Sunday, March 26, 2023

Coddiwomple

 


My wife and I decided to escape from the cave for a quick one. Little planning and little gear, almost as when we started out camping, just the bare necessities.


Visited a few small coastal towns and then stopped at Maitland Nature Reserve for a 9km hike.







Coffee and rusks: 





Beautiful walk in nature






At Seaview SPAR we bought takeaway lunch and enjoyed it in the car at the sea-side


After that, it was time for a nap. Took our camping matresses to the beach at Kini-beach.



Now it was time to search for an overnight camping spot.
We found one at the Gamtoos Ferry Hotel, close to Gamtoosmond.











Saturday, January 7, 2023

Murasie

 December 2022

It all started with an idea to hike up a stretch of desolate coast for a couple of days and gather food from the see and rocks. Well, to find such a desolate stretch of coast was the first big challenge, but after that it became much easier. Google Earth was used in the search and an area was roughly identified as target.

As previously mentioned, planning such a trip is half the fun for me. To get to our target area, we would have to hike about 10 kilometers along the coast with our gear. A gear list was drawn up, weight and usefulness of each item was considered and included or discarded on the short list. Diving gear was minimized to goggles, snorkel, small flippers and a spear gun. Luckily the water was a decent temperature at the time.


The scenery en route was spectacular and needed some stops to take it all in.




On Google Earth we could make out, what looked like a building without a roof. The Afrikaans word, "murasie", is very fitting. So after about 10 kilometers walk, we found the "Murasie".

The "Murasie" is a combination of Awesome and Sad emotions, heavily entwined. Breathtaking views, but with lots of unanswered questions.







The view from the front porch . . . . . .


This was for sure the best place to set up our base camp. We quickly start setting up a kitchen area and we also collected some firewood and figured out a nifty fireplace.



 We went diving and got fish and some nice size "alikreukel" that were cooked with a little bit of rice.

 Time for a fire and some food prep.




The evening came with the most beautiful sunset . . . . just add some good music and you have a vibe









There's a saying: If you are having fun, you are winning !



Slept with the sound of waves crushing against the rocks


For breakfast, we reheated the leftover alikreukel and rice dish



We went spearfishing again to secure enough food for the day



Late morning, the sun became a bit intense, but we were prepared. Two tarps were put to good use in constructing a shelter.



For lunch, we braai-ed the fish and ate like kings !






After lunch, we took a siesta


Late afternoon the clouds gathered and we decided to pack our stuff and head home. This trip was definitely one for the books !!