Plettenberg Bay, South Africa

Plettenbery Bay

Plettenberg Bay is located in the Western Cape Province, part of South Africa's famous Garden Route, about 32km from Knysna and 600km from Cape Town. A small town with beautiful beaches and lots of nice houses! 

We got a lift from a couple we met at Knysna Yacht Club. It was really nice of them. They highly recommended we hike the Robberg Nature Walk which is one of the most popular trails in the area.

So when they dropped us in town, we visited the tourist information center to inquire more information about the walk. The friendly tourist information officer told us that it's about 25-30 minutes walk to the park entrance.

Walking to the Robberg Nature Park

No problem, we thought. However, we walked and walked and walked and walked for 2 hours under the scorching sun before we finally got to the park entrance. Not quite the half hour walk we were told.

We tried to hitch-hike after an hour or so, but sadly no one stopped for us (perhaps it was because we looked too dodgy). I later googled the distance between Plettenberg Bay and Robberg Nature Park. We had walked 8 kilometers!

Nice houses on the way to Robberg Nature Park

More nice houses

The Robberg Nature Walk is one of the nicest but toughest hikes I've done. Perhaps it was because it was an extremely hot and sunny day, with no shade along the entire trail and the fact that we had already walked 2 hours before, and drank most of our water with no where to fill up again.

The terrain is quite hilly, a lot of uphill and downhill, uphill and downhill again on a mix of sandy and rocky ground. Some even classified this trail as technical. We really enjoyed the spectacular views of the bay, the cape fur seals, the rocky coast as well as the beaches. 

Gorgeous view of the beach

Finally made it to the Robberg Nature Walk entrance @ 2pm

There are three circular routes along the Robberg peninsula of varying distance and difficulty.

1. Walk to The Gap and back to the car park, round about 2 km.
2. Walk to The Witsand sand dune and down to The Island and back is about 5.5 km.
3. The round trip via The Point is 9.2 km. Not recommended for young children and faint hearted.

Of course, we decided to take the round trip via The Point.

Best time for whale watching offshore is from May to November

One of the many shipwrecks in Plettenberg Bay

Wonders of Nature

Hello

Cape Fur Seals

Frolicking in the ocean

Lovely to look at but they're really smelly

Cape Fur Seals down below!

No shade throughout the trail

Getting dehydrated

The Point - the tip of the peninsula

A Dassie!

Follow the Cape Fur Seals markers

Last selfie - Trying to stay positive

Alex up ahead

Hot! Hot! Hot!

Almost there!

We survived! but not my shoe

We completed the trail in 3½ hours and got a lift back into town. Would definitely do it again but will be better prepared for it the next time - get a ride to the park entrance (not walk there), an early start in the morning so it's cooler, bring lots of water, sunscreen, hat, maybe a pair of binoculars and wear good shoes!

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Knysna - Mossel Bay - Sedgefield, South Africa

Entrance to Knysna

Pronounced as 'nys-na' or 'nais-na'. One of the Garden Routes best known destinations. A beautiful lagoon at the mouth of the Knysna River. Its like a different world here.

The entrance to Knysna was once classified as the most difficult and dangerous entrance in the world by the British Royal Navy. There are two large sandstones on either side known as the 'Knysna Heads' which makes a narrow entrance and with the changing tides, waters flow and ebb through the channel causing currents and breaks when the wind blows against the tides. Thankfully we entered and departed at high tide on calm days.

We arrived on 20th January 2014, where we met our friends S/Y Yelo again. We were anchored in 1.6m of water (S 34.02.633 E 23.02.385). It was a nice and calm anchorage. 

Tricky Entrance

Spectacular view of the Knysna Lagoon

Houses in Knysna

An interesting sport - Canoe Polo!

We hired a car with our friends Daniela & Rolf and drove from Knysna to Mossel Bay, another town with beautiful beaches and trails! Love the rock pools!

Rock Pools

Daniela & I

We also drove to Sedgefield. Officially known as the 'Slow Town'. There we visited the Wild Oats Farmers' Market. It opens every Saturday morning. Very lively (not slow at all.. haha). Good food & lots of crafty things! I just love all the farmers' markets in South Africa. The town offers a number of hiking and biking trails but we only managed to do one of it... The Gericke's point walk.

Wild Oats Farmer's Market

A lot of Arts and Crafts at the market

Great food!

Gericke's Point

Washed up Jellyfish

We had a great time in Knysna, wish all good things don't have to come to an end. But we had to move on. We set off to Hout Bay on the 26th January 2014.

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East London, South Africa

It was a 2 days sail from Richards Bay. A 46 hour wild ride surfing down huge waves, covering 339 nautical miles.

East London is situated on the Sunshine Coast, in the Eastern Cape of South Africa (south-west of Richards Bay). The city lies on the Indian Ocean coast, largely between the Buffalo River and the Nahoon River, and hosts the country's only river port.

We arrived and anchored in the river opposite Buffalo River Yacht Club (S 33.01.414 E27.53.870) on 16th January 2014.

There's not much to do here.. but if you're ever in the area, the East London museum is worth a visit to see the famous Coelacanth! A prehistoric fish. Thought to be extinct for millions of years until a living one was caught in 1938 off the coast of Africa. 

There's also a good variety of other fishes, seashells, animals, birds, insects, butterflies and a whole lot more for only R15 ($1.50 USD) per entry. A good way to spend the day.

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