Warner Beach

This is Warner Beach:

Sandy!

Quite possibly the shortest stay out of any that I've had this year, too -- a grand total of about 12 hours, most of those spent sleeping. I managed to get around an itsy-bitsy, teeny-tiny little bit, which includded a quick stroll on the beach itself. Not too bad. I mean, it had sandy stuff and watery stuff, so that covers all the bases for a start. Then there's the fact that it's a KZN beach. This means that if you wake up at 7:00 on a winter morning, make a beeline for the shore and dip your toes into the sea, it's pretty much guaranteed to be warmer than any of the water on the west coast.

Warner Beach is also what I'd describe as a very ... salty place. Sea breeze aside, there's something about Warner Beach that's very "yo-ho-ho". Maybe it's the extreme prevalence of sea-side taverns and live music bars. Perhaps it's the presence of loads of dodgy buildings, like the worn-out house which had "BEWARE" scribbled all over it (literally) or the structure called "The Ice Cream Shack" that lit up at night with Christmas tree lights (people love night-time ice cream!). Maybe it's just the fact that I saw loads of people with eye-patches and shoulder-perched parrots hobbling along on their peg-legs while snarling curses at passers-by.

My perception of this little settlement just south of Durban comes from a rather limited set of experiences, but all in all I think that the place holds some character.

The bar at my lodge. Also full of character.

I set up camp at the Blue Sky Mining lodge for a night. And by that, of course, I mean that I decided camping could go to hell for a little while and booked myself into a dorm instead. I have loads of excuses under my belt for not taking the more financially responsible route, but I think that my greatest justification was that my parents gave me a bit of money specifically so that I would not throw myself into a tent, so I decided to honour that wish. That, and arriving in the evening really isn't conducive to tent-setuppery. I was also ridiculously tired for some reason: I hid myself behind a magazine for most of the evening simply because I didn't have the energy to expend on ridiculous notions like socialising and being friendly.

It wasn't long before I collapsed into a deep slumberish thing. I didn't even take the time to photograph my bunk bed beforehand -- suffice it to say, it was a dead average 5/10. Very basic bedding.

Aside from all the regular facilities and a rather funky-looking bar, Blue Sky Mining also came with a bonus extra: a kitty cat on a pool table.

Kitty cat! On a pool table!! Yay!!!

Everything is better with cats, right?