So on Saturday 29th of September we started a road trip to Port Elizabeth (and back) in our trusty steed a 1.4 litre city golf (lent to us by Rob's Mum) and have covered over 2000km which is a greater distance then travelling from John O Groats to Lands End (and back again). We have seen many wondrous sites from Baboons having a turf war across a main road to a Nay almost being thrown off of an ostrich's back whilst at a farm tour. This trip saw several miracles happen the main one being that I managed to stay awake for the whole journey and did not fall asleep once.
Driving
It's fair to say that our South African cousins mostly like to travel at speed. They tend to sit as close to the rear of the car in front as humanly possible if the car in front is not going fast enough which is not to dissimilar to back home. It's always interesting to drive with Nay as the quiet and polite Essex girl we all know and love disappears and a ragging torrent of abuse streams from her lips which is generally followed by a quick apology and a blessing to the passing driver that has passed within several inches whilst taking over on a bend. SaturdayWe started at 8am from Hout Bay and made our way through the suburbs to the N2. We travelled for several hours across some breath taking scenery until we arrived to our first stop off point at Swellendam where we stayed at a backpackers hostel in a shed (an actual garden sized shed with a double bed). We went to Bontebok national park (just outside of Swellendam) where we were hopping to see some Boks and some Zebra. Despite driving around the whole park we didn't really see many animals but the scenery was beautiful. Later that day we headed to a pub that we had found in Swellendam and watched the South Africa vs Australia rugby game (supporting the spring boks - sorry Ryan). After that we went back to the hostel and stayed in the garden shed.
Sunday
We got another early start as we had a lot of distance to cover to get to Plettenberg Bay where we were hoping to get some relaxing beach time in the 25 degree clear blue sky that had been forecast. After several stops and some minor diversions (accidents and road works) we arrived at about 12-12.30ish and booked into another backpacker hostel which had lovely rooms (not sheds). After exploring the area (on foot) we found a lovely sandy beach were we settled down for a quick tanning session. Later that evening we had a great meal (seafood platter) before heading back to the hostel.
Monday
The final leg of our journey started well as we continued down the N2 passing fields of Ostriches and entering into the Tsitsikamma national park where we saw a Baboon sitting at the roadside waiting to be fed by passing motorists. We did however got slightly lost coming into Port Elizabeth and spent 2 hours driving around lost before a kind garage employee drew us a map to get us back on our desired route. After arriving finally at Fountain Vineyard church we registered for the conference and was giving our accommodation which was with a lovely couple called Divan and Lenee and their 2 excitable dogs a Ridgeback and a Terrier. We then spent a few hours on the beech enjoying the sun before making our way to the hosts. After unpacking we made our way down to the Fountain Vineyard church for the opening of the conference (Nay will fill you in more on this later)
Tuesday
We had a full day of conferencing with a lovely walk along a beach on the Sacramento Trail .
Wednesday
This was a great day as we went to ADDO Elephant park which was amazing. We spent all day driving around the park and saw some wonderful animals. We saw many types of Boks and Antelopes, Elephants, Snakes, Tortoises, Water hogs, Water Buffalo, Monkeys, Zebra and an amazing array of birds from Ostriches to Cape Hawks.
Thursday
Was another full day at the conference which ended in a banquet including some live music and Mark being one of the few people in traditional African dress!
Friday
Another early start as we started our trip back towards Cape Town. We made our way back down the N2 for a while before driving onto the R62 and heading towards Oudtshoorn where we visited the Cango Caves before having a braai in the evening at our final pit stop.
Saturday
We went to Cango wildlife ranch and Cango ostrich farm which was where nay nearly got thrown from an ostriche's back. At Cango wildlife ranch we saw some of the rare big cats from a WHITE lion to a White strip less Bengal tiger. This was followed by a private tour of an Ostrich farm which was an interesting experience.
Sunday
Our final day saw us cover a lot of distance on the way back to cape town and our apartment in which we will be staying for the remainder of our trip. We saw a lot of baboons as we passed through the mountains and after a slight detour made our way safely back.
Some thoughts from the conference....
Knowing what Mark has already said about my driving it was quite funny that during one of the meetings I got a random thought/picture about a map and a sat nav. We were then asked to pray for each other and the guy next to me (who will hopefully accompany Mark to watch some footie in Cape Town) prayed (not knowing what I'd just written down) that God would guide us like a sat nav .... We'll have to wait and see whether a Yoda voice from heaven appears!!
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Nay and our trusty stead at Bontebok national park. |
Driving
It's fair to say that our South African cousins mostly like to travel at speed. They tend to sit as close to the rear of the car in front as humanly possible if the car in front is not going fast enough which is not to dissimilar to back home. It's always interesting to drive with Nay as the quiet and polite Essex girl we all know and love disappears and a ragging torrent of abuse streams from her lips which is generally followed by a quick apology and a blessing to the passing driver that has passed within several inches whilst taking over on a bend. SaturdayWe started at 8am from Hout Bay and made our way through the suburbs to the N2. We travelled for several hours across some breath taking scenery until we arrived to our first stop off point at Swellendam where we stayed at a backpackers hostel in a shed (an actual garden sized shed with a double bed). We went to Bontebok national park (just outside of Swellendam) where we were hopping to see some Boks and some Zebra. Despite driving around the whole park we didn't really see many animals but the scenery was beautiful. Later that day we headed to a pub that we had found in Swellendam and watched the South Africa vs Australia rugby game (supporting the spring boks - sorry Ryan). After that we went back to the hostel and stayed in the garden shed.
 |
| Bontebok national park |
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| Our (Shed) accommodation in Swellendam |
Sunday
We got another early start as we had a lot of distance to cover to get to Plettenberg Bay where we were hoping to get some relaxing beach time in the 25 degree clear blue sky that had been forecast. After several stops and some minor diversions (accidents and road works) we arrived at about 12-12.30ish and booked into another backpacker hostel which had lovely rooms (not sheds). After exploring the area (on foot) we found a lovely sandy beach were we settled down for a quick tanning session. Later that evening we had a great meal (seafood platter) before heading back to the hostel.
 |
| Plettenberg Bay |
The final leg of our journey started well as we continued down the N2 passing fields of Ostriches and entering into the Tsitsikamma national park where we saw a Baboon sitting at the roadside waiting to be fed by passing motorists. We did however got slightly lost coming into Port Elizabeth and spent 2 hours driving around lost before a kind garage employee drew us a map to get us back on our desired route. After arriving finally at Fountain Vineyard church we registered for the conference and was giving our accommodation which was with a lovely couple called Divan and Lenee and their 2 excitable dogs a Ridgeback and a Terrier. We then spent a few hours on the beech enjoying the sun before making our way to the hosts. After unpacking we made our way down to the Fountain Vineyard church for the opening of the conference (Nay will fill you in more on this later)
 |
| Our hosts at Port Elizabeth |
We had a full day of conferencing with a lovely walk along a beach on the Sacramento Trail .
 |
| Port Elizabeth Sacremento trail |
Wednesday
This was a great day as we went to ADDO Elephant park which was amazing. We spent all day driving around the park and saw some wonderful animals. We saw many types of Boks and Antelopes, Elephants, Snakes, Tortoises, Water hogs, Water Buffalo, Monkeys, Zebra and an amazing array of birds from Ostriches to Cape Hawks.
 |
| A pack of Elephants take a pit stop at a watering hole |
Was another full day at the conference which ended in a banquet including some live music and Mark being one of the few people in traditional African dress!
Friday
Another early start as we started our trip back towards Cape Town. We made our way back down the N2 for a while before driving onto the R62 and heading towards Oudtshoorn where we visited the Cango Caves before having a braai in the evening at our final pit stop.
 |
| Nay in the Cango Caves |
Saturday
We went to Cango wildlife ranch and Cango ostrich farm which was where nay nearly got thrown from an ostriche's back. At Cango wildlife ranch we saw some of the rare big cats from a WHITE lion to a White strip less Bengal tiger. This was followed by a private tour of an Ostrich farm which was an interesting experience.
 |
| Mark and a cute bird in Cango wildlife ranch (before it took a dump on my shoulder and flow away) |
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| Nay straddles an Ostrich before nearly getting thrown off. |
Our final day saw us cover a lot of distance on the way back to cape town and our apartment in which we will be staying for the remainder of our trip. We saw a lot of baboons as we passed through the mountains and after a slight detour made our way safely back.
Some thoughts from the conference....
So our conference in Port Elizabeth was the 30th anniversary Vineyard Leaders event. Nicky (director of Ikhaya) and her husband Rob invited us along as they have been involved in the Vineyard movement of churches for a long time etc. Basically in the mornings and evenings there was a time of worship (led by Tony Sanchez and some great songwriters from the area) bible reading and preaching from different people including Christy Wimber (one of the founding members of Vineyard).
These things can get pretty intense but a great chance to meet some different people and think again about who, what, where and how. As we consider our future and the rest of our time here we have been challenged to think more about what God is up to rather than asking "what are we doing?".
Knowing what Mark has already said about my driving it was quite funny that during one of the meetings I got a random thought/picture about a map and a sat nav. We were then asked to pray for each other and the guy next to me (who will hopefully accompany Mark to watch some footie in Cape Town) prayed (not knowing what I'd just written down) that God would guide us like a sat nav .... We'll have to wait and see whether a Yoda voice from heaven appears!!
If you've got to the end of this then thankyou for reading and goodnight :)
love
Mark and Nay xxxx
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