5: I feel like I’ve been here before…

31.03.2016 – 31.03.2016 semi-overcast 24 °C

DSC_0069Nice early start as both Dad and I wanted to walk up to the top of the lighthouse above our hotel. The hike is fairly straight forward with the trail in pretty good condition. On way up we ran into heaps of little hyrax. We saw them last time we were here~ still as cute as I remember! They are remind me of a cross between a beaver and a possum.. Medium sized rodent thing that scampers around the rocks, tail less.. Super cute! They seem to be quite family orientated because you could see them sitting around in groups, the babies snuggling up to what I guess are their mums or grandparents.

DSC_0076View from the top of the lighthouse was pretty amazing, sun was just starting to rise and waves were crashing over the rocks! Awesome! I forgot to tell us yesterday about the channel in front of the hotel for swimming. There is a channel between the hotel and the big rocks that people jump into and get swept down to a big rope across the channel, where they get out and do it all over again. I was sorely tempted to give it a go this morning but honestly I’m wearing a jumper and long pants so it isn’t really the weather for jumping in cold water. I couldn’t believe that as early as it was people were already out swimming in the channel … guess who also decided to go for a swim? (it wasn’t me).

DSC_0092After brekky we headed back in town to find the Diaz museum. Bartolemeau Diaz was the first Portuguese captain to sail around the Cape of Good Hope and claim the lands in SA for the Portuguese and opening up the trade route to India (Vasco de Gama). (Later the Portuguese were ousted by the East Indian Company when the Dutch started to settle the area as trading posts). The museum has a replica of the boat he used to sail to Africa…. Very small boat is a nice way of putting it!~ maybe 30m long and 10 across. Reminds me of Captain Pug Wash’s boat on the old cartoon.. picture that and you’ve got Diaz’s boat. The museum also has the post office tree. In the 15+ early 1600s the Cape wasn’t occupied. Ships would stop off Mossel Bay to fill up on much needed water at the local spring. Next to the spring is an old Milkwood tree (over 500yrs in age). This tree was used to leave messages. You would tie up an old boot to the inside of the tree (its kind of hollow), put your msg inside the boot and leave it for the next passing  boat to collect. It is said that one captain left the msg of how dangerous it was in Calcutta for another captain, the msg saved their lives! Like good Christians, they decided to raise a chapel to God praising his good works for telling the captain to leave a msg in a boot!

DSC_0098From Mossel Bay we drove inland again in search of some great mountain passes. This time we found them in spades. The landscape driving inland reminded me a heck of a lot like the Scottish Highlands. Big craggy granite mountains, sparsely covered in small bushes. Key difference was the abundance of protea plants in flower. Spectacular; whites, pinks and red flowers covering the mountainside. Very beautiful. From Outdshorn we joined Route 62 and headed down towards Cape Town via the inland route. The landscape around Outdshorn is known as the Little Karoo, a semi desert landscape, very reminiscent of Arizona/ Utah. Rocky, shale like ground dotted with lots of little bushes, surrounded by big craggy hills. As I remarked as we were driving along, this could be Arizona if we had a few cactus’… and literally as soon as I said it we started seeing cacti! Too funny.

We stopped off for some lunch at a little roadside braai before continuing our meander down the 62 towards Barrydale. The landscape stayed desert like, key difference was that we started to see more and more vineyards in the valleys. Plenty of dams and irrigation mean that the folks around here can cultivate in the valleys. Again this reminded me so much of Utah (except in Utah it wasn’t vines!). We eventually arrived in what our Lonely Planet described as the unremarkeable little town of Ladislaw. In some ways I’d agree but in others I wouldn’t. On arrival we decided we weren’t going to get all the way to Barrydale today so we thought we’d better find some accommodation for the evening. Plenty of B&Bs so we started driving around…… The outsides were often beautiful (think old country homestead and you’re pretty close to the money) but the insides…. DAGGY! Ye Olde fall back, more commonly known as Booking.com came through with a suggestion to stay at winery outside of town. Much more expensive (AU prices not SA) but with the promise of a hot tub and a three course dinner (and of course wine tasting). The hot tub proved false but everything else was a lay down misér. Unbelievable! Two enormous rooms (big enough to square dance in) with big fluffy beds and our own private plunge pool out the front, overlooking the vine yards, with the craggy mountainside back drop! Can you believe it? Needless to say I pulled on my swimmers- got my legs wet (VERY cold) and laid out in the sun for awhile soaking up the view.

Dinner saw us join some of our other guests, for a night of chatting about sites seen on the journey, how to make wine (thanks to our host Andy), drinking wine and eating up a delicious three course meal (prawns, lamb parcel and fig cake).. Pretty all right way to end another great day in SA (btw the Garden Route is now more than living up to its name—even if we are no longer on it! If you ever come, Route 62 is definitely worth the drive)

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