I caught the early Sunday morning Kulula flight and hired a little Kia Picanto for the drive along the N2 and R43 through Hermanus to Stanford. Laura stays in a house on Bezuidenhout Street which reminded me of Cecilia, my work colleague. The house is pretty similar in style to my house in George.
Laura and Bridget had organized a snoek braai so we immediately loaded up the car for the drive back to Grotto Beach. We met Andrew and Andre at Birkenhead's Brewery where I had a half of the blonde beer.
It's about 20km back to Hermanus, Grotto Beach is on the Stanford side. Bridget was due to finish work at three and bring the snoek along. Laura and I shared a spot of salad in Dutchies bar whilst we waited, and then drove up to the braai area and lit the fire. Some guys who had already finished their braai came by and donated some kindling and firelighters and we soon had a fire going. Another group had UB40 playing on the car radio, the sun was shining and all was good. We were soon joined by Andrew, Andre, Mark and his daughter, and Bridget.
The snoek cooked with marmalade was delicious. Before it became dark we drove through Hermanus to the new harbour and the Gecko bar where there is live music on Sunday evenings.
It was late as we drove back to Hermanus and although going pretty slowly I still managed to get caught by a speed camera, just to mar an otherwise perfect day.
Monday was disappointingly cloudy and cool so we decided to drive along through Gansbaai towards Die Dam, visiting the small coastal villages of Frankskraalstrand, Sandy Point and Pearly Beach along the way.
The landscape was dominated by fynbos and trees with yellow flowers. We were very lucky to spot a Denham's Bustard stalking through the bushes.
Most of the villages appeared to consist of empty houses which are obviously holiday homes. However we did find a traditional fishing village called Buffeljagsrivier which had much more appeal.
At Die Dam we left the coast and moved inland and the road became a dirt track winding through the fynbos covered hills. The flowers were stunning and in places there were fields of barley.
The telegraph wires had strange wheels hanging from them so Laura took a photo. Maybe somebody knows what their purpose is?
We stumbled across the village of Baardskeerdersbos and tried to get some lunch. A small village with at least 3 hostelries but everyone of them was closed! By now hunger was well established and we had heard about a place named "Coffee on the Rocks" with awesome whale spotting at Die Kelders just north of Gansbaai so we proceeded there. The views over Walker Bay and across to Hermanus were stunning and we soon noticed several whales very close to the bottom of the cliffs. We scrambled down from the road across the cliff tops to get a better look and were treated to close up views. Still didn't manage to get great photos though, the whales seem to be at their best at exactly the moment you look away! Perhaps that's what keeps you watching - trying to get that one great photo!
We eventually found "Coffee on the Rocks" and it was also "Closed on Mondays". We seemed destined to be unsuccessful in our quest for food. We turned back to the huge metropolis of Gansbaai and found a small restaurant named Die Seeman's TapHuis overlooking the harbour.
We ate on the deck and watched the fishing boats leaving en masse to search for their second catch of the day.
We returned home and set off for a walk around the village of Stanford spotting many houses for sale - especially on Bezuidenhout Street where Laura lives. We strolled as far as the Klein Rivier and then back up to the main street where we had a Dom Pedro at KC's. Afterwards we moved on to Oom Steins, the pub where Bridget works. It was very quiet so after one drink we walked back to the first pub and shared a bowl of mushroom soup before strolling up the road home.
Tuesday dawned very breezy. Our plan was to drive to Hermanus and then to return later to canoe on the river in the afternoon. The wind was cold and the best thing was to keep moving so after a spot of shopping and a Dom Pedro revisited at the Zebra Bar (with its saucer of cheese crumbs put on a table for the birds).
We set off to walk along the Whale Path from the old to the new harbour, about 4 km. Laura wasn't feeling the cold so she strode along in her T shirt, denim skirt and leggings.
I was wrapped up in my fleece and had most of the time had my hiking hat jammed on my head to stop my hair from blowing and annoying me.
We did not spot any whales until we were about 1km from the new harbour. Then Laura noticed one very close to the cliffs and it was moving in the same direction as us. We walked along together and realized that there were two whales. We were interested to see what direction they would take at the harbour entrance - would they enter the harbour or veer off to sea to pass the outer harbour wall?
We also spotted a seal. We had to move inland around the harbour and proceeded to The Gecko Bar from where we knew we could continue to view the progress of the whales from the comfort of a deck protected from the wind. The whales went around the outside of the harbour and carried on past the panoramic windows of the bar.
Why is it that one of the whales displayed a magnificent breeching manouevre which coincided with my only visit to the loo? Lucky Laura said that it's whole body apart from the tail emerged as if jet propelled from the sea.
The walk back to the car seemed to pass more quickly and we drove sedately (to avoid further camera flashes) back to Stanford to buy the ingredients for a Laura pasta at the local Spar. It was too windy to go canoeing. The pasta was delicious and we stayed at home and watched "Last Chance Harvey" starring Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson.
Wednesday was still windy but we were going hiking and Bridget was joining us as she only had to be at work by five. Laura had planned that we should walk at Vark's se Snoet and Bridget had packed us some tuna salad sandwiches.
We drove along the Hermanus road alongside the lagoon, parked our tiny car and crossed the road into the reserve.
The path wound across a field of proteas and fynbos to the base of the mountain where there are 2 waterfalls. The water is very rust colored. We wanted to find a way to up to the top but there did not appear to be a path. By now the day had become spectacular, the wind had died down and the skies were clear. We started to scramble upwards holding on to grass, heather and small bushes were we could. The top never seemed to come, as is usually the case, but we were quite fine until we looked down. Big mistake! The height and danger hadn't been apparent as we were not on a sheer rock face.
But turning round we realized how high we had climbed and just how far we would roll down if we lost our footing. Now we didn't know whether to carry on or go back. Maybe we would find a path on top? We carried on for another 15 minutes but it became even scarier so reluctantly we turned around. If you could find a secure spot to sit in then the view down over Kleinriviersvlei at low tide was pretty spectacular. If you weren't secure then the legs started to shake and vertigo quickly set in.
Going down was very undignified as we literally sat and inched our way on our backsides.
We had to be careful not to send loose rocks careering down on the person below. Every now and again we would slip and grasp the nearest clump of vegetation. Laura was first down, it seems to take forever before I joined her. We were all very relieved to be back on the horizontal.
We sat on a wooden footbridge in the sunshine, dangled our feet in the stream, ate the delicious sandwiches and slowly allowed the danger to move off into the memory banks for later recounting in the annals of family history.
I discovered that I'd worn a hole through my shorts and we were each dirty and had bits of vegetation in our hair so we drove home for a shower before making another visit to Die Kelders. This time "Coffee on the Rocks" was open and we spent a pleasant hour or so refueling whilst the whales frolicked below. Must tell Myriam that it's a great whale watching spot as she is coming down next month.
Later in the evening we visited Oom Stanley's again, this time with Chantal.
Bridget made us Jalapinos fried in breadcrumbs and chicken livers. She was busy preparing for the weekend's Beer Fest by printing menus and baking giant pretzels.
We rounded off the evening with a Dom Pedro and an Irish coffee at KC's and had a pleasant stroll home.
Thursday - the last full day of my holiday. Bridget had left for an overnight stay in Cape Town. Laura and I decided to explore the Salmonsdam Nature Reserve. We had to buy petrol from Afgri as the Stanford petrol station did not have any. Apparently this is quite normal.
We took the road past the Birkenhead Brewery and then turned right on a dirt road signposted to Papiesvlei.
We were driving through colorful fynbos towards the mountains.
Tortoises were abundant.
We paid our entrance fee and took the information leaflet, then drove to the start of the 3 walking trails. Our plan was to take the Mountain Trail and then deviate onto the Waterfall Trail on the way back.
We soon spotted another tiny tortoise.
The path was well marked to start with and we saw the gulley with the waterfall to our right and an amazing formation with a hole through the rock which they've christened the Arch.
Shortly we came across a fork and selected the trail to the radio mast anticipating views down to Bredarsdorp. The trail swung back the way we had already hiked but at a higher level. That was the last signpost that we found and soon we were having to follow our instincts.
We came around the opposite side of the mountain and had a stunning view of the valleys below.
The variety of flowers in the fynbos was incredible, Laura particularly liked a white one.
The trail was supposed to be 7 kilometers long but we had already walked for 2 hours and the radio mast was still far in the distance so we turned down the trail for home.
The path was substantial but suddenly petered out. We could see the campsite and our car in the distance so decided to carry on as best we could down through the protea bushes, hoping we didn't encounter a steep drop like yesterday.
Instead we came to a thicket of dead bracken which we had to scramble through weaving our way through many small trees. We could no longer see the car, in fact we could not see beyond a few meters and it became important to maintain our direction and not to wander in circles. The bush became denser and more difficult to get through. Bundu Bashing without the tools. I started to panic but tried to stay calm and was comforted when Laura said, "we are supposed to be going in this direction aren't we?". Thank goodness her direction corresponded with mine.
Eureka! We came across the track, our relief was enormous but by now we had missed the waterfall and it was already after three. Save it for another day!
We reached the car and examined our scratches on top of yesterday's scratches, removed a couple of ticks and set off in search of refreshment. Hennie's pub was not far away and we were soon ensconced with the most delicious lamb pie and plateful of crisp veggies.
Hennie has a novel way of indicating whether the pub is open or not.
By now the wind had become too strong to go canoeing - sadly we will have to leave it for my next visit.
We took a scenic route back via the Stanford Valley, past the wineries and home for a quiet evening.
Location:Stanford, Western Cape
