Did you miss me?

OMG, I missed y'all so much. The idea of having wifi everywhere is great but it is just that - an idea. I even have a portable hotspot but when there is no service, you are truly in the wilderness. Oh yeah, that's where I am Wilderness on the Garden Route about 6 hours east of Cape Town along the coast.

My big backpacking adventure started yesterday when I hopped on my Baz Bus and off we went. Cousin Alyssa, always concerned that hunger never be an issue, made sure I was stocked with Rusk (a local hard biscuit something like a biscotti) and Biltong (dried beef) so of course I fed the whole bus and was voted most likely to be kidnapped in SA but would probably end up married to the kidnapper.

Most of my fellow travelers are European, German predominately, which is good because we are never waiting for the late guest to get to the bus. As a matter of fact we were an hour early at my overnight stop - Wilderness Beach Backpackers. I'm having some issues with uploading pictures at the moment but you'll see it hangs off a cliff overlooking the ocean. (The Indian Ocean BTW.) My room's view was breathtaking and I would have listened to the surf from my open window but it was fuckin' freezing. Isn't there something about being Africa hot? I spent the evening with a group of students learning English so they were VERY chatty. But they bought the beer and kept the firepit stoked. I smell like a campfire now and probably will the rest of the trip but oh well.

When I finally went to bed near midnight I had to text anyone I could find to answer to get election updates. I'll save my thoughts for those outcomes for my alternative blog melaniebrenner.com. I try to keep melbstyle politics free or at least lite. I'll on;ly comment that South Africa is looking better and better.

They check us out early at backpack stops so I caught a ride into town with a hot Sa guy named Jeremy. Too bad he's headed back to Cape Town cause he was kinda Jason Stratham hot and loved to talk American politics but who knows who I'll meet at the next stop, which is Plettenberg Bay for anyone following me on a map. (All 1 of you.)

And guess what I found in town, great coffee and wifi. SO here I am catching ypou up, a little. I didn't tell you about the nomad man who paints my dreams or the Dutch girl who showed up here to volunteer at the hostel and hated it so wants to travel with me. But those are stories for another day and reason for you to check back to see just how I backpack melb style.