East London

Despite the length of the journey (about 6 and a half hours) more beautiful scenery, lots of people, towns, townships and livestock to look at, made it pass relatively quickly. There were a few scarey moments, Rob is definitely not enamoured with all South African drivers and particularly their speed and where they choose to overtake but we eventually arrived in East London safely. The journey was also helped by the introduction of Christmas songs. We had agreed (me a little reluctantly) that they shouldn’t be played until after Rob’s birthday and in fact that we should wait until the 1st December. The big day had arrived and helped us through the long drive.

We arrived at about 3.30pm to Pollocks bed and breakfast. Dave Pollock, the proprietor, showed us to our lovely room and was extremely helpful in giving us ideas of where to go both immediately, to stretch our legs and for dinner later. We were disappointed that we couldn’t walk straight from our B and B but Dave explained that there was an awful lot of unrest within the town at the moment. Some local people were on strike which was causing many issues with rubbish collection and, ‘The devil making work for idle hands.’

We took his advice and reluctantly got back in the car to drive the 5km to his recommended beach. As we drove the short distance we were very aware of the rubbish strewn everywhere. Two weeks of no collection plus the added factor of deliberate destruction of black sacks meant in some places the litter was knee deep. We also passed the car park for the local beach we had been warned against and were glad we had heeded Dave’s advice. Some of the local people had set it up as the place to hang out. It was extremely busy and even more rubbish strewn than the surrounding area. The many signs for no alcohol were almost ironic as people leaned against them or sat beneath them with cans and bottles lifted to their lips.

As we drove on to Hanoon we left most of the litter behind us, we parked at the first opportunity, eager to get out of the car and grabbed towels and water. As it wasn’t totally clear where we needed to go, Rob asked a lovely lad getting out of the car next to us. After a quick conversation establishing that we weren’t from around here and a complicated handshake (well followed Rob) he enthusiastically welcomed us to the area and pointed us in the right direction explaining that we could drive closer. We chose to stay where we were, welcoming the longer walk and set off in the indicated direction with an extra spring in our step from his generous welcome.

Our walk took us along the estuary and led us onto Hanoon beach was which was lovely and quiet with just a few families dotted along the golden expanse enjoying the late afternoon sunshine. The tide was a little way out but the waves were big and strong. After walking the full extent of the cove and really needing to expend further energy we dumped our towels, removed our outer clothing (swimming attire already in place) and joined the few diehards in the water.

It didn’t take us long to realise why so few people remained in the sea. The waves were crazy, each one fought to knock you over before endeavouring to twist and turn you then finally sending a strong undertow to drag you away from shore. We resisted each attempt as best we could. I was less successful than Rob and succumbed to their power a couple of times, losing all sense of direction and my dignity on occasion as my bikini became a little displaced. Most of our excess energy was effectively expended so we left the sea, grabbed our towels and headed for the rock pools.

We spent a happy half hour searching for marine life and chatting to three generations of a local family. The grandfather was visiting and delighting in helping his grandchildren catch shrimp and spot sea anemones. The little girl, Isla, handed me a slippery, squidgy lump of something. I put my hand out willingly enough but, to her bemusement withdrew it in haste. She reliably informed me that it was a sea mushroom, I’d never heard of a sea mushroom, should I have? Do we have them in England? My education continues.

We left the rock pools as Rob had spotted a cliff walk that was beckoning him. We got so far ….before realising that time was running away from us, it was nearly 6pm and our dinner reservation was for 7. We hurried back forgetting how far away we had parked. By the time we reached the car any remaining excess energy had definitely disappeared.

After a quick shower and another quick drive (only 1km but apparently not safe, particularly after dark) we arrived at Dave’s recommended restaurant, Sanook. It was an excellent recommendation. They understood my coeliac needs well and replaced my burger bun with avocado – perfect!They also had some great banana desserts, Rob went for a rum soaked version while I went for a traditional banana split.

Our time in East London was short and despite the local unrest, very sweet. After another couple of hours on the beach in the morning (wearing a better fitting bikini) we dropped our beach towels back to Dave and set off for Port Elizabeth and the start of the Garden route.