02 May 2008    to      17 May 2008

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Finally after almost two years we managed to get away for a bit of a longer holiday again. This time we decided to explore the region between Port Elizabeth and Mossel Bay with the main emphasis being on the area behind the famous Garden Route which is not so well known. Our journey to the coast began with an over night stopover in Graaff Reinet. Its unique church in the center of town is well known.

Next morning before proceeding to Port Elizabeth we went to have a look at the so called "Valley of Desolation" just outside Graaff Reinet. On the way up into the mountains behind Graaff Reinet we stopped to have a look at the town from above.

Its an interesting scene of rocks dating back millions of years and seems to have its origins shortly after the breakup of the southern super continent of Gondwanaland about 167 million years ago.

After spending an afternoon in Port Elizabeth, we decided to move on and ended up in Oyster Bay.

Besides a nice beach there is very little else there, so again we decided to move one, this time taking the R62.

It was along this route not far after Kareedouw that we stumbled across a beautiful farm called "Bo Jani" that was offering accommodation and decided to stay two nights.

We stayed in an old converted schoolhouse with a huge fireplace which made for very romantic evenings.

Next day we took a walk between the farms and came across a large tortoise.

After a very pleasant stay at Bo Jani we headed for Uniondale which has the largest water mill in South Africa.

The old stone church at Uniondale.

We continued the same day still to the Calitzdorp Spa which has some very nice hot natural springs.

Here we decided to camp......

....and try out the "Roman Baths"....Heil Cesar!!!

A trip to Calitzdorp followed the next day that is supposed to produce the best Port in South Africa.

A short trail leads through one of the vineyards.

Some of the quaint old houses in Calitzdorp.

A visit to the Oudtshoorn museum was on the agenda the next day. Its an interesting museum highlighting the Ostrich industry in the area amongst other things.

Of couse a visit to the area is not complete without a visit to one of the local Ostrich farms.

Here's "yours truly" acquiring his "Ostrich drivers" license.

The old manor house built during the Ostrich boom beginning of the 20th century.

The Gamka Mountain Nature Reserve not far from Oudtshoorn has some excellent trails, part of one of which we tried.

The trail leads into the gorges of the mountains and has an overnight facility. The scenery is really spectacular.

From here we ended up in Mossel Bay...

...with its very interesting museum containing a replica Caravel that was sailed from Portugal to Mossel Bay to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Bartolomeu Dias's voyage around the Cape in 1488.

After Mossel Bay we headed back to Port Elizabeth and stopped over at Storms river with its rugged coast line for a few days which normally provides for great camping.

Not far from Storms river in the Tsitsikamma forest is an 800 year old giant of Outeniqua Yellowwood (Podocarpus falcatus) with a girth of 8.9 meters.

Some of the big ferns growing in the Tsitsikamma forest.

The Tsitsikamma forest is absolutely beautiful and an interesting circular trail starts and ends at the big tree. Well, by now our two weeks holiday were almost up, so the next day we reluctantly headed back to Johannesburg.