Hurrah!

Today is a good day. don't ask me why, just seem to be bouncing around like Tigga all rather jolly. Actually... thinking about it... I've also just had my first cup of real coffee made in one of those Italian doo-dahs that you put on the hob... a-ha... caffeine - what a marvellous thing!

Earthdancing

Working for some bloody lovely people at the mo, who've decided to disappear off with us in mid-September for a quick roadtrip to Cape Town for the Earthdance festival - heard so much about it during my time in the country but never quite made it to one so really looking forward to a weekend of hell-raising partying African style in the open air surrounded by peace loving people. Hurrah!

Why?

Nobody has the answers, but really, why did my dad have to die? I miss him hugely and have so many things to tell him about my journey in South Africa I don't know where to put them all in my head. Bugger.

Chef-o-rama

I know that for some of you , it may beggar belief, but people are paying to eat the food I cook....! I have turned into a semi chef and have come to understand (up to a point) why all those celeb chefs and other normal ones can be complete arseholes - man is it a challenge! So am hanging around the backpackers, helping out, cooking, talking shite, checking the waves and the dolphins at more or less sunrise and rather enjoying it all. Hurrah!

Ouch!

Oh the pain... Friend from the UK came to visit, arrived in the evening, drunk beer, wine and vodka and talked excellent shite until the cows came home (well the sun was nearly rising), got one hour's sleep, got up for work and had to concentrate very hard to be able to do anything. Still feeling kuk - must be losing my touch...

Wave Goddess

So I am in Jeffreys Bay, the surf mecca of South Africa, home of the Billabong Pro contest and some of the best surfing in the world. Only one small problem.... I can't actually surf... yet.
Am planning on giving it a bloody good go and turning into a surf chick, goddess of all waves etc. etc. Have definately run out of excuses now and will really have to learn not to run away from large waves.... ha ha! Oh dear.

[Photo: Jeffreys Bay Supertubes, Credit: Ubuntu ©]

African time

Y'oh! Had to have the patience of a saint the other day. Decided due to lack of funds that getting local transport would be the best way to get myself down the coast to Port Elizabeth. It is normal to wait a while as the minibus taxi fills up, so you kinda expect maybe up to an hour maximum... four hours later and they decide it is time to go, but then change the price and tell me it is extra for my bags. The guy orignally quoted me a price which included the bags (which was over the top anyway, just cos I look like a tourist), so by that time my temper was on the boil and I grabbed my little bag and said oi you, no, bloody had enough, give me my other bags, I shall make another plan. By which point the dude decided that he would rather give me the original price rather than lose the entire fare... the driver was actually a nice middle aged man but the guy in charge of the local taxi rank decided he wanted to intimidate me... which failed dismally. Hah! So in the back seat were me and my fella with another random in the front - pretty spacious considering. But then the driver stops for another passenger and her suitacase and we are far too cosily crammed in the back resembling sardines and the proverbial tin... oh hooray. Not.

Make it safely to Port Elizabeth and only just catch the last local minibus taxi to Jeffreys Bay - there is one seat remaining and two of us... someone gets to sit on the rucksacks - I always knew they had more purpose than just humping them around on one's back! Know that I've been around far too long as I know all the msuic they play in the van - mainly stuff that gets played at local shebeens (illegal bars). Get dropped off in the arse end of nowhere cos the driver isn't going anywhere close to the direction of the backpackers we're staying at, so on the bags go and off we go walking down poorly lit, fairly barren streets followíng the signs for the backpackers hoping that no one decides we're an easy target. Which they don't. Make it to Island Vibe Backpackers - party central of backpacking in Jeffreys Bay, although not on the night we arrive. Is a little impersonal and rather large, but we book into a cute little beach shack overlooking the waves, find the bar and chill the hell out with several large, well deserved drinks.

Nomadic again

Been reading through my blog and it really jumps all over the place. Anyway, my initial plans have fallen out the window with a big plop and I am now travelling around South Africa (again!) in the search for a new plan. Getting there slowly and have some South African friends these days as well which always helps when things hit the fan when they shouldn't. Somewhere still in the Eastern Cape at the mo at possibly the quietest backpackers in the world - time to turn on the TV and tune out the rest of the world and have a full-on lazy night in front of the box. Haven't done that for months and it has to be one of the first times in South Africa. Ho hum. At least it's free. Off again tomorrow with my bag/home on my back via minibus taxi (also known as "local transport"!) down the coast in the hope of a more vibey place to stay and interesting things to do...