11 February 2010
After a day and two excellent nights in Durban it was again time to 'hit the road'. For me, though, I HAD to get up and watch the sunrise. There were some hardy ski-boatmen also up at dawn. The city looks great at this time of day too. Here are some pics.
Durban at dawn - taken from The Point.
Looking east towards the imminent sunrise. There is work-in-progress on the harbour entrance. Soon it should be able to take 17m draught ships.
Like the seagulls, I paddled in the dawn water of the Indian Ocean.
After a quick breakfast in Amanzimtoti we continued on the 'old' South Coast Road, the R102 towards Uvongo and Margate.
Bridge, lagoon and ocean.
A brief stop was made at Scottburgh (Cutty Sark Hotel) and then we continued on via Hibberdene, Port Shepstone, Shelly Beach, Uvongo and Margate.
The South Coast Road is very picturesque with very lush foliage and numerous rivers. The R102 has seen better days and most traffic uses the N2 highway nowadays. There are many rivers to cross.
Dr "KT"M.
The R102 is not good, but it is okay for motorcycles. In fact it is like having a tarmac'd off-road route which discourages 4-wheel vehicles. So, actually it IS good ......
...... as is the scenery ........
........ and the foliage.
Most of the bridges are of this type of construction. Bailey-type? Somebody educate me!
The gear and the bike definitely clash! But, to be fair, the helmet is genuine beemer!
The plan was to go to Uvongo Beach and get some lunch.
The state of the road signs reflects the state of the road. But, there is no grafitti.
Uvongo Beach.
It was too hot for bike gear on the beach and it was tempting to put on the bathers. We settled for lunch in the Beach Cafe.
A friend and neighbour in England had asked me to visit his sister-in-law in Margate. Her name is Mrs Sheila Smith. I phoned her. She kindly invited us for tea. Shortly afterwards we were at her pleasant little place at the Village of Happiness.
Sheila Smith is a lovely lady and we enjoyed meeting her very much. We had tea with her and took a few pictures for the record.
Sheila's car port - and her motorbike!
Sheila Smith and Dr M. "Thanks for the tea and warm welcome Sheila. It was very good to meet you."
We made a brief stop at the Mall at Shelly Beach on the way back to uMtentweni. The very helpful Delveen in Durban had recommended the Tweni Waterfront Lodge for our overnight stay.
Just north of Port Shepstone - we had passed this place southbound in the morning - on the R102 is the Tweni Waterfront Lodge. It looked promising - and it was good!
It was very hot. The pool was very inviting.
After ditching the moto gear we took to the water! Maybe we had a sundowner also .......
.... then it was time for a little exploration. The beach was the goal.
It wasn't far .......
..... there were many bluebottles so I didn't risk swimming in the ocean. Also there were no safety flags here. A walk in the sand was just fine though.
The railway runs between the beach and the road (and Tweni Waterfront Lodge).
It goes all the way to Harding near Kokstad.
I risked standing between the tracks for a few seconds ......
....... who IS this guy? Got any rope anybody?
The meal prepared by Felix, our host, was first class. Cordon Blue standard in fact. We also had a few more beers.
I went to bed too tired to party. Dr M stayed up for more beers with his new friend Felix from Hanover.
It was ANOTHER great day. Tomorrow we take the road to Underberg, via Oribi Gorge.
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