Thankfully the hot weather of the last few days had gone this morning and we woke to a grey cloudy morning; brilliant cycling weather! Ending up staying for another night because it was too hot to cycle would have been a bit annoying. Especially when we knew that the concert that we wanted to go to was happening down the road without us.
With a reasonable distance to cover ahead of us, we got ready early, said our farewell to Nigel and the other guests (the ones that were up at least!) and hit the road by 7am.
Today's road was just what we needed, a series of gentle climbs interspersed with some nice descents and a goodly amount of riding on the flat. In truth some of the climbs were a bit steeper than I have eluded to, but they certainly weren't in the same league as the ones we had previously encountered in Swaziland.
A combination of the cooler weather and easier cycling conditions meant that we were making excellent progress. It was a good way to remind ourselves that we could put in the distance if we needed to.
The locals that we encountered along the road today were a bit of a mixed bunch. Generally we have found that you have to wave or speak first, but that doesn't always guarantee a response. When we stopped for a drink at a small supermarket, we had timed it perfectly for the kids coming out of school, not all of them friendly. In fact, when Debs was buying the drinks, some of them tried to get me to go into the shop saying that she needed me, while another one attempted to take stuff from the bikes. Having travelled together for so long I knew that if she needed me, she would have come outside.
We are not in the habit of leaving the bikes unattended. Deciding that I better check she was alright I poked my head round the door and then immediately turned round to see an individual grabbing at my bar bag and then, when he realised he had been spotted, pretending that he was just looking at my map. He then had the cheek to ask if he could take my bike for a ride! Quite how stupid he thought I was, is beyond me. Fortunately our next school children encounter was an entirely positive one. They happily crowded around the bikes and then ran alongside as we headed off.
As always seems to be the case, the last 15 to 20 kilometres were the toughest. Our saddles never seem too bad until the 80km mark and then they just get continually more uncomfortable. The fact that the road had levelled out, went some way to easing the pain though.
Our arrival outside Lismore lodge, where we planned to stay, came not a moment too soon. Sadly the lodge was full and having seen their prices that probably wasn't a bad thing. It did however present us with an accommodation dilemma. The receptionist was great and phoned another lodge for us, but they only had a single room available. Luckily we had seen a sign, somewhat unexpectedly, for a backpackers place near the lodge. The receptionist wasn't sure what the situation was with the backpackers, but contacted someone who came to meet us. We were then taken up to see what is essentially a collection of converted porta-cabins. The guy who showed us round was really helpful and we were soon settling into adjoining rooms with a shared bathroom. Better still it was at a fraction of the price of the lodge. Our accommodation problems were solved. The only downside is that they are extremely hot and the fans are struggling to make much of an impact on the temperature. Still every cloud; the lodge's bar is lovely and cool and the beer is even colder!
Having had a nice, but in my case quite spicy, dinner we headed back to the rooms for an early night. We will be back in South Africa tomorrow and have another longish day ahead of us. Fingers crossed the weather cools down again by the morning.
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