Welcome back to Plett where we have a had a jam packed week of activities. The East winds have kept our surfing at bay so the group have been keeping themselves busy with some somewhat unusual activities such as throwing themselves off the highest bungee jump in the world. Strange and scary you might think to yourselves, well yes but the smiles on the groups faces as they come back up on that big piece of elastic express it was well worth it…after all exciting and new experiences are what they are here for.
Bloukrans Bridge (which means blue gorge) Bungee jump which sits on the boarder of the east and the west cape is the highest bungee jump in the world measuring 116 meters from the ground. In order to get to the jump sight you walk under the bridge over a long metal grid which you can see through to the bottom of the canyon which does your nerves no favours. Surrounding the bridge is beautiful hills on one side with a river running under the bridge leading to the ocean on the other. The sights are breath taking and once again Bevan and I were blown away by the groups courage as each one of them swan dove over the edge of the bridge coming up again with huge grins and asking if they could do it again. Hurting towards the ground builds up an appetite so after the bungee we headed to the small village of storms river in Tsitsikamma for some lunch. Tsitsikamma is a beautiful area known for its indigenous forest and black water rivers which is caused by the tannin from the leaves of the cape hard pear trees which fall into the river and cause a black solvent. The group filled up on sandwiches then we took the scenic route home which took us through the beautiful natures valley. With a quick stop off at natures valley beach, watching the waves gave us a hunger to surf so we heading back to plett to check the conditions with the hope the wind had kept away. The lack of surf lead to a chilled night, with Bevan cooking a tradition South African meal on the fire. Bevan is a skilled and experienced tour guide in South Africa and his talent shone as the group filled their bellies with several helpings!
The next day conditions were still against us we turned our sights to fitness. For those of the group who are aiming to go for their life guard and surf instructors qualification at the end of the trip fitness and endurance is one of our top priorities. With this in mind on Thursday we once again headed to the lagoon in Plett where we played some more touch rugby, the flags game, (which involves some friendly competition and lots of sprinting) a run swim run and a duck diving lesson. One of the requirements of the life savers qualification is that group have to complete a 400 meter timed swim, so after our lagoon session we headed back for a quick lunch and then down to the local pool where the group put their swimming skills to test against the timer.
On Friday the wind had given us a much needed break and we headed down to the beach to meet John and Donna our plett surf coaches for a surf lesson. The day turned out to be a beauty as the group surfed all day with blue skies, sunshine and some special marine visitors. Plett is known for its wilde life and it was out in array for the group as Southern wright whales rolled in the bay behind them and dolphins swam behind the breaking waves. After a double session of surfing we packed up the vans and headed back to the hostel. If the day wasn't filled with enough surfing already half the group went for a quick check of a local break called look out on their way home and with cooking waves staring back at them they were in their wetsuit faster than you can say locals. The group surfed into the evening scoring numerous waves showing the time out of the water over the past few days certainly hadn't held them back.
We kick started off this morning with another early start at look out where the group all held their own in the surf and scored some great rides. We then had another session with John and Donna, it was another afternoon of fun surf, sunshine and more visitors. The group were treating to a display from a southern wright whales that was breaching 50 meters behind where they were sitting on their boards. Although the Easterly winds kept us out of the water for a few days, the group have had a packed week in Plett and are all ampted to get up to Jeffery's Bay tomorrow. Jeffery's Bay is famous throughout the world for its surfing and every year hosts the Billabong World Surfing Championships.
So goodbye for now intill Jeffery's Bay!
Nikki and Bevan