Tsitsikamma

This morning I woke up feeling rather groggy as I did not sleep very well due to numerous factors including the loud bar music, a man talking on his phone right outside our window, panels missing from the bed causing a massive dip in my mattress and finally, being too hot as the heating in the hostel was on; due to the mattress issue, I have also woke up with a very stiff upper back. I did not stay groggy for long though when at breakfast, I got pancakes with apple, banana and syrup which was delicious!

We left the hostel at just gone 8 and got on the road towards Storm Village, Tsitsikamma. The drive was rather peaceful and took just over an hour to arrive at our morning activity. We were still 40 minutes early so Jeff said he would take us around Storm Village to look around and we also visited a school, which although had 50 children, only had 1 very small classroom, they were halfway through building another but had run out of funding to complete it. We also got to try some of their lunch which was called Amasi, it was a type of oat mixed with buttermilk; it tasted very strange almost bitter yet sweet, I am glad I only had a spoonful as not sure I could have stomached a whole meal of that stuff but even so. it was generous of them to let us try even just a spoonful. We headed round to the canopy tour at 10.00 in time for our induction which was more informative than I had thought, they explained the rules and importance of staying connected and listening to them. After kitting up, we headed to a truck which would take us into the forest to the start of the tour whilst they told us a bit about Tsitsikamma including that it means 'place of water' as it is often raining here and that is why the national parks all look so beautifully green here. Once there. we headed to the first platform along with 2 guides; the first guide went straight across the zipline to the second whilst the first one, who liked to be called pretty boy, stayed behind and clipped each off us in turn onto the zipline. I somehow ended up going last, but it didn't bother me as all of us got a chance at the end of the day. At the other end, the second guide would help us detach from the zipline and attach to the tree, so I felt safe at all times. The guides told us that they only use two types of trees in the forest to support the platform, one was called the Outeniqua Yellowwood which could live up to the age of 1000 years. They also told us that to get the platforms 30m up in the tree, they initially used a bow and arrow to fire a fish line up there which they could then connect a climbing rope to in order to fix the platforms around the trees securely. In total, there were 10 ziplines on the course as well as a 600m uphill hike at the end back to the truck to take us back to reception. Although I did have fun doing the Canopy Tour, compared to Go Ape it was not on the same level and I did find myself getting a bit bored after a while although it was interesting to learn about the forest. Once we got back up to reception, we were supplied with lunch and drink, so I opted for a chicken salad which filled me up nicely and was refreshing in the heat, although I thought a red olive was a grape so that was a bit of a nasty surprise for me when I tasted that.

Afterwards, we were able to go to our hotel to check in and relax for a little bit until we went on our afternoon hike in the national parks and across the suspension bridge. The hostel that we are staying in tonight consists of 7 bunk beds, which were all empty when we arrived although they have all been filled now, at the time I am writing this. The hostel seemed much more laid back than previous ones with many hammocks, sunbeds, pillows, bonfires and relaxing music around it. Once we had decided what bed was ours, I decided to do some hand washing as my dirty bag was full so it seemed like a good idea at the time although as the weather here is a lot chillier, my washing is still soaked but I am hoping it may get a chance to dry overnight with all the body heat in the room. I tell you what though, I cannot wait to get to Cape Town and have the luxury of a washing machine again.

At 14.3o we all met up with our jumpers and walking boots on ready for our trek in the national park. The waves crashing against the coast when we got there were absolutely massive, I mean I have never seen anything like it before, they were so big the sea was foaming from the impact, but it made for some good pictures prior to the walk; we also spotted some cute beaver lookalike called a

dassie which lives in this part of Africa amongst the rocks and bushes. We set off and the path was laid out nicely with planks of wood and stairs, so it was rather easy to handle despite the steep incline and declines. We never actually ended up ascending that much in total, but it was only as we had to follow the natural layout of the mountain that made it seem like we climbed a lot more. After around 40 minutes, we reached the main tourist attraction which is the suspension bridges over Storms River with the longest one a great 77m in length! They were fairly stable, well they were at least until Jeff started jumping on them making them rather shaky, but even still, they were great to walk over with some great views. Once we reached the other side, we decided to take the opportunity to rest, take some pictures and in my case, use the rocks to massage my shoulders and back to help ease the tension in the muscle and surprisingly it worked short-term. We also each took it in turn to edge along this thin bit of rock over Storms River for a great photo opportunity, which although looked scary, in my walking boots the grip was superb so I had no trouble posing for the picture. After our quick rest, it was time to make our way back to the van so that we could spend the rest of the day relaxing and letting our bodies catch up with us, as well as showering as we had all worked up quite a sweat. The journey back seemed to go quicker even though parts of it were a lot steeper than the way there; we have all decided by the end of this week we are going to

have thighs of steel.

For dinner I had chicken schnitzel which is basically breaded chicken with a sauce over the top, which in my case tonight was a cheese sauce. The Australians rave about them but honestly, I couldn't see what the big deal was but each to their own I guess. To me it just seemed like the same as what I had for lunch but instead of the chicken already being chopped up, I just had to chop it up myself, served with a cheese sauce.

So anyway, that leads us to now where I am sitting in the bar area taking in the backpacker vibes looking forward to my bed and a book in a bit. Tomorrow we are not leaving till 10.00 so even better is that we get a lay in so I know my body will be well rested for our onward journey.

Tomorrow we will hit Knysna!