White Shores Guesthouse KwaZulu-Natal

... many people aboard.No Fish eagles around, but plenty of locals decorating the fences with brightly coloured clothes. As we 'docked' under the bridge A massive truck went over it, making the bridge rattle. I am sure it's safe..... Then back into the dreaded taxi. The whole boat gets into the thing, and we sit. The driver is quiet. We all look at each other. The immobiliser won't disable. We were now wishing we had not eaten so much breakfast, as we were ...

... but the weather then turned against us and it became miserable so we put in some miles and covered some distance so we could go to the Drakensberg mountains. From there we popped into the neighbouring Lesotho. I thought this was part of South Africa but it turns out it is a completely separate country, as the stamps in my passport confirm! We did a tour because you had to have 4 wheel drive to go over the Sani pass through the mountains. It made the pass we did a few days ...

... the surfers, especially a few local black kids who were totally amazing and outshined all the cool-dude whiteboys. I had a swim in the choppiest sea ever, it was so powerful, great surfing conditions. Another evening in the bar followed. The second morning was spent listening to a German couple moan and moan that we were too noisy in the bar the previous night (we probably were). I felt like saying "This is a hostel buddy, not the chuffin' Ritz ...

... Moon was unlike any hostel I think we will ever stay in. It had a jungle theme, but that meant it was actually based in a small square of jungle. We stayed in a little shed at the end of a boardwalk throungh the jungle, with an ensuite bathroom.... which was open air! To add further authenticity, we later saw the troop of local monkeys swinging through the trees. This was fun until they kept us awake for hours at night and then woke us up early in the morning ...

... Durban). After 5 hours of driving through mostly inland, rural countryside we finally came over the last hill and the Indian Ocean greeted us once again. We stopped briefly at the first shopping centre to grab some food and a new legrope from the local surf shop (I broke my last one in the two foot Mdumbi dribbly beachbreak) and then we went south along the coast road past beach after beach in search of our new home base... After checking the waves at a few ...

For info on Port Shepstone and Oribi Gorge see my entry from Storm's River.



For photo highlights of Port Shepstone and Oribi Gorge:
http://www.facebook.com/album .php?aid=1563&l=abe72&id=507899 698

... see everything we want to see is to get a hire car rather than busing it. Roadtrip number 3. So we head to a Port shepstone and find a hostel right on the beach with amazing views, waves that totally just beat you up(hours of fun) i think kate lost her bikini to them a few times actually) and just generally chilled out for a few days with the beach just outside our room. We went to see some rope swing ...

... So my memories of rows and rows and hills and hills of rusted and corrugated metal or plywood, round plastered and thatched buildings and homes, thin cattle and goats, multicoloured but torn clothing and people of all shapes and sizes will remain just that - a memory. While I do not understand rugby a great deal, I watched my cousin's mother's beloved Springbocks rugby team get roundly beaten by a team called the Blue Bulls. Something like 50 to 32.

... bars the next night. He was carrying a branch down the street that was about 15 feet long. Hard to know why.) But that is the bad stuff. The arts festival was unbelievable. Most impressive was the size. For 10 days there are events and shows from 8 am until midnight and at least 10 shows plus lectures and exhibitions going on at any time. Everything from opera to Shakespeare to performance art to films to a mariachi band. We were overwhelmed by our options when we arrived and learned ...

... backround while placing our choosen rock on top of the pile signifigating the beginning of our journey. As I carefully padded my way accross the old railway bridge, I was very aware of the large gaping holes that were waiting for me if I lost my balance. It's a long long way down into the river canyon and I wasn't too interested in cordless bungee jumping today. We listened intently as Mike told us the harrowing tale of ...