm nervous, but excited. Thats what taking risks does for you. I love it.

Anticipation

I'll be honest, my 'chilled out night' didn't go quite to plan. I didn't spend a lot of money, but somehow I managed to stay up till 4am again. We were chilling over a few stubbies in the courtyard and then when they closed the courtyard at midnight we all went to a house nearby where everybody seems to go and continue the partying. After that, as I was kind of on my way to bed I spotted that the Liverpool Sunderland game was on, so I stayed up till 4am watching it. Never mind, I didn't feel too rough thismorning and managed to get up about 10am. I popped to the shop and bought some shower gel and stuff, then met up with the usual suspects and headed to the beach. The wind is light and offshore today and its in the high 30's celcius so it was baking hot, but the water was lovely! There was a bit of excitement too! I'd literally just come out of the water when we spotted the lifeguards pointing at something in the water and congregating at the water's edge. One of the girls, Lizzie, pointed and gasped, saying that she saw something move in the water. At first I thought she'd just seen the weeds swaying on the reef but then all of a sudden this dark grey shape apeared at the surface. Everyone's first thought was that it was a shark, obviously, but it was actually a seal. It seemed to play in the shorebreak that I had just been bodysurfing, jumping out of the water a bit like a dolphin from time to time. The lifegurds called for everyone to get out of the water, I guess they can be aggressive maybe. Then some lifeguards in a powerboat drove around it trying to scare it away, but it seemed quite content to play in the shorebreak. By this time everybody on the beach had got up and walked to the water's edge to watch, even making fireworks night style noises when it jumped out of the water. Eventually it moved on and people were allowed back into the water.

I wandered back over to where everyone was sunbathing and I had just missed a call from Ben and Jenna, who had invited me to go wakeboarding. I ran up the steps back to the hostel to meet them, they were in a nice silver 4x4 in the carpark. It was great to see them, I haven't seen Ben since summer 2004 in Turkey (unless I'm forgetting a more recent meeting) or Jenna since the end of my 2005 summer season. They're a great couple and we had a good chat as they drove me to the wakeboarding place by the river. The guy was booked up so they ended up driving be back again, but it was great to touch base with them, and they invited me to a BBQ next weekend for Jenna's birthday. Chatting to Ben made me reconsider my plans to buy a van out here, he said he had looked for one for a while and hadn't found anything all that good. He also sounded dubious about driving a cheap van across the Nullabor. His 4x4 was very nice (although well out of my pricerange) and had seats that convert to a bed. I remembered seeing a lot of 4x4's in the Quokka, the local classifieds paper, so I decided to look into it. I was kind of looking for a Toyota Hilux, but some Landrover Discoverys in my pricerange caught my eye, so a called up about a couple. The first one went to answerphone so I left a message, the second number I called an unmistakably British born guy picked up. I instantly warmed to him as he told me stories about how he came by the 4x4 and what it featured, we had a good chat and arranged a viewing for tomorrow. It sounds like a pretty good vehicle so my fingers are crossed!!

Now I'm just chilling, anticipating the sunday session! Apparently its changed a bit, when I was here last all the guys were in boardshorts and t-shirts and all the girls in bikinis and sarongs, which gave it a great beachparty vibe, but apparently boardshorts are no longer permitted!! Gutted! Should still be good tho, everyone seems pretty excited about it, and they've been going loads lately. Well, I'll let you know how it goes with the sunday sesh, and the Landrover!!

Metro

Most of the people I have met from the backpacker hostel decided to go to Freemantle last night, so I decided to tag along. One of the girls booked 4 taxis for 10pm to a club called Metro. I ended up getting in the first taxi with three other guys, Sam, Tom and Henry. When we got there we waited outside the club for a while but nobody else seemed to be turning up. It turns out the taxi services in Perth are pretty lame, and the other taxis took a long time to come, one of them took an hour! Anyways me and the guys went into the club, there was a lot of security, even a fingerprint machine! It was fairly pricey inside but I'd had a few beers earlier so I hit a couple of tequilas and I was sorted. The girls eventually rocked up and we danced for quite a while, it was a good atmosphere, pretty cool club. Later on though I think I must have been bimbling about and suddenly I couldn't find anybody! I must have searched the club for about an hour before, as I was just about to give up and get a taxi on my own, I found a group of people who were still there. I got a taxi back with them and, after watching the first half hour of Blades of Glory with a few people in the movie room, I went to bed about 4am. Naturally I felt rough again thismorning and struggled to get up. I really don't want a hangover again tomorrow! I need to get a van sorted so I can hit the road and live cheap, its so expensive round here and theres too much temptation to party! I'm going to see a camper thats within my pricerange on Monday, and I think I'll call up and arrange to see some other vans today. Tonight its my intention to take it easy, although it is Saturday night! Tomorrow is the legendary sunday session, which i used to love so much when I was here seven years ago, so I think I'll try to save myself for that. Theres a guy called Justin coming to see me in a while and show me some sails he is selling, he is a friend of Ben and Jenna, a couple I know from my Neilson days. Apart from that and some washing I'm not planning on doing a great deal today. This is the life!!

Unproductive

My alarm went off at 10am, I wanted to get a lot done today. But I was hanging out my hoop again and there was no way I was getting up yet. I finally got up about midday again, and stumbled downstairs onto the internet. I spent three hours trying to bring my blog up to date, but only got half way!! Then a guy called Tom from the hostel was going kitesurfing so I went and watched him and helped him launch and land his kite. He did offer to let me have a go, but it was really windy and rough so I decided to play it safe and save my first kite sesh in Oz for an easier day. After that I came back, remembered that i hadn't eaten all day so had a lovely snapper burger in the cafe adjacent to the hostel. Then I watched an episode of Simpsons with Tom and then back onto the internet, finally I have brought things up to date!!!!!!!!!!!! What a relief, I've been writing so hard today! Well, I'd better go drink some beer, some people are going to Freemantle for a few drinks tonight, and I might be going to lacelin tomorrow with some old Neilson buddies. Stay safe peeps, love you loads

The first day, sorting things out

I let myself sleep in till midday, I think I deserved it!! When I got up I chatted to a few people, then headed into the city. I wanted to get a phone, open a bank account and buy another pair of board shorts. I got the cheapest phone I could find, a crappy little nokia, on a prepay contract. I can recieve calls and texts for free, so get in touch: 0416807063. you'll need to put the aussie code in front of that, whatever it is, and drop the first 0. Please bear in mind i'm 8 hours ahead here, so no calls after 4pm uk time!!! I opened a bank account too, and got some shorts, then headed back to Cottesloe. I activated my phone and got in touch with some friends in Perth. Then I went back to the courtyard, everybody gets together there in the evening and works out what to do. There was talk about a party on the beach for somebody's birthday, but all I wanted to do was go to Clairemont, its so awesome on a Thursday night. I didn't want to go alone though. I got chatting to these two ducth chicks, and joined them for a bbq at the OBH next door. It was $10 for a beer, two sausages in a roll, a steak and salad. Bargain! This aussie guy called Mark came over and sat with us, probably attracted by the dutch girls, he seemed pretty cool. After the grub we went inside but it was really empty. I suggested Clairemont to everyone but the dutch girls were a bit tired and drunk and had spotted some other aussie guys they liked. Mark and I decided to go to Clairemont on our own, so we jumped in his 4x4 and drove to the Clairemont hotel, which was absolutely heaving! We had a few drinks, chatted to a few people, met some girls, danced a bit. i met a girl called Gaby, she was really hot, but damn did she know it! I had spoken to her briefly earlier and decided to offer her a drink as I saw her approach the bar with her friend. She saw me, span round and before I could open my mouth said 'Are you going to buy me a drink??'. Warning bells rang, but I said yeah. She wanted a champagne, obviously, with a bloody strawberry in it. I'd been had. To make matters worse she got the impression the barman wasn't charging her for the drink, so she kissed him on the cheek and thanked him and then trotted away. He then charged me for the drink, obviously. $7, but worth it for the lesson learnt! The girls in Clairemont are so far up their own backsides, but they're easy on the eye! Anyways, after a while the Clairemont Hotel started to empty out so Mark and I went to the Bayview, a club round the corner. It was free to get in, which was a pleasant surprise, and it was heaving, with pretty much the same clientelle as in the previous bar. I danced, chatted to some guys, chatted to some girls, bumped into an italian guy from the hostel, had a great time. About 3am we left and Mark gave me a lift back. I had a slightly embarrasing conversation with one of the girls from the hostel, i wasn't hitting on her, but I was blabbing drunkenly trying to give her advice I doubt she needed. Hehe, i'm such a penis!

Back in Perth, at last!

Perth airport presented me with no issues, and soon I was getting into a taxi, driven by an incredibly nice guy called Paul. We chatted all the way to Cottesloe, he gave me advice about Perth, I told him about South Africa, he really was one of the niest taxi drivers I've ever met, which was nice, since moments before I was thinking how sad it was that I had no beaming face to greet me. I got to the backpackers hostel on Cottesloe beach and finally the excitement of being back in Australia kicked in. I was grinning as I checked in, the guy probably thought I was an oddball. As soon as I got the keys to my room I raced up and jumped in the shower, I stank like nothing you've ever smelt before. After my shower it had been my intention to hit the sack, but it was only about 6.30pm or so and there were lots of young people around, lots of them blonde and female. I bought some stubbies from the bottle shop and sat in the courtyard of the backpackers hostel, which was a hive of activity. I met lots of people, ended up drinking a second 6 pack and getting to bet about 1am. Damn it was good to be in bed!

The big journey

So, I tore myself out of bed at 3.45am, doused myself momentarily in the shower, then went downstairs where my taxi was waiting. I stared out of the window the whole way, taking in my last views of Cape Town. Its an awesome city, in a magnificent setting, in an amazing area, I thoroughly recommend it! My flight was on time, luckily all my flights have been on time! I flew with Mango to Joberg and then had a hefty 6 hour wait till my next flight departed. I used the internet a bit, minced about, you know, that sort of thing. The flight to Dubai was alright, I managed to get a seat with loads of legroom. I can't sleep on planes, so I watched a lot of films. By the time I got to Dubai I was shattered, but I still had a 10 hour flight ahead of me. The guy said he had given me a seat with extra legroom, but it turned out he hadn't, although I was on a row of three on my own, so I planned on laying down across the three the moment the fasten seatbelts sign went off. But I was too slow, this Essex chick from the next row moved into the aisle seat to give her family some more space. Gutted. I resigned myself to another 10 hours without sleep, and started yet another movie. I saw one which was quite funny, it was called Hot Rod and was about a useless stuntman. It wasn't brilliant or anything, and it smacked of Napolean Dynamite and Nacho Libre, but it had some funny parts. Eventually, just as I was starting to consider yanking down my oxygen mask and girotting myself, we landed in Perth.

Lesbians

Saturday morning I woke up and jumped in the shower. By the time I came out Honray had disappeared off to the garage to get our second flat tyre replaced. Jez and I watched crappy cartoons for what seemed like an age as we waited for him to return. When he finally returned we went to the supermarket and got some brekkie and some meat for lunch. We drove south towards Cape Town, stopping for a braai at lunchtime in roughly the same area as we had had one on our way north a few days before. Jez said it gave our trip nice symetry, I guess he was right. Thinking back over the last few days made us chuckle, Honray constantly getting us in trouble, Jez's shrugs and frowns, and me saying "y'know" about a million times, apparently. I honestly can't belive Honray's car was still in one peice, we hadn't had a holiday so much as a genuine adventure! Spontanaety is seriously underrated, and booking ahead overrated! I've got to give it to Honray, he dreamed up an awesome trip for us!

Well, we arrived back in Cape Town late afternoon and chilled out at Honray's for a while before our big night out. We met Wim and Kristine and went to a sushi bar for dinner. It was awesome sushi!! I went 4 ways on a platter meant for 4-6 and then ordered a 10 peice mixed sashimi dish for myself!!! I've never eaten so much raw fish!! I think the sake was making me quite drunk, the night is hazy in places after that. We went to another bar which was quite empty so we moved on after a drink. Then we went to Fiction, a great little club on Long Street with a balcony overlooking the whole street. I was pretty wasted so as usual I had a sudden realisation that I was the best dancer in the world and went to bust out some phat shapes on the dancefloor. Honray was dancing too, he's the man, but Jez disappointed me, he sat on a tall chair in the middle of the next room on his own, weird. He used to be my dancing mentor, the dancer I looked up to more than every other. He's got so slack lately. I think he's lost his mojo. Jez, please, dust off your dancing shoes buddy!! Anyway, he missed out, cos these two hot chicks started flirting with eachother on the dancefloor and then all of a sudden started snogging right there in front of me!! It was awesome, I couldn't take my eyes off of those horny nymphs! I tried to convince Kristine to go and join them and then somehow invite me over to get involved, but I think she thought I was joking. I wasn't, obviously. Anyway, we stayed at the club till about 3 or 4am then went home and crashed out.

SUNDAY: The hangover day

The less said about Sunday the better, I was hanging out my hoop all morning, feeling really rough. Honray insisted we go see the penguins, for Jez's sake. We got in the car, all groaning and rubbing our heads, and drove to Simonstown and onto the penguin beach. We stood and stared through our eyes, which were like piss holes in the snow, at the smelly little creatures for a while before heading back to the car. Honray thought we needed a beer, I agreed. We went to a place right on the seafront and had a beer each and for the first time in my life I had some oysters. we had six each, on ice with lemon and tabasco, the traditional way. I thought they were very interesting, and somehow they semed to completely cure my hangover! Or maybe that was the beer, I don't know. Anyway, we went back to Honray's for a while, then popped out for dinner, can't remember where now, then went bowling with Wim, Kristine and Ricardo. The bowling alley was shit, it failed to recognise a spare I got and I subsequently lost by just a few points to Jez, otherwise I would have won. Hahaha, Jez revelled in his victory nonetheless, especially as he had been on the verge of vomiting throughout the whole game. He sat with his head in his hands and only got up to take his bowls! After bowling we went home and got a fairly early one. The next day honray was taking Jez and I winetasting!

MONDAY: Stellenbosch

We got up fairly early again, Honray had a big day planned, lots of vineyards. We drove about 40 minutes to the Stellenbosch region, the most famous winegrowing region in South Africa. I could describe the intricate details of the whole day, but basically we went to 7 vineyards, tasted about 35 wines and had a great day!! The sun was out again and some of the vineyards were very picturesque. I didn't spit out any of the wines, so i got quite nicely merry. Honray was driving so he took it easy and just sipped each one. I tried to do the whole descriptive thing, but felt like a bit of an idiot! I made up some new terms though, like: 'This one has ample punctuation' and 'Oh yes, theres plenty of legroom in this one'. At lunchtime Honray took us to a great restaurant on one of the vineyards which has been voted one of the top ten restaurants in the whole of South Africa. He also insisted on picking up the bill, which was awfully generous of him. He's a good chap! That evening we had to grab an early dinner so we could take Jez to the airport. It was sad seeing him go, it felt like the end of an era, albeit an era only a week long! I think Honray was quite sad too, especially as I was due to leave in the middle of the night, so he would wake to an empty flat for the first time in quite a while (his family were out before i arrived). So. I set an alarm for 3.45am and tried to get some sleep. I had a huge journey ahead of me....

Backtracking

Okay, sorry for the delay guys, I'll try to pick up where I left off.....

Monday afternoon: Big Bay

So I drove to Bloubergstrand hoing to get a bit of kitesurfing done, but it was uber windy and there were loads of pros out on small kites riding the waves! I knew once again it was beyond my ability and toowindy for my huge kite, so I decided to go have a look in the kite shop. Bloubergstand, by the way, is a beautiful long white sandy beach with amazing views of the Table, great waves rolling in and pretty regular wind by the sounds of things. What a great place for the Cape Town residents to have on their doorstep!! Anyways, I went to the kite shop and discovered they rented windsurf gear! So I rented an 84 litre waveboard and a 4.7 sail after receiving advice from the shop dude. It was very windy, but I was dubious about taking such small kit. I drove down to Big Bay, another amazing beach just down the road from Bloubergstrand and rigged up. The waves were rolling in and the wind was strong so I was really excited. Unfortunately when I launched my fears about the small kit were confirmed. I wobbled out through the waves, barely able to balance on the sinky board with what felt like no power atall in the sail, then eventually turned round and rode a couple of waves back in, way downwind. I was annoyed, but I don't give up that easy (at least not when I'm windsurfing!!!) so I let off a bit of downhaul and went back out. Again I was underpowered, but I could feel abit of power in the sail this time. The same thing happened though, I wobbled out and rode the waves back in, way downwind. I was almost ready to call it a day by now, after two 'walks of shame' up the beach. But I gave it one more try and headed back out again. This time I got planing on the way out, although the seemingly unadjustable harness lines were way too short and I was constantly worried about dropping off the plane. I went out a bit too far too and then had to wobble back in, riding the waves where I could, and again ending up downwind. I was quite frustrated by this time so I acked up and went back to the shop. Luckily, the guy agreed to refund half the rental fee as I'd only had the gear 2 hours and paid for a day. In retrospect I was quite pleased with the sail, although it was frustrating at the time. I had managed to get out and back in through waves three times without cocking it up and damaging anything, despite being totally underpowered, and I had sailed at a great location, albeit not very fast. I went and met Honray at Wim and Kristine's place and then we went back and chilled out at Honray's flat. The next day Jez was due to arrive, and we were setting off on THE road trip!

Tuesday: The road trip begins!

We got up fairly early and packed our stuff together before setting off to the airport. Jez was due to arrive at about 10.30am. We sat in a cafe in the arrivals area and had a toastie for breakfast. Honray also insisted on having a beer, as it was the first day of his holiday, and I didn't grumble. Jez arrived to see us polishing off our toasties and helped us finish our pints. It was great to see the ginger git, and I knew the three of us were going to have an awesome time! Jez was worried about being eaten or shot, and that we had no accomodation booked whatsoever, so we tried to make him as terrified as possible by speculating about sleeping by the roadside, angry animals and fearsome locals. I had forgotten how amusing Jez's frowns and shrugs could be! We drove an hour or so before stopping at a layby with a picnic table to cook some lunch on a braai (bbq). Then we drove on, up North toward Springbok. At Springbok we icked up some beers and some more meat for dinner, then we turned east and headed for the Augrabies Falls area where we intended to stay for a day or so before crossing into Namibia. The road was long and straight and there was nothing between us and our destination but amazing scenery. As we drew nearer dark clouds set in and a thunderstorm ensued. Jez began to get a lot more concerned about our sleeping arrangements as it strarted to rain and we saw some amazing fork lightening ahead of us. When we finally passed the sign for Augrabies, about 6.30 or 7ish pm, we were greeted with....nothing! There seemed to be nothing there, the road just continued! It was dark now, not because the sun had set but because of the ominous clouds overhead. Eventually we passed a shanty town, which only served to increase our concerns about finding accomodation. We managed to find a sho and ask someone where we might stay. the guy mentioned a campsite and lodge further along the road, so we set off. On our way we saw a sign for a backpackers hostel, so we turned down a dirtroad and searched for it. We went down several dirtroads but couldn't find anything, so we continued on in search of the lodge. All of a sudden, when Jez had finally become convinced that he might have to slee in a tent by the side of the road, and even myself and Honray were starting to get a bit worried, we came upon what seemed to us to be paradise! The Augrabies Falls Lodge, tucked away pretty much in the middle of nowhere, with a braai area, a bar, a restaurant, and most imortantly for Jez (well, all of us by this point!) rooms with beds and showers!! We checked into a self catering unit with four beds in two rooms and a basic kitchen and bathroom, it was perfect! Jez had a shower while Honray started a wood fire in the braai area and I drank beer. We had a good feed and then crashed into bed to get some rest for the adventures planned for the next day.

Wednesday: Rapids and Rainstorms

Honray had booked us some rapids rafting for the morning and a game drive for the afternoon, it was set to be a great day. We met the rafting guy, Craig, at the backackers place we failed to find the evening before. We had missed a sign in the dark, but to be honest the Lodge seemed much nicer anyway. We were transported in a minibus taxi down to the river and given a saftey chat and shown the rafts we were using. They were big red two man inflatable canoes basically, Jez and Honray shared one and I had one to myself, with some bags in the front to even the weight out. The first, and perhas the biggest rapids, were just a hundred metres or so from where we set off. Having never done anything like this before I was quite excited. Craig went over first and then stopped on some rocks to keep an eye on us and take some pictures with my camera. Then Jez and Honray went down. They seemed to survive so I wasn't too scared as I set off. The rapids were pretty hardcore, but very short, so despite not having done much paddling and not having a great deal of control, I made it down okay. We then stopped on the rocks and Craig demonstrated how to paddle back to the rapids and ride a small standing wave at the bottom. He demonstrated with me in the front of his raft, and I was plunged down into the water as the raft filled up, it was a very strage feeling. Jez and Honray then had a go at it, as did an Austrian couple who were on the rafting trip with us. Then I had a go, with Jez in the front. After getting thrown out of the raft once I realised that the best way to stay in control on the standing wave was to hold the oar behind me and use it like a rudder, we managed to stay on the wave for a while, it was kind of cool I guess but not as cool as windsurfing or anything. Anyway, we continued down the river and had a fairly leisurely addle, despite the wind being against us. There were some more fairly tame rapids and some stretched on the flat which meant for quite a lot of paddling, but the scenery was nice and it had some novelty value. Finally we got to some more hardcore rapids, which were great although very short once again. It was a good experience that I think we all enjoyed, but I'm glad we just did a morning of it, the Austrian couple were on some kind of 5 day river cruise, I couldn't have hacked it for that long, although I would like to do some more hardcore white water rafting some time, maybe in New Zealand.

Ah, I've forgotten to mention something. That morning when we got up, the rear passenger side tyre was flat and we had to change it for the spare. After the rafting we went to town to get it repaired. It actually had to be replaced, but they were very quick and we were soon on our way to the game drive. We had to drive a fair way down some dirt tracks to get there, and the thunderstorms seemed to be setting in again on the horizon. We were a little concerned but the game drive guy said that we 'might get wet but wont get cold'. We clambered onto the seats high on to of the landrover, Jez and I in t-shirts, Honray cunningly smuggling a jacket. The drive was set to last 3 to 4 hours and we would get to take in the sunset en-route. The scenery was amazing once again, barren, beautiful, with rocky mountains and rough desert flora. There was lightening on the horizon though, and it seemed to be closing in. The drive started very well, we saw some stampeding wilderbeast, great muscular beasts that looked very impressive on the run. The driver did his best to stay alongside them so we could get a good look, Honray said he had never seen them running before, only sat about, we were all very impressed. We also saw a couple of different types of bok, also charging across the desert. Just then however, the game drive took an amusing turn for the worse. The thunderstorm had caught up with us and the heavens opened. The driver asked if we wanted to go back, Honray, as he put on his nice warm coat, told him to take an indirect route. Asif in response to Honray's request the rain got really heavy, and turned to sleet! I couldn't even look at the boks anymore, I had to huddle in a ball staring at the ground with my hands over my ears as I was pelted by the sleet. It really stung!! We were all laughing at the situation, especially Honray, who was revelling in the pain and discomfort Jez and I were going through as he benefitted from the protection of his jacket. This seemed to go on for quite a while, long ebough for the novelty to wear off and for us to stop laughing and pray that we would get back soon. Eventually we arrived back at the start, where the rain seemed to have passed. We managed to get a small refund, about a third of what we paid, it was a bit of a piss take after what we had experienced really, but we were happy that we had seen the widerbeast and in retrospect we could have a good laugh about the weather.

Craig, the rafting guy, had told us about a place, the name of which I don't remember, which had a backpacker hostel in a beautiful setting next to some hot springs, it was about 40k down some dirt roads so we set off for there. The roads were very rough but Honray pressed on regardless, really punishing his little Polo! On the way we saw the most amazing thing, probably one of the most amazing sights of my life! As the sun was setting on our left we saw a huge, perfect rainbow on our right. Honray slammed on the brakes and we jumed out of the car. The sunset created a strange orange glow, asif we were on Mars or something. the rainbow was perfect and we could see the whole thing, end to end. Each end of the rainbow seemed only about a kilometre away too, and whats more, outside this perfect rainbow was another, fainter one, so it was a double rainbow. Just when we though things couldn't get any better, the sun setting, the double rainbow, the magnificent scenery, the most incredible thing happened. It only lasted a second, and everyone who we have told about in since has thought we were pulling their legs, but I swear its true. Right in the centre of the two rainbows, perfectly framed, a huge amazing flash of fork lightening appeared for a second. Our jaws dropped open in disbelief, it was the most incredible thing! I got some pictures of the rainbows and the sunset, but obviously not the lightening, my reactions aren't THAT good! But I swear thats what we saw. Amazing!

Anyway, we continued down the road as it started to get dark. There were regular dips in the road and ditches created by the rainwater, so we had to keep slowing right down. We passed a small shantyish town and the road got narrower, more twisty and we started decending into a gorge. The scenery was very impressive but the road became more and more trecherous. The make matters worse a huge spider had found its way into the car and was crawling all over the ceiling. We were ducking and diving to avoid it for a while and then Honray swiped at it, sending it flying at Jez and down onto the floor, I felt something on my foot so in a moment of true cowardice Jez and I lept out of the moving car and started dancing like drunken cowboys and swiping madly at our hair and clothes. Honray sat in the car and laughed at us, then told us to get back in before he left us out there. We got back in but I armed myself with a roll of tinfoil just in case. Anyway, the road got too rough for the car and annoyingly we had to turn back and drive the 50 or so kilometres back along the dirt road, through the town and back to the Lodge. Honray hit a few big ruts at high speed on the dirt road, its a wonder the car wasn't wrecked, but good old Volkswagens do tend to hold together pretty well! Finally we arrived back at the Lodge and Honray lit the braai. What a day. Tomorrow, Namibia!

Thursday: Getting stuck, crossing the border.

We woke and had breakfast over some guidebooks and planned our route into Namibia. Jez suggested we cut out about 100k by taking another dirt road. Honray, who couldn't get enough of trying to wreck his car, was well up for it, so we headed back through town, back past the game drive place and the turnoff for the hot springs place and down the 40 or 50k long dirtroad signposted 'Namibia'. The road was pretty good for a while, infact we must have gone two thirds of the way at least, but then we came across a huge dip in the road filled with water. Honray was just about to drive straight through it but I told him to stop and I would check it out. I kicked off my trusty flip flops and waded in. In the centre the water came up to my knees and on the shallower side it was very sandy so I turned to Honray and shook my head and waved my hands to say no. Red rag to a bull. Grinning maniacly Honray drove straight into the deepest sandiest part of the ditch and before you could say 'what the f**k?' the little Polo was well and truly stuck! The wheel was sucked right into the sand, the water was lapping at the door sills on the drivers side. I think we all knew we weren't going to be able to get it out, but we had a go, me and Jez pushing and Honray at the wheel. It was impossible, it was stuck fast! Honray knew he had 'f****d up' but didn't let it bother him, he instructed Jez to stay and watch the car and he and I took a bottle of water and set off down the road towards some buildings we had spotted. It wasn't all that far but when we got there the little group of buildings was completely deserted. It was like something out of a horror movie, there was bird poo all over the porch, it looked very menacing, we didn't stick about. As we walked back towards the car Honray got some signal on his phone and called Craig, the rafting guy. He said he might know someone who could come and help us, which was reassuring. However, when we got back to the car an Africaans guy had stopped in a 4x4 and had started to help. He only had nylon rope though which kept snapping when he tried to tow the car out. He said he would go and see his neighbour who might have something more suitable, Jez went with him. While they were away Honray and I decided to connect the front towing eye to the car. It was quite a task as the area it had to be fiited to was underwater, under murky brown water, so we had to do the whole thing by touch. Eventually when we finished we sat and had a beer and waited for Jez. He turned up after a while with another Africaans guy with a 4x4 and about 4 black dudes in overalls. They had a big heavy chain and set about hooking it up to the rear towing eye of the Polo. It took quite a tug from the 4x4 and all of us pushing to get the car out, and then the Africaans guy insrtucted Honray to dive back through the ditch on the other side where it was deeper but the ground was firmer. I wasn't convinced that it would make it, but sure enough it did, although it didn't seem to like it much!! Then came the bombshell that there was another patch up ahead which was even worse! We drove up to it and there it was, about 10 metres of soft sand and water, there was no way we would make it though without assistance. We hooked the chain up again and Honray, towed by the Africaans guy, floored it and tried to drive through. As the Polo hit the worst bit they both came grinding to a halt and for a minute I thought that both vehicles were stuck, then as the 4x4 struggled to get out the other side the chain came off and left the Polo behind. Any normal person would be really worried about their car at this point, but Honray was loving every minute! Finally after we reconnected the chain, and with all of us pushing we managed to get through! We thanked the Africaans guy and the black guys for helping us out, the Africaans guy was laughing and saying something like 'Domb Englisher!' as he drove away. We continued on our journey and eventually made it back to the relative safety of tarmac!

We crossed the border into Namibia before too long and we were in another African country! Namibia is the second most sparsely populated country in the world according to Honray, and it showed! We drove for miles without seeing anyone and the settlements we did come across were very small. We had done enough driving for one day so we stopped in a town about half way to the Fish River Canyon where we were headed. It was a small, empty feeling town and as the only hotel was full we had to stay in a self catering unit at the petrol station! We had an awful meal at the petrol station and then went to the bar at the hotel. The hotel may have been full but the bar was empty, but we got very drunk, revelling in the idea that we were that town's nightlife that night! We drank a shot of Stroh rum each, which is a whopping 80% alchohol and tasted like a badger's balls. Honray beat me 2 games out of three at pool, then we went back to our room at the petrol station and drank a bottle of wine. Honray felt pretty rank the next morning, it was very funny!

Friday: The Fish River Canyon and two steaks

I'm going to pick up the pace a bit cos I've been writing for almost three hours and I'm wasting a whole day in Perth!!! We visited the Fish River Canyon in the morning, we had to drive down a lot of dirt roads to get there but generally they were much better than the dirt roads in SA. The canyon is the second largest in the world, after the Grand Canyon and it was quite a sight, although I'm not sure that Honray and Jez really appreciated it, as Honray was hanging out his hoop and Jez was starving and could only think about steak! We drove alongside the canyon for a while and stopped in numerous places to take pictures. Then we had lunch at the Canyon Roadhouse, a really nice spot with lots of old american cars and bikes laying about. We had steak, which was pretty nice although a bit overcooked as we all like our steak rare or medium rare. We decided to head south back across the border, because apart from the amazing scenery there wasn't much else to see in Naminia without going miles up North. So we drove south, crossed the border, drove back through Springbok and towrards a national park where Honray said there would be a cool backpackers place. We were on another dirt road, and a really rough one this time! I think it was a dirt road too far. Eventually we came across some locals in a 4x4 and they told us it was a long way to anywhere we could stay, we just didn't have the time to dive back that far in the morning so we had to turn back. The road was really rough and rocky and Honray was pushing it again so unsurpisingly we got another flat tyre. As we changed the wheel the sun was starting to set and so when we were done we had a beer and watched it. The scenery was pretty amazing, but I think we were all ready for some civilisation. We backtracked to Springbok and checked into another self catering room. Then we went to an amusingly named restaurant: 'The Dago', and had an awesome steak each (two steaks in a day!!!), this one was cooked to perfection and was really good meat! We had a look for a bar but couldn't see anywher particularly interesting so we went back to our room, had a couple of beers and watched some boxing on tv. The next day we would drive back to Cape Town and have the biggest night out of our whole holiday....

Well thats all I can manage today, I'll try to catch right up to date tomorrow, muchos love everybody!!

Standby....

I survived Namibia everyone, not that there was much there to survive, its a huge empty place! But the scenery was beautiful and the Fish River Canyon was incredible! I'm sat at Jo-berg airport now, having got up at 3.45am to catch a plane here from Cape Town. I've got a long wait till my flight to Perth departs, but I'm feeling too knackered to write up the past week right now. When I get to Oz I'll spend some time catching up on the blog, and I'll tell you all about the immense road trip!! There were endless dirtroads, two flat tyres, one big ditch full of water the car got stuck in, monkeys, wilderbeast and all manner of wildlife, great steaks, rapids, hailstones and a very big hole in the ground, details soon!! Theres also the big night out on Saturday with double portions of sushi and lesbians, and 7 vineyards in a day (35 wines tasted, none spat out!). Hope all is well wherever you are, much love...