...Spirit dreams within

NOTICE: Don't be a "baka" and try imitate my actions! Think before you act and safety1st! ALWAYS.

haha~ after going missing for so long, it is really kinda hard to start blogging! Well~ lets cut the crap and let's get it started!

I came home to PE last week Monday on the 17th and how did I get home? Normally, I'll either take a bus or I take a plane...this time round - since it is the end of the year - I decide to spoil myself and drive~ all the way back----just me, me alone. (even now, when I think of it ~ it is still kinda amazing. Hahahaha~)

This is the route! At the bottom is Cape Town and at the top is Port Elizabeth. and the red line is the actual path I took.

It is my very first time ever taking on such a long journey by myself, the furthest distance that I've drove is 120km(this is a funny story, I tried to drive to school by myself for the first time and I got lost...thus a journey that require 50km ended up to 120km...aiyaya~). This time, it is both far and unfimiliar ... yet strangely, I don't feel scared nor stressed which I expect that I would ,when I first came up with this plan during my exams.

Maybe because I've been on this route so many times - although, in a obvious sense, I don't remember the route~ only the views!

First pic of the trip! On N2 towards Somerset West. @5:25am

#To prepare for the trip, I bought 3 cereal oats bar, 1 large packet of lightly salted Lays, 1 Energade and 1 lunch box of apple pie and rasin loaf.
#Slept at 2100hrs, probably only fell asleep at 2240hrs(...aiyaya~ can't sleep before 'Big days')
#Woke up at 0330hrs, last minute packup,breakfast,bake cake' and last look- off i went @0438hrs.

#First stop----->ATM. but not working(wat!!) PETROL STATION. not accept my atm card.(nani!?)ATM2.PETROL STATION2.ok good to go... but made the wrong turn(TAME!!!!) N2. Whew~ finally...

At Somerset West. Cape Town(whole) is surrounded by a range of natural barriers~the mountain ranges, and it has truely lived up it's name for it's inaccessibility. The coast of Cape Town are feared for it's waves and rocky shores, if you check on the map, you'll find numerous shipwreaks sites. The legendary Flying Dutchman originates from the Cape of Good Hope.

The N2(National road 2) goes along the waist of these mountain ranges, wrapping round and round, climbing gradually. Just exited Somerset West, taking on Sir lowry's pass.

Ascending. Able to to see the ocean.

I am always amazed think that there is a city surrounded by huge mountain ranges, gaint waves and leaping sharks.

At the "peak of the road"(not mountain), there is a parking spot where you can take a breather. It is also the beginning of a hiking trail. It is so high up, way higher than where I live. @0552hrs

After susan's little amusement with the Newpaper's name "DIE BURGER" I kinda start to notice little things such as the Afrikaans for "baboons" is "bobbejane"...eh.

imagine.

I do look like a "bobbejane". Haha~ even a bobbejane has better hairstyle than me!! It is the wind la, but seriously~ my hair is so long it can touch my nose- extremely irritating during my exam period!

Christian Belief.

Long ago, when the European settlers came, they built the road to this highly inaccessible city to transport prisoners and other settlers. Seems like they are avid Christians.

Some residential beach along Faure Marine Drive. When I first took this pic, it reminds me of Singapore..(minus that mountain!!)

In the very beginning, my plan was to visit some secluded beach(those ones that lies in the middle of nowhere) and spend a night to experience the wildness, but due to mum's intervention, I change the plan to simply go on sight-seeing.

Did a little homework and decided to visit the whale capital of the world, Hermanus. Going there is pretty straight forward, from the top of Sir lowry pass , I would simply travel down the mountain and turn to my right. But as I was about to leave, the place , a Harley-Davidson biker rode in and we had a little chat, he advise me to take the scenic route- Faure Marine Drive.

Thus, I went back down the mountain(towards Somerset West) and took on the Faure Marine Drive.

Never regretted one bit.

Wildly beautiful.

Still moving along FMD,but now stopped for some whale watching action!

For some reason, this pic kinda scares me, gray skies...gray calm sea... anyway~ you can see some high rise building from here, probably some hotels(like Sim city!) In the end... didn't see anything. (damn.)

Moving out of the residential area, the "proper" Faure Marine Drive starts here. @0633hrs

Faure Marine Drive lives up to her name, basically you have ^Mountain[Road]Ocean},side by side.

2 spirited friends taking on an arduous journey~
I love this pic. This pic was already in my mind even before I took it, I was lucky to be able to capture it considering that I am moving 100km/h towards them.

Wrapping around these silent giants, one after another.

Unreal scenery even for me...mountain ranges facing the vast ocean. (right view)

(left view)

If you wonder how come I am able to take pics like the above 2, well~ along the road, you will find alot of 'parking bays'~ and there is no better place to answer one's Nature call! :P Oh~ I saw a huge rat-like animal~ size of a cat! Scattering into the safety of the rocks. @0653hrs

After getting intoxicated in the euphoria of FMD` the nicest part probably ended at the end of the coast route, thereafter, moving inland ...towards Hermanus. I tend to draw parallel to bro's visit to Cape of Good Hope, the only difference is his trip is more on a higher ground.

I find it extremely hard to imagine myself living on such a secluded property...even more amazed in the first place that they could build a house on that kind of terrain!

...moving inland on Faure Marine Drive...this part of the drive basically consist of going through rocky mountains and across grasslands...

Whale Capital, Hermanus. @0755hrs

Ah~~~~~

Finally, arrival at the famous Hermanus!

To justify my 3+hrs of driving, I am determine to spot a whale! (Jisho!!!)

Innocently, I ask a cleaner who was doing his job this question- "Hi there, sorry to disturb but do the whales frequent around here, do you see them often yourself?" He stared at me for a brief moment,looked at the ocean behind him and answered "There is one moments ago..." pointing to a area 100m(horiz.) away me, before I could gasp, thank him and run off~ he said calmly "...theres one there" pointing a direction for my frantic eyes to scan for anything that look anything like a whale(haven't seen one b4). There, I saw a flipper flops in the air and into the water. It was just a flipper, I went hyper. Thanked him and run off to the bottom of the cliff and sat on one of the rocks. Hoping to catch a glimpse of the elusive creature!

For the likes of tourists- not me.

Mugg & Bean , Cubana. -not me.

Sitting on the rocks waiting... Such magnificent and powerful scene~cliff braving against the endless waves. Nice!

5mins... seaweed...

10mins... more seaweed...

15 mins... you guess...

Suddenly, as I was about gave up hope... in the distant( I guess at least 800m-1km along the coast) I saw a whale breaching the water , it's giant body came out of the body and slam into the water-->twice in a row!!!! AhhhhHhHhHhh~~~``~~ Why not here??!

20mins... guess again...

25mins... a tail flip from the distant again! I stood up dust my buttocks and off I go!

...thats why i say this location is for tourist ma...

At the second location, about 400m away from the previous. (left)

(right)

Moving along the coast to the 2nd location did improve my luck! Manage to spot quite a few tail-flips and a couple of signature blowing of water ~ but seriously, this obviously aint anything close to satisfying me. But...I can feel that my heart are slowly been drawn into these mysterious giants of the sea. It almost seems to me that they belong to another world, total disregard of the world I am living in...

A short description of the whales of South Africa, they would visit these parts South African coastline to breed during the months of June to December, made their most appearances between July and September!

There are two kinds of whale in Hermanus namely, the Southern Right and the Humpback Whale.

Moving on to the 3rd location! Going close and personal this time round!! @0848hrs

WONDERFUL! Someone actually built a concrete path leading to the rocks directly infront of the waters!

After the second location, I got abit fustrated because the whales always one step ahead of me! Thus I drove down around 1 km down the road and by chance I came to a quiet residential walking trail. Park my car and to my delight There is a EXCELLENT fishing spot!

This time...I am only 3 meters away from the waters, I can feel the ocean vapours covering my face when the waves crashes. And...guess what there are whales infront of me and to my left(both about 100m away from me) ...I was breathless to see their flippers , tails flipping through and into the waters... although it is far and so far that I can't hear anything but, the feeling is so magical. There is something different about these silent , gentle creatures...

There we go~1 flipper caught in action, where? that black little thinge in the distant...don't complain la!

I'll remember this location~ will come visit again! @0917hrs

At the end of the 3rd location, reluctanly I left the place~ the place where the whales regard as "Honeymoon".

Leaving Hermanus was like stepping out a dream. Focusing on the true objective, I immediately step on the gasoline and off I go on R326 hoping to join back to N2 without any hiccups, and continue my journey back home~~

...

R326 was one heck of a long road...FAR LONGER THAN I HAD IMAGINED! Near the end of the road, I almost thought I was on the wrong route!! geez... it is long.

Maps can be deceiving!

Somewhere along R326, amongst so many roads I've driven- This road is the most secluded and quiet one. I am driving in the middle of the road to illustrate how wide the road is~ but the reason I could do that is because whole stretch of the road is deserted. Obviously, I stay on the left ... don't wanna get squashed at combined speed of 200+km/hr x_x'''

One of the crazy things I remember doing on R326 was trying to apply moisturising cream on my hands,arms,face and neck without getting my steering wheel oily, while driving at 120km/h...don't think I'll try that again.

For those who love Nature...

...and roadtrips

Taking a break... the only one along R326~ because was getting alittle bit worried if I've lost my way~~haha` @1004hrs

Valleys and rivers...I am a stranger in this Land of Idonowhere.

One of my favourites.

Gleaming white flowers with crispy dry petals.

Ready~ steady~ GO!!!

Vineyards

Geometrically skilled.

Waleh...seemingly endlessly long...

T_T finally... I'm not....lost. YOSH! Let's go! @1033hrs

You have no idea how relieved I was when I saw this signboard....(what should i do? turn back? wait for passer-by? sms? call? keep on going? or shoul..)
At this position, I am not even half way...goodness, it is already 10+am.

What to do? switch my indicator to the right and 1st gear~ let's go!!

N2 looking at the direction of Home. well...a 'few' hundred kilometers away. . . . . .

N2, N2 ALL THE WAY!

After I reached the N2, I've been focusing on driving the whole way, didnt bother taking any pic and thus this is somewhere near Oudtshoorn(where the famous Cango caves is,limestone formation stuff) Reaching George is my only sense of breather and comfort. I am starting to lose focus and feeling weary. It is really, really dangerous.

George is a small town in between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth, I used to live there when I first came to South Africa in late 1999. Along with Chua family(except gary), Zhang family,Guo family, Huang family. 5 families , 17 ppl living under one roof. It was fun days... days gone and never again.

Naturally, I took a little detour to visit memory lanes. First, Jack's place where I used to stay for holidays...then the community shelter where so many families living under one roof... the street we used to do bicycle tricks, the slope I had my worst fall, the chruch field we used to play soccer... so on.

Zhang's house where I spent good times at... @1337hrs

Kasteel street and the house where all who lived there, will never ever forget.

The iconic tower on Mount Outeniqua,我的蜜瓜山.

A few kilometers outside of George lies a small beach named, Victoria Bay. This is a very special beach for all the kids who stayed in George back in the days. At least for me, this beach holds very special meaning.

This is the beach where I learnt to bodyboard, got stinged by jellyfish for the first time, received a unexplained cut that left a 5cm long scar ... this is the beach that made me fall in love with the ocean. Childhood truely moulds a person. (p.s had my lunch there- apple pie and rasin loaf) @1405hrs

This long stretch of beach is called Wilderness. A very beautiful place, even the dirty windscreen and the cloudy weather couldn't hide her grace. I used come here to play when the families came here to sell springrolls(cheese flavor is still the best!) at the local flea market. I learnt to make sandballs here :)

The trip towards George was dangerous, losing focus and mind drifted away subconsciously even though my eyes are wide opened. I had to stop at resting points to drink and walk around before moving off again.

Yet nothing is to compare the trip between George and Knysna...this is deadly. Travelling at speeds of 110km/h, one little mistake- you can be a kamikaze pilot. I was driving and the next thing I realise I am driving in the middle of the road, 3 secs away from the opposite car!! After that, I continue driving blindly until a motorbike's roaring engine woke my brains up(my eyes is still opened). The ultimate finally scare the #*&^ out of me...I was once again driving blindly, then my car starts to vibrate and a loud grinding noise snap me into consciousness- I HAVE BEEN DRIVING SLOWLY INTO THE SIDE ROAD! If there hasn't been gravel and small rocks on the side road, I might been really driving into something I don't want to imagine.

After those incident, I start drinking water, pouring water onto my chest ,opening windows, sunroof, turn up music volume...but seriously , the only method that works was eating my cereal bars, pouring of water onto my body and drinking COKE!(helps tremendously)

REMEMBER, do not drive further once you realise you are starting to get tired and losing focus, Stay away from eating potato chips when you are tired.

72 kilometers past George lies the famous Knysna. Undergoing roadworks currently, it suffer flooding recently. The main attraction to this town is it's natural lagoon formation. The town is built around this lagoon and the special thing is that this lagoon has only one water source from a gap between 2 landform. use your hand and form a "O", open slightly to form a "C". Something like that...I never once found this place amazing. @1510hrs

Thats the opening, the link between the lagoon and the ocean.

Going out of Knysna, you'll see the informal settlements---namely, the 'locations','squatter camps'. It is kinda famous. Normally you'll find them at the outskirts of every cities.

It is almost like a kampong. That is a shop. Once, I spotted a double storey house made of tin sheets and you-name-it. Pretty good skills.

Leaving Knysna marks the beginning of my impaitence, thus I simply focus on driving the whole way through, seldom taking pictures... it is a really long day.

HA! If I am riding a black steed, then how would you describe this?! Geez, we repeatedly overtaking each other for about 3 times. Hold your horses!!

N2 ah N2...when will you ever end...even blogging you seems forever... @1728hrs

At this point in time, I suddenly feel extremely energetic! Probably because this place looks familiar~

This is so damn familiar~ when I see this place, I know~ @1752hrs

Back in June , I went on a roadtrip with parents and we also met the same roadworks... almost half a year gone and it is still not completed. Maybe it is really long.

Finally, I arrived home safe and sound @1845hrs.

Dad seems to be waiting at the garage doors already... goodness. He didn't predict, did he?

I step out of the car and my legs doesn't seems that they belong to me...my car's interior look like my bedroom, my hair is worst than the mornings' hair. When I sit on the chair in the kitchen...I was thinking that it felt good to be sitting on something that remains where it is.

Definitely.

Look carefully, casualties on the car plate! Some are beyond recognition.

TOTAL MILEAGE: 866.0 KM

DURATION: +-14hrs 7mins

Avg. SPEED: 110 km/h-120 km/h
TOTAL EXPENSE:+-R600

Most likely, I'll be doing this trip once every year during my November holidays. :) But, this will probably be the first and the last time I'll be driving alone. (hopefully not the last!) There are still many places that I yet visit!

Looking forward to it` and thus concluding this post! (really long sia...I think only I would have the stamina to blog for 6hrs! YOSH~! .............time to zzzz...)

Yoroshiku!