Goodbye 2012!

So when I started this blog I was dead set on updating it weekly, like a diary, including everything....Now it has been a couple of months since my last post and I have to rely on a very lacklustre memory and a phone full of photos to find anything even slightly interesting to relay.....here goes nothing!

When we left off last I was really struggling with life in London, I am happy to report that even though things here are not easy, I am fairly happy! 
The job I started back in September is great, fairly easy work, flexible managers and great staff! I have made some really good friends here which has made all the difference in my overall experience. As with everywhere you go, it is the people you spend your time with that make the journey worthwhile. 
Maria is the person I am definately most close with here, she comes from Spain and is an actress who would quite literally kill someone for a role opposite Bradley Cooper!! She is an absolute sweetheart and I don't think she realises how hilariously funny she is. We spend most of our time outside of work together and it is nice to have someone to talk to, rely on and have fun with. Especially since Jonathon, my housemate, left early September to try his hand at a new career path back in Spain. He was my rock from the day I arrived and I miss him daily but know he is happier where he is.

Maria and Bradley :)

Jonathon and I at his farewell

I am still going through proceedings to get my money back from my previous landlord. I have seen a solicitor and he issued them with an official letter giving them 14 days to pay up or expect to go through court proceedings. They have ignored the warning so the next step is small claims court, which I have to go through without representation. My solicitor will help get details ready but cannot go with me to court.

My friend from Berlin, Schenja, came to London through an agency and worked at a bank for a few months so it was nice to have another friend to hang out with outside of work colleagues. Her sister Anastasia also visited twice during that time and we had a ball catching up. There was a bit of a language barrier, but generally we figured out what each other was saying!! Lets just say Anastasia's English teacher was very suprised when she returned and told her a couple of phrases we had taught her :)

One weekend whilst both sisters were in town, Maria, myself and the girls went out for dinner and to the musical Rock of Ages. It was fantastic!! I was suprised at how funny it was. Maria had seen it before but took great amusement in watching me nearly wet myself with laughter at some points during the show.

Over the Christmas period Winter Wonderland opens at Hyde Park, it is a Winter themed fair with food stalls, ice skating, carnival games, rides and most importantly hot cider and mulled wine!! I have realised now that no matter how old I get I am always going to be a kid at heart and the best way to bring that out in me is to take me some place where there are amusement rides!!!!! Both times I went to Winter Wonderland there was at least one other person with me in the same mindset and we would half run around squealing and giggling, "I want to go on that one,.... and that one......and that one"!!

Alec & Maria @ Winter Wonderland

Maria, me and Alec @ Winter Wonderland

Work crew! Alec, James, Maria, Ben & Me

My first visit was my favourite with a bunch of us from work heading out we danced and had some hot cider and another of my favourites from work, Gerry, and I went on several rides and decided they are the best form of stress relief to date! Gerry  is from the Philippines, he is such a lovely guy with a great sense of humour and a child at heart too. He also looks a little like PSY that sings "Gangnum Style", so every time that song comes on (which is a lot!) we make a big deal of it and try to convince passers by he is famous :)

Gerry

As I am sure you all know, according to the Mayan calendar the world was supposed to end on December 21st 2012. This was the only excuse we needed to get together for a drink so a group of 11 or so of us headed to Sth London to a pub we had heard was a really great place to chill. I also invited my friend Mike who I met in Canada but who is now living with his dad for a year in a country town called Bradford, which is about a 2 hour train ride from London.
We had such a great time, good laughs! Searching for another stupid calendar that says we are all going to die soon so I can arrange another get together!

End of the world crew x

Maria, Kalim, Gerry, me and Mike "The Unibomber"

It is starting to become a yearly pattern now, hence the reason I don't particularly like Christmas, but on the 13th December the world lost another beautiful soul. I met Kathleen in South Africa, she was a very good friend of the person I was staying with, they had known each other for yrs. We just seemed to click right away, she told me she wanted to adopt me.
We were planning on going scuba diving together. Kathleen passed at age 50 in her sleep. I am sad we will not have a chance to continue our friendship and bond but I am blessed to have known her for the short time I did. She will be missed.

Kathleen x

Kathleen & me taking stupid selfies

Christmas itself could have been very very lame.... London tends to shut down over Christmas Day and Boxing Day there is no public transport. Maria and I wanted to spend it together but getting away was too expensive and seeing we are on opposite sides of the city we were screwed. I though I was going to spend the 2 days shut up in my room, however a couple of days before I happened to run into a friend of mine Kalim, who lives around the corner from me and he invited me over to spend Christmas with him and his other housemates. He loves entertaining and cooked an amazing lunch for us and we all had way too much wine and a lot of dancing and fun. I am very appreciative to him for including me.

Kalim & I

Over the past few months I have decided it is time to start dating again, well if you can call it again, I have only ever been on a date with one person before! Either way it is time to stop hoping for things that are long gone and focus on what may be in store for me.

It hasn't really gone so well so far lol!! 

Went on one date with an Irish guy, went really well had great fun, then found out he had a girlfriend and gave me a fake name.....FAIL

Went on a date with a french guy who sounded really good in theory, but not so much in reality. Found myself doing "The Cobra" to avoid his kiss at the end of the date......FAIL

I have met an interesting person recently though that I think is going to be a very good friend to me. Sometimes you just know that you are not only going to learn things from someone, but they are going to learn things from you too. 
Funny what you find in places you never would have looked!
Being very introspective these days and it is nice to have someone else to analyse, appreciate and direct you when sometimes you just need to hear things from someone else's point of view.

The weather, everyone wants to talk about the weather right?!
Its cold. Its wet. Its depressing. Its London. Discussion over. Could do with some Vitamin D!!

Well tomorrow is New Years Eve and looking back on this year I have had some of the best times in my life as well as some of the most trying times. Looking forward to the next challenges. Bring on 2013!!

Much love 
Yvette xxx

PS. Always be yourself, unless you can be a unicorn, then be a unicorn!!!

My nightmare

Ughhh!! What is that smell?? It smells like clothes unwashed for days, sweat, grease and dirty feet. Where am I? I can hardly see, they have me pinned. I cant move my arms or protect my head. I feel like I am suffocating. What is that? Something is sticking in to my back, I am being hit in the side of the head. Such an isolating feeling, and they are pushing me again, and again, and again. 
I need to find an escape, where can I get out?? I'm confused, disoriented, scared almost... I don't want this, I want air, I need space, I need to breathe. Someone help me!!!
THERE!! Finally, I see a chance and I run, run for my life. The doors are open and I scramble before I am trampled by the swarm of zombies all around me.

Dear London tube,

I hate you!!!

Much disgust,
Yvette

Euro trip 2012

During the break between the Olympics and Paralympics I went on a trip with two girlfriends that I met whilst living in Canada, Jori & Lauren. It had been 12 months since I saw them last so could not wait to catch up and explore.

BARCELONA, SPAIN
After a stressful month in London I am more than ready to have a holiday. My plane is an early one so after 2 and a half hrs sleep I make my way to the bus station (tubes do not run this early) and make my nearly 3 hour journey to the airport.
Once I land in Barcelona I realise I only have the name of the hotel and no address, my wifi is not working so I rely on some VERY broken english to point me in the right direction. Two trains later and a couple of circles I find the hotel and go upstairs to meet the girls. 
By now it is after lunchtime so we decide just to wander around and try and get our bearings. We are staying very close to Las Ramblas which is a quite central and happening street. We end up going to the Aquarium which we were recommended by at least 4 different people….. Recommendations are not always accurate…. Apart from the sharks it was an extreme waste of 20 Euros.
That night we take it easy as the girls had a long flight and me practically no sleep. The next morning we take the "hop on, hop off" tourist bus around the city to take in the sights. The weather is HOT, very HOT! Barcelona is very lovely architecturally, and we enjoyed the tour however it was extremely long and we got hot and bored so jumped off the bus and headed back to make our own fun. 

Of course Sangria and Paella are a must in Spain so we combined the two and then headed off to find a nice bar. We were handed a coupon for cheap cocktails and a free shot for a bar named Sinatra's, thats all the encouragement we needed, so were lead down a not so nice looking alley toward it. We were about to turn and run but when we saw the bar were glad we didn't as it was gorgeous. Every detail of the decor was stunning and they had a fantastic cocktail list, menu and service. We ended up staying there all night, making friends with the bar staff and heading out to a club with them afterwards. Unfortunately a great night turned a bit sour after Lauren had her purse stolen from her back by one of the street people, but it is a very common thing to happen and the little gypsies all cover for each other, there was no way we were getting it back. The early hrs of the morning were spent trying to get the police to help (fat chance!! they told us to go and have another drink and just laughed at us) and calling to cancel and re-issue Lauren's cards. The next day was fairly well wasted as we were exhausted and hungover for most of it. SETBACK #1
We went back to Sinatra's that night as we HAD to try their menu, and we were definitely not disappointed. I cannot rave about their Fois Gras enough! It was so amazing! Everything was, we had Tapas and the owner gave us a complimentary champagne cocktail and extra course and had us sit downstairs where he could make sure we were looked after. 

NICE, FRANCE
The next morning we boarded our 10 hour train to Cagnes Sur Mer, just outside of Nice. We arrived late and Lauren's friend Cara, who lives nearby, picked us up from the station and dropped us at the hotel. We had dinner and went to bed straight away.
The next day was spent entirely at the beach. The medditteranean sea is amazing!! It was so hot out, around 38 degrees and the water was about 20 degrees. The beach is pebbled and gets deep quite close to shore so you are not battling waves and a bikini full of sand getting in, like the beaches in Oz.

Off the coast you see all the yachts belonging to the rich and famous, some are just ridiculous.
On Wednesday Cara picked us up and took us up the mountain to a little village called Saint Paul de Vence. It was spectacular!! Exactly what you expect villages in the French Riviera to look like, old cobblestone streets and tiny wrought iron balcony's with plantar boxes and vines growing on the walls. 
We wandered around there for a couple of hrs and then headed back to Cara's house in Jean le Pin to have a glass of wine with her parents who were visiting from Australia. It was funny to hear her Dad's typical Aussie accent amidst the backdrop of France. After this we get dropped off in Jean Le Pin and browse all the little stalls along the boardwalk as the sun goes down (at 9pm!!). 

Thursday we made our way into Nice for shopping and then spent the rest of the day on the beach.

MONACO
The next day is my birthday, and what a birthday it is! We do a day trip to Monaco, which is my new favourite place! The architecture is amazing and all these old houses built into the hill surrounding the beach and harbour. Very rich looking without being gaudy. We walk around with our jaws dropping to the floor every 2 mins from either the expensive houses, cars, hotels or just the spectacular views.

We find a second hand store with the idea of picking up a cheap item of clothing however when we pick up a scarf with a €700 price tag we have a reality check. We start to chat with the lady working there and she is an Australian who has married a boat captain and become a resident of Monaco. She said due to the small size of the place the women will buy Dior, Chanel etc, wear it once then bring it to her shop to sell as of course they can't be seen wearing an outfit twice!! She also said Julia Roberts shops there, no big! She gave me some advice, as did Cara, on applying for work on the private owned yachts in nearby Antibes. They both said half the girls doing it had no experience so I would have no problem, plus having cruise ship experience it would be easy. Stewardesses earn a minimum of 2500/3000 Euros per month tax free with no expenses. Pretty sure I just found my next job plan :))))
After that we went up the hill to Monaco Ville to see the Palace and the Cathedral where Princess Grace was married. Earlier we had seen a coupon for 10 min scenic helicopter flights for €60 and it was now up on the hill that I decided that would be my birthday present to myself. I was so pumped for it but when I called they said it was for a minimum of 4 people, dammit!! SETBACK #2
We made our way to the Monte Carlo Casino instead and Lauren bought me one overpriced glass of wine to celebrate and we sneakily tried  to take photos of the inside without getting caught. We decided we should have a little bet but after losing €40 to electronic blackjack in about 2 mins, I decided luck wasn't on my side today.

We headed back to our hostel to get ready for a night out. We were excited that they happened to be having a festival on the beach that night with 4 DJ's.
That excitement turned to dismay as we listened to what I'm sure were hits from the seventies and eighties being blasted to an eclectic crowd. It seems to be a pattern in France, the only English music on the radio is 80's…..Seeing as the "beach party" was boring we decided a drinking game of Never have I ever was in order and now have enough blackmail information on each other that we must remain friends forever!! 
We ended up walking toward Nice and found a bar that seemed busy enough had a few drinks, made a few friends and went into Nice to another club before forking out €60 cab fare to get home.
Saturday was spent on a 2.5hr train ride to Marseille then a 3 hr train to Lyon which was halfway to Paris. We were supposed to go straight to Paris but when we tried to make the reservation a few days earlier they were all booked out.  SETBACK #3

PARIS
We took an early train on the Sunday morning from Lyon to Paris and when we arrived I tried to reserve my train to London on the Tuesday, what a surprise, all booked out so now I will be staying an extra night by myself. SETBACK#4
We dropped, bags at the hostel and went exploring. Paris is beautiful, similar architecture to the French Riviera and sooo big!! We had very limited time here so had to choose wisely what we wanted to see. We went straight to the Lourve, but after seeing the line decided it was a waste of 3 hrs standing in line and instead walked from there toward Champs Eleeys stopping for crepes and coffee along the way. We did some shopping down the famous strip then headed over to the Eiffel Tower and took in the view. It is an amazing structure and allows you to see just how huge Paris is. We also decided when we saw the additional line up to the summit that we would not go, it would only be a few more metres up anyway…….. Well looking at photos later and staring at the tower for a bit, I realised we had only made it halfway!!! Seriously!!! What else is going to go wrong on this trip LOL. SETBACK#5

After the tower we took a sunset river cruise down the Seine River which was lovely and on our return the tower lit up like a christmas tree, it was just gorgeous.

We all had 1 thing we chose as a definate thing we wanted to whilst in Paris. Jori's was to visit the grave of her favourite Author, Simone De Bouvoir. Well when we arrived after travelling halfway across Paris the cemetary was closed SETBACK #6 so we had to make an early trip the next morning before the girls left. We also saw the Notre Dame Cathedral and wandered down along the Seine river for a while.

The girls left the next morning on a boat to Ireland but I had to stay an extra night in Paris as when I tried to book my train back to London I couldn't get one till the next day SETBACK #7

My one thing to do while in Paris was go to the Moulin Rouge, but when I looked at the price it was 175 Euros for dinner and the show!! SETBACK #8 so I decided that one could wait till Mum comes to Paris with me!! Right Mum?!

My last night in Paris I was by myself so went up the hill at Montmarte to try and get a view of the whole city at night. I had dinner in a nice restaurant and just wandered around. I met a nice french guy who walked around with me and took me for a glass of wine and then went back to the room to pack. While packing I realised somewhere along the way I had lost my jewellery bag with pretty much every piece of jewellery I own in it, including stuff that I had bought on this trip! SETBACK #9
The next morning I got a cab to the train station and headed back to London to face reality again. A few days later the girls arrived in London after their Ireland trip and we had one last night together. It was Jori's birthday also so we headed out to a nice wine bar, then dinner and a club afterwards. It was so great to see the girls again and we are already talking about going to Italy next year :) Even though we had a few setbacks it didn't ruin the trip at all, it was nice to travel with people who just rolled with the punches. Love you both girls and cant wait till the next chapter!!

Bye for now,
Yvette xx

London Living.... lame...

Thanks to my neighbour and good friend Tracey, I discovered a deal through STA travel for a job package for the London 2012 Olympic Games. It cost $500 and they arrange work for you, arrange accommodation, help set up a bank account, National Insurance number, get you a sim card for your phone and provide you with support during your relocation...... Well, thats what they are supposed to do..... In my experience the support was lacklustre to say the very least!
I arrived at Heathrow airport with no contact from the company arranging my accommodation so I called them once on the ground and they told me to come to their office. I did and was then told my accommodation had been "given away". They found me a last minute alternative which was on the highest end of their average expected rent scale and was not cleaned and full of broken furniture and junk. I spent the first night sleeping on a couch with my jacket as a pillow. 
The next day I sat and waited hrs for the landlord to arrive, who had promised to get me new furniture, linen and remove the couch that was jammed up against the bed leaving less than a square metre standing space. When he never arrived I called him and he said he didn't have time today to fix anything. I called the accommodation company and told them this was not good enough and to fix it, eventually the landlord turned up with no new furniture, made me move the lounge out and told me he had no time so I would need to go buy pillows, a blanket and linen myself. I then discovered I was sharing the house with not four as I had been told, but 8 other housemates, with one bathroom to share which had a broken window and broken shower head.
 Most of the housemates were lovely but there was one couple who were extremely selfish and rude. They consistently had 2 hr long dinner parties in the kitchen next to my room between 1 and 3 in the morning! They flat out refused to keep it down or move elsewhere even though they knew they kept me awake. I even heard them having sex in the kitchen one night!!
I also found out that my bedroom was not actually a bedroom but the living room with a wall that was one sheet of gyprock put up a week before I arrived, hence I heard every possible sound made in the house and had to take sleeping pills to get any rest. My light switch wasn't even in my room it was out in the hallway.
My landlord also turns out to be part of the London mafia and a complete psycho who forced me to stay an extra month in the shit hole of a house and refuses to give my 500 pound deposit back....still working on that one.

On the job front, Sodexo, the company hiring me for the Olympics seemed to have just disappeared! All phone numbers went dead after 1 ring, no-one returned emails and when I went to their office, no-one would see me! I was in the UK for 2 weeks before the Olympics and I didn't find out about my job until the day of the Opening Ceremony!! Talk about cutting  it fine! Without going into too much detail, from here on in everything about the company was totally unorganised. I worked part of the time at the Olympics as a supervisor and have yet to be paid the correct rate. I was promised a supervisor role in the Aquatics area for Paralympics but then never received it and was moved to Seafood and Champagne. Luckily I managed to get a supervisor role there after some staff no showed. I have not been paid correctly for that either!
On the up side, I did manage to get into the stadium and the swimming for a short time and see parts of some events including an Aussie winning silver for running in the Paralympics. Saw part of the closing ceremony for the Paralympics and touched 2 bronze medals and one of the torches from the flame. I also went to the athletes parade after the Olympics in Trafalgar Square and danced in the street to The Pet Shop Boys playing live from the Palace.

So my start has been a little rocky to say the least and when I spoke to one of my best friends, Lisa, and broke down in tears she immediately jumped into action making calls and researching to do what she could to help me. She contacted her old boss from a conference centre here in Covent garden and I am now working there in their cafe. Lisa you are an angel!! I love you! I am really enjoying it so far and the people are lovely, plus I still get my weekend off so once I get back on track with finances I can actually explore London!
I have also managed to find another share house for a lot cheaper and have moved away from my crazy landlord! Things are looking up!!
I did contact the company I booked through with my complaints about how I was "looked after" and pretty much got "Welcome to London". So if anyone was thinking of coming here through an agency, have nothing to do with The London Pub Company, Sodexo or Jumpstart. They are bullshit!
So far my London experience has been pretty crap but I never give up and I'm feeling positive about things turning around. Bring it on!!

Berlin baby!

I arrive in Berlin as a brunette! I got sick of the upkeep of the blonde and went back brunette. Was weird for a while, sometimes I still look in the mirror and have to look twice.


I arrived around breakfast time and have a few hrs to wait for Jenny (Eugenia) to arrive. Jenny is a russian girl I met and lived with in Canada and her family live in Germany so we are meeting up, along with another friend from Canada, Kim.
When I see Jenny I almost hide. Here I am with no make up, tired as hell and looking even worse and when I see her she is in a sexy blue dress, heels, hair done and perfect make up!!   It is quite obvious which one of us flew first class!! 
She is her usual excitable self, making those inaudible sounds and squeals of excitement that I have missed so much.
Kim's flight arrives soon after so we make our way to greet her and meet Jenny's mum. I must add here that Jenny's family does not speak English so the whole time poor Jen has to translate every conversation for us!

                                                            Jenny and her Mum




After this Jenny's brother and Oma greet us with a bunch of flowers each and a bottle of champagne. We head back to her mum's apartment and get treated to a lovely German welcome feast.
Over the next week it is a mix of family BBQ's, nightclubbing and sightseeing.
We take a hop on hop off bus ride around the city and visit the Berlin Wall, take a boat ride on the spree, take photos at the Brandenbuger Tor, statue of Victoria, checkpoint charlie, Berlin Zoo. Jenny's family take us to a German Beer house where they serve beer in Litre glasses. We also went to Madame Tussauds and made good friends with some of Jenny's friends Schenja and Anastasia.

                                                                    Berlin wall

                                                            Bus trip around city

                                                            Jenny's brother Andre

                                                              Me and Anastasia

                                                                  Me and Jenny

                                         German Tapas with Kim, me, Schenja & Jenny

                               Kim, Jenny, Me, Paul, Schenja, Irena @ German Beer house

                                          Posing in front of the Brandegurger Tor at night

Sexy scuba city!

After leaving Cape Town and flying back to Johannesburg, I was inspired not to waste any more time and wanted to fit in as much of Africa as I could so I booked a last minute trip to Mozambique! I am staying at Tofo Beach, Inhambame and doing my open water scuba course.

I arrived at the airport, which looked more like my dad's work shed than an airport, to find they don't have technology, i.e. eftpos, to pay for my visa and I didn't have cash... Drama? No! We will let you go through into town and get cash out.. Security at its best!

Tofo was such a paradise, exactly what I wanted after such a hectic travel schedule. All roads made from sand, I was the only person in my accommodation which was right on the beach, bar next door, scuba place 100m up the beach. People were so friendly, I could walk around at night on my own and not only not have to worry about being safe, people would ask me if I was ok, did I need directions or a lift. 

Transportation was hilarious, the local taxi's were mini vans and the time I got in one I was joined by 29 other people!!! INSANE! Everyone gives people rides in the back of their utes, the local school bus is simply a ute for 30 school kids! You will love this mum :)

The scuba course was great. Really weird to begin with, the first time I was breathing through my regulator under water in the pool, I freaked out and came back to the surface! I didn't know why it just seemed wrong, it takes a bit of getting used to. We did 3 pool sessions and 2 sea sessions and then had to complete an exam to be qualified. The next day I got my deep water qualification as well. The second sea dive was an experience for sure. We had to practice using our dive buddy's alternate air source in case of an emergency with our own air tanks. So as I was breathing through hers she made the signal for "somethings wrong" although I did not know what exactly that was. Then she threw up in my face... straight away she takes her regulator out and goes to take mine but changes her mind and takes the instructors so he has no air. I give her alternate back, pick up mine and hand the instructor an alternate. He still has no idea what is going on!! Pretty scary at the time but all worked out in the end.

On my dives I saw many different species of fish, Manta rays, Moray Eels, reef shark and a sea turtle. Not to mention hundreds of jelly fish, they were everywhere!

I did an ocean safari where you go out on the boat and look for marine life and where possible jump in with them. I was really hoping to see the giant 6m Manta rays they are famous for or a whale shark but unfortunately that didn't happen. I did see a humpback whale and a pod of dolphins that we tried to jump in with but they just dove straight down.

After a week in Mozambique I headed back to Johannesburg with a smile on my face and a bit of a tan. I fly out to Berlin in a couple of days and I'm excited about the new adventure!!

Yvette

Coastal romp

My journey continues south toward Cape Town, by this stage it is a kind of unspoken rule that the Roxi, Eva and I stick together. We check in to the Ashanti backpackers which lies at the foot of Table Mountain and try to adjust to the drop in the temperature from our last stop.

Over the past few weeks the soccer has been going on and at this stage Holland are still in the competition so we head out for the night to a Dutch bar to watch the game with 2 other Dutch people we picked up along the way, Kylie and Joris. I think I am one of the few foreigners in the bar but I blend in by wearing the colours and painting the Dutch flag on my face. This must work because people start blabbering to me in Dutch and I have to admit I am an intruder. The game does not turn out the way we had hoped but it was such a fun night. Every time they scored beers were thrown straight up in the air and I was being taught Dutch songs, dances and swear words. I would hate to see how they party if they actually won!!

The next morning we hire a car and climb table mountain, then we drive back up the coast to Hermanus and check into a hostel intent on going shark diving the next day. Unfortunately the next morning the swell is huge so diving is cancelled, instead we drive along the coast line for a couple of hrs sightseeing and go to Stellenbosch for wine tasting and cheese.

Thankfully the swell subsides the next day and Roxi and I head out early in the morning to cage dive with Great White Sharks :). It does't disappoint!! Definitely a highlight for me. The cage is attached to the side of the boat and 4 people at one time get in the cage with only goggles. The dive master attracts the sharks with a giant fish head attached to a piece of rope and once they see a shark approaching they reel the rope toward the cage and tell us to take a breath and go under the water. The sharks are magnificent, they come right up to the cage and a couple of times run into it. At one point I got hit in the face by a tail fin and came up laughing my head off with excitement! The guy next to me reached out and touched it's tail when it hit the cage.

After the shark dive we drove back down the coastal route we had taken the day earlier, it was so beautiful, stunning mountains to the right of us and beautiful coastline to the left. We did see a HUGE pod of dolphins, Im talking at least 200, making their way up the coast but we did not see a whale which is what Hermanus is known for.

It is here where I must say goodbye to Roxi and Eva :( we have had such a great time exploring and getting to know each other. We will definitely keep in touch and are already planning for them to visit me in London for the Olympics and I will come stay with them when I travel Europe.

This is what draws me to travelling, the amazing scenes, once in a lifetime opportunities, the blending of cultures and the bonds that you make along the way. Thanks girls for an amazing time, see you soon xxx

Yvette

Baz bus continued..

After boarding the bus to leave Durban we changed our minds about our next destination, instead of Coffee Bay we headed to Cinsta. It is also on the coast with direct access to the beach. So far this has been my favourite place. The staff were great fun and the location was just perfect. Upon arrival we were served up some mulled wine which is red wine heated with spices and fruit. It was ok but I had been feeling ill for 24hrs so just went to bed. 


The next morning Eva, Roxi and I decided to take a surfing lesson down at the beach. Seemed like a good idea at the time.... We were having a ball for the first hour and were starting to get the hang of it (kinda) when chaos broke out. My surf instructor had my GoPro camera and was filming us attempting to surf, he handed it back to me saying he was worried he was going to drop it. As he handed it to me a wave smashed my board into me and I dropped it straight in the ocean!! We was frantically searching for it when we heard Roxi yell out from back at shore. At the same time the wave hit me it also hit her board straight in her face and she had broken her nose!!! There was blood pouring out and she looked like she might pass out. The hostel manager came and drove us to the hospital where they told her she would probably need an operation and have to cut her holiday short, she was devastated to say the least. Luckily the specialist the next day said no operation was necessary she had to wait for swelling to go down and they would push it back in place so she could stay for the last week of her trip. Not to mention our hostel felt so bad they upgraded us to an amazing cabin overlooking the beach :)

The drama at Cinsta didn't stop there, due to their awesome "free wine at 3pm every day" we then missed our bus and had to stay another night!! We didn't mind though as we were having a ball.
The next day we left and headed down the coast to Jeffereys Bay. By this stage I had convinced the girls that private rooms were better than dorms and so we shared a triple room right on the beach. This area is known for its "super tubes" and the Billabong surfing comp was happening there in a couple of weeks. They also have factory outlets for Billabong, Roxi and Rip Curl so of course we went shopping. That night a local group of dancers came and entertained us at the bar doing traditional songs, drumming and dance. 
The next morning we decided doing another surfing lesson was most likely pushing the envelope so instead we took a day trip to Seaview Lion Park where were able to get in a cage with Tiger cubs and a rare black leopard cub as well as driving through Lion enclosures. One lioness sat right outside our car window staring for about 2 mins and then roared at us like she was gonna jump in and eat us! Scared the hell out of our driver who insisted we leave after that!

Next stop on the bus trip was supposed to be Knysna, we had heard all these great things about the area but as we drove in to it we realised it was not what we expected. We had made a booking at a hostel there so we got off the bus but 10 mins later we cancelled our booking and got a ride to the next town Sedgefield. It was right on the beach and the Sedgefield markets were on the next day which were supposed to be amazing.
We didn't do any activities here, just went out to dinner at a local Italian restaurant and then had a party at the bar and built a bonfire on the beach. Staff here again were fantastic and really looked after us (free chocolate tequila shots) so the next morning I chose to stay in bed and let the girls go to the market without me...


I am really enjoying South Africa, I can't believe the things you are able to experience here.
I feel like I am running out of time, there are so many places I want to see and I am not going to be able to fit them all in. This is somewhere I definitely want to return to in the future.


Yvette