October 8, 2024
Day 5-6: PE to J-Bay
Finally on the bike!
We took the coastal road (slightly longer, nicer scenery, less traffic) south from PE - rather than taking the more direct R102.
And it was pretty nice - rolling coastline. Sea on one side, sand dunes the other. Met a group of 4 cyclists who escorted us away from the sandy track we were about to take and on to a tar (tar, not asphalt here) road where we needed to be.
Eventually we couldn't avoid the R102. Fortunately, the traffic was mostly low as everyone seemed to take the N2 to get places fast, and there was a nice wide shoulder for some of it.
We had a pretty good tailwind, so we got to Woodridge a little early - Billy and Carol, were still at work at the school. We spent some time looking at the flowers (and a turtle) in the park.
Cath had been in touch with Billy before we left Aus via WarmShowers. We'd made a plan to stay and try to get some info about South Africa. But then Cath was sick and Billy couldn't host us. And our plans kept changing. Some messages back and forth, and Billy couldn't help himself and invited us to stop in and see what we can do.
We spent the evening with the overly hospitable family in Woodridge. Billy, Carol, Caroline and Tim. One son (Angus) is in the US - he had previously cycled from Cairo to Cape Town. Pity he was away - could have given us some tips. Although we heard a few stories of his adventure - maybe it's better that we didn't get scared off by any more details.
Cath lost her voice from too much talking. Although there were no more rooms in the house, we ended up not needing to camp - we got a cozy spot on the floor of the loungeroom. This capped off an ideal first day on the road!
Tim and Billy helped us plan a route to Cape Town. This, and the advice Cath has got from Amanda means we have a fair idea what the next few weeks looks like.
We headed off the next morning with a ripper tail wind. We skipped breakfast, but found a garage (petrol station really) that sold meat pies. Risked one mid morning. It was great!
Cath didn't feel well again. It turns out the cold was not completely killed. So we rested at the garage for a while. The lunch stop was going to be Jeffries Bay, then take advantage of the wind and sail west. Prevailing wind is easterly, so this is a bonus.
But, we only made it to Jeffries Bay before Cath decided this was far enough for today.
Did we mention it was pretty windy? In the direction we wanted to go? Too windy for pleasant camping, so we found a room in the backpackers for Cath to recover in.
Today's ride: 119 km (74 miles)
Total: 129 km (80 miles)
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