JessieRuthSouthAfricaaaaa

We've spent the last 12 days travelling down the Garden Route from Port Elizabeth to Cape Town, where we are now. So a brief summary of what we've been doing since we left Grahamstown:

First stop was Storms River, which is part of the Tsitsikamma National Park. After months of Ruth dreaming and worrying about doing the Bungy jump ("Jessie, I can't do it, I'm not going to be able to jump, can you push me?") we found ourselves standing on Bloukrans Bridge, 216m above the ground with just a piece of elastic tied to our ankles. Cue Jessie's turn to freak out "DO YOU PROMISE I'M NOT GOING TO DIE??" Luckily after "THREE TWO ONE BUNGY" you have no choice but to jump. Words that come to mind are terrifying, exhilarating and surreal. After 7 1/2 seconds of freefall thankfully the bungy cord comes into use and stops you plummeting to your death. You then bounce a couple of times before hanging upside down (and swinging in the wind) for 40 seconds, although it feels like a lot longer! A man then abseils down to bring you safely back to the bridge. We are very proud of ourselves and have also got the hilarious DVDs to prove we did it! We also did a Waterfall Zipline, which had very pretty views over the waterfalls but was a bit of an anticlimax after the bungy!

Second stop was Plettenberg Bay. On the way we stopped off at Monkeyland, where Jessie now wants to live. We saw lots of very cute monkeys, lemurs and even a gibbon. The primate resort is an enclosed area of forest where the monkeys are free to roam, protected from predators and other dangers they would encounter in the wild. Most of them come from overcrowded zoos or laboratories. We found Plett very pretty, and spent an afternoon walking along the beach, and then the next day set off to walk around Robberg Point. This was a lot harder than we had anticipated, including a lot of rock scrambling/climbing, HUGE waves and seal colonies. The walk took us four hours to complete, and the remote scenery and deserted stretches made us feel like we were survivors of a shipwreck in search of civilisation! We ached a bit the next day but it was worth it!

We stayed one night in Knysna, but as it was raining (after apparently two years of drought) we didn't attempt anything more ambitious than chocolate mousse cake and The Weakest Link.

After that it was on to the Wilderness. Although it was tipping it down when we arrived, we could see (through our huge glass door onto our balcony - very nice) that the landscape was beautiful. The next day the sun came out and we did a beautiful walk down the disused railways tracks. Along the way we came across a huge cave that a man had decorated with hundreds of shells and made habitable - the effect was stunning. After bravely making our way across a long and dangerous looking bridge, we had to turn back to get our bus, but wished we could have gone on for longer.

The bus took us to Outdshoorn, which is north of the coast in the Otiniqua Mountains. We didn't have time to do much other than drink some local wine that day, but the next day we were roused at 8.15am to go to the Cango Caves. Here we did the Adventure Tour (now that we're adrenaline junkies) which involved squeezing through some very small spaces - the smallest was called "The Postbox" which was a 27cm gap in between 2 rocks! Definitely not for claustrophobics! Next we went to an Ostrich farm, which was interesting, although we were both quite scared of the ostriches. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to ride them because it was too muddy - disappointing.

Our penultimate stop was Stellenbosch, where we did a full day wine tour. After getting rather tipsy (and eating A LOT of cheese) at the first wine farm, we paced ourselves a bit more and had a very lovely day learning about wine making and trying lots of wines and champagnes. It's a hard life... The second day we spent wandering around the centre, visiting the Sasol Art Gallery, Botanical Gardens and the Rupert Museum.

On Monday evening we arrived back in Cape Town. Tuesday was spent climbing Lion's Head, a smaller mountain next to Table Mountain with incredible 360 degree views from the top. Luckily the weather was beautiful and we had a nice long sunbathe at the top. For some reason we then thought it would be a fantastic idea to go out last night and party on Long Street until 3am - this morning we realised we were wrong. Ruth is super excited for her 12 hour flight tonight. We had a MASSIVE burger to make ourselves feel better, which was absolutely delicious, but made us even more sleepy.

We've had such an amazing time in South Africa, and we both hope to come back one day. It's hard to pick a favourite moment because there have been so many good memories made here. Ruth has mixed feelings about coming home but is very much looking forward to seeing Phoebe. Now we're both tearing up again so I think it's time to go.

Jessie and Ruth xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Today is our second last day in Grahamstown, and our last day of work. We are still brushing away tears as we type having just said goodbye to our lovely group at St Mary's. They made us proud by belting out "Can you feel the love tonight", "A whole new world" and "I like the flowers" amongst many others! We gave them chocolate biscuit cake (something we have been making lots of, it is delicious) and they made us a card and drew us a picture, which made us very happy and very sad! We hope we will get a chance to return someday.

A couple of weeks ago we ended up taking part in the Rhodes 'International Parade'. We originally got involved by being volunteered (thank you Hilary) for painting signs and a map of the world, but ended up leading the parade through the centre of Grahamstown - an experience which landed a picture of us in the Grocotts newspaper! Don't worry, we will get a copy of us in our lovely lilac t-shirts.
Last Saturday was the pre-school Sports Day, meaning we were dragged out of our beds at 8.30am after a night on the town. Surprisingly, despite the minor hangovers and freezing conditions, it was quite a lot of fun. We had the very important jobs of holding the finish line in place and catching the children as they hurtled down the field towards us. The look on a child's face when they win a race and land in your arms is very heart-warming, although it's also quite scary when they come towards you at that speed - especially with skipping ropes in hand.

Just had to take a break from writing this because the children wanted to perform some sings for us as a goodbye present. Afterwards we started crying and they started crying and it was all very emotional and we don't want to leave!

This morning at the pre-school we had a feast of cakes, scones and oranges, and two very exciting things happened. Firstly, a company was giving away free shoes to school children, so we had a big shoe-fitting session and nearly everyone went home with a pair of brand new shoes. Secondly, some firemen came in to talk to the kids about fire safety, and at the end we got to ride in a fire engine - a REAL LIFE FIRE ENGINE WITH SIRENS AND EVERYTHING! As you can tell, we were just as excited as the 5 year olds about this adventure.

We kee[p getting interrupted by hugs from people saying goodbye

Anyway, tomorrow evening we get a bus to Port Elizabeth, stay in a backpackers overnight then it's off down the Garden Route! We've heard so much about it so we're very excited. We won't mention for the sake of our parents that we're doing the highest commercial bungee jump in the world in a few days time ... oh woops ... well we won't tell you till afterwards when we did it!

We hope to update soon, now we're going to go and cry some more because we also have to say goodbye to Roger and Karen and the nuns and Mark. And Pick and Pay and the cinema and the rat and parrot ... we could go on.

Lots of love, Jessie and Ruth xxx

First of all apologies for how long it's been since our last entry! Internet access has been somewhat unpredictable and sparodic, but Roger now lets us use the internet at St Mary's while the children eat lunch.

We have now been in Grahamstown for nearly five weeks. Work at the centre is proving very enjoyable and going well. We have got to know our group - FaithLynne, Antonia, Colita, Zenande, Daisy, Britney, Mosha, Vibrushka, JodyAnne and Alia - very well, and they tackle everything we throw at them enthusiastically. Yesterday we started learning Richard of Chichester (St Olaves members will realise how nostalgic this is for us) which by the end of the session they were beginning to sing very nicely (not in two parts yet, could be a little ambitious). Not all our sessions have been so successful however - last week saw us playing Hide and Seek for an hour after a tiring and disorganised morning. Not to belittle Hide and Seek of course - some of their hiding places were extremely creative and in fact, impressive.

We have now also started working mornings at Grahamstown Primary School, spending most of the time with the pre-schoolers and doing some reading work with the older grades. We hope to start running some literacy classes for individuals who are struggling with their reading from next week. Work in the pre-school has been hectic but lots of fun! The children are extremely cute, to the point that you cannot say no when one tries to hug and kiss you despite their yoghurt-covered hands and snotty noses. A particular highlight was trying to wrestle a glue-stick off a 1 year old who was applying it as lipstick. You can guess who won.

Outside of work we spent most our time sleeping and eating. When we're not busy with those important activities however, we sing with the Chamber Choir at Rhodes University or party at the famous Rat and Parrot (glasses of wine for R9 - approximately 90p!) The cinema is also very cheap, with a tickets for R10 on mondays, so we have seen quite a few films! Our favourite so far has been Thor. In earlier news, yes we did watch the Royal Wedding, and yes, Ruth cried when Kate got out of the car. We were surprised to see Hilary attending (in the car with Kate in case you missed her) but glad we are now so close with the Royals. We also rushed home from a choir rehearsal to catch the Royal Kiss - a wonderful moment in British history. Somehow, we ended up taking part in a performance of Lady Gaga's Born This Way as part of a gay rights demonstration at Rhodes - there were divas, there were drag queens, there was glitter, there were hip hop dancers - and then there was us, completely at home as you can imagine. Despite the frequent rehearsals with both dancers and singers of rather large personalities and e gos, it was an enjoyable experience, and we felt like we were in Glee.

On Easter day we went to a service at the Cathedral and belted out hymns to try and drown out the incredibly flat sopranos in the choir. We then had lunch with the nuns and "lots of other lonely people", which became more amusing as the nuns consumed more and more champagne. We were also randomly ushered into the room of a 101 year old lady by Audrey (our 78 year old flatmate), who clearly had no idea why we were there. But neither did we. Audrey once stumbled into our room at 10pm, giggling to Ruth that she had "just had TWO glasses of wine!" despite Mother Zelma's firm advice not to. We have more to say but we hear by the scraping of chairs that lunch is over, so will hopefully resume soon! xxx

SOOOOO we have been in Grahamstown nearly a week now, and having a pretty good time. We arrived at 9am after far, far too long on an overnight bus, absolutely knackered. Mother Zelma was out so we partook of tea and raisin cake for a couple of hours withsome 102 year olds (fascinating) before getting to our rooms. We had time for a quick shower then straight to Brian's for lunch - a braai and malva pudding - how very South African of us. On Monday we met Roger whor uns the Day Care Centre, and played games with the kids. Although they come from backgrounds of extreme poverty, verbal, physical and sexual abuse, they were lively, happy and welcoming. On Tuesday we started work with our group of ten girls aged 10 to 12. On Wednesday and Thursday we started running a singing workshop, which seems to be going well! A particular highlight was getting them to act out "Three Blind Mice" which they did to Oscar-winning standard. The only downside is that we now have "Head, shoulders knees and toes" or "London's Burning" constantly in our heads. Our accommodation is very nice, we have a big bedroom, a bathroom and kitchen and a delightful flatmate called Margaret, who exclaims "Here are the young ladies!" every time she sees us. Running out of time so blog again soon!X xxx

Sun 3rd April - Jessie and Ruth are reunited YAYYYYYYY! Jessie arrived at lunchtime and met up with Hilary, and they explored the V&A Waterfront. Saw a couple of seals and UCT brass band, then went to meet Ruth from the airport. Tears were shed and joy was all around. Went to the Green Dolphin for dinner and listened to some nice jazz music. Went to sleep in Breakwater Lodge.

Mon 4th April - David Atwell picked us up in his "wheels" and we drove along the coast to Simonstown - breathtaking views of the sea to one side and mountains to the other. Went to Boulders Beach and hung out with the African Penguins who were very cute and small and funny when they waddled. Ruth had a nap. Went back to Green Dolphin for dinner and then early night (not before crossword puzzle time however).

Tues 5th April - Checked out of Breakwater Lodge and into Cape Town Backpackers, a very friendly and relaxed hostel in the centre of Cape Town. Mark (a friend of a friend) picked us up and drove us down to Cape Point. Very beautiful views along the way and of course at Cape Point itself (supposedly the most southern point of Africa but actually it isn't). Climbed to the tip and waved at the South pole. Went for lunch (fish and chips for Ruth, you can take the girl out of Britain...) then walked around the Kirstenbosch Gardens, which were also stunning! Had a few drinks in the hostel bar, which was pretty lively, then went to bed!

Weds 6th April - Ventured to a supermarket, then spent the afternoon on Clifton 4th beach. Weather was (again) amazing, and after a spot of sunbathing/rock climbing we decided to go for a casual swim ... little did we know the water was so cold it felt like tiny knives were stabbing us all over, and we got out sharpish (no screaming or undignified swimrunning of course). After another gourmet meal of pasta and sauce, we joined the other guests in the bar, and ended up heading out into Cape Town. Had a great night despite Ruth's jetlag making everyone think she was stoned as she sat staring at the wall, resulting in our being bought coffee tequila shots ... disgusting. Somehow made it into bed.

Thurs 7th April - Despite the hangover we ventured out into the city with new BFFL Kyle, and visited the District Six Museum. Went for a GIANT HUGE MASSIVE burger and chips for lunch, then went to the National Gallery. Amongst some slightly odd exhibitions there were photographs by Ernest Cole, which were stunning. He was a photographer during the height of apartheid and some of the shots he had taken were indescribable - they say a picture is worth a thousand words... after that we headed through the Company Gardens to Greenmarket Square. Our poor feet and heads could not take any more and we had an early night.

Fri 8th April - We climbed Table Mountain!! After being cheerfully assured it would take us a good 3 hours because we were "old", there was most probably no cable car service that day and we had started far too late in the day, we set offup apprently the "most climbed massif in the world".
5 mins in - out of breath, sweaty and hot.
30 mins in - out of breath, sweaty and grumpy.
45 mins in - overtaken by a barefoot runner.
50 mins - some sympathetic 60 year olds offer to carry Ruth's bag for her.
1 hour - not speaking, thirsty and beginning to ache. Quick stop to check we have all our vital signs.
1 hour 15 - Jessie turns to classical music in a desperate attempt to sloe her heart rate.
1 hour 30 - WE FOUND SOME SHADE
1 hour 40 - after a biscuit, we get a final spurt and spot a shady gorge ... could this be the top?
1 hour 45 - AT THE TOP YAYYYY. We look disdainfully at those emerging from the cable car.
After reaching the top we walked along to Maclear's Beacon, the highest point of the mountain and eat lunch (marmite/nutella sanwiches- Jessie/Ruth). After that we walked back across and vegetated in the cafe for a good few hours. Some friendly guys bought us a bottle of wine (each) and we tipsily wondered whether to abseil down ...we didn't, wisely. Now we are sitting in an internet cafe writing a blog ... tomorrow is Robben Island, then overnight bus to Grahamstown - more updates from there!