Knysna

Last night I managed to sleep like an absolute baby and I could not fault anything about the room; there was a fan, the beds were so comfy, the showers were hot, and they had big enough trunks to lock all your belongings away. I woke up with no aches or pains and feeling the most rested I have in a while. The weather this morning was warm and sunny, so I spent the morning drying my last bits of washing in the sun whilst I laid on a hammock reading a new book on my Kindle. The sun was so bright this morning I felt almost tempted to get in the pool but knowing we were leaving at 10 for our next port of call, I didn’t want to get changed and then my swimming costume would be soaking wet as well, although that didn’t bother Annie.

We all got in the bus on time with all my washing being dry other than one pair of trousers which was not too bad especially considering yesterday, I thought my washing was going to flood the room.

Today was going to be the day that we go from the Eastern Cape across to the Western Cape. The

journey to get to Knysna should have only taken an hour so Jeff suggested we go to see the world’s highest bungee in Tsitsikamma, although I think he was secretly hoping that one of us would agree to do it; no chance there. The bridge was huge, you could not even see the bottom of the canyon from where we were standing and to get to the bungee platform, the people had to zipline from the hills to the centre arch of the bridge. After previously jumping from a bridge in Switzerland, there was no chance in hell you would get me doing it and the others seemed to agree. We must have been standing there for around 40 minutes waiting for someone to jump as they were still doing the inductions and when they did finally jump, they screamed; I felt my heart race as they sprung towards the ground headfirst. I was pleased that I was safely on the right side of the barrier and canyon to not have to do that. When we did reach Knysna, Jeff started off by giving us a township tour. This township was large compared to ones we have previously seen so it was different; they had a hospital, large school, fire station, several convenience stores as well as many taxis which look like white 9-seater minibuses. Jeff also said that every township has what he likes to call the Big Eight which consists of dogs, chickens, donkey, horse, cow, pig, goat and cat although I am sure Jeff made the last animal up to sound clever as when I just asked him what they were, he did not sound too sure. It was interesting to see the newer concrete houses with water and electric which were probably not much bigger than 3x4 metres compared to the old shacks which are the originals made from wood with no water or electric and no bigger than a shed, so it is nice to see an improvement in the township although still sad to think they are living like this in current times.

We headed off to our hostel which was another branch of Island Vibes, although this one seemed quieter than the last which is a relief and the rooms seem nicer too as in our room, there are only 6 beds with an ensuite bathroom plus I checked that all the panels are intact on my bed. The bar area is a lot smaller than last time too and it looked like the whole hostel only had a maximum of 5 rooms so fingers crossed for a peaceful night today as we have another early start tomorrow. We had just enough time to unpack the necessities before we headed off down to the Knysna Quay for lunch and a look around. The port area was so nice, it was a quiet harbour town with just a few touristy shops although still haven’t seen another pair of my elephant trousers to buy. We then went to grab some lunch in Spurs although all of us overindulged so we have skipped dinner tonight; I had a cheese and bacon burger with sweet potato fries, which was such a struggle to finish as the portion size was huge, but it tasted so good. By the afternoon, the sky had clouded over but it was still warm and pleasant, so we all sat down on some benches overlooking the quay with some ice cream whilst we waited for our boat time to go around and see the Knysna Heads.

The wooden boat was a double decker river cruise boat called the John Benn after a man who stood at the river mouth and guided ships in to Knysna safely back in the 1840's. The trip took us along the Knysna Lagoon to the Knysna Heads and back again. The

Knysna Heads is what they call the river mouth where the lagoon connects to the Indian Ocean. They said that the lagoon is only between 4-8m deep so that makes it a good place for seals to occasionally come by hunting for fish without the fear of sharks; we were lucky enough to see one of the seals by the boat. The cruise was relaxing and was nice to be able to look back to the shore and see the beauty that was Knysna as well as many of the large and spectacular houses along the bed of the river or amongst the hills.

We headed back to the hostel afterwards in time to be able to have a shower and spend the remaining few hours before bed relaxing before our more active day tomorrow in Oudtshoorn. I am now sitting outside by the bar in front of the bonfire probably beginning to smell of smoke so that is all for today.

Enjoy the sunset across the Knysna Lagoon and behind the

Featherbed Nature Reserve which makes up the Western Knysna Head.