If the group were out of their comfort zone last week, this week surely would have pushed them to their limits. Plettenberg bay is one of those ‘make you or break you’ kinda stops. Everything about it kind of takes things to the extreme, from facing your fears to experiencing the beauty of the region, all tying into what makes this particular stop such a memorable one.
The first step up for everybody in Plett was in the water. It seems to be that whenever we’ve visited Plett over the last few trips we’ve have these large swells that follow us and it can make it quite difficult for some considering the difference in wave type compared to what they became accustomed to in Cape Town where the majority of surfing is done at the beginner friendly Muizenberg Beach. Where some excelled and thoroughly enjoyed the waves in Plett, others struggled and didn’t enjoy their surfing as much. It’s just one of those things I guess.
We waited for a perfect weather day to go and experience sky-diving. If there’s anywhere you want to be jumping out of a plane at 10 00ft it’s Plett as the areas pristine coastline takes on a whole new dimension from the sky! Everybody who did it absolutely loved the experience.
As if Sky-Diving wasn’t enough adrenalin for 1 stop we still had the bungy to do, somehow it is more daunting as unlike the sky-dive you have to do everything on your own will as you aren’t strapped to anybody and jumping is 90% you and 10% assisted push (in most cases). Walking across to the platform may have been enough for most but once you’re there I guess you have muster up every ounce of courage you have and launch yourself off the bridge, just let go.
I think it’s fair to say we had a well rounded experience of Plettenberg Bay and what a beautiful place it is. Before leaving we had a relaxing walk around the Robberg Peninsula to take in some of the incredible landscapes and views on offer. It’s no secret that South Africa is home to some incredible wildlife but on this day a few of us got incredibly lucky and spotted the rare Elephant Seal, the biggest of the seal family. Now they actually don’t call our coastline home but every now and then they pop in and investigate. It’s size had us from a distance assuming it was a Whale attempting to beach itself near the local Seal colony, we ran over and hiked down the cliff to get a closer view, we were amazed to discover it’s true identity. Full grown they have been spotted at around 6m long and around 4000kg, this guy must of been close to that size.
We’ve since made our way to South Africa’s surf mecca, Jeffrey’s Bay. You could say it’s a pilgrimage every South African surfer makes in his lifetime and now we get to share that experience together for 2 weeks!
Till next time
Luke