Tavel day - short blog :)

Before I start on today, here are some additional pics of the whales from yesterday.

Today was a travel day as we said farewell to our luxury penthouse in the guesthouse and made our way to Knysna for our next adventures. It was already going to be a 4.5 hour drive, but we added an extra 2 hours by making a detour to the most southerly tip of the African continent at a place called la’Agulas.

We know this is the true most southerly point as there is a monument :)

As we stand on this little cairn we have one foot on the Atlantic side of the line and one foot on the Indian Ocean side :) it was really tricky for me to get on top of it as it was about 3 inches to high for me to climb on - there was a queue of people waiting to take their photographs, and they all had to stand patiently as I huffed and puffed and dragged myself on to it. EJ just sprang up of course…. no comments about my knees please!

I cannot get over the difference in people on this side of the continent - up until today we have been surrounded by smiley people, especially in restaurants and cafes - not today - we have met grumpy people all day, who seemed cross that we were disrupting their day! Not everyone, of course, but it has taken us by surprise.

Another thing that has taken us by surprise are the number of speed cameras there are here - typically hiding in bushes, but sometimes actually affixed to the speed limit signs. We have been really careful not to exceed the speed limits - which is a bit tricky as the South Africans seem to like to keep the limits to themselves! There is not one universal speed limit..... We did get caught by one camera as we got to the end of some roadworks - the limit was 40km and it was downhill on a really steep road - I think I was doing about 50 sadly, and the flash on the camera nearly blinded me! Ah well, that is a fine to pay when we take the car back...

I ticked another lighthouse off my list

and then came the long drive to Knysna.

EJ was poorly last night and so was already in for a rough time, but I have also finally succumbed to the dreaded cold/flu that I have been fighting off since those freezing cold Qatar Airlines flights that brought us here. Of course with a blocked nose, stuffed sinuses, chesty cough and sneezing every 5 minutes, you can imagine my snoring decibels were raised - that and a jippy tummy meant that EJ got almost no sleep….

All that to say she was rubbish company on the long drive, so I put on an audio book and talked to myself :) I answered myself too! I was actually quite good company :D

I got really excited at one point when I saw a road warning sign for Tortoises, but sadly, I didn't see any. We did see lots of springbok in fields though, and sheep (unexpected).

Some signs just say 'wild animals' and we are left to wonder what kind of wild animal?

We have seen lost of hitchhikers though - some of them holding money out - I guess it is how people get about here, either that or 20 people crammed into the back of a van - neither way of travel seems particularly safe, but we have not seen any kind of public transport, so maybe there is no alternative.

We did pass this sign just as Emma woke up on the journey and she asked why people were not allowed to do a thumbs up sign - was it considered rude?.......(yes I googled a pic of the sign, I did not stop and snap a pic.

Finally made it here to find it is pouring with rain! I asked the receptionist if this was usual weather and she said no! How lucky are we 🥴

It is raining so hard that we decided not to venture out and stayed int he hotel - EJ stuck to soup for dinner, but I ordered ribs and wings - and of course the obligatory cocktail... I ordered a Sexy Rexy (we are staying at the Aha Rex Hotel, what3words craving.inactions.nabbed) without properly reading the description - I did not realise it was tequila based, hence my face!

We have a couple of options for tomorrow - depending on the weather, so we will wake up and see where the day takes us - fingers crossed it stops raining, but if it doesn't, we will still have fun