Lucyandon's Adventures

Apr 21

Format changes

After undertaking comprehensive market research and reader feedback we have made a couple of changes.

A) The photo format will revert back to a carousel style layout (you should be able to click and enlarge to view slide show), rather than mosaic style (it took up too much space).

B) Comments per post has now been turned on so your opinion is appreciated. Outside of the market research group (of 1) + family, we have no idea I who is taking any interest in our travels.

Please let us know if you have any other suggestions for improvement.

Apr 21

3 Comments

The Heart of Cinque Terre is right on the walking trail and it really is spectacular. The accommodation is rustic and basic, but we loved it (once I got the shower hot). It’s a 2km walk downhill to either Corniglia or Vernazza, which sounds easy, but that means walking 2km back up as well!

Our first day is beautiful and sunny, but the good weather is not meant to last the weekend, so we get out and make the most of it. We trek into Vernazza for some lunch and then decide to keep going to Monterosso.

This next part is a lengthy and arduous climb up and around the cliff side on a narrow and rocky path. Dramatic views unfurl along the way, which makes you forget the strenuous effort it is at times.

The final decent into Monterosso is a welcome relief. We train it back to Corniglia but our weary legs are not looking forward to the climb home.

Don has a brilliant idea (he occasionally does), which is to take the bus up to San Bernadino (a town above Prevo), resulting in a down hill hike! That night we sleep soundly, physically exhausted, the same feeling you have when you’ve been skiing all day.

The rain arrived through the night and it lasts most of the next day. We finally decide to risk the weather around 3pm and take the trail (carefully) down to Corniglia and then catch the train to Riomaggiore.

Each town is spectacular in its own right and each with its own character. Kellie and I stayed here 16 years ago and it is still as I remember it – I’m pretty sure I can even pick out the place we stayed.

We have an early dinner and return to Corniglia and call on Pierpaolo to collect us. It’s not worth risking the trail at dusk (OK, that’s the excuse we came up with).

The weather clears up for our last day and we trek down to Venazza for breakfast, take the train the Manarola, which we agree is our favourite town. It’s a bit less touristico (slightly) and set in a narrow gap between the steep hills.

After lunch we decide to make our way back to Corniglia. It’s a 2 hour hike, with the first 1/2 hr being straight up, long and unforgiving steps of stone (the regular trail which follows the coast line and is relatively flat, is closed due to rock slides), so our only option is straight-up via the town of Volastra

With great satisfaction in our achievement we make it to the top, the views back to Manarola and Riomaggiore are spectacular.

The next part of the trail winds through the terraced vineyards on the side of the hills. At times the trail is so narrow that people are holding the vine stakes for security. We descend into Corniglia and treat ourselves to a gelato.

It’s an hour wait for the next bus to San Bernadino and having conquered the trail from Monterosso we decide to complete the last bit and trek up to Prevo. In comparison to what we had done earlier in the day, it’s a breeze.

We are the only guests that night and we relax by watching the sunset, but we don’t last long, before hitting the sack, once again totally exhausted.

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Apr 20

Happy Birthday Mum

Hope you had a wonderful day and the rest of the family spoilt you as I would have done! We have been off the radar staying on the Cinque Terre path, hiking up and down mountains! I know, it sounds unbelievable for us but we have the aching muscles to prove it. Lot’s of fun. Will Skype you soon, we have just arrived in Verona.

Apr 16

London

We spent 6 days in London being typical tourists, something that neither of us had done much off in previous trips. Basing ourselves in Camberwell; it was cheap, with quick access into the centre of London, but not much else going for it. Our days were spent exploring the different areas of london and its many landmarks, including Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, Soho, Notting Hill, the Portobello Road markets, Abbey Rd (Don being a Beatles fan), the fresh produce markets at Shoreditch and just wandering around soaking up the atmosphere. London is conducive to walking and we did a lot of it, eager to reverse the effects of the generous eating and drinking we did in South Africa. The good weather followed us and we had 6 sunny days, with the daily temperature around 15′ to 17′, “balmy” the poms would say, as they stripped off in Hyde Park to work on their tan for the summer.

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We bought discount tickets to the musical ‘The commitments’, which was great fun and we could have been tempted to see many more productions. On Sunday we watched the London Marathon run by and the city was alive with supporters, buskers and people just enjoying the spring weather.

The best recommendation we can make to anyone visiting London is to jump on the hop-on-hop-off bus – we hopped on and didn’t get off for the day! It was a great way to see the sights and avoid the queues. I don’t remember London being so busy and it may have been the combination of the Marathon and School holidays, but everywhere was crowded.

We had a lovely day out with the Kemps exploring more of the city and splurging on dinner at ‘Little Social’ just near Oxford Circus (thanks to James Brest for the recommendation). It was great to spend time with friends from home and catch up on the news. The Kemps are travelling in a different league to us (care of Ross’s work) with first class air and 5 star hotels, and whilst it would be nice, it would be a much shorter holiday for us if we took this route.

Don trekked out to High Wycombe one night to see Lloyd Cole playing and then caught up with him again to play a round of golf at Woking Golf Club. I took the opportunity to have a shopping day in London – window shopping; London is expensive and I have convinced myself we will find some great bargins in Europe. None the less, window shopping was fun and something Don (like most men), does not have the patience for.

It was a 5am start to make it out to Luton for an Easyjet flight to Nice, where we are collecting our car and beginning 5 months travel through Europe. London transportation is far ahead of ours. Buses and trains run frequently around the clock and we connect with the Easybus pick-up at Baker Street Station with ease and arrive at Luton with time to enjoy an airport coffee (never good) and toast. One thing to note is that flying in and out of small/regional airports does reduce the hassle factor; less distance to terminal from drop off (or car rental), fewer flights = fewer people, less time wasting!

Apr 10

The Inaugural MAD(L) Matchplay Challenge

We arrive back in Joburg in time for pre dinner drinks at the Browns. Don produces two of our Rainbow’s Edge reds to enjoy with the succulent BBQ beef we are having. Mark enthusiastically decanters both bottles into a carafe, not realizing he blends a Cab Franc with Cab Sav, creating a new Cab Franc Sav blend, of course it was thoroughly enjoyed, so much that we now understand Rainbow’s End are looking to bottle more!

Our final day in South Africa is a big one, it’s the Inaugural MAD(L) Golf Challenge; Mark and I are taking on Alison and Don in matchplay. The four of us tee-off at 7:50 on the 10th at Bryanston Country Club, the hosting course for this invitational event, a beautiful and challenging course with lots of water in play.

At the turn we refuel with a hot breakfast (they really know how to play golf in this country: caddy’s and hot brekkie, what a great way to play 18). Mark and I are playing well and are 3 up as we hit off for the final 9. Alison has been our close contender throughout the morning, with little support from her partner. It’s just not Don’s day, he is just not getting it together.

Alison win’s the next hole and Don the following (on a technicality, nothing to do with his golf), bringing them one short of leveling the score, but that was the last glimmer of hope with Mark and I claiming victory over the next 4 holes, claiming our win on the 16th hole. We celebrate over lunch before we have to race home for a quick turn around to the airport.

We look forward to a rematch somewhere in the world, with the Brown’s returning to the UK it might be somewhere on our travels this year or next. As I have said before, we cannot thank Mark, Alison, Sacha and Jayden enough for such generous hospitality, it was wonderful to catch-up with you all and we hope we can return the generosity in the near future.

Our travels through South Africa far exceeded our expectations. We only explored a small part, but what we have seen was wonderful and will encourage us to return. One last thanks goes to Sharry Couzyn from Wildside Safari who without we would not have had such a hassle free, well organised trip.