Finally a better night's sleep and thankfully we didn't wake to the weather that had been predicted last night in the bar. According to the surfer bar staff, who apparently know about this sort of thing, a strong south-westerly wind was going to get up overnight. Having had a helpful, although not remotely cooling, north-easterly wind for the last few days, the prospect of a strong headwind didn't fill us with joy. Fortunately it seems that the wind came in during the night and whilst still in our faces this morning, it had lost most of its strength by the time we set off.
First stop today was in Port Shepstone where we had breakfast at a local Wimpy. We had completely forgotten to get any breakfast provisions yesterday, even though we had stopped outside a supermarket for lunch. Having enjoyed a cooked breakfast, Debs went to get some supplies while I guarded the bikes. I soon got chatting to a friendly guy called Willem (sorry if I have your name wrong) about the trip, which helped pass the time waiting for Debs. When Debs returned with the shopping so did Willem and said that he had had a chat with the local press and a reporter would be along shortly if that was alright. We certainly weren't going to be going anywhere fast today! The reporter Shona was lovely and we had a nice chat about our adventures. After a brief photo shoot and waves of goodbye, we hit the road once again.
By now the morning was practically gone, so we set off to try and make up for our earlier lost time. As time progressed the weather got steadily worse and we were treated to some light rain which slowly got heavier. Should anyone hear a South African complaining about the British summer, then you can draw their attention to this blog.
As if the weather knew that it should clear up for a momentous occasion, the rain stopped as we passed the 7000 mile mark. To give the achievement an English summer feel, as if the damp grey conditions weren't enough, we had just entered the town of Margate! The obligatory photos were taken, high fives were given and we set off once again as far as a local bike shop.
I had run out of chain oil and the old chain on my bike has been making some nasty clicking noises. Replacements were in order, which the owner was happy to supply us with, just not in any hurry. Between the weather, hills, breakfasting, shopping, chatting and interviewing, it has been a very stop start day. The guy in the bike shop was friendly enough and told us how he had met two cyclist heading north a week or so back. It turned out it was the couple we had met on our way down to the coast from Eshowe.
With our purchases in hand we set off again, this time towards the town of Ramsgate in the now pouring rain. Foolishly we passed up the opportunity to stop again for some lunch and instead peddled on, reasoning that we didn't have too far to go. By now though the rain was very hard and the wind had gotten stronger. The conditions made every hill seem longer and every descent feel shorter.
Soaked by the rain and buffeted by the spray of rapidly passing traffic, even the road signs seemed to be against us. Spotting the turn off for Leisure Bay I breathed a damp sigh of relief, only to be informed by Debs that we needed the Southern turn off. Slogging on for another few kilometres, we turned off the main road and up a steep hill to the lodge. The steeper entrance drive to the lodge was too much for Debs, so after depositing my bike by the door I ran back to help push. We had made it on what had turned out to be a considerably more epic day than we had expected.
Having checked into the dorm room, dried our luggage and hung everything out as best we could, we have settled into a very friendly lodge. Eric, the owner and French chef, is a character and his staff are all very nice. We will be staying put tomorrow and then heading off into the Transkei (Wild coast) the day after. A beer or three is definitely in order tonight, which will hopefully lead into a good night's sleep.
Wow how skinny do you two look, have you been eating enough. good going, keep up the posting
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on reaching the 7000 mile mark!
ReplyDeleteLove from Mum and Dad xx