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!!