We has seen signs to Leisure Island but assumed that it was a fun park. In fact it is an upmarket area of town with large houses and B&Bs, small roads and lots of water and birds.
An ibis and egret in a area of mud and reed beds.
View towards the Heads, for most of Leisure Island, development had not been allowed on the shore but on the inside of the perimeter road, so the views remain accessible
and across the estuary towards the town
We visited an African market that we had spotted earlier. All the sellers were keen to give us a 'good price' and all prices are negotiable. We bought a few small items and liked the style of some larger pieces.
Where we had a cup of rooibos in the centre of town in the Sawmill area
We returned to where we had left the car, passing the Anglican Church which could have been in any village in England.
An old and well preserved MG ..,, are we in an Agatha Christie here?
Clearly not ... Probably the most interesting KFC building I have seen
Then it was time to take to the road, traveling along the coast to George.
This was Wilderness beach from where the road climbed up into the hills
We then turned inland, leaving the Garden Route and climbing through the mountains to Oudtshoorn and Route 62.
Examples of the roadside plants as we climbed the hills
We were unprepared for the very impressive scenery on the way. There are places to stop on roads are sometimes narrow, but these were on the opposite side of the road to us. Eventually we reached a parking place where we could cross the carriage way and doubled back to take photos.
After the pass we came to the hop fields in Hop Valley where we stopped for a snack and some more home made ginger beer. Here they knew to only close the top tight as they gave you the bottle, so no explosion this time.
After Hop Valley the countryside became more arid.
Our little Chevy admiring the view
The view from the car window showing the quality of the road
As you can see, there are few large trees. Along the route are signs announcing the next tree where there may be shade if you choose the right time.
We reached Oudtshoorn and found our B&B. Earthbound has just 3 rooms, each with its own outside space. This was ours; you can just see the end of our lawn.
Of course, there was a small pool
John used TripAdvisor to find a likely restaurant. One was in a game park where, apparently, you can see the rhinos from the terrace. It was quite close, so we set out on foot using the map on TripAdvisor. John spotted some green roofs in approximately the right place. 'It looks more like a retirement complex' said Pat, as we passed an elderly man gardening. Sure enough, the sign over the entrance said that it was a retirement village and the much amused security guard confirmed that there were no rhinos inside and that the place we were looking for was some distance away and a car was necessary! That was the second time that TripAdvisor maps has failed us this holiday.
We cut our losses and headed on into town.
Oudtshoorn is not a large town but has many wide roads, some very empty.
It is the ostrich farming capital of the world and became very prosperous when ostrich feathers became very fashionable. A typical house
Our way included a rickety bridge which is useful when the river floods. It is not at all nice to walk on, so Pat didn't get all the way across.
We consulted TA again and chose the most popular restaurant, Kalinka. We fell on our feet this time; Kalinka could have been a Michelin one star for the quality of the food and at a fraction of the price.
Being the Ostrich capital of the world, there was no doubt about what we would eat. There was also some very good local Pinotage wine to drink.
John's Ostrich fillet, vegetarians please skip the next two photos.
Pat's Ostrich kebab.
At least one of our postcards has reached it's destination and Ernie knows what to do with it.
Pat and John on tour