Cape Point Route Peninsula tour– Part 2

We live here, we work here and we play here but it is not every day that we put it all together and go on “tour”! Wednesday 14 April, 2010 was quite a special day for Cape Point Route. We gathered a bunch of Cape Point Routers who will be coming up to Durban with us for the Indaba Trade show in May 2010 and we went on a Cape Point Route tour. I have already blogged about our morning session on the False Bay Coastline.

Leaving Simon’s Town we took a leisurely drive towards Cape Point Nature Reserve and past Cape Point Ostrich Farm, through the beautiful Atlantic seaside village of Scarborough and the tiny hamlet of Misty Cliffs, with the gorgeous stretch of Atlantic ocean on our left hand side. Coming along the road, we had incredible views of Slangkoppunt lighthouse – the tallest cast iron lighthouse in South Africa. The lighthouse is a landmark for the town of Kommetjie – which should never be the drive-through town we did on Wednesday!

From Kommetjie, it was a short drive to the nearby peaceful settlement of Masiphumelele, a largely Xhosa speaking community and almost directly opposite you can experience the rich culture of the Ocean View fishing community.

We stopped at Rioja Restaurant (at Solole Game Reserve), for lunch. Solole is no longer open to the public but they do still have some animals (including buffalo – but it is a breeding reserve and not open to the public). Rioja is however and what a delightful meal – melt in your mouth linefish was our main meal, accompanied by the best of Cape Point Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc. We also visited the Barocca Lounge – the onsite bar area which has become extremely popular for it’s Saturday night over 30’s clubbing evenings.

Although it was difficult to leave the serenity of Rioja, we still had the delight of stopping at Sundollar Lodge in Noordhoek, where Sylvia showed off her beautiful garden, solar heated swimming pool and views of the Noordhoek Wetlands. Old –fashioned hospitality is definitely a trademark of Sundollar.

We popped around the corner to Noordhoek Farm Village, which has become the heart and hub of Noordhoek. It was tough timing on our schedule to call in at all the retail shops, visit the Foodbarn Restaurant (and a bonus meeting with chef extraordinaire Franck Dangereaux), see the expanded Foodbarn Bakery and Deli, stop at Café Roux, check out the kids playground, see the 20 bedroom De Noordhoek Hotel and Conference Centre, and stop at the Toad in the Village to taste the new Toad Lager! Not to mention being tempted to have a massage and Barbaros of Southern Routes was hopeful but unsuccessful in getting the vehicle washed at the car wash!

But we had a tight schedule and were reminded once again that is nearly impossible to see and visit the Cape Point Route in one day and that it definitely is worth more than a one night stand. However with more treats lined up we whizzed over to Monkey Valley Resort – where we were escorted up to the exquisite Crowned Eagle – an 8 bedroomed private villa with eclectic mix of African, Victorian and Bali furniture, rim flow swimming pool and private decks all overlooking Noordhoek Beach! Wow! The restaurant manager met us at the top with coffees and snacks and despite the whistle stop visit, we did manage to pop into one of the bed and breakfast units as well. Monkey Valley is probably THE ultimate beach, forest and mountain resort…set in a forest of ancient milkwoods, with accommodation tucked into private alcoves and an on-site restaurant.

Monkey Valley is at the base of Chapman’s Peak Drive and on a perfect Cape Town day it is hard to find anything better than cruising along 9km, 114 curves sandwiched between mountain and sea. I will take up the challenge of finding a more exquisite marine drive anywhere in the world! Chappies (as it is fondly called) does operate as a toll road between Noordhoek and Hout Bay, which was our next destination.

Hout Bay once declared itself as Republic and it’s not hard to see why – wrapped by mountains on 3 sides and an ocean on the other, Hout Bay is a unique seaside village. We headed straight for the Hout Bay Harbour (a buzzing working harbour) to meet Drumbeat Charters who were taking us to Duiker Island (often called Seal Island – so called for the colony of Cape Fur Seals resident on the island). Being on a boat in Hout Bay with the Sentinel mountain presiding over us, fresh sea air and the pleasure of watching the Seals frolic and play was a perfect way to end our Cape Point Route tour. The trip was an easy 45 minutes and what a privilege to be out on the water with amazing people and in an amazing place. Can’t wait to tell the folks at Indaba how incredible our home is!

A special note of thanks to Barbaros of Southern Routes and Brenda and Erica of Cape Suntrek Tours – who shared travel stories and snippets of information along the entire route. They are specialists of the Cape Point Route area and excellent tour operator/guides.

Thanks to everyone for the hospitality and I am proud to be a Cape Point Router!