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| Gorgeous coastline |
Noordhoek is another suburb in Cape Town, located about 35 km south of the city and 15 km from Hout Bay. We took the scenic route from Hout Bay around Chapman's Peak to Noordhoek also known as the "Chapman’s Peak Drive" or as the locals fondly call it "Chappies", is a 9 km route that winds (114 curves) along the rocky Atlantic coastline. It's one of the most spectacular marine drives with breathtaking views of the mountains, coast and ocean. If you're in Cape Town, we highly recommend taking a drive here.
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| View of Hout Bay |
We made a stop at the Noordhoek beach en-route to Simonstown. This 8 km beach is known for its long, wide, white sandy beach. Apparently very popular with surfers and horse riders, however we did not see any that day.
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| "Noordhoek" means "north corner" in Dutch, but not sure why it's called that |
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| Beach houses on Noordhoek beach |
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| Stunning views of the mountains, however some parts of the beach is overgrown with shrubs and strewn with seaweed |
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| Wide white sandy beach |
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| "Kakapo" steamship wreck |
Further down the southern end of the beach is the wreck of the steamship "Kakapo", a 665 ton schooner rigged steamship which ran aground in 1900.
It was reported that she was on her maiden voyage from Wales, UK to Sydney, Australia under the command of a newly ticketed Danish Captain.
She set off from Cape Town harbour on 25th May, heading south to follow the west coast of the Cape Peninsula and then east around Cape Point and Cape Agulhas, the southern most tip of Africa.
Unfortunately, due to poor visibility, strong winds and high seas on that stormy day, when the Captain caught sight of Chapman’s Peak, he gave instructions to turn hard to port, maintaining full speed thinking Chapman's Peak was Cape Point.
By the time he realised his mistake, it was too late. The ships forward momentum had drove her straight onto the beach, embedding her so firmly into the sand that they were unable to refloat her. Parts of her still remain over a century later.
Even though no lives were lost as crew were able to alight onto the sand, the Captain was so distraught by the loss of his ship that he apparently stayed on board refusing to leave or speak to anyone for 3 years, until he was finally escorted off the ship and taken to a mental facility.
It was reported that she was on her maiden voyage from Wales, UK to Sydney, Australia under the command of a newly ticketed Danish Captain.
She set off from Cape Town harbour on 25th May, heading south to follow the west coast of the Cape Peninsula and then east around Cape Point and Cape Agulhas, the southern most tip of Africa.
Unfortunately, due to poor visibility, strong winds and high seas on that stormy day, when the Captain caught sight of Chapman’s Peak, he gave instructions to turn hard to port, maintaining full speed thinking Chapman's Peak was Cape Point.
By the time he realised his mistake, it was too late. The ships forward momentum had drove her straight onto the beach, embedding her so firmly into the sand that they were unable to refloat her. Parts of her still remain over a century later.
Even though no lives were lost as crew were able to alight onto the sand, the Captain was so distraught by the loss of his ship that he apparently stayed on board refusing to leave or speak to anyone for 3 years, until he was finally escorted off the ship and taken to a mental facility.
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| Alex looking at the blue-green body of water |
As we walked along the beach, we noticed a stream of blue-green water flowing into the sea. Little did we know at that time, the City warned residents and visitors to avoid contact with the water due to high concentration of toxic blue-green algae called Cyanophyceae (the algal population increases in warm summer months).
The water flows into the sea via an outlet channel from the Wildevoelvlei wetlands where effluent (liquid waste/sewage) is released from the Wildevoelvlei Wastewater Treatment Works (WWTW). Even though the WWTW treats the effluent and complies with Water Affairs license conditions, the phosphorus levels in the final effluent are still high which allows toxic algae to bloom.
We had crossed the channel with our bare feet, not knowing that it was toxic. Contact with the water can cause severe allergies, diarrhoea, vomiting, muscle pains and fever. Thankfully none of us were affected.
The water flows into the sea via an outlet channel from the Wildevoelvlei wetlands where effluent (liquid waste/sewage) is released from the Wildevoelvlei Wastewater Treatment Works (WWTW). Even though the WWTW treats the effluent and complies with Water Affairs license conditions, the phosphorus levels in the final effluent are still high which allows toxic algae to bloom.
We had crossed the channel with our bare feet, not knowing that it was toxic. Contact with the water can cause severe allergies, diarrhoea, vomiting, muscle pains and fever. Thankfully none of us were affected.
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| Beautiful beach but contaminated water |
Sadly, this is still an ongoing issue and we hope the proper authorities can find a solution to this as soon as possible.
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