south africa: plettenberg bay

After another quick bus ride (only a couple hours or so? Maybe shorter?) from Jeffrey's Bay, I arrived in a city called Plettenburg Bay. Plett (as it is called by nearly everyone,) is one of the starting cities of the so called 'garden route' of South Africa. It's one of the biggest cities along this route, and is always jam packed with tourists (both domestic and international,) during the summer season.

My bus dropped me off on the edge of town, so I used my phone to figure out how to walk to my accomodation, Upon arrival, I got yet another talking to about having walked, and not having called them for a ride. It was less than an hour walk, and the weather was nice, so I didn't much care.

I checked in and relaxed for a while, then started to leave the home.

I didn't get to walk back into town, they insisted on driving me. I picked a random place, and got dropped off near a supermarket. I walked through the supermarket, then started walking around the town. To get from the supermarket back to the center of town, I had to go up a hill. It was a steep enough hill, but off to one side were views of a beach. Gorgeous, but not the type of beach where one goes to lay out. In fact, I wasn't sure I would be able to get out to this area.

Sometime during this walk I stubbed my toe rather badly, enough to bleed. With all the walking I do you'd think my feet would know what to do, yet I still stub my toe regularly. Argh.

People come to Plett to relax, or to be active, not so much to see sights. One of the few sights in town is a small church. When I arrived I got to see how picturesque it is, I was really happy. I wasn't able to go in the church, but I sat for a few moments on the benches in front, and enjoyed the peaceful feeling. There was a cemetery off to one side of the church, I took a look at a few of the gravestones just because I like that sort of thing.

When I left the church property I realized how close I was to a cafe I'd read about on a travel app. I decided to stop in, and was sooo glad I did. I found two cakes I wanted, so I bought pieces of both. One was red velvet, a very bright red colour. The other was a layer cake in a combination of flavours: cheesecake and carrot cake. I loved both. I also decided I would come back the next day, for more of both :)

From there I walked to an old timber house. I have no idea why timber is in the name, because I didn't see any wood. I saw only stone/rock.

It looked as if someone had started to build a house, then quit. I saw a sign saying it had national designation of some kind, but I have no idea what that means, or how it was earned. I tried taking a couple time delayed photos with me sitting in one of the window frames, but they didn't work out the way I had envisioned. Why hasn't someone invented a machine that translates what my eyes see to the camera?

I followed the roads from the unfinished house down to the beach. It's not a beach where people lay out, as there are big rocks on the beach area. The waves come in regularly, and were really mesmerizing. I could've sat for hours and just watched. Instead, I climbed around on the rocks for a few minutes, making sure I didn't fall off.

I grabbed dinner at a fast food place on the way home. Should I have eaten that chili dog? Nope, but it tasted pretty good :)

The next morning I had another of the breakfasts I loved so much. Eggs cooked to order, with cooked tomatoes and bacon as well. From the cold foods I had cereal, fruit, and yogurt. I overate, because it was good, and I didn't think I'd be eating lunch anytime soon.

Willie insisted on driving me to the place I wanted to visit that day, called Robberg Reserve. It's a peninsula on the edge of town. I wanted to hike, and hike I got to do. There is an entrance fee, but it isn't expensive. I didn't see any parking, but I'm sure there must be some nearby.

There are a number of trails in the area, from short ones to longer ones. I wanted to hike as long as I could, so I tried to find the longest trail. There were great views during my entire hike. It is a peninsula, but there is altitude in a few places, so I was overlooking the water much of the time. Lovely, and I could hear the waves as well as see them.

In one area my nose noticed a rather distinct smell. I looked at the water, and could see a whole lot of seals. Very cute, as some were swimming a bit and some were laying out in the sun.

My hike was somewhere between nine and eleven kilometers, I'm not really sure of the total. I was out there for four hours, which was longer than I expected it would take for that distance. Parts of the hike were really easy, other parts not so much. Toward the end I was down on big rocks and a beach, and got a little lost. Not completely lost, but I wasn't able to find the trail a couple times. Ooops. Fortunately, I was able to scramble around a bit, and figure out where to go. If I'd gotten there a bit earlier in the day I wouldn't have worried at all about being lost.

As I finished the hike, I called Willie, and he came back to pick me up. He drove me back into town, and insisted on waiting around while I went to a few places. I went back to the cafe and got two more pieces of cake, the same I'd eaten the day before. I found a bookstore at which I could buy a heap of postcards. (I bought so many that the clerks wondered about me!) I went to the supermarket to get some snacks and dinner food. I wanted another chili dog, but felt guilty about asking Willie if we could make another stop. I would've been happy to walk home, but he clearly wasn't going to let me do any walking. 

When we got back to the guesthouse, I moved my stuff into a different room. When my reservation had been made, it had been for just one day. I knew immediately upon arrival I wanted more than one night, but to make that happen I had to switch rooms, because of other reservations.
When I saw my new room, I wished I could stay even longer. My new room had a balcony, was larger, and was absolutely awesome.

The next morning I had my last big breakfast at this guesthouse. Yum. Afterward, Willie insisted on driving me to the bus pickup point, and waited with me when the bus was running late.

I'd love to go back to Plettenberg Bay, so I could explore more of the area. It's gorgeous!!