Day 357 South Africa 25/10/2011, Sheri's Lodge, Graskop – Big 5 backpackers, Hazyview. 27.81miles/44.49km, 2hr46minutes, Av 10mph.

With the prospect of a short and more importantly downhill day ahead of us we set off for a return to the town of Hazyview. Having stopped in the town on our way north, we had decided to take a different route back. As we were once again travelling along the scenic panorama route we were expecting another day of beautiful scenery. For the main part we weren't disappointed, but it wasn't quite as spectacular as some of the other roads we had taken. We understand that the trees have been planted to be farmed, but large areas of deforestation doesn't make for the prettiest of environments.

Fortunately despite some notable ups, the route was largely downhill, a good thing as we are both still nursing upset stomachs. It has been a while now and we just don't seem to be able to shake them, it is making the cycling tougher than perhaps it should be. It may be time to take a course of antibiotics and hope that it clears up the problem.

Arriving in Hazyview quite early, we rode into town and stopped at a tourist centre to look for a better map of South Africa. The maps weren't suitable but we did find somewhere to have brunch. With our stomachs fuller and having imbibed my body weight in free refill cokes, we set off for 'Big 5' backpackers.

Having stayed in 'Bushpackers' last time we thought we would try somewhere different. While heading up the hill towards the hostel, uphill is a given, we encountered another cyclist coming the other way. He quickly introduced himself as Nigel and said that he was also staying at 'Big 5'. In the meantime we were also approached by a parks guy who had met some cyclists about a year ago and wanted to offer us somewhere to stay. We thanked him for his kind offer, but thought that it would be nice to stay in the same place as Nigel and find out what his plans are. Saying goodbye to both of them, we continued up the hill and shorty arrived at the hostel.

Big 5 is the cheapest place we have stayed for a while so we have taken a double room with shared bathroom, which is bizarrely less expensive than camping. It seems pretty basic, but the staff are friendly enough and we only plan to be here for one night before moving on. There is also a very nice view over the hills from our room.

While getting sorted, Nigel came back and we found out that he had just come from Johannesburg where his trip had begun. He has six months to explore Southern/Eastern Africa. He is potentially on a similar route to us, so we may meet along the way as we head south. He is likely to be moving much quicker than us though.

Dinner was followed by an early night. Debs started to feel a lot worse last night, so we will have to play our plans for tomorrow by ear. There is no point in moving on if she is going to feel rubbish all day. We certainly haven't cleared the mountains yet.