In Search of Whales

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From Plett to Knysna

After the tremendous downpour yesterday it was great to wake up this morning to brilliant sunshine. Breakfast was served outside on the terrace due to the excellent weather. Afterwards we packed up and headed off in search of whales. This part of the South African coast is renowned for its abundance of whales, mostly humpbacks and southern right whales. First we went in search of lookout points in Plettenberg Bay, the first one we came across was not good, just a road ending at the sea with no real aspect and nowhere to walk to even. Next we found Robberg Beach - the largest beach in the town - and as the kids and Mark were clambering up some rocks they noticed some dolphins swimming in the water by a boat. After we had all reached the top of the rocky promontory we sat and scanned the waters for signs of life but unfortunately after a while we had to be entertained solely by the waves crashing around us.

Back into the car and we headed off to try and find the Whale Shop at which we should be informed where the best place would be to see whales today. We stopped on the road where the shop was meant to be but instead all we could find of use was a laundry. Having dumped virtually all our clothes on the poor beleaguered workers in the laundry we headed off the Plett for some lunch. The first place we tried to find which was, according to the rough guide, the best place to eat in town was closed and empty, obviously it can’t have been that good! After some meandering we found a small cafe where we ate luscious sarnies and drank mega milkshakes. We spent the rest of the time before having to collect our laundry doing some jewellery shopping (tee hee - Annabel).

After collecting our ginormous bag of clothes we headed out of Plett towards Knysna in search of the next whale lookout point. We headed off the main road towards Harkerville (a small hamlet) down a dirt track (boy do we wish we’d had a 4x4 instead of an MPV) and after a few kms found the entrance to the Kranshoek view point. After filling in a permit allowing us to enter we drove another bumpy 5kms until we reached the cliff edge. Hear we stood and scanned the sea for signs of whales but after a while we gave up and perched our bums on a picnic table overlooking the ocean. The viewpoint must have been a good 200 metres high so the view was spectacular with waves constantly crashing over huge rocky outcrops. After a while Annabel noticed something in the water and upon closer inspection through the binoculars we realised it was a whale coursing through the water. Every now and then it disappeared as it dived underwater before yet again appearing above the waves 4 or 5 times as it swam along.

We loitered here just a little longer before leaving for our next accommodation. We passed through Knysna and past the lake it nestles by, with a spectacular view of the town and expanse of lake with mountains in the background. A little further along the road we passed Groenvlei (Green Lake) and turned up towards Lake Pleasant, a hotel and apartment complex at the edge of the lake. We booked in and were shown up to our apartment, which turned out to be a positively palatial suite with an expansive view over the lake, having two huge double bedrooms, two full bathrooms, a kitchen, airing cupboard and patio/balcony. To relax we settled down in front of a borrowed DVD with a few drinks and then went down to dinner, which unfortunately didn’t quite live up to the accommodation but there you go.

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Photos

Robberg Beach
No whales here, only dolphins

Kranshoek
We found a lone whale in the water here

Groenvlie
Green Lake, the view from our balcony