Garden Route

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Three easy on the pocket George attractions

I don't think George is very high on anybody's list of possible holiday destinations.  Yes, as part of the Garden Route but not standing on it's own.  If that is how you think then I'm going to have to tell you how wrong your thinking is.  Spending Easter Weekend in George showed me in four days that George is actually the ideal family destination.  Beautiful mountains and passes, a stunning coastline, a laid back town atmosphere and not outrageously expensive…

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27/05/2016
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Blue and yellow on the Knysna Lagoon

 It was a late afternoon on a gloomy day, our only day, in Knysna and I was taking a walk around Leisure Isle with a couple of friends.  The mission was actually one of a Geocaching kind, but two of us had our cameras with us as well and once the cache was found it became a photography trip.  With not a lot of sunshine around it meant that there would be no spectacular lagoon sunset so we found ourselves…

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08/11/2015
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The iconic Knysna Heads

What are the icons of the Garden Route? There are a few.  The adventure activities in the Tsitsikamma, Storms River Mouth, the view over the Beacon Isle Hotel with Robberg in the distance, the Knysna forest, the lakes around Sedgefield and Wilderness, Kaaimans Bridge outside Wilderness (especially when the Choo Tjoe still ran), Outeniqua Pass in George and the Dias Museum in Mossel Bay.  I left one out on purpose.  Probably (one of) the biggest icon on the Garden Route must be the…

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26/10/2015
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Exploring the old Storms River Pass

I have a special connection with the Tsitsikamma forest.  It is where I go to plug in my soul for a bit of a recharge.  It doesn't even have to be an extended recharge.  Just a couple of minutes sitting in the forest next to a stream taking in the forest with all my senses is enough.  There are various ways to explore the forest with trails being the most effective way to leave everything behind.  One of these "trails", the biggest…

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13/10/2015
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Clinking glasses and eating cheese at Packwood

Having a food and wine lover on a road trip means the trip is likely to be interrupted at some stage or another to indulge, or at least enjoy in moderation, either or both of these.  This is what happened on a recent road trip to Cape Town with fellow tourism peeps and Geocachers Shefetswe and Erenei.  We just left Storms River Village when Shefetswe got a phone call and announced that we were invited for a wine tasting at Packwood Wine Estate between…

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12/10/2015
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The Crags Sunset

There is nothing like a beautiful sunset to end off a perfect day.  Sunset over the distant mountains during our recent weekend in The Crags near Plettenberg Bay

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29/08/2015
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A walk to Salt River Mouth at Natures Valley

 The Garden Route has some excellent hiking trails.  The Otter, Outeniqua and Tsitsikamma trails are epic and will take you a couple of days covering long distance lugging along backpacks while short loops like Storms River Mouth, The Big Tree and Garden of Eden will use up an hour of your time with only a camera over your shoulder before heading off to your next destination.  These aren't the only trails though and whichever trail you choose will depend on where you…

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07/11/2014
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Tsitsikamma Lily

My three favorite flowers are aloes, proteas and arum lilies.  All flowers you can see in gardens and parks but at their most beautiful when you see them out in the wild.  Aloe flowering in the Karoo, proteas in the Fynbos on a mountain side and lilies growing wild in the forest.  This lily I found next to the path on the way to Kerneels se Klip in the Tsitsikamma National Park.  I was hoping to find one in the sun…

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26/09/2014
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The Big Tree

For my last post in this week's series on the Tsitsikamma I featuring a thing and not an activity.  The Big Tree is probably one of the best known landmarks in the area and a very popular stop for tourists.  An easy 500 meter boardwalk takes visitors to one of the giants of the forest.  I haven't been to the Big Tree for a couple of years and one of the things I noticed while there was that the signs no…

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15/08/2014