Day 129: Gansbaai to Hermanus

The rain was in full force when I woke up. Yay. Not. What made it suck was the fact that I was inside, it was warm and I could clearly see how I could not see Hermanus across Walker Bay due to the weather. I wanted to stay and wait it out. That’s what I felt inside somewhat. I dunno why I didn’t just ask. I guess I didn’t want to over stay my welcome but it doesn’t actually matter as I found out later. Once again it was just a case of getting dressed and ready and I was in a better mood, ready to tackle the elements. I thanked the Groenewalds and off I went.

The fun fluke pic.

Thanks for the stay.

I smashed it to Stanford in little over an hour which I was pleased with. I was almost completely wet when I arrived but the weather looked to opening up a bit. On the way to Stanford I was pretty much caught up in multiple cloud burst which got me wet but then the wind kinda helped dry me up a bit. I would start to realize that it’s alright to ride in the rain. It’s the wind which is the worst thing to be caught in. Both together are just unfortunate. And that is when you have to luck out and have a place to wait it out. So anyways I was in Stanford I decided to check out the Overburg Honey Co which I had heard from the Groenewalds last night when I told them about how much I enjoyed the fresh honey I had on my trip.

Dreamy.

Good. Clear up.

I was met by a lovely lady named Nadia Vorster who co-owned the company with her husband Danni. She explained what they did and took me on a tour of things that were in the back. They pretty much do anything regarding bees and honey. This includes setting up hives which farmers use to get their plants and trees pollinated. These in turn are harvested for the honey. Some of the hives are set up next to flower fields and whatever for maximum production. Obviously they also sell it in many variants or flavours depending on where the pollen was extracted from. They also sell hives and pretty much everything else you need to get your own beekeeping setup going. I would make note of this as I want to give this a try sometime. It was lekker checking this all out as well as having a chance to dry. I was also treated to a nice cup of coffee while I chowed down a sandwich. I told Nadia my story and she offered her place to stay for when I reached Hermanus but that her and her husband would only be home after 5 because of work. No problem I thought.  Having a place to stay meant that I could take my time. I said cheers and off I went knowing I would see them both later. And I also bought a bottle as honey as well to make my peaut butter sandwiches actually taste decent.

In  my belly.

So good!!!!

I wanna fall in this vat.

In all its favours.

Bzzzzz

Wax, propolis(blck stuff), pollen and honey comb.

I was happy to find out that Hermanus was closer than I thought. Seeing as I had misread my map. Instead of the 35kms I thought it was, it was only about 22kms. The weather also looked somewhat better but within 15mintues of leaving I was caught in another cloud burst and got soaked. The wind was also blowing so hard that the rain drops felt like little icey fists hitting my skin. This was mental I thought as I turned my face to avoid the tiney cold water fists. Then it stopped and I dried up a little. Then another cloud burst happened and I was soaked again. This happened on and off pretty much all the way to Hermanus.

Keep cleaing up.

You suck.

Finally I arrived but I had about 2 hours to kill so I rode slowly through the first section of the town before resting at the garage then heading out to one of the whale watching sights hoping against all hopes that I would see a whale. My hope was blown away by the wind as I saw nothing. Oh wells. Them whales are here every year so will have to try again later. I pretty much just spent the time out of the wind waiting for my hosts to arrive. It was a bit chilly but nothing I couldn’t handle. Finally they arrived and was let in and I also got to me Danni. He wasn’t at the shop when I was there as he was out in the field doing hive management and relocation stuff. I then met another couple who stayed next door who also taught in South Korea and had now set up their own private teaching business here in Hermanus.

Show me em whales!!!

Whale fail but all good. Chilly and windy but all good.

Stayed up there.

The 3 of us then went out for dinner at Geckos which was pretty lekker before heading home and did a bit of inter-webbing while Nadia looked at the photos on my camera. The rain was howling and I was happy to have another place to stay inside before I called it night.

Distance 45kms