Roadtrip: Day 1: Cape Town to Storms River Village

Initially, I planned on starting the trip at 6am. But due to various reasons, including the fact that I was still packing at 6:30 am, I only started out at 7am. Still dark though! For whatever reason, regardless of trip, I always manage to misplace my lip-ice - today was no exception. So, first stop - the Engen 1-Stop near Somerset West to address this problem and to buy breakfast (Woolies food stop - yummy). Decided to delay breaking the fast until Sir Lowry's pass - eat with a view!

From here on, it was rather straight forward - just drive. I did stop a few times at some of the lookout/rest areas - but the rest areas I was really looking forward to - between Mossel Bay and Knysna were all blocked out due to road construction. :( Regardless, I must state that the road between Mossel Bay and Knysna is particularly stunning, and the lakes, mountain and greenery reminded me of the Scottish Highlands.

Every second car on the road seemed to carry a bike (so I sort of fitted in). Only when I came to Knysna, did I realise that the Knysna Oyster Festival was on, and there is a bike race as part of the festivities. The traffic was horrendous, so I did not bother going into Knysna.

I have been to Pletenberg Bay once before, I did not understand the attraction. But my (ex) house mate, Dan mentioned Nature's Valley, and I decided to give it a try. A brilliant suggestion!

Firstly, the road is exhilarating with all the switchbacks through the forest and mountains of Tsitsikamma. really need to come back with a better car :P Nature's Valley itself is very cool - a massive, largely deserted beach, lagoon, lots of birds. Very pretty, and I think it has a good potential for a very nice day/evening out.

After that, it was getting towards late afternoon, so off to Bloukrans. I have always wanted to bungee jump from the bridge. But to see it properly, looking down - I almost chickened out. But then, I decided, what the hell. And went for the combo - a slide down from the side of the bridge to the jump base. And then the bungee.

The slide was brilliant - you literally fly suspended across half the canyon. I think they should make a really extreme one that does the full canyon. The jump was interesting - it was a high (all that adrenalin), and it was really cool to see the world from a different angle. The whole falling thing is also quite scary, but cool. I preferred the rebounds however, much slower speeds, and thus, you get to see a lot more. Dangling over the canyon (even if it is head first) is an experience in itself. However, I am not sure if I would like to do it again. Would happily do the slide again, and again. I must commend the staff - they were very friendly, and were very safety concious. I do find the whole video, photo and t-shirts a bit excessively priced. I think it would have been better to offer at least some of it as part of the package and not as optional extras.

As it was quite late, I decided to find a place to stay for the night. The staff at the bungee recommended that I try Storms River Village - basically a whole tourist village with a number of guest houses and the like. God a very nice self catering unit (Ploughmans B&B) - R150 for the night, fully furnished. Went to a restaurant here, Rafters, which incidentally specialises in Cape Malay cooking - whose food was average and overpriced. Oh well - you win some, you loose some.