Hi All

Welcome back to the Transkei. Today is our last day here in Coffee Bay and it seems like the time has just flown by!

On Tuesday we began the day with a few exercises on the land to work on turning and stance. What has now become known as the infamous “stones-drill” is an exercise that works all the muscles used in a turn. Each rider balances on a pair of stones set at shoulder-width apart. Once in position, one has to use the upper part of the body to generate speed by twisting into the turn. While the upper body twists, the legs rise in order to maintain balance. It’s pretty much like being a human corkscrew. It’s a lot harder that it looks but it’s a great way to work on the technique required to get your board moving on the waves.

After the session on the beach we joined the rest of the guys from the hostel on a hike to the Mapuzi cliffs and caves. This walk takes you over the hills and along the coast via a series of goat trails. It’s an unbelievably beautiful walk with views of both the magnificent coastline as well as the rural Xhosa villages. The cliffs themselves are quite a sight. Hidden away behind the hills, if you didn’t know they were there, you would walk right past them. Our guys opted to go for the cliff jump into the sea. No one really wanted to be the first to go, but once one guy goes, everyone else follows. From the cliffs we started the journey back to Coffee Bay making it back in time for one last surf before the sun went down.

On Wednesday a big swell hit making conditions in Coffee Bay quite difficult. I decided that this could be a perfect opportunity for our guys to get to see some of the other surf spots in the area. We all piled into the van and headed down the dirt tracks towards my 2 favourite spots on the Wild Coast. This trip was typical of what surfing in the Transkei is all about – a proper mission to get to the waves. If you can negotiate the animals and crazy drivers and manage to pick the right path through a maze of unnamed roads, you might find yourself on a narrow dirt track that meanders into the hills. After a while the road ends at the foot of a hill, which looks exactly like a million other hills in the area. If you’re at the right hill, you only have another 30 minute walk ahead of you before you get to a steep climb down the other side. Once on the other side, it’s a short scramble over the rocks before you get to the sea. If you’ve successfully picked the right route and managed to make it through all the Herculean challenges along the way, you’re most likely standing at a spot called Lwandile. This fabled point break has produced some of the best waves in the country. The swell comes straight out of the deep and cascades over a shallow rock shelf as it powers its way along the point until eventually closing out on the beach. This was the scene that I was hoping for but unfortunately the wind was a little on-shore so, while I did try for a surf, there was nothing really to write home about. If the waves had been a slight disappointment, the sheer beauty of the setting more than compensated for our tough journey to get there. Everything from the rivers to the rock formations seemed like something out of a fairytale. We ended up having lunch on the rocks and hanging out in the sun before we made our way a little further west to another of my favourite spots, Mdumbe. From the hills we looked over the point and got a good view of the setup. The banks at Mdumbe haven’t been so good lately so the waves weren’t as classic as they normally are, but even so, it’s always great just being there.

On Thursday the swell dropped off a little and gave us a chance to get out into the water again at Coffee Bay Point. I let the group head out on their own and opted to watch from the rocks just to see how the guys would get on without any supervision. While I still had to shout a few instructions just to keep the guys from drifting off, everyone managed to do really well for their first solo session. It was good to see that the guys had remembered all the lessons they’d learnt from Sheldon, John, Donna and Ettiene. They’re starting to look like real surfers now!

Yesterday we tried for another surf in the morning, but the swell had picked up again and the point was a little too messy so it wasn’t a long session. We decided rather to go and visit the Hole-in-the-Wall. The wall stands between the river and the sea with the hole acting like a gateway between the two. Pierce opted to do the hike with a few of the guys from the hostel while the rest of the guys hopped back into the van to drive there. The tide was nice and low when we arrived so we were able to walk out to the wall and peek down the hole. We spent most of the afternoon there, swimming in the river and chatting on the banks. It was another classic day in the Transkei, which was topped of with a braai back at the hostel.

Unfortunately the swell is still quite messy from yesterday and it looks like it’s dropping quite a bit so our prospects aren’t looking too good. We’ll probably spend the day exploring a few more of the spots around the area and getting ready for our final push towards Durban and Ballito tomorrow.

Till next time…

Take care,
Bevan

Hi all

And Welcome to the Kingdom of the Zulu – KwaZulu-Natal.

On Sunday we packed the last of our luggage into the back of the van and headed out for another mammoth journey east towards our final destination – Ballito.
Ballito is situated just north of the port city of Durban on the east coast of South Africa.
The border between the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal is marked by the Drakensberg Mountains where the golden, grass hills of the Transkei are replaced by miles and miles of sugar cane plantations and coastal forest. The road bends northward at the town of Port Shepstone on the South Coast and hugs the coast all the way to Ballito on the North Coast.

The wind was howling onshore as we arrived in town. The sea was wild with white waves and foam – definitely not an attractive scene. We got ourselves settled into our new hostel and met our hosts Mike and Roz Smith who gave us a nice warm welcome around the fire.

It continued to blast into Monday and the ocean was just way too out-of-control to even consider paddling out. Instead we decided to explore our new surroundings a little more. We started out by checking out some of the local surf spots in Ballito, but with the wind being as it was, it was very difficult to imagine that anybody surfed at these breaks. Given the right conditions, though and Ballito really comes alive. This little town recently played host to the very popular Mr. Price Pro surf contest (formally the Gunston 500), which is the longest running surfing event in the history of the sport. The swell was absolutely massive during the event this year and allowed for some really outstanding surfing.

After our short tour of Ballito we headed south towards South Africa’s “Surf City” to go and see what all the fuss was about. As a Durban boy myself, this was literally like coming home again. We visited some of the main beaches in the city such as North Beach and New Pier and took a look at the setup. One of the really nice things about surfing in Durban is that there are a number of piers for you to jump off of or swim out next to, which makes your paddle out to the waves a whole lot easier. The harbour walls as well as the bluff on the south side of town act as a barrier, protecting the bay from the prevailing south-west winds and causing it to blow offshore quite often in Durban. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case on this day, so we didn’t stay long.

We made our way back into town to visit one of Durban’s local shapers, Hugh Thompson. Hugh has been shaping boards for as long as he can remember. He’s a 5 x SA champ, 15 x KZN champ and current Longboard champ in his division. He’s a familiar face in the Durban line-up and with his wealth of knowledge and experience; it was really good to have him show us around his factory. He showed us the process of making a board, right from selecting a blank (the foam core) to glassing over the board to placing the fins. It was a very interesting excursion, especially considering a few of the guys were looking at getting more performance-orientated boards themselves.

After a quick lunch in the Durban Botanical Gardens we headed out to visit another one of Durban’s most famous shapers, Clayton Nienaaber. Clayton is well known for his performance shape surfboards which are hugely popular with many of Durban’s pros. Ollie got himself kitted out with a new Spitfire from the rack while Tash found herself a nice looking Evo model. Emma decided to get a custom shape that will be more suited for more advanced manoeuvres. The boards are all in the shop at the moment getting their sprays done, so we should be picking them up this afternoon!!

Yesterday the wind continued to howl onshore from early in the morning. It was going to be another day out of the water, but fortunately, in a place like KZN, there’s just so much to do that one more day out of the water gave us an opportunity to visit one of the game parks in the area. Umfolozi forms part of the Hluhluwe – iMfolozi National Park which is home to Africa’s Big 5, the Lion, Leopard, Rhino, Buffalo and Elephant. We got on the road nice and early and arrived at the gates around 9:30. We spent the whole morning meandering through the park in search of the elusive wildlife and managed to get lucky on a few occasions. We ran into a number of Impala, Wildebeest, Zebra, Warthog, Giraffe and even a few Buffalo on our way out. It was a fantastic morning in the reserve and seeing that we still had some time on our hands, I decided to take our crew down to St Lucia, which forms part of the iSimangalelo Wetland Park, a World Heritage Site on the Elephant Coast. We took a walk along the estuary and managed to get a real close view of a bloat of hippo’s relaxing on the shores. There were also a number of crocs out sunning themselves on the banks of the river. In all, it was an awesome little detour and the perfect way to end off our adventures in the wilds of the KZN game parks
We got back to Ballito in time to enjoy a delicious pub dinner at Shea’s restaurant before turning in for the night.

Today the wind has dropped off substantially and is due to turn westerly by the afternoon so hopefully we’ve got some waves on our hands later.

So till next time…

Take care,
Bevan

Hi all and welcome back to Ballito…

The past few days has seen quite a bit of swell on the east coast. The howling north-easterly winds from the beginning of the week have managed to kick up quite a bit of east swell and the Durban crew have been all over it!


On Wednesday we awoke to the last of the really stiff onshore breezes. By the time we had made the drive from Ballito into Durban, the wind had dropped off completely and in no time at all the offshore began cleaning up the surf. We decided to enjoy a few rides at the Wet ‘n Wild water park while we waited for the fresh westerly to groom the waves into something a little friendlier to ride. By lunch time the tide had begun to fill and the wind had done a great clean-up job on the surf so we waxed up our boards and headed out for our first official surf in Durban!! The waves in Durban are a big step-up from the mellow point breaks we’ve been treated to over the past few weeks, but fortunately for us, the tide was on our side and the waves came gently crumbling into the bay at uShaka beach, which was perfect for the guys to get a feel for the new conditions. We made the most of the wave-window that the tide had provided and surfed all the way to sunset. Ollie got to give his new board a go, which he paddled over a few considerable sets during his session. Emma gave the Ticket to Ride spitfire a try to see how she would cope on a shorter board. In all it was a classic little session and a great introduction to surfing in Durban.


Thursday was results day for most of our crew so no one was going anywhere in the morning. The guys waited nervously to get their marks and hear how their University applications had gone, which, fortunately came back very positive for everybody. This was the day that everyone had been waiting for with great apprehension, so to get a good result was a big relief. And what better way to celebrate a good result than with a good surf! We all piled into the van and headed back into Durban to try and catch the high tide again. We stopped off along the way to pick up Emma’s new board, which had just come back from being sprayed. When you see someone dancing on the spot when their new board is being unveiled, you know that they’re stoked with what they see! After that it was off to the beach to catch a few waves.

As I mentioned on one of my earlier entries, Durban has got the great little bonus of being able to jump off the piers instead of paddle out from the beach and our crew were about to get a taste of how we do things Durban-style! There’s no real skill to jumping off the pier, as most of it just involves falling, but there are a few precautions that one needs to take before plunging off the edge so we had a quick safety chat on the pier before I helped each of the guys jump into the line-up. The wind was quite strong and the waves had picked up so we didn’t stay in for too long, but it was nice to see the guys out in the Durban line-up during a good swell.

Yesterday we headed back down into Durban to check on the waves. They were absolutely perfect!! Big round barrels came powering down the sand bar at New Pier and the Durban crew were all over it! Unfortunately we had to be content with watching the waves, as they were just way too big for the guys to paddle out in.

For lunch we got stuck into a popular Durban delicacy, the Bunny Chow, before heading back down to the beach to see how the conditions were looking. The onshore had picked up again and with the fresh swell the sea looked big and messy so we decided to give it a miss for the afternoon.

While we did forego a surf in the sea, we didn’t totally write-off surfing for the day. Another one of Durban’s little surfing bonuses can be found at the Wavehouse in Gateway Mall. This is home to Durban’s inland standing wave, the D-Rex, and no matter what the swell’s doing or which way the wind is blowing; it is always 6ft and perfect at the Wavehouse. The one stark difference between riding an ocean wave and riding a standing-wave so that; on an ocean wave one moves over he surface of the water at great speeds whereas on the standing wave, you stay stationary and the wave moves under you. So in effect, you’re not moving at all. It’s a tricky concept to get right and I watched as the guys came to terms with this new style of wave riding but it looked like they had a really good time in the process.

In the evening we came back to the hostel or another one of Roz’s delicious dinners before the guys went out to celebrate the results.

The next few days looks quite nice on the surfing front. The swell is due to swing southerly and drop off quite a bit which will be good for our guys, but only time can tell what transpire.

Till next time…

Take Care
Bevan

Hi all.

This will be the final blog entry for the Ticket to Ride African Road Trip 2009. It’s been an absolutely amazing 6 weeks of surf and adventure along the beautiful South African coastline. Unfortunately though, as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end…

On Sunday we were blessed with an absolute peach of a day!! The sun was shining and the weather was fine all day long. The swell had dropped off a fair bit too so we decided to make the most of the conditions and head down to Durban for a day at the beach. In the morning we paddled out at a spot called Wedge, which is just down from Durban’s famous New Pier. The tide was nice and low which gave the smaller swell a little bit of punch, which is exactly what you’re looking for when surfing in Durban. The waves stuck around for the morning session and we paddled ourselves into some classic waves before paddling in for lunch and a rest on the beach.

In the afternoon the tide filled in and the wind picked up from the south which made the waves a lot gentler to ride. There were still a few good sized waves to be had and our guys were on it! Lizzy managed to paddle herself onto a few solid waves while Ollie, Tash and Emma put their new boards through their paces. Pierce sat a little closer to the pier where the waves picked up again and caught himself a few really racing rights into the bowl.

Yesterday the weather gave us a real curve-ball. We were due to head off early to get to the Eston runway for Lizzy’s skydive, but, instead of the sunshine we were expecting, the clouds had come over and it had started to rain. Bad news on the weather front did, however, mean good news on the wave front so we made a detour into the city. When we arrived in the parking lot we were greeted by some perfect little right-handers at North Beach. The westerly winds had warmed up the water which was a big bonus considering there was on sun out. Ollie, Emma and Lizzy opted to stay dry and hang out at a café while Tash, Pierce and myself wasted no time in getting right out there. The draining tide kicked up some awesome little barrels next to the pier, while out at the back a few wide sets came rolling in every now and then. Tash managed to get some of her best rides on her new board, while Pierce took on the steep bowl section on his back-hand. The waves were clean and consistent and the overcast conditions seemed to have kept the crowds out of the water. In all it was a perfect surf to sign off our time in Durban and, indeed, South Africa.

The weather hadn’t improved by the time we paddled in so things weren’t looking too good for Lizzy’s skydive. Pressed for things we could do indoors, I had to put my mind back to when we were younger and spent our rainy days at the ice-rink. I almost jokingly mentioned the idea to the guys but, to my surprise it seemed to be a winning plan. Apart from being the some of the oldest guys at the rink it was actually quite an enjoyable time. You could tell that Ollie and Pierce had done this before. As for me any skating skill I might have had when I was younger has since left me. In the end though, it was one of those random activities you do that ends up being a lot of fun.

In the afternoon we swung by the Wavehouse again to give the D-Rex another go before grabbing a few snacks and supplies for our final evening in Ballito. Normally we like to send the guys off with a braai outside by the pool, but, as the weather was doing us no favours, Roz cooked us up a delicious 2 course meal, which more than made up for it. We spent some time recollecting a few of the classic moments of the trip. It always amazes me to see just how many there are. We’ve come along way since Cape Town, and I don’t just mean distance-wise. Everybody had a memory to share which made it that much harder to think that it would soon be over.

This morning we got up really early to get Emma and Tash to the airport. It was a sad good-bye and one that nobody really wanted to have to say. Our 6 weeks together seems to have just flown by. After dropping off the girls we drove away with a somewhat empty feeling bus. The weather had cleared and the sun was shining which meant that Lizzy’s tandem skydive was back on. We drove out to the Eston runway to meet with the guys from Skydive KZN. Pierce, Ollie and I watched as Lizzy’s and her instructor took off. A few minutes later we could see them coming overhead and at 8000ft they made the plunge back down to earth. The total decent time takes around 7 minutes, but Lizzy reckons it’s a whole lot quicker than that. I was really stoked for her that she was able to make the jump just before leaving and judging by the smile on her face, so was she. From Eston we made our way back to Durban to drop off Pierce in town and then finally Ollie and Lizzy at the airport.

It’s quite a strange feeling to think that all the familiar faces from the past 6 weeks are no longer around. It’s been an absolutely wonderful time together, and from my side, I’ve definitely got some amazing memories from this trip. It has been an absolute pleasure travelling and surfing with such an awesome crew and who knows, maybe one of these days the tables will be turned and I’ll be taken on a trip around England by one of these guys…

Thanks to everyone for following our travels on the blog. This is Bevan signing off for the TTRide African Road Trip 2009.