Day 434 South Africa 10/01/2012, Storm's River – Albergo backpackers, Plettenberg Bay. 40.27miles/65.13km, 3hr24minutes, Av 11.8mph.

Debs was feeling a little better this morning, so we packed our gear and got ready to leave. We said our goodbyes to Roger and our guide from yesterday, Tate and set off for Plettenberg Bay. With a shorter day ahead of us we were in no rush, the flat terrain meant that we certainly weren't moving slowly though.

Having been on the road for an hour we reached Bloukran's bridge, the largest in South Africa, and home of the world's highest commercial bungee jump. We turned off the main road and headed down to the viewing area to have a look. Any likelihood of me jumping off the bridge has been ended simply by expenditure; as it is, I am undecided about whether I wanted to or not. Should I come back on holiday then I would say definitely yes. But as it stands, we still have a way to go and plenty of other things that I would rather spend our money on. We had to wait a while to watch some people jump, at 216m it is certainly high, but there was no shortage of people queuing up.

Leaving the jumpers behind, we set off back to the main road and across the bridge. From there on it was a straightforward ride to our destination. A steep valley crossing, that bikeroutetoaster had predicted never materialised, so the terrain remained fairly flat.

Making the most of the shorter day, we made a few stops and encountered some interested locals along the way. There is no shortage of friendly people to have a chat to in South Africa.

Plettenberg Bay town centre is nicely situated up a hill; a pretty steep hill at that. After the gentle morning, our legs were certainly feeling it after we made it to Albergo's Backpackers; which was of course up another hill! Thankfully we are situated in the thick of the action, with all the shops and restaurants close by. The camp-site is unshaded which isn't ideal but there are plenty of hammocks around to escape from the sun in.

Having done some shopping we headed back to the hostel so that Debs could have a rest. While she had a nap, I took her front wheel, which has been making some noise, to the local bike shop to try and get the bearings replaced. Plett Cycles, when I found them after a considerable walk, were very helpful. They didn't have the exact bearings that I needed, but have replaced them with similar ones, which should last until we get home. The owner wouldn't accept any payment, which was very nice of him and I was soon heading back to the hostel.

Returning to Albergo's, I spent a while looking for Debs until I found her fast asleep on one of the hammocks. She slept through most of the afternoon and we did little more than eat, watch a bit of TV and then head to the tent for the night. We will go and have a look at the beach tomorrow and have a better look round the rather upmarket town.

Day 433 South Africa 09/01/2012, Tube 'N Axe Backpackers, Storm's River Village. Tubing!!

It wasn't as early a start as we had thought this morning. Instead of a 7:30am start, our trip wasn't due to begin until 8:30am. Having been introduced to our guide Tate and our fellow tubers, we got kitted out with wetsuits, helmets and life jackets. The wetsuits were in fact optional, but having been in the river water in South Africa before, we considered it a wise move. As it turned out, the water was plenty warm enough that we could have managed without them.

The journey to the river took about 20 minutes and we immediately got the opportunity to leap into the river from one or both of two different height ledges. The smaller being 5m high and the other being 7m high. Debs bravely jumped off the 5m ledge and somehow managed to hurt her ear as she hit the water. Not the best start to what turned out to be a very enjoyable trip. I jumped from both, but certainly wouldn't receive a great deal of style points for my efforts. Seven metres is quite a long way down, especially when you have to jump out to avoid a tree and the rock face!

With the jumps completed the trip settled down to a more leisurely pace. The water level wasn't very high, so it was more of a lazy float, interspersed by some paddling and a few short sections of rapids, which we mostly got stuck in!

Rather than racing down white water we had a lot of fun trying to throw our guide in the water and trying out some leaps into the tubes. One of these leaps ended in an epic fail by me, when my under-rotated somersault left me stuck upside down through the tube! Fortunately only my pride was dented, although aching a little, I did decide to sit the later 8m jump out. We still have to cycle tomorrow and Debs with her injured ear drum, was already one injury too many!

By the time we reached our pick up point we were all fairly tired. We hadn't expected to have to paddle so much. It may have been fun but it certainly wasn't very restful.

Back at the hostel we had our, slightly disappointing, included lunch and then said goodbye to our group. Only one of them, a nice guy from Switzerland called Roger, is staying at our hostel.

After a brief rest, we headed to the village's rubbish supermarket and failed to buy any food. It looked like the Elvis diner was going to be getting our business tonight. This time we were joined by Roger and the cocktails flowed once again. We would have stopped at one drink, but a sudden downpour kept us in the diner. In fact, the same downpour drove us into the bar back at the hostel the as well. A few games of pool with Roger and a small whisky for the road brought the day to a close.

Debs sadly went to bed a little earlier as she had been suffering from bad earache. With luck she will be a bit better tomorrow, or we will have to rethink our plans. The village and area is nice enough, but we really can't do another night in the diner!

Day 432 South Africa 08/01/2012, Jeffrey's Bay – Tube 'N Axe Backpackers, Storm's River Village. 66.45miles/107.32km, 6hr01minutes, Av 11.0mph.

We had a good and remarkably restrained last night at Jeffrey's Bay. The Hard Rock Backpackers may not be everyone's cup of tea, but we have had a very enjoyable time. A big thanks to Dick and Norman for making our stay memorable.

Hitting the road early this morning, we set off out of Jeffrey's Bay into a grey and cloudy day. Instead of giving way to bright sunshine as the morning progressed, we were treated to a light rain.

The conditions were pretty much ideal, considering that we had 45km of gentle climbing to do before the road would level out. With a 100km+ day ahead of us, we once again made really good progress passing the 12,000km mark along the way!

By the time the sun came out with a vengeance, we had already covered over 70km. A bite to eat at a small roadside café and then a stop to have a look at Storm's River, brought us eventually to Tube 'N Axe Backpackers. It may have been a decent distance, but we had travelled it in very good time.

Being Sunday the local supermarket was closed which was a little unfortunate as we hadn't thought to get any supplies. The staff at the hostel weren't sure what was on the menu for dinner, so we headed off to a nearby restaurant. Suddenly life became a little surreal again. We certainly didn't expect to find a kitsch American Diner called Marilyn's in this sleepy small South African town. A diner itself isn't that surprising but when it has a garage complete with two Rock 'n' Roll era Cadillacs and a Chevrolet, a wall dedicated to Elvis and photos from the annual Elvis festival; not to mention gaudy pink paintwork and a bright pink tree stump outside, it comes as a bit of a shock!

For all its strangeness, the food was good, the staff friendly and as it was Elvis' birthday we received a glass of champagne each to celebrate. Oh and the cocktails were pretty good as well, there was certainly no skimping on the alcohol content.

By the time we got back to the tent it was almost time for bed. A brief chat with some of our fellow guests round the camp fire brought a long and enjoyable day to a close. Tubing tomorrow!