benlawrence9 - Tumblr blog

[benlawrence9]

Day 8 - Tam Coc, Ninh Binh

Another early start to catch breakfast this morning was a little unneeded again with the bus picking us up for our tour day was late. The same as our Hà Long transport the lateness had us on edge slightly. We had befriended a travel agent named Tom Sawyer, obviously a nickname, who had offered good deals for good tours and was responsive on whatsapp to any questions we had. Not knowing him fully, the lateness of the busses had left us wondering if we’d been done over, however the busy Hanoi traffic was probably to blame, learning today there are 9 million bikes on the road here.

Worry over and en route. 2 hours along to Ninh Binh, province home to our Tam Coc tour. The tour consisted of a visit to Hoa Lu and then over to Hang Mua for a hike, cycle and boat trip. The cloudy hazy sky again threatened to dissatisfy, however that definitely wasn’t the case.

Once we arrived we were introduced to our guide Tony, and he took us into and around Hoa Lu, which is a temple for the kings of the Vietnamese dynasties. As with previous trips here, not the most important part of the day for us.

After this it was a short drive to the bottom of Hang Mua, which is mountain with a viewpoint on top. The 486 steps to the stop isn’t the longest climb, but the steepness of the steps and humidity made it a great deal harder. After claiming he climbed this 5 times a week, despite having abit of a podgey belly, he flew up to the top.

Once at the summit, the views were amazing. Panoramic the whole way round with plenty of great photos being taken. After enough time for the sweat to subside and cameras full we headed down.

A quick lunch amongst the rice paddies and we headed round the dusty roads in the valleys on old bikes, which felt and sounded like they were going to fall apart at any moment. More great views.

Onto the boats that would float us down the river we had seen from the top. The boats were rowed by women mainly, farmers from the rice fields who would come and row once a week for extra cash. They’d sit reclined in their higher seat, and row the boat with their feet on the oars, which was a weird movement, but they’d all nailed it.

We floated down the river, similar to storm river in SA, stunning scenery surrounding us with calm and engineless atmosphere on the water, along the route under the mountains through caves.

A pretty perfect day, which honestly was probably better than Hà Long Bay. The scenery, activities and the less crowded tourism was perfect.

3 hour bus trip back and we went out and got hammered on buckets of vodka.

No news from day 9 as I spent most of it in bed, and only ventured out for food and water.

Flight to De Nang tomorrow for the next 6 days, which apparently is less busy and hectic than Hanoi, which will be a much needed change of pace.

[benlawrence9]

🇻🇳Day 6&7 - Hà Long Bay

The 7:10 alarm after the late night booking hostels and flights was tough. The 3 hour bus trip to Hà Long Bay would’ve been a good job to catch up on sleep, but I only managed to fall asleep 5 minutes before arrival.

We had a nice and funny tour guide called Bien who had realised the 5 of us were the most vocal people in the group which consisted of 2 Koreans, a couple and 3 polish people, and we’d spend the morning cruise into Hà Long trying to work the dynamic out.

He also gave us lots of useful information, like the 4 sacred animals of Vietnam were a Unicorn, Phoenix, Turtle, Dragon. And that the 200,000 Dong note has a Hà Long Island on the back.

The boat took us through the 1969 islands, amongst the 500 other boats that travel out daily. Luckily it was large enough that they didn’t all go the same route.

Our first part of the two days was to go to the Hang Sung caves, which stand for the surprisingly caves. I’d done caves before but not ones that had been formed by the sea, so that was different.

The worst part, was the hundreds of Chinese tourists that were crowding all the staircases and bottlenecks. Much to everyone’s frustration.

One source of humour for us was one Australian Dad, bollocking his moaning teenage daughter. “Piss off Paige” has become a bit of a saying amongst us five, particularly when they seem to turn up behind us every time we bring it up. Paige sightings to follow.

We then headed on to Tee Top Island. Where you could walk to the top and get a great panoramic view of the bay. The steep sweaty walk was well worth it, even with the hazy cloud we’ve had all day, the photos were amazing. Back down to the bottom to swim in the cold sea was refreshing and well needed after the climb.

When we got back to our main boat, a small lady in a boat rowed up with loads of snacks and drinks. We’d been told on the bus before arriving that we could take drinks and snacks on board the boat, but would be told off. She knew this too, and signalled to the other side of the boat. The guys bought some beer and some wine, and she shoo-ed them away before any staff from the boat saw.

Before dinner we headed to the upper deck to make some of our own spring rolls, good news for me with rice paper, with pork, egg, cucumber, lettuce for fillings. After it was back up to the deck with a speaker and happy hour vodkas before our 6:30 wake up call from Bien tomorrow. A great start to Hà Long life.

Sleeping in a coffin wide bed when half cut was never going to enable a good night sleep, plus the electricity, and therefore the aircon going off to “save power” didn’t help.

The 6:30 rise was to get out to the area we’d be kayaking this morning, which was actually very nice with no other boats around. If the area we’d have been in would have had more caves or coves to paddle into, it would have added to the morning.

Back on board for an egg breakfast and then over to the pearl farm for a look round. Interesting enough, but we had little interest in that part of the tour. (Paige at the pearl farm)

The hour ride back to the marina gave us a chance to soak in our beautiful natural surroundings for one last time. Writing this back in the fume filled polluted city makes you appreciate the natural air and lack of infrastructure.

The 4 hour bus ride brought us back to Hanoi where we had to look for a new home for the next 3 nights after issues with our first booking. (Paige at half way stop)

Sorted, washed and a rest in the rooms gave me a chance to catch up with the family and Mrs, and realise we still have 10 days left in Vietnam.

Tam Coc tour booked for tomorrow as well as two main course meals eaten for dinner, and bed by 9. Two long days in gorgeous Hà Long bay, done.

[benlawrence9]

🇻🇳Day 4&5 - Hà Nội

The late wake up gave us no time for breakfast, so whilst the others got a lovely egg roll from a street stall, I settled for Pringles and horrible cheese before jumping on the bus to the harbour.

Onto our boat for the day which would take us around 3 islands south of Phu Quoc to snorkel and fish.

The forecast cloud wasn’t as bad as feared, but also meant that we’d have to be careful as 30 degrees for my pasty torso is very out of the ordinary.

The islands were cool. Water not as clear as you see on some islands as there was a storm a few nights ago. However still good for snorkelling and the water as has been all trip was like a warm bath (full of salt).

Deck chairs on the top deck between islands quickly let us dry off and catch some sun. A little too much we found out later!

The last island had a beach where we could chill out off the boat for an hour or so. It also had one of those swings in the sea that many of the beaches here have. This was a classic place for laughing at the “Boyfriends of Instagram”, getting wet and bending ridiculously to get their girlfriends a new Instagram profile. A pain I share.

Back on the boat and back to the harbour, all of us drained and sick of the sun, ready for a cooling dip in the pool. After that dip, we showered and changed and booked our accommodation for Hanoi.

Quick meal next door to our hostel and bed by 10pm and ready for the next part of our trip from tomorrow.

On the morning of day 5 there was time for an omelette before we left. The airport would prove to be full of rude and impatient Asians in a race to get to the same location as us, on the same plane... including the flight attendant.

Into Hanoi and after the taxi driver had taken us about 20 minutes away from our location, we ended up walking through the heat and hordes of scooters to our accommodation. Hanoi was bustling and buzzing, more so than Ho Chi Minh, feeling much more like a capital city.

Out for some food and more of a wander round with shops and market stalls as well as the lit up lake, and a quick visit from the police next to a bar we’d stopped in. They were taking restaurants tables and chairs that were set up on the pavement, or at least that’s what we could make of it.

Back to the room to put into concrete our plans for our the next few days. Tomorrow takes us to Ha Long Bay, arguably the main part of our trip, and it was for an overnight stay. Friday to Ninh Binh to go on the Hoa Lu and Tam Coc tour. then our initial plan was to get the overnight train to De Nang, however we decided due to the 17 hour train ride, to book a flight instead on Sunday morning, meaning we’ll spend another night in Hanoi. Then onto De Nang, where we’ll spend the next 6 days before flying out of Ho Chi Minh on Saturday night to come home.

Planning done. Amazing few days to come now set in stone.

[benlawrence9]

🇻🇳Days 2&3 - Phu Quoc

A bit of a here and there start to this trip blog wise, with quite a lot of moving around taking up most of our time across the first two days. We woke up from the first night out worse for wear, Jess is particularly entertaining viewing whilst hungover. A shit egg breakfast and it was back on the sweaty bus to the airport to take us to Phu Quoc. We’d be spending the next three days on the island, and had earmarked it as the relaxing start to the trip. Whilst on the flight I sat behind a very cute Vietnamese boy, who needed a wee right when the landing seatbelt sign had come on. Rather than risk that, his mum opened up the sick bag and he proceeded to empty the tank into that. I’m not sure whether that was the funny bit, or his dad carrying a bag of piss off the plane...

We arrived at our new home for the next three days, a nice hostel with a pool, which we dipped in as soon as we’d got our trucks out our bags.

We then headed round the corner to the beach, where we floated around in the sea until the sun set behind us. It was a pretty chilled evening with a perfect backdrop.

After a rather disappointing walk down the “busy” street up from our hostel, we were in bed by 12 with no plan for the morning.

Day three began way later than planned, but the much needed 11:00 wake up and quick swim was a nice refresh after the travel days prior.

We’d decided that we would like to see more of Phu Quoc, and had booked a taxi at a flat rate through the receptionist to take us to various points around the island.

The receptionists at this hostel were getting a reputation for not knowing what they’re talking about (another NTA situation) or not wanting to share it with us. After failing to point out the bars and shop round the corner from our hostel.

The taxi took us to a beach to start with, nice enough but not as nice as the beach we have next to us. We started with some brunch with all the stray dogs joining us for some scraps, before we headed into the sea.

Next it was to the pagoda. It was a nice place, plenty of people going there to pray, and probably like us, get out of the scorching midday sun.

After this, it was off to the waterfall, which was wank. After paying (35p) to get onto the walk we’d discovered that it was all dried up and out of season. The little groups of locals sat in the dried river beds mocked us for walking up to find the water. More looks of amazement at me for being tall. All abit disappointing.

By this point we were sweaty and ready to relax for a bit. So got driven back to the mini mart down from our hostel, and then to the beach.

Having sat in the front seat of that taxi it was clear to see how horrific the driving is in Vietnam. Our driver attempted overtakes on blind beds as well as tight highways. We nearly had 4 head on collisions, and nearly rammed two scooters off the road.

Ciders in the sea in a similar spot to yesterday was great, and gave us a chance to relax after a hot day. After the sun disappeared, a lady with surprisingly good English sold us a good deal on a boat tour for tomorrow, which would take us around three of the neighbouring islands. Sorted.

Another drink at a cool beach bar and back to the hostel for more water ciders before we headed out for some food and probably more drinks. Good job everything cost very little.

For dinner we ended up eating in a place where no tourists ate (although there wasn’t loads here). It was a big food hall where nothing was English, very local. We pointed to rice and got chicken out of it to. Bed at 2am for a 9:15 boat trip was probably not the time to be writing this, but plenty to get up for tomorrow (today).

[benlawrence9]

🇻🇳Day 1 - Travel Day

13 months after I returned from South Africa it was time to embark on the next adventure. Life has moved on a lot from that point. The destination this time around is Vietnam for what will probably be the most different travel experience I have had. Ants and Javi are among the gang again this year as well as Jess and Sef. I have a new travel partner, my girlfriend Liv, who I’m gutted can’t be joining us. Instead she’ll be reading this stupid blog and correcting my grammatical errors, particularly on whether its “to” or “too”.

A 6pm flight from Heathrow took us to the backwards country of Brunei, who had only yesterday announced laws that gays would be stoned to death. Not just wrong but also ironic, with all the airline attendants clearly fans of the Britney Spears as much as Javi...

4 hours waiting for our transfer passed reasonably quickly and another two in the air and we were down in Vietnam, specifically Ho Chi Minh City. Jeans and a jumper instant regrets with a mere 28 degrees, and it was straight in the hostel shower to refresh after the day spent getting here.

Down to the bar where the offer of a free mixer kicked off our first night, which we had planned to be a boozy beginning. No measures or tightness with the alcohol here, shown by the barman proceeding to open a new bottle of gin to top up Jess’ already half full glass.

We had planned to go on the pub crawl that was taking place tonight, however the need for food was too strong, so we headed out earlier to sort that out. The rest of the night drinking a much better equivalent to “strongbow” up and down a busy strip before rolling into bed by 3am. Later for Ants, as he’d lost his phone and had retraced his steps, before finding it locked away in my safe under the bed. Helmet.

One of the instant observations is the traffic. An insane amount of scooters, many with 3+ people riding them. The most I have seen so far is 4, two of which small children. The bus driver seemed to think he could bully his way round ignoring all signals and drivers.

Second observation is that I am tall. Much much taller than any of the locals here. That was a small fascination for them, with many looks. I’d been warned of this before arriving by Liv, and she wasn’t wrong.

Not sure how often this blog will come out on this trip, as we don’t have the detailed day to day itinerary we did in SA. Will see how things go.

[benlawrence9]

Day 11 - Drinking Our Way Home

The day started lazily with a late rise from our beds and a big breakfast at our accommodation. When we did leave we were headed to central Cape Town to take one of the free walking tours, specifically the one about the history of Cape Town.

Sun shining and some good knowledge taken in, it was nice to learn a bit more about the city that housed us for 3 days at the start of the trip and the origins of it.

After that we returned to a wimpy we previously visited, due to the lack of Rand we had remaining and the easiness of the meal. Then it was off to get Ants and Javi’s tattoos. They had decided that the Kudu symbol that also symbolises the SA national parks would be their mark of remembrance amongst other things. A nice little touch for the two of them. I sat and played Pokemon on my phone while waiting for their completion.

After that we took the 5km walk back to Seapoint and a few nice bars to pass the time until our flight. We also sat alongside a 25th birthday party, who was keen to share his celebrations, and bag of drugs with us. We laughed him off and continued drinking, Ants’ adding a jägerbomb to the tally probably didn’t help our state. Through customs and a quick omelette, as well as another beer before boarding and it was time to leave.

An amazing two weeks with my best mates and an incredible country. Some experiences I will remember forever and a bunch of memories that will always be the start of long conversations and laughs. South Africa was a blast, and another county that I can tick off the list with a huge smile. Maybe we meet again when the Lions tour rolls round in 2021? But I will certainly return to this magical place.

[benlawrence9]

Day 10 - Bridge Jumper

I woke up this morning forgetting how I went to bed. Probably due to the 3 gins and 3 ciders we each drunk in 2 hours to catch last orders. What I did know was that today was Bungee day. The sun was shining, no clouds in the sky, perfect day to fall to the earth.

We checked out and headed to Bloukrans, I was nervous, but Javi apparently more so and he had decided that morning he was not doing the jump. When I did the Taupo Bungee in NZ, it was good to have people you know doing it with you, to talk through the tension and drag each other through it. Taupo was also 48 meters of falling, Bloukrans is 180.

We arrived and signed in. Javi and Ants were going to do the walk, and watch from under the bridge, however Ants didn’t even make it onto the steps of the walkway, which didn’t help the nerves.

When we arrived at the platform one of the girls in the group had turned back too, and when her boyfriend who was first said he wasn’t doing it either, so it was me first.

All of this didn’t help the nerves, but I was tied up quickly and standing over the edge. The guides egging me on, “show them how it’s done Ben.” 3, 2, 1 Bungee, and somewhere in my brain flung me off the edge. The first second is easy, but when your brain computes that you’re hurtling towards the ground, real fear hit. But at that moment, I was bouncing back up, and the biggest adrenaline rush ever overwhelmed me. I had to shout and laugh. The views, the rush, the joy was immense. Hanging around waiting for them to abseil down and get you isn’t that fun, all I wanted to do then was get back up on solid ground.

Buzzing, we left to our next stop, the tree canopies in Tsitsikamma, where you zip line from tree to tree. Following the bungee was always going to be an impossible task, but the canopies wasn’t all that. A lot of waiting between goes and something I’ve done at home. A group of miserable Germans threatened to bring down the mood, but as always the guides plus the three of us made it a good time.

Back on the ground again after our final action of the Garden Route, we then headed to Port Elizabeth to fly back to Cape Town for our last day.

Uber-ed to our accommodation and crashed out on the bed. The last 5 days of activities have been mental and busy. A chilled day tomorrow in the city and then flight home at midnight. Last day in paradise.

[benlawrence9]

Day 9 - Plan B, Better Than Plan A

Ignore the last paragraph of yesterday’s entry, as our plans have change hugely due to the shite weather.

Today was supposed to start by bungee jumping off Bloukrans Bridge. But when we drew the curtains the rain was falling and the fog was thick. Our fears were confirmed when driving to the bridge, and the visibility was shocking. We changed to tomorrow morning as we had no other chance to do it, the forecast does say sunny, so we’ll be keeping everything crossed. We also booked tree top canopies for the remained of the day tomorrow before we fly back to Cape Town.

After some breakfast, we then headed to the Garden Route National Park, where we would be spending the afternoon in Storm River. That was a 2pm, and we had 2 hours to kill, so we decided to try some of the trek to the waterfall. We were told that should take 3 hours, but had only planned to go an hour in and back. We did do that, but at the pace Javi set we were able to get to the waterfall and back in 1 hour 45. It was still cloudy, but muggy and the route was testing, through dense Forrest and along rock faces right by the sea. The reward was well worth the task and a sprinkle of dolphins in the sea also added to that.

Sweaty and already shattered, we were straight into the Kayaking down Storm River. This usually starts in the ocean, and then round into the river mouth and down, but as the weather was so shite, we couldn’t be in the sea. That didn’t take away from how amazing this was. There were 13 in our group, all couples except me, so I was in with one of the guides, Enzio and he was a good laugh, and took the strain of paddling to allow me to take some photos.

We drifted down the river, past a load of sting ray and bat cave to a rocky dam, and this is where we swapped the kayaks for the lilo’s, where we floated down further, being pushed off and pulled under by the guides. I think I smiled the whole way there and back, the views and the people were brilliant.

When we got back to the Kayaks, there was a chance to jump of some rocks, the highest being 9 meters. Compared to the 216 meters we would be jumping tomorrow at Bloukrans it was nothing.

When jumping back in the kayaks, an India fella had fired up his drone to get some cool shots, but as he brought it back, it flew past him and smashed into a rock at top speed. Apparently it was worth more than the money I had brought with me, which didn’t stop me laughing.

We got back, dried off and had some dinner next to the crashing waves. Due to no lunch, we demolished 3 steaks, salads and ice cream in super quick time, as well as sorting our accommodation for the evening, which hadn’t been done after changing plans this morning.

The accommodation was again great, and we had a bottle of gin to polish off before our flight tomorrow, so we spent the evening doing so in our newly acquired traditional African shirts.

[benlawrence9]

Day 8 - African Big 5 ✅

Woke up this morning to clouds and wet, and a million bugs buzzing around our hut. The clouds had made us doubt that today would be as good as hoped, but they cleared up and we set on our way to the Zorgfontein Cat Walk, which was 5 minutes around the corner.

We arrived for our walk with the Lions. The clouds cleared and we weren’t ready for how amazing the next hour was going to be. Unlike Cango Ranch yesterday, which was a bit like a zoo, we were in a game reserve, and in the Lions natural habitat. That was confirmed when we walked down to meet them, and they were accompanied by 5 other guides and strict instructions on how to behave and where to stand. Like yesterday, it was incredible to be this close to them, but amplified by 10. We set off, following behind the Lions and stopping at a few locations for them to sit, and have pictures with them. They were also fed up trees, which they leapt up with amazing power. The most famous predator on earth was 2 feet in front of us. Definitely the best thing we have done so far this trip. Another great thing about the experiences here is that the guides take your phones and take the pictures for you, instead of charging you a million pounds for the photos at the end. They took photos far closer than we could ever have and they looked incredible.

We left the Lions and headed to a nearby beach, after visiting a spar which do build your own ready meals to take away. Ate our lunches on the dunes and chilled out until heading to the Botlierskop Game Reserve. The cloud had returned for the afternoon and so did the Jurassic Park feel, multiplied by a guy looking remarkably like the “Welcome To Jurassic Park” guy, who probably knew I was whistling the theme tune towards him when he boarded the bus.

This was a guided tour in an open 4x4 driven by a guide, and we were hoping to tick off the remaining animals from the Big 5. We crossed the Leopard off at Cango yesterday, and obviously the Lions this morning. We went on to see a lot of Zebra, Bok and some Giraffes, and did go on to see the remaining Big 5 animals, Buffalo, Rhino and Elephant. Amazing to see them in as close to their natural habitat as we could and really close too.

We left all animal-ed out and headed to Plettenburg Bay for our evening in a backpackers we had booked last night. It was a decent enough place, helped by having a room to ourselves.

We dumped our stuff and headed out to eat stake and drink beers, and had decided on a slight change of plans for the Thursday before heading back to Cape Town. Knysna was lovely to drive through and we felt too big a part of the garden route too miss, so we shuffled and are heading back that way after tomorrow’s adrenaline filled activities.

[benlawrence9]

Day 7 - Crocs and Spots

Alarms not needed this morning with the 9 dogs inhabiting the site providing the barking to get us out of bed.

Out by 8:40 and en route to Cango Caves, which were just around the corner from us. The caves were buried deep into the mountains and we were on the adventure tour, which meant a bit of climbing and squeezing through gaps whilst inside. Whilst waiting to enter we spoke with an young Israeli guy who had been traveling alone, and told us about a scary encounter in Durban in which he was held at knife point and nearly mugged. Another reminder of the vigilance needed.

As with many caves there were plenty of awesome rock formations from the cave roof and floor, but this cave was so much more expansive than others I had seen. That was until it came to the adventure part, where we were on our hands and knees crawling through small gaps known as the “Devil’s Chimney” and “Letterbox”. Safe to say we were as impressed as we were sweaty, which was very.

From the caves we headed to Cango Ranch where we had the opportunity to get very close to some amazing animals. We arrived a few minutes before a tour and had a chance to quickly check out the wallabies and the birds, which were very friendly when you picked up this rope with a bell on it.

The tour showed us the range of animals they had on show. Bats, Lemurs, Boars, Vultures, Crocodiles, Hippos, Lions, Tigers, Cheetahs and Leopards. There was a chance to do some encounters, which is where you get up close with some of the animals. The Crocodile and Cheetahs had caught our eye before arriving and were confirmed when we saw them. The Crocodiles in particular, especially when they jumped out of the water to get their food.

We waited to get in with the Cheetahs, and after a herd of Asians had finished, the guides were clearly excited to be able to speak English and interact with us. Taking us to the larger, male Cheetah and having a good laugh along the way. Many of the guides working on activities we had done had been brilliant, adding a lot to the experience. It was amazing to be that close with one of the best predators on earth, and it was like stroking your pet at home, behind the ears went down very well, and you could get it purring and feel it through its chest.

Straight from there we went to get into our trunks, and get into the Crocodile cage dive. The cage attached to a crane, lowered you down into the water, and the croc sat there waiting like it was going to be fed. It then circled and stared at you while you bobbed up and down to see the dinosaur as close as you will ever see. Whilst I was in the cage, one of the guides chucked a bit of meat in and I was lucky enough to see the power in close action. Glad I was the right side of the cage.

Lunch was spent comparing pictures and gave us a chance to see how cool what we had just done was. More than content, we left and headed out of Oudtshoorn to George, home of Nando’s, where we had earmarked tonight’s dinner and near to our accommodation for the night.

Our accommodation, was in the middle of nowhere and a small old barn house. Very cool, very quiet and out the way. Another busy day tomorrow, some more big cats and game to tick off.

[benlawrence9]

Day 6 - Road to the Garden Route

Last nights antics and the planned day of travel allowed me a decent lay in and I woke up surprisingly fresh and ready the day, another tick for Gin.

We left the beautiful home behind, and waved off Steve and Cath until Thursday, to set off on our 5 hour trip to Oudtshoorn, our stop for the night and the start of our garden route tour. Stocked up on snacks we left Franschhoek and headed onto route 62, a notorious beauty trail across the width of South Africa. The scenery on the route was stunning, and throughout there was never a time that mountains weren’t filling the whole horizon. Getting out of Cape Town and the drought affected area also meant more green, which added another element to the views.

The mountainous terrain also highlighted how shite our hire car was. Going up hills was impossible in any gear higher than 3rd and going down we flew, reminding me of the NZ driving/rallying.

We stopped off in a small town called Montagu, after some recommendations. We found a little coffee shop, and a table hidden away in the back that meant climbing over a fallen banana tree. The miles and the car singing flew by and we were at our accommodation by 18:30, and it was an excellent change from the city, a quaint little spot by a river (bad for the mosquitoes) with awesome little wooden huts.

We dumped our bags again, and headed back into Oudtshoorn for our dinners, and then had a 15 minute drive to find somewhere open to buy butter for my bread. Most of the shops open at that time were small, corner shop style places, and the darkness had cast a feeling of uneasiness over being out. Driving through towns earlier in the day and seeing the townships was again another reminder that there is always a danger here, and everyone knows it. As always though, I was trying to make light of it by quoting our first host Dion every time we got our the car. “They will smash your windows even for a phone charger” with a poorly delivered SA accent.

Back to the hut and shower without restrictions was a welcomed return to normality before bed.

It’s great to be back as just us three, that’s the reason I came here, to do this amazing stuff with my mates.

[benlawrence9]

Day 5 - Swapping Wine for Gin

The double bed was obviously working as again I had to be woken this morning to get up for the day. The mirror in my en suite showed how much I had been ravaged by mosquitoes, arms, back, legs all target areas.

Wine tour was the order of the day, and we headed out to check in and catch our bus. We were supposed to be able to get a train from each vineyard, but it was having some repairs done, but was luckily fixed after the first stop.

Another gorgeous day, and Franschhoek is nestled within a wall of mountains, with the vineyards acting as the skirting board.

As we arrived at stop one we were joined by Ants’ cousin Taryn and her boyfriend Chris which brought a welcomed change of dynamic and tone for me.

The wine tour as predicted was so so, probably better than I’d though because of the weather and how quickly it all ended, I managed to rattle through 3 of the 5 stops and that was enough for me. The best part was by far the host on the second stop. A guy called Fanie (Far-Knee), who was charismatic, funny and incredibly knowledgable. Even for me who didn’t care whether it was a grape or an apple I was drinking, he had you hooked and engaged. Then for him to tell us he’d only been doing it professionally for 6 months, that was impressive. Although he’d been drinking wine since he was 12, and his teeth backed up that statement.

After the tour ended we stocked up on food and alcohol from the town for our Brai, which is a BBQ.

Gin and ginger ale was becoming the drink of choice for Javi, Ants and I, and they were going down far too easily. I had a great chat with Taryn and Chris about our travels and previous experiences in different countries, and it was great to share them with someone who seemed to care about where I’d been and what I do. We waved them off and then I headed to bed, all ginned out.

It seems the statement is true that you can find comfort in the bottom of a bottle. Just not one with wine in. For me anyway.

[benlawrence9]

Day 4 - Leaving Cape Town

I woke up at 8:30 with 30 minutes to get everything packed and ready to leave the apartment. The shot called “African Toilet” from the night before didn’t seem to have given me any problems in getting this done, and we were out to the beach before 10. A chilled day was to follow with a morning on Clifton Beach planned followed by a better look around the V&A Waterfront before leaving Cape Town.

I loved Cape Town. Beautiful and picturesque, but full of character and with everything going on across the city. What strikes you is at “robots” (traffic lights), men/children coming up to your window with a cardboard sign asking for money. Many point at your wheels as you pull up, trying to get you to think something is wrong and roll down your window, before throwing whatever they are selling into the car and then charging you for it.

The one that spoke to me most was a man in his dirty jeans, with a cardboard sign saying “black pens for 5 Rand”. 5 Rand is 30 pence, and he genuinely had a handful of those cheap black pens you had at school. This made me realise more than anything that the cushion of protection for those that loose their jobs in England isn’t there in SA. There’s no benefits or start up help, it’s you out on the street in a country that the government put sharp rocks under all the motorways in order to stop the homeless sleeping there.

On to Clifton Beach which was quiet and out of the wind, and with the sun high it was prime weather for me to correct my t-shirt tan and try and shake off the nickname “Milk bottle”. We soaked it up on the dust fine sand until my stomach told me it was time to leave, and another one of Ants’ childhood memories was the destination, Steers.

After woofing that down we wandered towards a hotel with a rooftop pool called Raddison Red, bought a cider as an excuse to get in the pool and soak up the views as well as wash off all the sand, this was really helpful with the drought stopping our ability to shower regularly.

We dried off and headed back to the car to pick up Steve, and set on our way for our home for the weekend in Franschhoek, home to the wine tour we would be embarking on tomorrow. Steve’s girlfriend met us there and the house we were staying in was awesome, and I had a double bed, which is always a bonus.

Out for some dinner with far less alcohol than previous nights then back for an earlier night before the wine tour tomorrow. In all honesty, the day I am least bothered about across the whole trip. The others were raging about it, and trying to convince me that drinking wine, that I never drink, all day will be amazing. We’ll see. But I’d have much preferred to have spent the afternoon at Newlands watching the Stormers kick off their Super Rugby campaign.

[benlawrence9]

Day 3 - Table Mountain

After a much improved sleep, I woke excited that Table Mountain was happening today, as we had been told that the wind would be a problem with the cable car that takes you to the summit. The wind was low, the sun was blaring and we were up and ready to go, so our morning was sorted.

A slight mishap with the sat nav didn’t stop us getting there in great time and before we knew it we were up on the top. The views were 360 degrees and as far as the eye could see, no cloud problems like yesterday, it was pretty much the perfect day to be up there. We walked the trail and snapped all the views, and found it very difficult to move on from one to the next because of how beautiful it was. This was a similar problem to New Zealand. The seas were even more blue now the storm was a few days old, and that was mirrored onto the cloudless sky.

On the way down Ants’ had once again expressed his desire to recreate childhood memories, one of which was eating at Wimpy, which pleased him at least. Whilst there though Javi and I had spotted a nice little selection of market stalls, one with traditional African clothes, which we had decided we were going to buy. So we bounced from stall to stall haggling and getting very little success, eventually settling for the first lady we had spoken to. Purchase made, tragic pictures to follow on another day!

From there we headed to Kirstenbocsh National Botanical Garden, at the foot of Table Mountain (which to be fair most of Cape Town is). The Jurassic Park feeling, teamed with large plastic dinosaurs hidden away in the trees was great. So was scurrying between the shady patches, which gave us some much needed rest bite from the sun.

We headed home, picked up Steve and chilled out in our apartment with some gin until heading to a nice bar called Grand Africa right on the waterfront. We then headed into the V&A Waterfront area, to a noisy-er, and frankly better bar called Ferrymans, which we ended up returning too after leaving. Plenty of drinks, shit talking and a bit of singing to the live band and it was bed for 00:30, with a check out time of 9:00 to look forward to tomorrow.

[benlawrence9]

Day 2 - Penguins at The Worlds End

The failure to get some gluten free bread from the shop we visited yesterday meant Ants and I had to get up and walk round the corner to a Woolworths, which much to my inner childs disgust is not the pick and mix haven that it was in the UK, it’s more of a carbon copy of M&S.

As planned we picked up Steve and headed South to Cape Point, the southern most point of the continent, which is over a 2 hour drive from Cape Town.

The route as expected was scenic and beautiful, and only half an hour in we were stopping to look back at Hout Bay, which we had spent the day on the beach in yesterday. The glorious sunshine and clear blue water gave for some pretty special viewing. This was a good sign for the day with plenty of scenic viewing spots ahead.

Next along the road was Noordhoek beach, or long beach, due to the length and width of the sand. Again we stopped on the hill side to soak it in.

A small stoppage for a tortoise crossing, and then shortly after for a baboon gave me a reminder that we were constantly surrounded by that kind of wildlife.

We arrived at Cape Point, as the whole of the area was engulfed in cloud, in an eerie Game of Thrones location sort of way. The ascent to the top wasn’t any cooler because of the clouds, so a sweaty and panting arrival to only get the odd glimpse of what was around us threatened to disappoint. We carried on to the furthest point south you can reach, with the oldest track too unsafe to explore. It was an awesome place to be, knowing you are at the end of a continent with nothing but water surrounding you.

Over the course of the first two days, Ants had made some statements that Javi and I had believed to be true, only for Steve to inform us that he wasn’t that clued up. This became an NTA comment, “Never Trust Ants”, and provided us with plenty more laughs and reasons to dig him out.

We then headed the other route back north via Boulder Beach, famous for being home to lots of penguins. We parked up and had a swim and sunbathe with them and that was probably where we acquired our slight sun burns.

After Boulders we stopped at a nice place called Brass Bell in Kalk Bay. Jutting out into the sea with the waves crashing close to us was an interesting venue for a below average gluten free burger.

A quick change and stock up on alcohol before heading to Steve and Cath’s for a pizza and chilled drink. 12:00 I was out for the count, so onto day 3.

[benlawrence9]

Day 1 - Leaving My Job and Ending the Drought

So on one of the stranger Monday’s I’ve had, I went to work knowing that it was my last day at Stadium MK, and that 15 hours after I had left, I would have landed in Cape Town.

The South Africa trip was one on the list for a while, especially with Anthony, my closest friend who is local to SA. Ants, Javi (Ant’s husband and also a very close friend mine) and I where always keen to come and see the place, and here we are.

The 11 hour flight was long, teamed with the three new born babies crying for 60% of the time, the vast selection of films to watch with Thomas Cook (Sarcasm) and the thin seat cushions, meant I managed 3 and a bit hours of sleep.

After landing in 34 degrees and collecting our hire car, I was able to tick off another foreign country to drive in. The drive to our apartment gave us a good look of Table Mountain and the city scape. It was difficult not to have a large smile on my face.

Arriving at our apartment and greeted by local Dion, who spent a welcoming 40 minutes explaining the ins and outs of our Air BnB apartment and the severe drought that Cape Town has been experiencing over the last 3 months. There was a 50 litre limit per person per day, 2 minute max showers and no toilet flushing under a 2. It was difficult to break the habit of flushing the toilet or washing your tooth brush, but after a quick self bollocking we were starting to get the hang of it.

We changed to suit the temperature and headed to Camps Bay, to sit out on the beach. As soon as we had done this, a huge storm had started to roll in from the sea, with full thunder and lightening accompaniment. It was almost as if the pissing rain we had left behind in England had followed us south, and by the time we had left the bar we had retreated too, it had certainly caught up.

A quick change and it was off to meet one of Ants’ oldest friends, Steve and his girlfriend Cath, who were living not far from we where were staying. The chosen location was a bar called “The Village Idiot” which had a strange obsession with ostriches. Plenty of ciders later and we headed to “House of Machines” which had some great live performers and a great Rum and ginger.

Closing midnight and an early start tomorrow, we headed home. Africa’s most southern point was the mornings location, the start of the tick boxes.