Co-Instructing and Bark Chips

Good morning from South Africa! I'm trying to catch up on my blogs that I've been putting off on writing. It's another two week blog update this time and there is lots and lots to cover so sit back and get comfy! 

Week 39 (Monday 27th May - Sunday 1st June) - Co-instructing and Father A Nation.

So back on Monday 27th I was still up in our base near Potchefstroom. We started the day by quickly putting up a spiders web between two trees before preparing for our course. I was SUPER excited for this course as me and Talitha were being given a chance to co-instruct! Not all the volunteers at OB have been given the opportunity to instruct a group so it was really fantastic to be trusted enough by the staff to be let loose with a group in the mountains of Venterskroon. 

The group itself was eight (meant to be fifteen) fourteen year olds from a private school in Nigeria. They arrived in the morning and after the opening circle we started with some ice breakers, paperwork, course conditions and tone setting. After lunch we did gear sort which is giving each participant all the equipment they'll need for the course and also all the group food that they would be cooking out in the field. Since it was quite sunny we quickly did the float test in the pool. Everyone who does a water activity at OB needs to do this before hand and it's basically just lying on your front and back with a life jacket on to ensure you can float and remain calm in water. Before it started getting dark (around 5.30pm now) I showed them how to pitch the tents correctly and once they had all theirs up with everything inside we did the spiders web before having dinner, debriefing for the day and then heading to bed.

The following day I was running PT at 6am which I think everyone was secretly thankful for since it was absolutely freezing outside the warmth of our sleeping bags. After a slow start to the day the group finally got round to making breakfast (oats) and de-pitching their tents. Our first activity was rafting and after quickly jumping back into the pool (which could of been so much colder but thankfully it wasn't) to do the float test with two girls that didn't do it the previous day, we all headed down to the river. Getting the raft into the river was an activity in itself but once on the water we soon started to head quickly upstream. The group seemed to enjoy doing it, especially when me and Talitha set them the challenge of how many times they could spin the raft a full 360° in sixty seconds. They managed five full turns! Once everyone was back on dry land, we gathered all our stuff up and set out on our hike to our campsite for that night. After hiking for just over two hours and after a lunch stop, we finally made it to 'field' where we'd be camping for the night. I think some of the group were genuinely surprised that we would be camping here that night - "Your unpacking your tent? We're actually staying here?!". After doing some group initiatives with them we started camp craft and first on the agenda was digging our toilet for the night. After collecting water, pitching tents and setting up the kitchen, the group started cooking (in front of some very curious free roaming cows) for the night. Me and Talitha's dinner that night was a classic camping meal - pasta.

Wednesday was another early morning and after PT and breakfast (more oats for me), me and Talitha collected the abseil and rock climbing set up bags and headed off up to the abs site. After doing the set ups we didn't have to wait long till the group arrived with Aphiwe (the instructor helping us out). We started with abseiling so we went through all the important safety information and sorted everyone out with harnesses and helmets. I got the chance to abseil half the group down (Talitha doing the other half) which was fantastic! After lunch at the bottom of the abseil we moved onto rock climbing which everyone in the group attempted. We were both really proud that everyone had a go at this, especially the few that struggled with the abseil. After walking back down the mountain we headed to our new campsite for the night - 'gorge'. It seemed to get dark so fast that night and cold too.

Thursday was definitely the most challenging day for everyone. Waking up in gorge and discovering our tents FROZEN solid was definitely a surprise. With the amount of ice on me and Talitha's tent you would think that we were camping in the Cairngorms in February. The cold was slowing everyone down and even some hot oats (love having oats for breakfast now) couldn't lift the cold mood over the camp. Time seemed to be moving incredibly fast and the group was definitely not going to be leaving on time to start the long hike up round the mountain back to base. Once they finally got moving everyone was a lot happier, especially since the sun had finally decided to show itself. However, the time had other plans and it was soon clear that the group were going to end up walking in the dark due to the speed they were going at. This was something that we could not let happen, especially due to the terrain and steepness of the trails. Us three instructors discussed this issue and we ended up making the call that turning back would be in the best interest of everyone. The group had mixed responses to this but after talking to them I think they understood. Safety always comes first. On the way back to base one of the participants became unwell and we had to get her evacuated back to base. I'm just glad that we were easily accessible to the bakkie and not at the top of a mountain like we should have been. I stayed with her while the others continued with the hike back. Once everyone was back we started with the clean up - washing sleeping bag liners, rucksacks, emptying the bins and cleaning the stoves. Before we knew it it was soon going to be dinner time but before we ate I got them all up and moving about with some games in an attempt to keep them warm. The group was definitely happy to not have to cook on the stoves that night and they even got to sleep in the dorm rooms that night!

After breakfast on Friday we continued with our clean up of the gear and once everything was sorted the group had the chance to shower. Something they'd been looking forward to all week. Afterwards we had our final debrief with them and finished up with some paperwork about the course. We got them to each fill out a experience letter and one of my favourite responses was definitely "Thank you to Talitha who is like a cute six year old and Rachel and her strength to tolerate our nonsense". Lunch and a closing circle later, the group was soon piling onto a bus and leaving. Instructing a course was definitely an experience and something I'll never forget! After debriefing with Nthabi  (who was CC for the course) I headed off for a shower before me and Talitha sat down with an orange and a bar one (basically a mars bar which I'd been saving all week), to complete our paperwork for the course. We also properly said hello to all the other instructors (and Scott!), who had joined us up in Potch for the next course...

Friday was far from done. At 5.30pm we were expecting the next course to start but the buses were running late. This course was another 'Father a Nation' group (just like the one we had in Hopetown). I think the total was 96 men all from Alexandra - one of the "roughest areas of Joburg". One of the busses finally turned up sometime after six o'clock and those on board were soon sorted into groups. While we waited on the other bus (which had broken down during the drive) I found myself in the kitchen peeling a LOT OF potatoes and cutting them into chips with the other instructors who were still waiting for their groups. Once the other bus had finally arrived (some point after 9pm maybe?) things were very hectic around base. All the staff ended up having a meeting at 11.30pm to discuss all the issues that were being thrown up that night. It was very late when we all headed to bed with the prospect of what tomorrow was going to bring.

Saturday morning saw an early start for me and Talitha. By 7am we were being driven out to the abseil/rock climbing site and after our walk up to the top we were unpacking and setting both activities up. I did the rock climbing set up - my favourite one to do since you get to abseil yourself down to the bottom! The first two groups arrived and the morning was soon going fast. It was really interesting to chat to the guys as they waited for rest of their group at the bottom of the abseil. One of them even managed to spot some Springbok which I quickly snapped some photos of. All seven groups had a go at either rock climbing or abseiling that day. It was really nice to support those activities and each group definitely seemed to have a good time! Scott was instructing one of the groups and when he came up to the abs site with his group he brought a box of chips for me and Talitha which definitely made our quick lunch break 100× better. That night a concert was held in the hall at base and I was so surprised at the effort and enthusiasm all the groups had for it! Since this was a Father a Nation course each group themed their performance around gender based violence. There was songs and there was drama performances, each one amazing!

PT was at 6.30am on Sunday followed by breakfast and then the groups had solo time before sharing stories with each other. A really nice ending to the weekend. Thankfully the buses were on time and after lunch all the participants headed back home. The rest of the day was spent packing and cleaning up before we had a small braai for dinner. I've definitely loved my weeks here!

Week 40 (Monday 2nd June - Sunday 8th June) - Bark chips!

At 4am we left base up in Potch to make the 13 hour drive back down to home in Sedgefield. Seeing my bed again was a very welcomed sight and so was the weather! Much warmer down here than up north. Tuesday was mainly spent unpacking everything and tidying up base as on Wednesday someone from Outward Bound International was going to be coming for OBSA'S two year review.

Wednesday was bark chip day! Like marmite you either love it or hate it. At 8.30 we headed out to fill the gear trailer and both bakkies full with bark chips. It was hard work but enjoyable due to everyone having a good laugh. Many people did decide to move at the wrong time and ended up with faces full of incoming bark chips! The whole day was filled up with this as we went for two rounds so when we arrived back at base after going for the second load, the guy from OBI was here. After some very brief introductions (he was from Scotland!), we ran up to shower and make ourselves a bit more presentable for the braai that night.

Thursday was spent doing general maintenence around base - mainly finding places for all the bark chips we brought back. Friday we did some community service near our abseil site here, pulling invasive plants out.  Over the weekend we hired a car with some of the other staff and went out and about.

Another two busy weeks here at OBSA.

Enjoy the photos below from week 40 and hopefully I'll get this weeks blog up tomorrow...

Rachel :)

 Our group with their certificates after the closing circle.

 It was VERY cold Thursday morning.  

 Hiking up the mountain. 

Never go anywhere without your crocs.

 Being abseiled down by Aphiwe as the example for his Father A Nation group.

 Some springbok in the distance.

The top of the abseil.

 The view from the abs site.

 All the Father A Nation groups at the end.

The bottom of the abseil.

My new trousers I bought from the market. 

Hopetown to Potchefstrom

Good evening from a chilly (like 6°C at night chilly) South Africa! Once again it's been a hectic two weeks here so this is what's been happening...

Week 37 (Monday 13th - Sunday 19th) - Sedgefield to Hopetown

So on Monday we spent most of the day packing the trailers and bakkies with everything we would need for the next couple of weeks (also said bye to Scott since he's heading to Cape Town to see his friends for a while). Why were we packing? Because we were hitting the road! We left at 6am on Tuesday morning to reach Hopetown - a small town situated on the edge of the Great Karoo in the Northern Cape. It took us over 11 hours to get there driving up through the Western Cape and through a large part of the Karoo (a semi-desert region) where I spotted a lot of cacti and caught a glimpse of some springbok (national animal of SA).

We weren't actually staying in Hopetown but rather ~20km away on private land. So on Wednesday we started exploring this new area (OB hasn't ran any courses here before), starting with a small walk up a hill in search of some bushmen paintings. The views were spectacular and I absolutely fell in love with the place. After unsuccessfully locating the paintings we headed back down and to the river in search of a launching site for the raft. We also pitched a watch tent, cleaned the bakkie and created a spiders web for the upcoming course. Later that afternoon a few others went up the hill again and found the paintings, so the rest of us rushed up to see them. They were completely different to the ones we saw in Citrusdal - these ones were carved into rocks on the ground - but were absolutely amazing to see. Once you knew where to look more kept popping up and it was so cool to think that these people saw the animals they drew here where we were staying for the week.

Thursday was another day exploring. We took another walk to and along the river, even spotting some water monitor and snake tracks in the sand. We split up into two groups for the rest of the morning, some people going across the river in the raft in search of a good abseiling site, while the rest of us took a hike up to the main road - where the participants would be dropped off. We also created a limpopo swing, set up the other small activities for the course and filled out RAMs and LOPs (basically health and safety paperwork) for some of the activities we were going to be doing.

Friday morning we all (minus Talitha who was really ill) headed down to the river to raft across. The river we were paddling across was the Orange River - the longest river in South Africa. The paddle was really easy but then further downstream was some rapids so we just had to do a spot of white water rafting! Rhere were definitely some screams as our raft got turned around by the rapids. On the other side we all headed to check out the abseil site that the others had found the previous day. It's quite a small abseil maybe 7 or 8 meters high but the view of the river and land from it is amazing! Once we had crossed back over we started pitching the rest of the big watch tents. After a quick lunch Deon, Sanri and I drove out to the land owners house to pick up all the food for the groups. And also bottled water for us instructors to drink as the water from the taps (river water) seemed to be the cause of why so many people were not feeling 100%. Just before the sun set us three headed back out to the main road where we would meet the participants. This course was for the 'Father a Nation' programme which aims at tackling gender based violence here in SA. So all 85 participants were men who also only mainly spoke Afrikaans. Since it was dark by the time they had all walked down to base nothing else really happened that night.

The first full day of course was Saturday and I headed out early after breakfast with Emily to cross the river and set up the abseil. I love being abseil support and two groups did it that morning. However, when we went back over the river for lunch I was not feeling good at all. It seemed that I couldn't evade whatever the water had given most other people. So Talitha swapped in for me at the abs site while I mainly slept. I did help with water support on the raft though later that afternoon for a while.

Thankfully I was feeling much better on Sunday (though other instructors were not) so headed back across the river to set up the abseil again for the last two groups. The last group helped me carry all the bags down and by the time we re crossed the river it was time for lunch. Afterwards it was time for the closing circle before they all made the walk back up to the main road. Support stayed behind and we started clearing up - sorting through the abs gear, cleaning the water equipment and then taking down all the small activities. The groups had taken down the tents that morning so there was a lot less work for us to do. Once everything was packed back into the correct trailers and bakkies we all headed off in search of a shower (which were the coolest outdoor showers I've ever seen!). That night we debriefed around the fire pit before having a braai.

Us stopping to admire the views across the river.

Me, Talitha and Aphiwe in Hopetown.

Testing our new limpopo swing.

Collecting drinking water before we all became ill.

The view from the top of the abseil ft. The rapids we rafted down.

A participant from Shirley's group abseiling.

The view from the bushmen paintings hill.

Top of the hill.

Bushmen carving's.

Our fire the first night (they increased in size each night).

An elephant carving.

Me and Talitha's room for the week.

Our room from the outside.

Fire pit and monkey viewing spot.

Another view of the base.

Road trip in the bakkie!

The 'why do we need to drive all the way back' pose.

Week 38 (Monday 20th - Sunday 26th) - Hopetown to Potchefstroom

So on Monday most of the staff left at 5am to drive back down to Sedgefield. Me, Talitha, Joe, Aphiwe and Nthabiseng however left just after 8am as we were going to be driving further north to another OB base near Potchefstroom. We stopped off at the popcorn factory (the land around Hopetown is all corn) and bought some popcorn before beginning our drive. We drove across the Northern Cape and into the Freestate then started driving up. The journey took ~8 hours and we were all very glad to get to our base in Venterskroon - which is actually in the North West province (we did three provinces in a day!).

Tuesday we spent the day unpacking and I got to see the base properly in day light for the first time and it's great! I really love being up north. That afternoon we headed into Potchefstroom to go shopping for the course and on the drive back we saw two giraffes!! It was INCREDIBLE to see them and I'm still not over it. Thursday we took a walk up to the campsites away from base and also up the trail we'd be walking with our group. We put in an approach line at the top of a dried up waterfall for the groups safety. Saturday was prep for the course. Me and Talitha are getting to co-instruct (under the supervision of an actual instructor) which is super exciting so we threw ourselves into planning out our course. We also went back to Potchefstroom to buy some more food and other stuff we'd need for the next week. Today (Sunday) the group was meant to arrive but now they're not coming till tomorrow (hopefully!!) so it's not been a very busy day.

 The pool is so much colder than it looks.

 More of the base here.

 The river for rafting (our side is the North West province, the other side is the Freestate).

 Modelling the father a nation the shirt.

 We love new tshirts!

 Our room before we get into our tent.

 One of the giraffes!!!!!

 Top of the waterfall.

And another at the top.

I'm really looking forward to instructing this course and once it's finished we're straight onto supporting another 'Father a Nation' course here. It's going to be a busy week!

Hope you enjoyed the pictures!

Rachel :)

The week of LOC'S

Good evening from South Africa! We've all been super busy the past week so there is SO much to cover. I suggest making yourself comfy because this is going to be a long blog...

This week has been all about LOC reassessments. For those who don't know, LOC stands for 'level of competency' and when an instructor begins their training they have to pass all of the LOCs before being able to instruct groups (and get the job!). There's a LOC for every activity we run here and also a bunch of othere LOC'S. Emily has been redesigning the whole LOC layout and requirements so it was very different to what we did when we arrived here at OB those many months ago...

So on Monday we started with the expedition LOC. This involved us going around in small groups to different stations where we'd be assessed on everything to do with an expedition. This included camp craft, pitching tents, map work, correct packing of rucksacks and much more! We were also assessed on mental health and were given different scenarios to act out and resolve. After lunch it was the land fitness LOC. In under an hour we had to complete the 5km loop hike up round the hill while carrying a 14kg rucksack, then do 20 push ups, 30 sit ups and carry someone on our back for 30 metres. The sun also decided to come out properly for the first time in days when we started the hike. Fair to say there was lots of tired people lying on the ground by the flagpole afterwards. The day still wasn't done yet as we still needed to do the search and rescue LOC. This involved us splitting into two groups and having to act out a real life scenario. So we had to get all the gear we'd need and head out in search of our casualty. Our groups casualty had a fractured leg so we patched it up as best we could and made am improvised stretcher (we were not allowed to use the actual stretchers kept on base) with sticks, rope and the sleeping bag from the search and rescue pack. After a busy day me and Talitha decided to go for a quick swim and quick it was... the water was COLD.

Tuesday morning we did forms, course paperwork and report writing LOC'S. This may be one of the less exciting things we do here at OB but knowing how to do these properly is important (and also makes management's jobs much more easier). I loved Tuesday afternoon. We did all the water activity LOC'S - kayaking, canoeing, rafting and raft building. Like yesterday we spilt into groups and went round stations. There was a raft building one where we had to run the activity as we would to a group, I'm glad I remembered all my knots! We also had to do the same for the rafting and then the final station was just some questions about the weather and other safety measures. We then hit the water! We started by taking out the canoes and showing the correct paddle strokes and then done some rescues with people in them and then empty ones. We then got to go out in the raft paddling for a bit before capsizing it. After turning it back the correct way (remember it's about 14ft long!) we had to get back on with no help from others. As you can imagine some people took delight in pushing people back in multiple times! We also had to get onto the whaler with no help twice as part of a LOC. After we got the raft back to shore we swapped it for a kayak and paddled out and showed that we could do braces and rolls. For the rolls we had to do 5 including a bomb roll (where you start with the paddle behind your back) so I chose to do a 180° and then three 360° rolls. I'm thought the water wasn't too cold (definitely warmer than the previous day) but many others disagreed. That night if you walked into the kitchen you would see a bunch of people huddled round mugs of hot chocolate or coffee.

Wednesday morning we covered all the philosophy LOC'S. This included the history of Outward Bound international and South Africa, the core values, mission statement, the five pillars of OB and our approach. It might seem boring to some but I think it's definitely some of the most important things to know as an instructor. We also covered some 'systems and procedures' LOC'S - living on base, DP duties and vehicles and trailers. After lunch we did the water fitness and rescue LOC'S. For the fitness one we had to do a 2km run within 15 minutes, 30 push ups (my enemy all week), 30 sit ups, swim 200 metres within 8 minutes without a life jacket (I got just under 4 mins 30 secs), swim under the whaler to the other side and then tread for 15 minutes, with elbows out the water for 5 minutes. To make the treading more bearable we had a water polo ball so we were throwing that around too. For the water rescue LOC the main focus was saving an unconscious and conscious victim from the water. We had to wear a sailing jacket and trousers while we did this to mimic a situation of if we were wearing normal clothes such as a jumper and trousers, when we suddenly had to rescue someone. It definitely made swimming harder! After work we all headed into town so that everyone (excluding us Europeans) could vote (properly and also not) in the election.

It was the abseiling, rock climbing and high ropes LOC'S on Thursday. I was paired with Zanza and we started at the jacobs ladder where I did the gear and safety briefing before climbing up as Zanza belayed me. I also had to pretend to be absolutely petrified of heights and being lowered back down so that Zanza had to climb up using the cows tail and talk me through it all/offer reassurance. For abseiling and rock climbing we had to demonstrate the correct set up (with one of us blindfolded) and all of the safety procedures. For the abseiling we also had to demonstrate the emergency release and z-drag. We also spent the last part of the day doing the group dynamics LOC'S. This involved us all running the briefings for spiders web (where some instructors happily took on the role of being the naughty participants), limpopo swing, tetrus tyres and berlin wall. We even found time between it all to cover the community service and solo LOC'S. Another really busy day.

Friday was as busy as all the other days. We had a staff meeting in the morning and then a talk about the financial side of OBSA from Deon  (the main guy in charge here). The instructors spent the rest of the day going through their pods laying everything out (so Nthabi could check everything) and fixing things that were broken. Me, Scott and Talitha got a watch tent out and cleaned it as we'll be using it next week, packed the trailer for the rubbish run and then separated two buckets. This was much harder than it sounds - we tried every trick in the book including using washing-up liquid. In the end they came apart when we used the volley ball court poles. After an extremely busy week we had a braai that night which was good. We even baked a cake and some brownies!

On Saturday us three helped out at Deons daughters 8th birthday party. We ran some games, did the limpopo swing and did some swimming with them. As a thanks we got lunch (another braai), cake (which was delicious) and a party bag (reliving my childhood). We also went for a swim afterwards. I definitely caught up on some much needed rest last night for sure! Yesterday after doing my washing, we took a walk into Sedgefield and had lunch there.

Our LOC filled week was also filled with spiders - Scott rescued a huge one from Shirley's room and when we were cleaning out the wood shed (we also somehow fitted in maintenance this week as well!) we saw a black widow and genuinely the BIGGEST spider I've seen. I don't know what type of spider it was exactly but it's something like a huntsman or baboon spider. I recommend not searching those up on Google if you don't like spiders!

The photos I have for this week is us doing the water rescues and me and Zanza doing the rock climbing set up.

I hope you've enjoyed this update. I apologise for the length of it but I didn't want to leave anything out! I'm looking forward to another crazy busy week here in SA and I'm excited to share it with you all next Sunday.

Rachel :)

Just keep swimming

Good evening from South Africa! Here's the latest from the past two weeks.

Week 33 (Monday 22nd April - Sunday 28th April)

The weather at the start of the week was quite bad but I still managed to get a swim in on Tuesday once the rain had cleared. On Wednesday the weather was better so me and Scott headed into Sedgefield for lunch then afterwards went for a swim. Thursday and Friday we swam too and also went to a local small cafe. We headed to the market on Saturday morning. I love the market here with all the stalls and local produce. And on Sunday... you've guessed it - we did more swimming. The water is becoming colder and colder as the days pass and winter gets closer.

Week 34 (Monday 29th April - Sunday 5th May)

So this week we started working again. Monday morning was a bit different than usual as a photographer came and took pictures of us all doing some of the activities! She was taking photos for the new brochure OB is getting made so we did the Jacobs Ladder, Trapeze and Spiders Web. We also started safety checks that lasted the whole of Tuesday as well. Wednesday and Thursday we spent doing maintenance around base. Maintenance here can really range of anything but this week I fixed new whistles to the PFD'S (life jackets), cleared the cut down tree, laminated some signs, swept stairs and loaded the trailer for the rubbish run.  While helping fix the railing for Berlin Wall, me, Scott and Sicelo were looking for a good bit of wood in one of the many piles of logs on base. After just warning us to be careful of snakes, Sicelo runs - faster than I've seen anyone run before - all the way up to the kitchen. Why? Because he spotted a puff adder. It's the most common venomous snake in SA and this one was huge! Monday - Thursday we got to finish work at 4pm so we could go and practice swimming (more or why we've been swimming so much in Sundays blog).

Friday was 'bark chip day'. We spent the whole day loading the gear trailer and bakkie's with bark chips before driving back to base to offload them. The bark chips were to replace the worn ones at the high ropes activities and the group dynamics. And we also replaced the ones on the paths outside the office and the kitchen. On the drive back to base I spotted a baboon and at base we had a rare visitor - a monkey!

As usual, on Saturday morning me and Scott headed to the market. The walk was made much more enjoyable due to how cold it was! It was also raining a bit which was even better. I've loved the cold weather we've been having here. At the market I bought some yoghurt and oranges (they are SO big). Talitha also arrived back today after spending two weeks back home so it was nice to see her again and catch up. Sunday, we went swimming for a short while (the water was very cold, even after swimming for a while). I got timed doing the 200 meter swim (we have to do it for our water fitness LOC) and did it in 4 minutes 24 seconds - well under the 8 minute cut off time so I'm very happy. We also cooked dinner - chicken stew and rice. 

The next few weeks are going to be very full on so I'm aiming to return to a blog each week because there is going to be so much to cover. This week we are all updating our LOC'S (level of competencies) then next week we're going to be hitting the road. I'll be spending over 3 weeks away from home here at 'base' traveling to different bases for courses!

I don't have many photos from the past two weeks so here's a picture of the puff adder we saw.

Rachel :)

April and Autumn

Good afternoon from a cloudy South Africa! Here's the latest about what I've been up to here...

Week 30 (Monday 1st April - Sunday 7th April)

On Monday and Tuesday we were just finishing up the safety checks and cleaning base after the DSD course before we all go on leave. Wednesday we went to George and the mall before coming back to base and packing for our trip to Coffee Bay!

Early Thursday morning we started the long drive to Coffee Bay and managed to get to the backpackers there just before 5pm. On the drive there, we spotted a rock monitor crossing the road! It was so cool to see even for only a few passing seconds. The weather was terrible on Friday with heavy rain and thunderstorms for most of the day. That night the backpackers organised a trip to the local village where we would be able to have dinner with a family and see some traditional dancing. However when we got there the women of the family were not there - due to the heavy rain, they had thought that we would not be coming so had not prepared anything for us. Our guide Issac (a Coffee Bay local) did show us around a house and told us information about the area and the people who live there.

Saturday morning we got a lift to 'hole in the wall' with some people staying at the backpackers. Hole in the wall is an arch in the rock formed from years of corrosion due to the waves from the sea. Talitha decided to get a lift back to the backpackers while me and Scott decided to hike back with a local. The walk was 9km and took us along the coast. We got to see the baby hole in the wall too and cross the top of a waterfall. We also met other PT volunteers staying at Coffee Bay for the night. It was really good to catch up with them all!

Sunday was my favourite day during our time at Coffee Bay. We went on the guided caves and cliffs tour! As we walked along the coast we visited a cave (that had hundreds of bats inside!), a natural jacuzzi and did some cliff jumping into the sea too. On the way back we also stopped off at a point in the river where we were allowed to spend time jumping in from some rocks (the highest being around 7 meters or so high). This was clearly a favourite spot for the local kids as there were so many of them swimming and jumping when we got there. It was such a nice spot to swim, and I'm glad the sun was out for it! Lunch was the classic Coffee Shack toastie - anyone who's had one will tell you how good they are!!

Week 31 (Monday 8th April - Sunday 14th April)

Monday we spent a few hours at the beach swimming and making the most of the sun while it was out. The rain was back Tuesday morning which meant that the 'beach day' being run was cancelled but it did mean we got a free surf lesson! The rain soon disappeared though so we were surfing in the sun once again. When I was talking to someone from the Netherlands who was staying at the backpackers, I learned that he was going to Scotland in June for a wedding at Winton Castle (where I worked before I left for SA)! It really is such a small world!

We left Coffee Bay on Wednesday to head back to Sedgefield and stopped off at La Piazza for dinner. Thursday and Friday we caught up on sleep and I managed to dry my washing between all the rain showers. Saturday we went to the market and bumped into John (another PT volunteer) who was with his family. It was nice to see him again! We met up with Jacob that afternoon for a braai which was really nice. I also saw my first porcupine!

Week 32 (Monday 15th April - Sunday 21st)

Our plans for Monday was to head to the beach but more rain washed that plan away. Instead we headed to the mall in George. Tuesday the weather was much better so we headed to Vic Bay where me and Talitha did some body boarding. The waves were really good and the water warmer than we were expecting! Afterwards we were sitting on the rocks watching the surfers and I thought I saw something swimming near them... Turns out a pod of dolphins had stopped by! It was very cool to catch a glimpse of them as they swam past!!

On Wednesday we dropped Talitha off at the airport - she's going home for two weeks to visit her family. Friday me and Scott went out on the kayaks. It seems like months since I've done kayak rolls. Yesterday we went to the market before swimming some more. It's been very sunny the past two days which has been a very welcome change. It's also getting darker earlier now with it nearly completely dark by 6.30pm! Me and Scott were meant to be working on different courses this coming week but unfortunately they've all been cancelled.

The photos I have are from Coffee Bay and then some of the moon I took last night.

Rachel :)