Plettenberg Bay, a short drive from Blaukran's Bridge, was our first stop in the Western Cape. Arriving late in the afternoon, we headed to the beach front for a sundowner before yet another lovely dinner of fish and prawns at a deck overlooking the point. Despite Plett being a playground for the rich, the casual antipodean attitude meant that we weren't too out of place in our shorts and flip flops.
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| Robberg Peninsula |
The next day we headed to Robberg Peninsula for a hike. Robberg is a national park with a 9km trail winding around cliff faces, secluded beaches, rock pools with powerful surging surf and across enormous sand dunes. Within a mile or so our nostrils were struck by an incredible stench that even I could not have conjured. Beneath the cliff on which we walked, hundreds of seals barked, frolicked, fought, surfed and basked in the beautiful, clear waves. Robberg was more beautiful than we'd expected but the going was much tougher. As we rounded the point we had one of those 'I thought you...but I thought you...' style discussions as we realised we'd packed a grand total of 300ml of water for a tough three hour hike in 30C heat. Error. We were bloody thirsty by the time we completed the hike but it was well worth it. The only thing more exhausting was the debacle which followed with the internet.
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| Climbing a sand dune at Robberg |
Up until this point we'd experienced internet performance which took us back 10 years or more. We were certain that, being a playground for the rich, Plett would deliver so we were determined to publish our first posting before we left. One hour and twenty five minutes, a lot of swearing and R112 (£10) later our first blog post was published. Carrier pigeon would be more productive than using the internet in some parts of South Africa.
The following morning I joined a dive off a rock wall on Beacon Island while Zoe went sea kayaking in search of seals, dolphins and whales. The day before there'd been a 200 strong dolphin in the bay. Unfortunately, Zoe saw nothing and came back with a dose of sunstroke and seasickness. I had a bit more luck, sighting some stingrays, large crabs, beautiful soft coral, starfish and large reef fish. On the downside the water temp was 12C, was rough and murky, with 5M visibility. Egypt still wins hands down.
We stopped for lunch at Knysna on our way to Oudtshoorn to munch on some avocado that we had bought from a roadside vendor a week earlier; four of the biggest avocados I'd ever seen for a grand total of R10 (90p). It'd finally ripened and was absolutely delish! So delish, in fact, that Zoe almost cut her tongue off when she tried to lick a morsel from the blade of her Swiss Army knife. I, typically, had a minor cardio and Zoe is no longer allowed to lick the blade. Anyhow, we were parked up in Knysna and I spotted a pub with Northern Transvaal Bulls rugby supporters flags adorning the windows and so was happy to get to watch the Reds defeat of the Waratahs which just so happened to be on at the time.
From Knysna we continued through to George and then crossed the coastal mountain range into the starkly desolate Klein Karoo. Arriving in Oudtshoorn in the mid afternoon, we checked into our guest house, a lovely 1920s colonial style stone white washed farm house on the edge of town. It was hot and dry so we spent the remainder of the afternoon relaxing by the little plunge pool, Zoe swinging in a hammock. Of all the places we've stayed, this was our favourite. Oudtshoorn is ostrich country. You want something made of Ostrich, to do something Ostrich themed? No problem. So the next morning we went to Cango Ostrich Farm where Zoe was volunteered to ride an ostrich. It was surprising how fast they run and it came as a bit of a shock to her. It was a lot of fun : )
Another long drive followed as we headed further west across the beautiful arid countryside, through small, lovingly cared-for wine producing dorps like Calitzdorp and Barrydale. Our destination was Stanford, yet another beautiful rural town about 20km from Hermanus. We did a mini pub crawl - there being two pubs - and dined out on yet another amazing meal. The best steaks either of us had ever eaten - dinner for two with beer, wine, starters and mains? R250 (£22). Bargain.
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| Route 62 in the Little Karoo: How to attract customers to your rural pub |
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| Stanford |
On our way to Cape Town we stopped in Hermanus and then Stony Point to visit the Jackass Penguin colony. They're sociable, funny and docile little fellas, so there were plenty of up close photo opportunities. Our first night in CT we stayed in a human Jackass colony - Camps Bay. Undeniably attractive, out of all the places we've experienced on this trip this was our least favourite and the most expensive by a long way. Oh well.
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| Penguins at Stony Point |
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| Zoe writing her journal at Camps Bay |
The next day we met Barry & Claire, friends of mine from CT, and our friend, Sgt. Steve from London, for lunch at the Waterfront. We spent the next few nights with Claire & Baz who were house & dog sitting at Constantia - a super affluent area of Cape Town. Zoe had a ball with Hooch the Bull Mastiff, Georgie the slightly pervy miniature Daschund and Zola the sheep dog. Great stuff. As with our other South African hosts, Claire & Baz were very welcoming. Fortunately and coincidentally they'd taken the week off work, so they took us for a tour around Simon's Town, Fishhoek, Kommejtie, Hout Bay, as well as Forrester's pub at Newlands and the amazing Kirstenbosch botanical gardens. On our final evening before meeting the Oasis truck, they put on a delicious Braai - just to remind us of the culinary heaven we were departing.
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| Seal in the harbour at Hout Bay |
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| Our hosts, Barry and Claire, at Hout Bay |
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| Braai time with Baz and Steve |
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| Meat |
