Back To The Coast – East London

Yellowsands in East London

We’ve grown up in Cape Town and even though we hardly ever actually go to the beach when we were there, there’s still something about knowing that we could go there if we wanted to.  Or going for pizzas and sundowners at the Brass Bell or sushi and cocktails in Camps Bay.  Not necessarily actually being on the beach but being able to see the sea.  So going inland is great, but it’s heck of a weird being away from the sea.  Which meant that when we drove back to the coast it was like greeting an old friend.

Now that I really think about it, if we had headed straight inland I don’t think I would have minded it as much.  But I think that this feeling of longing was maybe amplified by the fact that at pretty much every stop we’d been at (before we hit Addo, Riebeek East and Hogsback), we had a full view of the sea every morning.  We had waves crashing against rocks or creeping up sandy dunes to lull us off to sleep at night.  It became very much part of our adventure.

VIEWS FOR DAYS

We try and keep our driving to a minimum if we can.  Plus we needed to stock up on supplies. Which meant that heading straight to a small town was a no no.  So we thought we’d quickly do one night at Yellowsands in East London before heading to our next stop.

What a total gem.  Unfortunately we had booked and paid for our next stop, but we could have stayed at Yellowsands forever.  It was absolutely lovely!  Right on our doorstep was the most beautiful white sandy beach with both the sea and a river.  Honestly just stunning.  And the palm trees totally added to the tropical vibes.

Every morning calls for Coffee

Another plus for me was that the ablutions were lovely.  They seemed to have been newly renovated.  And guys, this is a huge thing for me so I thought I would mention it for you.

Anyway, that evening we didn’t want to unpack because we were only there for one night.  Plus we were downright hangry.  Food was our absolute top priority.  Google maps to the rescue.  We followed the directions to the place we’re supposed to go to and it’s most definitely, 100% not a restaurant.  So we wing it and find this shopping area nearby.  There are about 4 different restaurants.  All of them closed.  Obviously.

By now hangry had turned to downright terrible.  I’m pretty sure we killed a few people just by the vibes we were putting out.  We were flipping miserable and it was coming off us in waves.

So we ended up in a smokey old bar.  Literally the only place that we could find that was serving food.  Not a place I would ever usually have taken our children but like, desperate times call for desperate measures and all that.  They had their first full on bar experience, but the food was pretty decent and surprisingly, so was the coffee!

Yellowsands river and beach – it’s rad

We left on what seems to be the cloudiest day ever.  But I couldn’t resist taking a quick snap of the van going like a demon on the hills and still treating us so well.

So technically this is not actually the wild coast, but it did feel like it was the start of it.  The roads got slightly worse but the coastline is totally what it was hyped up to be.  Absolutely stunning.

A short drive to Morgan’s Bay on a cloudy day

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Day 39 – Hogsback to East London 1. Decided to have coffee at 8pm last night which meant I was still up at 3am desperately trying to sleep despite my need for the loo. Had to go out in the cold, dark night and tried not to relieve myself in fear just walking to the ablutions. Woke Seth up and everything but then today I was telling the kids and he was just as shocked as they were. He doesn’t remember me waking him up at all! 🤔🙄 2. It’s so much quicker to pack the van when we are actually staying in it. So we left Hogsback at a decent time. I’m already sad to have left but my toes have come back to life which is nice. Apparently there is a possibility of snow there on Friday. We were tempted to stay but we have so much more to see that we’ll just live in hope of our first snow experience (ever) being in Lesotho at the end of the month. 3. Wild Coast is where we officially are now and it’s the part I’ve been the most worried about for this whole trip. Not sure why but I am. 4. By the time we got here (around 3pm) we were hangry as flip. All of us. Not a good combo. So we went in search of food. The first place that Google recommended was completely barred up even though it assured us it was open. The next place only opened at 5, the next place had the kitchen close 5 minutes before we walked in and the place after that you couldn’t even sit at. It was not going well and tempers were flaring. Eventually we walked into a pub that really was just a smokey old bar (yes, smoking inside still) with people gawking at us with our children while cradling their drinks. But we were desperate. So desperate that we took a table at the back. Despite all odds the food was actually pretty good and the service was really friendly. By the time we left we were all in good spirits and the kids had their first bar experience with their parents (how uncool) 5. Our spot here is really epic (as Riya would say) and I’m looking forward to properly checking it out in the light. 6. Speaking of Ri, she’s going through a phase where she’s talking like the main chick in House Bunny who says names in a deep batman type voice to remember them. It’s hilarious. 7. We also got pick up sticks 👌🏼

A post shared by Cindy Alfino (@cindyalfino) on Aug 8, 2018 at 1:30pm PDT

 

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Day 40 – East London (Cinsta) to Morgan’s Bay 1. Having not unpacked much because we were only staying for 1 night, it was a lot easier to get going this morning to head to our new location. I’m quite sad that we didn’t get to stay more than a night at Yellow Sands. It’s a really great camp site with access directly to the river mouth and beach! In Summer it would spectacular! 2. Seth is wearing his hiking boots everywhere now. Things are escalating here. 🙄🤔 3. We got to Morgan’s Bay and while unpacking discovered that the new pack of eggs we bought had fallen in the trip. So we whipped up a quick bacon and egg breakfast which was actually lunch, which was actually a bit of lupper too. But no one is full for long around here so we headed to the restaurant for supper. It was good. 4. We sat outside even though it’s rainy. This is weird because usually I wouldn’t have done that, I would have sat and complained the whole time about being cold. But after Hogsback it’s all relative and I could survive the little bit of cold haha. 5. We are set up right on the Lagoon which is cool. A bit sad that the weather is so junk but apparently it’ll clear up for the weekend which is nice! 6. I drive behind Seth in the van and it is quite something seeing old Optimus drive through some of the places we have passed through to get here. I wish I could take a picture at every turn!!

A post shared by Cindy Alfino (@cindyalfino) on Aug 9, 2018 at 1:48pm PDT