Shades of blue at Struisbaai

A picture perfect day at Struisbaai fishing harbour in the Overberg

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 a couple of subjects in these two row boats moored a few meters away from the island.  It wasn't long and we were both flat on our tummies to try and get a low angle and a nearby fisherman was so interested in what we were doing that he nearly missed the slight tug on his line.

Cruising Cape Town's Waterfront canals with City Sightseeing

Just over a month ago I attended World Travel Market Africa at the CTICC in Cape Town.  One of the exhibitors was City Sightseeing Tours and they offered all delegates a free canal cruise on presentation of our delegate badges.  There are canals linking the V&A Waterfront with the Cape Town International Convention Centre and it is on these that City Sightseeing has started regular cruises to link the two areas as well as hotels like the One and Only, City Lodge and the Westin in front of the CTICC.

I decided to slip out for lunch on the first day of the exhibition and head down to the V&A Waterfront making use of the boat.  The boats depart from both the CTICC and the Waterfront sides every 20 minutes so I didn't have to wait long.  Both spots are also stops on the Hop on - Hop off bus tours so could be combined with their tours of Cape Town.  The cruise gives one a very different view of the Waterfront and it's surroundings than what you get from the road.  Luxury apartments flanked the canals just about all the way and I kept wondering what it must be like living here... or what you have to earn to afford it.  There is commentary available but as I wasn't on the bus tour I didn't have ear phones.  Not that it was an issue.  I made sure I sat right in front and was chatting with the skippers all the way and they answered all the questions I had.  As I mentioned the drop-off spot is at the One and Only Hotel and from there its a quick walk to the craft market and the rest of what the V&A Waterfront has to offer.  Wish I had time to do the Hop on - Hop off tour while in town as well, but that will have to wait till another time. 

 

Disclosure: I went on the canal cruise as a delegate attending the World Travel Market Africa exhibition and received no remuneration, wasn't asked to write a positive post and keep full editorial control.

Birds and boat (and a new camera)

A fishing boat sailing along Port Elizabeth's Wildside with a flock of terns on the rocks in the foreground.  This is the last picture I have to post taken with my Fiji bridge camera.  The camera was in the boot of my car that was stolen about two months ago.  The good news is that, after what felt like forever, the insurance finally paid out.  I started shopping for a new camera (not that there is much available in that price range) and the Damselfly told me to think of myself for a change, pay in a bit and get a DSLR.  It means I have a new toy.  A brand new Nikon D3100.  I know it's an entry level DSLR but it does mean that I can now finally take my photography up a step.  Watch this space.

Gamtoos River boats

The Gamtoos River is a very popular fishing destination in the Eastern Cape.  A quick trip down to the Gamtoos Mouth had me spending some time on the river banks taking pictures of a couple of boats lying at anchor there.  The owner of this one live right across the road and came out to chat to us.  Turns out he doesn't use this particular boat for fishing.  He uses it to take his boerboel dog across the river to go and run in the dunes.

Sondagsrivier Veerboot

Colchester net buite Port Elizabeth is a rustige plekkie en is baie gewild met vakansiegangers en stadsjapies wat oor die naweek bietjie wil wegkom en die Sondagsrivier geniet.  Behalwe die rivier is die twee ander groot aantreklikhede die Addo Nasionale Olifantpark wat se suidelike hek in Colchester uitkom en die reuse sandduine aan die ander kant van die rivier.  Die Sondagsrivier Veerboot doen daaglikse ritte in die oggend and laat middag met die rivier af waarna mens teen die duine kan opklim om die fantastiese uitsig van bo af te geniet.

Hazy Durban sunrise

I was enjoying the slightly hazy sunrise in Durban when I noticed a ship approaching through the haze on its way to the harbour.

The blue fishing boat

Fishing boats in Kalk Bay Harbour

Cruising to Seal Island in Hout Bay

Every morning hundreds of tourists head out on a tour of the Cape Peninsula with most of them making one of their first stops of the day at the Hout Bay harbour for a cruise around the Sentinel Mountain to Duiker Island, more commonly known as Seal Island.  Standing on quay side you have a choice of boats to make the 45 odd minute trip to the island and back with several operators offering tours.  Our choice for the day was the Calypso which was built locally and launched in 2001.  The Calypso is operated by Circle Launches who have been running Duiker Island cruises since 1972. 

The cruise out to the island takes about 10 or 15 minutes with seating available both inside or out on the deck.  We unfortunately chose a bit of a windy day to visit so the wind blew spray across the boat every time we went over a wave.  As soon as you arrive at the island, which is nothing more than a collection of big rocks sticking out the water, you see why its so popular.

Duiker Island is home to about 6,000 Cape Fur Seals of various shapes and sizes with cows weighing up to 115 kg and bulls tipping the scales on a whopping 350kg.  Most of the boats doing the trips also have underwater viewing areas where you can watch the seals swimming below the boat.

After about 15 minutes of seal viewing we headed back to Hout Bay and while my kidz where hiding under deck from the spray, these kids did the Titanic thing and stood on the bow enjoying the experience.

Cruising the Breede River at Viljoensdrift

There is probably no better way to enjoy the Viljoensdrift wines than leisurely cruising along the Breede River on a sunny day.  The Viljoensdrift wine estate offers one hour cruises up and down the river from their shop and tasting area on the farm and although we're not wine lovers (and you don't have to actually drink wine to go on the cruise), we decided to go for the outing.

The boat seats about 40 people and most of our fellow passengers bought wine from the estate before the cruise to take along.  Ours was a nice hot sunny day with no wind and it was ideal for cruising.  Just to show how laid back it was, Chaos Boy who doesn't sit still for long on the best of days were up and down the steps and literally hung from the rafters next to the boat's captain... and nobody even batted a eye lit. 

I think the most innovative idea that goes along with the cruise is the fact that passengers get given a "Create a picnic basket" menu containing items from the deli on check-in at the wine estate.  As you board you get given your picnic basket and wine to take on board.  As we were going for lunch after the cruise we didn't order anything to eat, but the family next to us did I got the opportunity to take a snap of them tucking in.

Ships on Table Bay

Knysna Quays

Most visitors to the town of Knysna on the Garden Route end up at the Knysna Quays Waterfront at one time or another.  The Knysna Quays consist of a small boat harbour, an area with shops and restaurants as well as very upmarket houses and apartments.  Yachts are moored all around the waterfront both inside the small boat harbour as well as outside in the lagoon.  As the Knysna Lagoon is one of the main attractions in the town, there are a number of charter boats, ferries and catamarans that depart from the waterfront on cruises of the lagoon.

From the Knysna Quays a number of canals lead towards the part where the houses and apartments are situated.  All the restaurants on the waterfront looks out over either the canals, the harbour or the lagoon with some of them right on the water as in the picture above.

One of the highlights for kids visiting the Knysna Quays is when the walkway bridge lifts up to allow a yacht through.  When the bridge lifted up on this occasion there was a guy and his kids in a canoe coming down the canal and everybody clapped hands for him because it looked like the bridge lifted up specially for him.  The next moment this big yacht came sailing though right behind them.

In addition to the restaurants, there are a number of shops that line the walkways of the waterfront.  This big artistically carved yellow wood tree stump is one of the many other features that you will find alongside the shops.

Knysna yachts sunset

As I have said in a previous post, I tried to get a different sunset pic each night during our stay in Knysna.  On this specific evening I headed down to the Knysna Quays to see what I could find there for a sunset scene.  The yachts at anchor in the little harbour made for the ideal foreground.

This one was taken a minute or so before the first one.  Both ideal to post as my contribution to Skywatch this week.

Dias Museum Complex

The first European to set foot in what in now South Africa was Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias.  He inadvertently rounded the Cape in a storm and the first went ashore in present day Mossel Bay in 1488.  Due to this Mossel Bay has a close association with Dias and this is where visitors will find the Diaz Museum Complex.  The complex is made up of different components, one of them a statue of Dias himself looking out to sea.

One of the best known attractions in Mossel Bay also makes part of the Dias Museum Complex and this is the Post Office Tree.  In 1500 on a return voyage from the East, Pedro de Ataide left an important letter in a boot hanging from a tree, probably the old Milkwood Tree on the site.  The letter was found in 1501 by another ship heading to India  and so the first "post office" in South Africa started.  Sailors usually heading East started leaving letters to loved ones in the tree for ships going home to take along. 

Walking from the tree down towards the sea the fresh water fountain Aguanda de Sao Bras (Watering Point of St Blaze) can be seen.  The fountain was first documented in 1512 and was where the ships took on fresh water.  It is said that the fountain has never been dry and still runs today.  These days fresh water doesn't get sourced there anymore, but I did notice that the pond is now home to a couple of ducks.

The biggest attraction at the complex is the life sized replica of Dias' caravel.  The replica was built and sailed from Portugal to Mossel Bay in 1988 to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the arrival of Dias.  Visitors to the museum can actually get onto the boat to have a closer look.  The building it is housed in was originally built in 1901 as a grain mill and was also later used as a saw mill. 

Other than the replica of Dias' boat, the museum also houses a very good collection of paintings, artifacts and information about early explorers.  The one room contains a exhibit with life sized figures representing the Portuguese and indigenous Khoisan people meeting and interacting on the beach.  This was quite a hit with the kids as it included the sounds of the Khoisan people's bells and music along with the trumpets of the Portuguese.

Romanza

Any holiday maker visiting the town of Mossel Bay on the Garden Route and not going for a trip on the Romanza doesn't know what they are missing.  The Romanza is run by the Klapwijk family and has been part of Mossel Bay holiday scene for over 25 years.  She's a 16 Meter, 25 ton Hartley Design Ketch and does mostly trips out to Seal Island as well as Whale Watching trips with Sunset cruises thrown in for good measure.

Getting onto the boat was a bit of a challenge for us as Drama Princess had never been on a boat and was doing everything in her power not to embark.  After lots of persuading we got her life jacket on and took her on board and not 5 minutes later she wanted to know when we were going on it again as she loved it.  For the cruise all the kids on board was given life jackets while there are enough on hand for everybody in case its necessary. 

It was a stunning morning with barely a whisper of wind which meant the sea was flat and the cruise as smooth as you can imagine.  The Romanza sails parallel to the coast and views from the boat include the whole curving coast line from the lighthouse at the Point to Santo Beach and Diaz Strand all the way past Hartenbos towards the Outeniqua Mountains in the background.  After a smooth 20 minute we reached our turning point at Seal Island.

Seal Island is home to about 4000 Cape Fur Seals and they were literally all over the show either frolicking in the water or sunning themselves on the island.  Their feeding grounds aren't in the bay and they have to swim out to the open sea to find food.  We could probably have sat there for ages watching the seals play, but there is a cruise every hour so we had to head back to the Mossel Bay Harbour.

Sailing back gives one time to reflect on the beauty of the bay and its inhabitants.  I just want to give a special thanks to Louma at Mossel Bay Tourism and Charmaine at Romanza who made the trip on the Romanza possible for us.

V&A boats

My weekend in Cape Town was a bit of a dull and dreary one, so I didn't get to take too many bright pictures. Stopping by the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, I wanted to get a couple of photos of the different boats in the harbour for a post. Not the best, but here they are.

Looking to my left, there were fishing boats lined up, while...

... to my right there were luxury yachts with upmarket apartments in the back.

A closer look of the luxury boats. Some are for sale and the price tags range from like R6 million upwards.

One of the bigger fishing boats up close

Another fishing boat in the dry dock for repairs

Silver ocean

We have had a fairly mild winter with lots of summery winters weather over the last few months. Heading down to the Port Elizabeth beachfront a couple of weekends ago it would have been easy to think that you were sucked into some kind of time warp and spewed out in the middle of summer. The beachfront was just about packed. The only reason you knew it was still winter was that there was nobody in the (somewhat cold) water.

There was a cold front on its way and normally when high winds are forecasted the fishing boats sail into the bay to anchor just off shore to ride out the storm. The bright winters sun shining on the slightly choppy water with the boats gently rocking along made for a great photo opportunity.

Algoa Bay Yacht Club

A couple of pictures from my visit to the Algoa Bay Yacht Club the other day.

Sunny mast

I had to go and meet somebody at the Algoa Bay Yacht Club the other day which gave me an excuse to take a stroll along the walkway between the yachts and get some pictures. And I have learned that when taking pictures you have to always be on the lookout for a potential Skywatch pic.

Paddle cruiser at sunset

The Featherbed Company's Paddle cruiser moments before departure for the sunset cruise on the Knysna Lagoon.

Visit Skywatch for some more breathtaking views of the sky.