Having had a slightly strange breakfast experience; we were watched like hawks as we helped ourselves to cereal and yoghurt and then had to wait 20 minutes for a cup of instant coffee, we said our goodbyes and set off into a bright sunny morning. Daph's B&B may have been an unlikely place to stay, but we had a pretty good time there and we were made to feel very welcome.
Any ideas that the road was going to level out were ended pretty quickly and we found ourselves climbing steadily on what was now a very warm day. Once again the people of the Wild Coast were there to buoy us along with friendly waves and greetings. We were even accompanied at one point by two guys on horseback shouting Happy Christmas!
Continuing the festive theme a 4x4 full of Santa hat clad South Africans pulled alongside and asked if we would like a beer! It was a lovely offer but we politely refused, we had enough problems with the heat and the hills as it was. With all the greetings not only did our legs get a good work out, our waving arms did as well! Some of us got a bit more of a workout, as I had to fix yet another puncture. It seems that when I repaired the inner tube yesterday, I neglected to remove all the glass from the tyre.
The warm weather and blue skies may have made for some hot going, but it certainly highlighted the beauty of the scenery. Some of South Africa's landscape is truly breathtaking, or maybe it was just the hills!
Slowly but surely we made it to Flagstaff, having narrowly avoided a thunderstorm along the way, and set about finding the hotel. The hotel was easy to find, staff however were an entirely different matter. While Debs went to try and find someone, I stayed with the bikes and had an encounter with three guys all competing for the drunkest man in Flagstaff competition. Handshakes, hugs and pats on the back later and I was pleased to see Debs return saying that we had a room. We are now checked into a room that once again has no water, it has been promised later in the day, are not certain of the price and have no one to pay anyway. The only staff we have encountered so far, are cleaning staff who speak limited English. We have to assume that they were allowed to give us a room and hope that the price they told us was correct.
Having got settled in we wandered into town to get some food and then returned to the hotel. With any luck the water will come on later as promised and we will get a decent night's sleep. We have a slightly longer day ahead of us tomorrow when we head back down to sea level and the town of Port St Johns. We will be replacing the B&Bs and Marie Celeste like hotels with a few nights at one of the seafront backpackers.
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