Following our successful climb of Kilimanjaro, Rob and I decided to undertake our first road trip together.  I still had a week of leave following the Kili trip and Rob was at loose ends, so to the Garden Route it was!  We spent a night with my mom in Johannesburg after returning from Tanzania, and then early the next morning, as in 06h00 to be exact, we had a flight down to Cape Town.  After some quick helloes and regaling of Kili tales to Rob’s family, we hit the road in good ol’ Bakkie, an Opel Corsa Utility and Rob’s sturdy steed for the past couple of years.  Up and over Sir Lowry’s Pass from Somerset West, on past Caledon, destination for the night yet unknown. About 400km later, we arrived in George and the weather started turning a bit nasty.  We had been munching on some padkos (direct translation for our international friends: road food) but decided we were starting to feel a bit weary and made the call to head to the small village of Wilderness a little further down the coast.  Rob had done a solo road trip along this stretch of South Africa a few years back and told me about this great place he stayed in called The Pomodoro.  Well The Pomodoro was the restaurant but the accommodation was called The Old Post Office Lodge.  Located right in the centre of the village it was a perfect stopover for the night.  Unpacked our bags and headed right for the beach, a long expanse of white sand stretching for ages on either side of us.  The sand between our toes and salty air was a great rejuvenator before enjoying a dinner at The Pomodoro.  Now I have to warn you, I don’t really remember much about this trip as at this stage I wasn’t keeping a travel journal.  However what both of us do remember is the great food we had along the way so this post is going to be one for the foodies!

So the first night in Wilderness was a night of pizza.  Who goes to an Italian themed restaurant and not orders Italian, right?  My limited food boundaries were tested slightly after not seeing any traditional toppings, so I opted for a ham and artichoke pizza, while Rob had an anchovy one.  Although normally a fan of a thick base, these were delightfully thin and crispy, and I must say, really tasty.  And the bacon and cheese omelettes we had for breakfast the next morning were out of this world – light, fluffy and creamy and overflowing with filling, it set us up for the rest of the day.  We decided to stay another night in Wilderness so that morning after breakfast, we headed off further East to the Storms River Mouth.  The scenery was absolutely breathtaking along the coast.  We saw the bridge for bungee jumping but there was no way we were stopping there… I’m not a good flier at the best of times, willing the time spent in any metal bird away as quickly as possible, so jumping out of planes, or jumping off buildings or bridges are definitely on my “Not Going To Happen” list.

At Storms River Mouth we spent a good few hours wandering around the day trails, and spent time on the famed suspension bridges.  We spied the start of the Otter Trail (one of the best hiking trails in South Africa), and our exchanged look said it all – another thing to add to our list of things to do together.  This list is getting longer and longer every day!  We then took a slow meandering drive back to Wilderness, popping into Knysna to have a look-see at the Knysna Heads, which is a break in the mountains providing an entrance for boats into the lagoon.  We got some great views up there, and saw a small sailing vessel waiting for the opportunity between swells to make its approach into the lagoon.  We found a great lagoon-side restaurant where we enjoyed deep fried fish and calamari for lunch – scrumptious!  On our way back to our lodgings we intercepted the famed Outeniqua Choo-Tjoe train, a steam-powered train running along the Garden Route, but couldn’t get pictures unfortunately.

An early night, followed by another wonderful omelette and we were on our way to our next stop in Bredasdorp.  Instead of sticking to the National Highway we took the back roads, hugging the coastline and popped in at Witsand to do some whale spotting as it was the season that the Southern Right Whales are in the area to breed.  We managed to spot a few quite a way off the coast and were happy with the sightings.  At that stage we never thought that two years later we would actually be swimming with whales (but more on that in another post!).  The closest I got to a whale here was a replica model on the shore!  We had a minor but panicky delay after leaving Witsand as I couldn’t find the camera, and was convinced it had fallen out of my lap and onto the road when climbing out the car at one stage.  So off we race back to the last place I remember having it, searching the whole area where we parked, even asking some of the locals if they had by chance seen it and picked it up.  No camera… and at this stage we hadn’t downloaded our Kilimanjaro pics yet.  I had another rummage around our stuff lying underneath the cubby hole and lo and behold, there was the camera pushed way back into the depths covered by the map book.  Huge sigh of relief!

Our lunch stop for the day was in Malgas located on the banks of the Breede River a little bit inland from the coast.  Rob’s parents used to have a house here so we decided to pass through so I could get a feel for the place, with the possibility of us buying property for ourselves.  To cross the river to get into the settlement we had to drive onto a pont, and two men literally pulled us across the river.  Malgas isn’t a town as such, it consists of about 20-25 houses lining the river, with a hotel and bush pub.  It’s a very pretty area, the only thing putting us off about the place is the amount of poisonous snakes around… I’m not sure about having to look out for King Cobras and the like coming into my house!  After a lunch of toasted hamburgers and chips, we headed along a great dirt road into Bredasdorp about 50km away.  We found a very quaint bed and breakfast located in the centre of town and by luck they had a room available for us without a pre-booking.  Up the stairs we lugged our bags and found ourselves in an old Victorian style room, complete with four poster bed and free-standing Victorian tub in the middle of the room.  After wandering around town for a bit we came across a kitted-out Land Rover that had travelled from the UK down through Africa to Cape Town.  An idea popped into our heads… another potential trip?  But only sticking to Southern Africa?  On to the list it went – Southern Africa by Land Rover.  Keep posted on this one.

Now before I mentioned that this was going to be a food post.  And the best breakfast by far on this road trip was in the chic little cafe located on the ground floor beneath our bed and breakfast.  Having free choice from the menu as breakfast was included in our room rate, we both decided to try something unusual.  Toast with tomato, scrambled egg, bacon and cheese.  What’s unusual about this you may ask?  The toast was smothered in pesto which we had both never tried for breakfast before.  Our mouths water at the memory of this meal – and perhaps it is the only thing in Bredasdorp worth going back for!

After filling our tummies we headed back to the coast and to Cape Agulhas, the most southern tip of Africa and saw the meeting points of the Indian and Atlantic Oceans.  Another scenic coastal drive and we landed up at Grootbos Private Nature Reserve where we stopped for a very fancy three-course lunch.  It set us back a bit, more than we would normally spend on a meal but was so worth it.

There after we drove into Hermanus for more whale watching and found a place to stay for the night.  Hermanus was a bit of a disappointment for us.  The whales decided that the bay wasn’t where they wanted to be so we didn’t have any more sightings.  To add to this, the weather turned foul with lots of rain and wind, and our room in the bed and breakfast we found had a very, very squeaky bed!

Last day of our road trip and we headed back to Somerset West via Betty’s Bay and Pringle Bay.  We were a bit quiet as in a couple of hours I would be leaving to fly back home to Johannesburg.  After a quick lunch gathering with Rob’s mom and brother, real life started to interfere and we had to make the airport run.  Parting at the airport gate was extremely difficult, as at this stage we had no idea when we would be seeing each other again.  But clearly we made a plan or else I wouldn’t be here writing this blog today!  One of the many positives of this trip was it was our first trip travelling together in “normal circumstances and it was a great introduction to the many others we would be taking together.  More stories coming soon!