After driving through Oudtshoorn we decided that there was no
point staying in the town for the sake of it so decided to drive straight to Plettenberg
Bay (aka ‘Plett’) after we had done the whole ostrich thing in the morning. (read about that here)
This was one of my favourite drives so far, purely because we were driving in the clouds, something I don't recall doing before!
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| driving the Garden Route in the clouds!!! |
Like the other places, Plettenberg bay is a small coastal
town, with not that much to do in the centre. The little town reminded me a
little of Byron Bay in Australia with its
relaxed vibe and quite high
street, peppered with a few people here and there enjoying an icecream or coffee.
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| the outskirts of Tsitsikamma |
However, you come to
Plett for the scenery, nature and adrenalin filled activities. The surrounding
area has so much to offer, from horse riding, sailing, tubing, sky diving, to seeing
animals, hiking in the forests and camping..
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this is where we jumped from-
worlds highest bridge bungee |
On our first full day here, we had booked bungee jumping for
lunch time…but that deserves a blog posting in its own right so keep a look out
for that to come when I get back home....
On the Wednesday we had planned on seeing Tsitsikamma
followed by a horse ride but the nonstop torrential rain meant that the ride was
postponed for the day after. Being true Brits though, we weren’t gonna let a
little bit of down pour stop us…I did what is best in these situations – I had
bubbly with brekkie, a cocktail for lunch and enjoyed the local wine at
dinner!!!*
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| taking refuge from the rain with a cocktail |
Amongst the sampling of alcoholic beverages, and lot letting
a little bit of rain stop us from sightseeing, we set off for a drive around
Tsitsikamma forest and Nature’s Valley.
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| watch out for the baboons!!! |
With a poncho on that made me look what
can only be described as a massive condom, we did have a little wander but in
all honesty, we were ok with seeing just 20 minutes here and there. The scenery
didn’t seem to change that drastically at the different stops we made, and once
you have seen a few massive trees, hanging vines and moody ferns, you have seen
it all really!!!
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| who doesn't enjoy wearing a pack-a-mac |
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| in amongst the trees |
We did stop at the Storm River Village (near the mouth of
the river where they do the river activities) at this cute 50s and 60s retro American
diner, called Marilyns. I had a “Miami” cocktail, which has to be one of
the strongest cocktails I have ever sipped and the Boy had the biggest slice of
apple pie and ice cream.
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| this was a huuuuge slice |
By the early afternoon, we were rained out and returned to
our hotel to kick back. There is something inherently smug about watching the
down pour over the forest in the comfort of your sumptuous lodge with a warm crackling
fire going. Especially when you’re all snuggled up and eating your way through
a bucket of complimentary popcorn. It’s quite a satisfying way to spend an afternoon.
Thursday we were a bit more successful with the weather, the
sun was in full beam and it was hot enough for shorts and t-shirt at 10am, meaning
that we got to horse riding the morning but the kayaking and lilo trip on the
river through Tsitsikamma was cancelled owing to the high water level
because of the heavy recent
rains.
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| could almost pass as a pro (?!) |
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| beautiful sunny morning for riding |
The Boy had not been looking forward to the horse ride at
all, but I somehow had nagged him into it, just for the hour. That was enough for now as both of us are novices, although we were pretty chuffed with the trotting!!!
Starting from
‘The Crags’ the area that our hotel was in, we took a wander around the
outskirts of the Tsitsikamma forest and with the sun blazing, it was actually really good way
to see the surroundings!! We took our horse ride with Hog Hollows horse riding.
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| Zac the horse |
Seeing as our afternoon of river fun was cancelled we
decided to go to the Tsitsikamma forest and have a little walk instead. We
chose the waterfall walk as it was the shortest one at 3 hours (the otter walk
was 5 days!!!). What the chap at the entrance didn’t tell us though was that
this wasn’t a pleasant walk through the trees to a waterfall but three hours of
hiking and bouldering!!! Once you made it through the forest on slippery mud
and stepped over the roots and rocks, you had to clamber over the huge rocks on
the beach.
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| gorgeous rugged coastal line of Tsitsikamma |
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| watching the waves crash over the rocks |
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| coast stretched for miles |
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| great spot for a picnic |
Be warned this “walk” is not for the faint hearted or exercise
adverse! I like to think I am quite fit and agile but I took a few falls after
slipping off rocks and mud, resulting in a few cuts and scrapes plus a sore arse.
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| this was a rock climbing session - not a walk |
X x X
Note – there are tolls of 38 rand to the forest and bungee
jump so factor that in to your budget- gong to and fro we spent a fair bit on
tolls. 38 rand doesn’t sound much but when you can get a glass of wine or 25
rand, well, you do the math!
*note I did consume
food at these times so please do not feel the need to call alcoholics anonymous
just yet
read part one of Cape Town here
read part two of Cape Town here
read about our amazing hotel in Camps Bay here
read about the winelands here
read about the fun with ostriches here
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