walk the earth

Sunday, May 07, 2006

beach life


the careless and the carless

Around the coast of South Africa, east of Cape Town, is the 'garden route.' I headed on a bus from Cape Town to the beach town of Plettensburg Bay, or Plett. It was a quiet little spot tucked into a huge bay which routinely gets visits by all kinds of whales, dolphins, sharks, and seals. Because it's almost winter here in the southern hemisphere the water is quite cold, so I opted for a nice long day hike around a cool pennisula instead of a swim.



Hike around Plett bay.


This side was getting bashed by the Indian Ocean, while the other side was pretty calm and had hundreds of seals lying about.

Storms River
After two days in Plett at a great hostel, I headed up to Storms River to do some more hiking and biking... I met a big group of American girls on holiday from their semester at University of Cape Town, a fun bunch for sure, we hung out for a bit.

Went for a mountain bike ride with an Australian girl, April, in Storms River. It was so much fun to be back on a bike again, it was 22km ride with a ambitious hike in the middle. great day.


The very dark waters of the storms river dump into the Indian ocean just down there.


the unfinished bridge we walked across to get to the National park on the other side. It held.


art?


a cool waterfall that I could hear but not see off the side of the trail. I cut through the thick bush down to it and got a couple of good photos; and also picked up quite a few ticks in the process. After coming back up to the trail, I danced around stripping off my cloths trying to get all the ticks (they carry some funky disease). I think I was successful, no symptoms yet. fingers crossed.

me, bike, happy.


On the ride back into 'town' I saw these guys playing soccer and thought it looked nice with the mountain in the background.


downtown Storms River.

From Storms I took yet another bus (i've been thinking about changing the name of this blog from 'walk the earth' to 'bus the earth,' as that would be just as accurate.) Anyway, it was a quick ride to Jeffery's Bay where I am now. A great spot right on the beach, fun crowd, great surf, just about perfect.


location, location...


Oi, oi! Adrian, my roommate and surf buddy, saying hello at the Island Vibe Backpackers. We may suck at surfing, but have a great time out there.


View from the loo.


wind blown surf right on our doorstep.


The sweet guesthouse kitchen, where I whip up massive bowls of pasta and my current breakfast favorite; toast covered in baked beans and a silly amount of cheddar melted on top. a healthy start to a day on the water.