Wilderness

Saturday 9th January 2016 – Had a wonderful fruity breakfast at Mossel Bay Backpackers then sauntered to the car to find a parking ticket on our windscreen! Bewildered we read what illegal behaviour we had committed…apparently we had ‘unlawfully parked our motor vehicle facing oncoming traffic’. Little did we know that in South Africa you are not allowed to park facing oncoming traffic ever! A little wiser and a little poorer we left the beachy resort of Mossel Bay and headed along the Garden Route coastline, the Indian Ocean our witness and friend at our side. Along the way we stopped to look at various little villages dotted along the coast, the first was an island…we crossed a tiny, creaky bridge only just the width of our car…holding our breath we made it across to only a handful of local houses. Next we pulled into a place called Hersham, parked up and walked along the beautifully white sandy beach…paddling in the sea we came across a decent sized dead jellyfish being consumed by hundreds of ravenous sea snails! Further along the coast we stopped at a place called Wilderness, pulling up at Annie’s Beach House Backpackers we were told there was no room at the inn apart from a shed with a leaky roof…intrigued we had a look…it was ideal…half cave, half shed, no electricity but cool and clean with a beautiful sea view. That night we played pool to the sound of Bruce Springsteen and were lulled into a deep sleep by the sound of the rhythmic waves.

Sunday 10th January 2016 – Woken from our best sleep yet by the sunlight filtering through our curtains and the melody of the ocean waves, we lazily headed down the steep road to a cafe’ positioned at an old abandoned train station called ‘Wilderness’ hence the name of the town. There we spied a double collared sunbird singing its morning song with a splendid iridescent red breast and surrounding green plumage. After breakfast we spotted hyraxes…small mammals the size of a rabbit…basking in the sun on their beloved rocks and feeding on vegetation. Heading towards Wilderness National Park we decided to hire a kayak for the afternoon. With Aaron doing most of the paddling and me spotting wildlife, we travelled along the river for around an hour then pulled the boat up to safety, hauled ourselves across the river on a rope raft…like something out of Indiana Jones…and started our trek to the waterfall. On arrival there was not one but two glorious waterfalls. We picnicked on camembert and fresh rolls then bathed in the waterfall pools…refreshed and fed we returned to our kayak and headed back through gusty winds and an ever cloudier sky…we crossed our fingers it wouldn’t rain knowing that our dwelling place that night had a leaky roof!

Monday 11th January 2016 – After another blissful sleep we headed out for breakfast…spying the hyraxes again we watched their early morning routine intrigued by their family dynamics. At breakfast Aaron out of nowhere suddenly shrieked thinking there was some African beastly insect on his arm…it turned out to be part of one of his travel bracelets and not a giant creature of any kind! He was a little red faced to say the least. That afternoon we relaxed, sunbathing on the beach and took dips in the ocean. In the evening we ate calzone at Pomodoro, a lovely Italian restaurant and sipped cocktails to the live music of ‘The Breeze’, a twosome band who uncannily resembled ZZ Top and sang a range of eclectic songs for all to enjoy. Returning to our Backpackers, we danced and chatted, listening to Annie’s unusual childhood stories of her Irish upbringing and listening to David Bowie’s greatest hits…sad at the news of his passing.