After breakfast we said a sad good bye to Gareth as he caught an Uber to the airport, he is back to work tomorrow. I am going to miss him.
It was the most beautiful day, more of a summer day than a winter one. As we drove to Hout Bay, Capetonians were out in full force, running, cycling and picnicking. We pottered around the Hout Bay market and had cocktails and calamari on the verandah at the old Chapman’s Peak Hotel.
Then it was another sad farewell to the girls. We have four days to cross the country back to Umngazi River Bungalows to meet up with my sister, Julie for her 50th Birthday. The girls hired bikes for the afternoon and cycled along the promenade at Sea Point, before Robs dropped Kirst off at the airport for her flight home and to recover from the weekend. Thanks Robs for giving up so much study time to spend with us, I’m sure it was a great hardship.
By now Ga had landed safely, only to be dragged out of his Uber by waring taxi drivers at the Gautrain station. He was fine but not a nice way to end his holiday.
Thankfully we had a more pleasant afternoon, taking the longer coastal road of the ‘Whale Coast Route’. Our other option was a quicker drive up Sir Lowry’s Pass, over the Hottentot Holland Mountain range. But Gray was navigating …… We drove along the beautiful Chapman’s Peak drive, overlooking Hout Bay and then through Muizenberg, Somerset West and Gordon’s Bay.
From there we took the magnificently beautiful Clarence Drive along False Bay. We passed lots of little coastal towns: Betty’s Bay, Rooiels, Pringle Bay, Kleinmond, Onrus Rivier and so on. Some were cute, some eclectically strange, some a hotch potch of shanty houses and mansions but each with their own charm, I guess.
We had planned on staying in Hermanus (or as Kirst calls it, Herms anus) for the night but after driving through the busy town, decided to push onto Arniston.
As we reached Gansbaai, the thick grey clouds came over and the heavens opened. It was a very pretty drive to Arniston, via Bredarsdorp with sections lots of yellow fynbos flowers and proteas.
We arrived at Arniston Hotel at 6, just in time to see the beautiful sea view from our room before the sun set. The hotel is set in an exquisite location, next to an old fishing village, surrounded by pristine beaches and a nature reserve.
A point of interest, Arniston is the only seaside village in South Africa to be named after a ship wreck.
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