Protea Knysa Quays Knysna

... the Director of Golf, wanted to be reminded to two people at Gleneagles &#8211; Patrick Elsmie who he worked with at Fancourt and Tom Watson &#8220;everybody just knows Tom&#8221;!! Needless to say Tom has already played there.<br><br>We drove down to Storms River and enjoyed the next day along the water side. Highlight had to arriving at the car park to the sight of a pod of Humpback whales swimming past. We took on one of the hiking trails which involved ...

... relative to the particicpant ... Check out how confident and graceful we look with the valley behind us !<br><br>A quick lunch snack followed by a drive in the wilderness and some "lost" moments finally brought us to &#8220;Cloud 9&#8221;, the launch site of our afternoon activity &#8211; Paragliding. This was our 3rd time lucky,<br>having failed twice to take off in Turkey (Oludeniz) due to strong wind conditions. Luck was on our side and we both did our maiden tandem ...

... so it is not to expensive traveling. <br> Called Robin (3rd rider)from along the coast to organize a nights accommodation . As Dave's friend jenny has friend on Sunday night we ended up staying at his mates house as his house is gutted ready for renovations. Had dinner with him and he sounds OK. He retired 7 years ago and is 50 so i am not sure how slumming it in ...

... the river canyon below. They have a live feed of the jumpers from the restaurant area (should have nausea bags in all the seats as this is something else to watch).<br><br>One of the best beaches in all of South Africa is at Plattenberg Bay and we stop for a photo. It is truly picturesque and there is money dripping everywhere around the bay. Big hotels, beautiful guest houses and wonderful big homes. Money, money, money. And yet ...

... would check it out tomorrow in daylight.<br> Thursday 24thth September. It is a public holiday nationally so many things closed here today. We wandered down to the waterfront and ferry jetty and had a look around. Knysna is set in a lagoon and the feeries/boats gead out through narrow heads to the ocean, much like Kalbarri has narrow heads. It is an upmarket town and lots of ritzy shops and cafes. The ...

... a fence, board walks and an information room have all been established. Boulders still remains the only place in the world where one can actually swim amongst the penguins as they have continued to invade more beaches - they are remarkably untroubled by people!<br><br>Kira's nursery school is right next to Boulders Beach and sometimes the penguins go right into the carpark next to the school to the children's delight! Its a delightful little school and ...

... ssion. A lovely night w*s h*d by *ll *nd we finished our me*l off with birthd*y p*nc*kes *nd ice cre*m. We *lso m*n*ged to get some gre*t pictures of C*pe Aghul*s. Following our sunset cruise, we h*d time to peruse the h*rbour before he*ding b*ck to the hotel *nd sitting out under the st*rts to demolish more ch*mp*gne *nd wine. Plenty of l*ughs *nd entert*inment were h*d before *n 'e*rly' night in re*dyness for tomorrows *dventures.

... It was a nice enough reception, and some chap fetched our bags, and we were told that our room was ready. We were shown the bistro, and the bar, the pool and gym, and just wanted to get to our room. Which is an irony in itself as the kitchen was far far bigger than ours at home, as was the lounge diner, the bed and bedroom even bigger, as was the en suite. There was also a second toilet and a huge, conservatory. Best hotel room(s) we have ever ...

... feel tempted to follow them! We stayed 2 nights at Bloukrans, it was more of an old-school youth hostel rather than the usual backpacker's that we've been staying in. It could accommodate lots of people but while we were there there were just 2 other German girls staying. Arriving in Tsitsikamma in glorious sunshine meant nothing - the next morning the weather was filthy! Very overcast, raining hard at some points, but fortunately it wasnot cold or ...

... was actually quite disappointing. We did see two whales which was cool but they were very far away and stayed under the water for most of the time so you could only really see a hump or a bit of tail. And it was really quite expesive considering what it was. Well we headed back to the backpackers and went out for dinner to a nice seafood restaurant in the evening to make ourselves feel better. Next stop: Plettenberg Bay.