Hermanus

En route to Hermanus we passed through Napier a lovely little town which is described on the Overberg website as

“Napier is a beautiful little town which in recent years has become home to many artists and authors. The streets are narrow and the houses full of character. Napier has become a weekend getaway to city dwellers and over weekends you will find the restaurants and pubs filled to capacity with mostly Capetonians coming to enjoy the fresh country air.”

Dutch Reformed Church                    Cheese cake with berries – yummy!

         

Buildings in Napier

    

Hermanus never fails to impress with its fantastic coastline backed by its mountains. 

     

Hermanus Backpackers – we have visited here before and even had the same room next to the pool. It is well situated within walking distance of the town and the coastal path. We met some very interesting people here and were never short of someone to chat to.

The backpackers has at least 2 cats, a Staffordshire terrier – very friendly and a collie who sits on the couch keeping you company.

                

Behind Hermanus are some pretty high mountains which are a playground for the more adventurous. One chap at the backpackers who was paragliding had rather too far to run on take off and injured his ankle. So the following day because he couldn’t paraglide he did something less risky so went shark cage diving instead.

    Hermanus                                                        Para glider

    

      View across Walker Bay – Hermanus below

Newspaper cutting seen in the bpackers – remains of the yacht – right

Google ‘Whale lands on yacht’ there are pictures and a YouTube video.

    

Fernkloof Nature Reserve covers 4500 acres in the Kleinrivier Mountains above Hermanus and ranges in altitude from sea level to 2800 feet. It protects coastal and fynbos areas and a small patch of evergreen forest. We had a short walk here late one afternoon. We had hoped to do some geocaches here, but the South African idea as fairly easy was climbing to the top of the hills here. Although one of the caches was only 1000 feet away, in a straight line, it was 550 foot high, a 2 hour walk.

Cape Agulhas

It is the geographic southern tip of Africa and the official dividing point between the Atlantic and Indian oceans.

We were actually staying at the, very nice, backpackers in Struis Bay 3 miles away. The backpackers was very colourful and the remnants of the world cup football could be seen – hence the flags.

    

In the town of Bredasdorp en route to Struis Bay was a very interesting Shipwreck Museum. We were particularly interested in the Swedish plate money and some of the bottles found in the wrecks.

             

Struis Bay (Struisbaai) is an old fishing village which for many years had a beautiful natural harbour. Some development has taken place since then but Struis Bay is still relatively untouched. Many fishermen still live here, but it is now better known for its leisure activities.

Four o’clock in the afternoon was the time many people wandered down to the harbour to watch the boats come. There was lots of activity, yelling and shouting, but all in good fun.

On the left a chap had caught a Red Steenbras (27.5 kilos) the bait had been the little silver fish –  look at his back where a chunk has been taken out.                                          Struis Bay harbour.

 

With the fishermen came these stingrays. One of them measures 2 metres across. We were told, but didn’t witness, that you could hand feed them. I didn’t volunteer.

Everyone in this area visits the southernmost point in Africa and also the dividing line between the Indian and Atlantic Oceans. En route we spotted this sky which we we thought was going to bring some bad weather, but it all passed over. Nice house though.                              Sue and I at the dividing line – this is our second visit.

 

Cape Agulhas lighthouse and museum. The museum has lots of information on the light itself and other lighthouses around the world. Sue posting the post from the most southerly post box in Africa.

          

Leisure is important to Struis Bay, sport fishing in particular. The boat was on tow and we were following. I like the strap  line for the Tackle Shop.

      

Taking the dog for a walk given a new meaning. This wasn’t a one off, it happened the following day.           Me going for a walk on a busy beach!

  

Stilbaai and Swellendam

 Stilbaai, is also known as the Bay of Sleeping Beauty, it is part of the Garden Route. It is quite isolated because it is 26 km away from the N2 main road between Mossel Bay and Riversdale at an estuary where the Goukou river meets the Indian Ocean.
Stilbaai is far larger than we were expecting. It has plenty of beaches and there is safe swimming. A first for us was watching a children's swimming class in the river. I ventured into the sea, but only got wet because it it so gently sloping I would be half way to Antarctica before I was up to my neck.
Stilbaai Beach                                            Stilbaai Harbour

Adagio – our excellent accommodation – 150 metres from the beach

BBQ on our apartment balcony at Adagio

Palinggat Homestead – home of the Stilbaai Tourist Office

By the Tourist Office there is a pond where the staff hand feed eels daily on chicken livers. At the time of our visit there were loads of tadpoles in the pond and so the eels were reluctant to come out to be fed because it was like living in a fast food outlet.

Kite surfing – Stilbaai                                    Seen by the beach
   
Our next venue was Swellendam – a place we have visited before, as it was en-route it seemed a good place to stay for a couple of days. Boy were we wrong! This is the biggest mistake I have made in accommodation. Tripadvisor.com show some excellent reviews, but the people who made them must have been taking d*%$gs or something similar. The only saving grace was the nearby cafe/restaurant, Mattson’s, where we had tea, coffee and meals and a lovely couple we met at the backpackers.
Mattson’s cafe                                                   Mountains behind Swellendam
               
Housing Swellendam – not our place                      Drostdy Museum                  


                
Drostdy Museum – smithy                             Round the evening campfire
    

The next bit is x-rated it is the kitchen at Swellendam Backpackers

Kitchen – outside                                           Kitchen - inside
   

Mossel Bay

In Mossel Bay we were staying at the Park House which was built around 1879. It’s a fine house and well furnished so we felt very comfortable here.

Park House Lodge

Mossel Bay was discovered by Bartolomeau Dias in 1488 searching for a way to India. In 1501 a letter was left in a sailors boot up in a tree. From this time on letters were left in what was to be known as the ‘Post Office Tree’.


Sue posting a postcard at the Post Office Tree which is inside the Bartolomeau Dias museum. The museum is full of information and well worth a visit if you are in the vicinity.

A replica of BD’s caravel (boat) which he sailed to Mossel Bay.

Santos beach is one of the most popular beaches because of its pristine sand and safe bathing.

This is the backpackers I wanted to stay at because of its proximity to the beach and the novelty of staying in a railway carriage. Since the rooms weren’t en-suite the veto came into play.

We spent quite a lot of time at The Point, another popular place for holidaymakers, watching the surfers.