It’s been about 2 weeks since our last entry so we thought we’d fill you in on what we’ve been up to in and around East London.
2 weeks ago myself, Nat, my Mom, my aunt and uncle, a friend of theirs Jenny, a cousin of theirs Ray and his wife Gladys and my cousin Jeanne all went and spent 4 days in a small coastal town, if you can call a few houses, a hotel and 1 shop a town, called Morgan Bay. My mom’s family have been going on holiday there for over 100 years. My Grandfather and his family used to go there on horseback and ox wagon. How cool is that! There really isn’t much there but the beach is really stunning. If you are facing out to sea on the left there is a perfect white sandy beach which stretches for miles and ends on an outcrop of large looming rocks suitably called Black Rock where my Grandfather used to go fishing, much to the annoyance of his family as the waves crash right over the rocks at high tide. My Grandfathers ashes are scatted on this stretch of beach as it always used to be his small slice of paradise. Anyway on the right hand side of the beach its very rocky which makes for a great place to go looking for shells and there is an abundance of sea life hidden in the rock pools which are formed when the tide goes out. At the beginning of the century, I’m not sure of the date hence me being vague with the date, there was a ship which ran aground off the coast of Morgan Bay and it was carrying a shipment of Ming China and still to this day small pieces of the china are washed ashore and there are woman who comb the beaches every day looking for the pieces which they then sell to tourists. My aunt and Mom often buy some of the pieces to use in their mosaic pieces. Usually when my family goes to Morgan Bay we stay in a house called Castle It which my Grandfather had a share in but sold off to his cousins and is now a B&B which is run by my Grandfathers cousin. It’s literally right on the beach and has an amazing garden which attracts all kinds of birds. As there were too many of us this time we stayed in a rented house next door. We also went horseriding and as I’m sure some of you already know Nats horse decided whilst cantering along the beach to throw her off. Fortunatley she was wearing a helmet and it was on beach sand. It was only my second time and they gave me the biggest horse which in the end turned to be the most chilled one of the lot. Hopefully we’ll be able to do alot more riding on our travels and lets hope nats doesn’t land up with anymore unpredictable horses.
After getting back Nat and I decided to spend a few days in a place called Hogsback which is a 2 hour drive inland from East London. It’s located up in the mountains in a rainforest and has an English climate, 4 distinctive seasons. Once again it was a very small town with a couple of restaurants, some shops and some accommodation. We stayed in a backpackers called Away with the Fairies, insert joke here, which was very cheap and cheerful. As it was the middle of the week and winter we managed to get a double room with a fireplace, which we made very good use of as the nights were pretty damn cold. All the locals that we met were so friendly and when going out for a meal or a drink we had to be prepared to sit and listen to someone’s whole life story before even ordering. Life seems very relaxed for the locals and they rely solely on tourism as a source of income. The main reason people go to Hogsback is for the amazing walking and hiking trails that you can do through the forests. Nat and I went on one which took us right down into a forested valley and past “The Big Tree” which was pretty impressive for an eight hundred year old tree, a few waterfalls and we ended up at the base of the Madonna and Child waterfall which was pretty spectacular. The area is known for its alternative lifestyle with people offering holistic massages and there love of all things hallucinogenic which we were promptly offered the second we got out our car.
This past Sunday Nat and I went with my Mom to see the kids at Sunday school again where they each got to colour in a picture of Moses parting the Red Sea. They all love colouring in and for some reason the red crayons and pencils are much sought after but everyone shares. We made Fairy cakes for the kids (not of the Hogsback variety) the night before so when we handed them out on the Sunday everyone had a huge smile from ear to ear. We were both very touched at how something so simple could bring the kids so much joy and has made us appreciate what all that we have.
This week we are off to spend a few days in a place called Coffee bay which along the Wild Coast about 4 hours north of East London. We shall let you know how it was in our next blog.
Hope you are all well.
Cheers
Kim & Nat
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