Welcome back to the final blog of our September 2009 Ticket to Ride South Africa trip. The last week like every other has been full of excitement, surfing, activity, nights out and relaxation. Since Bevan last wrote the group wrapped up all their qualifications by completing their final in water assessments with Deon. The group had to display a spinal board rescue, torpedo boy, rescue, basic CPR with Vomit drill and board rescued on addition beach. The Group all passed with flying colours and I am proud as they leave the trip with their Level one surf instructor and life savers award well done boys!
With the qualifications on Monday the rest of the week was a sad countdown as the end of the trip loomed in sight. We spent the remainder of the week ramming as much surfing as we could in Durban and Balito. Pat, Steve the Pirate and Jonty worked hard to complete their very first handmade surfboards with mikes help. To jazz up their final results they had a sprayer come in and design some amazing artwork for their boards. On Tuesday it was an early start for Bevan, Kat, Camera Steve and Alex as they set off for a game drive. They had an exciting day as they saw various animals around the park.. The rest of the group made the most of the blazing sunshine and headed down to Balito beach where relaxation and swimming was on the agenda, it was easy to pass the day lying in the sun on the beautiful white sandy beach of Balito chatting to all the locals they had met throughout the week. Wednesday it was a day on the beach again, this time round with surfboards as the group surfed the day away.
On Thursday the final day of the trip arrived. After a morning of packing we all headed over to Gateway where it was time to grab a body board and jump on the free standing wave. There are not many around the world but Gateway shopping centre in Durban is home to a free standing wave. The wave is extremely difficult to ride and after attempts at standing up everyone grabbed a body board and was throwing themselves into it. As the boys all struggled to stand up and opted for body boards we had a friend of the group with us, Kirsty Delport who is sponsored by Roxy. Kirsty made the boys blush as she somewhat dominated the wave getting barreled as if it was a daily activity for her! After a couple of hours of surfing everyone was aching and ready to see the trip out in style. We headed back to the Secret spot and got ready for the nights activities ahead. Roz and Mike owners of the secret spot threw a farewell braai for the group,. We all congregated around the pool, cooking the meat, making and drinking punch and ignoring the fact that everyone had to go home the next day. The group presented Bevan with a signed rugby ball during the evening, a great momentum of many games of touch rugby on the beach over the past 10 weeks and I was presented with a signed T-Shirt from everyone with comments that made me feel rather emotional. As the evening went on everyone headed into Balito to the local club Bostons to end the trip with a bang. We were treated to an appearance by Roz and Mike who joined us for a dance, they were welcomed by cheers and open arms by everyone.
On Thursday after a couple of airport trips the majority of the group had gone their separate ways. Some heading back to the UK briefly before embarking on a ski season, some back to the UK for longer periods of time. Sam has headed back to Jbay where he will be working as Island Vibes in-house surf instructor and Pete, Chris and Pat have headed up to Mozambique for a week before their next step on their round the world trip….lucky for some.
On Monday I flew back down to Cape Town for a week where the trip first started which has been a great place to reflect back on our journey over the past 10 weeks. As its my job to write the final blog id like to say from Bevan and myself we hope everyone has enjoyed reading about the last 10 weeks of our trip. Bevan and I have been very lucky to have such a fun and entertaining group. They have been great company and endless fun. Its a hard task to sum up everyone's experiences from the past 10 weeks but since everyone flew home last week I have been receiving several emails, texts and facebook messages from the boys and Kat saying how much everyone missed each other and how much they wish the trip could have gone on for longer. I thoroughly agree with them all. Jonty emailed me yesterday and i think this quote from him sums up the trip over the past 10 weeks…
"i just watched the tt ride dvd now im bac…….. wrong idea big time it brought a tear to my eye and made me realise how much i wanna do it again wiv the same group. u and the trip were amazing and cant wait for a reunion in the future"
i am very sad as this is my last trip with Ticket to Ride so i would like to thank everyone who was on it for making it a trip to remember. So Jonty, Jonny, Toby, Francis, Alex, Kat, Pete, Chris, Pat, Camera Steve, Pirate Steve and Jack I wish you the best of luck in your next steps and I miss you all already!
Our next trip is starting in January so intill then I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year!!
Thanks for Reading.
Nikki and Bevan!