The Background

With wonderful memories of our Spring Flowers trip through parts of the Western Cape in September 2021 still fresh in our minds, we decided to do a similar, but different, trip in September 2022. Our planned route was to take us to Tulbagh for one night, then three nights each in Clanwilliam and Paternoster. To round off the trip we treated ourselves to a three night stay in Cape Town’s Vineyard Hotel, in celebration of our birthdays which “book-ended” the trip,

I would recommend clicking on the images where appropriate to view in larger scale and appreciate the beauty and perfection of the flowers.

Travelling to Paternoster

Today’s trip was less about flower viewing and more about getting from one place to another with the minimum of fuss, so we were not planning any specific stops – more of a ‘play it by ear’ approach was to be the order of the day. As it turned out, the day was interesting but probably doesn’t warrant a separate post, however I wanted to treat this series of posts as a daily report of the trip, so this one is just for completeness. (hey, I’m a QS – we are obsessive types)

After another full breakfast at Yellow Aloe Guest House, which took longer than usual as everyone came to breakfast at more or less the same time, we left Clanwilliam with many fond memories of our short stay.

Rather than heading down the N7 National Road, we took the coastal route, which would take us along quieter regional roads past a number of small towns – including Lamberts Bay, Leipoldtville, Elands Bay and Velddrif.

Along the way there were small patches of flowers here and there and I slowed down as we passed, but did not stop as we had seen many glorious flowers the previous day in the Biedouw Valley

On the way to Elands Bay we noticed patches of red in the gravelly margin bordering the tar road and stopped to have a closer look as it did not look like anything we knew. Closer inspection didn’t enlighten us, but I took a few photos of this rather strange ‘growth’ in an environment which hardly looked as if it could support anything but weeds.

We took a quick detour to Elands Bay just to see what it looks like – the town centre left us less than impressed but the beach provided a sweeping view of the wide sands, wind-whipped sea and distant headland which demanded a photo. Easier said than done, as the wind was so strong, I had to brace myself, legs spread wide and shielding my eyes from the sand, in order to get a couple of moody shots with my iphone.

Feeling peckish we popped into Rooidak padstal just outside town and got a pie for lunch – which I couldn’t finish as it was rather stodgy, then carried on along mostly straight, very flat roads to Velddrif.

Just after we turned off towards Paternoster, the road passed some of the salt pans that Velddrif is known for and I slowed, then stopped at the roadside to do a quick scan – several interesting birds were making the most of this very specific habitat and I spent about twenty minutes getting a few shots from a distance.

Paternoster

The last stretch to Paternoster was in light rain and we reached our booked accommodation – Paternoster Dunes Guest House – around 3 pm where we were welcomed and soon settled in. They serve coffee/tea and cake every afternoon at 4 pm so we climbed the single flight of stairs up to the dining area and lounge which has magnificent views across the beach and beyond.

During our previous stay we had not managed to fit the afternoon tea session into our busy days so it was a particular pleasure to do so this time around, while the rain came pelting down and the strong wind tested the beach-facing windows to the extreme.

Neither of us felt like going out for dinner so we cancelled the booking that we had and ‘ate in’ on what could best be described as ‘dehydrated steak and chips’ – actually beef biltong and crisps with provita and cheese on the side – surprisingly satisfying when washed down with a glass of decent wine.

The rain subsided a bit later, so I took a walk along the beach with a light drizzle in the air and the wind still gusting quite strongly – that helped to blow all the day’s driving-induced cobwebs clear away.

The combination of a low sun, cloudy skies and wheeling gulls made the scene especially photogenic, and I snapped happily away with my iphone before heading back to our cosy room to relax and plan the next day’s activities. Tietiesbaai, here we come, ready or not!