Day 1
From Perth to Cape Town:
After a very long 11hr flight from Perth to
Johannesburg, and another 2 hour flight from Johannesburg to Cape Town….we
finally arrived in South Africa and were quickly whisked into a bus for a 6
hour journey to George.
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| Checking out the equipment. |
We saw some amazing scenes in that short
ride, including some shanti-villages, the local sights, and taste testing all
of the local “Steers” cuisines. Top on the list is MACON. It’s not bacon, it’s
not anything we know – but we ate it anyway.
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| One of the local townships. |
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| Our mascot (Felix) checking our the local sights... |
Day 2
From George to Mossell Bay:
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| The team, all smiles on day 1! |
Today saw the first day of riding, and we
covered 85km on undulating muddy dirt roads surrounded by amazing scenery. The
weather forecast was bad and lets just say the weather man was correct, the
special thing about mountain biking is that when is wet and cold, it is perfect
with all of the riders starting the day, clean dry and happy and ending the day
covered in mud from head to toe, wet and even happier.
Many of us came thinking that seeing famous
African animals was simply a pipe dream but unlike the weatherman we were
wrong! In just one day saw the first of the big 5, a water buffalo as well as waterbuck,
wilder beast, eland, zebras, impala, bontebok, guinea-fowl, and last but not
least FLAMINGOES.
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| Water buffalo….oh and horses. |
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| Flamingoes…….FLAMINGOES!!! |
Who would have thought that Zebra’s could
be so dangerous? Fiona and Catherine found out just how unpredictable and wild
they can be. As there were descending down a step muddy road a herd 4 of Zebra
decided to cross the road just meters in front of Fiona before proceeding to
jump over a fence and run hell for leather to chase Catherine! Catherine was
surrounded on all sides, but luckily managed to escape and evade. Both were a
little shaken, but miraculously throughout the ordeal managed to stay on their
bikes. Others were not so lucky…
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| If you squint, there are zebras in this photo. NOT the ferocious ones that chased Catherine however. |
Day one saw three crashes with Catherine
opening the account before Conrad and Barry were also overwhelmed by the forces
of gravity.
Conrad made contact with the ground while
ascending up a pretty decent climb. While all of us were crawling up the hill
at 3km/hr, one of us who shall not be named heard a very loud, high pitched
(girly) squeal, followed by a fairly substantial smash into the bushes. Unlucky
for him, he forgot how to clip his shoes out of his pedals –but lucky for us,
we had someone on hand with quick reflexes to snap the moment.
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| The money shot!! (sorry Conrad) |
Barry encountered difficulties staying
rubber side down whilst attempting a creek crossing. His previous career as a
ballet dancer saw him in good stead as he executed a perfect reverse pirouette into
the river, saving his camera from a good soaking. Tears were eventually
replaced by a look of steely determination as he waded his bike to the safety
of the far bank, with only grazed knees and a grazed ego.
Today is summarized by beautiful scenery,
tough climbs, and fun fast descents.
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| Can we keep him? So adorable! |
We can’t wait for day two! (although our
bums could do with a days rest)
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