The coastal leg of our trip

On Sunday the 18th of Sept we drove almost 13 hours to Storms River Mouth.... This is my favourite part of the world. I've been to rather a few places in my lifetime but this is where I feel at my happiest. My lungs also felt at their happiest breathing in the sea air!!!  Falling asleep to the sound of the ocean was heaven. smelling the sea air (and a very specific fynbos that smells like curry that I've only ever smelt there) was heaven, not having to wear O2 when just chilling and sitting still was awesome... everything there is brilliant. Our accommodation was very spacious, secluded and had a brilliant view.

We didn't have the best luck with the weather though... apart from some nice sun on the first day it was rather freezing!!! It didn't stop us from being active though... I even managed to do some hiking! First on the Monday, when we just stayed in the park and I did about half of the distance to the suspension bridge. This includes a lot of stairs! Thank goodness for my new portable O2 backpack that Anna helped me get from the States! Made hiking so much easier! Last time I was there I could hike WAAYYYY more, but that was more than 2 years ago and lung function was more than double it is now (think FEV1% was in the 60's then). So I'm happy with what I could do all things considered.

On the Tuesday we went to Knysna... we walked around in the waterfront a little bit, and then went on a ferry boat to Featherbed Nature Reserve, There a truck-thing took us to the top, and we hiked 2.2 km down. I really struggled towards the end but did well! The trip ended with a buffet lunch.

On Wednesday we went to the Knysna Elephant Park. I've never been there before but Anna and Casey have, It's an elephant sanctuary where they help orphaned calves mostly. Some get reintroduced to the wild while others join the local herd. We fed them and had an interactive experience with the ellies. It was AMAZING.... touching an elephant... Feeling it breathe on your hand... So glad we did it!

Afterwards we went for lunch at a random little spot in Storms River Village called Marilyn's Diner. It's inspired by the 1960's in America! Like I said... quite random. But fun. Afterwards we walked to the Big Tree (1 km walk in total). Glad I could do that one too. Struggled a but but did it. Lovely walking in the forest.

I posted more pics in the post below... check them out. Got to spend some time with the dassies and get some wave pics on Wed afternoon. Was rather sad saying good-bye to this place... I honestly don't know when I'll ever be there again.... I have so many fantastic memories there... as a kid growing up, as a student with friends, I did my first hike 2 months post transplant here with my best friends from PE... (hiked WAAAYYYY further than now!), introduced Chris to the place in 2009, went there on honeymoon in 2010, and been there for holidays with Chris at least 3 or 4 times since then. My mom and dad even went on holiday there when she was pregnant with me! It truly is my happy-place. When I was waiting for my transplant I had a picture from there as the background on my phone, to keep me motivated. Just absolutely love it.