5, 4, 3, 2, 1, BUNGY!!!
Door: Webmaster
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Heleen
01 April 2008 | Zuid-Afrika, Kaapstad
Just wanted to let you all know that the jump has been jumped. I have pictures but we just got home from our trip and of course I forgot to bring the cd-rom with me. So short abstract of the trip here:
We left Cape Town over the N2 in the direction of Mossel Bay. We reached Swellendam after about three hours of driving and had lunch there. Then we drove on to Mossel Bay which we reached somewhere between 16.30 and 17.00. We wanted to stay at the Santos Express, an old train on the beach which has been turned into a backpackers lodge but unfortunately they were fully booked so we stayed at the Protea Hotel (like Golden Tulip in Holland but way cheaper!). We met a married couple there, a retired chef cook and a retired medical analyst from Hawaii. We had dinner with them and had a lovely evening before going into a coma (driving the beetle as well as listening to it is kind of exhausting lol).
Next morning we departed for Bloukrans bridge. We drove through Plettenberg Bay and half an hour later we were driving over this huge bridge and I joked to Kijn: look, this is like what I am going to jump later on. Turns out that was the bridge already! We parked the car, I payed for the jump, and we waited for somebody to take us on to the bridge. When we got there we first got a short explanation of what was going to happen and then they turned the music on. Just as I sat down to have my ankles strapped together, I heard Silence kick in. Now a lot of you people know that that is and will always be one of my favourite and goosebump making songs.. so my hair rose immediately and I thought: I am doing the right thing here! When I was hanging upside down under the bridge I could very clearly here 'I am freeeeeee' and I was laughing out loud because it felt so true!
Because all this together took a little bit more time than we had expected we couldn't drive on to where we had planned so we drove back to Plettenberg and stayed in the Bay View Hotel there. Very nice beds there! We had dinner at a Mozambique restaurant because all the others were closed and it was such great food.. everything seemed to be arranged by somebody above. Again fell into a deep coma to leave Plettenberg the next morning and drive the whole day for Montagu. We stopped shortly at Oudtshoorn to visit an ostrich farm (Kijn had a real ostrich ride!) and for lunch. We called Malherbe guest house in Montagu, run by two Dutchies, that we were coming and hit the road again. This was a very long, tiring but oh so beautiful ride. And then when we arrived in Montagu, well.. you should see it for yourself, check www.malherbe-guesthouse.com . We had a garden suite, and it was unbelievable (and just as cheap/expensive/whatever you want to call it as the hotel rooms that were just basic - nice, but basic). This day it was Kijn her birthday so we decided to have the best dinner possible and went to Jessica's restaurant. Again, unbelievable.. four courses, wine, coffee, liquorette and everything.. 400 rand each which is not even 40 euros! And in Holland this restaurant would be a star restaurant -> here they run it with just three people: one chef, two maitres, and that's it. Hat off to these people, we are waiting to hear more from you soon because with this level of cooking and hospitality you will (or should) be famous in no time!
And on the last day we checked out the Montagu hot springs before heading for Cape Town. Unfortunately, they were not what we had expected so we only stayed for an hour. We tasted some wine and bubbles at Graham Beck winery, then drove for Franschhoek to have lunch at Le Quartier Francais, owned by Margot Jansen (Dutch chef). In 2005 this was nr. 16 on the list of best restaurants in the world, and nr. 1 of South Africa. It is again a beautiful, beautiful place, the food was delicious, and we got a little tour through the hotel as well: unbelievable! They also do dinner but are fully booked for a long time... I managed to get a booking for the last Friday of May, which is my last night in South Africa. Should be a good way to spend it.. The hotel is definitely THE place to spend a honeymoon as well haha. So if anyone had or has plans with me, start saving your money! :p
We needed a long, long time to finally get back to Cape Town due to traffic and everything, but we're back... exhausted but very satisfied. The Garden Route as well as Route 62 are very well worth to drive, the only thing is you should take your time and stay over at a few places for a few days.. it's better for you and better for the beetle. I hope everybody who ever has the change will take my advice to absolutely go see and do this!
Pictures will follow.
We left Cape Town over the N2 in the direction of Mossel Bay. We reached Swellendam after about three hours of driving and had lunch there. Then we drove on to Mossel Bay which we reached somewhere between 16.30 and 17.00. We wanted to stay at the Santos Express, an old train on the beach which has been turned into a backpackers lodge but unfortunately they were fully booked so we stayed at the Protea Hotel (like Golden Tulip in Holland but way cheaper!). We met a married couple there, a retired chef cook and a retired medical analyst from Hawaii. We had dinner with them and had a lovely evening before going into a coma (driving the beetle as well as listening to it is kind of exhausting lol).
Next morning we departed for Bloukrans bridge. We drove through Plettenberg Bay and half an hour later we were driving over this huge bridge and I joked to Kijn: look, this is like what I am going to jump later on. Turns out that was the bridge already! We parked the car, I payed for the jump, and we waited for somebody to take us on to the bridge. When we got there we first got a short explanation of what was going to happen and then they turned the music on. Just as I sat down to have my ankles strapped together, I heard Silence kick in. Now a lot of you people know that that is and will always be one of my favourite and goosebump making songs.. so my hair rose immediately and I thought: I am doing the right thing here! When I was hanging upside down under the bridge I could very clearly here 'I am freeeeeee' and I was laughing out loud because it felt so true!
Because all this together took a little bit more time than we had expected we couldn't drive on to where we had planned so we drove back to Plettenberg and stayed in the Bay View Hotel there. Very nice beds there! We had dinner at a Mozambique restaurant because all the others were closed and it was such great food.. everything seemed to be arranged by somebody above. Again fell into a deep coma to leave Plettenberg the next morning and drive the whole day for Montagu. We stopped shortly at Oudtshoorn to visit an ostrich farm (Kijn had a real ostrich ride!) and for lunch. We called Malherbe guest house in Montagu, run by two Dutchies, that we were coming and hit the road again. This was a very long, tiring but oh so beautiful ride. And then when we arrived in Montagu, well.. you should see it for yourself, check www.malherbe-guesthouse.com . We had a garden suite, and it was unbelievable (and just as cheap/expensive/whatever you want to call it as the hotel rooms that were just basic - nice, but basic). This day it was Kijn her birthday so we decided to have the best dinner possible and went to Jessica's restaurant. Again, unbelievable.. four courses, wine, coffee, liquorette and everything.. 400 rand each which is not even 40 euros! And in Holland this restaurant would be a star restaurant -> here they run it with just three people: one chef, two maitres, and that's it. Hat off to these people, we are waiting to hear more from you soon because with this level of cooking and hospitality you will (or should) be famous in no time!
And on the last day we checked out the Montagu hot springs before heading for Cape Town. Unfortunately, they were not what we had expected so we only stayed for an hour. We tasted some wine and bubbles at Graham Beck winery, then drove for Franschhoek to have lunch at Le Quartier Francais, owned by Margot Jansen (Dutch chef). In 2005 this was nr. 16 on the list of best restaurants in the world, and nr. 1 of South Africa. It is again a beautiful, beautiful place, the food was delicious, and we got a little tour through the hotel as well: unbelievable! They also do dinner but are fully booked for a long time... I managed to get a booking for the last Friday of May, which is my last night in South Africa. Should be a good way to spend it.. The hotel is definitely THE place to spend a honeymoon as well haha. So if anyone had or has plans with me, start saving your money! :p
We needed a long, long time to finally get back to Cape Town due to traffic and everything, but we're back... exhausted but very satisfied. The Garden Route as well as Route 62 are very well worth to drive, the only thing is you should take your time and stay over at a few places for a few days.. it's better for you and better for the beetle. I hope everybody who ever has the change will take my advice to absolutely go see and do this!
Pictures will follow.
-
01 April 2008 - 18:16
Kraal:
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10-neke wie niet weg is wordt gezien ik kom! -
01 April 2008 - 18:21
Kraal:
Leen ik hoorde echt pas heel laat dat jij in Zuid Africa zit! Wat een leven man! HET LEVEN! top dat je het doet, ontdek de wereld, weg uit dat saaie Nederland. Is toch altijd hetzelfde. Hier kan je mooi op terug kijken en je wordt er als mens rijker van! Geniet van je tijd daar en tot weer ziens.
Groeten,
Kraal! (in het altijd zonnige Nederland!) -
01 April 2008 - 20:01
Laurens:
Ik zei nog zo: "denk aan het afstapje....." -
03 April 2008 - 09:32
Ineke:
Hey meissie. Wat heb je weer veel beleefd! De sprong is goed gelukt zo te zien, en nu maar hopen dat er geld binnenkomt! Daar heb je het uiteindelijk voor gedaan! Maar mooi, dat je ook zoveel andere dingen meteen meeneemt!! Kan haast niet wachten tot ik alle foto's kan zien en de verhalen kan horen!!!
Nog veel plezier daar.
Ineke -
03 April 2008 - 14:08
Joni:
ieeeew wel dapper hoor! xx -
03 April 2008 - 17:12
Kijn:
Ik sponsor 1 euro per meter, dus 216 euro... wie volgt?! -
04 April 2008 - 10:08
Kijn:
goed ik zal jullie eventjes helpen:
ga naar de site van je bank>inloggen>overschrijvingen>bedrag(bv 2,16euro)>
1394.59.111
I.L.Brand-Allema, Balkbrug
inzake Maitland cottage, kaapstad
en klick op verzenden!!!
top! thanx foks!
-
06 April 2008 - 09:38
Jaap En Elby:
Hoi Heleen,
We lezen al je berichten met veel plezier. Er is veel te zien. De sprong doen wij je niet na ! Het is al met al een fantastisch iets wat je allemaal ziet en meemaakt.
Groeten en veel plezier gewenst,
Jaap en Elby -
22 Oktober 2008 - 12:44
Jessica's Restaurant:
Hallo,
Thank you for the kind writing, it was such a pleasure meeting you...
Adele, Werner and Chef Heinrich-Werner
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