Hogsback

Hogsback is famous for apparently providing Tolkien with his inspiration for writing the Hobbit. It really is a very quaint town, set deep in the mountain forests. We stayed at a great place called 'Away with the Fairies' in a very quaint little cottage. Our first night we had to share the cottage (it had two bedrooms), but the second night we had it all to ourselves.

The weather had actually turned quite bad at this stage, which was a pity, but at least it gave me an excuse to stay in and watch the rugby. The evening we arrived we were just in time for the England game and the place actually had a great atmosphere as the owner was a very friendly English guy, who naturally enough was draped in a huge English flag. They also had a really big projector screen for all the matches and we bumped into a game-ranger guy we'd met back in Bomvu Paradise, as it turned out he worked not far from Hogsback. It was all very cosy I have to say, with comfy sofas and everything.

The following day we went for a huge hike through the forests, past a very impressive 'Big Tree', and stopping for lunch at one of the numerous waterfalls. The best thing about the hike was the almost total lack of people so it was all wonderfully peaceful - and I suppose it's not hard to see how Tolkien could have been inspired by the place. As we got back to the town it just started to rain, and I took refuge in a lovely wee bar to watch the rugby while Sarah braved the rain to get back to our homely cottage (it had a lovely fireplace and everything).

That night though I gave myself a right crack on the head by simply walking into the bedroom. The whole town kinda goes a little bit overboard on the whole Hobbit thing, and our cottage, cozy and all as it was, actually had very low ceilings and door frames. Even though I ducked my head, I didn't duck far enough and whacked the very top of my head. After 10 minutes running icy cool water over the gash the bleeding final stopped, and it wasn't as bad as I'd first thought. Sarah got a good laugh though, as I literally fell straight back onto my arse and had quite a comical stunned look on my face when it happened.

I think it was still drizzling when we left Hogsback, which was a pity as we'd never gotten to really appreciate the mountain views. But on our way out we did stop at the 39 steps waterfall and the arboretum (a garden of trees from around the world, including mighty redwoods - which I've always wanted to see, thereby marking another thing-to-do off my list of worldly sights).

Next stop was the city of Port Elizabeth.