From Hermanus we continued our drive to Plett and the Plettenburg Bay. Our first stop was to spend 24 hours in a lovely guesthouse overlooking the bay, then most of the next day in Plett itself before meeting up with the Camino outfit, our co-walkers, Vanessa’s sisters from SA and another woman Elsabe originally from Capetown, now living further east along the coast in Mossel Bay.
The road trip from Capetown, following the coastal route R44 to Hermanus, then the route to Bredasdorp and down to Cape Agulhas, and then back up to the R2 and the subsequent Garden Route took us through really beautiful countryside to Plett. The main roads were good, mostly dual carriageways, but the speed limit is slower than the UK. In certain areas there were several ‘Stop & Go’ roadblocks for maintenance work, with many more people still engaged in this than would be seen in Western Europe’s more mechanised approach. As with Capetown, the outskirts of the towns along the main road had many impoverished informal settlements.
As I am writing this some 6 weeks after returning, it’s really nice on a snowy, duvet day just into the new year to look at the map and remind myself of the detail of our trip. Amazing to contemplate being right down in the other half of the planet, also reminding myself about the ‘good things’ I love about the internet, computers and smartphones – maps and and the availability and accessibility of information and knowledge about the world. I did do some diy travelling in the 70s & 80s using trains and maps. In the technological revolution respect as in so many others, what a different world now, even within my lifetime.
Our Plett Camino was led by two very knowledgeable guides from the area – great young men imo. Each day we would have breakfast at the guesthouse and leave by 8am, arriving at the next stop around mid afternoon. The total route was about 80kms, not too hilly & certainly nothing like Table Top mountain, through SA indigenous forests, plantation fir trees, farmland and vineyards. Each night we stayed at a different guesthouse, and all were so comfortable and beautiful in their own way. On one of the days we were picked up and did a ‘Robberg’ peninsula walk, as the river crossing we should have done was not possible. This gave us a different coastal day.
Such an enjoyable experience – great fellowship, great organisation, great hospitality, stunning scenery, and of course the weather.
