Western Province: Garden Route

The Garden Route is famed for specactular scenery - the Southern Ocean hits the coast, which in parts is rugged, and in parts beautiful sandy beaches. The combination of rocks, wind and ocean rips, makes for good waves and some of the best surfing spots in the world. Hugging the coast line are the mountains, which make a stunning back drop.

So far the weather in WP has been good, with clear blue skys and temperatures in the early to mid 20s. Pretty much perfect for visiting beaches along the Garden Route.

Of course, by the time we reached Mossel Bay, the sun had gone, and the fog rolled in!! We checked into the Santos Express - this is an old steam train, set up on the beach, next to a working train line, with the old cabins converted into bedrooms. This was something a bit different and it was nice being so close to the beach, or so we thought...

We could put up with the slightly dense and unhelpful staff, and the smallish rooms, but at 3am, the place came alive. We assume this was closing time for the pubs, as all the kids came down to the beach car park right next to the train. Then as they do, they were there for a few hours, playing loud music (the same two songs over & over again - r&b pop of all things!), chatting, drinking, and generally making a bit of a racket.

We had wondered why there were some slightly derogitary comments in the comments book, why we had to pay in full in advance for our stay (very unusual in SA) and why there were signs saying no refunds!! It all became clear after that 1st night, and the novelty of sleeping on a steam train lost its charm, so we checked out a day early (and got a refund - thank goodness)

This worked out for the best, and we headed over to Kynsna. We were originally planning to take the Outeniqua Choo-Tjoe (a working steam train) to Kynsna, but due to some severe storms a month or so earlier, the winds and rain caused massive flooding, landslides and rockfall down the mountains and have effectively destroyed this attraction (about R40m in damage) and it is unlikely this will ever be repaired.

So, we drove to Knysna, (and found that quite a bit of damage had hit the road as well), and were lucky to get to the accomodation office just before it shut, and they recommended this lovely self-catering log cabin over looking the lagoon and Knysna heads, complete with balcony and spa. We checked out the hostels, but after the previous night, decided to upgrade to some luxury and stayed at the lodge.

Knysna itself is a pretty little town that has been voted "SA's Nicest Town" two years running, so only fitting that we should see our first mugging as we drove along the high street!!

The attraction of Knsyna is the lagoon, forest walks and the headlands. Unfortunately, those bad storms meant that most of the walks were closed, so we headed down to Plettenburg for the afternoon. Plett, has some really nice beaches and good surf, so we had a little look, but the drizzle meant we ended up in a beach bar - this is where we saw our first whales ;D

The next day, we took a boat trip over the lagoon to the west side of the Knysna Heads, we caught a tractor train up the mountain where we were dropped off and walked back down through the forest to see the views from the heads which were amazing, then stopped off by some coves.

Luckily we lost the slightly insane group singing "Follow da leader" in very Jamacian accents, and Evelyn took care of her knees and joined the oldies group by taking one of the free walking sticks. There were some great views and nice fynbos, and after the long walk there was a great buffet (if you like seafood) so Marc really enjoyed himself... and the desserts where lovely. So after we filled our tummys we caught the boat back to the docks to continue our journey.