It wasn't until I was behind the wheel that I suddenly realised it was Valentine's Day. Not as a result of my phone overheating with messages from admirers, but because the brain was just slowly kicking into gear. Fucking hell - Valentine's Day. This would not normally be a problem, but when holidaying alone it had the potential to make eating out in the evening a pitying experience.
My aloneness and single status prompted a lot of soul searching as I meandered along the N2. Why didn't I have a partner? Was I really happy in my life? Would I be in the same situation this time next year? In an instant, I mentally turned these thoughts around in my head. This was the first time in a long while that I had asked myself if I was happy. I had been so overwhelmingly consumed by the day to day pressures of work in recent months that I'd stopped to even think about whether everything else was ok. Thus surely this holiday was working. I didn't feel tired - unusually I was not dependant upon endless cups of coffee - and I had been sleeping well. For the first time in ages I was thinking about myself and my own health. It was reassuring and worrying at the same time.
I saw a sign for the Knysna Elephant Park, and turned off. Swanning around with these creatures for a while was bound to take my mind off whatever existential dilemmas I happened to be mulling over.
This elephant park gears itself up for at least 15 tours a day, and as a result I knew it was going to be a very different experience to the six hours I enjoyed at a sanctuary in Thailand last year.
As we strolled around the fields - which were unfortunately covered by dark and overcast skies - with the elephants, our guide started asking me questions. Where was my wife on Valentine's Day? Which football team did I support? In the case of the latter question, for once I was on safe ground given the immense performances of Norwich this season. "Ah you support Noorweech! You will definitely stay up!" There you have it - confirmation from an African elephant guide that Paul Lambert's green and yellow army are safe.
I made it to Plettenburg Bay by early afternoon and was instantly bowled over by the place. In essence, it is a small town overlooking a cliff that bestrides a gorgeous stretch of sand beside the sea. Or words to that effect...
I stayed in an amazing place that was semi-restaurant, semi-hotel. It was an incredibly friendly bolt hole, and I was instantly glad to have made the decision to spend the night here rather than an additional one in Knysna.
I was tempted to order room service rather than humiliate myself by going down to the restaurant and eating alone on Valentine's Day. In the end I decided to man up and get on with it. As things transpired, I was befriended by an American couple in the restaurant who basically took pity on me, and the evening was perfectly pleasurable. Apparently I was 'brave' to go out on my own on Valentine's Day. Fuck me sideways...
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