We had a great stay at Natures Valley and soaked in the amazing views one last time as we had breakfast on the decking before heading off to our next port of call.

Our plan was to head back across to the west coast of South Africa, specifically to a place called Langebaan, where we were signed up for a spot of kite surfing. We’ve done kite surfing together before on a couple of holidays in Fuerteventura and Egypt and were looking forward to getting back up to speed with our skills and riding the lagoon waters that are supposed to be great for beginners.

We split up our 450 mile drive from Natures Valley to Langebaan with a couple of overnight stops in Oudtshoorn and Robertson along the way. We drove a lot and had some spectacular scenery along the way. The road works in South Africa can stretch for a few kilometres at times, so you can expect to have some long waits at the traffic lights. It was also quite funny to see triangular hay bales here too.

Stunning scenery for our long drive

Triangular hay bales

You can expect to wait a while at traffic lights

Lovely views from our car

Whilst in Oudtshoorn, we caught up on laundry, shopping and searching for a haberdashery shop to find new buttons to fix Rich’s shorts where a button had come off. It was at this time that we learned the brilliant fact that in South Africa they call traffic lights robots!

“At the first robot turn left and then at the next robot it’s on the lefthand corner”

Rich’s confused face when he asked a lady directions to a shop that sold buttons was priceless when she said ‘at the first robot turn left and then at the next robot it’s on the lefthand corner’. For a split second I had visions of us walking down the road seeing robots, directing us left down the road! We didn’t do much else in Oudtshoorn but did manage to get a couple of hours lying in the sunshine in the hostel garden and have a quick dip in the pool to cool off, which was welcomed in the 30 degree heat.

Our second stop was in Robertson. Having driven through fantastic mountain roads to reach it we were pleasantly surprised to find that it was in the heart of a wine region. Unfortunately we arrived on a Sunday which is when the thriving bustling town turns into a ghost town. All the wineries were shut and there wasn’t a lot to do at all. We did plan to watch the final race of the Formula One season at 3pm, so at midday we headed to the only place in town that was open for a spot of lunch before the race.

Thank goodness that we did because we had some of the best food since arriving in South Africa! A true flavour explosion for our taste buds that are now very used to breakfasts of yoghurt, apple and banana, lunches of tuna, salad cream and crackers and dinners of vegetables with chicken or sausage. As I ate my delicious thai green curry, I pondered whether it tasted anything like a thai green curry actually made in Thailand. I’ll let you know the verdict on that in six months time when we are there! Rich thoroughly enjoyed his chicken fajitas too and we accompanied it with a bottle of Robertson wine from the local winery. Well it would have been rude not to, right?

A bottle of the local wine in Robertson

Rich happy with his huge plate of food!

The colourful tree lined streets in Robertson

After a good feast at lunchtime we settled in at the Robertson Backpackers for the afternoon to see who would become the 2014 Formula One World Champion. After 20 minutes Rich was asleep on the sofa, that tells you how riveting the race was. He woke up with enough time to see Lewis Hamilton become this years champion. With the driver line ups changing so much between teams for the next season, we’re sure that the first race of the 2015 season in Melbourne next year will be a great one to watch and we can’t wait to be there for it! See you there Maurice and Maria!