As the lifesaving course ended in Durban we spent a couple of days doing just the ‘fun stuff’ up there. This consisted mainly of surfing a lot, a fun party out on Florida road, going to watch one an open air live show and the wave rider.
The lifesaving course is an intense course and by the end of it I could everyone was really tired. They had passed successfully but they were looking drained so we decided to put off the surf coaching course by a few days and just enjoy Durban a little. The waves were fun each day and the girls surfing especially really improved. With a bit of pressure of the surfing assessment for the surf coaching course coming up everyone was pushing themselves harder.
The day we were moving up from Ansteys to Ballito coincided with an open air concert in the Durban Botanic gardens. Goldfish is currently South Africa’s most successful band/musicians. I can’t even really describe the genre but it is good fun with a combination of DJ’ing, keyboard, saxophone, double bass and vocals. Being outdoors of course means that there is the chance of rain and about halfway through the drizzle started, but it definitely didn’t stop anyone and everyone was happy to be out there dancing and enjoying the music. One of the best things about Durban is that even when it does rain its so warm that all you need is a pair of shorts and you are still fine. It was a great show and I hope you enjoy the pics!
Moving up to Ballito we were staying at a backpackers much more in the bush. This took a while for the group to get used to, and the idea of having a frog in the room, whilst shocking at first, became more the norm! There were plenty of monkeys around too and every now and again they would give the kitchen a good raid for any unsuspecting people who had left their food out! It is a really homely feel at the Secret Spot, and it is with great sadness that it will be our last stay there as they are moving on and unfortunately the backpackers will be closing down. We also used the space at the backpackers to do our surf coaching course which runs over three days and is both quite intensive but interesting. Everyone did really well gave both great lectures as well as pass the written exam. All that was left was the surfing assessment and a test of the ABC beginner surfing lesson.
One of the favourite days on the trip is always the day we go to the Wavehouse at Gateway. It is a standing man-made wave and the only one in the world to have a left and a right next to each other. Look at the photos to get a better idea! There were some epic wipeouts as well as some impressive riding. Tim especially took to the wave and used his skateboarding background to good use. Riding this wave is very different to surfing, with all your weight having to go onto your back foot, but still a lot of fun. You can see that Chad has spent too much of his youth on this wave as he was absolutely shredding it, but still fun to watch!
All in all we were just having more fun and leading up to our last few days of the trip!
Check back in tomorrow for the final blog from the South African leg of the trip.
Chris