Click on the link before for the full work-out details on Sports-Tracker.com
High tide made it a bit difficult to cross the river and take the Vishoek Trail, so instead, we did what I like to call "the Reverse Hersham". ;>) So, after a quick tour around The Island it's over the bridge and up the hill and through Hersham before walking down the stairs and back along the beach. By the time we got back to the river mouth we were able to find a spot to cross without getting more than the tips of our toes wet. Just in time for a sundowner! Click on the link before for the full work-out details on Sports-Tracker.com
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After attending a talk and archaeological tour of the Pinnacle Point caves last week, we were lucky enough to squeeze into a couple of open slots on Fred Orban's renowned Oystercatcher Trail which starts just down the road at Mossel Bay. We joined 9 others (a group of 5 and two other couples) who were doing the slack pack trail, and with apologies to my Xhosa friends, we just "clicked" - it really was a great group and a great hike. We were led by the famous Xhosa guide Willie Komani who was assisted by South Cape Rangers' Chris Carr. We were a bit slow on the first day, so unfortunately, we didn't quite reach the planned end-point at Dana Bay. Instead, we stopped about 4 km short at Pinnacle Point (some of us scrambled down to one of the caves below with Willie - don't worry, it wasn't one of the caves currently under archaeological examination). We saw all kinds of wildlife - oystercatchers (of course - including a couple of chicks and eggs), terns, gulls, fiscal shrikes, sunbirds, swallows (forecasting good weather as they sat in a row on the telephone line), cormorants, as well as dassies, tortoises, a couple of snakes, bats, lizards, skinks, agamas and numerous plants which Willie had a million-and-one uses for.... Throughout the trip, Willie told us about the traditional medicinal uses for the various plants we came across - or he explained the feeding habits of the varied bird life - that is when he wasn't walking straight up to nearly invisible oystercatcher nests (they lay their eggs in a little hollow in the sand), or pointing out pairs of wrestling snakes from 50 metres away. Chris, meanwhile, spoke about the efforts underway to stop people from feeding the dassies in Mossel Bay, and enthusiastically shared his knowledge of the flora & fauna in his own affable and good-natured way. Both of our guides were knowledgeable about the archaeological work in the area - and showed us numerous middens where seashells had been discarded by previous inhabitants, and where there was evidence of ancient stone tool use. Between the two of them, we were certainly in good hands. As usual, I tracked our route with Sports-Tracker and snapped some photos along the way. My battery was draining pretty quickly so, with the exception of the last day, I split the tracking into two parts each day to ensure I didn't lose it all if the battery ended up dying. Click on any of the tracking images below to see the route details on Sports-Tracker, including photos - or go to the respective Flickr Sets for the photos themselves. Day One - 12.36 km After a cool drink in the clubhouse, we were transported to Boggomsbaai where each couple (or family) was shown to their own charming & cosy Sandpiper Cottage, followed by a communal dinner & drinks at the Sandpiper Sports Centre. Day Two - 16.37 km The next morning, we were back at it. First breakfast at 8:00, then at 9:00 we were whisked back to Dana Bay for the start of that day's hike which would see us walk along the entire crescent beach, returning to the Sandpiper in our bare feet. There was time for some great body surfing along the way and a dip in one of Willie's secret swimming holes. The water was a bit tea-coloured due to the recent run-off, but that didn't stop us - it was a welcome cool down from the unrelenting heat of the sun! And then, we spotted the dolphins... Once back, we showered before heading to Sandpiper Sports Centre for drinks and a bit of an archaeological appetizer as Fred Orban gave a run through of Curtis Marean's work at Pinnacle Point Caves, as well as a peak at Peter Nilssen's presentation before dinner. Day Three - 20 km The next morning, we hiked from the Sandpiper Sports Centre, down to the beach and all along the coast, passing by Vleesbaai before stopping for lunch at Fransmanshoek - and you guessed it, more great body surfing (some were a bit thrown off by the sports angler attempting to reel in a shark on the nearby rocks, but I figured so long as the line remained taut, it meant there was one less shark to worry about!). After lunch, we continued along the coast until we reached the Gouritz River where a boat ferried us to the other side where our transport back to Sandpiper was waiting. Day 3 was a long, hot day - even though some found it a bit gruelling, I think it was still everyone's favourite - it had a bit of everything: rocks to scramble atop of, beach walking, cartpaths in Karoo-style farmland near the Gouritz - you name it. It really was majestic. It was a great trip from beginning to end - and Fred kicked off the celebration by offering up couple big platters of oysters (from Munro's in Little Brak, of course!) and champagne during "prize giving", followed by dinner on our last night back at the Sandpiper Sports Centre. Thanks Fred, Willie, Chris, Annemarie and the rest of the Sandpiper/Oystercatcher team - as well as the other hikers (Blair, Jane, Gareth, Thomas, Liam, Rainer, Cherry, Mark & Katherine) - for making it such a fun and memorable trip!
Just when you thought there couldn't possibly be any more rain left in the sky to fall, it would come down again in buckets... Yes, lots of rain over the last 2 days - and lightning & thunder almost constantly throughout the day and night. The sky was lit up constantly in the wee hours of the morning - quite awesome! The rain continued again this morning.... But in the late afternoon, the clouds broke and other than the water running down hills in the village or blocking a few roads, you'd never have known there had been such a deluge - it was suddenly back to being another glorious Garden Route day. With low tide at 16:59 it meant it was time for another beach walk - two days of being cooped up inside is just too much... so down to Hersham and back up the steep stairs, along the road, back down the beach via the next set of stairs, then back up the next set before finally intersecting with the Vishoek Trail for the short descent down to the river mouth.
Click on the image below for the route details and photos from along the way. With the particularly low tide this morning it was a perfect day for a walk to the Reebok tide pools (and to Little Brak beyond). If you only want to go as far as the tide pools, it's about a 45 minute walk. Be sure to bring tekkies or old beach shoes so you can explore them without cutting your feet on the barnacles and mussels). Oh, and if you're wondering what the helicopters are doing circling overhead - usually off Reebok - they are no doubt spotting Great White sharks (see the Ocearch shark tracker images below - but note these are just for the sharks that are tagged - and in order to "ping" the transmitting device must be at the surface & dry for 90 seconds - meaning this just scratches the surface of shark activity in the area). Click on any of the images below for the full details of the beach walking route and for more photos on the sports-tracker.com website. It was a perfect morning for a low tide beach walk to Glentana & back on Dec 31st... Click any image below for more details about the route & for photos |
AuthorTheIsland@GreatBrak features the occasional blogpost in between braaiing and beach walks - stay tuned or drop me a line. Categories
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