Category Archives: South Africa

10 Jan 2012 · 11:40 AM

Plettenberg Bay – the home of Summer

I think it is about time I write something about our own country instead of waxing lyrical about all the other beautiful cities all over the world. This weekend my cousins, Tristan and I took a roadtrip up to Plettenberg Bay on the border of the Western and Eastern Cape – about 530km from Cape Town. The main reason we went up there was so that my cousins, who are currently visiting from Melbourne, could bungee jump off the highest bridge in Africa, the highest bungee bridge in the world!


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The roadtrip started at 5:30am on Friday morning, all half asleep (except for Trist who was driving), and we were met with a gorgeous sunrise shining up on the mountains.

Sunrise on Cape Town

We proceeded to make our way through countless playlists in between naps and random sing-a-longs until finally it was time for breakfast at Wimpy in Heidelberg – breakfast of champions really – and even got a free karaoke CD with all the SA classics! We were then only about 250km from Plett but it took us until about 1pm – singing all the way – to finally pull into Robberg where we found our backpackers, a few kilometres from the centre of Plett, the Starling Backpackers.

Starling Backpackers, Plett

It was a cosy place, a lovely big dog greeted us at the entrance, a horse and a pony roamed the paddock next to the house, and a chicken warmed itself in the flower beds – it had a real homely feel. We had a private room of 4 beds so no sharing the room this time, but shared bathrooms were clean and even had hot water (and free breakfast! Score!). After a quick lunch we didn’t waste time, and made our way straight to the beach for a bit of a nap and a tan. Tristan had met up with his friend and was already on his mountain bike to Bloukrans where we would meet him later that afternoon. I was surprised to hear quite a lot of foreign languages being spoken on the beach around us, I was always under the impression only us Capies went there on holiday :) The beaches are pretty great though, clean and lots of fine sand to dig your feet into.

Central Beach in Plett

Then already it was time to head off to Bloukrans so that my adrenalin junky cousins could jump off the bridge! The whole day I had been asking them if they were scared, and only when we actually arrived at the bridge did we all realise how high it was, and all gave a slight squeal! :) When we arrived at Face Adrenalin they were really organised, all we had to do was book in and they got harnessed up, then we could spend a few minutes watching other people bungee on the screen in the restaurant area. When they went off to the bridge, we stayed in the restaurant so we could watch everyone jump. Some people got thrown around quite a lot on the way down and it was scary even just to watch them flying off the bridge into the deep valley below! When my cousins had gone, they came back shaking from the adrenalin rush, as I can only imagine how much adrenalin was pumping through their veins. Some would say its not at all natural to jump off a bridge!

Here’s a little video on the bungee:)

After the excitement had died down, souvenirs bought and videos watched, we headed back to Plett for a relaxed rest of the weekend. We spent that evening enjoying dinner at a food market, with great live music and delicious food being sold at different stalls.

The next day was all about the beach, I was up nice and early to take T to his mountain bike meeting point, but went back to bed as a 6am start didn’t go down so well! But by 10:30am we were on the beach and soaking up the sun (although my body regrets this decision) and what a beautiful day it was. We lunched in the town, and sat on the beach some more, swam in the sea, watched the holiday makers eating ice-creams and went for cocktails at the Lookout Deck. Dinner that night was a boerie braai (special South African sausage cooked on the fire) as the ex-saffa’s had been missing their boerewors whilst living in Melbourne!

The guys playing a bit of sting pong...ouch!

Next morning it was up early again and a 7am walk on the beach before we had to pack up and head back to Cape Town, not before stopping at the famous Ice Palazzo on the Main street for some early morning yumminess! This time we spent most of the way home alternating between sleeping (or pretending to sleep in Claire’s case) and eating! We stopped for lunch in Mossel Bay at the Fork&Train (yes it is really called that) and then powered on so we could get home for early evening.

I think I speak for all of us when i say what a great place Plett is, it was a beautiful weekend and totally worth the 15 hours in the car driving there and back ;)

D x

Paragliders enjoying the sunshine outside Sedgefield.

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07 Dec 2011 · 4:57 PM

Home Life

So you would think that it is much harder to keep writing regular blog posts when you are on the road, so to speak, and moving your ‘home’ every three or four days, However, this is clearly not the case because we have been home, as in Cape Town, for almost three weeks and still I have not had a moment to sit down and write a new blog post until now.

Being home is just like the saying, home sweet home, you arrive and everything feels familiar. Since we were only gone for six months, I guess its too short a time for things to change that much. When we started planning the trip and told people we were leaving for six months, many people were shocked, “Thats ages!” they said. But others were more realistic and said, “six months, you’ll be back before we know it!” I guess the last response was true, we had moments that it felt like ages but on the whole, the six months flew by without us noticing. Its not surprising then, that we feel like nothing has changed since we left. We got back to the same houses, the same friends doing the same jobs, mostly, and the same city, with maybe just a few new buildings popping up.

We’ve had many questions since we got back, mostly the ones that we expected – the ones we answered in the our post Cape Town…the Most Beautiful Place in the World- but a lot of people ask us what it is like being home and have we settled in well. To be honest, I expected it to feel strange being home again, to not be dragging my backpack around, and not be moving to a new home every few days. Funnily enough though, the day after arriving home, it already felt like we’d never left. I went back to my room, which had a few minor changes but felt the same. It felt unbelievable to be sleeping in my own comfy bed once again, but after the first night, the novelty had already worn off, it felt normal, of course.

The cake from our surprise welcome home party!

Did the travel bug bite? Well, to be honest, I don’t think so. We’re not planning our next trip, if thats what they mean by it. We’re quite happy now to get stuck in to a job with some routine and a stable monthly income. Does that mean we’re not travellers at heart… Well I’m not sure actually, because when I read the unbelievable stories of other travel bloggers like Adventurous Kate and Twenty-Something Travel, I’m kind of jealous that their lives are so interesting. Since we’ve been home, my life went from a story a day to hardly something even interesting enough to put on my Faebook status. (Okay besides a few really awesome things – like our welcome home surprise party and a weekend away at a music festival!!!) I feel kind of bored really… Is that normal? Well I guess it would be, I wouldn’t be human if I didn’t miss travelling a little bit, miss the adventures and the stories I could tell.

My plans for the next month or two are as follows: type us all of the daily expenses we wrote down for the trip, finish organising all of my 5000 photos into folders, pick out some good ones to show off and lastly I am beginning to compile all of our blog posts into a continuous story to make into a book about our trip. I think it is a little ambitous to say I will finish this in the next two months, but hopefully within the next year at least, I will finish what I started :)

Along the way I hope to keep you posted on my progress and write up a few stories that we didn’t get to writing up on the URT. I will also be writing up a post on how much the trip cost, and the breakdown for each country, as soon as I finish typing up all of the expenses.

Until then, have a great week!

D x

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22 Nov 2011 · 11:20 AM

Buy South African this Christmas

Dom sent me a great email today about supporting local South African businesses this festive season. It’s well written and doesn’t only apply in the South African context in which it is set. Lets be patriotic this time round, be proud of your country – where ever you are!

Here it is:

“As the holidays approach, the giant Asian factories are kicking into high gear to provide South Africans with monstrous piles of cheaply-produced goods; merchandise that’s been produced at the expense of South African labour (not to mention the Earth’s resources, accompanied by huge amounts of pollution). This year will be different. This year South Africans will give the gift of genuine concern for other South Africans. There is no longer an excuse that, at gift-giving time, nothing can be found that is produced by South African hands.

Yes there is! It’s time to think outside the box people! Who says a gift needs to fit into a Chinese-made box, wrapped in Chinese-produced wrapping paper, taped with Chinese tape, draped with a Chinese ribbon and a Chinese gift tag?

Everyone — yes EVERYONE gets their hair cut right? How about a gift certificate from your local South African hair salon or barber?  What about gym membership? It’s appropriate for all ages who are thinking about some health improvement.

Who wouldn’t appreciate getting their car serviced? How many people couldn’t use an oil change for their car, truck or motorcycle, done at a shop run by the South African working guy? Small, South African-owned shops and car washers would love to sell you a gift certificate or a book of gift certificates. Are you one of those extravagant givers? Fine!  Perhaps that grateful gift receiver would like his driveway paved, or the lawn mowed for the summer, or games at the local golf course.

There are a trazillion owner-run restaurants – all offering gift certificates. And, if your intended isn’t the fancy eatery sort, what about half a dozen breakfasts at the locally-run restaurant? Remember, folks, this isn’t about big national chains – this is about supporting your home town South Africans with their financial-lives-on-the-line to keep their doors open.

Thinking about a heartfelt gift for Mom? Mom would LOVE the services of a local cleaning lady for a day. Or, a gift voucher for a pedicure/manicure/facial at your local beauty salon. Or, you could give of your time to the elderly and offer a foot massage or a manicure or do some shopping for them? Hand them a card with what you can offer.

My computer could use a tune-up, and I KNOW I can find some young guy who is struggling to get his repair business up and running. OK, you were looking for something more personal? Local crafts people spin their own wool and knit them into scarves; they make jewellery, and pottery and beautiful wooden boxes. Contact a local handyman to do something special for someone who’s been wanting those pictures hung up or that paint job sorted out.

Plan your holiday outings at local, owner-operated restaurants and leave your waiter/waitress a nice tip. How about going out to see a play or ballet at your hometown theatre? Musicians need love too, so find a venue showcasing local bands.

Honestly, people, do you REALLY need to buy another ten thousand Chinese lights for the house? If you have that much money to burn, leave the postman, litter-man or babysitter a nice big tip.

You see, this season shouldn’t be about draining South African pockets so that China can build another glittering city. Christmas is now about caring about US, encouraging South African small businesses to keep plugging away to follow their dreams. And, when we care about other South Africans, we care about our communities, and the benefits come back to us in ways we couldn’t imagine.

THIS must be the new South African tradition.

Forward this to everyone on your mailing list — post it to discussion groups; send it to the editor of your local newspaper, radio stations and (South African) TV news departments. This is a revolution of caring about each other; isn’t that what giving’s about? “

So there it is, like I said, the South African context can be exchanged for many other countries world-wide who are feeling the stresses of a downturned economy. I reckon if we support the small businesses, economies will grow from the bottom up!

That is all! :)

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15 Nov 2011 · 4:46 PM

Cape Town…the most beautiful place in the world!

Six months flew by far too quickly. The last ten days, even more so. When we boarded the plane to Cape Town on Friday evening, we were relieved to be going home, and ready to reunite with those little comforts of home. Arriving in Cape Town we were met by lots of balloons, confetti and a wonderful welcome home party including lots of family! It was a special time, finally being back with familiar faces and hugs.

The first thing we saw as we were coming in to land was Table Mountain and we looked over to each other and said “We’re home!”, it was a beautiful sight. Even more exciting is that I found out shortly afterwards that Table Mountain was pronounced (provisionally) as one of the New 7 Wonders of the World. [Thanks to everyone who voted!]

Some people asked us what the first thing we wanted to do when we got home was, but once we were home, it wasn’t long before we were back to our old habits, like sitting on the couch catching up on TV and Playstation games! It was definitely a treat to sleep in our own beds once again and to still be sleeping in our own beds three days later. We had a fantastic evening on Saturday night with a few friends doing the traditional South African thing, a braai (that’s a barbeque), and since then, we have been doing washing-or throwing out clothes no longer suitable to be worn-and doing admin like banking and making appointments for the dentist!

One thing in particular that we have realised is that when you have been living for six months with just the belongings in the backpack on your back, and you arrive home to a room full of things and clothes, you begin to feel like life is too cluttered. I, in particular, really missed my clothes and shoes, but now that I know that I can go six months wearing the combination of about 10 items of clothing and 2 pairs of shoes, my large wardrobe now seems like an utter waste of space.  However, saying that, I don’t have the willpower to get rid of it all so I will have to just get used to it!

There have been a few common questions from friends and family since we have been back and so I thought we would answer some of them here:

1. What was our favourite place?

Our common and easiest response to this question was Thailand but to be very honest, it is a very difficult question, considering the number of places we visited on the trip. The best way to answer this, although not something you will want to hear, is that each place has its unique qualities and every place that we visited gave us new memories and adventures. To break it down though, our favourite landscape had to be Lake Pangong; our favourite holiday destination was definitely Thailand, with its relaxing beaches and beautiful islands; our favourite futuristic city was Singapore, living in the future; our favourite place most like home was Sydney but Brisbane and Melbourne are a close runner up; our favourite natural wonder in America was Antelope Canyon; and our favourite American city…now that’s a hard one…San Diego? Austin? New Orleans? New York?

2. Best travel experience?

Driving the RV across Mid-West America!

3. Worst travel experience?

Getting sick in Mumbai on our second night in India!

4. Time when we were the most scared?

Various times driving through India on non-existent ‘highways’ and on the edges of mountains.

5. Best food?

This would definitely be the cuisine of Thailand – from Pad Thai to fried bananas and fruit smoothies! But special mention to New Orlean’s southern cooking, like Jambalaya, and Asheville’s Shrimp and Gritz! Apart from the fact that we got so sick, most of the Indian food was also pretty good – although spicy food for breakfast can get a bit much!

6. A place that we could see ourselves moving to if the opportunity arose?

This is also a difficult one, as so many places have different opportunities and attractions. Places like Brisbane and Australia in general caught our eye because of the similar climate and friendly people. There were some other places for various reasons, like Singapore, Asheville, San Diego…but in the end they all still pale in comparison to Cape Town!

Those are the usual questions but if anyone has anything in particular to ask us, leave us a comment or send us an email through our Contact Us page!

We would like to send a special thank you to each and every one of these people who hosted us along the way and took care of us. Bear with us there are a lot of people to thank. Firstly in the UK, Dorothy and Keith Baldwin for putting us up and even taking us to the airport at some unearthly hour! In Europe, big thanks to Chrissie to hosting us in Schape and showing us around Berlin. To Trevor for spoiling us in Geneva, it was lovely to see your beautiful apartment and to spend time with you in your new city. In India, our very generous friend Praveen Kumar who not only helped us to find our feet but also looked after us while we were ill in Mumbai. To Ali and Nigel for the most unexpected luxurious experience of our trip in Agra, letting us stay in the Oberoi and treating us like their own children! To Marion and Jade who came to visit in Thailand, this really made it one of the most special places we visited. Also to Lindsay and Hayley in Phuket, two extremely fun girls :) Then to Karen and Ronan for inviting us to stay with them in Singapore and for the fun week we had there. To our Aussie family Lee, Rob, Claire, Glen and Kyle in Melbourne, Jeanne and Edwin in Sydney, and Robs and Dean in Brizzy, you guys made our stay in the land Down Under really memorable and really comfortable after the trials in India.

In the USA, Dave Nadelberg in Los Angeles who graciously gave us a place to sleep even though he didn’t know us from a bar of soap. In Phoenix, Bret and MJ, not only did they give us a place to stay, they also made sure that we had a tent for our trip to the canyon-lands and let us borrow the blow up mattress! To Adriano and the rest of the gang at Newport Place in San Diego, thanks for a great week and a lot of laughs! To our couch surfing host in Daytona Beach, David, you are a lifesaver, thank you so much! To Veenen for taking us flying in Daytona Beach! To the Gurney family in Asheville, who made us feel quite at home and took care of us so well. Getting to the end now, to Renee and Vincent in Cary, who gave us the good stuff-their homemade boerewors-and showed us the most authentic Southern experience, a corn maze! To Jean-Pierre who let us stay in his spectacular apartment in DC, for taking us out for dinner and for treating us to great South African wine-we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. To Helen and Judy in New York for completely spoiling us, and for driving us through snow storms-and spoiling Trist on his birthday in the Big Apple!

Back in the UK, to Ang, Grant and Ethan for letting us recover from our jet-lag and for the late night karaoke session :) To Ailsa and the Briggs’ for spoiling us in Worcester, taking us flying, and to Jonathan for the fantastic Roast lunch! To Michael for putting up with us both at the beginning and the end of the trip, and giving us his bed while he slept on the floor. To Rich for having us in London in the beginning of our trip and for taking us out in Notting Hill at the end. And last but not least, to Amandine and Barry for the last minute hosting, in London and in Dublin and for celebrating our last couple of days on the URT with us!

Finally, to our families and friends back home for all the support and love, and to all of our followers for keeping up with our travels along the way. We will continue to write about the planning and the stories of the Ultimate Round Trip so continue to visit the site when you can, or if you haven’t already, subscribe to the emails on the home page!

D & T x

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08 Nov 2011 · 11:36 PM

Vote for your New 7 Wonders

Being a traveller and a proud Capetownian, I feel like I have a duty to tell you about this vote to create the New 7 Wonders of the world. So go and vote here for 7 of the 28 finalists and have your say – and you only have 2 more days to do it, so go now! :)

Obviously Table Mountain is definitely my favourite World Wonder, but I’m only a little biased! Check out this fab article from Dumirocks on our beautiful mountain.

Photo from fellow blogger Dumisani M

D x

PS: Don’t worry, we’re working on a post soon! :)

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