mike & rhonda's latest adventure: "Happiness will never come to those who don't appreciate what they already have"

This was a quote (anonymous) I read the other day that rang true and helped explain why my loose change over here keeps disappearing. At most gas stations there is a squad of gas pump jockeys coming off the bench as soon as you pull in. One is waiting to fill your tank before you even stop while one or two others are already starting to clean your windows, every single one of them. At most parking lots, plazas or scenic areas, there are parking attendants pointing you to the best available parking spot and helping you park and back-up (stopping other traffic) when you leave. In most cases they are poor people working for free and do this for small tips (loose change, and the biggest coin here is a 50 cent piece) so they are happy even if you only have 10/20 cents to pass along. They are always smiling and it is a good reminder to all of us to appreciate what we have.
A friendly driving practice in South Africa that is a regular occurrence on the highways is slower vehicles pulling onto the paved shoulder to let faster ones pass by without having to go into the opposite lane. Vehicles that pass always use their hazard lights for a few seconds to thank the other driver. It is smart planning to build the slightly wider road and commonly used by drivers to help cut down on serious highway accidents.

Our trip so far on the scenic Garden Route has been wonderful. The route starts about 400 km's east of Cape Town along the southern coast with mountains on one side and the Indian Ocean on the other. Mossel Bay was our first stop and we checked out Cape St. Blaize with it's cave and neighbourhood dassies (look like a guinea pig but their closest relative is actually an elephant ...... believe it or not). The next day we stopped at Victoria Bay, a secluded bay with a beautiful beach and big waves for the surfers, a wonderful place to chill for a few days (if we had only known). Later that day we went to Dolphin's Point in Wilderness and then on to Knysna where we did a short walk out to The Heads, two large rock formations on either side of an estuary where the ocean and rivers meet up for a gorgeous sight. Million $ homes are built on the hillsides to take advantage of the views which change with both the tide and the sun position. We had a late lunch on the waterfront at a Portuguese restaurant where I finally found small fish on the menu.......the sardines were still a little too big to eat the heads and tails but they were delicious.

Today we drove to Plettenberg Bay and spent half of the day hiking out to The Point at Robberg Nature Reserve. It was challenging at points when we descended from the cliff top to the seaside and had to scramble over large rocks that were wet after some brief showers. There were several showers during our 4 hour hike but the ocean winds in between quickly dried us off. Hundreds of Cape fur seals were barking, playing and lazing around as we passed them above the shore line. In one spot there were massive sand dunes and we had to climb 500 metres in soft sand which was a good workout for our legs. We are now at a guest house with fabulous views of a small valley below us, including a large thoroughbred horse farm owned by a former member of the Cosa Nostra who was living quietly here for 20 years in a remote spot but was recently nabbed by Interpol in Thailand and is trying his best to avoid extradition to Italy. The lovely property may be for sale soon :-), just in case my Ponytrail friends are interested.