After an epic 10 weeks spent travelling and exploring the coast of South Africa we have finally come to the end!
The last few days on tour have been action packed with sun, surf and loads of different activity!
On the weekend the girls went skydiving! What a way to spend the morning! We were met at the jump site by Martin, a Guiness World Record holder for skydiving. While the rest of us waited in the hanger, Clemmie and Jess boarded their flight, climbed to 8000ft and then hurled themselves back down to earth at terminal velocity. Quite a rush I’m told. After that adrenaline fix it was back to Ballito via the scenic route to rejoin the others and swap stories about the day.
On Monday, with the wind onshore we all decided to visit the Hluhluwe National Park or some game viewing. Hluhluwe is the oldest game reserve in Africa and was established by King Shaka the Zulu as his own private hunting range. These days the reserve is protected so no more hunting occurs. Now visitors get the opportunity to get up close to some of Africa’s most ferocious creatures, as well as the more shy and elusive species that all form part of the delicate eco-systems of this area.
On Tuesday we met with Dene in Durban for the final ABC lesson and surfing assessment. The conditions were just right yet again, and I am happy to report that all our guys managed to pass with flying colours!! With course work and assessments finally behind us it was time to really relax and enjoy the last few days in SA. In the evening we all went to for a celebratory surf at Bay. The conditions were just epic for our final surf together. Perfectly formed peaks streamed into the bay with gentle offshore breezes keeping things nice and clean. Later that evening we all went to watch the Ultimate wave at the IMAX theatre before heading back to Ballito for a good nights sleep.
Yesterday we made our way to Umhlanga for some surfing o a different kind at the infamous WaveHouse in Gateway. This wave takes a lot of getting used to and is not for the faint-hearted. We spent hours riding the D-Rex, which is the main wave, catching some pretty amazing barrels and watching a few pros really lay into it.
In the evening we were treated to the infamous Secret Spot Pizza Night to say farewell to the crew and give them all a real good, SA-style send off. The night was spent chatting and reminiscing about all the good times we’ve had on tour.
It’s been a really long trip, but it just seems to have flown by.
From Jill and myself, its been an absolute pleasure taking these youngsters around our coastline and enjoying the epic surf with them all. Hopefully they had an awesome time and learned a few things along the way.
But till next time
Take care,
Bevan and Jill.