A request for a blog update ....

I was going to neglect my blog for the remainder of this trip, but received a gentle reminder to update it. So here I am at an Internet cafe in Cape Town. It is a relief to be out of the scorching sun. The weather has really warmed up over the last few days. I even have a reject sunnies tan to prove it.

It's strange how all the days seem to blur into one when you are travelling. I am sitting here with my trip notes as trying to recap what I did and where I visited may be a challenge. Finally the weather swung in our favour as we left Hermanus and cycled along the whale coast to Gordon's Bay. It felt so good to feel the sun warming me up and to smell the salt in the air. We cycled by many great beaches, empty beaches. I think the sharks and cold (I mean cold!) waters keep people out of the water. I did see one guy putting on his wettie to brave the cold waters. The scenery was absolutely spectacular with rugged, granite mountains soaring up to the sky on our right and the Atlantic Ocean below us on our left. I felt so free to be on a bike and stopping at every bend to take a photo of the next breathtaking scene ahead of me. The water is such a clear turquoise colour and I can only guess that this is because of the white, white sand. This truly spectacular ride was only a taster of what was to come. The only disappointment was the ending to the day. Our guide gave us the impression that we'd be stopping in Gordon's Bay with an opportunity for a gelato. The temptation of yummy ice-cream kept my peddling hard and fast. However, the tosser kept cycling, missing the left hand turn to Gordon's Bay and stopping at the BP service station on the outskirts of the waterfront. When I asked him about the ice-cream, he pointed at the servo shop. Not impressed!

Our home for the next couple of nights was Simon's Town, or should I say, the outskirts of Simon's Town. This tour has stationed my on the outskirts of the attractions. Simon's Town is a base for visits to Cape Point. This nature reserve is known for its abundance of flora. I was absolutely blown away by the ostriches and springbok on the beach. It was such a foreign sight for me and I couldn't get over it.

The best day was saved for last. We cycled from Simon's Town to Cape Town, door to door. The coastline along the Atlantic Coast is so wild and the perfect blend of mountains and water. We were blessed with blue skies, crystal clear water and mountains looming over us.The dingle lane road with a narrow shoulder to cycle on was worth the risk of being hooted at by impatient drivers. You couldn't pick a better mode of transport to get from Chapman's Peak to Hout Bay. Cycling enabled me to stop against to rocky barricade and appreciate the beauty and snap away to my heart's content. You'd never be able to stop on the narrow, winding road if you were in a car.

We said our goodbye to the rugged coast and made our way along the ritzy beach side suburbs of Cape Town eg Camps Bay, where supposedly the who is who of CT hang out.

Time to log off and do some walking. My legs are in absolute agony after walking down Table Mountain yesterday. I must look like a cripple as I walk the streets, especially when I walk down stairs.

Spent last night hanging out with some locals for sun downers and dinner. It felt so good to be with younger people, especially after my trip with way older people from the UK.

Time to pound the pavement of Cape Town and see what I stumble upon .....

Tales from the Western Cape ...

Gee, I feel so far removed from civilisation. Little did I realise that Internet cafes are a rare entity in South Africa.

We left Cape Town on our bikes 6 days ago riding through the port with Table Mountain to our right and the big shipping port to our left. It kinda felt like riding through the steelworks of Wollongong. As we cycled out of the city, the uniform housing developments started to appear. I couldn't get my head around the fact that so many people live in a 'Truman Show' world - whereby life is protected within the estate and its security reinforced walls and electric fences. However, in some cases, it is only a matter of metres before you stumbled upon a township where power is scarce, conditions are abominable. I wonder what it must feel for the two groups to stare over an other's habitats - rich looking over poor; disadvantaged lives looking towards comfortable lives?

Cycling along the coast was lovely and mostly along cycle path. The Atlantic ocean looked tempting but the sheer fact that surfers were in full steamers kept me at bay. Most of the homes seemed built on the sand and the km of sand dunes were a reminder of my childhood. The days of sliding down sand hills on cardboard were so much fun but it is rare to find a sand dune on the Eastern Coast of Oz.

From coast to wine lands was a dramatic change in one day. The Stellenbosch and Franschoek wine region is absolutely spectacular. The area is picture perfect and resembled Germany or the Alps with green, lush valleys surrounded by mountains covered in pine trees. The farm homes are just adorable. The Dutch originally settled in this area and so the farmhouses are very Dutch in style - white rendered cottages with dark thatched roofs. Life looks absolutely idyllic here although I am sure that there is a lot of work that comes with tending to the vines.

We sampled several wines, both red and white and I have tried to improve my ability to describe the wines. I always wonder how people describe wines eg a hint of berry on the nose; or a strong honey scent on the nose. The classic description was when the girl at one of the wineries described the wine as 'pencil shavings on the nose'. So whenever we set down for dinner, Jon, Wendy and I swirl our glasses and try and describe the 'on the nose' effect of the wine.

We left the wine regions for drier more stark scenery of the Little Karoo which is semi-arid desert. We passed kilometres of apricot farms which were in full bloom. If it weren't for the electric fences, I would have dared to pick a few. The road was rather gravelly and my lower back was killing by the end of the 65km cycle. I did see a tortoise along the way which was a highlight. He was trying to cross the road but considering the fact that it was a major road, I wouldn't be surprised if it is still waiting. Mr Tortoise was so cute because he would close his eyes every time a car passed. We spent night #4 in Barrydale, a quiet country town with well-kept homes with beautiful gardens. The Jacaranda trees are in full bloom and are everywhere. I have never seen such gorgeous rose gardens like I have in SA.

Leaving Barrydale behind for a steady cycle climb up Tradouws Pass. The scenery was spectacular with the Langeberge Mountains surrounding us. It reminded my of Zion National Park in Utah with spectacular rock formations and the rocks seemed to be slithers of sandstone and granite and would jut out from all directions. Our end point was Swellendam where once again we stayed on the outskirts of the town. Our home for the night was connected cabins overlooking a grain silo - nice (NOT!). However, it was a good base to explore Bontebok National Park. It is a small park but we got to see Bontebok, Springbok, Red Hartebees and of course, more tortoises.

Day 6 (26th November 2010) - This was our first day of not-so-great weather as we cycled along wheat fields and gently rolling hills. We visited the southern most point of Africa, Cape Agulhus. It was blowing a gale and was a reminder just how open and exposed the area is.

Day 7 (27th November 2010) was a wet start to the day. I looked out onto the street from our gorgeous guest house room in Bredarsdorp. The roads were wet and the rain showed no signs of stopping. Joy! We left Bredarsdorp with wet weather gear from head to toe. I don't know if it made a difference as I was saturated by the end of the 20km intro cycle to the day. My feet were squidgy in my shoes and the smell of must emanating from my feet was enough to make me pass out. I have since shampooed my shoes and blow dried them. See, I knew hair dryers were versatile. The day eventually cleared and we got to see Hermanus, the whale watching coast, in its full glory or turquoise blue water and blue sky. The whales are hiding though as I have not sighted any yet.

Today, I am chilling out in Hermanus. The weather is overcast but I am glad it's not raining. We started the day with an obligatory coffee stop. The coffee here in Sth Afica has been good. Illy coffee is everywhere, so I am not craving the coffees from home like I usually do when I am away. I am meeting Jon and Wendy, my pommie buddies. Jon is half my height and lives in Brussels (but is English) and Wendy lives in the North of England. The plan for the rest of the day is lunching in Hermanus followed by the coastal walk back to our lodge. We are taking advantage of the rest day as we have 90km of cycling upon us tomorrow .....

Cape Town Saturday 20th November 2010

After what was a most uncomfortable and long flight, I made it to this gorgeous place, Cape Town. It kind of reminds me of Balmain with the beautiful terrace homes and their wrought iron trimmings. It is still early morning and the streets are quiet. I have roamed the streets since after 7am as I was in search of a SIM card. In typical Melissa fashion, it doesn't seem to be working (yet).

My driver, Sufesa, picked me up from Cape Town airport. All ran smoothly upon arrival to Capetown and I was surprised with how orderly life is here. I should rephrase that as the orderliness exists in the main centre. Immediately upon leaving the airport, I was utterly shocked by the sprawl of corrugated sheds, not fit for choocks (in my mind). And then I realised that this was a Township. What a contrast between the beautiful rendered ornate homes (bordered with high fences and bars) and the corrugated, graffitied shacks. The only thing that made me realise that people live there was the sight of children playing soccer.

I am about to meet the sister of my friend, Laurian. She is a local Capetonian and is taking me to a market at a gentrified old biscuit mill.

I still haven't met my cycle tour group yet but thin they will be arriving after lunch.

South Africa: Cycling the Cape and Winelands

South Africa: Cycling the Cape and winelands

Saturday 20 November to Friday 3 December 2010

My next adventure is fast approaching. This time, I have decided to steer away from Asia/SE Asia and embark upon new cultures, customs, landscapes - South Africa.

As a first time visitor to South Africa, I have chosen to explore the Cape (mostly by bike) and stunning rugged coastal scenery and leave the Big 5 for my second (and hopefully longer) visit.

I have posted a map of my adventure. Although I will not be cycling every inch of the way, it will be far from a meander. The average daily cycling distance will be 55km, so I am hoping that a tail wind dominates.

I hope you enjoy sharing my journey.

Meliss

Hi from Xi An - Saturday 15 May 2010

Hi all,

Sorry for the lack of communication. Internet cafes are nowhere to be seen and we were lucky to find out that this hotel has a business centre. And to make matters worse, I can not log onto my blog, the first real indication that I am in a communist country with no frredom of information or free speech. So no blog until I return.

It was great to reunite with Meredith after not seeing her for 2 years. I arrived at 1.30am after a taxi ride through what looked like Gothem City (Beijing at night). We have 2 others with us on the trip - Evan and Tony and they are great!

Our first 2 days were spent hiking the Great Wall of China. And wow, what an incredible experience!! We trekked a very remote section on the first day with no one to be seen. It was nothing like I had imagined. We walked along a precarious dirt path which was an original section of the Great Wall with no areas of restoration. I overcame my jetlag quickly as my guide 'Ricky (AKA Dung Wah) called out 'Melissa, run!!!!!' A 1.5 metre snake slithered by and I screamed and ran for my life!!! I have never seen such a thick, long snake ever, ever, ever!!! Apart from that hair-raising experience, the remainder of the walk along the Great Walk was smooth sailing. Oh, apart from my calf muscles. My calves are still aching as we climbed thousands of steps during the 2 days of walking along this spectacular, man made wonder. The scenery stretched for miles - a rugged mountain range which was covered with pine trees, willow trees and patches of orange dirt. You could easily imagine what it would have been like hundreds of years ago.

After the Great Wall, we returned to Beijing and visited the Forbidden City and Tianaman Square. Tianaman Square was deeply moving. It was just a huge outdoor open area where children played, couples strolled. Our guide couldn't really describe what happened there. He, like many others has been brainwashed by propoganda or perhaps is too scared to express his own opinion. Mao is still revered and there are billboards of him everywhere.

We are now in Xi An and just finished cycling along the 14 km perimeter ancient wall of the city. It was awesome fun as we cycled along the cobbled wall, bobbing up and down. This city is covered by an overhanging haze. I haven't seen the blue sky peep through and there is a layer of soot over everything. It seems oppressive.

My experience of the Chinese people has been neutral. They are not the beautiful, warm, friendly people that I met in Cambodia. They are distant, yet curious and have often taken photos of us with their mobile phones. When I catch them out, I just stop and pose, just to get a laugh out of them. Laughing is not something I have witnessed all too often here.


I can't wait to get to the Yunnan province and experience the amazing scenery.Off to Lijiang in a few hours, our first internal flight.

Hope to be in touch again. If not, I will update my blog with photos and stories when I return.

My Virgin Blog!

After many years of travel and my love of sharing my tales and adventures using the antiquated medium of e-mail, I have finally taken the plunge and ventured into the world of blogging.

I am 5 weeks and 4 days away from embarking upon my next adventure ...hiking and cycling in China. It was more than a year ago when I sat in front of the tv, mesmerised by a documentary which featured absolutely spectacular scenery. As I sat there in amazement, I wondered where this truly magical place could possibly be. The answer, to my surprise, was Southern China. So now the tv documentary is almost a reality. I start the journey with a few days of trekking a remote section of the great wall and then I take a flight to the southern China province of Yunnan for a short hike in Tiger Leaping Gorge and then some gentle cycling, meandering through the villages of the Yunnan province.

I am meeting up with Meredith, who I met in Sri Lanka in 2008. We were the only 2 relatively 'normal' people (in my opinion, anyway!!) on the trip and ended up being roomies. Back then in June 2008, Meredith asked 'How about China 2010?'.

So I count down the days to my next adventure. But I also count down the days to the arrival of my first DIGITAL SLR. At 10pm last night, I decided to be a little crazy, take a little risk and throw caution to the wind. Nah, after a recommendation from a friend (thanks Anton!), I decided to purchase the camera from an international e-bay store. Now those of you who know me well, are all too familiar with my love affair with e-bay. ALthough the affair has dwindled somewhat, I do like to dabble every now and then. I obviously needed a big, yikes of a fix! Before I knew it, I was quickly hitting 'confirm payment' and punching in my paypal password (before there was any change of mind). So I am committed and will be 100% faithful to this new love affair ...me and my Canon SLR! I promise to be good to you, if you promise to be good to me! All I ask is for you to be clear, concise and composed and leave me with wonderful memories that communicate openly and honestly with me and those I choose to share you with! :)