Since leaving Port Nolloth we have covered another 320km which means I have now gone over 5000km in total. I have loved being back on the beach, my legs are feeling much better and I am at last getting back into my running groove as are Kirsty and Pete who have been joining me on the road for part of most days.
Pete has been covering a lot of mileage with me in preparation for his South Pole expedition in December. Hannah is a reluctant runner but has been joining us every now and then on the bike. The West “diamond” Coast has been an incredible experience for all of us and Hannah and Kirsty have had loads of excitement searching for fossils, diamonds, and shipwrecks.
Peter has been blown away by the incredible surf spots and has marked the coordinates of all the gems so we can come back soon and surf them. We have already booked our beautiful stone diver’s cottage at Noup for next year! Pete managed to get at least one (cold) surf in at Hondeklipbaai which is also good training for the South Pole.
We have been completely blown away again by the goodwill and hospitality of the people we have met on the West Coast – Sandy Blake from Kleinzee, Dudley and Aletta Wessels from Noup, Gert and Hestelle from Sarrisam all of whom have gone out of their way to accommodate us, feed us amazing seafood, do our laundry, give us directions and help us with route planning and much much more. The real gems of the diamond coast are the people without a doubt.
We have been out of cell phone range for a while and have spent the last few days running along a very remote part of the coast past Groenriviermond towards Brand se Baai. We asked a local farmer where we could buy bread and milk and he collapsed in hysterical laughter as it would have involved a 120km drive. It has been freezing cold (4 degrees when I started running one morning) and wet which has made camping more challenging than usual.
[noteblock] We are well on track to reach Eland’s Bay by the week end and Cape Town by about 19 June as planned. [/noteblock]
Author: Kim
