Halfway 'Round the World - Blog 7

The Flower Coast and the South African Astronomical Telescope

The Flower Coast

Even though it was 80km back the way we had come in the day before, we headed back to Storm’s River Bridge, then down to Tsitsikamma National Park.  It turned out to be a great decision.  We got to see monkeys performing along the road and the deep knife cut of a canyon with Storm River at the bottom.  We took pictures but the sun/shadow contrast played havoc with our cameras – none of our shots did the site justice.  To capture an image of the long bridge spanning the river we wandered back through the gas/food/information complex to a corridor that lead to a scenic overlook where it was Steer’s intent that you buy a burger and drinks while you gaped at the canyon and the bridge.  It worked; we bought a pair of beers and enjoyed a quiet interlude while we sipped at them.

Cabins at Tsitsikamma

Done with the bridge, it was time to explore the Storm River Mouth that was 10km off the main highway.  The entrance to Tsitsikamma National Park seemed steep at 106 rand, but we paid it anyway and drove in.  It was worth every penny, the craggy beaches caught huge rollers that sent spray 20-30 feet into the air.  After we had seen the cabins we had elected to pass up for our lodge, we questioned our sanity; they set just above the rugged coastline and the crashing waves – it was simply stunning.  Since we had come to see the river’s mouth, we took off on a 900 meter hike through a lush mangrove forest.

This stretch of coastline is inundated with a creature resembling guinea pig, the Cape Hyrax. There were no fewer than a dozen of these cuddly little guys occupying the grassy area around the gift shop.  And no gift store is safe when the Stevens’ are involved; we are inveterate shoppers, and the shop at the mouth was no exception.  Inside we ran into our first Americans since we arrived, a group of students on a study tour of South Africa. We were jealous that they got such a wonderful experience so early in life and they were jealous because we had so much time to spend just wandering around.  Done visiting and shopping, we emerged with pillow covers, tee shirts and even an African symbol necklace representing “intelligence.”  

Dark was approaching so we ended a wonderful day by heading back to our B & B in Knysna and then on for some scrumptious Italian food on the bay.

Sutherland and the South African Astronomical Observatory

Wandering through The Karoo

We made a wild dash from Knysna for the tiny, isolated town of Sutherland in the middle of the Karoo to visit the South African Astronomical Observatory. This was one of the must sees on our list and with weather in the offing and sky parties offered only 3 nights a week it seemed like now or never.

It was perhaps a little more wild than we intended when I went astray and took us on a “white” road (the lowest category on our atlas.) As suspected, white represented a dirt or gravel road.  We were not quite sure where we went wrong other than according to the map our paved road was to branch off north of Ladismith.  We zigged and zagged through Ladismith and the road felt right to both of us – at least until the pavement ended.  However, without a doubt we missed the right turn that would have taken us on the longer but paved surface into the heart of the Karoo.  So instead of merely driving through the Karoo, we had the distinct opportunity to “experience’ the Karoo over 69 km of dirt road.  To be fair, this was perhaps the best maintained dirt road I have ever been on; with the exception of some steep grades, sharp turns and the occasional cattle gate, we flew over the road, averaging somewhere around 50 mph for the distance.  In the entire run we met but three vehicles and I can almost recite their thoughts: “What the hell are those crazy tourists doing out here?”  The advantage of this road was that it was about 30km shorter than the paved route; I think we actually picked up some time as a result of this inadvertent miscue. We were on track for our first early arrival at a destination for the entire tour of South Africa – a milestone.  Even with a few stops to capture the wild nature of the Karoo and some of its flora and fauna, we still pulled into Sutherland just minutes after four – a relatively on time arrival.

In fact, after checking in with our hosts for the night and showing interest in the aged family pictures on the wall, we found out that we would spend the night in a tiny house built around a hundred years ago.  Fabulous!  If only the walls could talk.

Saturn through Larry's lens

We arrived at the observatory at the appointed hour for our "star party" and while Larry wandered through the exhibits, I was "star struck" by a beautiful quilt in the entry way.  It wasn't for sale, so I took a few pics to remember it by. We were determined to find the Southern Cross, something our star guide featured on her agenda for the night.  The night sky was moonless, clear of clouds and the stars were so clear and bright you felt as the ancients must have done when they gazed at the heavens and assigned names to formations – Orion, Scorpio, Leo to mention but a few, and the Milky Way, spectacular!  Our telescope spun around the heavens, raising and lowering as needed to reveal to us many stars and three planets in the Southern sky over the course of a 90 minute presentation. And amazingly at the end of the show, Larry was able to capture a viable image of Saturn and its rings with his camera through the telescope; cool, very cool.  We were extremely grateful that we layered our clothes, as we needed everything we had brought. This is a land owned by the sun, once it sets, the temperatures plummet – and that night the low was projected to be a very chilly 28°.

We were very grateful for the car’s heater on the way back to town, where we ate dinner at a restaurant our B&B host had made reservations. Sutherland is a very small town, and prohibited from growing or adding lights due to the observatory, so unless they know you're at the star party and coming after it, every restaurant closes at 8 pm.  The food was sublime – the bean soup, although unusual, was very good, the steaks were broiled to perfection and the beets, spiced peaches and lightly salted French fries were excellent.  The wine, a pinotage, was equal to the meal, and the coffee was the best we have had in days.   Tired from the drive and bellies stuffed, we headed for our pioneer house and a nightcap before calling it a day.