Week 11 - Personal Blog

 “Do everything you come across”. That was the advice I received from a teacher in my placement school last week when I told him I was going to Cape Town and travelling back along the coast towards PE (The Garden Route). He soon had filled me in on the incredible views, endless activities and nice hostels to stay in that I would come across along the garden route. Needless to say, my expectations of the Garden Route were sky high before we even left Cape Town.  In my childhood, my past experiences of long journeys that entailed many stops along the way always consisted of sitting in the back of a family car being forced to listen to country and western and sleeping until we were told we must get out of the car, so already I was aware that this trip was going to be slightly different!  We left Cape Town early on Monday morning, and we loved the freedom of deciding where exactly we wanted to stop and when, something I have never really had experience of before. Our first planned stop was Mossel Bay, the first main stop on our way home. However, as we started to drive we decided it would be nice to make a slight detour and visit the most southerly point of Africa. It was a surreal thought to think that as we stood looking out to the sea that from that point on, it was no longer Africa, and although it added quite a bit of driving onto our journey, we were glad we had taken the detour.  Travelling the garden route without the comfort zone of planned stops and nothing to think about was definitely an adventure for us and I loved the independence.

When living in somewhere like South Africa , there is almost an obligation to travel as much as we can as there is just so much to see in four short months. This has led to a drastic change in lifestyle for me, in that we now travel as much as we possibly can, taking every opportunity that there is to see more of this country.  This has given me a new interest in travel, both within Ireland and further afield, and I feel that my experience of international study has given me ‘itchy feet’, and an interest to see more of the world, their cultures and their lifestyles.

 A common pattern that we came across when we spoke to a number of locals, was that they have not seen a lot of their own country, and although they could recommend many places to go and visit, they had rarely been to them themselves. This is sad to me as it is such a beautiful country, yet many of the people of South Africa have seen only their own province. In reflection, I realised that many of us are similar within Northern Ireland, as we are blessed with beautiful coastlines and landscapes that are comparable to some of those in South Africa, yet many of us, including myself,  have seen only a small collection of these.  This, to me, seems like such a waste, and I hope to explore a lot more of Ireland after my return home.

 This week I have done so many activities that I thought I may never have the chance to do, most of which will be times that I will look back on as some of my most memorable. After an incredible week of travel along the garden route with many adventures, Glenn and I both surprised ourselves at how excited we were to return to Port Elizabeth which made me realise how quickly I have accepted it as my home.  We were delighted to have the chance to show our friends around our new home, introduce them to our new international friends and let them see where we have been living and a bit of what we have been doing (besides tanning ourselves obviously!). I am learning that I’m generally a pretty adaptable person and have quickly made Port Elizabeth my home from home, and almost felt a pride as I showed our friends the local area. Learning this about myself has made me realise how much I will enjoy travel in the future and how capable I am of actually doing it, whereas before I felt like I would miss home too much.

The group of us had a very memorable week as we travelled along the garden route and we stopped at a great number of attractions and towns on our return to Port Elizabeth. Our first stop was at Mossel Bay, in which we stayed over in a ‘train hostel’, which was an interesting experience. We were delighted to find that the weather went beyond our expectations, and as the boys ventured out on their shark cage diving, Emily and I made the most of the sun on the beach. I began my trip in South Africa feeling like if I wasn’t doing something significant that I was wasting time, but I’ve finally come to realise that chilling out on the beach is not wasting time. Our next stop was due to be a one night stay over in Oudtshoorn which is slightly more inland than our other stops, however the minute we walked into the backpackers and saw the list of things we were offered we decided to extend our stay for an  extra night.

  Over the next two days we visited the impressive Cango caves (one of the natural wonders of the world), an ostrich farm on which we made full use of the included ostrich rides! Emily and I managed to brave a very early morning for a sunrise horseback safari which resembled something to the lion king, and late that day the five of us went to check out the infamous waterfall which was ice cold, despite each of us braving it and standing under it completely breathless for about 7 seconds. We finished off our stay by having a tour around the Cango wildlife ranch, which allowed us to see some of South Africa’s species up close and allowed us to pet a cheetah which was just a bit too large for my liking!  Our next stop along the way was a quick one night stop in Plettenberg which is probably my favourite place in South Africa, but was massively clouded by my nerves of what was to come later that day. We followed our stop in Plettenberg by the dreaded day of the bungy jump!  While the group spent the day in Plettenberg enjoying the sun on the beach, I spent the time freaking out at the thought of jumping off a 216 metre high bridge! As the day progressed, my nerves slowly got less and less until I finally reached the top of the bridge with the words of advice that had been passed on to me ringing in my ears. “Look up and aim for the horizon and don’t think about it, just jump!” Thankfully we met our American friends who travelled from Port Elizabeth to meet us so that we could jump together, and Shannon and Ryan’s evident terror was somewhat calming for me. I can’t explain the feeling as I jumped off the bridge and fell through the air, but as I was being hoisted back up all I could think of was how pleased I was with myself for actually going through with it and the buzz I got from it! Following this we had a slight car issue that led to ten of us being stranded for six hours at the bungee centre, before finally getting off and arriving at our hostel in Jeffrey’s Bay for our final night on the garden route. Jeffrey’s bay is probably one of the most famous spots in South Africa, famous for the ‘supertubes’ surfing, and so we enjoyed spending some time watching some impressive surfing before finally starting the journey back to our new home in Port Elizabeth.

 It’s been such a pleasure having our friends from home here with us over the past few weeks, almost like having a bit of home here with us in South Africa, and I have loved being able to share a corner of our experience with them!  It’s also hard to believe that it is only five short weeks until we are home with them again, so although it is sad to say goodbye to them, it has marked an urgency to do more here as we are almost into our final month in the country we have grown to love so much!

Hope all is well at home, until next time,

Lynsey