Hello all,
Plett is now drawing to an end, but not without some excitement yet to come. The surf sessions with the International Surf School are finished with 3 great days, many of the group have been skydiving and the thought of jumping off a bridge is in the back of everyone’s minds!!
The surfing lessons ended in Plett really well with perfect two foot waves all to ourselves in a perfect setting. The wind was really light and the day boiling hot, making it the first opportunity for everyone to lose the wetsuits and surf just in their baggies (boardshorts) or costumes. When I say boiling hot, I mean the recorded temperature a mere 2km away at the airfield was 40 degrees Celsius!!! In the afternoon just walking the 40 metres from where we had lunch up to the backpackers was a considerable effort in the heat.
Skydiving (the rather suspiciously silly act of jumping out of a moving plane) is an experience that is hard to describe. Words do not really do it justice as it somehow covers adrenalin, fear and beauty. Most of those on the trip who had not skydived before saw it as the perfect opportunity, and with such a beautiful setting Plett is the best skydive I have done. It is worth it merely for the flight up in the plane and the views that come with it. Watching all the reactions of the group towards jumping out of the plane as the time drew nearer were fascinating. People like myself who have a fear of heights definitely have much more of a build up of fear (and probably rush when jumping out) than those who actually get to enjoy the flight up and the view when freefalling to the ground. With Jon and James being refused the first time as it was too windy, then a second time yesterday when it was too hot (both times having gone to the venue), and clouds this morning making it impossible to jump, one may begin to wonder if they are really supposed to do it…
This afternoon we went to Tenikwa Cat Sanctuary, to see almost all of the South African Cats. With cheetah, a leopard, Caracal, Servals, and many more it is really special getting to see these animals up close. Whilst most of these have been raised in captivity it is the knowledge of what these animals are capable of that amazes me. The guide gave and example of a leopard that took down a 150kg cow. Sure it was ‘only a cow’ but the leopard was a measly 24 kg!! That is killing something over 6 times its bodyweight. Leopards are often hunted and killed for doing these ‘crimes’ killing livestock, with projects such as the Cape Leopard Trust in the Cederberg mountains fighting to educate the farmers hopefully they will be protected and saved as their numbers diminish.
Tomorrow is likely the big day. If I were to mention that to anyone in the group they would immediately know that I meant jumping off the highest bridge bungy in the world. Unfortunately Ticket to Ride has included this for free in the trip, making it very hard for people to opt out! Whenever we do end up doing it, by the next blog on Sunday I will be able to let you know how it goes!
For tomorrow and more specifically Friday we have one of the best swells of the year predicted to be hitting our coast, so we will be heading up to the famous Jeffreys Bay with anticipation of catching cooking 6 foot Supertubes. Fingers crossed this dream will come to life.
I’ll let you know how it goes. Keep Safe.
Chris and Pete