Day 448 South Africa 25/01/2012, Struisbaai – Gansbaai Backpackers. 54.64miles/88.49km, 4hr59minutes, Av10.9mph.

Choosing to sleep in a dorm hasn't turned out to be the best option. For both nights it has been very warm at night, mosquitoes have taken a liking to us and last night our dorm mates managed to make as much noise as possible when they arrived back at midnight.

Slightly down on sleep, we set off early this morning heading for 45km of gravel road. We had been told that the road was in very good condition and thankfully that is what we found. For the first 24km section it was better than some tarmac roads we have been on. It was also very scenic and even better we were pushed along by a strong tailwind. In fact the wind was so good that even a badly corrugated second section of road didn't harm our progress.

Getting to the end of the gravel road early meant that our original plan to stay at Die Dam, 35km shy of Gansbaai seemed a bit foolish. Instead of stopping early, we decided to press on and thanks to the wind and a flat, straight road we soon arrived in the town. Having made a quick stop at the supermarket we went in search of the backpackers, which by a bit of trial and error we found. We have a nice room and it seems, the whole place pretty much to ourselves!

Despite Gansbaai being a small fishing town, it is the South African capital of white shark dives. Ordinarily this would be the only reason to come and stay here, but for us it was at a convenient distance on the map. I have been considering doing a shark dive for the last few weeks, but have been struggling with the fact that it is the wrong season. There are still sharks about, but the water visibility is poor this time of year. Eventually I have made the decision not to bother. I would rather come back at the right time of year, with my underwater camera and my scuba card. For now I will save the money for something else, we still have quite a few days ahead of us.

Discovering that there isn't much to see in the town, we returned to the hostel where we plan to have an early night. We have short days ahead of us from now on, starting with what should be a pretty easy ride to Hermanus.