It's Micky P time!!

Apologies in advance if you're reading this and thinking "hang on a minute, this isn't up to the usual standard of blogging that I expect".........but its my turn to keep you up to date with what's going on.

Having never been on this kind of travel before (i.e. longer than a dirty weekend), it's been quite odd for me to get used to a couple of things that are different to a normal holiday. Firstly, sticking to a budget. It's a drag, but when you're going to be on the road for a while, every penny (or rand) counts. Also, the reality is that every now and then you have to do the really dull, boring stuff like getting your washing done, getting your hair cut (I now have a personal barber - her name is Sarah, and she specializes in a number 4 all over), sorting out your finances, or just getting your phone unblocked. Most of these things and more were accomplished on the morning of our first full day in the Abalone Guest House, just outside of Plettenberg Bay. The view from the open plan top floor mainly consists of a stretch of the Indian ocean where whales and dolphins grace us with there presence. Once we got our 'chores' out of the way, we spoiled ourselves by buying a couple of steak and kidney pies from the local 'Pick & Pay' (SA's version of Tesco) and devouring them on the beach.

We then enjoyed a very dramatic walk along the coast, which tested our knowledge of local tide times, as we played Russian roulette with big waves and strong currents. Thankfully we made it back in one piece, though the walk involved some hair-raising hikes up sheer rock faces.

Eating out here is bloody good value, and with a glass of wine at just over a pound for a very full measure, we had a ball at the local Italian restaurant.

Having bought our 'Wildcard' (a pass to all of SA's nature reserves), I was determined to maximize it, so we headed to the interestingly named Tsitsikamma NP. Very dramatic coastline - possibly the most lively I have ever seen. Unfortunately a few of the good walks have been closed thanks to a one-in-a-hundred storm that has done its best to destroy a lot of the Western Cape coastline. Nevertheless, seeing the waves crashing in with such ferocity was good enough for me.

On the way back, we passed what is proclaimed to be the 'World's highest bungy bridge'. Suffice to say I had absolutely no intention of jumping to a certain death. Sarah's legs were twitching and I sensed that she was close to notching up her second act of lunacy (she first jumped off some perilous perch when she was 19). Those of you that know me will not be surprised to hear that I stubbornly stuck to my guns and made every excuse under the sun as to why I was not going to jump, and instead looked in disbelief at the fools that fell into a valley held by an elastic band. Nutters.

The highlight of the day, and I say this with all seriousness, was a visit to Monkeyland. Now before all you environmentalists start going on about animal cruelty, these furry friends have an area the size of a small country to roam about, and have a lot of fun. Sarah's family have a thing about monkeys which resonates from her grandfather's love of all things to do with primates, so she was keen to get stuck in. We took a walk through the forest as lemurs, spider monkeys, gibbons and an array of other cheeky chappies entertained us with climbing, swinging, play-fighting and ball scratching a-plenty. Mr Aucott if you are ever in SA, you have got to check this place out.

I can't quite believe what we have managed to fit in our first 10 days or so. It's all a bit of a lovely blur. Whilst I'm writing this, Sarah is cooking us dinner, and it smells good, so I will occupy your time no longer.

Just one last thing which tickled me. Speaking to our host this evening, he asked Sarah "what's your maiden name?" Sarah replied "Nock". "That's not what I expected" says our host, "your accent is 'hot potato'". "What do you mean?" we asked inquisitively. "Posh" says our host. Apparently, he was waiting for some double-barrelled affair. Priceless!