Paddling on the Bushmans

Blue skies, no wind, flat water, warm winters day... Sounds like the perfect day to paddle on the Bushmans River at Kenton-on-Sea.  Or at least sit on a jetty and watch somebody do it like we did.

Driving the Woody Cape dirt road between Kenton and Alexandria

I have always just driven the R72 between Alexandria and Kenton-on-Sea and have only just seen the coastline and Alexandria dune field from the air on the occasion that the plane did fly this way en-route to or from PE airport.  I have also always just heard how beautiful the drive along the loop past Woody Cape is and during a weekend in Kenton-on-Sea decided that it was time to go and see it for myself.  

We turned off the R72 just outside of Kenton-on-Sea and headed down towards Cannon Rocks before another turn to the right onto the dirt road just before town.  My biggest concern was the condition of the dirt road but my mind was quickly at ease and the Polo only had to negotiate two or three slightly rough spots on an otherwise excellent gravel road. The highlight of the drive is definitely the stretch where you see the Alexandria dune field stretched out along the coast in front of you (and thus the reason why I would say the best direction to do this is from east to west).  To the left and out to sea you can also see Bird Island with it's very distinctive lighthouse, something not visible from Port Elizabeth.

The general scenery along the road is made up of rolling green hills, sea scapes and dairy cattle.   It isn't often that you get to see dairy cows grazing with the ocean in the background.  I'm sure if somebody had to be blindfolded and dropped here from space, they could easily guess that they are in Ireland somewhere.  

The Alexandria dune field forms part of the Addo Elephant National Park and just after the view of the dunes the road swing inland and you get to drive through a small section of coastal forest located inside the park.  A few kilometers later the road delivers you back on the tar road just outside Alexandria and we were on our way back home.

Taking the Woody Cape road wouldn't add more than probably 40 minutes or so to your journey so if you are spending a little time on Route 72 and the Sunshine Coast or not in a hurry getting to your destination, then it's well worth the drive.  Just another reason to Experience our Eastern Cape. #ExperienceEastCape

Kenton selfie and a broken tablet

A week or two ago we spent a fabulous weekend in Kenton-on-Sea on Route 72 on the Sunshine Coast.  The main reason for being there was to get away for a few days and we made good use of the opportunity to explore the stunning piece of coastline between the mouths of the Bushmans and Kariega rivers.  While there both Drama Princess and I did what we enjoyed, snapped away at pictures.  The only difference was that she was doing the teenager selfie thing with beautiful backgrounds (at 11 she's in some ways very much a teen already) and I was trying to get her to be the anchor object in my landscapes (seeing that the Damselfly and Chaos Boy isn't always keen to do it).  But Saturday night IT happened.  She came running with her tablet in hand.  The screen was busy fading out and the next minute went blank.  And then the taps opened.  She was in tears.  Let's just say the tablet has gone in for them to check was is wrong and I sure hope it won't be an expensive repair cause it's not like I have a lot of extra money just lying around.  Hoping for the best.