Gap Year Experiences

Updates and info from on the ground during our 11 week and 5 week Experiences in South Africa

The air at 10000 feet

Thursday 28 February 2008


Hello everybody!

I’m sitting on our balcony in Plettenberg Bay looking out at the incredible view over the valley below and enjoying the warm afterglow of having jumped out of a plane at 10 000 feet. What an unbelievable feeling! Everyone woke up this morning to perfect weather and we headed straight out to the Plett airfield where we met up with the skydiving team. George and Annie were up first followed by Hattie and Enzo and then me. It was truly incredible and something I recommend to everyone. They say that the skydive at Plettenberg Bay is the most scenic in the world and I would have to say that looking down on the bay and mountains below from 10000 feet is a hard view to beat! Yesterday consisted of some time on the beach and then I joined Enzo and George for some mountain biking through the indigenous forests nearby. It was an awesome first half of the ride until I had a few technical problems and it then turned into a run for the rest of the route. At least my mood was cheered up by George and Enzo riding in circles around me on their working bicycles and laughing occasionally as I was forced to jog alongside them.

Tomorrow, we leave first thing for the worlds highest bungee jump so I’m sure there will be a few butterflies floating around in the morning! From the bungee, we continue up the coast to the world famous surfing spot at JeffriesBay and then we leave the coast and spend the next few nights at Hogsback. Hogsback is set amongst some beautiful natural forests and mountains. It feels like you are completely separated from the real world (probably because you are)!

I’ll keep you updated on how the bungee goes!

Vince

More boardriding Photos!

Wednesday 27 February 2008

















Boardriding Pictures

Monday 25 February 2008

Check out some pictures from Cape Town and our wakeboarding camp:





apologies!

Sunday 24 February 2008

Apologies for lack of pictures...we're having a few technical problems setting up the mobile office on the side of a cliff overlooking vic bay (also the surfs been pretty good!) Will have them up tomorrow (promise!)

Wakeboarding and spiced gold

Sunday 24 February 2008

Here I am, sitting in Vic Bay, maybe one of my favourite places on earth. I am currently perched in a very comfy camping chair in our campsite overlooking the most beautiful bay below me. We arrived here after leaving Misverstand dam and our wakeboarding camp at 5AM yesterday morning. It was an incredible 5 days wakeboarding, wakeskating, wakesurfing, tubing, rock jumping, braaing and taking nightime cruises up the river under a full moon. Enzo and George also managed to get some skiing and monoskiing in. All in all it was an incredible time. One of my favourite moments had to be watching the sun set and the full moon rise at the same time whilst sitting out on the river with nothing around us but fields and mountains. One of those moments when you think that life probably couldn't be much better. I'll put up a whole load of pictures and videos later today so check back for those! Also, read Maddy and Gennas post on the groups blog at www.experiencejan08.blogspot.com to see more about the wakeboard camp.

Right now, we're at Vic Bay and life is pretty good. We got here yesterday around lunch time after stopping off for Annie, Maddy and Enzo to do a massive bridge swing. After meeting up with some friends from Cape Town who came up to join us and setting up camp, it was time to hit the water for a surf. The swell wasn't great here at Vic so we moved just around the corner to nearby Herolds Bay where we found crystal clean warm water and some very fun 3 foot waves. Afterwards, a few cold drinks and a braai started off a great evening. It was interupted briefly by a thunderstorm and some rain but George improvised brilliantly and we managed to fit 15 people and a braai under our big beach umbrella which he put up. Luckily, the rain didn't last long and the fun continued. Man of the match award was definitely shared by George and Brad who managed to outlast everyone and ended up sitting by themsleves around the fire for a long time after the rest of the camp had gone to bed. Today, the sun is out and the beach is calling, so I've got to go. Check back later for pictures and maybe a few videos of the last week.

Vince