Whale Cottage Hermanus

... beach, we finally decided that hunger was getting the better of us. We stopped off at Knysna to grab a bite. It was good food, a nice place, you know, the touristy kind. In South Africa you quickly learn that those places are a safe bet. You don't want to muck around dodgy places when the sun starts setting. That is exactly what happened......

You ever heard of the big tree near Uniondale? I did think that it is a must for our educational purposes and set off ...

... A bit of an incongruous place. Set amongst amazing rock formation and with 42 degree water spouting from carved chimpanzees into it’s pools, the buildings and set up were more like Butlins including having to wear coloured wristbands to prove we had paid.

Internet access is a bit sporadic so we have not been able to update our photos but hope to have some with the next instalment maybe even some of the whales, so far the best views have seem ...

... and dozens of times or however long they can hold their breath for. Nobody has figured out why they do it but it is really interesting to watch! The next day we went shark cage diving in Gansbaai. It is really more like shark cage viewing, so you hang out in the cage going underwater when the guide tells you. The visibility in the water is awful, but I did get to see a great view ...

... fish). Christine teaches us some local lingo ('ish', 'bru', 'you're a star', 'hectic', 'splendid' and various other proper-sounding phrases) before we drop her off and head to Hermanus for a nice B&B. We get in late and play with our new friend Kitty Kat before falling fast asleep. The B&B is cute but I can't quite make out the view despite hearing the waves crashing in the ...

Home of Great white shark diving! We were able to arrange the great white dive trip through our hotel and it worked out pretty well for us as it was fairly last minute. The drive out there took about three hours which is a little longer than they advertise, but you also have to account for picking up everybody at their respective hotel. The scenery on the way out to Hermanus and down to Gansbay was ...

... staying in an apartment with a kitchen so I've been enjoying doing some home cooking. Our big adventure here was this morning when we went to the nearby port of Gansbaai and did a cage dive to see great white sharks. Because there is a large seal colony (great white food!) on Dyer Island about two miles offshore, there are lots of sharks in the area, enough so the waterway between the island and mainland is known as "Shark Alley". Cage diving is not at all ...

... them into the impenetrable Karoo earth. It took 15 minutes to complete and I felt pretty confident then. It was like riding a bicycle - I last camped and backpacked independently through Europe 10 years ago - I didn't forget. It was winter and we (I was traveling with an enormous friend of mine named Mike) had to down two shots of Stroh Rum followed by 20 push-ups before bedtime, in order to keep warm. I cooked up some 2-inch thick organic t-bone steaks - home ...

... Bush Tea, and cookies and bread and juice all provided by her. She told us all about her business and how it came to be and a good chunk of her life story. Then we got back on the bus and headed back to the port. I went out with the normal group this night, we went into the main street of town called Long St. We didn't leave the ship until midnight and I cam back around 2 am, I was really tired and needed to go to bed to get up the next morning. Day 2: Wednesday, Feb 15th I got up ...

... to a deep turquoisey sorta blue sea. Lovely! Neway, check out some picts from my cliff walk yest if u wanna see what this parta the countrys like!! Gonna go now, maybe backdate some more entires,.. Will write more 'current' stuff soon! Rache. Right so ended up spending a few more days than planned in Hermanus - Planned for 2 nights, stayed for 6! Eek!! Messing up my timeframe a bit but really enjoyed my time there and can always change my ...

... s of various girls so I think I'll steer well clear of him! He also claims to be a tarot reader, he read my tarot for me.... which involved me picking a card from the pack which happened to be the Wheel of Fortune and his interpretation was that my fortunes were about to change. I won't hold my breath.... So Penguins!!, first stop was Hout Bay to take a boat trip out to Duiker Island to have a look at the seals that bask on the rocks ...