5th Sept. Durban

Hamburg. 3rd Sept.
The storm that we experienced the day we left Cape Town has followed us along the coast with devastating results. Agulhas, Mossel Bay, the next night we spent at Storms River. The national park has some lovely chalets there some built above the road with a panoramic view, others built just above the normal sea level. The latter had been pulverised by the massive seas and a couple had been washed off their footings. The huge seas had closed the walk to the Storms River mouth as was the footbridge across the river. Froth from the huge waves was over a metre deep, boulders covered the parking area washed up from the sea.
Yesterday we travelled a further 450kms east and ended up at this place called Hamburg. A little hamlet overlooking an estuary. We had heard about a good campsite from one of the printouts we obtained while in Nairobi. On arriving we noticed debris strewn everywhere. There were a couple of vans but they were close to the back of the allotment, against a hill. Water covered the flat area, we were soon to discover that the previous night, with a spring tide and strong winds added to the enormous seas, the water had risen and covered the whole camp site with up to 1.5 metres of water. Vans had been There was no warning, it was7pm, pitch dark as the water had covered all the power points.
We parked our van on a higher level next to the Portuguese Restaurant & bar.. The owner of the camp is Portuguese who wanted to drop out. He couldn’t have picked a lovelier place. There is a short walk along the estuary to the ocean where the surf still roared in.
5th Sept. Port Edward
In fact we stayed a second night, in Hamburg, it was so tranquil. That meant a long drive the next day to get within striking distance of Durban the following day as we needed to see the shipping Coy before the weekend. We travelled over 600kms mainly through the Transkei, a highly populated area with townships peppered over many of the hills. It was just like being back in East Africa with people walking along the roads again, fetching water in containers, and carrying everything on their heads. Port Edward is 160kms from Durban, a short drive, this may have been our last night on the road. While in Hamburg we began to clean the van up, get rid of all the dust in it. Australian Customs are very strict and I am aware it will have to be steam cleaned when we get to Sydney but the inside is so full of dust it’s going to be a major job getting rid of it. I think it will take at least 3 days.