Lu-Gerda's Travels

We live in Mossel Bay, a small town next to the ocean.  The town is still mainly a summer holiday destination when thousands of people come here to spend time in the ocean. The point area is about 2 kilometres from our house and one of our favourite places to go for a quick outing after work or during weekends.  Almost daily, when I get home from work, my son JW asks if we can drive around the Point. Here are some of our favourite things we do around the Point area: Swimming in the Paddling Pool This is one of my son’s favourite activities…in summer, spring and autumn…and even on a warm winter’s day.  The Paddling Pool is a tidal pool. In the summer we usually go to the Point early in the morning (between 8 and 9 am) to swim and return home by 10am.  We do this to avoid the harsh sun later in the day but mainly because there are less people.  The water is cold and refreshing and there is more parking.  The paddling pool is not very deep and...

I did a post last week about our favourite kids’ outings in our neighbouring town, George.   Our home town, Mossel Bay, a small town next to the ocean and mainly a  summer holiday destination.  Thousands of people come here to spend time near the ocean during December and January.   Here are some of our favourite things to do with our  3-year old son JW: 1.   The Ocean – Swimming, Playing in sand, collecting shells…. and many more Mossel Bay’s main attraction during the summer month is the beach.   And there is a lot of them to choose from.  For toddlers and younger kids I would suggest the paddling pool at The Point (I usually take my son early, before it gets too busy and the sun to hot) or Santos with is small waves.  For bigger waves rather try Hartenbos or Diaz Beach. 2.   Hartenbos Seefront Fun Park There is a lot to do at the Hartenbos Fun Park… Swimm...

   It has been a while since I last post some photos of Mossel Bay. After lovely sunny weather during the week we had a windy day with rain on Saturday.     We decided buy take-aways and drive to the Point for an early lunch. The wind was unpleasant but I took Emma (or dog) for a walk before returning to the car.    We ate while enjoying the beautiful view of the ocean and clouds.   Then I went back into the wind to take a few photos.      But the clouds were multiplying and it was cold outside.  We drove to the parking area next to the Point Hotel for a few photos of the Poort.      There was a lot of foam from the waves.      On our way home the rain started to fall  and continued to fall in short showers the rest of the day. The perfect weather for a quiet afternoon at home.

In March 2010 I went to Cape Town to visited some friends.   We then decided to spend the Saturday in Hout Bay.   We started by spending most of the morning at the World of Birds . We then went for a walk on the beach.   It was a bit cloudy and windy but still a nice day for a walk.  From the beach there is beautiful views of the mountain. We then drove to the harbour to take a look.  There are lots of restaurants and you can take a boat trip from the harbour.  We already ate and decided to leave the boat trip for next time. To finish the day we drove up to the start of Chapman’s Peak drive to see the beautiful view of the bay.   Chapman’s Peak is a toll road and we did not want to pay to drive the whole pass.   We turned around before the tollbooths and went back down. If you were wondering Hout Bay means Wood Bay.  It was named by the Dutch explorers who found the bay with all its wood.  The wood was ...

Today I want to share some pictures of Buffels Bay (“Buffalo Bay”) with you.   Buffels Bay is about 40km from George and 15km from Knysna in the Garden Route of South Africa.   It is next to the ocean with beautiful beaches.   In July 2009 my brother was taking part in the Knysna Cycle Tour and the whole family decided to support him.   We stayed in a house in Buffelsbaai for the weekend.   July is winter in South Africa and the weather was not great.   We spend most of Saturday relaxing inside the house.   We also went for a walk on the beach and on the rocks. Sunday we drove the 15km to Knysna to watch the cycling and eat at the Waterfront.

The town where I live, Mossel Bay, is a coastal town and every December thousands of people come to spend their summer holiday on our beaches.   While having these visitors is very good for our town’s economy there are times when I wish they would disappear that the town can return to its usual peacefulness. Mossel bay in the distance Hartenbos is a popular resort about 10 km from Mossel Bay.   In early September 2012 (d uring one of the more peaceful times) we went for a walk on the path next to the beach.       Emma cannot wait to start walking The “Afrikaanse Taal en Kultuurvereniging (ATKV)” or Afrikaans Language and Cultural Society built this beautiful path next to the beach.   While walking you can see the beach, the beautiful Outeniqua Mountains and Mossel Bay.   Hartenbos Beach with Outeniqua Mountains in the background Next to the path there are hundreds of vygie plants with pretty yellow or purple flowers.  ...

Our last stop in Port Elizabeth on Saturday 28 April was the Shark Rock Pier.   I wanted to go for a walk on the pier since we arrived 2 days earlier but we waited for better weather.   It was our last day in PE and we decided to go for a walk even if there was an awful wind blowing (at least it wasn’t raining) Shark Rock Pier was built in 1990 to help save the beaches from erosion and it was successful.   It is also a wonderful tourist attraction.   The pier is 137m long and there are senic view of the city and the beachfront.   In the photo below you can see the old slipway at Humewood Beach.   Before the harbour was built boats sailed in between the pillars and were then pulled onto the slipway for boat repairs.