Monday 22 June 2009

Road Trip 2.6

Wednesday 10th June

We woke in our little piece of Lambert's Bay real estate and made breakfast before heading off to explore the local area and make our way down the coast.

Accommodation for the next two nights was apparently already booked but Elaine would not let on where it was, despite some questioning!

We said our goodbyes and headed off into the sunshine. Lambert's Bay is a bustling town with a busy fishing harbour and miles of white sandy beaches. It is also home to Bird Island which we did not visit but was an exciting place to be during the 'Guano War' of 1844! Apparently bird poo (guano) was used to make explosives and as a fertiliser. Bird Island and other areas along the coast were 5m deep in the stuff and once mariners discovered this a war broke out over who would claim ownership! This article will give you a 'flavour'!

After a little exploring we headed off down the coast towards Paternoster. According to our map the day would be mostly spent on gravel roads and to begin with that was the case but after a very short while we were delighted to discover that the road bulders had been out a put tarmac everywhere else!

We got some long distance views of a flock of Flamingoes at Elands Bay but unfortunately not really any good photographs to show you.

After an enjoyable couple of hours exploring the coast we arrived in the very quaint Paternoster where all of the buildings are painted white and where the beaches stretch for as far as the eye can see.

We took a walk along one of the beaches and a climb in the dunes before heading into the village. Paternoster is famous for its West Coast Lobster, commonly (but apparently incorrectly) referred to as Crayfish.

We watched the small fishing boats for a while as they launced and landed on the beach.


It wasn't very long before we were approached by a bag wielding group offering 'Kreef', Afrikaans for West Coast Lobster. A deal was struck and three fine examples were ours for the same price as a fish and chip supper!


We made a quick visit to the historic 'Die Winkel op Paternoster' to buy some bread, beer and mayonnaise and were all set to head to the beach and make lunch!


We headed out to Tieties Bay at Cape Columbine and found a nice area on the beach to cook lunch. After 15 minutes in boiling sea water the West Coast Lobster were ready. Absolutely delicious!


Time was moving along rapidly and Elaine said that we should leave now if we were to reac our accommodation before the evening. Still with no idea where we were going I followed the directions given to me back inland towards the N7 and then north towards Citrusdal (absolutely full of orange and lemon trees in full fruit). Then we turned right and our destination became apparent - The Baths - a luxury spa!

Elaine explained that we were booked into a cottage with a view down the valley for two nights courtesy of Linda as a thank-you for DIY services rendered. What a fabulous surprise.

We checked in and went back down the dirt road to our cottage. Wow. We were greeted with a magnificent view, a very smart cottage and an outdoor bath plumbed into the natural hot (43 degree) spring water!


We relaxed before heading up to the restaurant to eat and watch the British Lions demolish The Sharks. We slept like babies, once again!

Baie baie dankie Linda!

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