Day 401 South Africa 08/12/2011, Umzumbe – Ku-Buboyi River Lodge, Leisure bay. 35.86miles/58.82km, 4hr17minutes, Av 8.3mph.

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.

Day 400 South Africa 07/12/2011, Warner Beach – Mantis and Moon, Umzumbe. 46.82miles/75.85km, 4hr59minutes, Av 9.4mph.

Aaaaargh another bad night's sleep! This time it was brought on by the fact that there was no flat ground in the camp-site, so we were pitched on a slope. We both spent most of the night waking up and bracing ourselves against sliding into each other. Feeling extremely tired, we packed up the tent and set off down the coast to Umzumbe.

To say that it was a difficult day on the road, would be an understatement. Debs is suffering from a crisis of confidence since her roadside incident and really struggled. When a young guy pulled out of a field and cycled slowly behind her, she became convinced that something was going to happen. It turned out that he was just cycling very slowly and waved as he passed us, when we stopped. Meanwhile I stood on the roadside trying to comfort a very upset Debs. I know that she is a lot stronger than she feels at the moment and fully believe that her confidence will return. In her own words she doesn't want one incident to ruin the whole experience for her.

It certainly wasn't only Debs suffering, my legs felt leaden all day and my bike has rarely felt heavier. In fact, both of us were left feeling like we were cycling through treacle. Hot weather and a steeper than expected road certainly didn't improve matters.

For once we wished that instead of taking the quieter old main road, we had ridden along the N2 highway. Technically we are not allowed to be on it, but it had to be flatter and less meandering than the road we were on.

Arriving in Hibberdene made our spirits lift, as we finally rejoined the coast and we were able to get some much needed food. Better still we were only about 6km away from stopping for the day.

Mantis and Moon backpackers is a pretty cool place, set in a very nice jungle like garden. Unfortunately the camping spot is on a deck, which is no use at all if you don't have a free standing tent. Considering the terrible nights we have had lately, we elected to have a double room/hut instead. Which, assuming the monkeys stop jumping up and down on the roof and not too many more trains go by, we will hopefully get a good nights sleep in.

We have a shorter day tomorrow, so we don't have to rush in the morning. Dinner and maybe a beer is going to bring today to a close very shortly.