On the morning of our departure , it was , as always , raining , and windy . Luckily , the wind was at our backs and if we were lucky , we could outrun the rain and leave the squalls in our rearview mirror .
Almost immediately , we got horribly lost while trying to leave Port Elizabeth , or Gqeberha , as it has recently been renamed . We somehow ended up doing a big circle that put us right back where we had started an hour earlier . As we lane split through the peak hour traffic , we just laughed . Our early departure was meant to help us avoid this rush hour , but fate had a different plan . With a light drizzle falling and us , still without rain suits on , I leaned over to Big Mike and said , “ Mate , if you never get lost , you will never know the pleasure of finding your way .”
Our plan was to get out the town and find a place to pull over and fit our rain suits . By the time we were ten minutes down the road , the rain was far at our backs . The wind was also pushing us perfectly from the rear . We were flying .
We passed the town of Humansdorp , and Mike commented that he could not even see the distant Jeffery ’ s Bay due to patches of fog that looked like thick soup . Our first stop was at the Storm ’ s River bridge for fuel . The water has cut a deep gorge into the rocky land , and this is quite common in the Eastern Cape . There are many that we crossed , each time the wind would give us a good shudder as it howled around the valley below . The entire Eastern Cape is a maze of rivers . Each with a unique and interesting course . Some have twisted and turned so much that horseshoe bends have formed into small ox bow lakes along the side of the new river course . Where the water has , over centuries , cut a deep scar into the rock , jagged shards remain towering up on the sides , sometimes looking Martian .
At the gigantic Bloukrans River Bridge , you can stop and jump the highest commercial bungee jump in the world . It ’ s a 216-metre drop into a ravine that looks as narrow as the front wheel on an old Vespa , but what a feat and something you will remember for the rest of your life . Years earlier , the operators of the jump used to have a special deal for the ladies . Jump in the nude and it ’ s free . This offer was quickly rescinded after a German travel magazine published an article mentioning the deal . Weeks later , buses , rental cars and overland trucks would stop , and dozens of uninhibited German girls would line up in their birthday suits .
On this day though , we just rode by . I have done the jump before and although it was tempting to fly off the bridge once more , we had to push hard to make an appointment . If you really want an impressive view of the bridge and screaming jumpers , take the alternate route that cuts through the valley . You will avoid the toll road , but more so , you will wiggle through a narrow lane where tree ferns pour out of steep rocky sides . You may even catch a glimpse of a young German vreulen flinging herself from the bridge , high above , boobs and arms wobbling around as she plummets towards the ground .
A short ride further and you will find a turn-off to a beautifully named area , Nature ’ s Valley . If you take this road , you will add about 30 minutes to your travel time , but rather than speed along the direct route , you get to hug the weaving coastline roads . As you pass the seaside village , you are met by a canopy of milkwood trees that form a wooded spider web type canopy right over the road . All these areas seem a little trapped in time . Sights and sites of a bygone era .
Back on the main road , we passed Plettenberg Bay , where the beaches are spectacular and in the town
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